Took a little while, but I finally finished my faction idea. If it works, I'll be getting a few character sheets up soon.
Faction Name: The Minutemen of Babylon
Members: Approximately five million men and women of various races are aligned with the Minutemen. However, the majority of them are only signed up to assist during a crisis, such as an invasion or terrorist attack. There are only ever four hundred thousand that are active during peace time; each Minuteman keeps a secondary job for a cover up. The identities of individual Minutemen are a closely kept secret of the Central Government.
Structure: The Minutemen’s hierarchy is rather straight forward in nature. The Minutemen purposely change the way the chain of command is built from the average military force, in an effort to confuse their enemies.
Council of War – The supreme command of the Minutemen of Babylon. The Council of War is made up of twenty-two Colonels of the Minutemen, who are generally all of equal standings in experience and ability. The Council of War meets every month over a secured internet feed, for security reasons. These meeting are audio only, and each Colonel’s voice is distorted so that there is little chance of another Colonel being able to point out his or her compatriots if they were captured. None of the Colonels know each other, and are forbidden from using their actual names to keep this so. There is no telling a Colonel out from other officers on the field. The Council of War is the only entity capable of declaring a time of war, which would bring the entirety of the Minutemen into action.
Colonel – The highest ranking members of the Minutemen, these individuals are almost always politicians working for the CGB and are the few Minutemen who have access to the identities of other Minutemen. Colonels are the ones who coordinate troop movement and give out orders to the lower rungs of the hierarchy. Colonels rarely ever take up arms and fight alongside their fellow Minutemen, only ever doing so during extreme emergencies or war time. Colonels are only outranked by the higher ranking officials in the CGB, and because of this generally act as the highest authority in the Minutemen. The Colonels of the Minutemen have split up Babylon into sectors, with a single colonel overlooking the entire sector. There are twenty-two sectors in the Minutemen’s map of Babylon. Each sector has two Captains under its authority, thus putting two Captains under the direct command of a colonel.
Captain – The second highest rank in the Minutemen. Each Captain has command over a single brigade, which is made up of four battalions. A brigade is made up of at least 4’00 men. Captains are the highest ranking officers that may be active during peace time; however they are a rare necessity. A Captain can be distinguished by the red feather in their tricorner hats (Colonial era headgear.)
Brigadier – The third highest rank of the Minutemen’s chain of command. A Brigadier, despite their name, is a leader of a battalion. A battalion consists of at least 1,000 men, and is a conglomerate of two companies. Brigadiers are the highest rank in the Minutemen that is not allowed to speak to their sector’s Colonel, for security reasons. A Brigadier wears a tricorner hat with a blue feather in their hat.
Sergeant – A sergeant is the fourth officer rank in the hierarchy of the Minutemen. Sergeants are leaders of companies, which consist of at least 100 men, and are made up of five Militias. Sergeants can be identified by a white feather in their tricorner hat, and are some of the more common officers on deck during peace times.
Corporal – The lowest official officer rank of the Minutemen. Corporals lead Militias, which have at least twenty men in their ranks. Militias are the lowest and smallest rung of the official hierarchy ladder of the Minutemen of Babylon. Any smaller splits are put in place by officers of specific sectors, and any lower level command stations established work only within that particular sector. A Corporal can be indentified by having a feather in their tricorner hat. (Note: Enlisted men do not have a feather in their hats. Corporals use a variety of colors in their hats to confuse the enemy, making officers harder to target. Corporals may not have red, white, or blue feathers.)
Sapper – A special rank of Minutemen. Each Militia has at least five Sappers within their ranks. Sappers do not have the ability to command Minutemen, however Sappers do possess the special training required to do engineer work. Sappers can arm explosives, use heavy weapons, recharge batteries using battery packs they wear on their backs, and other such things.
Minuteman – The rank and file soldier of the Minutemen of Babylon. They are the first line of defense for the Central Government of Babylon, and the most common to see. They can be identified by their tricorner hats.
