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Faction Name: Yel'krusu t'Sar'Makth (literally means "Star Empire of the Great Race") Allegiance: Non-Imperial Aliens Dominant Species: Sarmakth Government Type: Dominion Faction Leader: S'cum Ish-veh N'ssan (title: Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma AKA Grand Supreme Overlord) Capital: Tsokal'yel T'Sar'Vafer (Great Beginning, primary star system of the Sarmakth, location unknown)
OVERVIEW: Sarmakth are an enigmatic alien race hiding in the uncharted regions of the galaxy. They lack the strength to directly challenge major powers yet their inherent superiority complex strives to be above all races. They hate mankind with cruel passion yet not above using humans as pawns to achieve their objectives. They lurk in dark space at the edge of Milky Way, forming their lengthy plot to overthrow the Galactic Empire.
HISTORY
Martians are the descendants of an ancient precursor species called the Vesh'Makth. They were medusid creatures of high intelligence but prone to frequent civil wars. Millions of years ago these wars completely devastated Mars, making it the red wasteland humans know. Either through evolution or genetic experiments a new race called Sarmakth emerged. They were innately collectivist and could survive in Mars' terrible environment. After aeons of struggle the Sarmakth civilization rose up and began to prosper. Yet their telescopes enviously watched the bountiful Earth, always desiring its resources. In 1895CE they began the first invasion using primitive space pods and tripod walkers. While technologically superior the Martians never fought wars and were completely outnumbered. Ultimately the Martians were unprepared to earthly diseases and all invaders died within a month. The next war wouldn't occur for over a hundred years when a massively expanded Martian invasion tries to subvert Earth's leading countries. They fail and merely a decade later the humans strike back with their newly established space armada. Cornered and desperate the Martians utilize numerous untested technologies to turn the tide. This bought them some time and the Martian automatons scored some victories. Unfortunately the experimental hypercore powering their industry was deeply unstable and its detonation wiped out most of their civilization. The rest of the Martians were rounded up and kept in captivity. By 2200 even those held captive died and the race was considered extinct. Luckily for humans the hypercore detonation melted most of the ice caps, meaning they could terraform Mars with relative ease. Martians became a tiny footnote in human history. Since neither side communicated with the other the Earthers knew precious little of the Martians but the incident made them strive to never commit the same mistake again. They go on to lead the galaxy.
Yet unknown to the rest of the galaxy a tiny group of Sarmakth survivors fled their home using primitive FTL technology. Due to the long journey they were in stasis, leaving the journey to the navigational computer. Originally they wanted to settle within the Horsehead Nebula but calibration errors flung them to the edges of the Milky Way, many years into the future. While busy rebuilding their civilization they caught wind of the now dominant Galactic Empire. Recognizing it as the successor state of the despicable Earthers they swore vengeance on humans and began their enduring ambition to see mankind's fall. Sarmakth were once a peaceful race in dire straits. Over the time they transformed into conquerors and creatures of deep-seated spite. They began to establish their interstellar dominion through subjugating various lesser civilizations. Entire races disappeared only to re-emerge as perverted puppets of their Sarmakth masters. The Dominion grew yet they never hoped to match the Empire. Rather they turned for subtiety, supporting factions that worked to undermine the Empire. They also established numerous cults that secretly revered the Sarmakth like gods. This eventually resulted in the galaxy-wide terror organization known as the Interstellar Red Cross with their emblem being just a red "X" symbol. With the Galactic Empire split and at the brink of collapse the Sarmakth are also preparing their forces, ready to strike.
TERRITORY
TBA
GOVERNMENT & SOCIETY
The Sarmakth Dominion is a shadow empire ruled by the many-tentacled Sarmakth. They are giant cephaloid creatures of immense intelligence and cruelty who only communicate through telepathy. Their numbers is very limited and most Sarmakth are isolated within their hidden homeworld. Rather they rely on their many subjects to do their bidding. The Dominion has many tiers and layers of their society but it can be boiled down to this. Sarmakth are de facto gods in society and rarely seen by anyone. Amaumakth and other "successor races" do the brunt of executive work and lord over the Dominion's numerous subjects. Those who aren't willing to serve are rendered as slaves and have even worse living standards. Those who resist, wrong the Sarmakth or just meet the yearly quota of sacrafices are sent to factories to become food or worse, turned into horrifying biological drones called the Tselmakth. Sarmakth rule is oppressive by nature and seeks to completely dominate their subjects. To them humanoids are defective and ugly, unworthy of anything. The Dominion ultimately strives to "perfect" every species they rule, turning them into minions resembling the Sarmakth in almost every aspect. Although this process is long and expensive hence the overwhelming majority of Sarmakth subjects are these "unworthy filth" who live for nothing but to serve the Great Ones.
