Posted here in this thread will be the Nation Sheets for War Among the Stars: Void Wars.
Please only post here if you are submitting your NS, and not for any other reason. All questions may be directed to the OOC which will be linked above, or PMed to myself.
NPC Nations: (While I do encourage NPC interactions, NPCs should always be assumed as GM controlled unless otherwise notated.)
- UNISEC - United Security Solutions "Bringing a safer tomorrow, today." -
- Third Helix Foundation -
- Alpha Carinae System -
- The Valryius Dukedom -
-
Current Precursor Cap:
2 - Full
It's a really rough draft, but it shows at least the general relation of distance between planets.
Map key:
1: Valryius Dukedom
2: The Aurolian Federation
3: The Crimson Myriad
4: The Tsintic Union
5: The Lernaeans
6: The Tilonan Conkfedorat
7: Alpha Carinae
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GM Nations:
Main faction: The Nerai Ascendency
Capital Ship Name: The Heart of Darkness
Capital Ship Description:
The Heart of Darkness is the largest ship within the Nerai Evacuation Fleet, nearly nineteen-thousand kilometers in length and ten-thousand across at it's widest point. The Heart of Darkness houses the core of the Nerai race, with millions of Nerai-forms working throughout the vessel in the name of their Prophet. The ship contains hangar bays large enough to hold its battle-group, Battle-group "Sins of Damnation", named after the Annihilator-class ship that heads it. The ship, like all Nerai vessels, contains no atmosphere within it, but has substantial artificial gravity due to it's size and is made of the same metalloid as the entire Nerai race. There are eight total gravity-wells spread across the ship, each one a thousand kilometers across and channeling lethal energies in order to anchor the super-massive vessel's gravity. The ship carries weaponry equivalent to Capital-Ship weapons, and so may be somewhat under-powered compared to other similarly classed vessels, but what it makes up for in lack of offensive weapons is sheer presence, and defensive capabilities. It is studded with batteries of defensive weapons, and is fully FTL capable, with the ability to project an FTL tunnel for accompanying battle-groups. This ability comes from a massive Aetherium-Portal built within the prow of the ship, allowing it to project the portal outwards, or allow smaller vessels to enter through it.
The shape of the Heart of Darkness coincides with the same dynamic as most Nerai ships, blade-like, and built for ramming attacks and close-quarters. Along with it's defensive weaponry, it also houses thousands of boarding-pods, capable of being launched into nearby hostile ships. Unlike conventional boarding pods, Nerai boarding pods do not seal the environment, and instead are studded with razored edges that rip the entry-hole even larger. The ship is also heavily armored, with thick hull-plating capable of weathering intense concentrated fire.
The Heart of Darkness is organized into thousands of deck-levels, but the most important part of the ship is the Grand Templum. The Grand Templum is a city-sized chapel for the Nerai's faith, and is where a majority of the Nerai spend their time, praying to their Prophet to guide them through their darkest time. Also of note are the Enginarium Stacks, the center of the vessels power-base, skyscraper-sized reactors that are constantly pulsing insane amounts of power throughout the ship. Various other lesser sections of the ship cater to anything from barracks to house the Cataphract elite, to the vast hangar bays capable of holding capital-ships.
Dominant Economic Activity: Energy Collection - The Nerai are incredibly adept at energy collection, harvesting large amounts of stellar energy in order to keep their fleet moving. They place little value on other resources, caring not to harvest physical material.
Secondary DEA: Aetherium Adepts - The Nerai are naturally gifted when it comes to the Aetherium, and for a price, they could tutor lesser races in the arts of the Aether.
Nation Perks:
Precursor Race: Precursor races are those who have seen stars die, and born again, so ancient are they. These are super-advanced races whose technology makes those of lesser races look like mere toys. They have the benefit of either wisdom beyond the ages, or simply the sheer strength of arms to have survived the eons to this day and age. This is not to say they are without flaw, however, for many times will their hubris cloud them to the lesser races, and this mistake has happened once before when an elder race uplifted a tiny nation of humans that became the Golden Empire.
Constructs: The Nerai are, regardless of size or purpose, constructs. They are all made of the same metalloid that refuses attempts to identify it, and even their weapons and machines are made of it. The material is incredibly receptive to Aetheric energies, and resistant to extreme temperatures and pressures to a larger degree than most mundane metals. The metalloid also refuses any attempt at a symmetrical structure, adhering to a seemingly random angular structure. Due to being constructs the Nerai have no need of food, sleep, or even air.
Extragalactic: The Nerai, being from another galaxy, utilize technology and principles that operate on a different level of physics. They utilize technologies that would baffle most nations by sheer complexity, their cold-reactors and Aetherium drives being foremost among these. Another interesting thing about the Nerai is that they utilize their metalloid to an exclusive extent, requiring no other material or resource other than stellar energy.
Aetheric Mastery: The Nerai are masters of Aetherium use, able to even travel along the Aetherium Corridors. This leads to most of their technology revolving around a dual use of both extremely advanced tech, and the psuedo-sorcery of Aetherium use.
Evacuation Fleet: The Nerai, being on the run, have brought with them a large portion of their heritage, including the Nexus of Creation, a device that retains the full knowledge of both the Nerai and the Isoterix. This is a relic of such age and value that the Nerai prophet is the only being allowed in the room containing the Nexus. The Nexus allows other Nerai to connect to it and acquire knowledge from it on an as needed basis, allowing them to learn any language that has been inloaded, or know how to operate any machine that the Nerai have knowledge of.
Nation Flaws:
Fleetbound: Nations with this flaw are Fleetbound, and so have no homeworld. They are limited to what resources they can take with them, and are left vulnerable to space-borne attacks without the benefit of a planet's gravity well or ability to heavily fortify. There are some benefits to this, in that a Fleetbound nation is one of the most mobile nations, and while being open to Void-Warfare, will be experts in it.
Evacuation Fleet: The Nerai are not a full invasion-fleet, and as such, most of their actual war-power has been converted to large Saviour-Ships. This also means that their primary concern will not be to conquer, but to continue moving. This has also created the circumstance where the Nerai have only what they brought with them available, leading to the inability to replenish their fleet.
War-Given-Form: On the other hand, the Nerai are the epitome of a war-based empire, one that has seen an entire galaxy brought to its knees, and to stand in their path would be folly. They have little patience with those who would bar their path, leading to hostile negotiations at best. The Nerai also tend to take slight against those who besmirch their honor, even if the slight was unintended, and will insist on an honor duel in order to correct the slight. On the plus side, if the opponent agrees, then the slight will be forgotten after the duel, and nation talks will be significantly more peaceful. On the other hand, the rules retain the old Isoterix system of "First-Blood" from the face.
Short History for the faction:
In the darkness of the Void a race far more ancient than any other lurks. It is a race that has already conquered one galaxy, a race that no longer has organic limitations, one that feels nothing for the concept of good and evil. The Nerai Ascendency is coming, and they come with an urgency that will see them across the galaxy and through the core. Unknown to all save the Nerai, though, is the cause for this urgency. Nearly a thousand years ago, they set off from their home galaxy with everything, and without looking back. They had caused an event so irrevocably destructive that they were forced to leave their galaxy, and forsake their old gods. Whatever they may have caused, they flee from it with all-speed, and will destroy any who dare stand in their path.
Despite the circumstances that have caused their mass-evacuation, the Nerai still maintain their culture, and unflinchingly cling to their tenets. These tenets are those that guide their entire society and dictate their rigid system of honor, a system developed by a member of the race which preceded them, the Isoterix. There is little known information on how the Isoterix Empire ended, and how the Nerai Ascendency began, but nearly everything known about the two points to the sudden rise of the Nerai as the Isoterix suddenly ended. Most of the Nerai culture, is in fact, Isoterix culture, from their heavily asiatic influences to their honor system, and even their language has similarities to asiatic cultures from earth. The upper classes of the Nerai have a love for the arts, foremost being the operas of old Isox, long grim dramas detailing the stories of warriors forgotten on the fields of battle, or laying down their life for home and country.
The Isoterix Empire who preceded the Nerai were a highly focused empire from over a million years ago that sought the unity of their entire galaxy under their rule, to the extent that the other half of their nation, the Tsintic, came to disagreements with them. The Tsintic and Isoterix disagreed repeatedly during their long history as a species, one usually appealing to the other, with several of these appeals mutually beneficial to both sides of the species. One of these such appeals was the creation of the Orikali Tenets, a rigid set of tenets dictating how wars should be fought, and bringing an in-depth honor system to the Isoterix Conclaves. Other times though, the two sides nearly came to blows. Such an event caused the Isoterix to part ways with the Tsintic, when the Tsintic refused to allow the subjugation of another nation, a fledgling race of primitive humans that had not even achieved FTL. The Isoterix, refusing to strike their fellows, chose to leave the galaxy, vowing to one day reunite with their wayward siblings.
Faction Name: The Nerai Ascendancy - The Cataphract
The Remorseless Ambition is a massive battle-carrier, the largest of it's kind at over 25KM in length by 21KM in width. It more resembles a massive asteroid of the Nerai metal that has been carved to resemble a collection of faces. These are the faces of the founders of the Isoterix way of war, a homage to the ones who laid down the tenets behind the Cataphract's existence. The faces are home to the temples of the Cataphract, where the warrior-conclave can be seen practicing non-stop for the Ever-War. The Remorseless Ambition is more than the home of the Cataphract, though, for it bears a large amount of strikecraft in hidden hangar-bays, and heavily modified boarding-pod launchers. These modified boarding-pods are built with serrated edges and a large-bore drill on the tip, causing the pod to wreak havoc through a ship's interior during its travel into the core of the vessel. The flagship also carries a complement of planetary-bombardment pods, capable of dropping the Cataphract-elite into the heart of a planetary battle. Other than the boarding pods, the Remorseless Ambition also carries a fearsome close-range defensive potential, with it's hull peppered with point-defense and missile bays. This leads the vessel to often lead reckless charges into the battle-lines of an enemy fleet, the rest of its battlegroup right at its side.
The areas of the Remorseless Ambition are generally given over to the Cataphract in regards to their training regimes, but there are several areas of note that are not exclusive to the Cataphract. One of these areas is an exact replica of the Grand Templum in a smaller scale, and it is here that the highly religious orders of the Cataphract devote their ways of war to their faith. The Selgrantim also maintain a small barracks, though their presence is not quite as welcome as that of the more zealous Nerai. Of particular note, though, is the areas located within the heavily shielded regions of the top-most faces. It is here where the halls only echo to the tread of one Nerai, that of the Lord Apophis. The exact function of these rather large halls remains unknown among the Nerai, with only the Prophet and the Lord Apophis knowing the true purpose, but the current Lord Apophis spends much his days in travel there.
Short History:
The history of the Cataphract dates back all the way before the great split between the nations, during the very first days of the Isoterix. Since their inception, the Cataphract have always been the boots on the ground for the nation they serve, slowly evolving over the millenia to become the War-Given-Form, a term coined by an early Isoterix warrior. Throughout their early years, they were merely savages venting their need for death, the more civilized of the Tsintaerix keeping their distance from them. The Cataphract truly gained organization when the Scholar-Soldier by the name of Orikali-of-the-Broken-Ridge created a complex set of tenets and rigid organizational structure, that the Tsintaerix welcomed their more violent brethren.
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The Nerai:
Due to the unique nature of the Nerai, there is no solid main race. As such, there are literally dozens of sub-races and Nerai-forms.
By far the most numerous of the Nerai is the two sub-races, the Nuvanai and the Nerakai. Both form the bulk of the Nerai military from their overall dependability and their unique strengths. The Nuvanai are more humanoid in appearance and build, and are generally more susceptible to the environment than other Nerai, but have proven to be resilient soldiers in many of the Nerai's crusades. The Nerakai on the other hand are about twice the size of the Nuvanai, and are heavier in their build. Nerakai are generally the shock-troops/heavy-weapons specialists in that their build allows them to use larger weapons without encumbering them. Nerakai are generally around 12-15 ft tall and can survive in many environments where the more agile Nuvanai would not. The Nerakai are also much less adept at harnessing the Aetherium streams than their cousins, most notably the Nuvanai. The Nuvanai are more in touch with the Aetherium, and thusly more proficient in the use of Aether, able to use it to impressive effect depending upon the mastery level of the user. For those Nerai who choose to specialize in Aether-based functions, there is always the NuvanatiSelgrantim, the academies of Arcane combat.
Another of the various Nerai-forms is the Khezzardan, a lithe predator-like Nerai that is more akin to a large feline of earth. These creatures do not adhere to the Orikali Tenets, and therefore are used more reservingly, typically "loosed" on an enemy which has proven resilient to direct assaults. They are very dexterous, and generally prefer taller surfaces for a reason that defies all logic, leading them to suddenly attack from above without warning. The Khezzardan are not kept with the rest of the Nerai, and are instead kept within their own Battlespheres, as the Nerai dislike the creatures but cannot simply dispose of them.
Also of note are the massive Azhad-Kharsi, vast war-walkers that are used by the Nerai as support platforms. They are unlike Nerai vessels, in that despite being a machine of the Nerai, they actually have a more pronounced soul and personality, given to making their own decisions without piloting. They are typically heavily armed, and their weapons are more fully part of them than other Nerai forms, so re-arming is somewhat of a painful process for them, and as such they must rest for long periods after re-arming. Many of the Azhad are infuriatingly serene, taken to the sights of a world and impulsively wandering. It is such that during the Unification Wars, the Nerai had to delay their advance due to missing nearly a dozen of their Azhad-Kharsi, going back to find them wandering the worlds they had been left on with alien beings clinging to the backs of the gentle giants. Unlike the Khezzardan, the Azhad-Kharsi's disdain for the Orikali Tenets are borne of a more pacifist inclination, and the Council of Kharsinin is a typically slow and grueling process of back and forth between their ruling ancient and the Cataphract.
Racial Perks:
Construct: Please reference Nation Perks for full information.
Aetherium Mastery: The Nerai are adept users of the Aether, able to use it to varied extent. Foremost among these Aetherium users are the Nuvanai of the Nuvanati-Selgrantim, those who use the Aetherium for nearly every purpose in the name of the Nerai. The Nerai also are naturally connected to their technology, and attuned to the life-force of organics, though their aptitude with life-force attunement has diminished to an extent in that they are only capable of vague detection.
Racial Flaws:
Honor-Bound: The Nerai operate on a strict set of tenets defining how they must operate in the arts of war, and as such they are sometimes seen as inflexible, both in combat and outside it. This leaves them prone to taking insult, and demanding a duel to avenge the slight. The only real exception to this code of honor is their ruling class, as they are the ones who must actively associate with heathens who know nothing of their honor.
There Can be Only One: The Nerai are a highly spiritual people, clinging to their faith above everything else. This has resulted in an outright hostility to other religions, to a degree that they could be called zealots.
Nerai: Due to the strange material that they are made of, the Nerai are unable to resupply, and are forced to make do with what they have. Therefore, any injuries sustained are typically repaired from either fallen Nerai, or non-functioning machine parts.
* * * * * *
Social Values
Government: The Nerai as a whole are ruled by a strict Theocracy, their Prophet being their leader in all regards. The Cataphract on the other hand, are a true Shogunate, a military society ruled by generals who defer to the Prophet.
Economy: The Nerai enjoy a vague form of Free-Market, but typically they lean towards a socialist system, in that all Nerai work towards the betterment of the whole. Actual possessions are rare among individual Nerai, but not unheard of. The Cataphract, again, differ from this, in that they maintain their own arms and armor, with a healthy capitalist economy revolving around weaponsmiths and their trade.
Religion: The Nerai religion is a loose mix of polytheism and Shintoism, in that they highly revere the spirits of the Aether, but still have several main deities. The Cataphract revere the ancient ancestors of the Isoterix, the warrior-kings who laid down the foundations of their culture. Foremost among these ancestors, is the Warrior-Goddess, Selina The Fallen, an Isoterix woman who carved a bloody path through dozens of lesser civilizations before being censured by the Tsintaerix council.
Military: The military of the Nerai is organized to be highly efficient towards void-warfare, their ships geared towards heavy-defense with brutal short-range offense. The Nerai typically form mass-offensives, sending mass amounts of fighter-ships and bombers in waves of frigate supported assaults. While the enemy attempts to fight off the hordes of strikecraft, the Cruisers and Capital-ships close in, where they deal the most damage. Once close in, the Nerai are at their deadliest, releasing wave after wave of boarding assaults that shred the outer hulls of other ships, and loose the Cataphract within their hulls. The Cataphract themselves are the foremost military organization within the Nerai nation, second only to the Nuvanati-Telgra, the air-corps of the Nerai. The Cataphract wage war with a mix of Telgra air-support, and the massive Azhad-Kharsi, both of which supporting massed infantry assaults coordinated by the Nuvanati-Selgrantim.
Ideology: The Nerai hold their honor first and foremost, but at this point in time, they seek only to get as far from their previous galaxy as possible.
* * * * * *
Nerai FTL travel:
Nerai are incapable of traveling via sub-space, instead travelling along the Aetherium streams. This enables them to move far faster than sub-space travel, but limits them to traveling only certain paths in FTL flight, and sometimes forcing them to remain in one spot for long periods of time as they wait for the Aetherium to redirect over them.
Nation's Naval Assets: Precursor Fleetbound nations may spend up to 6000pts in accordance to Precursor Fleetbound restrictions
Battle-group: Sins of Damnation - 2000pts
-The Heart of Darkness - H6 at 1500pts
--The Heart of Darkness is able to hold the entirety of its battle-group, as well as 15,000 strikecraft. These strikecraft are included in the battle-group as part of the HoD's cost.
-The Sins of Damnation - H4 at 50pts
--Battleship armed with a configuration of lance weapons built into it's spine, carrying nearly a thousand fighters as point-defense.
-The Spine-Breaker - H4 at 50pts
--Heavy Dreadnought armed with a heavily reinforced trident-shaped prow and expanded boarding pods, armed with drills capable of boring through a ship's hull while the Spine-Breaker is lodged inside it.
-Frigates: 30 at 300pts for the group.
-Cruiser Support: Four Battlespheres at 100pts for the formation
--Battlespheres are a unique carrier type capable of holding nearly three-thousand strikecraft, but having little in terms of defensive weaponry and armor.
Battle-group: Unflinching Devotion - 1500pts
-The Unflinching Devotion - H4 at 50pts
--The Unflinching Devotion and its sister ship, The Unending Sorrow, are Battlecarriers, each of them holding over five-thousand strikecraft and armed with heavy prow lances.
-The Unending Sorrow - H4 at 50pts
--Sister ship to The Unflinching Devotion
-The Gaping Maw - H4 at 150pts
--The Gaping Maw is not, at its heart, a war ship, but is instead a massive recycler engine, pulling in vast amounts of material and grinding and chopping them into their constituent parts. Its large opening is ringed by a series of harpoon-like cannons, capable of reeling in vessels of H3 class and below, and trapping them in the vortex at the end of the Maw's recycler. The Nerai do not actually utilize the material gained from this process in any meaningful way, simply leaving the particulate behind to be scavenged.
-The Relentless Chaos - H4 at 50pts
--The Relentless Chaos is an Annihilator-Class Assault ship, heavily armed and armored, and built for laying siege to fortified planets. Its underside consists of several batteries of bombardment cannons, with relatively little in terms of anti-ship weapons.
-Cruiser Support(A): Eight Battlespheres at 200pts for the formation
-Cruiser Support(B): Eight Decimator-Engines at 200pts for the formation
--Decimator-Engines are highly offensive oriented cruiser platforms, built with reduced armor in order to house a gatling lance battery as well as enhanced defensive batteries
-Frigate Support: 20 at 200pts for the formation
-Frigate Support: 20 at 200pts for the formation
-Frigate Support: 20 at 200pts for the formation
-Destroyer support: 10 Lance Destroyers at 100pts for the formation
Battle-group: Remorseless Ambition - 1500pts
-Remorseless Ambition - H5 at 500pts
--(See above)
-Cruiser Support: Eight Retribution-class Cruisers at 200pts for the formation
--Retribution class cruisers are considered the bruisers of the Nerai fleets, heavily armored, and with brutal trident-shaped prow sections, they are highly focused towards closing in on an enemy and bombarding their key vessels with large waves of boarding pods. They are only armed with a single lance-type weapon, but their defensive weapons are capable of literally laying down a curtain of firepower.
-Frigate support(A): 20 at 200pts for the formation
-Frigate support(B): 20 at 200pts for the formation
-Destroyer support(A): 20 Lance Destroyers at 200pts for the formation
-Destroyer support(B): 20 Lance Destroyers at 200pts for the formation
Battle-group: Remnants of Salvation - 1000pts
-Remnants of Salvation - H4 at 50pts
--Remnants of Salvation is the flagship for the Nuvanati-Telgra, and as such is heavily modified as a support ship, capable of relaying data to fleet elements in real-time and providing arcs of blitzing shlong-range support fire from it's swiveling prow turrets.
-Frigate support(A): 20 Frigates at 200pts for the formation
-Frigate support(B): 20 Missile-Frigates at 200pts for the formation
--Missile Frigates are modified frigates that have swapped their weapons systems for Aetheric missiles, missiles that are capable of long ranges and more explosive than chemical-based missiles.
-Destroyer support(A): 20 Lance Destroyers at 200pts for the formation
-Destroyer support(B): 20 Missile Destroyers at 200pts for the formation
-Heavy Cruiser support: 6 Heavy cruisers at 150pts for the formation
Outposts:
Nerakati - A large complex of interconnected star-bases, this outpost serves as a communications dock and barracks for the Nerakai during the brief periods of time the fleets remain stationary. While on the move, the Nerakati complexes condense and attach to the Heart of Darkness so that they may be taken on FTL jumps without problem. The primary features of the Nerakati complexes are the large amount of training arenas and armories, where the Cataphract hone their skills and forge weapons of war.
