Greater Abh Empire

Abh:

Abh breath an oxygen atmosphere, though their tolerance for lower concentrations is much higher than that of a human's. They also have much fewer toxic gases. Interestingly, a Abh can drink and eat everything humans do, although they do have a specific type of tea that would be poisonous to a human. Their food is very much reminiscent of what we would consider Asian today. This is a species-wide phenomenon, implying a shared cultural ancestry. Their language is known as "Sānshingenō", and they hail from the planet Shōrino'ba, the sixth planet of their star system

One of the major oddities of the Abh is their natural ability to interface with computer systems, an ability that has been used since the very first digital computers. They were found to be capable of interfacing with the computers found in ancient ruins as well, which have the same basic structure as Abh computer systems. This ability to interface with ancient computers is completely unexplained, but is widely believed to be a simple fluke of nature. There are those who believe that it was intentional modification, but there is no experimental proof of this, with no markers in Abh DNA showing any sign of genetic tampering.

Due to the high gravity of their homeworld, the Abh are stronger and more resilient than most species. However, you wouldn't expect it. They look just as frail as humans before they start throwing punches, thanks to their astoundingly dense muscles. In fact, their muscles are so dense that the idea of them evolving naturally is practically absurd. In a hand-to-hand fight, the Abh will usually win. However, at range, they're just as vulnerable as anyone else. Even so, they are known to have an extremely effective adrenaline response, and will often entirely ignore pain in such a state.

Rissan:

The Rissan are incredibly similar to humans, with the only real external difference being their ears-which have a similar appearance to those of the Abh-and their lack of the same number of skin tones (a trait also seen in the Abh). Aside from those small differences, the two species are the same externally (they are even closer to the Abh, with the only external difference being their darker skin tone). Internally, however, they are quite different.

Rissan have a larger heart and an extra lung, the result of a lack of mounts to travel upon. Due to this, their endurance is much greater than that of a human (just about on par with that of an Abh, whom have significantly more efficient organs). One of the oddest things about them is their blood, which is based on iridium. Thanks to the more complicated lung structure this requires, they also have only one kidney. Their skin is unanimously dark, in order to shield their blood from light. Since albinos tended to die in a few months, they see white as a color of death. Green is seen as the color of war, as blood left out tends to turn from an orange to a green.

They have a different skeletal structure in their central torso as well, since the kidney must be more protected. Their ribcage extends down to it, which is located in front of the stomach. Their liver is also smaller, and thus they have a much lower (physical) tolerance for alcohol. An amount that would cause mild problems in a human could kill a Rissan.

Rissan have more pronounced sexual dimorphism than humans, with men having significantly more upper body strength and women having more lower body strength. This is likely a result of their slower advancement, with the hunting/gathering roles going on for much longer than they did for humanity. This adds the odd quirk of most couriers being women, as it is seen as a traditional role.

The Greater Abh Empire is a constitutional monarchy, though the restrictions placed upon the monarch (known as an Emperor or Empress in the Empire) seen in most such governments are absent. The monarchs power is technically checked by a House of Peers, made up of representatives sent by the noble houses of the Empire (it is worth noting that these representatives do not have to be a member of the noble family, and are sometimes even democratically elected by the citizens under the noble house they represent, depending on the policies of that specific house). They generally do the majority of the actual governing, and when one thinks of who decides laws, they usually think of the House of Peers. At the same time, however, the monarch reserves the right to veto any bill that has passed through the House of Peers. They also have the ability to force a bill through the House of Peers, no matter how much they protest. Finally, the monarch alone can declare war, and they are honor-bound to fight in any such war.

In the end, it is the Emperor or Empress that truly holds the power. If they wished, the House of Peers could easily be completely deconstructed. The only thing stopping them from doing such a thing is the fact that each noble house still contributes their own military in a feudal fashion, and revoking their right to influence the government would almost certainly lead to a revolution. In short, the Imperial Government of the Greater Abh Empire is held together by a fragile balance between the Royal and the Noble, something that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

The Imperial Military is made up of various forces donated by vassals of the royal family, which are often kept together to ensure unit cohesion. No one noble family is allowed to withhold technology from the others, however, and equipment designs are kept uniform throughout the military to ensure that no one noble family becomes the foundation of a war due to their advantages.

The Army of the Greater Abh Empire (often simply referred to as the Imperial Army) is often made fun of by other branches for looking outdated, a claim which certainly has significant merit behind it. The Abh do not use obvious exoskeletons or powered armor for ground combat, as they favor mobility over massive suits of armor. However, small leg-only exoskeletons are often attached underneath the uniform for infantry, allowing them an even larger range of movement. For the most part, however, the Abh rely on their own abilities and more conventional armor to survive enemy assaults.