Sarmakth have natural telepathic abilities which is also their primary form of communication between each other. They so-called Great Link is a mindscape formed by the collective Sarmakth consciousness and in many aspects serves a similar function to the Empire's hypernet. Using quantum receivers it's possible to extend the Great Link across the galaxy, allowing Sarmakth to communicate everywhere. Transformed species like the Amaumakth or the converted Rushamakth are also connected through the Great Link, albeit their access is far more limited.
Sarmakth are large roughly cephaloid creatures with their main body diameter around 2.3-3.2 meters wide, making them often larger than even a grizzly bear. They have a pair of huge bulging eyes and large beaks surrounded by numerous suctioning tentacles. Their eight powerful tentacle "legs" are shockingly dexterous and can easily overwhelm and strangle humans to death. In spite of this the Sarmakth often appear to be clumsy creatures that cannot survive without technology. Their body is massively overweight and they are incapable to stand up within Earth gravity. Over 80% of the Sarmakth's body is pure brain matter which is the source of their intelligence and psychic powers. This allows them to match computers in thinking speed but also leaves very little room for everything else. For example the Sarmakth has extremely underdeveloped digestive system which is unable to process most foods, requiring them to suck the blood of other creatures. On the other hand their metabolism is near 100% efficient which means they don't create excrement. Basically, Sarmakth never shit and they were utterly disgusted when they first observed human excretion, thereafter calling humans "Pekhmakth" (Race of Shit). Another curious fact is that the Sarmakth are asexual, they don't have a gender. Although their exposure to 19th century humans lead to most Sarmakth adopting masculine pronouns. Sarmakth reproduction can happen entirely at will, they just have to lay their flesh buds in pools of blood for nutrition. And yes, Sarmakth are also disgusted by the very idea of sexual dimorphism. Sarmakth use telepathic communications between each other, often interacting through the Great Link. This lead to rapid exchange of thoughts but also normalized Sarmakth consciousness into a larger collective, resulting in a gigantic echo chamber effect. Sarmakth are very smart but they are emotionally stunted and not really creative. They perceive themselves as creatures of logic but for outsiders the species are directed by pure spite. They are united in their hatred and every single negative experience only amplifies it. Not so surprising then that the Sarmakth are isolationist xenophobes who don't think of other sapient species as people, only cattle to exploit. Given their exclusive reliance on telepathy the Sarmakth never learned to speak, only responding in high-pitched screeches. Given sufficient time and effort a Sarmakth may learn to mimic voices but it's a rarity. Their telepathy also has a far higher difficulty to work on different type of species so more often than not you are greeted with deadening silence. When the Sarmakth is willing to communicate they call their "messengers". These human slaves of particularly high prestige wear "crowns" surgically grafted to their skull to receive Sarmakth telepathic signals. This allows them to "hear" Sarmakth thoughts and speak them out in words outsiders can understand. Needless to say the appearance of these messengers can be more than mildly upsetting.
Called as the "imitation race", they are species whose genetics were tampered with to become just like the Sarmakth. While very much resemble their masters they still inherit traits from their past selves, most notably their stature. Amaumakth in general are just slightly larger than humans instead of the hulking brain-monstrosities that Sarmakth are. Just as their masters the Amaumakth have natural psychic powers thus access to the Great Link. Some even speculate that the Great Link enables Sarmakth to subvert cultures at lightning pace, explaining how civilizations wiped out and replaced with copy-cat Sarmakthish cultures within just a few decades. This so-called bioformation is a resource intensive process which can be only the very last step of a species' integration into the Dominion. In terms of race hierarchy the Amaumakth are "secondary citizens" which gives them considerable prestige. Due to the similarities many outsiders were led to believe that the Amaumakth are the true masterminds behind the Dominion yet in the grand scheme of things they are still inferior pawns to be lorded over by the Great Sarmakth.
Literally translates as the "converted race". They are people who underwent extensive modifications to make them closer to Sarmakth in both appearance and function. For the slaves and cultists under the Dominion this is the highest gift, offered only to the most devoted and worthy of their kin. Rushamakth closely resemble the Sarmakth in looks yet in terms of genetics and physiology they keep their relation to their original race. To attain intelligence at least remotely comparable to their creators, Rushamakth are implanted with Cogitators. These are sophisticated brain interface computers giving them incredible thinking ability that may also awaken latent psychic powers. This tend to be very weak hence Rushamakth are given quantum relay implants to access the Great Link themselves. Due to their inferiority they are considered lower than Amaumakth, albeit this isn't universal. Some notorious Rushamakth managed to climb up fairly high on the hierarchy and command great influence within the Dominion. Rushamakth exist to serve their cephaloid overlords and convey their will. They have special importance as local leaders in distant cults where these creatures essentially become the apostles of their divine Sarmakth.