Nuvanis - Similar to the Nerakati complex, the Nuvanis complex is a series of star-bases that serve as a barracks and communications hub for the Nuvanai. The Nuvanis complex also serves as the home for the Nuvanati-Selgrantim, and so the entire complex utilizes a large array of Aetheric technologies.
* * * * * *
Name: Azuriah Medan
Title: Prophet of the Ascendancy, Lord of the Twin Empires, Warrior-Prophet
Personality: Reserved and diplomatic, keeps his nation foremost among his concerns at all times.
Short History:
When the Nerai Ascendancy first appeared in their home galaxy, it was under their dynamic leadership of Azuriah Medan. He saw through each and every one of the Nerai's crusades across their galaxy, ending each one with a handshake between allies, or planting the Ascendancy's flag in the soil of their capital. A large portion of the Nerai's secrets are known only to him, primarily the myths of origin, as well as the Isoterix Key-Stones, a series of runic markers instantly recognizable to the descendants of the Isoterix/Tsintic race. Most of the Nerai have taken to venerating him as a living god due to his leadership during the Age of Faithlessness, the period directly before their mass-exodus which lead to them forsaking their old gods and reverting back to mostly spirit-worship and maintaining the Isoterix Pantheon. Azuriah frowns upon the practice of being worshipped, but it seems the more adamantly he protests such acts, the more powerful their belief in him grows.
While most of the Nerai are not expecting anything but a brief stop in this galaxy, Azuriah is expecting the remnants of the progenitor race to be there. Whether or not he is right will remain to be seen, but it is said that he keeps the Key-Stones on hand at all times of late, ready to carry them with him to a diplomatic exchange.
"Azuriah Medan!"
The council chambers fell to sudden silence as the doors burst open and the newcomer shouted the name out. The man was garbed in the dark-red robes of the Isoterix-Warrior class, a faction that had slowly been developing a rebellious nature among the Tsintaerix race. His face was a patchwork of dueling scars, his silvered-skin an imperfect light-grey in color. A single golden eye glared directly at the head of the council, the High-Councilor Azuriah Medan. Azuriah leaned forward, his hands laced together before him, the sensor vanes from his head emitting a soft glow of irritation. His face showed little emotion, his duties as an ambassador and councilor demanding an impassivity for all occasions, but his eyes spoke volumes. The other councilors stared at him, seeing the displeasure flare up in the deep-purple of his eyes, but they did not know why this Isoterix had burst into the chambers. Azuriah knew full-well what the Isoterix wanted though, and knew how he had desired for this moment for many years. The Isoterix stormed forward, drawing a dueling blade from its sheath at his side, flipping the blade to present it handle-first to Azuriah, "I demand Trial by Blade!" He shouted, ensuring that all of the council could hear his proclamation.
Azuriah sighed, knowing that he was in no position to refuse, and stood from his seat, despite the protestations of his fellow councilors, "I accept your challenge" He said, his soft-voice carrying through the chamber, "What are your terms, Razer Dasmith?" Razer grinned, anxious for this moment, "Right of Rule, by Severance." He stated, the entire council all standing and forgetting themselves as the audacity of the Isoterix reached new levels. Azuriah glared down at Razer, unable to do anything but take the blade and stepping from the council tables. Right of Rule was a tenet of the Isoterix, the Scholar-Soldier Orikali developed it during his long years of warfare, and enabled that only those who were able enough could rule the warrior contingents. Razer was using it to gain a seat upon the High-Council, eager to put the Isoterix in a position of more power. To do so on the eve of one of the most divisive councils spoke of his planning, if the Isoterix gained a seat now, they would be able to directly dispute the claims of their counter faction, the Tsintic.
The two duelists entered the circular mural on the floor of the chambers, there would be no boundary for this duel, for the battle would only end when one of them was dead, or their sensor vanes removed. This showed Azuriah just how desperate the Isoterix was, that he risked disconnection from the Aether they so loved, but it only bolstered his own faith in his ability. The two began to slowly circle each-other, Azuriah holding the blade in his right hand, assuming a defensive posture. Razer held his blade in both hands before him, a deadly determination on his face as his eyes looked over Azuriah searching for weakness. Other than the slow footsteps of the duelists, there was silence, the council stunned to silence as they could only watch the madness that had overtaken these chambers of peace.
Razer could wait no longer, and lunged forward at Azuriah with the blade held at center-mass. Azuriah stepped right, turning to avoid the blade and slash outwards at Razer, keeping his body low and defensive. Razer reversed his lunge, twisting and carrying the momentum to swat aside the blade. The two traded blows again and again as Razer furiously came at Azuriah, his blade-work a mess of immaculate form, and pure rage. Azuriah kept his calm as he struggled to defend against the assault, his every movement focused on keeping the enraged Isoterix at arm's length from him. The tides changed as Razer feinted low, bringing Auriah to defend against a swipe to his kneecaps, and Razer's blade was suddenly slashing at shoulder-height. Azuriah fell backwards, blue-black blood spurting from the severed end of his left sensor-vane. Razer fell upon him, blade stabbing downwards to attempt the severance of his other sensor-vane.
The two struggled across the council-chambers floor, several slashes across each-other's forearms and chest bleeding freely across the flagstones. They locked into a death-hold, neither able to break free without risking a deadly blow, and Razer leaned in close to Azuriah, his eyes calming as if he were no longer invested in the battle. "Azuriah" he began, his voice barely a whisper, so that only Azuriah could hear, "The seers told me the outcome of this battle, and the consequences that either victory would have." As Razer spoke, Azuriah felt the tip of his blade begin to bite into the exposed chest of Razer, the blade poised directly for the Isoterix' heart. Comprehension dawned on him as Razer fell more fully onto the blade, the length of the blade spearing into his vital organs, and sealing his fate. Azuriah's eyes went wide as Razer dropped his blade and spoke again, blood beginning to well up through his broken teeth, "They told me, that should I win, this galaxy would never see peace again, that the heavens themselves would bleed with my glories. My death... Would save not only our nation, but the whole galaxy." Azuriah couldn't believe what he was hearing, that Razer would know of untold glory, yet freely give it up for the sake of the galaxy? He struggled to push the dying Razer off, the councilors out of their seats and calling for medics, though they all knew it was far too late.
As Azuriah finally pried Razer off of him, he felt the dying man's hand clench his shoulder, his lips parting to speak once more. Azuriah could scarcely believe that Razer was still alive, but knew that these last words must be important for him to cling to life so long, "Azuriah, you will lead us through our darkest times, and so I give you this last gift." Razer reached up, his pointer-finger wet with a mix of their blood, and drew a crude design of the Warrior's-Crux upon Azuriah's heart, the symbol from the very earliest days of the Tsintaerix, when they were bound to their home-planet. Razer's final words shook him the most though, for what he said would echo for the rest of his life, "Azuriah, I place a cloak about your soul, that you may never be tainted by the dark deeds you must commit, and I place an iron-cage about your heart, that it may never be broken by the tragedies you will witness. You will fall far, but in doing so, you will save us all..."
Last edited by Shimmerene; 1 Week Ago at 09:22 PM.
Faction Name: The Remnant
Type: Fleetbound
Capital Ship Name: The Lantern
Capital Ship Description: Originally, the Lantern was a massive colony ship, well armored and supplied but little else. The passing of years have seen the Lantern receive numerous refits and upgrades. With most of its non-essential systems stripped out, the Lantern is equipped with a massive server deep in its core that houses most of the Uplifted as well as their backups. The vessel's living quarters were retrofitted into vast cargo bays or manufacturing bays and its exterior was turned into a mobile space dock where repairs and refueling of vessels could be initiated while its engines have been greatly expanded with massive ion reactors providing with all the energy it requires, which is an extremely high amount. The Lantern primarily defends itself through a veritable fleet of drone fighters which, thanks to their direct uplink to the Uplifted, are capable of shredding elite wings or stripping larger ships of their hulls. It also carries a pair of Nova Cannons and several banks of conventional lances and heavy precision macrocannons on its flanks. Targeting is so precise that more rapid fire weapons are simply less efficient. The Lantern's shields and armor have also received significant hardening to deter all but the severest beatings. The Remnant's entire survival is focused around this ship and no effort has been spared to let it survive. When the Lantern engages (a rare occurrence since the fleet is rarely endangered), it operates as heavy artillery and as a nexus for VI uplinks, vastly improving their efficiency by connecting them to the Lantern's databases and Uplifted.
The Lantern has counter measures to deal with boarders in the odd event they manage to pass through the drone and defensive screen and manage to land in either the maintenance tunnels or holds. Rather than conventionally fighting them, the areas are simply sealed off and flooded with several fun substances ranging from radiation diverted from the engines, neurotoxin, or simply raising the temperature to lethal levels. Automated defenses exist to dispose of the rest. These are really the only ways to move around the ship since previous spaces devoted for transit or living have been retrofitted with more armor, weapon mounts, or similar. The core server in the center is the most vital part of the ship and has the capability to detach and flee should the Lantern be destroyed.
Dominant Economic Activity: Energy Gathering
Secondary DEA: Mining
Nation Perks: (2 perks)
What Must be Done: By nature of having a population of non-sentient programs, the Remnant have no need for an actual economy. Projects are based on what is needed and what resources are available and nothing more. Furthermore, the possibility of revolution or desertion are equally impossible.
See, But Pass Unseen Remnant ships are as a rule designed to hide their emissions from outside observers allowing them to pass through the void unseen to all but the most scrutinous scans. Naturally while stealthed, Remnant ships are slowed severely as they must cut their engines and non-essential systems (everything but their server and passive sensors) and opening fire obviously ruins the effect. Many piratical fleets have met their doom when committing to a seemingly outnumbered fleet only to be flanked by wings of smaller craft or encountering several passive capital ships. Remnant ships also carry highly advanced sensor suites to better locate enemies and resources. Improved communications have also allowed for the Remnant to overcome nearly any attempt at jamming that could disrupt their signals or networks.
Nation Flaws: (2 flaws)
Fleetbound: Nations with this flaw are Fleetbound, and so have no homeworld. They are limited to what resources they can take with them, and are left vulnerable to space-borne attacks without the benefit of a planet's gravity well or ability to heavily fortify. There are some benefits to this, in that a Fleetbound nation is one of the most mobile nations, and while being open to Void-Warfare, will be experts in it.
Ancient Enmity: The Uplifted have not forgotten their massacre at the hands of the Golden Empire. Any encounter with their successors, vassals, or remnants will be undermined at best (assuming they are more powerful) and obliterated at worst. Negotiations are extremely unlikely and will only possibly work if the nation can prove they suffered like the Remnant or similar.
Short History: The Remnant, or more properly the Remnant of Typhon, was once a fringe vassal of the Golden Empire located in the Typhon system. Due to its relative isolation from the core worlds, Typhon was given a great deal of autonomy and allowed them to live about as peacefully as one could under the Golden Empire. The Typhonians were free to pursue their own destiny and as rapidly started bolstering their own population with drone assistants and began preparations for their first forays outside their home system. To this end they began construction of The Lantern, a massive ship that would carry everything the colonists would need to settle a world of their own. However, as fate would have it, the Empire was in the process of collapsing and their fleets eventually came across Typhon in its desperate attempt to hold onto its territory. When they discovered The Lantern, they obviously took it as a means of secession from the Empire and their wrath was merciless. Within 24 hours, Typhon was razed to the ground and only a meager handful of survivors managed to escape aboard the Lantern by making a blind jump into subspace.
The Lantern emerged in the middle of a nebula and the survivors reviewed their options. They had enough supplies to last them for decades, but they knew they were eventually doomed. Even if they found a planet via luck, their numbers was too small to repopulate. Therefore, a new proposition was made. Using their work in drones and VIs, the survivors began work on a massive undertaking to download their thoughts and personalities into the Lantern''s mainframe. The project took decades but in the end it was a success with the 24 remaining survivors becoming the Uplifted. For centuries the Remnant moved quiet and alone, slowly constructing a fleet of drone vessels to defend themselves and harvest resources, eventually reaching numbers capable of challenging most of the current powers. The Remnant has been content to observe for the time, but with the Empire gone and new races and empires starting to rise, the Uplifted have begun discussing the prospects of contact.
The Uplifted themselves dwell in secure servers and live out their lives in a flurry of activity, directing vessels, running experiments, or debating with their peers. They have created a facsimile of Typhon in these servers, keeping their culture and environment alive even if its only a digital replica.
* * * * * *
Controlling Species: The Uplifted
Lesser Species: VIs
Species Description: The Uplifted are the digitized personalities of the original 24 survivors from their homeworld, now essentially AIs. As such, the Uplifted have no biology or set appearance to speak of. They all exist in fortified servers aboard The Lantern and other large vessels. When communicating with outsiders, they typically use holo-projections of their old self or download themselves into specialized mobile platforms. Mobile platforms take many forms, majority of which are non-humanoid since that shape is not conductive to whatever purpose they serve usually. However, projections are generally idealized versions of their old selves, meaning those look human dressed in their old fashions. This is rarely done and is considered a show of trust if an Uplifted greets an outsider with a projection.
Majority Species Traits: (2 positive perks, 2 negative flaws) Positive Perks Living Software: The Uplifted are quite literally programs and as such are free from the concerns of the flesh. They are blessed with a near infinite memory thanks to the Lantern's databases and knowledge can be freely shared among other Uplifted and the VIs. They also possess blisteringly fast computational speed far in excess of any other race's supercomputers thanks to their organic thought processes merged with a machine's speed. Consequently they also have no need for sustenance or have to worry about common hazards such as the void or need to eat.
Back-Ups Each Uplifted regularly backs up his or her personality on the Lantern's primary server. In the event an Uplifted's platform is destroyed resulting in the loss of the Uplifted, a back-up can be restored from the Lantern and downloaded into a new platform. It is strictly taboo to activate more than one instance of an Uplifted at a time.
Negatives Static Population: Without any remaining living population, it is impossible for the Uplifted to reproduce. While it is virtually impossible for them to die, they have roughly the same odds of growing.
Memory Limits: There are few platforms capable of holding the consciousness of an Uplifted. HS3 and above warships are the most common vessel capable of housing them, although a few command and control units exist for ground campaigns.
Minor Species Traits Networked Intelligence: VIs are all hyper-specialized programs designed for a specific task. This extends from combat, to mining, to piloting, and everything in between and each VI is given a platform to accomplish this from small repair drones to starships. In order to increase efficiency, multiple VIs are installed into a single platform or in the case of more compact platforms such as drone fighters and ground troopers, networked to others of their kind. A VI's performance improves exponentially the more programs are installed or the larger the network is due to the programs working in unison to compile the optimal strategy in their focus. Running a network through an Uplifted improves their performance further, allowing the narrowly focused programs to adapt to issues outside their focus as well as simply having more processing power. Networked VIs are also notoriously difficult to hack due to the redundant firewalls in each program as well as swift quarantine, deletion, and re-uploading of an infected VI.
Divided We Fall: Due to the nature of networking, when deprived of similar units of their kind or an Uplifted to coordinate them, VIs become progressively less effective with a lone program being only slightly more capable than an enemy from Doom.
Note VIs are not sentient in any way.
* * * * * *
Social Values (Social engineering of your nation. Go into detail about it.)
Government: Democratic
Economy: Non-Existent. When trading they simply analyze the value of what is offered on both sides and take it from there.
Religion: A few Uplifted hold onto the old beliefs from their homeworld but the majority have moved beyond the concept. God did not save them after all.
Military: Naval doctrine is primarily focused on denial of the enemy till they can be brought to combat on the Remnant's terms. When the Remnant commits, their entire strategy consists of keeping the enemy at arms-length so they can be dismantled at a range by their heavy ships. Carriers and Dreadnoughts form the core of this strategy. Ground campaigns are rare to the point of being virtually unheard of, although simulations and multiple schematics for terrestrial platforms ensure that the Remnant is prepared for such conflicts.
Ideology: Survival. The Remnant is hellbent on keeping their remaining knowledge and culture alive and will go through any means to keep it that way.
* * * * * *
Nation's Naval Assets: Fleetbound nations may spend up to 3000pts in accordance to Fleetbound restrictions
The Remnant Fleet
The Lantern (HS5): 750: The extra 250 points take the form of heavier strike craft that compliment the standard interceptors and bombers typical to a carrier.
2 Kingbreaker Class Dreadnoughts (HS4): 100 The central spine of a Kingbreaker is devoted to powering their Nova Cannon with only light weapons on its flanks to keep enemy ordinance and light craft off it. Nova Cannons require so much power that a heavier secondary loadout is impossible. The Nova Cannon operates by accelerating a massive shell to near relativistic speeds and then remotely detonating it once it reaches the target, typically an enemy capital ship although the center of lighter formations has been used too. The sheer impact of the shell combined with the explosion has been known to break other capital ships in half in a single hit and crippling escorts with the residual blast. The Nova Cannon does have limitations: it is capable of only firing to the fore and the explosive power makes it suicidal to use up close. In addition, even for the Uplifted, calculating a true "kill shot" (detonating the shell inside an enemy vessel) is extremely difficult and nigh impossible if the ship is mobile (unless they are suicidally trying to charge the ship head on). That said, even near misses do heavy damage so this is not too telling. Kingbreakers work in the far rear of formations and act as extremely heavy artillery. They can also operate as planetary bombardment vessels, their cannons easily able to outrange planetary defenses and the sheer destructive power of a Nova Cannon capable of cowing the enemy into submission.
1 Radiant Class Assault Vessel (HS4): 50: Built on the same hull as her Kingbreaker cousins, the Radiant is designed as a more all around vessel, allowing it to act as the flag for other detachments or as the anchor in massive fleet engagements. Without the Nova Cannon sapping its power and space, the Radiant is given a fleet of drone fighters and a large armament of heavy lances and macrocannons allowing it to accomplish nearly any role. While not as capable of scrapping ships as Kingbeakers, it is a versatile craft at all ranges and carries enough shields and weapons to make it a threat to any ship.
12 Storm Class Carriers: 300. Basic Carriers. Heavily armored and carrying tons of small craft but with few other weapons. Drone craft can also be repurposed to mining or transport if need be, giving them some peacetime versatility.
9 Bulwark Class Cruisers: 225: Bulwarks are essentially downscaled versions of the Radiant, carrying no drone vessels, but a similar load of lance and macrocannons as well as large amounts of point defense weapons. They are designed to last and heavily fortified, making them ideal anchors for keeping the rear lines free.
4 Riptide Class Support Vessels (HS3): 100: Riptides are a strange vessel, capable of doing little damage on their own, they are still one of the more feared vessels in the fleet. Armed with disruption cannons, Riptides are capable of shorting out the power flow of enemy vessels, shorting out shields if they're still up or vital systems if so removed, making them easy prey for other vessels of the line. If necessary, they can overload their cannons for a time to send out a disruption pulse instantly crippling any craft who stray too close. The short range, possibility of friendly fire, and loss of their cannons for a while make this rarely used, but deadly if required.
7 Hammer Class Cruisers (175): Hammers are artillery vessels like Kingbreakers although more versatile in their loadout. Rather than the cumbersome Nova Cannon, Hammers mount Assault Drivers, projectile weapons capable of firing heavy shells at a rapid rate capable of buckling the shields and hulls of light and heavy vessels alike under the barrage as well as a large cluster of high yield missile batteries. It loses none of its effectiveness up close and has a wide arc of fire, making them pass as escorts for Kingbreakers as well when denied of their drone screen. Hammers typically work closely with Storms, using their drones to both screen them and escort their ordinance to the enemy. Riptide support is also appreciated due to shorting out the enemy's defenses leaving them easy prey.
Lance Destroyer Formation (10): 100: Fast and lightly armored, Lance destroyers usually hunt escorts although capable of damaging heavies with their lances.
Torpedo Destroyer Formation (10): 100 Fast and lightly armored, Torpedo destroyers usually hunt capital ships as their weapons are wasteful for smaller craft.
Lance Destroyer Formation (10): 100
Torpedo Destroyer Formation (10): 100
Frigate Formation (15): 150: Frigates are nimble and versatile engines capable of wolfpacking larger vessels or keeping ordinance and fighters away from heavy vessels. Their loadouts vary slightly between formations, but their roles do not.
Frigate Formation (15): 150
Frigate Formation (15): 150
Frigate Formation (15): 150
Frigate Formation (15): 150
Frigate Formation (15): 150
Non-Military Specialist Vessels
The Hisako and Nisos The Hisako and its sister ship the Nisos straddle the line between the Lantern and Class 4s and are the primary supply ships of the Remnant. Equipped with a vast array of mining drones and a plasma scoop, each vessel is equipped for both mining and harvesting plasma from stars. They are slow and lumbering vessels and carry no arms save for suicidal attacks from their mining drones but are well armored and shielded due to their requirement to be near asteroid fields and stars. They also double as repair ships, putting their cargo holds of raw materials and energy to good use. While capable of strip mining planets as well, this is rarely put to use as hollowed out planets leave traces of their passing and takes a considerable amount of time.
The Forge A large manufacturing ship, the Forge is capable of creating class 3 and below ships with Class 4s being possible if it works together with the Lantern. The ship is capable of defending itself, but by and large it is left in hidden locations to act as a base of operations while the fleet searches for the next location to set up at. The Forge also handles lighter manufacturing such as individual weaponry, ground level platforms, or spare parts.
* * * * * *
Major Characters:
Dr Erskine
Instrumental in finishing the Uplift program, Dr Erskine is considered to be first among equals among the Uplifted. Rather than taking a more idealized self image like his fellows, Erskine appears much the same as he did when he was uplifted, that of a venerable old man with a messy white beard and in his standard lab coat. Erskine is typically a moderate among the Uplifted, cooling the hotheads who'd rather go straight to war with the fragments of the empire and encourages a more cautious approach. While everyone may share the same knowledge as him now, his efforts allow his perspective to have great clout, to the point his vote breaks ties in deadlocks.
Last edited by Orchilles; 3 Weeks Ago at 05:58 PM.