Two humans modeling Abh combat uniforms, the one on the left is wearing Type II Urban Combat Camouflage, while the one on the right is displaying Type II Desert Combat Camouflage.

Abh small arms are still very similar to earlier weapons, and designs will often incorporate wooden parts simply out of tradition. This has led to a fusion of the new and the old, with Abh weapons designers working to keep a traditional aesthetic intact while updating armaments to the modern era. A prime example of this is the Nariakira Type 94 (seen below), a weapon that uses smart bullets in conjunction with a coilgun-style electromagnetic system. The rounds themselves are similar to the 7.62x54mm rounds used in earlier Abh gunpowder-based weapons. These weapons are not used by colonial regiments, as Rissan are generally unable to handle the recoil.


The Nariakira Type 94 Rifled Coilgun. Note the wooden stock-a purely aesthetic design choice-which holds the batteries used to power the weapon's coils (which are kept encased in an outer shell so as to prevent damage). The stock is actually removable, and Abh soldiers carry extra ones to replenish the weapon's charge without the need for a full recharging station.

Imperial tanks are still built in much the same fashion as they were before new technologies were introduced, though they do incorporate many such advances. The Empire's main battle tank, the Type 7, utilizes a rifled coilgun much like those seen in Abh small arms as its main cannon. The weapon is a 140mm, high-velicty, high-accuracy coilgun that can deliver various different payloads and is designed to have a variable output coilgun capable of changing the velocity of the fired projectile depending upon the situation. This system allows the tank to fulfill multiple roles, including that of an SPG. To power and move the beast, a miniaturized tokomak fusion reactor is used to drive Stirling engines, which generate electrical power and push the vehicle forwards. During combat, other vehicles and even infantry will often connect their own equipment to the tank to recharge their power cells. It uses small "nuggets" (as the soldiers call them) of negative mass spread throughout the vehicle to reduce the strain put on the engine, allowing for exceptional maneuverability and speeds. Finally, it has a plasma arc active defense system that can feed off of the reactor. This system uses on-board RADAR to detect incoming projectiles, then plasma projectors create an arc of plasma in the corresponding direction to attempt to vaporize the projectile. The main functionality of this system is to neutralize debris, though lucky tank crews have found themselves still alive after it stopped an enemy shell.


The Imperial Type 7 MBT, a tank design that hides metaphorical steel behind it's seemingly primitive silk.

The Empire also fields missile artillery, which is armored in a similar fashion to the Type 7 despite being built for long-range engagements. When one looks at the specs, however, they find that most of this armor is on top of the vehicle, as it is meant to defend against long-range strikes. This is the Type 98-X Modular Missile Artillery. The X stands for either 1, 2, 3, or 4, the variants of the vehicle. The Type 98-1 is a fairly standard artillery configuration, carrying a higher capacity of smaller missiles in order to blanket an area with fire. The Type 98-2 is armed with thermobaric rockets, and is deployed when command absolutely needs a city block destroyed (Or just wants to intimidate the enemy. Or the locals). The Type 98-3 is an AA variant, which carries SAMs to protect advancing armies from aerial attacks. Finally, there is the Type 98-4 (A or B) which carries a tactical nuclear missile for use on enemy ground and sea targets (A) or a Surface-to-Space Missile (SSM) for use against enemy orbital units (B).


A Type 98-3, seen carrying six modular rocket launchers, each containing three thermobaric rockets.

As one of the final "big three" armored vehicles of the Empire is the Type 0 "Hammerhead" APC. It is designed to provide safe transport for troops on the frontlines, and as such utilizes a similar plasma arc active defense system as the one on the Type 7 to do so. As a result, it carries with it a miniature tokomak reactor to provide it with the power needed to operate the system. This makes it perfect as a support vehicle, as other vehicles and its own infantry can leech off of its power supply.


A Type 0 in the plains of the homeworld, note the wedge-shaped frontal armor, from which the vehicle's nickname is derived.

Finally, the Empire operates countless less armored vehicles, such as dedicated mobile ballistic missile launchers, personnel carriers, supply trucks, etc. It is important to note that all heavily armored vehicles utilize carbon nanotubes in their construction, to ensure as light a weight as possible as well as effective armor. Vehicles with less armor will use more traditional metal armors, as the armor was never meant to stop much anyways, the government considers it a waste of valuable resources to use carbon nanotubes to make such thin plates of armor.