Roughly translates as the "Slave Race", an expression obviously referring to the races under the Sarmakth's rule. Just narrowly escaped extinction the Sarmakth hardly has the "manpower" to function on their own. Thus no matter how much they might have wished cleanse the humanoid filth, they didn't. Rather they managed to effectively enslave all the races they conquered and brainwash them to adore the Sarmakth as their righteous lords. Most people living under Sarmakth rule are strangely content with their lives and follow the orders of their cephaloid overlords with religious zeal. The tendrils of the Sarmakth manipulations run deep. Fehmakth live in various level of cultural and technological development, depending on what the Sarmakth sees fit. They could live in medieval styled villages on backwater planets, existing as little more than livestock and raw materials for Tselmakth. Alternatively they could even live in industrially developed mega cities supported by Sarmakth technology. Regardless Fehmakth live in a meticulously crafted environment under strict control without them truly realizing it. They are also implanted with an "obedience chip" activated by Sarmakth telepathy in case they do anything which displeases their masters. Fehmakth are obviously excluded from the Great Link and only receive commands from various higher ranking races. This gets relayed to local leadership which then do the actual governance.
Translates as "altered race", they are effectively the opposite of the Rushamakth. They are people forced to undergo transformation into "more pleasing" and "functional" bodies in order to serve the Dominion. They are worse than slaves, they are effectively little more than biomechanical robots. Tselmakth are viewed as a cheaper alternative to robots and other pure mechanical constructs of this specific scale. They can be anything from disposable soldiers to slave laborers. There are even Tselmakth invented for nothing but to serve as a piece of the cruel entertainment. In the past Tselmakth were literally only created from other species but as of late they only require "tithes" paid in living inhabitants in order to further refine the artificial wombs spewing out new Tselmakth biomechanical robots. Not to mention enacting these "tithes" helps them to keep the populations in line. Those involved with the local governance get their hands constantly stained by blood, stripping their old allegiances and reinforcing their devotion to the cephaloid overlords.
Important Characters:
Sur'sim're t'Abru-ma (Great Supreme Overlord) of the Sarmakth Dominion since their new beginning. Former lead scientist of Mars he managed to position himself to the very top of the new Sarmakth hiearchy, remaining the Dominion's supreme ruler ever since. He's a hateful person with delusions of grandeur who views all other species as tool to achieve Sarmakth supremacy. You could say this generally applies to all Sarmakth but that is merely a testament to the influence of S'cum whose dominance of the Great Link casts a shadow on the mind of everyone involved. Like all Sarmakth he's hyperintelligent and could tackle on the massive responsibility required to effectively lead his nation through the ages. Compared to the youth he's also much more cautious and probably the reason why the Sarmakth has yet to invade the Galactic Empire. He is keenly aware of the humiliation during the Earth-Mars Wars and has no intention to repeat the same mistake again. He both hates and fears Mankind, unwilling to fight the Galactic Empire unless he's convinced of an absolute advantage.
TECHNOLOGY
Sarmakth technology is unique and at times radically different from what could be found within the Empire. Their massive intellect grants them innately superior understanding of science. Yet having missed out a few millennia of progress they have some fields to catch up on. Sarmakth technology is unique and even weird by the standards of other species. For example Sarmakth relies on walkers moving on flexible tentacle-like legs which requires advanced computers to properly operate while humans merely use wheels and tracked mechanisms to achieve similar road performance. In general Sarmakth technology looks organic or even "alive" and some of their devices indeed use modified living tissue. It also shows in their transportation means. Sarmakth never invented the wheel and its association with human culture made sure they'd never rely on it, either. Instead they use various multi-leg transportation mechanisms or anti-grav systems. The Sarmakth themselves usually equip grav gliders which lift their bodies and save them from physical exertion because their species is accustomed to low gravity planets.
- Weinol: The basis of most if not all Sarmakth construction. It's a versatile family of carbon allotropes akin to fullerenes and carbon-nanotubes. It's generally light yet strong material which depending on its grid structure can have various other properties. It isn't an exaggeration to say that over 90% of everything made by Sarmakth is a type of Weinol.
- Yel'yeturek (Stardrive): Also dubbed as hyperdrive (kwhul'mishu, lit: "hyper engine") it's a device which allows the ship to go beyond the ordinary three dimensional space and touch "kwhulret" (hyperspace) in order to allow faster-than-light travel. Stardrives are effectively the same as various hyperdrives yet achieving it through different means.
- Kahla'yeturek (Inertial Drive): Sometimes also dubbed as Impulse Drive, an arcane device utilizing laws of physics not yet understood by humans. The device allows vessels to ignore gravity as well as use a mysterious force to hover or move at subluminal velocities.
- Kwitau'tviyan (Impulse Core): Reactor which turns any conventional material into nuclear fuel to produce energy. They are compact and efficient as well as generally safe to use which makes them widespread within the Sarmakth community. Kwitau'tviyan are Sarmakth nuclear bombs, most of them are adjusted to induce a chain-reaction with ordinary material to dramatically increase its power during orbital bombardments.