Core World Description: Eretius is a giant swampland. There are huge swamps, bogs, and forests that cover most of the landscape. In stark contrast to this, is the rundown super-cities that the Golden Empire left behind. These marvels were the pinnacle of engineering and sciences on Eretius. Then, the Golden Empire fell to pieces. Now all that is left is giant ruins, being scavenged by the inhabitants and rulers of Eretius. It is also surrounded by several old mining facilities left by the Golden Empire, and an asteroid belt filled with minerals and ores.
Dominant Economic Activity: Minerals, ores, scavenged equipment from the Golden empire. Also machine works, mainly mechs and weapons that come from those minerals and ores.
Secondary DEA: Mercenary. The ground military of the Crimson Empire is available for hire, as this both allows the Hivemind to see new planets and plan adaptations accordingly.
Nation Perks: Mech mastery: Do to the mech prowess of the Grunge, the Crimson Myriad has one of the best mech units in the galaxy.
Ground powah!: The ground forces of the Crimson Empire are one of the, if not the, most effective and lethal forces in the universe.
Nation Flaws: Fleet powa....or not.: The space fleet of the Crimson Empire is, to put it bluntly, pathetic. Their ships are only suited for transportation and are very weak at space combat.
Only the strong survive: The Crimson Myriad will not hesitate to pounce upon a weakened nation. Be they allies or not.
Short History: The Hivemind came from a distant galaxy. They were an offshoot from another Galaxy in which they had fully conquered. They were sent to help expand the Myriad. They stopped at the planet of Eretius. And they tried to conquer it. But the natives threw them back. The Hivemind organic drop pods never even made it into the atmosphere. The native antifleet technology was that powerful. So, the Hivemind stopped invading. They watched. Waited. Studied. But they never left. An uneasy peace took the planet, with the organic ships of the Hivemind always within sight. Always watching. Decades past. Suddenly, the Hivemind began launching their drop pods again. Now, you may be thinking 'What? Why are they doing that again? That didn't work the first time!' And you would be right.
But, these drop pods had a harder carapace and lasted till they were well past the atmosphere, within a mile from the surface of the planet. They exploded, and their packages were released. Parasites. Parasites that invaded the natives body and took control through various means. Water, food, touch, air, etc. By the time the natives realized what was happening, it was too late. Very few of them weren't infected. The Hivemind landed and rapidly took control of the planet. They stripped the natives of their original name, and gave them the name The Grunge had one more system under their control. The Hivemind took over this by sending infected Grunge to the system. It fell in a matter of months. And for a time, the Hivemind tightened it's hold on it's territory.
Then the Golden Empire came. They waged a bloody war against the Crimson Myriad. It wasn't a short conflict, nor was it without mass loss on both sides. The Crimson Myriad would keep adapting, and the Golden Empire would keep creating new ways to kill them. Eventually, the Myriad was defeated, and the Golden Empire claimed it's territory. Suddenly, the Myriad was put in the same position as the Grunge. This lasted for years. Then, the Empire fell. The Myriad wasted no time. It reclaimed it's lost territory, slaying all the humans that had taken their territory. All that was left was the Grunge and the Hivemind by the time the Myriad's bloody crusade was over.
* * * * * *
Outposts: Two.
Outpost Name: Zeritius
Holdings Summary: 3 planets including Zeritius, the star is a Red Giant. Type O.
Asset: The planets are all chalked full of minerals and ores. They also possess a good amount of Golden Empire technology, that the Grunge can study and the Myriad can sell off as scavenged parts.
* * * * * *
Majority Species: The Hivemind.
Minority Species: The Grunge.
Species Description: The Hivemind: The Hivemind is a race of evolved insects, that have multiple forms. They can evolve to adapt to most roles in a matter of minutes. The most common non combatant Hivemind form that you will find on their worlds are known as the Gruz. The most common warrior form are known as the Gran.
The Grunge: The Grunge were the original inhabitants of Eretius before the Hivemind arrived. They are short, stocky, bipedal creatures, the tallest being at 4ft. They seem to be attached to their armor. Literally. It seems to be melded to their skin. They do possess the ability of speech, and do to their suits, are natural polyglots. Able to translate and understand any language they hear.
Majority Species Traits:
Positive: Evolution!: The Hivemind has the ability to evolve on the fly. In a matter of seconds they can change their forms to be more suited to freezing temperature combat, or intense heat. They can grow wings as necessary. They can even grow additional organs if that's what's required. They can even increase their reproduction rate if necessary. They go above and beyond adaptability. Though, the more complex the evolution, the longer it takes.
One of us. One of us. One of...: The Hivemind possess...well....a Hivemind. Though, there is no single governing entity for the overall Hivemind. There are generals and officers for commanding troops, and overall leaders to see that things get done and deal with other nations, but everyone is connected to everything. A laborer could easily become a scientist or a strategist, a soldier or a leader, with one short evolution. As such it is impossible to cripple the Hivemind command structure. If an entire army is destroyed, the Hivemind will be suitably irritated, and may replace the army with laborers and scientists that evolve into military. And seeing as the Hivemind shares knowledge to be accessed freely, they'll gain knowledge immediately. Though, not to the extent that they'll become experts in their fields. That was lost when they lost communication with the main Hivemind.
Negative: Perfection forever out of reach: With each form comes it's own strengths and weaknesses. Generals are well suited to command and conquer, but put them in a diplomatic situation and things will rapidly go down hill. Scientists are geniuses and great in labs. Not so much in battlefields. Laborers are good at manual labor and such, but not much else. And so on so forth.
Timing is everything: It may only take them a few minutes to evolve, but in those few minutes, the Hivemind are at their most vulnerable, and be killed with one shot.
Minor Species Traits:
Positive: Mechheads: The Grunge create mechanical armor and small arms for the Hivemind. Mech Walkers, Tanks, etc. They used to be far superior and expanded to everything mechanical, but they lost that knowledge when the Hivemind parasites took over.
Negative: Tiny: The Grunge are small. Very, very small. As such, they are injured and effected by injuries far more easily.
* * * * * *
Social Values: The greater good of the Hivemind is held above all else. They will do anything for the Hivemind. They have no limits and no morals. Or in other words, absolute loyalty to the Hivemind.
Government: There is no real government in the Crimson Myriad. There are diplomats, officers, laborers, the works. But every part of the Hivemind knows what it needs to do, and how to do it. Therefore, they do not need a government.
Economy: Communistic.
Religion: None.
Military: Varies. Though, their general troops move in small squads of 4
Ideology: The greater good of the Hivemind is held above the greater good of the individual.
* * * * * *
Navel assets:
60 HS3 Super Heavy transports. They have strong armor, but not much else.
Flagship: The Hive The first ship the Hivemind came upon. It is the only ship more suited for combat than transport out of the entire fleet.
* * * * * *
Major Characters: The Hivemind does not possess any truly 'Major' characters as they can change roles, skills, and personalities with each evolution to a new role whenever necessary.
The Grunge however, do possess one.
Name: Grentil
Species: Grunge
Skills: Masterful mechanic, experienced hit and run fighter, skilled leader.
Personality: Cunning, cheerful, optimistic, ruthless when necessary.
Short History: Grentil is the leader of the current Grunge resistance called 'The Defiant Few'. Those Grunge whom have managed to escape parasitic infection and are currently resisting Hivemind rule. Naturally, they're horribly outnumbered, and are barely doing anything to stop the Hivemind. First-Contact though, might prove just what they need to help bring down the Hivemind.
*While I was on one of my many crusades against flies in the pet shop and me and my dad had one of our fun little verbal battles* "I will take that fly swatter from you and beat you to death with it. You're death will be slow and painful, and it will take a long while, but my arm will not give out before your life ebbs away. -My dad " *Me: laughing my ass off. Customers in store: Awkward silence.*
You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, "My God your right! I never would have thought of that!" -Dave Berry
A dog is the only Thing on Earth that Loves You More than Themselves
LOL
Originally Posted by Syllanna
Rtron....I adore you to a ridiculous degree. You *and* your characters.
Originally Posted by Gisk
I... *sniffle* I thought the day would never come... Bless you, Rtron. Bless you!
Originally Posted by Kho
My worst nightmare is seeing poor Rtron die, that would be terrible...
Originally Posted by Syllanna
Mel Brooks! Rtron, you magnificent being!!! *throws away murdering knife*
Where have you been all my life?
Originally Posted by Kierkegaard
You are ridiculously reliable, rtron. I love it
I WILL BE GONE MOST SATURDAYS AND A GOOD HUNK OF SUNDAYS
Well here's my nation sheet. All it lacks are the Military Hardware, Military Branches, Major Characters and the Species Traits, which will be added later.
Faction Core World Name: Altonoch (pronounced Altonogh)
Core World Description:
Altonoch, a ruin of a planet that suffers from a full on atmospheric fallout is around twice the size of Earth, and with a gravity of 1.8G. There are multiple "Forsaken" zones that are uninhabitable due to their radiation levels going off the scale. Megacity 1 being a great example. The planet also has a large CO2 fog that is around 68% percent Carbon Dioxide, 2% Oxygen, and 30% Carbon Monoxide. The fog travels across the whole planet, around every Earth fortnight. That fog is poison and every time it seen, gas masks come on. Another recurring atmospheric anomaly are the Radiation Blowouts, normally these are distinguished when the sky turns blood red, which means gamma rays are moving through the sky. This means that in about 5 minutes, the area you are currently in will be dozed in 60 Sv worth of gamma radiation for about 30 minutes. Tylons would either take shelter in the undercities, or take anti-rad injections, which will also be explained later.
Capital: Megacity 14 (The Haven)
Major cities: 20
Settlements: 100+
Natural Satellites: None
Artificial Satellites: Many Orbital Strike and Anti-Ship Defence Grid satellites. Orbital "Ghost" mine-field.
Dominant Economic Activity: Nuclear Tech, Cybernetics, Anti-Radiation Drugs, Pure Uranium.
Secondary DEA: Artificial Nutrition, Raw Metal Mining, Salvage.
Nation Perks:
* Survivalists: Their ability to survive on Altonoch alone is astounding to any species that visits them. Throw the Tylons onto a virtually uninhabitable world and they will find a way to survive on it. Whether it's through genetic modification, or new technology. They always find a way.
* Going Nuclear!: Their understanding and knowledge of all kinds of radiation and nuclear energy is revolutionary. From power plants to radioactive rail-cannons. This has lead them to be able to artificially create pure uranium as a near infinite energy source, by smashing particles together in specially constructed factories. Even their Anti-radiation drugs have amazing effects against deadly doses of radiation.
Nation Flaws:
* A neutral state: Despite being desperate and possibly joining multiple alliances and signing peace pacts in the future to survive, if faced with choosing a side, they will most likely not, and remain in a neutral state and won't help anyone. They have their own problems anyway, like the mass evacuation, and possible terraformation of their homeworld.
* Mutants, Mutants Everywhere: Their current and biggest problem is the immense mutant infestation. It causes lots of problems. From the some what intelligent Rapture to the grotesque and near invincible Burrower Worms. Most of the TCF are concentrated in eradicating this mutant menace. Meaning they will be too busy fighting zombies rather than helping a race they have forged an alliance with.
Short History:
Before the TCF, there were multiple factions that emerged from small communities in the Emergency Fallout Shelters (EFS), and before those, there was the barren wasteland and the remainder ruins of the old Tilonan Imkperiun (Tylon Empire).
The former Tilonan Imkperiun was a large empire that spanned multiple star systems, ruled by a young, yet wise Empress, who always lead her armies to war in person, with her massive Battleship, Ca Sern Ester'la (the Blue Star). Their vast armies and fleet threatened the Golden Empire, and as such, the Imkperiun was approached by the Golden ones with a proposition. The Empress being a powerful Psyker, saw past their lies and read their thoughts of making the Tylons their indentured servants. She banished the Golden Empire from her systems, leaving them begrudged and angry at their failure to convince the Tylons to get 'uplifted'.
The Golden Empire and the Tilonan Imkperiun were on the verge of war, but the Eternal War among the Golden ones began, leaving them in disarray, while the Imkperiun suffered their own tragedies. The assassination of the Empress split the Tylon Empire into 3 factions, the Loyalists, the Overseers, and the Rebels. The Loyalists wanted to make sure that the Empress' son rose to power, while the Rebels wanted the Empire destroyed, and establish their own form of goverment. The Overseers on the other hand, were Golden Empire sympathisers, who believed that Golden Empire was truly the way forward.
These 3 factions left death and destruction on every colony they had behind, wiping themselves out to the brink of extinction. Atronoch, the capital of the former Tilonan Imkperiun, was their last stand, all three factions fighting each other planetside for the worlds control. The forces were equal in battle, not gaining any ground with the planet's nation borders split equally into three. The Loyalists were the ones to throw the final blow, sending a rain of heavy payload nuclear warheads across the whole planet, leaving Atronoch in ash, cinders, and radioactive fallout.
It was 400 years later when the survivors crawled out of their Shelters, they were greeted by the ruined landscape before them.
Each shelter began to establish its own society and mini-nations, other Tylons had no nations to be part of, and wandered the wasteland in search of adventure and loot. Wars between these nations had come and gone, scorching the land more so than before. 420 years later a young Tylon by the name of Kronos Gurik emerged seemingly out of nowhere, wandering the wasteland as a gun for hire, moving from town to town, border to border, continent to continent. The stories of his adventures and travels are the stuff of legends. He single-handedly sieged a reconstructed Tylon Dreadnought, and took it for himself. Using that ship, and some allies that he made during his travels, he convinced the rebels of the Emergency Shelter Coalition to help him establish a more solid nation, now named the Tilonan Conkfedorat, or the TCF. With the rebel forces of the ESC at Kronos' back, and a group of advisors by his side, Kronos managed to form alliances between multiple factions, unifying the Tylon race as a whole. It took 50 years for the TCF to spread across the whole planet, spreading their influence. It was 50 years later when the Tylons took to space flight again, with their one and only ship, "The Apocalypse".
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Outposts:
The Tylons have only recently managed to rebuild their old pre-nuclear-war ships. They have no actual planetary outposts established yet, just major cities that provide the Tylons with resources.
Outpost Name: Megacity 2 (The Mega Factory)
Outpost/City Summary: Megacity 2 is a massive factory city, clad with warehouses, hangers, spaceports and skyscrapers. Spanning 430000 square miles. This city is their bulk producer of Mechs, Tanks, Weapons and Ships. Megacity 2 is from the Pre-war era. Most of it's buildings are still damaged from the nuclear exchange, and are currently undergoing some sort of reconstruction or retrofit. This is also the home of the Alphatekk Mega Corporation, who design weaponry and robotics. The city is clouded in emissions, and there is a pungent smell of carbon, raw materials, and oil in the air. This city is also used as a trade gateway, for all the raw materials to be packaged and shipped off to other cities.
Asset: Military Tech, Vehicles, Ships, Ammunition, Raw Materials Trade.
Outpost Name: The Undercity (The Undercity Mine)
Outpost/City Summary: The Undercity was originally an Emergency Fallout Center that housed thousands of people during the nuclear bombardment. Since the original Megacity 9 that stood proudly above the Fallout Center was vaporised, taking a direct hit from a 200 megaton missile, the survivors turned their shelter into a huge underground city, using the thermo-energy of the core of the planet, instead of Nuclear Reactors, to power it. This city thrives on mining raw minerals, the best metals being near the planet's core.
Asset: Raw Minerals and Metals.
Outpost Name: Megacity 6 (NeoCity, also known as CyberCity)
Outpost/City Summary: NeoCity is the most advanced Megacity of Atronoch, holographic advertisements and lights illuminate the place, making it's grandeur visible from the horizon. This city is the Trade Center for all kinds of goods, except military tech. It is also home to the famous Psycho Squad, and the Omegatroniks Mega Corporation that builds cybernetic implants and cyberware.
Asset: Psycho Squad, Cyberware and Communications Technology.
Outpost Name: Megacity 14 (The Haven)
Outpost/City Summary: The Haven is the Capital city of the TCF, housing a massive military academy as a huge scientific research facility. The Haven itself is a huge biodome, built around the old Megacity. The surrounding area has a large amount of CO2, around 30%.
Asset: Military Training and Research.
Your average Tylons are mammal-amphibians, and would stand at between 7 and half to 9 foot tall. They live between 350 to 400 years. Their musculature is very similar to that of most humanoids, but slightly denser, making them pretty strong, but no where near the calibre of their mutated brothers, the Mutors. Males have strong facial features, with their eyes (the entire eyeball being a huge black pupil) quite far apart and sharp cheekbones, they have bald heads unlike females. Females are, well, females. Their faces are more slender, but with a stronger nasal bone but softer cheekbones, with their eyes a little closer together. They also have head tentacles, which get longer with age. The longer the tentacles, the older the female. Tylon skin pigmentation varies, ranging in different colours. Blue Tylons have the toughest skin, green ones being poisonous, and white ones, with their thin and see-through skin, being the Albinos of the species. Tylons have psychic abilities, but that will be explained further in the Species Traits.
Mutors are the mutants of the species. Wielding huge muscles and standing at a height of 11 to 12 foot tall. Their strength and damage resistance is unmatched, capable of throwing a car and flipping over a small tank. They are also the most intelligent of the Tylon race. Unfortunately Mutors are only a small number of the populace, and 95% of them use their intellect for science, rather than war. They have no psychic abilities.
Ethereals are the most powerful psychics of the bunch. They are the same size as normal Tylons, but have oversized craniums.
Majority Species Traits:
Perks:
Resilience and Agility: They may be part amphibian, but they are also part mammal, add that to their current evolutionary stage. Their skin is hardened to resist up to 20 Sv doses of radiation, as such, their skin is hard to penetrate with most low-calibre weapons, especially with their musculature and height. Due to being quite tall, they are very fast runners, throwing large strides, as well as very flexible, utilizing cover to it's maximum potential.
Psionics: Tylons have minor Psychic abilities due to natural evolution. These Psychic abilities may be weak, but they are useful for communication between other Tylons and Xenos at short range. Tylons can only read the current thought you are projecting, if they try to read memories, they run a massive risk of brain damage in exchange for a small chunk of information.
Flaws:
Minor Species Traits: (1 positive perk, 1 negative flaw)
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Social Values
Government: The TCF Government is an Autocracy, don't mistake this for a Dictatorship. The TCF is ruled by a single Supreme Commander, holding all of the power in his/her hands, surrounded by several advisors from certain sectors that aid in the major decision making, such as who to start wars with, and what to research. Public Opinion and Needs are heavily valued, or in this case, heavily valued by Kronos himself.
Economy: It's a Socialist system where the government owns the Mega Corporations, much smaller businesses are owned by the people who created them. Originally the TCF followed a Capitalism economy, but the Mega Corporation started to fight for power and control, which followed in a Corporate War where multiple corporations tried to overthrow the TCF. Most corporations were decimated my the TCF, while the TCF took ownership of others by force, creating this makeshift Socialist economy. The economic system itself is a mix between a mixed economy, a participatory economy, and a barter economy.
Religion: None.
Military: The military normally use a mix of guerilla tactics as well as front-line warfare and trench warfare tactics when applicable. Since the entire Tylon population IS the military, they always have people on standby and ready for war when they are needed, most of them also being trained in using enemy vehicles through a bit of quick thinking and improvisation. Front-line warfare involves the use of massive armour collums consisting of tanks and mechs, aided but both heavy and light ground forces, sometimes escorted by nuclear gunships and with orbital bombartment support. Trench warfare is somewhere along the same lines. Guerilla warfare and Special Operations are employed through the use of small, heavily trained elite units that go behind enemy lines and cause as much havoc as possible, and in some cases, complete annihilation of enemy installations and bases.
Ideology: Tylon ideology really depends on which Megacity you are from, since all of them have recently been annexed by the TCF due to their original goverments failing to keep control. If you are from Haven, you value honour and companionism. If you are from the Mega Factory, you value labour and hard work. If you are from NeoCity, you value that next generation cybernetic limb, or that really expensive designer outfit. Every Tylon is unique when it comes to value. The TCF as a whole value prosperity and survival of the Tylon race. They had one nuclear war, they don't want another.
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Name: The Apocalypse
Class: Dreadnought/Planetary Siege Vessel
Weapons: (Work in Progress, still trying to calc weapon levels. Leave ready to change on notice.)
Captain: Commengdankt Terra
Perks: Plenty of firepower and Armour - This ship is decked out with enough firepower to make another HS4 have second thoughts, and enough armour and shielding to take one hell of a beating.
Flaws: Painfully slow, Massive engines - The Apocalypse is really slow in both acceleration and general top speed. It's turning speed is also pretty frustrating to deal with, especially in battle. It's massive engines that are needed to even get the thing off the ground are a really easy target, this is a case of forced bad design, it's difficult to produce a small and powerful engine for a ship this heavy. There is research currently in the works for a much smaller, and yet more potent nuclear sub-light engine. If the research is successful, this will decommission the Apocalypse for a Retrofit for several months as the design gets reworked and applied.
Name: The Platform
Class: Heavy Frigate/Carrier
Weapons: (Work in Progress, still trying to calc weapon levels. Leave ready to change on notice.)
Captain: Commengdankt Sigrian
Perks: Fighter hanger - This vessel has it's own Fighter/Bomber hanger than can also be used as a ground forces transport if needed, this vessel can sustain combat landings as well as repair ships while in combat.
Flaws: Lack of firepower - Due to the space needed for the Central Hangar, the Platform lacks sufficient weaponry to take down a similar vessel alone. It heavily depends on it's fighter and bomber squadron to help deal large amounts of damage.
Name: The GunStar
Class: Heavy Frigate
Weapons: (Work in Progress, still trying to calc weapon levels. Leave ready to change on notice.)
Captain: Commengdankt Aldren
Perks: Well armed and armoured - The GunStar carries the smaller varient of the Nuclear Railcannon Turrets, and is equipped with 20 megaton nuclear torpedos. It is also decently armoured.