As an initial note, all Abh airplanes are constructed out of carbon nanotubes to ensure a low mass and better maneuverability. The air force usually operates in conjunction with the Army under the principle of combined arms, though strategic bombings are also a major duty of the force.

The main (and most famous) aircraft used by the Air Force is the M-99 Switchblade, a multirole jet aircraft with a focus on air-to-air combat. It's light fuselage and powerful engines allow it to perform maneuvers few other aircraft can (such as the pugachev's cobra) with significantly less strain on the craft. It can be fitted with various different armaments on wing hard points, along with twin autocannons fitted directly before the pilot. Though it is capable of carrying out ground strikes, it is most often deployed in aerial superiority roles.


An M-7 Switchblade on an airborne carrier, awaiting takeoff. It was designed to not require a traditional tail section, reducing its profile.

Used mainly in a ground strike role, the SM-7 is the Empire's strategic bomber (though is often used in a tactical role to support advancing troops). It carries a fusion reactor to power a plasma arc system, which acts as the craft's main defense. As the active defense system doesn't have to share power with other systems, it is actually more powerful than than the tank version. Combined with a stealth coating and design optimized to have a small RADAR profile, this makes the SM-7 an incredibly formidable vehicle to go up against.



As the final airplane used by the Empire, the MS-10 is the latest craft in its arsenal. It was introduced to fill the role of a ground strike-oriented multirole aircraft (which was formerly held by the massively outdated Z-01). Though capable of holding its own in a dogfight, the MS-10 is designed primarily to carry heavy ordnance with which to devastate enemy ground and naval targets. It, too is made with stealth in mind, and is highly effective at striking naval targets in particular.

The Imperial Navy (which operates on the water-to the Abh, the word "Navy" refers to a waterborne force and nothing else) carries with it some of the oldest traditions of the Abh. In the early days of sea travel, Abh vessels were massive constructions to accomodate the huge payloads of food required to cross Shōrino'ba's oceans. As a result, Abh ships have always been rather large, and constructed out of more durable materials.

The pride of the Navy is the Owatatsumi Class, a member of a warship classification once thought to be irrelevant in modern combat, this class is a traditional-style battleship. The introduction of missiles and aircraft carriers was once thought to have made such vessels worthless, but with the invention of railguns, it became possible to fire artillery shells as far as a missile. The Empire put this to practice with their first battleship since the Rissan Wars, which carries fifteen massive 37.1-inch railguns, housed in five three-gun turrets. To complement this armament, the vessel also carries missiles that are launched out of the side of the hull (rather than the top). Such a formidable armament was only made possible by the miniaturization of the equipment used to turn the turret, which would have taken up the entire hull and hundreds of crewmen with earlier technology.


As a revival of the once-outdated battleship class, the Owatatsumi Class has a massively capable AA system that some consider overkill. The designers were determined not to let their ship fall to the same fate as earlier battleships.

Coming in at a similarly gigantic size is the Hayabusa-Class Aircraft Carrier, which technically has significantly more volume than the Owatatsumi, but is just slightly shorter and thus considered smaller (the fact of the matter is that it is more impressive to call your largest vessels "battleships"). It utilizes a trimaran design, for the most part a purely aesthetic choice, but with some underlying functionality. Each of the three hulls can function on it's own, and they are all detachable. If damage to one of the outer hulls begins to sink the ship, it can be jettisoned and propulsion can be rebalanced in the other two. It is powered by multiple full-scale tokomak fusion reactors, all of which use helium-3. For propulsion it makes use of high-powered magnetohydrodynamic drives, which are the only engines powerful enough to move the beast. Dozens of these massive vessels were sunk by orbital bombardment during punitive action against the Luarhugz House, spreading an apocalyptic amount of tritium across a giant swath of the ocean and creating a gigantic coral reef full of mutated species.



The Imperial Navy is, of course, largely in place to take punitive action against rouge houses and colonial uprisings (in absence of any alien threat, of course). As such, it found itself in need of a strategic missile strike capability that was absent even in guided missile vessels. To fill this gap they designed the I-400 class of fusion-powered submarines, each of which carries 20 nuclear-tipped missiles designed to destroy any city from any part of the world. They are not built to move such ordnance closer to the target, but to move it away from enemy forces. The entire point of the submarine is to be able to strike from where the enemy least expects it, and to strike so hard that they will surrender in the first volley. The only time the full strike capability of the I-400 was used was during the Rissan Revolution, in which a fleet of submarines was used to level the mountains being used as shelter by the rebels.