- Kwhul'ifisek (Transporter): Vaguely related to warp drive development this system can temporarily break down matter into subspace rays and direct them to another position where they rearrange back into their original form. Basically it beams in or out material for quick transportation between a ship and a surface target. Said beams are also occasionally used to abduct civilians albeit the ship needs a specific holding cell in order to keep the subjects. The transition into subspace energy is temporarily and thus you cannot store people in batteries or anything weird like that.
- Falek'zehl (Heat Ray): Using a miniature impulse core it channels extreme radiation through a channel of non-conductive vacuum. Heat Rays are roughly comparable to lasers yet their mechanism makes them extremely different. Lasers can be reflected and have varying absorbance depending on material properties. Heat rays dump their energy direct on contact, making them much more energy efficient. Aside from weapons the heat ray technology also finds more peaceful uses in power and heat systems.
- Khrasaya'wun (Chargegun): Sarmakth equivalent of firearms, it uses coulombic detonation instead of chemical energy to propel projectiles towards the target. Through fine alignment of field projectors it's possible to induce this "charge propulsion" spontaneously thus Sarmakth guns turn portion of the projectile into its own propellant and require only electric charge to work. Khrasaya'thor (charge bombs) are the regular high explosives used by the Sarmakth which tend to disperse a cloud of molecule-thin shrapnel. Chargeguns that fire high-velocity penetrators tend to have triangle shaped barrels while explosive projectiles are disc-shaped and shot from a wide yet thin barrel.
- Mathra'wun (Wardiscs):Sarmakth equivalent to missiles, these thin circular plate-like objects have a compact inertial drive along with a sophisticated AI and a field manipulation system that replaces explosives. Essentially it's a flying disc that tracks the target and has a device which can turn its entire mass into explosive material within a split-second. Wardiscs are very sophisticated and could have a myriad of ways they detonate. Space-use wardiscs can also rely on atomics or more exotic sources rather than pure chargebomb functions.
- Feshel'wun (Disruptor): Sarmakth molecular rearrangement technology has many scientific and industrial uses but at times it could be also useful as a weapon. It fires a special ray which induces a chain-reaction to disrupt the material composition of the target, effectively dissipating it to constituent particles. The weapon is too sophisticated to be viable as a general issue weapon. It's expensive and requires complete understanding of the target's composition to succeed. More often than not Feshel technology is seen in the mining industry and automated robotic miners. Although said miners may be used in war out of desperation. Another common variant is the disruptor pistol which is a status symbol to signify the Sarmakth superiority. More often than not such pistols are used solely for public executions.
- Kwhul'wun (Hypermetric Accelerator): A term used to describe Sarmakth direct firing weapons which use either matter or radiation originating from hyperspace to project it at the enemy. The mechanism is often compared to opening a dam which is the boundary between normalspace and hyperspace and then let it flow straight at the enemy. These weapons tend to be the main weaponry of warships, albeit smaller ground support vehicle variant also exists. Kwhul'thor (Hyperbomb) is a variant used as a terrifying explosive with colossal destructive power which is only used on specific occasions due to its cost.
- Wak'danan (Stasis Barrier): Alternative usage of stasis field technology for protection. Effectively just a generic forcefield, albeit utilizing way different mechanisms. Commonly used by all Sarmakth vehicles and starships and there are even variants used for personal protection.
MILITARY
While most civilizations rely on professional military to provide forces in battle the Sarmakth are different. They view technology as their sole answer to military expansion, using warmachines and bioengineered monsters in battle. While they cannot entirely avoid to have their brethren fight in battles in general the Sarmakth want to minimize the danger they expose their populations to. This used to manifest in a very unbalanced army composition of pure warmachine forces. These towering tripods were fearsome yet unsupported they had some glaring weaknesses. To resolve the numbers issue the new Sarmakth Dominion relies on Tselmakth bio-soldiers. These are not infantry in the classical sense but a variety of biomechanical robots, often using horrifying bioformation techniques to turn other races into mere living machines. Tselmakth troops can range from tiny swarmer units to giant mammoth-sized beasts that are more akin to a tank. Many of them fight in melee and rely on numbers but Tselmakth are also frequently using the biological derivatives of Sarmakth technology. They don't wield weapons per say but rather they are the weapons themselves and have such systems internal part of how they function. Creatures with eyes modified to be heat rays or abdomen protrusions that are actually cannons would be some of the examples how Tselmakth troops integrate technology into their being. While not foreign to the idea of entrenched infantry and similar tactics, Sarmakth don't really have anything to replicate such. Their military is still very much unbalanced yet the Sarmakth believes it's to their benefit.
Tselmakth are developed by altering known species more to practical functions. The so-called Ask'hatik (bio-soldiers) are the militarized variants of Tselmakth usually meant for screening and swarm tactics to support the Sarmakth warmachines. This can range from swarms of palm-sized insectoid creatures to mammoth sized beasts.