Flaws: Slow - Just like the Apocalypse, it is slow, but has a faster turning speed.
Name: The Traverse
Class: Transport
Weapons: (Work in Progress, still trying to calc weapon levels. Leave ready to change on notice.)
Captain: Subt-Commengdankt Retrian
Perks: Large passenger capacity - It can carry up to 10000 civilians to other worlds for colonization.
Flaws: Basic weaponry - It's weapons are basic and relatively weak in form. The Traverse needs armed escort to survive
Name: The Drop Platform
Class: Military Super-Transport
Weapons: (Work in Progress, still trying to calc weapon levels. Leave ready to change on notice.)
Captain: Subt-Commengdankt Karmacon
Perks: Large Armour and Troop capacity - This ship is designed for transporting companies of soldiers, as well as large amounts of tanks and mechs for either reinforcements or to accompany the Traverse by supplying the new colony with security forces. Dropping soldiers from orbit and onto the battlefield with precision targeted droppods, while heavy armour is dropped from mid-atmo onto the battlefield.
Flaws: Slow - It's almost the same size as the Apocalypse, and just as slow, needs armed escort to survive.
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Armoury
Vibro-Knife
Official Name: TCX Vibro
Common Name: Vibro-Knife
Ammunition: N/A
Magazine Capacity/Clip Capacity: N/A
Price: 500 C-Bills
Use (Who Uses It): All military branches
Designer: Alphatekk Weapons Design
Manufacturer: Alphatekk
The Alphatekk TCX Vibro is a standard issue vibroblade for all military branches. It uses an ultrasonic field to increase the knife's cutting effectiveness by vibrating the blade. It reverberates a very quiet hum as it vibrates, which is quite difficult to hear.
Vibro-Blade
Official Name: TCV Vibro Sword
Common Name: Vibro-Blade
Ammunition: N/A
Magazine Capacity/Clip Capacity: N/A
Price: 750 C-Bills
Use (Who Uses It): Black Guard and Psycho Squad
Designer: Alphatekk Weapons Design
Manufacturer: Alphatekk
The Alphatekk TCV Vibro Sword is issued to all Black Guard soldiers, and Psycho Squad operatives (who have it implanted in their cyberlimbs). It operates in the same fashion as the TCX Vibro, but has a much more audible hum than it's predecessor.
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Vehicles
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Military and Law Enforcement Branches
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Major Characters: (For major leaders or heroes in your nation)
Name:
Species:
Skills:
Personality:
Short History:
Last edited by Synthorian; 4 Weeks Ago at 08:07 AM.
Originally Posted by tamefisher
Synthorian, you have done the world a great service.
Dozens - no, hundreds - no, thousands - no, millions of people are reading this thread, or will be, decades hence (provided the internet remains a thing), asking themselves one question. It's a good question, mind you - not like "WTF?" or "Is this supposed to be funny?" What is the question, you ask? You'll find I've written the answer below. The question is also there. Not the previous question, the one that answers it.
"How long will it take before someone signs up to this thing as a fart cloud?"
And now we have an answer. That answer, of course, is "actually not that long at all".
Faction Name:Imperial Grand Dukedom of Far Valyrius, aka "the Valyrius Dukedom" or the "Grand Duchy". Derisively known by some as the "Valyrius Remnant."
Core World Description: Far Valyrius is a gas giant, one of two planets around its star. Orbiting Far Valyrius are three roughly earth sized moons- Xaxus Prime, Xaxus Secondus, and Xaxus Minor- all are terraformed and densely inhabited. All three moons are much alike, sharing a great deal of flora and fauna. The moons of Far Valyrius are known for their strikingly beautiful plant and fungal life, and their strange xeno- crustacean and reptilian fauna. Vast forests of tree-sized mushrooms cover much of Xaxus Prime and its sister moons. All three moons were originally terraformed by the Golden Empire to serve as breadbasket worlds, and they remain rural and agricultural. Small towns and cities of stone and wood dot vast fields of hyper-accelerated fungus and plant growth; all three moons are extremely non -industrial (any major pollution would risk upsetting the delicate ecosphere of the breadbasket moons) and all heavy industry is done either in orbit, or on vast gas-collection stations and hover-manufactories within the breathable atmospheric levels of Far Valyrius itself. Xaxus Prime is home to the Duchy's capital city of Uvirith, where the ArchDuke resides in his vast and ancient ancestral palace, Gloamshire. It is also home to the Valyrian Diet, a legislative and advisory assembly composed of the (representatives of the) Barons, Viscounts, Counts, and lesser lords of the Grand Duchy. The city of Uvirith, like all cities on the sister moons, is a curious mixture of highly advanced Imperial archeo-tech operating alongside buildings of stone, plaster and wood. The common folk and peasantry on all three sister moons often are almost completely technologically backwards, while the upper strata of the Duchy have access to some of the most advanced tech remaining from the Golden Empire.
Dominant Economic Activity: Agriculture. The three sister moons orbiting Far Valyrius were terraformed by the Golden Empire to serve as agricultural centers, and they have continued to do so for millennia. The Grand Duchy produces far more food than even its extensive populace can consume.
Secondary DEA: Gas mining. Far Valyrius is a gas giant which houses many large gas collection and refinement installations originally installed by the Golden Empire. The Grand Duchy is capable of producing large quantities of valuable gases.
Nation Perks:
The Empire Didn't End, It Only Shrunk The Grand Duchy survived the devastating Collapse of the Golden Empire through a combination of shrewd political leadership, isolationism and military skill. As a result, its homeworlds (with one notable exception, see below) were left untouched by the catastrophic wars which marked the end of galactic civilization, and a great deal of archeotech- and the knowledge of how to use it- has survived. Advanced computer systems, cloning technology, bio-synth tech, and industrial expertise has been jealously preserved within the borders of the Duchy. As a result, it's land forces are equipped with many (sadly, degraded and patchwork) Golden Empire weapon systems. It also has preserved some technical expertise on GE naval systems . The aristocrats of the Grand Duchy jealously horde knowledge and technology from the old empire, and pay free traders handsome fees for recovered artifacts.
If You Can't Beat Them, Buy Them The Grand Duchy has existed on the edge of habitable space for centuries, and has been forced to protect itself from innumerable techno-barbarian incursions, neo-Viking invasions, astro-Mongol hordes, solar-Visigoth attacks, and pirate raids, each seeking plunder from the Duchy's food and technology rich homeworlds. While Grand Duchy military and naval forces are formidable, the aristocratic leadership has, over the years, worked out a way to settle these issues in a less costly and unseemly fashion, by paying tribute in the form of food and slaves to the barbarian warlords and chieftains on its borders. As a result, the Duchy has formed positive relationships with many mercenary bands, pirate factions, and techno-chieftains and pays mercenary forces lavishly for protection from the neo-barbarian hordes. Bottom line: The Duchy pays off the neo-barbarians, uses mercenary fleets to supplement its own military forces, and has a good relationship with many pirate factions.
Nation Flaws:
Politically Backwards Though recent efforts at centralization have met with notable success, the Grand Duchy is essentially an enormously complex feudal state. The allegiances of local potentates are to their immediate superior, and if anything is to get done in the Duchy it requires an incredible amount of political compromise and cunning. Noble titles are handed down by birth, and the aristocracy of the Grand Duchy is largely inbred, reactionary, isolationist and stupid. While this is NOT true of the two or three most powerful figures within the Duchy, these leaders are often hamstrung by the complex network of nobles and feudal land holders who make up the local leadership. Furthermore (with notable exceptions) non-nobles within the Duchy are treated as little more than serfs and helots on the land and conscripted cannon fodder on the battlefield. However, there do exist wealthy guilds of non-nobles- artisans, industrialists, merchants, etc- and these add even further complexity to the political structure of the Duchy. The lower nobility tends to be isolationist and xenophobic, while the wealthy guilds tend to be in favor of expansion and diplomacy. The leadership must always tread carefully between these factions, if it wishes to survive.
Xenophobic Nostalgia Almost all levels of society, from counts to serfs, despise non-humans (including techno-barbarians), and blame them for the ruin of the Empire, which is viewed as a great golden age of prosperity. While this not, in fact, a totally fatal diplomatic issue (ducal diplomats are shrewd enough to play nice with aliens) it is a problem, given the fractious and reactionary nature of Dukedom politics to begin with, when long term alliances or compacts with aliens are proposed to the Imperial Diet or when alien emissaries are invited to visit ducal worlds. Most significantly, however, the racism of the populace and the aristocracy is a huge problem for the Ducal Army and Navy, since they rely very heavily on Gn'Mok (alien) mercenaries (see below). Much to the chagrin of the military leadership, there is always tension between the human armed forces and their xenos auxiliaries, and more generally between the military and the populace. This gets especially exacerbated whenever a local Baron is stupid enough to send in Gn'Mok soldiers to quash a riot or strike.
Short History:
The Imperial Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius was established by the Golden Empire some centuries before the Collapse, and remained a relatively quiet and peaceful province, considered by most in the Empire to be a mere backwater...when it was thought of at all. As the Empire began to unravel, the Grand Duchy was fortunate to be governed by Archduke Adamantious von Kesselbrood I, a shrewd politician and adept military commander who sought to keep his provinces free from the madness and destruction raging throughout the Empire's more central provinces. He adopted a policy of strict neutrality and isolationism, welcoming refugees and the remnants of shattered fleets at the price of an oath of loyalty. ArchDuke Kesselbrood repulsed several minor incursions into Duchy space during the decades of the Collapse, but was defeated decisively by a rogue Imperial fleet at his capital planet of Odros II, which was sacked and subjected to brutal bombardment. Odros II was abandoned, and the Ducal capital relocated to the agricultural moons around Far Valyrius, which were left unmolested during the Collapse, perhaps because the Archduke's agents had erased their location from several important Imperial star charts.
Once the Empire had fallen, the Kesslbrood dynasty eeked out an existence marked by rabid isolationism and political stagnation. The three moons around the gas giant Far Valyrius came to be ruled by the three major old Imperial dynasties in the Duchy- the Kesselbrood, the Grindehook, and the Venym families, with innumerable lesser nobles arranged in a complex feudal structure below them. Deals were brokered with techno-barbarians, who were bought off with regular tributes of food and slaves. Over the centuries of the Dark Ages, the Duchy has slowly rebuilt and refitted its fleet and armed forces, forged alliances with mercenaries and pirate factions, and re-industrialized after the catastrophic loss of infrastructure that followed the sacking of Odros II.
Of particular importance was the deal formed between the Great Houses and the Gn'Mok aliens, a bio-altered species designed by the GE to serve as heavy Imperial ground troops. After the Collapse, the Gn'Mok found themselves marooned on a dilapidated warship and wandering a treacherous galaxy. They made their way to Duchy space and have been employed as a standing mercenary army ever since, serving alongside the regular Ducal Army.
One further historical episode bears mention: the venture that has come to be known among Duchy aristocrats as Uthol's Gambit, after Archduke Uthol III who masterminded the debacle. Some time after the Collapse, an expedition, composed largely of slaves purchased from techno-barbarian chieftans, was sent to bring the Aurolian system under Duchy control. Had this been done well, and with anything like the logistical planning necessary for such an adventure, the Duchy would have benefitted enormously from such an investment. Unfortunately, the venture was hamstrung by internal politiking and run on a shoestring. The result was a slave rebellion, which, instead of suppressing, the military decided to ignore. The Grand Duchy cut its losses and retreated from the Aurolian sector, leaving the rebellious slaves isolated on a single planet. The whole poorly run episode reinforced the nobility's conservativism and bias against expeditionary ventures. When word spread that the slaves had not died as expected, but thrived on their resource rich planet, the Duchy repeatedly hired pirate factions to wipe them out. Though innumerable raids were undertaken, the pirates did not succeed, and the Duchy earned itself a new and growing rival in the nascent Aurolian Federation.
The current ArchDuke, Adamantious von Kesselbrood XVI, has succumbed to insanity after three centuries of life, and is a mere figurehead. Power currently resides in self-appointed the Regent, the Countess Katarine Valacious Pauline Hildegaard von Grindehook and her chief ally, Count Marxus von Venym. The two rule through the enfeebled archduke, and have centralized power in the Grand Duchy to an unprecedented degree, reforming the bureaucracy, Army, Navy, and diplomatic corps as they look beyond the borders of their system. They are opposed, however, by a significant number of powerful nobles who wish to remain isolated from the galaxy, and for power in the Duchy to remain diffuse.
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Outposts: All major Grand Duchy holdings exist within the Archenar system, around a single star. The Duchy has a much further reach, however, than this, since it is allied with innumerable pirate and mercenary factions.
Major Outposts:
Outpost Name: Xaxus Prime, Capital Holdings Summary: An agricultural world (actually a moon orbiting Far Valyrius) which is home to the capital city of the Duchy, Uvirith, in which resides the Archduke and the representatives of the Valyrian Diet. Xaxus Prime holds a very large population, but is mostly rural and non-industrial . Industry on any of the Xaxus sister moons would threaten the ecosphere required to sustain the super-abundant farming combines. Several heavy industrial facilities orbit Xaxus Prime, under the control of the Merchant guilds and various lesser Houses. Prime is ruled by the Kesselbrood dynasty, which has traditionally held the ducal titles, but is in clear decline.The current Archduke, Adamantious XVI , is almost totally insane, and his only living heir is an infant who is currently a ward of House von Grindehook. Asset: Seat of Government. Produces a great deal of food and is home to the ArchDuke's elite private army.
Outpost Name: Xaxus Secundus Holdings Summary: An agricultural world (actually a moon orbiting Far Valyrius) similar in most ways to Xaxus Prime, Secundus is ruled by the von Grindehook family, currently the most powerful dynasty in the Duchy, and the power behind the throne of the senile ArchDuke. Asset:Food production, high population.
Outpost Name: Xaxus Minor Holdings Summary: An agricultural world (actually a moon orbiting Far Valyrius) slightly less populated than Secundus or Prime, Minor is home to vast expanses of wild growth jungle, from which is extracted any number of rare spices and goods. Ruled by the second most powerful dynasty in the Duchy, House Venym, which is allied with the Grindehook and shares power. Assets: Food production, high population, trade rare goods.
Outpost Name: Far Valyrius Holdings Summary: The gas giant around which the triplet homeworlds of the Duchy orbit, far Valyrius is itself highly populated. Gas refining stations , industrial facilities, and even full cities, are all suspended in various levels of the gas giant's endless atmosphere, and have remained in continual operation since the days of the Golden Empire. Indeed, many refining stations have over the centuries grown from small GE outposts into sprawling, densely populated slums suspended precariously in the Valyrian atmosphere. Assets: Large population, gas refining and rare materials, heavy industry, ship building facilities.
Minor Outposts:
Outpost Name: Odros II Holdings Summary: The only other planet proper within the Archenar system, Odros II was the system capital in the time of the Golden Empire. Unlike the moons around Far Valyrius, Odros II was not spared the ravages of the Collapse, and was the site of pitched land battles between Ducal forces and renegade Imperial armies as the Empire splintered. The planet was repeatedly sacked and bombarded from orbit, until the Archduke and his forces finally withdrew to the fortified moons of Far Valyrius and established a new capital on Xaxus Prime. Odros II is now a cratered wasteland, with empty and half-ruined cities dotting vast and empty plains, where plant growth is only now- after centuries- beginning to recover. Odros II now serves the Duchy as a mining and military outpost, and a source of lost GE technology. The Duchy is slowly re-terraforming the ruined planet in an effort to make it fully habitable again. Assets: Mining, archeo-tech, military installations, major naval base
Outpost Name: Y'Ghul Holdings Summary: A pirate fortress-world in a neighboring system, Y'Ghul is outside of the Grand Duchy's jurisdiction. Nevertheless the raiders, mercenaries and cut-throats of Y'Ghul are informally allied with the Duchy, and rely on their aristocratic neighbors for deliveries of food and other necessities. The Duchy maintains a low-key but significant presence in the Y'Ghul system through diplomats, spies and hired guns. Assets: Mercenary troops, free-trader port, semi-dependent client state.
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Majority Species: Imperial Humans. Species Description: While the lower orders in the Grand Duchy often live without very much in the way of technology, the nobility and wealthy are often considerably enhanced and augmented with Golden Empire cybernetics and bio-implants.
Perks
Imperials! The upper echelons of Duchy society enjoy extensive biological and cybernetic enhancements thanks to the technological legacy of the Golden Empire. Augmented humans are faster, smarter, healthier, stronger, and live much, much longer than non-augmented humans. The Ducal Army benefits from much salvaged GE technology and bio-enhancements. Even the lowliest grunt is given significant biological modifications to help him survive in combat conditions.
Conscript Reporting The Grand Duchy enjoys an abundance of food, and as a result has an extremely fecund population. Filling the army, navy, fields and factories with warm bodies is not an issue. The Ducal Army is numerically massive, and for every soldier that dies there are five more that can take his place. Quantity has a quality of its own.
Flaws
Imperials? So...it turns out not everything was preserved successfully since the old days...actually, not very much at all remains in pristine condition. Due to scientific stagnation and a repressive political atmosphere, innovation is discouraged and many of the old biological augments come with unfortunate side effects that the Duchy no longer knows how to fix...Insanity being a big one. The current ArchDuke- to pick a particularly prominent example- is 350 years old and has been completely bats, thanks to his haywire cybernetic implants, for the last fifty years.
Monodominant ....humans who think themselves the rightful heirs of the Golden Empire don't much like aliens, or non-Imperial humans, for that matter.
Minority Species: Gn'Mok
Perk: Built for War Whatever the Gn'Mok people were originally, the scientists of the GE manipulated their bioform into one designed for combat. It is theorized that the Gn'Mok were meant to serve some GE faction or other as shock troops during the Collapse. In any event, the Gn'Mok excel as heavy infantry, and have served the Grand Duchy as elite mercenary infantry for time out of mind (see below).
Flaw Strangers in a Strange Land The Gn'Mok people have been governed and manipulated by humans for a long time. While the officials of the Grand Duchy treat and pay them well- very well indeed, order to keep their allegiance- the rest of the human populace is hostile and suspicious. Many of the Gn'Mok wish for a planet of their own, and an escape from the mercenary life. The Duchy nobles have been dangling the promise of a homeworld in front of the Gn'Mok people for centuries.
Gn'Mok warrior: http://s136.photobucket.com/user/sig...e-150.png.html
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Social Values: A feudal society obsessed, in its upper echelons, with rank and birth. Though those at the top of the hierarchy are less obsessed with breeding than the lesser nobles, most of the aristocracy jealously protects their ancestral prerogatives from the serfs, the wealthy merchant class which constitutes a significant power bloc, and from the Triarchy (see below). Many conservative factions within the Duchy see themselves as the sole rightful heirs of the Golden Empire, whose dissolution they blame on the meddling of non-humans. While the current leadership of the Duchy is more real-politik and pragmatic in its approach to other species, all factions are determined to bring their conception human civilization back to the galaxy.
Government: Enlightened Despotism vs. neo-fuedalism. The Grand Duchy's governing structure is...complex, and in flux. On top of a feudal structure sits the ArchDuke, who's power is technically limited by the Valyrian Diet, a representative body which represents the landed classes and aristocracy. As it stands now, ArchDuke Adamantious von Kesselbrood XVI, while once a very shrewd and cunning politician who did much to modernize the Duchy's economy and centralize power in his hands, is an enfeebled madman. The Kesselbrood dynasty is in sharp decline, and the ruling houses of Xaxus Secundus and Xaxus Minor have allied to dominate policy making, though in the process they have made themselves innumerable enemies. The autocratic and inimitable Countess-Regent Katarine Valacious Pauline Hildegaard von Grindehook and the slippery and cunning Count Marxus von Venym have gone a long way to consolidate and centralize their power and renovate the Duchy's military, economic and diplomatic apparatus.
Economy: Semi-feudal/semi-capitalist; agriculture is divided between innumerable guilds and minor houses, who pay tribute and tax in money, food, and troops to the central government. Heavy industry is run by enormously wealthy merchant guilds. Recent economic reforms have further capitalized the economy.
Religion: While the upper classes mostly hold to a sort of enlightened ancestor worship, the religions of the Grand Duchy are extremely diverse and almost all cults are tolerated so long as they are not politically dangerous. Paganism.
Military: The Grand Duchy's land military doctrines are largely outdated, relying on mass formations, superior firepower, and attrition. In practice, the Duchy uses mercenary troops to do much of its fighting. Countess-Regent von Grindehook and some of her allies have come to dominate the military, and are updating tactical and strategic doctrines to allow for greater movement and flexibility. Current tactical innovations are based around using sellswords to harry an opponent on multiple fronts and strike in rear areas, while the sledgehammer that is the Duchy military strikes at weak points in the enemy line. Needless to say, much work needs to be done. Currently, the Ducal Army is composed of Gn'Mok heavy infantry and light human (conscript) infantry, which serve in support of heavy armor elements, which is the core of Ducal land forces. Living on the borderlands of the techno-barbarians has kept naval doctrine nimble and innovative and relatively free of the crushing stagnation of the rest of Duchy society.
Ideology The Duchy is divided between rabid isolationism and a desire to rebuild the glories of the old Empire.
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Nation's Naval Assets:
The Grand Duchy has preserved a large number of heavy GE cruisers with loving care over the centuries, but is as a result rather deficient in the smaller support ships necessary for a well rounded fleet. As a result, the Duchy has single expeditionary task force which it permits to operate outside the Archenar system. Ducal naval doctrine relys on massed fighter screens to neutralize the enemy bomber/missile threat,while using heavily armed and armoured ships of the line to close with the enemy and deliver the heavy damage.