Getting into the smaller surface vessels of the Navy, we find the Takeshi-class Artillery Cruiser. As the first naval vessel to utilize railguns, it was aptly named after the man that invented gunpowder. Like the Owatatsumi battleship, it carries railgun turrets used for long-range artillery bombardment of enemy vessels. However, instead of the massive guns aboard the battleship, it uses 7-inch railguns with two mounted in each of the four turrets. To complement this armament, it also carries missiles in a similar fashion to the Owatatsumi-Class. It also has a small flight deck for VTOL and helicopter aircraft, and is sometimes used in anti-submarine operations as a helicopter base.



Finally, there is the Wakizashi-class Guided Missile Destroyer. Though it has a small complement of railguns, the main weapon aboard the Wakizashi is its missile system. Housed in the fore section of the vessel, the system is designed to be easily and automatically reloaded using a system of internal rails. This functionality comes at the expense of volley size, however, and the vessel cannot fire its entire payload at once like some other missile destroyers. Furthermore, this also leads to a cramped internal space, and conditions are similar to those on a submarine. It is, however, the fastest vessel in the fleet, and thus suited extremely well for the hit-and-run missions its predecessors were famous for.

The Empire does, of course, have colonial forces from its Rissan territories. These soldiers, sailors, pilots, and astronauts are assigned to the royal family's personal military forces to ensure that they are not sent up against the legitimate government. This boost to the Emperor's power has resulted in far fewer punitive actions being taken against rouge houses, as the noble families are simply too afraid to go up against the massively more powerful royal force. They are permitted to use the same equipment as Abh forces, but are segregated from them and often deployed to entirely different planets. They are never stationed on or in orbit of Shōrino'ba.

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The Abh operate on a loose Feudal system where families can move up and down in status depending on their actions. Racism and sexism within the species are unheard of, as all Abh are believed to be the children of the Goddess Abh (Only heterosexuality and bisexuality is tolerated, however, as having children is considered the utmost duty). Interestingly, nobles are not guaranteed a high military rank, they have to climb the ranks just like anyone else. Due to this, the Emperor could be a mere captain under the command of an Admiral born into a family of planetary miners. However, strict social rules make it shameful for a noble to refuse military service, as it is seen as a responsibility. Not abiding by this rules has resulted in many a family being removed from the spot of emperor.

The Economy of the Empire is a form of highly-regulated capitalism. While there are still familiar hierarchies and corporations, workers rights are actively protected by the government. There is no national minimum wage, instead, each planet is broken up into economic zones that have their own minimum wages set by the Imperial government. These wages often fluctuate, as they are meant to represent the cost of living in their respective economic areas. If a corporation is found to be violating the minimum wage, then an official investigation is preformed and if the wages being paid are considered inadequate, extreme measures are often taken (More than once has a CEO been killed by the government for violating wage laws).

The Abh value honor more than anything, especially the nobles. A strict honor code exists for everyone, with major influence from Abh mythology. The Noble Honor Code is especially strict, and being a noble is considered more of a responsibility than a privilege. It is believed that if you follow your caste's honor code, then you will be rewarded in your current or next life. A famous legend tells the tale of a Noble who starved to death in order to feed a large group of travelers. His family is said to have become one of the twenty-seven houses with a claim on the throne, with the gods themselves choosing to give it good fortune in respect of his sacrifice.

Another major part of the honor code is honor in battle. If two generals made a deal to use specific tactics in a battle so as to make it fair, and one of them used other tactics to counter the methods agreed upon, it would not give the other general an excuse to break his end of the deal. Even if his entire army was annihilated, stepping down to the level of the enemy general would be considered unforgivably dishonorable. On the other hand, if the general honored in deal despite of the enemy's actions, he would be rewarded for it in his next life. The reward of honorable actions in the next life is obviously a major part of Abh culture, and was formerly used to keep a strict caste system from falling apart. With the advent of individuals becoming mobile in the system, its practical usage disappeared and it simply became another part of Abh culture.

The Abh have always considered melee weapons to be a truer show of strength than ranged weapons. Tournaments of dismounted melee combat have been comment throughout Abh history, and even today every member of the military carries a katana or other melee weapon. Many of the major houses keep ancient weapons preserved through nanorobotic restorations, an extremely expensive process. These weapons are always extremely important to the family, usually being a part of a famous battle or made by a legendary weapon smith.