Ripper Swarms: Tilau'bish are clouds of small palm-sized creatures equipped with extremely hard and more than razor sharp fins. They have an internal plasma organ which fills them with hot air while also helps them expelling gases akin to a jet engine. This allows them to build up considerable momentum to cut through some relatively durable object. The smallness of their blade limits them to be anti-infantry weapons, though. In effort to make them simpler to create the Rippers can only live for 12 hours.
Lancers:Li'wuk are roughly 2m tall bipedal armless creatures with two gigantic eyes. Said eyes house both targeting systems and a pair of heat rays, meant to incinerate objects and burn through light armor. They are the closest the Sarmakth has for an "infantry" and there are variants of this type that mount different weapons or have other functions. Lancers are relatively fast runners and have the ability to leap for 25 meters as a defense mechanism. It takes a while for the leg muscles to recover thus this is only done when really necessary. Some people who encountered them began calling this type as the "laser emus" due to the uncanny resemblance.
Breaklings: Pi'katar are a versatile strain of quadrupedal bio-soldiers at average 1.5m tall. They have a very pronounced head unit and overdeveloped underbelly portion. The original variants were and still are used as collector, breaking down wreckages and hauling up carcasses for reprocessing. Yet they are more often seen on the field as walking weapon platform. This can range from compact chargeguns to overpowered heatrays, various wardisc launchers and other equipment. They are more armored than the Lancers but still overall fragile but they can provide fire support. Since a number of variants have limited munitions it is not uncommon for Breaklings to have logistics variants carrying and producing extra supplies for the rest to use. Breaklings are deceivingly fast although don't have the ultra jump capabilities of Lancers.
Bulwark: Sahr'temok are bulky slightly beetle like insectoid bio-soldiers hiding various weapons inside their sliding containers. They don't have shields but their shells are made of composite Weinol which can even gradually regenerate. In order to facilitate replenishment it has a belly mounted dissassembler ray allowing it to collect key resources to heal and manufacture new warheads (if equipped with phsyical weapons like chargeguns or wardisc launchers). They are durable and fairly versatile units that can be outfitted for any role ranging from frontal assaults to artillery or even anti-air purposes. They are a bit slow compared to the rest of the bio-soldiers but by no means lumbering. They can be considered the equivalent of tanks.
Triads: Rehsak are heavy bio-soldiers utilizing miniaturized warmachine technology. Those who fought these creatures tend to call them as mini-tripods and this isn't that far from the truth. They are 3-5m tall (depending on if you count the arms or not) with three triple-jointed legs and a trio of tentacle-like arms ending up in hypermetric ray emitters. This made possible by the creature possessing a compact hypercore which actually makes it dangerously unstable. For additional protection the Triad class bio-soldiers posses their own shielding, making them more like a walking tank if not worse. Furthermore some variants of the Reshak can combine their trio of beams with the shield emitter for an overwhelmingly strong attack. Just as the other bio-soldiers the Triads are surprisingly nimble and their shielding can double as a gravity manipulation tool. Due to their unstable core the Triad distorts space-time around itself, making it relatively easy to detect by sensors. On the other hand if they get too close their unstable hyperspace radiation could cause random malfunctions on sensitive equipment and generally makes precise sensor locks impossible.
Predators: Feikha are giant 6m tall and 9m long creatures engineered from the indigenous species of an unspecified planet. These creatures underwent massive enhancement, receiving tough armadillo-like armor plates complemented with composite Weinol hide structure. The monstrous being is powered by a hypercore which allows it to maintain a shield to further enhance its defenses. In spite of its size the creature is extremely nimble and can leap massive distances. Its main purpose is breakthrough and shock thus it has a pair of oversized blade-like appendages for combat. Aside from that it has a mounth and tail mounted hypermetric radiation emitter. In addition it could launch wardiscs launchers and other secondary functions.
SPACE FORCES
Sarmakth spacecraft are just like their warmachines in the fact they look less like purpose built constructs and more like living entities. Most Sarmakth space vessels look like deep sea creatures, assuming the shapes of starfish, jellyfish, crustaceans and cephaloids. Just as their surface vehicles these rely on tentacles but in a different way. The average Sarmakth warship consists of a main body and various tentacles. Main body houses all the essentials while tentacles mount the primary weapons. This gives a flexible and finely aimed platform for said weapons but also makes them fair bit more obvious as targets. Most Sarmakth warships have primary and secondary tentacles with the latter being considerably thinner. Said tentacles could be also used in close combat and are known to contract and stretch to unbelievable extents. Another less known fact is that while vulnerable these tentacles can grow back. At the root of each tentacle is a regeneration unit which gradually reconstructs the lost appendage while hidden within the hull, bursting out with full functions as soon as ready. Another observation is that overall the Sarmakth are less focused on space superiority than many other civilizations. Rather than winning space battles the Sarmakth focus is on establishing dominance in space enough to make planetary invasion successful. They suppress dissents, defeat rebels and invade planets. Their objective is usually to conquer and subjugate a planet, not to win over a hostile nation state. This may be an advantage or their greatest weakness depending on how the war is waged.