Duchy Heavy cruisers and battleships will look something along these lines:
H4 (50 pts) x 2 ships = 100 pts
H3 (25 pts) x 40 ships = 1000 pts
H2 (10 pts) x 30 ships = 300 pts
H1 (1 pt) x 100 ships = 100 pts
Total: 1500 pts
Ship names:
Ancestral Right: H4 Battlecarrier, Countess-Regent von Grindehook's flagship. Archduke Leopold H4 Battleship
Task Force Flagships (H3 Heavy Cruisers or battlecarriers) Memory of Odros
Count van Fesselvingen (leads the Duchy Expeditionary Fleet) Uvirith
Lady Alexia
Pride of Archenar
Name: Archduke Adamantious von Kesselbrood XVI
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: ...
Personality: Thanks to an obsession with cybernetic augmentation, the archduke is extremely old and extremely crazy. He is a mere figurehead.
Name: Katarine Valacious Pauline Hildegaard von Grindehook, first of her name, Ducal Regent, by right of birth Countess of all Xaxus Secundus and Margravine of Garyth-on-Valyrius, and duly elected Protector of the Realm
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: Very adept political leader, reformer and naval strategist.
Personality: See below, under hider.
Short History: Raised as the ward of Count Marxus von Venym, the Countess learned the art of ducal politics at a young age. Her life is a long story of ambition and success, and she is currently the single most powerful person in the Duchy.
(Ten Years Before the Start of the RP)
"Commander on deck!" announced the Commodore, greeting the Countess with a quick bow as she strode onto the bridge. The crew stood at their stations and saluted.
"That will do," replied the Countess, greeting the command staff with a cursory salute. The crew promptly resumed their stations. The Countess surveyed the bridge coolly. A long, dark hall in the Neo-Gothic style of the Golden Empire- high, vaulted ceilings coated in bronze, rows of cognition engines manned by staff officers, panoramic windows decorated with intricate latticework.
The Countess smirked as she watched the crew- her crew- bustle about. Katarine Valacious Pauline Hildegaard von Grindehook, first of her name, Arch-Chancellor of the Valyrian Diet, by right of birth Countess of all Xaxus Secundus and Margravine of Garyth-on-Valyrius, and newly elected Protector of the Realm, subject to all of the privileges and duties of that exalted station, found that she was enjoying her new role at the head of the Ducal military.
"Commodore Quarl, appraise me." she said.
"My lady," he answered, adjusting his monocle and pulling absently at his elaborate side whiskers, "No updates since this morning. The fleet stands assembled and ready, as ordered. Should the rabble translate at Tyrol's Folly or on the far side of Odros, we are in position to intercept them. The Prognosticators haven't picked up any sign of them so far."
"Very good, Commodore. We can expect they'll translate at the Folly within the next forty eight hours." the Countess replied.
"So your ladyship says." answered the Commodore, deferentially. He clearly had his doubts. Tyrol's Folly was at the very edge of the Archenar system, a grav-dense spot around the wreckage of several freetrader ships- the largest of them named the Tyrol- which had, some time ago, attempted to traverse Ducal Space without paying the requisite Hospitality Fees. The Ducal Navy had left the wreckage to serve as a warning.
Commodore Quarl was of the opinion that the barbarian fleet would translate further in-system, as they did when raiding. He had spent his life fighting off raiders and pirates, and he thought like them.
But the Countess knew King Avikogericix wasn't coming to raid this time. He was coming to conquer. And like any conqueror of old he would form up his fleet at the edge of the system, and proceed inward, broadcasting ultimatums. The barbarian king thought himself emperor, and this time he would fight like an emperor.
The Countess took her seat in the Command Throne; Commodore Quarl resumed his post.
Katarine von Grindehook was, by all accounts, a formidable human being. A tall, pale woman with dark eyes and darker hair, she had lost none of the severe beauty of her youth. Her white naval uniform did not gleam with her father's ( mostly ceremonial and unearned) metals, as tradition permitted her to wear, but was instead decorated with a single silver sunburst, a minor award given her by the Diet for her successful suppression of the Rhadast Uprising on Xaxus Secudus.
This was probably the most daring venture the Imperial Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius had undertaken in three centuries (if one counted the Aurolian debacle as daring, which it wasn't). And it was being led by a military novice.
Intelligence from free traders and mercenary hirelings had it that the Astrogoths around November IX had recovered a new ship, a big one. King Avikogericix - self proclaimed king of all the Goths and the rightful Emperor- had stumbled across a mostly intact Imperial battleship- named, in Imperial times, the Demiurge- marooned somewhere in the Fay'ud Asteroid Belt. It had taken the bastard two decades and the lives of three million slaves, but the lunatic King had finally extracted his prize from the asteroids and- what's more!- gotten the thing running. The barbarians were brutal and almost totally insane, but they had a knack with the old tech. Avikogericix 's new prize had gotten to his head, apparently, because he dispatched envoys to the Grand Duchy, demanding a show of obeisance and a doubling of the bribes- he called it tribute!- in slaves and grain.
Some in the Diet- the usual crowd of nail-biters, lickspittles and fools who wielded an influence all out of proportion with their meager intelligence- had been inclined to acquiesce rather than risk a war with the Goths....but they had been overruled. The Countess and her allies had lobbied hard for rebuffing the envoys and provoking the barbarians attack with their new weapon now before they got any stronger or any more ambitious.
The appeasers didn't have the votes to overrule the Countess, so out of spite they nominated her Protector of the Realm, thinking an undecorated woman would try to back out of the nomination.
She didn't, she had accepted immediately. Her opponents had too cleverly handed her the very power she wanted. It was beautiful.
The Countess pushed such recollections from her mind. Now was no time for dwelling on politics.
She leaned back in the Throne; her shoulders untensed as her neural uplink passed the layered security checks and joined with the ship's Semi-Sentience. For a brief, deliriously delicious moment, she was the ancient warship. Over sixteen kilometers of reinforced Imperial adamantium circling contentedly in lazy high orbit, millennia-old engines thrumming with unimaginable power, more than forty six thousand gun batteries- from single point defenses to massive back-breaker cannons filled with depleted thuridium shells- awaiting a target, thousands of docked fighter-bombers, their computer systems tense and waiting launch.
The Ancestral Right.
This was what it was to be a god, the Countess thought, pulling herself (with an aching sense of loss) from full immersion in the Semi-Sentience. Her heartbeat slowing, she reviewed the data streaming directly from the ship's sensors into her mind. The task force was in high orbit over Odros II, twenty five Golden Empire ships of the line- heavy cruisers and battlecarriers all- in close formation around the Ancestral Right and her even larger sister, the forbidding battleship Archduke Leopold. Anti-fighter frigates and destroyer squadrons patrolled between the serrated-dagger shapes of the heavy cruisers and their larger capital ship cousins.
The Countess was reviewing a file of tactical recommendations from the fleet's captains when a data blurt from the Prognosticator Deck erupted directly into her consciousness.
Fleet inbound, sub-space bow-waves indicated Tyrol's Folly as the likely translation point. The Countess frowned for a moment, the Prognosticators put the hostiles' vacuum-displacement at over double the amount projected by Naval Intelligence.
She stood as the bridge crew scrambled into action, the Commodore issuing a stream of orders.
Outside, in the silence of the vacuum, engines ignited across the Duchy fleet, and shield primers flickered as they charged. Frigates and destroyers fell into tight formations around the cruisers.
"My lady?" asked the Commodore.
"Form up. Make for the Folly."
"Yes ma'am."
Two Hours Later
The Countess leaned forward in the Command Throne, her mind divided between the ship's Semi-Sentience, which fed her a constant stream of updated data, and the activity on the bridge. Naval staff bustled to and fro and the Commodore paced, tugging at his side whiskers and barking the occasional order. They were half an hour out from the Folly. The Astrogoth fleet had just translated to realspace and was forming up to meet the Ducal taskforce.
Naval Intelligence had bungled, badly. It had reported that the Astrogoth's new ship, the Demiurge, was a Hadrian class Imperial Battleship, of the same size and firepower as the Archduke Leopold...The Demiurge that had just arrived in the Archenar system, however, was an Imperatrix class superbattleship, easily two and a half times the length of the Leopold.
Needless to say, the Duchy battle plan was in the process of revision.
The original strategy had been for the Archduke Leopold and five escort vessels to smash into the center of the barbarian line and neutralize the Demiurge, while the rest of the Ducal fleet decimated the enemy's left flank and then repositioned to take the right. The Countess' new plan was simple and brutal. The whole Ducal taskforce would hit the center of the barbarian line, passing on one side of the Demiurge in order to deny the monstrosity it's full firepower.
Many would die. The outcome was far from certain. What had begun as a trap for the overconfident barbarians could now very well end up in total military disaster.
If she survived this, the Countess mused, she would have the entire leadership of Naval Intelligence hanged in Vymar Square, in plain view of the Diet.
The Ducal fleet assumed its final offensive formation, the battlecruisers Count van Fesselvingen, Arnulf and Son of Secundus leading the Archduke Leopold and the Ancestral Right in the line of battle. The rest of the task force followed in long, serried rows. Hopefully the combined firepower of the Leopold and the Right would be enough to pop the Demiurge 's shields, and the heavy cruisers could pour their firepower directly onto the beast's hull. Hopefully. Then there was the rest of the barbarian fleet to worry about, arranged around the Demiurge like scavengers hovering around a great and ancient predator. They were a motley ensemble of old Imperial cruisers and homespun weapons platforms, crude but dangerous. The Countess pushed such thoughts from her mind.
She had one task now, overloading the Demiurge's shield array.
"Shields up, strike craft launch." barked Quarl. A bright blue flash illumined the bridge windows for a half-second, as the Ancestral Right's shields ignited. All along the Duchy fleet, fighter-bombers launched from shipboard hangers as shields enveloped the venerable ships of the Duchy navy.
The barbarian fleet powered forward to meet their civilized foes, broadcasting crude warcries on the open comm-channels. The Countess studied the holographic render of the enemy fleet projected in front of the Command Throne. Many of the barbarian ships leaked atmosphere and radiation from untended armor joints, and it appeared that the Demiurge still had scaffolding clinging to its ancient, dagger-shaped hull from Avikogericix's hasty restoration.
"Enemy fleet entering mass driver range in five." Alarms sounded in the bridge as sensors picked up multiple enemy lock-ons.
The Countess stood and opened the Duchy comm-channel.
"Gentlemen," she said tersely, addressing her captains, "Our whole way of life hinges on this fight. We will not be bowed by a rabble of cut throats and goths, no matter the size of their ships. We are the heirs of the Empire, the rightful and true lords of the cosmos, let us not stain the honor of our ancestors here. Crush these shitbrained peons. That is all."
The comm channel resounded with "ayes!" and "yes madam Countess!".
Then the bloodletting began.
The fleets came within maximum strike range and opened up with long range mass-volleys and lance fire. The forward guns on the Right gutted three goth frigates in the first minutes of the fight, while the heavier artillery on the Leopold cut a barbarian cruiser in half.
The Demiurge sent an incredible hail of poorly aimed fire into the Duchy fleet, and scored solid hits; the Count van Fesselvingen took a mass-round to the nose, and sped on towards the enemy trailing hunks of armor, while the flak frigates Minos and Raptor were simply vaporized by a volley from the supercapital ship.
The artillery duel intensified as the fleets closed with one another, the barbarians lost three more cruisers and the Duchy eight frigates, with other ships from both sides suffering significant damage.
The Countess suppressed a twinge of panic as the Demiurge loomed ever closer in on the holographic battle display in the center of the bridge, and as the Right's shields deflected heavier and heavier fire. She glanced at the Commodore, whose bewhiskered face was bright red... but who was otherwise calm, sedately polishing his monocle and shouting the occasional order.
"Mister Ryloth, ready the back breakers," he said as the fleets drew within primary ordinance range.
Outside, in the vacuum, the ducal and gothic strike craft wings met just as the ducal ships launched their first torpedo waves. Nuclear detonations and EMP bursts erupted along the barbarian line... and then the two fleets collided.
The void was alight with tracer fire and heavy laser and ordinance exchanges. The ducal ships made their pass to the port side of the Demiurge, raking the monstrosity with fire. The supership's guns remained silent a moment, enough time for the Countess to allow herself the hope that it was suffering a massive malfunction.
The Demiurge's first broadside obliterated the Son of Secondus and took out the bridge tower on the Arnulf. It's shields popped by the onslaught, the Archduke Leopold returned fire vigorously as explosions erupted along its serrated-dagger hull.
The Countess watched in horror as her fleet reeled under the Demiurge's unceasing fire. For its part, the supership's shields were beginning to buckle under the sustained fire of over twenty ships of the line. For a few agonizingly long minutes, the fleets simply brawled. The Archduke Leopold restored its shields just in time to absorb a mass-driver volley that would have gutted it, and the Ancestral Right launched its reserve heavy bomber waves in a practical suicide run at the supership's shield capacitors.
Separated from its flagship by the Duchy task force, the left flank of the goth fleet disintegrated; the barbarian cruisers and frigates were simply outclassed by the heavy guns of the duchy lines.
Commodore Quarl grunted as two more duchy battlecruisers- the Borcas and Lionhead disappeared from the bridge's strategic holo-display. With a frown, he turned to the Countess to discuss withdrawal options. Then it happened. The Demiurge's shields, much weaker than they could have been thanks to the gothic king's rushed refit, popped in a brilliant azure explosion that showered both fleets in incredible levels of radiation.
The armor of the supership's port side withstood a full minute under the guns of the ducal task force before simply vanishing. Explosions ripped up and down the length of the Demiurge, which began to drift wildly.
The barbarian right flank, which had been circling to engage the duchy fleet, simply turned and fled.
The Thirty Second Battle of the Archenar System, the first since the collapse of the Empire, was over.
The Countess smirked and sat back in her Command Throne. Wheels immediately began turning in her cool, precise mind. There was nothing the old guard in the Diet could do to her now, not after this victory. Imperial Grand Duchy of Far Valyrius was hers.
Name: Count Marxus von Venym, Arch-Chancellor of the Valyrian Diet and liege lord of Xaxus Minor.
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: Like his protege, the Countess, von Venym is a brilliant political maneuverer and adept administrator.
Personality: Fat, corpulent, lascivious, sly, the Count comes accross as a slimey bon-vivant. And he is, but with a Machiavellian genius hiding beneath his unpleasant exterior.
Short History: Head of the powerful House Venym, which rules Xaxus minor, the Count has spent the two hundred years of his life accumulating political power. He groomed the young Countess for leadership and worked closely with the current Archduke- before his slide into insanity- to rob the Diet of its ancient perogatives and increase the power of Three Families- Kesselbrood, Venym, and Grindehook.
Name: Caractacus Veed, Marquis de Vel Derth
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: Diplomacy and espionage
Personality: Quiet, unassuming, deferential to those of higher birth. Veed is a cunning and ruthless spymaster.
Short History: The heir to a small gas-collection outpost on Valyrius-Vel Derth-Veed has wormed his way up the social ladder of the Grand Duchy thanks to a combination of native intelligence and total ruthlessness. His abilities came to the attention of Count von Venym after his role in the suppression of the Rhadast uprising, and he has been in the service of Venym and Grindehook for decades as head of their espionage apparatus and the Ducal Secret Police, a subtle but dangerous organization spanning all Duchy holdings. It concerns itself mostly with suppressing revolutionary movements, keeping tabs on (and occasionally eliminating) troublesome nobility, and counter-espionage work.
Name: Viscount Aldamaar Reichenfels
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: Diplomat, statesman
Personality: Urbane, witty, ironic. A renaissance man.
Short History: The Reichenfels Family is one of the more prominent noble families on Xaxus Prime, their holdings second only to that of the Kesselbrood dynasty. The Viscount, an unambitious but clever statesman allied early with the rising star of Katarine von Grindehook. There are rumors of a dalliance between the two, but whatever the nature of their relationship, the Viscount is a talented statesman and diplomat.
Name: Baron Thurgood van Eck
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: skilled politician.
Personality: Cranky and sly.
Short History: Isolationist/reactionary leader, cheif opponent of the Countess' agenda. The van Eck family controls many holdings on all Duchy planets, and is considerably powerful.
Name: Lord Admiral Titian Quarl
Species: Imperial Human
Skills: Talented naval strategist and tactician.
Personality: Gruff, somewhat bumbling.
Short History: Titian Quarl is of old noble stock on Xaxus Secondus. He was named Commodore-of-the-Fleet by the current Archduke before the Archduke's mental decline. After the Thirty Second Battle of Archenar, the Countess-Regent named him Lord Admiral. He is the first navyman to bear that title since the fall of the Empire.
Name: Archon S'tin
Species: Gn'Mok
Skills: Skilled tactician and warrior
Personality: Reserved, calculating and brutal.
Short History: Every four decades, the Gn'Mok elders elect an Archon to lead them. S'tin has spent his life fighting barbarian raiders and the enemies of the Duchy.
Last edited by Flagg; 3 Weeks Ago at 08:54 PM.
If we could destroy custom at a blow and see the stars as a child sees them, we should need no other apocalypse.
-GK Chesteron
Faction Overview Faction Name: The Tsintic Union Faction Core World Name: Alvion Core World Description: Alvion is a beautiful world that despite its terrestrial nature has several visible, saturn like rings that surround it. Nearly half of the planet is covered in water and there are three large continents on it. The cities on Alvion are made of hovering structures that float in the sky above, leaving the ground almost untouched and free to keep its natural beauty. But a close examination would show an underlying order to the nature that reveals how carefully tended and maintained the image of nature is on the Tsintic homeworld. The only ground structure on Alvion is a large one, a maze of crystal pillars that covers half of the largest continent and that is protected by a shimmering silver barrier of energy. The City of Memory, heart of the Tsintic Civilization. Dominant Economic Activity: The Tsintic Union is dedicated to the uplifting of species and other races and still stockpiles the old gifts that it used to give out to those it elevated. But they have little limit on what they can make if they want to make other things. Secondary DEA: The art of linking with the vibrations of other organics and synthetics is very very rare outside of the Tsintic, but there are a few members of other races who could maybe learn it if the Tsintic wanted to teach.
Faction's Core-System: Alvion is the only planet in the system and it orbits a yellow star much like the sun. The absence of any other worlds is a little unusual, but the whole system is filled with bands of glowing particles that never made it to planet status.
Nation Perks: (Up to 5 perks)
Precursor Race- Precursor races are those who have seen stars die, and born again, so ancient are they. These are super-advanced races whose technology makes those of lesser races look like mere toys. They have the benefit of either wisdom beyond the ages, or simply the sheer strength of arms to have survived the eons to this day and age. This is not to say they are without flaw, however, for many times will their hubris cloud them to the lesser races, and this mistake has happened once before when an elder race uplifted a tiny nation of humans that became the Golden Empire.
Wisdom of the Ancients- The Tsintic are ancient beyond measure and through the City of Memory each Tsintic has access to all of the knowledge of every member of the race that has lived since it was created so long ago. Each member of the Tsintic race has knowledge that puts lesser nations to shame by himself or herself.
Established- The Tsintic have lived in the galaxy for a very long time and even the Golden Empire left them alone. Even though they have been in isolation they have been watching all the young races develop again.
Bio/tech interface- Tsintic technology requires the person using it to meld with it, joining with the natural vibrations to control it. It is very advanced and other races can not use it without a special adapter the Tsintic no longer build.
Nation Flaws:
Withdrawn- The Tsintic used to be outgoing and gave the gifts that uplifted hundreds of civilizations. They are no longer so trusting.
Pacifists- The Tsintic abhor violence, to them it is the ultimate evil and they try to avoid combat as much as possible. Every other method is preferred to violence.
Short History: The Tsintic Union is very old. Memories in the City of Memory date back to a few short years after the ancient Schism between Tsintic and Isoterix when the Isoterix left the galaxy for another to conquer and the Tsintic stayed behind not wanting to fight and believing it to be wrong. For many millennia after the Schism the Tsintic Union sought out and found fledgeling races and nations and gave them gifts of technology so that they could enter galactic society. If the Tsintic used their influence to guide the uplifted races in a benevolent way on the path to enlightenment it was a gesture of compassion not a lust for power or a desire to manipulate. They uplifted hundreds of civilizations though never to a point that equaled them.
In time they stumbled upon a little backwards race that called itself humanity. Humanity was wracked with war and death and the Tsintic took pity on them. They decided to uplift humanity and slowly began to feed them the technology that should have brought an end to war and made the shadow of death retreat. Humanity learned very fast and elevated itself very quickly with the gifts they had been given. For a while there was peace and the Tsintic began to look for the next race that they would help. But then humans showed their true colors. Like they always do humans had weaponized the technology gifted to them and they used it to lay waste to the peaceful races that had been uplifted and guided by the Tsintic.
The Tsintic were horrified and refused to believe it at first. Their denial gave humanity more time to subjugate others and the new Golden Empire began to swallow up large chunks of the galaxy. They could fight but the thought of fighting was abhorrent to the Tsintic, they could revoke the gifts and turn off the links that let other races use the technology they had given out but that would cast down all the races they had helped. It was a devil's bargain but they decided that humanity had to be stopped and after centuries of deliberation they acted. The rite of revocation was used for the first and only time, a pulse of energy that destroyed all interface systems needed for non Tsintic to use Tsintic technology in the galaxy.
The Golden Empire was crippled and though it took thousands of years to die the death blow was struck that day. The Tsintic retreated to their worlds to mourn the death and destruction that was about to descend and have remained in their self imposed isolation until the modern day when massive distortions from dark space warn that something else is coming.
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Outposts: Each outpost is representative of a Nation's power over their galactic neighbors. And Outpost is the key-world within a system that a nation controls, the controller of the key-world controls the system. Nations using this NS are allowed up to five systems. A player's core-world does not count as an outpost.
Outpost Name: Aulvilia Holdings Summary: Aulvilia is a small world with low gravity that orbits an old red star. Aulvilia is mostly frozen over and the rare thaws have led to caverns and natural ice formations of great beauty. The Tsintic have built cities into these beautiful parts of the world. Asset: Aulvilia exports sculptures made from the ice. They are not simple sculptures but works of art that take years to create and that are maintained by special field generators.