Abh religion is polytheistic, with there being multiple deities forming a pantheon. There are eight deities, with multiple demigods and mortal servants also factoring in:

-Ethana, Goddess of war
-Iruka, Goddess of the sea and sacrifice (Revered for her sacrifice to save the Abh)
-Boskō, God of knowledge
-Depha, Goddess of luck and community
-Abh, Patron Goddess of the Abh (Believed to have created the Abh with her own body, who then took up her name out of respect)
-Urani, Goddess of Curiosity (Also believed to be the conduit between the Gods and the Mortals, all prayers are directed towards her. She is sometimes called "Zaicdaruta", which translates to "The One Who Watches", as it is believed that she will never interfere with Mortal affairs)
-Ningen, God of perseverance and hope
-Draka, Goddess of Evil, seen as the enemy of all other gods but Urani

Ningen is believed to be the leader of the gods, and is often called the "Kamigamgen", or "God of Gods" when loosely translated. He is believed to be fair and kind to all things, punishing everyone (including himself) equally. However, it is said that in the past he tried to kill Boskō and Ethana, Boskō dozens of times, but Ethana only once. During his fights with Boskō, he is believed to have almost killed Iruka, his sister. He never forgave himself for this, and it is said that even now he will bow in humility and ask for forgiveness when meeting another being, even if that being is a mortal. This legend gave rise to the Abh custom of "Shin-yasai", or "True Kindness". To follow his example, Abh bow to all that they meet in respect of Ningen.

Iruka is revered as much as Ningen, as she is believed to have sacrificed herself to save the Abh. It is said that after her sacrifice, Ningen desperately tried to save her, putting her essence into an iron body that could not rust. Many Abh sailors will swear that they have seen her while at sea, her mechanical body playfully leaping out of the water as if to say hello.

In the legends, Boskō is said to be the older brother of Ningen and Ethana, looking out for them until one day Ningen became fearful of Boskō's far superior intellect and tried to kill him. Boskō took Ethana and fled Chikyū, refusing to harm his beloved brother, but left behind a small part of his essence, hoping it could one day save Ningen. While Boskō hid from his brother in another world, Ningen tried to destroy the essence he left behind in a battle that lasted thousands of years. However, the essence that was left behind was hope, and even as Ningen tried to destroy it, another part of him still fed it. Whenever the essence of his brother was almost gone, Ningen would find that it would suddenly grow larger than ever before. Finally, he tried to destroy it using a device of his own creation (the effects of which bear amazing similarities to atomic weapons, causing them to never be implemented by the Abh). He utterly failed at this, as moments after he tried to destroy it, it grew to it's largest, and something changed in Ningen. He became regretful of his attempts to kill his brother, and accepted the essence into himself, becoming the God of Hope. He found Boskō and Ethana, but at first did not recognize his brother. When he discovered Boskō and Ethana's true identity, a joyful reunion took place as the three became not just siblings, but the best of friends. After his reunion with his siblings, Ningen focused all the energy that was once focused on killing Boskō on battling the evil Goddess, Draka. In his attempts to defeat her, he joined up with Depha, created Abh as a warrior, and elevated Iruka (Formerly a mortal fish) to godhood. Despite being hopelessly weak when compared to Draka, they managed to win the fight against her through Ningen's power of will, which kept them from losing a single battle with Draka.

After this great battle, Abh began to grow in character, becoming more than a mere warrior for Ningen. Ningen, however, refused to give her the right to call herself a Goddess, believing that she was too bloodthirsty to be trusted with such a title. Afraid that she would try to kill him, Ningen gathered the other gods together in an attempt to oppose her. However, the day at which she tried to kill him never came, and she instead continued her protests. Pleased that she refrained from violence, Ningen elevated her to godhood, an action which gained him her completely loyalty. For a time, all was good.

However, this idyllic period of time was not to last. Draka's evil essence lived on, and did what she never could. As essences are far more powerful than the gods that hold them, this evil essence spread over Chikyū trillions of times over, engulfing all in darkness. Abh, hoping to keep the good essences of the gods alive, tore herself apart piece by piece. The pain was horrifying, but she kept doing it, hoping to save her essence. She shaped each and every piece of herself into an Abh, who, out of reverence of her, adopter her name. By the end, the Goddess Abh was gone, but her essence lived on in the Abh species. She sent them to Shōrino'ba, a place that would be safe from all evils. Therefore, all Abh have a tiny part of them that is the Goddess' essence, and every new Abh born strengthens good.

The forces of good are still engaged in an eternal battle with Draka and her forces of evil, and it is believed that all Abh must assist the forces of good in this battle by doing "Good Works" (Helping others, fighting evil mortals, and having children). Because of this belief, those who choose not to have at least one child are frowned upon, though adoption has become increasingly recognized as a replacement for having a child due to it involving raising the child and helping them, thus being viewed as half of the last good work and all of the first. Many believe that the aliens current being fought are not just evil mortals, and that they are the puppets of Draka herself, and even those who don't consider the current war a religious one.

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