Sarmakth Dominion developed isolated from the galactic community and hence their terminology for warships is also relatively different.
- Pi'hali: means tiny/insignificant spacecraft, usually for starfighters but also for shuttlecraft. - Glanthali: Means "watcher ship", corvettes or small frigates. - Katahali: The so-called "devourer ships", they are synonymous with destroyers but with more ground supporting secondary role. - Beshali: Means "cruising ship" and any medium sized vessel fits here like large frigates or cruisers. - Nashali: Invader ships and are a mix of carrier and planetary assault ships, usually can mean either or both. - Nen'puk-beshali: Translates as "main battle cruiser" and can be anything from heavy cruiser to battleships. - Nelayhali: Suppressor ships are what the Sarmakth call their dreadnought equivalent vessels. - Fik'nelayhali: Supreme Supressor Ships are what Sarmakth thinks Hyperdreads as.
Aluuk class Starfighter: 30m diameter smallcraft shaped like a starfish with either 5 or 8 arms. Most of the size is taken up by said arms which can move fluidly like a living entity and are equipped with compact hypermetric accelerators. They can even combine these projectors into a singular attack for more massive damage. The starfighter also has wardisc launchers and a compact multi-purpose bay that can store supplies, bombs or even prisoners. It takes in or deploys said cargo via using its transport beam.
Zanax class minor frigate: Usually the smallest warship seen from the Dominion, and the most common one. Zanax are closer to corvettes but with multi-mission profile. They have the classic Sarmakth cuttlefish shape for warships but only with a pair of primary tentacles mounting hypermetric accelerators with several secondary tentacles used for point defense. They have considerable internal space for fighters, wardiscs and various cargo including multiple warmachines. They are meant to manage minor enforcement duties. The large "eyes" are the most unique aspects of the ship and they are housing long range sensors to fulfill the ship's recon role.
Ask'ersu class Destroyer: Named Ask'ersu (foot soldier), this is a long enduring design going through several upgrades. At the length of 250 meters it isn't significantly larger than the Zanax but has a much more robust hypercore and an overall different design. Unlike all other ships the Ask'ersu doesn't mount any weapons in its trio of tentacles. Instead it relies on its heavy wardisc launchers for ship to ship combat. In addition it mounts a giant spinally mounted hypermetric accelerator for its massive firepower. Lastly the Ask'ersu was designed to be dual purpose and has the capability to land on planets and walk on its trio of tentacle legs like any of the other Sarmakth warmachines. Its plethora of small weapon systems see decent use in ground combat while its spinal gun can overcome fortifications. Thus aside from being essential for screening in space combat the Ask'ersu can be also the largest Sarmakth warmachine to be fielded during planetary combat.
Sklada'nan class Cruiser: A medium size vessel meant to patrol the borders and engage in low intensity conflicts. They are multi-purpose vessels capable of subjugating the majority of revolts on their own. They have eight primary tentacles meant to engage smaller vessels while the secondary tentacles give it decently ranged anti-starfighter firepower. More importantly the Sklada'nan (meaning "warning message") has considerable transport and starfighter capacity, enough to house a small army. This gives them an important secondary purpose as battle carriers and assault ships yet this role isn't significant enough to re-classify them as Invader Ships.
Kresnayun class Invader Ship: Speaking of the devil the Kresnayun (Aggressor) is a massive ship of unique shape which resembles more of a starfish merged to a cuttlefish at each other's respective centers. Its spinning radial docking bay can disperse both transports and starfighters in a very rapid fashion, neccessiating the huge central ring. It has breeding chambers for producing armies of bio-soldiers while its mechanical bays could house entire divisions of warmachines. The chief duty of this massive ship is support, be it for fighter screening or to deploy immense number of invasion forces. The gigantic tentacle arms are multi-purpose and hous multiple kinds of weaponry, meant for both ground support and to gather resources to fuel its internal mechanism for producing even more units. Consequently the Kresnayun has relatively little firepower and requires constant escort, an acceptable tradeoff for such a fearsome vessel.
Kali'puk class Main Battle Cruiser: Primary combat ship of the Sarmakth these squid-shapen vessels have 12 primary and 72 secondary tentacles, making them highly capable of handling large number of vessels. These ships were made without interstellar treaty thus making them way more versatile and perhaps even more powerful than most ships of this size. In addition to having a lots of weapons the Kali'puk even has the capacity to combine them into a singular powerful beam, dealing heavy damage to other battleships. Of course this means that unlike other Sarmakth vessels the Kali'puk only carries hypermetric accelerator guns as its main armament and only of a set strength. This means the secondary tentacles have to substitute a lot of that versatility, hence their huge number. Regardless the Kali'puk is a very dangerous craft and compared to the overall strength of the Dominion these vessels are relatively numerous, may even outnumber enemy fleets.