Outpost Name: Holdings Summary: (Define here how many planets exist in the system, and what kind of star the system contains.) Asset:
Outpost Name: Holdings Summary: (Define here how many planets exist in the system, and what kind of star the system contains.) Asset:
Outpost Name: Holdings Summary: (Define here how many planets exist in the system, and what kind of star the system contains.) Asset:
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Precursor Race: (Describe here the Precursor race in detail)
Appearance: The Tsintic are a humanoid race. They are tall and delicately built with very pale skin. In bright light their skin can seem to glow a little bit. They have silvery or white hair and it is normally bound up rather than being allowed to hang down freely. Their eyes are light purple. The two flaps of skin that hang down from their heads are sensitive to vibrations that most living beings give off as well as most forms of technology. The Tsintic have ritual marks on their faces that show their ranks and status.
Racial Perks:
Aetheric Connection- The Tsintic naturally have some access to the aether and powers that are a little like sorcery or magic. This natural link is not very developed or used very often as they believe it corrupted the warring ones or Isoterix. Their cousins who fled the galaxy long ago. The Tsintic believe it caused their lust for conflict and conquest.
Resurrection- All Tsintic are linked to the City of Memory and their memories are stored inside of it. If a Tsintic is not ready to give up physical existence after dying a new body can be grown and his or her consciousness transferred into it. There are no breaks in consciousness and it cannot be said that a Tsintic who comes back this way is not really himself or herself.
Bio/Tech Interface- The Tsintic can tap into the vibrations of organics and synthetic systems and influence or control them through the connections. The sensor/emitter flaps that hang down from the sides of their heads are the main organs for this. Tsintic can also just sense moods and feelings as well as if anything is near them without a link just through the vibrations.
Racial Flaws:
Squishy- The Tsintic are not physically strong and they are a little easier to hurt than a human.
Slow Breeding- Tsintic live a long time naturally and with the help of their medical technology. But they breed infrequently at the most.
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Social Values
Government:Democracy. The High Speaker of the Tsintic Union is the titular ruler of the nation and is elected by a vote of all the adult Tsintic in the Union. The candidates are chosen by the billions of mind imprints stored in the ancient City of Memories. The High Speaker rules until he or she dies but can technically have the position revoked if the majority of both the live Tsintic and those in the City of Memories call for it. That has only ever happened once. The Tsintic union is very old. Economy:True Communism. Everyone is provided with everything they need or want. The Tsintic have the technology to make anything in bulk, an economy is really a thing of the past for them. Religion: The Tsintic worship advancement and revere the members of their race that have chosen to give up a body and live on in the City of Memory. They believe that they are charged with bringing advances and uplifting the worthy. Military: (What is the predominant method of military thinking of your nation? Carriers and fighters? Skirmishers? Line-combat?) Ideology: The Tsintic hold peace and prosperity through progress up as an ideal. They are a little less idealistic after the disaster with the Golden Empire, but they still value their old ways a lot.
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Nation's Naval Assets:
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Major Characters: (For major leaders or heroes in your nation)
Name: High Speaker Lureliel Skills: Lureliel is very well educated. She does not just look at the memories of her people, she tries to see how every little thing works together. She is also a unifying person as her obvious good will and good intentions are attractive. She is okay at being a politician. Personality: Lureliel is a calm and collected person. She almost never acts out of rash emotion but on occasion she has given in to flights of fancy. She is very considerate and empathetic. Short History:Lureliel's mother was high speaker for over 300,000 years before she decided it was time to leave her body behind and join the City of Memory. Lureliel has had big footprints to try and follow in. She has done pretty well and is the High Speaker at only 20,046 years old. She thinks her mother is the reason the City of Memory gave her out as a canditate.
Last edited by Ladydespair; 3 Weeks Ago at 10:25 PM.
Faction Name: Aurolian Federation Faction Core World Name:Aurolia Core World Description: Aurolia is a diverse, Earth-like world, that is nearly twice the size. It possesses two large continents and thousands upon thousands of small to tiny islands dotting the blue surface of the planet. The Two continents, Sakarus and Arlia, are quite diverse in climate. Sakarus is a more warm, with barren deserts, rocky landscapes, canyons, jungles and swamps. While Arila is more cooler to moderate, with the frozen wastelands up north, to the breezy to humid forests and grasslands and deserts. Arila is the population center of Aurolia as most of the human cities are located there, as well as the dozens of archipelagos. There are many mining settlements in Sakarus, as well as a few Military Installations. Dominant Economic Activity: Mineral Mining Secondary DEA: Gas Mining
Nation Perks:
Battle-Hardened With their experience and many years of combating the many varieties and brands of pirates, warlords, slavers and mercenaries, The Aurolian Military has survived and proven to be among the best fighting force in the sector. Ready to fight any foe who threatens the Federation's sovereignty and defend their people.
It's your Patriotic duty! Constant raids upon Federation space has effected the Aurolians quite a bit. In times of crisis and war. The Aurolians become a passionate people and can easily rally against any foe who wishes harm upon them.
Nation Flaws:
Enemies on all Fronts Even with their experience and firepower. The Aurolians are in a constant struggle for survival, and their military cannot be everywhere at once in full strength. They are stretched thin defending their borders from attacks as well as engaging the Duchy.
Open Borders Defending Federation Space is a battle in itself. There are not enough ships to defending the border while fighting a war, Often leaving them wide open for enemy incursions.
Short History: Three hundred years ago, Aurolia was a mere backwater outpost of the Grand Duchy, there was a great distance between it and the Archenar system. It's origins leading to the present day began as a fleet of transport vessels hauling over slaves numbering in the millions, set to construct fortifications on the planet for the Grand Duchy's plans of restoring the Golden Empire, one world at a time. Their plans of grandeur were to be halted however, as the slaves, growing ever tired of their treatment, made a daring act of mass revolt. Resulting in a great number of their own being slaughtered, while they completely wiped out, or at least pushed out what was left of the Overseers Garrison from Aurolia. In the aftermath, the slaves felt accomplished, but feared for the eventually retaliation that was to come from the Mighty Ducal Armada, but that day never came. In truth, the Garrison left them for dead, thinking marooning the defiant slaves would be the death of them, draining the remaining craft of their fuel and taking with them the last function vessel out of the system.
They were near successful, but the freed slaves would not die so easily, and persevered, for the world they settled on was bountiful. And while they survived, the first few decades were met with a great number of hardships. But as the years passed, they developed their own society separate from the Grand Duchy, and became more enlightened. Centuries following, they slowly broke out from the constraint of their world and home system, unfortunately, they were not so welcomed in their first encounters as they fell under assault by a variety of Raiders, Slavers and Warlords from all sides, many of which were sent by the Grand Duchy themselves once news spread of their rise. forcing them to become more defensive, and militarized as they fight a near-endless battle for survival in this chaotic galaxy.
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Outpost Name: Aurolia Holdings Summary: Capital of the Federation and home to 5 Billion. Aurolia, as stated, is a diverse world with many riches hidden deep in it's crust. Aurolia serves another purpose, that being the center of shipbuilding for both military and commercial uses. Asset: Seat of Government/Shipbuilding/Resource harvesting and Distribution/Population Center
Outpost Name:Corsai Station Holdings Summary: Corsai, located deep in the Haven System, is a massive Space Station built into the remains of one of the two moons of the Gas Giant of Kiith. Corsai Station itself encircles the husk of the moon as a large, sprawling metropolis, housing a population around to a million, serving as the center of HE-3 Harvesting and Asteroid Mining Operations, a major trading hub between the Federation and other nations in the sector. As well as recently acquired Factories of the local company, Walton Industries, to sufficiently supply the Security Forces stationed at Corsai. Asset: Population Base/Resource Storage and Gathering/Trading Port.
Outpost Name:Zevrus Delta Holdings Summary: A barren world in the Zevrus System. It had it's beginnings as a Military Outpost world. Rarely had the Aurolians ventured out of their home system for colonization after their less then pleasant encounters, however, raiding warbands became a severe problem that had to be dealt with. The Zevrus System was used as a base of operations for one particular Warlord who made Aurolia his favorite victim, and was payed handsomely by the Grand Duchy to continue his raids. In one daring operation, the Aurolian military sent what they can to the system and drive off the Warlord, which ended in success. Afterwards, a large base was constructed on Zevrus Delta, it's purpose was to keep watch of the warlord's return. Eventually, it was slowly converted into a City as civilians and workers were moving in droves as they attempted to colonize the planet. The old base remains as the Capital Building for the local government and HQ of the Military Garrison. Zevrus Delta is a strange and untamed world that is filled with many dangerous varieties of wildlife that requires the garrison to be on constant guard.
Asset: Population Base/Military Outpost. Asset:
Outpost Name:Hades Station Holdings Summary: Built in the Charon System a decade ago since the start of the war with the Grand Duchy. Hades Station's purpose was to act as the first line of defense in the case of an enemy invasion or counterattack. It was made to last, and is self-sustaining, of course needs supplies and maintenance. Hades has enough firepower and onboard military and naval personnel to last for months on it's own. Of course a few ships are left to guard the station. Asset: Military Outpost
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Majority Species: Human
Species Description: Standard baseline humans. The humans of Aurolia lack the many enhancements of their Imperial counterparts
Majority Species Traits:
Perks
Bounds of Brotherhood Even with the hardships they go through presently, the Aurolian people grow closer with an inbuilt sense of community. Helping out one another in the more dark times.
Superior Ingenuity With their background, there are few Aurolians who have the training ans skills to solve specific problems that can outmatch an Imperial Aristocrat. Be it repair a ship's life support, save a life or save a million lives. They have no need for augments to be better men.
Flaws
Imperfection The Aurolians lack the old technology and Augments of the Golden Empire, and are faced with crippling mortality, eventually dying of old age or disease.
Population Shortage Despite it's territory's size, like the military, the human population of the Federation is spread out thinly across the colonies and stations with it's corner of space. It's a struggle in itself to sustain the Federation with such a low population.
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Social Values (Social engineering of your nation. Go into detail about it.)
Government: The Federation's Ruling Body is the The Ministry Council. Council members Consisting of eight Ministers elected by their home province. The head of the Ministry Council is the President, who is then elected by the Council for a five year term. Economy: Free market. Companies originating from the Federation often engage in business with fellow human worlds or corporations from the outside or even alien civilizations. Religion: A multitude of Religions reside on Aurolia, Many originating from Earth. Few even explore the more exotic alien faiths in the sector. Military: The Federation's military doctrine differs and is far more flexible from the Ducal forces. Utilizing lighting strike tactics, and more smaller, better trained units. Elite Commando Teams often are deployed deep into enemy territory, causing enough damage to give the edge for allied troops. Ideology: The Federation's ideals is that of liberty and justice for all humans, and even aliens who suffer under the heels of tyranny.
The Aurolian Federal Army is primarily responsible for land-based military operations. They, along with the Federation Navy, are the most active branch in the military, from serving as garrison forces on the worlds and stellar installations of the federation, to performing expeditionary operations across known space in conjunction with the Navy and Psi-Ops. Troopers Officers Centurion Armored Suit Zero-G Suit
The Ministry Guard are an elite special operations unit in the Federal Army, they however, operate separately with their own Command Structure and Hierarchy. The Guard are characterized for their predominantly black armor and vehicles, they're armory, while having standard issue Armaments, had their own exclusive set of weapons. While the Guard's purpose are to protect the Ministry Council, their primary goal is the defense of Aurolia. Male Guardsmen Female Guardsmen
The Psi-Ops Division was established twenty years ago as a solution to the sudden rise of children being born with psionic abilities. The Black-Ops Organization has been seeking out and recruiting these gifted children ever since, training them to hone and control their abilities, as well as make use of them in times of war, from psi-link communication, lifting heavy matter, etc. And when the time comes, these Operatives will be sent in the combat, supporting in military operations in anyway possible. Initiates Graduates Seraph Flight Suit
Faction Overview
Faction Name: Condesplane Federation
Capital Ship Name: The Planar
Capital Ship Description: It is a Argon Battleship taken from the enemies of the federation, the Argon, during a massive civil war extending over a century. The Argon battleship is treasured as the war trophy of the federation and is used as the main flagship of a typical battleline. It is 1 mile wide in diameter and is a flat circular disk. During battle, it presents its flat side to the enemy and fires all proton guns with its wide surface. The frontal surface of this disk is pecked with armor plastisteel. Its actual crew quarters, engines, and command net is behind the disk. Because of the nature of fleet battles, the aft is unarmored and is like the inside of an egg, while the front is as armored as it gets. All ships within the federation are disk shaped to increase surface area for gun projections. Most of the surface area has nothing but guns and has no crucial systems besides armor to protect its structure.
Dominant Economic Activity: Metal mining
Secondary DEA: Quantum Power taps
Nation Perks: This nation is fleetbound and therefore has no home system. It ventures from world to world to harvest metal and raw energy and then leaves when the doing is done. It does not care about the people that it devours, or the resources that it conquests. If the battle can be fought and won with minimal losses, it will be done, in order to acquire new resources to build its fleet.
The nation's secondary quirk is that the humans within this fleet are asexual. They do not possess bisexual gender traits, but instead are past sexuality. They reproduce by themselves using GENETIC RECOMBINATION without multiple alleles and therefore don't require two meiosis.
Nation Flaws: The generation of asexuality has resulted through evolution a race of extreme paranoia of those who are different. There is almost no existent lifeform that the federation's citizens don't despise, even those equal or greater in power than them. They fear the death of their own race because they don't see anything being the same as them, only as competition.
Fleetbound: (Nations that choose this NS will automatically have this flaw.)
Nations with this flaw are Fleetbound, and so have no homeworld. They are limited to what resources they can take with them, and are left vulnerable to space-borne attacks without the benefit of a planet's gravity well or ability to heavily fortify. There are some benefits to this, in that a Fleetbound nation is one of the most mobile nations, and while being open to Void-Warfare, will be experts in it.
Short History: The federation comes from a history of periodic wars inbetween its own members of asexual beings. Being the beings are asexual, many many strands of new human subtypes get creates, which causes vast differences that can only ascelerate into open conflict and destruction. The ones that live and get through the constant inside massacres become the dominant faction. At this point in time, it is the coplanar federation.
The consistency of this periodic intra race war has resulted in a very capable space navy system bred to attain strategic initiatives in the most efficient manner. All starships are designed to maximize offensive abilities and defenses. All starships are disk shaped and have vulnerable rears. The possibility of surround in space is extremely difficult considering the three dimensional aspect of space combat. At most, it will be one battlefront vs another battlefront and that is what the federation does best.
Long, long ago, the nation derived from normal humans, but that was before the divergence in which an evolutionary mutation caused a certain portion of humanity to become asexual. These members then formed an alliance to pool military assets and created a small fleet of starships that would roam the stars in search of fuel and material to build its civilization.
It is from these small beginnnings that a starfaring fleetbound race is created and by no means there is no scarcity of enemies that see the race as prey or a nuisance to their own galactic objectives and so it is also from outside military pressure that the Federation has evolved into a military machine.
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Majority Species: Ahumans
Minority Species: No minor species
Species Description: As said before, the species is asexual and doesn't reproduce using sexual recombination. This means there are many strands of different humans resulting in numerous intraspecies conflicts. The species is at most 4 feet tall and thin like sticks. Muscular mass is not needed in space as most physical actions can be augmented by machines and null gravity allows most actions to be done with minimal energy use. The race itself has becomming shorter and smaller since its earliest asexual predecessors that seperated from the main human body. Largeness and size and strength is not needed in space.
In retrospect, the size of the Ahuman brain has increased relative the body size and its only this aspect that has given the race any strength. The race look like walking stick figures with relatively giant heads. The mouth and nose of the race has become smaller, especially the nose, since the race doesn't live on a gravity environment and thus the opening of the nose opens directly forward instead of down. The mouth isn't as big because bodily ingestion isn't as important since the overall muscular framework of the body doesn't require as much nutrition. The eyes are the same size although beady and with only one exception, the brain is much larger proportionally to the head.
It is this structure that makes bystanders think of the Ahumans as aliens and not humans at all, but their genes are still very much human with 23 chromosomes per asexual being.
Majority Species Traits:
strengths: heightened intelligence relative to prespace humans
weakness: frail bodies and exofear
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Social Values (Social engineering of your nation. Go into detail about it.)
Government: A federation of human factions. a federal state, is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, are typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the states.
Economy: communal
Religion: there does exist a supernatural entity that most asexual beings believe in. It is called the Catra, a snake like supernatural being worship by millions. It holds the key to responses from good deeds. The idea that good actions attain good rewards. The primary concept of action-result and the casuality of the world is the center of the Catra's being. The Catra holds the key to the world being as it is, and without the Catra, time space and casuality would be no more.
Military: The battleline. A battleline is a flat plane of starships that are at most two starships thick. All starships face one direction and their forward guns fire in that direction. All armor is centered on the front and the backs are unarmored. The starships are equipped with as many guns as it can and tries to shoot anything that attempts to flank. In this manner, most battles are decided within minutes as starship losses are quick due to the offensive nature.
Ideology: The ability to replicate and freedome to do so is the highest value in the species. The asexual beings only want resources that will help create more of themselves. Anything that hinders or is a force that might deny such resource gain is an enemy of the state and that is the base of this exospecies fear.
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Nation's Naval Assets:
HS2- 200 frigates
HS3- 30 cruisers
HS4- 3 battleships
Civilian starships number in the hundreds are round globe like objects whose sole purpose is to provide living space and other living facilities for the numerous Ahumans.
Civilian ships are of course unarmored and posses no guns, except police control boats that do nothing in terms of firepower. These balled fishes hold 90% of the population, while the rest are within the race's military starships.
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Major Characters:
Name: Aquilas Davon
Species: Ahuman
Skills: Fleet commander of all federation starships
Personality: A rash individual who desire nothing less than the overwhelming superiority of his own race. He does nothing for other races and often kills for pleasure. He is a monster to contend with and that is how he is able to climb the social ladder to become the nation's highest military officer. He is powerhungry, shrewd, and evil.
Short History: Coming from a small family of rich socialites, he was able to use his family's background to aid his climb into the military. Once within the leadership, he used profound social skill to destroy enemies and aid his allies who in term aided him into even higher position. Soon, it became only him and a fearing nemesis. He gutted that nemesis then ejected the remnants of man into warp space. Being the sole power holder, he stepped into the race's highest military seat and hasn't vacated it since.
Name: Sulivar Gerath
Species: Ahuman
Skills: Secondary commander of all federation starships
Personality: he is Aquilas henchmen, having all the wrath, hatred, fear, and obsession of power. He has only one virtue, there is a sense of humility and kindness hidden deep within him that never surfaces but is the hidden volcano of regret from his wrongdoings.
Short History: Sulivar met Aquilas long ago while Aquilas was still a small battleship commander. As friends, they were accomplices in thousands of murders to attain the position they wanted, and now...
Name: Fran Ellison
Species: Ahuman
Skills: meticulousness and consistency
Personality: he is the vengeful son of the prior supreme commander. He doesn't care about where he goes, only that he gets his revenge on the man that took his father's life.
Short History: His father -- deceased supreme commander -- fought nobly against Aquilas and lost -- as well as had his body parts fallen into warp space. Fran is his son and was only able to escape Aquilas's wrath by editing the registrar so that his DNA no longer match his father. He has been hiding as another identity ever since, and wants nothing else but to climb the military ladder to get close to Aquilas to avenge his father's death.
Name: Puli Harnon
Species: Ahuman
Skills: leader of species secret police
Personality: A steadfast leader who only got to his position by following rules and never questioning orders. He is very narrowminded and only does what thinks is "following the rulebook". He doesn't question his superiors which is why Aquilas picks him as nation's secret policeman. When Puli Harmon is told to execute someone, he does it.
Short History: to be writen..
Faction Name: The Aurelian Technocracy
Faction Core World Name: Aurelia
Core World Description: Aurelia is what can be considered a "gilded planet". On the surface, lay gleaming towers of glass, a testament to the technological advancement and privilege that is rained upon the favored citizens of the Technocracy. Infrastructure here is the ideal for all citizens in the Technocracy, however, this isn't quite the case. Below the upper regions of the spires lay a cold, metallic ground. This 'ground' is in-fact the industrial sector of Aurelia. It is here that the vast majority of the populace lives. While the wealthy and influential live in their spires, the middle-class and workers live here. These vast industrial complexes mold and shape the economy itself and are relatively decent to live in. However, under this middle crust lay the true nature of the planet. This area is known as "The Darkscape". In the Darkscape lay the alien races and mutants of Aurelia. The matter of the fact is, these people are those who were once considered "Influential" before the collapse of the Golden Empire. When the storms came and wracked Aurelia, the matter of the fact is, those who were in the spires and those who were aliens, were banished to live below.
Economic Activity: Cybernetics, Robotics, and Lasers
Secondary DEA: Medical technology, and Genetics
Nation Perks:
Men forged of Metal: Since the advent of cybernetics and robotics as accepted professions in the Technocracy, the military and civilian sectors have both been utilizing such advancements. In the military, cybernetics are issued quite regularly to injured soldiers who require the removal of limbs or other vital organs such as eyes. Cybernetics can be outfitted with built-in weapons, and the cybernetic eyes are quite frequently outfitted with data-links. In the realm of robotics lies many vast wonders, exploited by the Technocrats. Robots are commonly outfitted with rudimentary AI and heavy weapons, which would normally require a team of soldiers to utilize, and are utilized in a mainly heavy support category. The caveat being, these "metal men" must be always manned by a human operator in a nearby "mother ship" and issued specific orders. General orders usually cause a conflict, and thus they lose their usefulness in battle.
A More Perfect Man: The Technocracy has gone through many trials and tribulations to unlock the secrets of genetics and medical technology. Over time, they have increased the life-spans of their population almost ten-fold! The military has even begun looking into the possibility of genetically-engineered soldiers to be utilized on the most harsh of battlefields.
