As I said before, letting Sazkarjhia take a backseat so I can work on teh piratez.

Normal App

Name of nation: Sylve Faction (Pronounced "Silvuh")

Species: Sazkarjhian

[hider=Description of government:] Sort of a militaristic organization lead by a senior captain of the group. What this captain says goes, and disagreeing with his commands often end rather...deadly. The current head of the government for the Sylve Faction is Captain Yarkonis "Switch" Jargalo'yum, given the nickname due to his bipolar disorder and tendencies to switch decisions on the fly. Criminal activity is, as one can surmise, extremely common with Sylve as many government and peace groups, such as the Sazkarjhia Unity Foundation, have labeled them as a pirate organization. Among the list of atrocities they commit lies activities such as piracy (The attacking and robbery of ships, stations and so on), extortion, murder, possession of illicit substances, possession of military-grade weaponry, distribution of illicit substances, production of illicit substances, trafficking of several sorts, and arson to name a few. Despite this, there is a powerful respect for rank and authority as inflicted by Captain Switch and the extreme consequences of breaking his laws.[/hider]

[hider=Description of military:] Branches aren't really specific, although there are two distinctive land/air-based units, the Krysol Unit for on-ground escapades and the air-based Torkan Unit, and the more prominent space-faring units include the Sylve Privateer Squadron, the Dilnox Stealth Squadron and the Serpentis Smuggling Squadron. The Krysol Unit has different military units in deployment:

Grunt: Basic footsoldiers, expendable and disposable.
Field Commanders: The most fearless, and most feared, units on the battlefield. With lizardlike mounts, each one has armor covering them along with an energy-absorbent cape that is able to bring charge to a high-powered lance. This lance can both be used as a melee weapon and a ranged weapon--with a sharp lower blade and an energy projector capable of firing high-temperature bolts.
Most other units and technologies are either hired as mercenaries or are stolen technology, and go as they come along.

The Torkan Unit, similarly, uses stolen units or technology. They are known to have a high number of Sazkarjhit HV-6 Sparrowhawk VTOLs in their possession, however.

The three space squadrons all contain stolen ships, everything from outfitted freighters to nuclear-armed warships. The Sylve faction was successful in using these technologies to develop the predecessor to the Mark 1 "Maelstrom" Gravity Well, as well as the Extremely-High Lumen Defensive Countermeasure System (EHLDC, known more commonly as the "Flash Pod") which was capable of severely damaging ship viewscreens. They are known for using suckerpunching and sneaking tactics to launch surprise offensives and go to extremes with the likes of suicide bombing and similar atrocities to achieve whichever mission they need to. The only one not heavily armed is the Smuggling Squadron, which deals mostly with the smuggling of illicit substances and weapons.[/hider]

[hider=History:] The earliest known history dates back to the violent 10,000 B.C.E. religious civil war on Sazkar Major known as the Ten Year's Bloodshed. Most of the atheist or pagan sympathizers left, and one man, Balkania Salotis'tum had gotten into the business of the drug trade with several other sympathizers once most of the deserters turned to piracy. He developed the logic that ecopolitical warfare could be launched by controlling the trade of a certain narcotic that was secretly traded known as Kyls Root to one of the interstellar nations between the Barsadas and Kaltin systems. By completely dominating the trade, he was able to completely take over a planet, recruiting them to build a military force. He continued to grow and grow until the Sylve Faction became a dominant space-faring tour-de-force across the galaxy. Then, suddenly everything fell apart. Sylve's grasp on the drug trade faltered and many either left or were beginning to be killed off. A deadly plague spread through Sylve, and it took long before a cure was developed. It saved the remaining members, but it would be a long time before order was restored. Then Switch came along.

The edgy Yarkonis Jargalo'yum was at first under heavy watch because it was believed he had an advanced form of psychosis. Bipolar Disorder is an extremely rare case among Sazkarjhians so many did not understand his powerful mood swings. Jumping from a manic and cheery man to a pure embodiment of rage and disdain seemed to make others thing his emotions were only two settings: Extreme happiness and stone-cold anger, likened to a switch, hence his nickname. But his intelligence and his tact was beyond many left of Sylve. He was quickly instated as a leader, and his "absorb as many as you can into Sylve and regain the dominance it once had" dogma spread quickly. The faction swelled in size, and was soon able to regain control of the drug trade. After being able to secure spacecraft with the Translight Space Corporations warp engine, spreading business expenditures across the universe became a matter of ease.[/hider]

[hider=Other (Culture and the like):] A (un)surprisingly common sport among Sylve members is using different creatures from different worlds in a variant of bug or cockfighting known as many different names. A common betting sport among the faction. Being mostly aboard stations and ships due to their nomadic tendencies, there's little else to do. The Sylve faction has no dominant religion, but most do hold some variant of faith, while some are diehard atheists, Captain Switch being among these few. Also, given their smuggling habits they often are under the influence, everything from relaxants to narcotics to hallucinogens so powerful that a trip can last anywhere from a few hours to several days. But structure is still maintained because any drugs taken while on duty sentence the user to death by firing squad or jettison into the black, heartless abyss of space. They try to intertwine with other cultures, but given the pirate nature they're often rejected by others. This is especially the case with the Sazkarjhit, who not only universally revile the Sylve but also immediately fire upon them if identified if members of the faction.[/hider]

Sorry if this post sucks a donkey's scrotum, it's really late at night :/