Ek'zaprah class Suppressor Vessel: Equivalent to dreadnoughts in other nations this vessel dwarfs all the other Sarmakth vessels. Its 48 secondary tentacles each carry twins of Kali'puk's main weaponry while the 6 primary tentacles are sufficient to even take on other dreadnoughts. Unlike other Sarmakth ship designs the tentacles are relatively short with the main body looking absolutely massive in comparison. The body features a plethora of small weapon systems as well as complement for fighters or even carry escort vessels. The ship has facilities for planetary invasion, too. Yet most of the internal space is actually taken up by its utterly massive spinal hypermetric accelerator cannon. This ship is meant to suppress any resistance to the Sarmakth encountered so far, breech planetary shields and give the enemy a permanent reminder to their fooly. The name Ek'zaprah roughly translates as "absolute revenge" and like all other Sarmakth ship names this is very much fitting. Since never limited by any treaties the Sarmakth have a lot of these vessels, outnumbering factions of similar size in this aspect. Suppressor Vessels rarely come alone in Sarmakth doctrine and rather they arrive in squadrons of three. On the other hand the Ek'zaprah is a ship focused on siege role above all. This means they are much less of an "ultimate ship" but rather a specialist, needing its own escort to wage battles.
The Vmiskii Aveterriat brought themselves out of the hellish mold of earlier existence, emancipating themselves from the determiners fully to make a society where all Aveterriat can find their way not through random chance, but through methodical and empirical testing of all individuals to find what they are truly great at.
0- Beliefs -0
Vmiskii Aveterriat are hard to describe with precision. Using human ideological terms can leave one baffled from contradicting forms of governance such as "Theocratic technocracy", "Meritocratic oligarchy" and so forth. It is best to understand their mindset from their perspective or you'll be lost. Truly a lesson for all civilizations, but the egotism of humans is beyond comparison.
Especially since the Aveterriat are not the only Vmiskii species, they're around 90% of the population but there are noticeably other species that were integrated to the Vmiskii mode of existence. They system is supreme, propagation of the system is supreme. Aveterriat are at most, the founders of the system, but the Vmiskii system is not the Aveterriat. It has grown beyond them, into a force of nature in of itself.
The Vmiskii melded into their minds the concept of rebirth and ascendant through industry, work. Far more dogmatic is a belief system unique to them, that of universal reincarnation between all acknowledged intelligent life. Vmiskii seek to integrate all intelligent life into their system of life and existence, as it is the ideal state. The Vmiskii state of thought. The Vmiskii is hard to pin down, but there are those who call it a political party and an faith at the same time. The Vmiskii system is what defines their civilization, multiple Vmiskii based sub-societies exist (usually from other species adapting their cultures into the Vmiskii outlook from whatever Insann codes they prefer), but the Empire is what has propagated their system the most thoroughly.
The plans written by their planners span billions of years and depict ambitions to ultimately subdue the galaxy and assimilate all to their way in order to renew existence itself when the time comes. The clients of the Vmisk are forced into this system and their old culture perverted to fit the needs of the Vmisk. Species who remain useless to them for too long usually die off from failing to meet standards.
Vmiskii communities are communal much like in many aveterriat societies, but the technocracy is brutal and demanding of all to never stop functioning. Death is not an excuse to stop to the Vmiskii.
The Vmiskii drive to work persistently and with absolute determination towards their goals, be it the subduing of enemies, the creation of new military weapons, doing inspections on neighboring societies or finding the next world state to mark for invasion. Vmiskii culture is focused deeply on endless efforts as an ends in of themselves.
Iterate, iterate, labour till you die, be born again, continue to labour more against the inevitable death is how the Vmiskii understand existence. This mindset has led to a degree of nihilistic outlook among some of their inhabitants. For instance, an idea of entertainment to the Vmiskii involves systemic massacres of wild life on planets and making it rain flesh, for all is material. The violent undertones of their civilization has not abated their ability to engage in trade with others, of which the traders are characteristic in their paranoia that they fail to meet their quotas with trading mostly centered around rare minerals and exotic minerals.
0 - Culture - 0
Vmisk common life is rigid and time-based, life is centered around a endless procession of quotas from birth to death, Failure to follow the quotas can be deeply punishing to the point of death to the aveterriat who are irredeemably unable to carry out quotas. Freedom of choice comes from using one of the law sets and abiding by those laws in parallel to others who may follow other law sets. Law sets are altered only by the professionals who have proven their nature to be best suited to draft new codes, of which than get iterated and updated over time to be more “pure” by other professionals. Code alteration is most intensively watched, massive arguments and infighting can break out by any alteration of the Insann codes too radical.