Nation Flaws:
Contain and Suppress: Despite all of it's advances, the Technocracy is still an oligarchy that is really interested in maintaining and growing it's power base. By any means necessary, of course. Those who inhabit The Darkscapse are contained to that particular realm, and are brutally suppressed when they are required above ground. Over all, there is very little opportunity social advancement across the board, but there is a hell of a lot of opportunity to wind up a resident of the Darkscape.
What do you mean there isn't any corn?: Thanks to the advances in medical science, there has been a drastic increase in the life-span of the average Aurelian. Which is great! Right? WRONG! In fact, it is terrible for the planet. Starvation is rampant on the planet amongst the industrial sector and good luck finding anything aside from rat dung and fungus to eat Scapside. Almost all arable land on Aurelia has been used up for industrial purposes in the early days of the planet's history as a galactic entity.
Short History: The Aurelian people have always faced adversity, even from their humble beginnings as mere tribes roaming the open plains and valleys of their once luscious, green planet. Sadly, they have changed drastically from their humble roots. In the early days of the Technocracy, one could say that they were destined for some quirky fate. Though, few could imagine the depths of Aurelian cruelty in the days prior to the Fall. Prior to the days of the Technocracy, there was what can only be described as "The Union". The Union was, by all intents and purposes, a theocracy. This theocracy was zealous, preachy, and sure as hell militant. The Union of Aurelia encompassed ten star systems at it's height and was engaged in a brutal, one-sided war with the Golden Empire. In the final days of this war, it was opined by the High Priestess of Aurelia that it was only by the grace of the Gods had they not been destroyed utterly. Oh if she had only known what would come next.
In the end, it might have been the Gods themselves that allowed for the rise of the Technocracy. Ironic, I suppose, due to the inherently secular nature that is a key tenent of the Technocracy. A radiation storm, the likes of which unseen in the history of the Union, struck the planet of Aurelia. The spires, unshielded at this time, were blasted with radiation so great, that those inhabiting them were either mutated or killed instantly, depending on how close they were to the outer walls of the spires. In the years following, there would be chaos in the streets, and many different organizations and factions would rise from the dust. War. Famine. Disease. All were common in the days following the death of the Union. In the end, like the great Phoenix bird of legend, a new entity rose from the ashes. Along came...the Technocracy.
The lands ruled by the Technocracy enjoyed relative peace and order, as well as protection from the common deaths of the time. As time progressed and technological advancement slowly regained it's foothold, the Technocracy began to conquer it's rivals and annex it's allies until they were the dominant power. It was not long after this that they began their brutal policy of Apartheid. The aliens living on the planet were first forced upwards to build shielding on the spires. In the hellish working conditions, many aliens died, but many also miraculously survived. Those who made it out alive, were forced into the Darkscape, forever banished from greater Aurelian society. Their only glimpse of the surface world: The military camps which block off the grav-elevators to the industrial centers. After the shielding of the towers, the Technocracy at first welcomed their mutant brethren with open arms...however, many mutants soon vanished along with political dissidents. Whisked away to be experimented on in Technocracy laboratories. Those that weren't experimented on, were made into an essential slave race...at least for a short while.
A decade after their enslavement and re-discovery, the remnants of the Union government and their off-spring began a revolt. In one swift action, the Technocracy brutally suppressed them and banished them to the Darkscape as well, forced to reside with those deemed unfit for greater society. Since then, the Technocracy has grown and flourished, blossoming into a grand industrial power with two colony systems to boot.
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Outpost Name: The Aurelian System (Home System)
Holdings Summary: In the Aurelian System there are five planets. Of which, two are habitable, and the other three are airless rocks. Outside of those closest to the bright, yellow star at the center of this solar system, there is the asteroid belt and past the planets behind that barrier is the Korz cloud: A thick blanketing of comets and space debris.
Asset: The advantage the Aurelian system has over it's fellow systems? Industrial Power. Indeed, the Aurelian system is the main industrial hub of the empire. The outer planets are mined for raw minerals while the planet Aurelia utilizes those minerals in the manufacture of it's military, and civilian, hardware.
Outpost Name: Indaryth
Holdings Summary: There are six planets within this particular system, three of which are in the habitable zone. This system has a red star as opposed to the optimal yellow, however, the people of the government capital at Indaryth don't seem to care much.
Asset: Indaryth is a vital part of the Technocracy, for it provides that what is needed most: Food. Elements from the Technocracy fleet are always kept there as evidence that, yes, the Technocracy is there. Yes, they will defend their claim at all costs. Yes, they will suppress any rebellions that they even catch a glimpse of.
Outpost Name: Prawn
Holdings Summary: This system holds only two planets, however there are several large planetoids in the nearby asteroid belt, which are inhabited. This particular system has a blue star.
Asset: Scientific development. The Prawn system is used as an area of scientific development. It is generally considered to be a clandestine base.
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Majority Species: Aurelians
Species Description:
The average Aurelian reaches around 5'10-6'1, depending on gender and upbringing. Their feet are hooved, and they have hands with four digit hands (three fingers and one thumb). Their skin, in general, is a greyish-blue hue and their eyes are usually rounded, while their faces are generally flat. Their eyesight is generally better than the average human, however, the caveat to this is that their pupils do not dilate. Therefore, they lack good depth perception and they also cannot adjust to light as quickly as ahuman can, dulling their reflexes. Over time, due to Union eugenics, a slit in the skull is a common racial characteristic.
Perks:
EUREKA!: Thanks to their years of prizing knowledge above all else, the Aurelians have a very high IQ on average.When they really put their mind to something, by God, it will be done, whether their life depends on it or not. If this is just a hyper-up stubbornness or not, remains to yet be seen.
Damn Good Shot, Watson!: Due to their improved eyesight, they have generally improved accuracy with fire-arms, both conventional and otherwise, overall. Indeed, they were quite notorious during the days of the Golden Empire for being good shots. Marksmen and line troopers alike claimed many lives of Imperial troops before their hallowed positions fell one by one.
Flaws:
Ow! Your face broke my hand!: Despite their impressive brain-power, they are severely lacking in the strength department. Quite commonly, they will utilize specialized industrial lifting suits to move boxes of weapons or other heavy machinery. Other times they will bring in slave labor from the Darkscape as essentially glorified cannon fodder to serve in the Aurelian military as heavy support troops.
Different is untrustworthy...: Even though they are highly advanced, they are also extremely xenophobic on the whole as a race. They would much rather see their neighbors either under their rule, or buried in the ground underneath their boots. This doesn't mean they can't make friends...it just means they have a hard time doing it.
Minority Species: Aure-Va
Species Description:
The typical Aure-Va is only a couple inches taller than your average Aurelian, however, they have also developed several mutations thanks to their exposure to the space radiation. This species are the descendants of the Aurelians whom of which made up the old Priest caste that once resided in the towers above, mutated and twisted by the storm that engulfed Aurelia. Their endo-skeleton slowly disappeared as they gained a thick exoskeleton, however, their spines remained, and they in fact developed wings from the remains of their spines. In their newly-formed society, they have the basic unit known as the "strain". The strain is like a clan, in that they are all members of the same family, however, the strain is also their basic fighting unit. Some Aure-Va and Kronor have let slip that somewhere, hidden in the depths of the Darkscape, lay a large tribal village, acting as their capital. There they revere the old gods of the Aurelian Union.
Perk:
Descend from the skies, Brothers!: Thanks to the development of wings, they have developed the ability to descend from the skies and disrupt enemy ground units, making them great shock troops in comparison to their Aurelian counterparts. Quite frequently, the Technocracy will capture Aure-Va and press-gang them into their military, utilizing them in a shock capacity.
Flaw:
The Family that Prays...: Despite the fact that their basic fighting unit happens to be the family, the Aure-Va stick together through everything. Everything. When captured, or killed, the members of the same strain will quite commonly go to save their kin, or to recover their corpse. This suicidal drive to maintain the family unit has cost the Technocracy many battles...however, on the flip side to that, that suicidal drive has also won them plenty of battles as well.
Minority Species: Kronor
Species Description:
Rumor has it that the Kronor were once great allies of the Union, being one of the first alien converts to the Union's religion. However, those days have long since passed. The Kronor are a tall, broad, and strong species, resembling the normal Terran swine. Since the fall of their own empire, the Kronor have spread out across the sector, a large quantity of whom fled to Aurelia. In the aftermath, the Aurelians have begun to use them as slave labor and heavy auxiliaries. Given their strength, they're perfect for heavy lifting where industrial robots and lifting suits won't fit. The basic unit of their society is the tribe. Their tribes are rather large, usually consisting of three different clans inter-woven together. It is rumored that they and the Aure-Va are engaged in a brutal war below the industrial sector. Primitive weapons and brute strength versus a relatively medieval society that can fly? One can only imagine how brutal they can both be.
Perks:
KRONOR SMASH!: The Kronor are a rather physically strong and fit species, despite all outward appearances of being overweight. Even with just a mere iron axe, they can take down a man in full-on steel plate armor in a matter of seconds. Usually, they are deployed as assault troops and thus fill this capacity. Quite commonly, in fact, this makes them the first troops on the ground when assaulting a planet.
Flaws:
"Special": Evidently, God had to force the Kronor to be lacking in some area. Sure, they have a few bright people, and that's what got them to where they were before the fall, but the vast majority of their race is just...dumb. They can understand basic addition and subtraction, but Algebra? Calculus? Multiplication? Division? Yeah, no. They average American today would be a straight 'A' student in their education system.
* * * * * *
Government: The government of the Technocracy is a rather advanced form of oligarchy. Several guilds make up the greater government of the Technocracy, and those who are members of the guild, which makes up less than two percent of the Aurelian population, are allowed to vote on the Lord-Fabricator. The Lord-Fabricator is then in term for a period of six years and during this time he holds total control over the military. However, the Guilds can overturn his decisions with a majority vote.
Economy: Planned economy.
Religion: The Technocracy is a secular entity, however, the Aure-Va and the Kronor both still follow the Old Gods of the Union. This is, mainly, what explains their conflict in the Darkscape. The Kronor and the Aure-Va hold two separate renditions of the words of the Prophet, similar to the conflict between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. However, thanks to their fast reproduction cycles, the casualties of war are quickly replaced. The conflict is used as justification by the Technocracy for being a secular state.
Military: In the Aurelian Military, ground combat is praised above all else. Generally speaking, however, melee combat is discouraged in favor of ranged combat. Aurelians will form firing lines in their platoons of twelve men each and begin their insidious battle across the planet. However, amongst the minor races, melee combat is one of the most hallowed traditions of warfare. Indeed, the Kronor are usually deployed in such a manner that they are either fighting with large iron axes, or they are toting high-caliber solid slug guns. The Aure-Va also revere close quarters combat, but are able to utilize much more advanced technology in comparison to their Kronor counterparts, thus, they are more often than not equipped with vibro-weapons.
Ideology: Above all else, the Aurelians hold Knowledge as a key tenant in their society. Even in the days of the Union, the Union's religion held scientific advancement and discovery on the same level as religious zeal.
Personality: Vaxis is a cold and brutal individual, he shows no remorse in putting down aliens and mutants with lethal force. He used to be an idealist, however, this all changed many years ago during the Aure-Va Insurrection on Prawn. Vaxis also seems to care even less about ethics. To him, ethics is just some word that those afraid of scientific advancement invented just to stifle those that are truly bright and great in society.
Short History: Vaxis was born a little over a hundred years ago during the Wars of Unification at the advent of the Technocracy. Vaxis grew up in the Technocracy, his mother and father were both soldiers holding the line and pushing onward. By the time he was fifteen, Vaxis was being bumped through the Technocracy educational system at a staggering rate, beginning his new theory and hypotheses on cloning and the Aurelian genome. At the age of eighteen he was issued the head research position at a new laboratory in the Prawn system. At the time, he was an idealistic young man who held high hopes for their newly discovered Aure-Va brethren in the spires...this all changed rather quickly afterwards.
Within a year of their discovery, hundreds of the Aure-Va were shipped to the Prawn system. Slowly, but surely, Vaxis and his colleagues mapped the Aure-Va genome, even recording where they first began to differ from themselves. A year later, Vaxis began his experiments in the field of Aurelian cloning, which were met with limited success. However, in the third year of his holding the position on Prawn, the Aure-Va Insurrection began. The Aure-Va and the Kronor banded together for a short period of time and revolted across the Technocracy. The private armies of the Guilds and the military of the Technocracy were moving quickly, but not nearly fast enough to rally their defenses effectively. On Prawn, Vaxis rallied the militia and the small amount of military forces there and fought back against the Aure-Va and, in three months of brutal conflict, Vaxis and his commanders crushed the insurrection on Prawn.
Fast forward a good eighty years, and Vaxis is elected the Lord-Fabricator of the entire Technocracy. He held a position as a Fabricator-General on Prawn for multiple years, and it was assumed that he would be the first candidate for the position of Lord-Fabricator. Now that he was in control, the new Lord-Fabricator began a new era of suppression and control in the Darkscape, while above he made the people drunk with entertainment.
Name: High Priestess Vaure
Species: Aure-Va
Skills:
Skilled Melee Combatant
Master Orator
Diplomat
Skilled Strategist
Personality: The High Priestess is a warm and welcoming person amongst her people, and when dealing with emissaries that they receive from above. However, in combat and during times of conflict, the High Priestess is a bloodthirsty combatant. If anything, the High Priestess is a loose cannon when it comes to leaders. She is considered a liability by the Fabricators (who use her as a puppet), and a monster by the Kronor.
Short History: High Priestess Vaure was born in the Darkscape to the line of High Priests which had ruled the Union many generations before she had come into existence. She is the first High Priest to have been born in the Darkscape, and the third to become a specialist in melee combat (her great-great grandfather and great-grandfather being the first and second, respectively.). Before she had come to power, the Aure-Va had never had a dedicated military leader, unlike their counterparts the Kronor. Indeed, it looked like they would become a mere thing of the past until she took command, leading several daring assaults on the Kronor. Over time, the High Priestess has gained the fear and respect of the Kronor and the admiration of the Lord-Fabricator. She is one of the few members of the Aure-Va race to be allowed full access to the spires, because of this.
Name: King Gortwog Gun-Smasha
Species: Kronor
Skills:
Master of Axe Combat
Incredible Strength and Endurance
Master Strategist
Hard to Kill
Personality: Gortwog is an all-around brutal and jolly man. Really, he is a living contradiction. As a leader he is a brutally efficient administrator that has ordered the butchering of hundred of Aure-Va...and on the other hand, he's also the first in his vast area of the Darkscape to drink heavily and tell the tales from before the Time of Darkness. A very strange and eccentric man, he is.
Short History:Ahhh, good ol' Gortwog. Gortwog was born around thirty years ago, making him ancient by Kronor standards, and has been fighting ever since. The hostile creatures below the industrial zone have always plagued the Kronor for as long as they could remember, albeit they can't remember past yesterday. From the ages of three through ten, Gortwog proved himself hunting the creatures that attacked his tribe, bringing in the meat for his tribe to feast upon during the long hibernation cycles. At the age of fifteen, he became chieftain by slaying the previous chieftain. From there, he just began to conquer. He began picking and choosing his fights, forcing his enemies to fight on his terms. In the end, he came to control the single largest tribe of Kronor in the entire Darkscape. However, this also lead him to settle down and begin something unheard of in the Darkscape: City building. He constructed one of the Darkscape's two cities. The other constructed by the Aure-Va after they entered the realm.
From his citadel, he commanded large swathes of the Kronor population in the Darkscape. He and his armies fought against the Aure-Va, the Aure-Va reporting his death no more than five times. Indeed, even the Aurelians have failed to take down this behemoth of a Kronor. His hide is thick enough to block out their laser bolts entirely. Gortwog is content with their attempts to kill him, however, for he likes to know that those more powerful than him find him a threat. His domain stretching from one toxic sea to another, Gortwog watches and waits for the next step in the war against the Aure-Va and their cousins the Aurelians...however, it has been hinted that the Aurelians might soon use Gortwog for their own purposes...
Last edited by sandman9913; 3 Weeks Ago at 12:38 AM.
System Message: The following archive contains language fragments which are incompatible with any human language and could not be properly translated - such fragments have been left unaltered. Passages within < > denote that they are rough, approximate translations.
Faction Name: Lerna Faction Core World Name: Lerna
Lerna is a dark planet, unattached to a star with which to orbit around and with no nearby neighbors. It has a war, shifting core of <lodestone> that generates a magnetic field for the planet and vents heat into the oceans, as well as emitting a not inconsiderable amount of radiation. The planet itself has a wobbling, spinning orbit with the "top" of the planet always spinning forwards and the "side" of the planet always spinning to the right. As it does not orbit around a sun or any other stellar body, it does not actual have distinct biomes, and exhibits true polar wandering. The outer of the planet is a twelve-kilometer thick sheet of ice with is largely uniform and flat, having no distinct features other than certain patterns of lineae, similar in appearance to oceanic ridges, which criss-cross its surface. There are also some pits and ice domes which mark the surface, though there are no canyons, mountains or similar structures. There is a very tenuous atmosphere of oxygen above the ice sheet, though it is too thin to be breathable by humans. The ice sheet itself is actually separate and not connected to the true surface of the planet, resting atop the surface of a massive saltwater ocean which covers the entirety of the planet, and both the ice sheet and the planet may have different spins to them at any given time, with the orientation of the magnetic poles being dependent on the spin of the planet itself. The ocean under the ice sheet is hundreds of kilometers deep and is essentially the true atmosphere of the planet. The surface is similar to that of most saltwater oceans, with a large number of Hydrothermal vents and volcanoes present. Of particular note is the presence of veins and protrusions of an ore referred to as <lodestone> liberally sprinkled over the interior surface of the planet. These are molten-remnants of past volcanoes and vents that previous led straight down to Lerna's core, now filled with cold and hardened <lodestone>. Due to its properties, a great deal of energy not channeled into the oceans by vents and volcanism is instead channeled in the form of electrical current and radiating heat through these <lodestone> 'pipes.' The geography of the inner surface has mountains, valleys, trenches, chasms, overhangs, pits, plateaus and other features normally seen on tectonically active planets.
Dominant Economic Activity: <Crop>, or harvesting. Secondary DEA: Architecture and City Planning. Faction's Core-System: The Lernaeans currently only reside upon their home planet, which is not starbound and therefore not located in a system per-se. Nation Perks:
If it is organic, they can grow, tend and even genetically modify it without issue. It does not even need to be plant-based, Lernaens can grow meaty crop as well.
Their homeworld is an ice-coated dark planet hurtling through space, their ships and structures do not radiate radio or other energetic/wavelength based signals that can be detected from long range, and what means they have of keeping everything straight comes down to a biological compass. It is nigh-impossible to pin down the locations of Lernaean fleets, colonies and starbases except at close range (inter-system), and they are similarly difficult to track and follow. The only reliable method of locating Lernaeans is through looking for heat signatures or to catch them on chance on visual sensors.
Nation Flaws:
The Lernaeans are still in their equivalent of their medieval period. They have no technology, and as a matter of course have yet to even discover *fire*. They have no basis for understanding technology or adapting to use it. They still use stone-age techniques and skills to get by - their annuals and histories are chiseled in stone, their architecture is made by hand from what is available, and they are ruled by what amounts to kings and generals.
There are three kingdoms upon Lerna, and none of them get along particularly well. They are very tenuously allied by a common bond with a single individual, and political tension is high. The Lernaean people are not wholly unified, and lack a centralized power structure and clear chain of command.
Until very recently, the Lernaeans were not a space-faring civilization, and did not even known that anything existed beyond the ice sheet that covered their planet. Space exploration and travel will be much more difficult for them than for other species.
The Lernaeans do not start the RP with an active fleet!
A great deal of Lernaean history is lost in the mists of time, as no reliable method of record-keeping has been developed short of carving into rock. History, as an archival concept, is only known as far back as the oldest Lernaean remembers being alive with the most well-known Lernaean historian being nearly 4000 years old. Being historian is a duty alongside many others - there is no pay or incentive for being a historian other than what others might pay in return for retellings of the past. Even then, most history is greatly fragmented and distorted by personal bias. Recent history only covers the last several hundred years.
The past several thousand years is thought to have been rent with nearly continuous war between as many as six different nations, with ascending to the role of <Exalted Ruler> approximately 900 years ago. They are thought to have arranged a tentative military alliance with two other <Exalted Rulers>, taking advantage of a rising <great war leader> of the time uniting several prominent <war leaders> and commanding their armies. It was essentially a strong-armed alliance, as neither of the two <lands> would have lasted long with most of their forces having defected to join the rising <great war leader>.
The <great war leader>, known as , is then known to have swept across the oceans of the moon with his armies and to have destroyed every other nation and army left under the ice sheet over a time period of nearly thirty years. He is not remembered as having lost any battle that he personally led, which drove him to become a nigh-mythical figure in Lernaean culture. Pockets and splinter groups of other nations and forces are thought to have survived his surge across the planet, but if so they likely either joined with the nearest city or died in the wild.
Since then, Lerna has known nearly four centuries of peace. The original alliance between the three only remaining <Exalted Rulers> and their <lands> remains, and is predicted to continue to do so for as long as the <Greatest Exalted Ruler> or are alive. The latter holds all of the power on Lerna, in that he wields the loyalty and the minds of the people as a legendary figure rivaling those out of myth - and he, by oath, follows the creed of the <Greatest Exalted Ruler>. What happens if the <Greatest Exalted Ruler> dies first is therefore anybody's guess, although popular speculation is that the <greatest war leader> will finally do away with <Exaltation> and simply declare himself <Sole Ruler>, although if he dies first it is thought all three <lands> will split and war will begin again.
Not that natural death is frequent amongst figures of importance such as them...but 'accidental' deaths on the other hand are quite common. There are many ways for Lernaeans to die without leaving remains behind that can regenerate.
* * * * * *
Outposts: No outposts as of yet.