History: The Minutemen of Babylon were established as the unofficial military arm for the Central Government of Babylon. The goal of the Minutemen is to defend liberty and peace, to protect the people from both the corruption of BESC and the threat of pirates and invaders. The Minutemen were founded years after the Second Contact War, more specifically after BESC decided to take over control of Babylon. They started off few in number, working as bodyguards for CGB politicians and a variety of free speech activists. As their numbers grew, the Minutemen started to make themselves known when they started to strike against minor criminal organizations. The Minutemen were given their own council by CGB and left more or less to their own devices, unless they needed the assistance of a specific Minutemen group.
Once they were established as a semi-independent unofficial branch of the CGB, the Minutemen began to strike back against BESC forces that were targeting innocents. The Minutemen started to gain a reputation, and eventually announced their existence, although the name of their organization is the only thing that has slipped thus far. The Council of War began using ex-military officers to train new recruits into a working fighting force once their numbers swelled to a significant number. The Minutemen, despite its sheer size, has remained one of the most secretive organizations in Babylon’s public eye. The media regularly criticizes members of the Minutemen for disrupting the normal flow of life and committing acts of terrorism against the government. However, less mainstream news has praised the Minutemen as freedom fighters and warriors of the people.
The Minutemen are generally rather controversial. The Council of War has only recently started to question their own motives for this guerilla war on BESC, due to a number of members dropping away and leaving the Minutemen after a bombing attack on a BESC facility that contained civilian scientists.
: The Minutemen are supplied a large number of weapons made specifically for their use by a variety of corporations that support their cause.
(From top to bottom on the picture)
MKIII Hugh Rifle – A medium to long range laser weapon, which can be used on either semi-automatic or fully automatic. The rifle has thirty one shots before a change of battery is necessary. The heat produced by this gun is lesser than that of other laser weapons, however this is only the case to allow for more shots to be fired, and a quicker recharge time on batteries.
MKI Browning Sub machinegun – The Browning is a short range close quarters combat laser weapon, which can be fired on either semi-automatic or fully automatic. There are twenty-five shots in a single SMG battery before a charge is needed. The SMG packs a larger punch than its rifle cousin, having more heat and stopping power. However, they have less shots and a slower recharge time. The Browning can have a silencer attached as well as a shoulder mount, to allow for more control when firing.
MKIV Lars Beam Pistol – A high-powered laser beam side arm useful in short to medium range firefights. The Lars Beam Pistol is semi-automatic, and can be fired ten times before a recharge or battery change is needed. The Lars Beam Pistol has incredible stopping power, able to pierce through even body armor. However, the Lars is a potentially dangerous weapon, due to its potential to explode upon overheating.
MKII Mars Energy Revolver – The Energy revolver is the only non-laser weapon in the Minutemen’s arsenal. The weapon is semi-automatic, useful in short-to semi-long range firefights, and has six shots available in a single power clip. Unlike the Minutemen’s laser weapons, the Mars Energy Pistol uses power clips, which cannot be recharged, and are useless after being fired off. The Mars is an officer only weapon.
MKV Venus Long Beam Musket – The Venus is an extremely high power laser beam weapon, given to the Minutemen’s best marksmen. The Venus Long Beam Musket is a semi-automatic sniper-style weapon that is used for very long range fire only. It can be fired eight times before a new battery is needed, and, like its pistol counterpart, can pierce through body armor. Recharge time is extreme, and some Venus weapons have been known to short out in rainy conditions.
Ideology: The Minutemen exist to protect liberty, to defend freedom, and to try and unite all species together, so that they might live in harmony. The Minutemen dream of establishing Outremer as the first utopia in the universe, and from there plan to spread their ideals to other planets. Those are distant dreams, though. For now, the Minutemen are too busy attempting to oust BESC to worry about their image. The average Minutemen doesn’t consider the philosophy behind what they are doing – They merely think about what they’re doing. Sometimes, this can result in individual Minutemen or Militias doing radical things that result in the injury or death of innocents. Sadly, these people are rarely punished, due to the way the Minutemen are set up, there is little way to punish a rogue brigadier unless it is done by their direct superior.
Appearance: (Just slap on a colonial era tricorner hat and you’re good!)