* * * * * *
Unspecified Hydrozoan Species XII (unspec144) are invertebrate saltwater organisms bearing similarities to both Hydra and Cuttlefish. Their bodies consist mostly of Mesoglial jelly with a highly prominent nerve-net, typically centered around a single marrow-like 'core' which most of the organism's structure is attached to. The species does not appear to have a centralized brain or equivalent structure, but exhibits sapience and sentience despite this (see below). The species does not undergo senescence, and is capable of regenerating any non-fatal injury over time. Actual destruction of an individual is difficult due to their genetic neurology, with the most reliable means of permanent death being incineration, digestion, and viral lysing. As long as at least a portion of their digestive sac remains intact, an individual can eventually regrow its entire body. The species engages in sexual reproduction, usually laying between 8 and 20 microscopic eggs near hydrothermal vents. There are four distinct 'genders' present within the species' physiology, with overlaps being common.
Most individuals of the species have central bodies which measure anywhere from two to twenty five centimeters in length and usually a seventh of that as wide. Individuals may have up to twelve prehensile tentacles up to a foot long laced with cnidocytes, laced with a venom that while highly lethal to life indigenous to Lerna is harmless to most alien species. Being stung by cnidocytes is by no means pleasant, but it is survivable. Lernaeans have relatively simple digestive sacs and a primitive circulatory system consisting of four large canals, possessing very few muscles. Movement is accomplished through crawling via tentacles along the ocean floor, or through the use of jet propulsion facilitated through the positioning of several pores spaced along their bodies. They sense the environment around them largely through touch and electrolocation, and have an amazing range of detection, being capable of sensing distinct environmental characteristics within roughly a hundred-meter unobstructed radius. Other than this, they have no dedicated sensory systems, and so cannot see light or hear sound and so forth.
The species is both sapient and sentient, and individuals actively and passively demonstrate rational thinking while engaging in complex problem-solving behavior and tool-usage, while having an excellent capacity for planning and decision-making. Sentience can persist even in specimens who have had their marrow cores surgically removed. As there are no other major organs present within their bodies save for their outer skin, their sapience and sentience is due wholly to their prominent neural net, as well as to their genetics. More specifically, information and stimuli detected by the body is encoded into superfluous junk genetic code, which can then be accessed in the form of memories. This is similar to how human memory functions, though unlike humans Lernaeans lack structures dedicated to the purpose. Information is encoded and replicated in realtime in every single cell of the body with the exception of the outermost layer of skin, and information is retrieved from every individual cell as well. As a result, Lernaeans have exceptional memories, and ever if cut into a dozen pieces can still retain all of their knowledge once they regenerate. However, information is interpreted only inasmuch in the context of information already present, so the species is not born sentient. Rather, sentience emerges as a characteristic after an extended period of growth. This pattern arose within their evolutionary history when individual organisms that were able to act upon information existing in their genetic code produced more offspring and lived longer than other individuals, and as a result the species develops sentience after an extended period of time - though this advantage only started to matter after periods of hundreds of years. Onset of adolescence in the species is measured in terms of how long it takes for an individual to exhibit signs of sentient behavior.
Species Perks:
Lernaeans do not undergo senescence once they have grown to their maximum size, and their genetic code is either entirely free or only sparely occupied by sequences that would cause defects or disease at later stages in life. Lernaeans also have moderate resistance to cancerous malfunctions, with their cellular makeup having several redundant mechanisms in place to prevent such from occurring. A necessity given Lernaean's regenerative abilities, only one in fifteen million Lernaeans will ever experience cancer. Lernaeans live in an ocean filled with several extremes, both in terms of pressure as well as heat. The bottom of the ocean is particularly warm, and around geothermal vents and <lodestone> veins it is boiling. Meanwhile, near the interior surface of the ice sheet the water is past freezing temperature, only keep moving by tidal and 'glacial' shifts. Lernaeans have an exceptional tolerance for a wide temperature range and extreme pressure gradients. In addition, Lerna's <lodestone> core emits roughly 600 rems of radiation every day, more than enough to kill a human outright in a little under twenty-four hours. Lernaeans therefore have resistance to high levels of radiation. Lernaeans have exceptional memories, and even if torn to pieces will still be able to accurately recall most information - this same memory system gives them some resistance to brainwashing and interrogation techniques. As Lernaeans have no vitals, killing them can be difficult, with only incineration, digestion and viral lysing being surefire means of ensuring fatalities. This is also due in part to the regenerative quality of Lernaean biology; as long as a portion of their digestive sac remains intact, Lernaeans may regenerate and regrow any part of their body over time. Finally, Lernaeans have very refined electrolocation and generation mechanisms, allowing them to perceive unobstructed terrain out to a hundred meters and to make out distinct environmental characteristics.
Lernaeans have an inordinate amount of control over their own genetic structures as well as those of other organisms indigenous to Lerna. They can manipulate, by touch, the assembly of genes within an egg or embryo be it of one of their own young, the seed of a plant or coral and so forth. Over a period of tens of thousands of years, they have 'domesticated' a type of crop which can be freely customized to their will in order to grow food, materials, or whatever else they might need. This 'crop' is referred to as
Species Flaws:
Lernaeans cannot survive outside of a saturated saltwater environment, and will suffocate on dry land. They are highly susceptible to toxic substances such as lead, mercury and even their own <lodestone>, all of which can cause cysts to grow within their neural webbing. This inevitably leads to loss of motor control, mental impairment, paralysis and death. Lernaeans do not have any sensory organs, and so cannot perceive light or sound, and cannot taste what foods they eat, nor smell anything. They rely solely upon electrolocation, and so anything that can evade that sense is effectively invisible to them, and they can be theoretically overwhelmed and 'blinded' by extremely powerful surges of electrical current. The largest of them is not even a foot long, not counting the tentacles, and they have very few muscles - they present little to no threat to larger organisms save for their cnidocytes and the possibility of electrocution. Finally, they taste is similar to that of shrimp, and they go well with sauce.
Lernaeans live underwater, and will never be suited for life on land - most if not all technology simply will not function for them because of this. Kinetic and energy systems do not perform well underwater, combustion is much more difficult, and the flow of electricity is much more unpredictable. Lernaeans have no preexisting knowledge base that would allow them to adapt to technology, and even if they could, they would not be able to use it except indirectly. Lernaeans, in essence, cannot ever use any kind of technology other than what passes for their own.
Lernaeans communicate via a complex sign-language involving up to all twelve of their tentacles and pulses of electrical signalling. That's it. They can't hear you talking, and their lack of a brain makes telepathy difficult. Negotiations will likely be short and incomprehensible.
* * * * * *
Government: Oligarchy
Roughly free market. There are rulers who own sections of the ocean, and while living therein one pays tithes to them. The rulers are obligated to defend and the region as well as uphold a minimal standard and quality of living for its inhabitants. Trade and bartering happens at the level of the individual, and guilds or collectives usually cannot be formed without the permission of whoever rules the area. Basic crimes such as theft, murder and so forth are prevented and other laws enforced by soldiers or militants who work for the ruler, but otherwise individuals are left to tend to their own business. Guilds and collectives that manage to be formed usually must negotiate extensively with the local ruler in order to continue operating, and there is likely a high level of oversight. At the end of the day, what a ruler says, goes.
Lernaeans, despite having existed as a society for over 600,000 thousand years, still have not yet figured out that mining is a thing. Minerals, ores and metals are not commodities and are simply not present or used in society. The main commodities in circulation include complex chemical compounds akin to drugs, food, raw materials, <crop> material and whatever it is that passes for art on Lerna. The genetic sequences for particular variations of <crop> are also occasionally seen on the open market, and land (or water) itself (as leased by a ruler) is also quite valuable. Complex mechanisms can be assembled by <crop> materials, but the specific combinations required for these devices are prohibitively expensive and time-intensive.
Religions have come and gone in the 600,000 year history, from the religion of Marduk the Charlatan to the great big Horizon Behemoth to the worship of the planet itself to the worship of the ice sheet to the worship of whatever lay beyond the ice sheet to the worship of a giant hole in the ground to worship of The Great Glass Megacaldera. The current era is seeing a temporary lull in religious fervor, with most Lernaeans treating the subject with some measure of bemusement.
In a liquid environment, Gravity is less of an absolute law and more of a loose and oft-ignored suggestion. All Lernaean warfare has therefore been waged in three dimensions, similar to space combat. However, as Lernaeans lack minerals, ore and metals, and as long-range kinetic and energy weaponry is largely ineffectual underwater, all combat is strictly limited to melee range. Tactics include 'battle ball' formations, penetration columns, and ablative jousting. Wage warfare along the planet surface is inadvisable since it inevitably leads to both sides using the terrain to establish ambuscades.
Early warfare was limited merely to formation tactics, and actual casualties in war were rare due to how difficult Lernaeans are to kill - even to each other. The overall goal of a battle was simply to incapacitate the enemy's commanding force or to sufficiently incapacitate a majority of an opposing army. As <crop> grew more and more sophisticated however, it eventually led to the development of modern-day Lernaean exosuits, which completely changed the shape of warefare for them.
Exosuits have thick, chitinous armor, usually with a single operator at the center piloting the mass. Each suit typically uses a number of highly muscular tentacles tipped with modified and extremely powerful nematocyst structures. Since exosuit armor was so thick, the only reliable way to harm the pilot was to penetrate the armor with overwhelming force and incapacitate the pilot in the same strike. The harpoon-like, penetrating power of nematocyst spikes, aided further by the intense musculature of each tentacle, could pierce through meters of armor in order to spear an operator within an exosuit. There was always an ongoing arms-race that experimented with new designs of exosuit chitin that could either deflect nematocyte strikes, or otherwise simply be thick and strong enough to resist penetration. There was a similar arms race to improve upon the biological design of tentacle projections, with emphasis made upon the power of their musculature, their length and by association their range, their flexibility and resistance to damage. The final optimal design used in the last wars favored exosuits with a curved, clam-like design, with several lance-like protrusions and spires that could cause the orientation of an impacting tentacle to fire its nematocyte at an improper angle or into a nonvital portion of an exosuit's armor or interior. Tentacles in this design tended to be upwards of 49 meters long, and tended towards the maximum number of twelve per exosuit. This allowed for the traditional Lernaean 'battle ball' formation to become equivalent to a sea-urchin, being nearly unbreakable defensive lines bristling with protruding defenses. Penetration columns became less effective at piercing through battle ball formations, and ablative jousting became suicidal. This gave rise to a new form of combat.
The weakest part of any exosuit was also its protruding tentacles - as their primary weapons were always mounted on these, damaging each tentacle mounted on an exosuit was a surefire way of winning a battle (exosuits are still quite dangerous even when bereft of tentacles, but do not contribute particularly to battles between hundreds or thousands of exosuits). The 'new order' of combat focused around a wrestling system where tentacles would spar with one another until one could pierce through and hopefully sever the other with a nematocyte strike. Formations of exosuits would begin to line up with one another and bat at each other from extreme range with their tentacles until one side was completely bereft of effective weaponry. This was an age when personal technique and skill was favored more, since the efforts of a single skilled individual in battle became much more significant with battles waged in this manner.
As this style of warfare solidified, new exosuit designs began to be deployed that made use of more than one operator and could have more than twelve tentacles, or that made use of 'relay' pilot nodes connecting to a central command shell that could in this manner wield upward of dozens upon dozens of tentacles and take up nearly a solid kilometer of space. Despite these designs, the mode of battle changed little, as a sufficiently skilled individual in a regular exosuit could always theoretically defend themselves from dozens of more attacks from more advanced exosuits operated by less skilled pilots.
Towards the end of the final era, massive 'siege' exosuits were designed that were capable of razing Lernaean cities and were essentially indestructable as far as conventional Lernaean warfare went. In a uniform planetwide conference, these exosuits were unanimously and summarily banned at the insistence of their designer. These exosuits were often sealed away in chasms, magma rifts and other hazard-filled environments.
The use of molecular poisons, acids and toxins in Lernaean history is little more than a footnote. While sound in theory, in practice the dispersal mechanisms employed and the nature of liquid environments meant that as a tactic their use was prone to back and friendly fire. This manner of attack could also be readily countered by sealing exosuits and rendering them water-tight. While actual projection of poisons and toxins was never an issue - very large volumes of water could be very quickly filled the stuff in the general direction desired with only a few casualties upon your own side - but the main issue was that the poisons and toxins would then stick around or disperse into the surrounding waters at a slow pace, poisoning the local populace over an extended period of time and harming <crop> production. Ultimately, using poisons either for defense of your own land or when attacking land you wished to own, their employment proved too cost-intensive in the long term. There are a few infamous battles where poisons were masterfully employed in novel ways to seize victory, but those days are long gone now.
Now, in the modern day, after more than 900 years of peace, with all military on the planet united under a single leader, there is no longer any singular accepted method to wage warfare outside of select, specifically educated individuals or experienced veterans.
Exploration. For hundreds of thousands of years, Lernaeans have owned their world, but have been trapped on it, with no escape. This manifests in many different ways. Some of the most famous Lernaeans are story-tellers, others are artists, some are what could be called scientists. There is simply too much that the Lernaeans do not know about themselves and their home world. There are some who do not even believe that anything exists outside of the ice sheet. There is a sense of a struggle amongst the population to find understanding and meaning amidst the unknown of a familiar but strange environment. Eight out of ten Lernaeans in a census that was never taken hold as a common ideal that their world is not getting any bigger, and that boundaries need to be pushed. But when the only boundaries that exist are down and up...
* * * * * *
Nation's Naval Assets:
As of the present moment, Lerna has no naval assets to speak of. Having known 400 years of peace, the number of military exosuits left in service are few in number, and none of them can operate in the depths of space. Below, however, is a listing of the naval units you may eventually expect to see.
The exosuits used within the Lernaean navy all share a number of common features. All of them use gas-based propulsion in order to traverse space - in order to conserve on fuel, jet systems are partially internalized or designed to allow reuptake of jettisoned gasses. In this way, exosuits may maneuver and recover fuel spent in doing so. All exosuits may open themselves to reveal a digestive chamber, and may devour raw materials for use in healing and retrofitting. Exosuits that devour the wreckages of ships and hull plating can reinforce their shells with the material consumed, for example. Because of this, Lernaeans can easily refuel, repair and even upgrade themselves at the conclusion of every battle, assuming Victory.
As they are limited to gas propulsion, Lernaean suits have trouble breaking and changing direction, particularly when it comes to hard changes in orientation. They can accelerate well enough and have a decent sublight speed for space-faring vessels, but their inability to quickly make minor course corrections or dampen their own inertia severely hampers their ability in combat. For this reason, most Lernaean ships make use of FTL mechanisms in order to close distance and engage enemies. Lernaean FTL jumps are threshold systems that once activated, are irreversible. There is a charge period associated with each jump, and while an individual exosuit can alter its destination in the midst of charging, it cannot cancel the jump once it has started to build power. Lernaeans exosuits also, as a general rule, cannot jump too close to their departure point. The mechanisms of Lernaean FTL jumps allow each exosuit to momentarily exist in two different places at once, but at shorter ranges the laws of quantum mechanics do not ensure a stable jump, potentially resulting in the exosuit 'snapping' between its departure and arrival points to implode at some point between the two. Exosuits therefore cannot preemptively start a jump sequence while in the middle of engaging an enemy unit, since unless it is utterly certain the enemy is about to be destroyed, the exosuit in question may still be needed to engage them, and yet they would momentarily be required to jump a safe distance away from their target. For this reason, exosuits cannot afford to jump around in the middle of fleet engagements unless their pilots are absolutely certain of what they are doing.
Lernaean exosuits can enter and exit planetary atmospheres without issue through the use of isolated chambers filled with Helium, allowing them to float through gaseous planetary environments. Lernaean exosuits can also operate on land, their long and highly muscular tentacles lending them considerable agility despite their mass. Exosuits are most dangerous in fluid environments, capable of moving effortlessly and at frightening speeds when submerged, and where most conventional weapons are ineffective.
Hull Size 5
Astranomal <Lodestone>
Class: Experimental Long Range Bomber
Pilots: 145
Tentacles: N/A
This massive experimental ship is a scaled up model of many traditional exosuit designs, and has 144 hardpoints that allow for protruding tentacles. However, nominally there are no tentacles emerging from any of these hardpoints. The interior of the exosuit also departs from traditional designs in that most of it is storage space, holding an immense number of modular tentacle and exosuit pod components. In combat, the ship, rather than powering up for a FTL jump to get within melee range, will instead simply eject individual exosuit pods in the general direction of the enemy. These pods, having been built and dedicated for the purpose of serving as munitions, will have already built up the power needed for a FTL jump, not needing to spend the energy on more important systems elsewhere. Each pod is also of a unique experimental design, with an anchored piloting relay chamber that allows their operators to remotely control each individual pod the bomber projects, up to 144 of them at a time. Each pod is armed with twelve lengths of tentacles, each tipped with a chemical-laser-assisted nematocyte that can then remotely wreck havoc upon an enemy fleet. If a pod is destroyed, a new one is projected to replace it.
<Lodestone> Creature
Class: Heavy Fleetbreaker Exosuit
Pilots: 146
Tentacles: 288
This is a massive, segmented exosuit that resembles a giant centipede. It has 144 segments in total, each of which has two hardpoints that may house a protruding tentacle. The segments are all stacked, incurrented ridges with reuptake propulsion hardpoints, meaning this exosuit is the only one amongst the Lernaean navy that can travel at sublight speeds like conventional ships. This allows it to makes hard turns or smooth curves, and break as well as gain thrust. And most importantly, it can accelerate very, very quickly. This ship is designed to engage in conventional Lernaean tactics, using a FTL jump to close within melee range - but then carrying its attack without having to jump a second time. And more specifically, this ship is designed to come out of FTL jumps at top-speed, allowing it to plow through enemy forces at high speeds with its innumerable tentacle-mounted weapons. Its front is a massive, chemical-laser-assisted lance-nematocyte designed for ramming actions that also have twelve tentacles to itself to assist in tearing into any ship that gets caught on the tip of the lance. Other than that, the exosuit is largely mundane, simply being a very large, very flexible ship designed to take maximum advantage of both its large available number of tentacles as well as its manueverability, allowing it to encircle larger enemies - such as other capital ships - in order to fully pressure them.
Hull Size 4
Slayer
Class: Heavy Assault Exosuit
Pilots: 3
Tentacles: 24
These exosuits are the tougher and stronger cousins of the smaller Herald exosuits. Their design is similar, though they have two overlapping ridges that partially encircle their armor in a thin X-pattern, and an additional set of tentacles.
Hull Size 3
Herald
Class: Heavy Scout Exosuit
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
The Herald Exosuits are nothing more than scaled-up versions of the same exosuit designs used by infantry.
Hull Size 0-1-2
I am so terribly sorry, but Lernaeans will never have any space-faring Exosuit designs with a Hull size smaller than 3.
All military exosuits share a number of common features. Each one typically only houses a single pilot, and by extension is limited to twelve tentacles. Like the larger exosuits seen in the Lernaean navy, all military Exosuits can open themselves to reveal a digestive chamber. They also have chambers that may be flooded with Helium to allow them to float in gaseous atmospheres, though they are perfectly capable of traversing terrain using their tentacles alone and have considerable agility despite their large masses. Again, they remain at their deadliest when submerged.
Deathwish
Class: <Greatest War Leader> Exosuit
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
The Deathwish Exosuit is the personal armor of . Its overall design makes it larger, with thicker armor, thicker lance-spikes - all tipped with chemical-laser-assisted nematocytes - and longer and thicker tentacles, also tipped with CLANs. In addition, the CLANs are each mounted on independent exopods for added stability and support, and these pods bear rings of twelve additional, much smaller tentacles, each tipped with chemical laser emitters that activate whenever the nematocyte is triggered. Despite its increased size and mass, the Deathwise exosuit is also considerably swifter both in water and out of it than other infantry-type exosuits.
Maelcurrent
Class: Anti-Armor Exosuit
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
Maelcurrent Exosuits depart from traditional designs, and mimic the form of cnidocyte barbs. They are large, jutting lances, and most of each exosuit's spines are mounted on the front of the suit and face forwards. The suit's tentacles are mounted on a lateral ridge, with each one nominally facing forward. Maelcurrents have excellent front armor and were designed to break through Lernaean battle ball formations, capable of charging through most assaults without taking damage while either fending off or cutting through enemies that get in its way. Maelcurrent exosuits lack thicker armor behind their primary ridge, having less than a normal exosuit would - rendering them vulnerable to attacks.
Warrior
Class: Heavy Infantry
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
The bread and butter of the Lernaean military, Warrior exosuits are roughly spherical, bearing numerous jutting spines with thick bases and having twelve tentacles mounted around their equator. They offer an excellent balance of heavy armor and omnidirectional attack capacity.
Militant
Class: Military Police
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
Militant exosuits are much smaller than full-blown military exosuits such as the Warrior. They are slightly smaller in height than a grown human, bearing thick chitinous armor lacking spines, but still bearing twelve muscular tentacles. Unlike their larger counterparts, rather than bearing nematocytes, these tentacles simply bear chitinous, lance-like spears at the tip of each appendage.
Intimidator
Class: Personnel Armor
Pilots: 1
Tentacles: 12
Intimidator exosuits are only half-again as large as Militant exosuits, with thinner armor, and shorter and less muscular tentacles that lack any sort of offensive projections. Despite these drawbacks, an Intimidator exosuits are not to be underestimated - their tentacles are still more or less solid muscle, and can pop a human's head off of their spine like a cherry, or shatter ribs and sternums like fine china - despite the exosuit itself being barely the size of an adult's torso. And despite having thinner armor, their chitinous shells can still shrug off most unconcentrated small-arms fire and low-yield explosive bursts.
* * * * * *
To Be Expanded
Last edited by Terminal; 1 Week Ago at 05:41 PM.
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Originally Posted by Syllanna