Freedom of choice in work and the existence of a genuine meritocracy that is kept in order by everyone keeping each other in check (the professionals codominant the whole society with genuine groups who keep everything accountable) is one of the major appeals of the Vmisk to outsiders. The sheer rigidity of the system and its disregard for individual life however is quite alienating to democrats. Freedom of work in their sense means you get raised by the community as a whole instead of by a family and that education is used to determine what one is best suited for in life, being expected to try all fields and judging on the amount of productivity they achieve in each field, are than able to pursue specialized paths. Extremely similar to the education systems of other species, except that it is literally done from birth and leaves no room to fuck around.
The Vmisk aveterriat do not live in spires, instead they live in sprawling spine structures centered around planet wide mass transit networks with many nodes where centers of industry, lots of various augmented nudist projects and ongoing learning exist. 0 - Vmiskiinomics / Economics - 0
The Vmisk currency is based around favors more than anything else, working for others with your talent set is expected and Aveterriat are trained from birth to work for the sake of working, favors being a reward because it means they can work more on alternative tasks from their own role. Overworking is not seen as a problem at all to them, after all.
This comes with a lot of other benefits since there is no cost to food beyond the rations alloted which are pretty generous as the Vmiskii Empire is a space faring civilization that is actually a post-industrial civilization that had a massive crisis of purpose that led them down this route instead of mass suicides to return to Sidilico like what happened on Invyuss, but let's not fret that, okay?
Aveterriat who are trusted to set up these institutions do so with a dedicated power base in a almost corporate fashion, except that they all pledge allegiance to the Vmisk Empire and must keep in line with the code they have subscribed to.
These institutions also aren’t profit based, instead they are based around generating and producing for the sake of producing and generating material with wealth being minimal and highly distributed.
The institution system is universal and occupies the niche that humans would normally occupy with corporations. It is this system that is used to designate the many tasks the Vmiskii may take.
0 - Structure - 0
The Vmiskii are not a caste society like the other Aveterriat societies. Instead they're a hierarchical system with a lot of social mobility where everyone is born a nudist and has the potential to work their way up into being a professional.
The Codominant and the twelve code sets are the foundations of their government, morality comes from the Professionals and prevalent belief systems on reincarnation. They also connect the power of work and effort to moral success; failure is the result of laziness. Mass executions, that are often public and carried out without warning tend to result from military or diplomatic failures. They do have trials, of which are carried out by overworking the defendant in multiple tasks associated with its path in life to prove their innocence. Hard workers who murder lazy Vmiskii are acceptable, but a lazy Vmiskii who murders a hard worker is viewed as having no proper punishment other than dulling.
Vmiskii education is centered around the concept of internal talent Aveterriat and other species of the Vmiskii are given a general education in many fields, the fields they perform best in are the ones they are set to specialize further in if they are to ascend in the hierarchy.
Gifted Vmiskii may specialize in multiple fields and rank up faster because of it. Failures are executed. Vmiskii do not have parents, instead they have numerous sets of caretakers as the parents are never certain. The nudists reproduce when they want than all responsibilities are taken over by the higher ranked Vmiskii than advanced in mind to attain higher states of living.
Nudists occupy lower parts of the hierarchy, but are expected to advance until they are able to be merge to a shell. Nudists who fail to advance into machinist ranks and get too old are allowed to be killed at the will of higher ranking Vmiskii, Aveterriat or otherwise for any reason.
A Machinist is a fusion of flesh and metal to create the ultimate being. Cyborgs are a status symbol and a second level of hierarchy exists for these cybernetic Vmiskii known as augmented Nudists who work harder than the nudists, carrying out a range of functions that keep local communities afloat. They are semi-Machinists and generally get a higher age cap on how old they're allowed to get before getting death marked.
Laziness means death as all are watching and all are prepared to tear you apart if you fail to do your part.
There is no actual uniform law in the Vmisk Empire, instead there is a set of ethical values descended from the Insann codes. They are rigidly assembled by law makers to fit into what the current systemic agenda is, but no single set of law is followed at all ranks. Machinists in the Vmiskii Empire can switch some of the laws they ascribe to through the build up of favors and using said favors to switch the laws they ascribe to. But they are constrained to the laws that are from the Insann codes and cannot contrive new laws. At most, law makers are allowed to alter laws.
All these laws are quite draconian and engineered to maximize productivity be it through endless work or be expected to periodically “play” hard as well. Vmiskii ideas of play mind you, means ritual slaughtering of outsiders. Flesh art is a major cultural product of the Vmisk as well.
Vmiskii are not really ruled by any single individual, instead the Vmiskii way is enforced by everyone watching each other at all times. The Machinists in the highest echelons of their society never stop working to codominate the empire held together by ideology and hard power alone. Rebellions are frequent, the codominant combine forces to violently crush rebellions. They aren’t all that expansionist, despite their unpredictable interventions in outside affairs and intent to spread the Vmiskii System across the entire galaxy.
Vmiskii trade is uncommon outside their empire, more often trading with other aveterriat instead of other species. Their xenophobia hasn’t stopped some from still finding trade opportunities with other species, mainly in any unique minerals that are in relative abundance elsewhere in the galaxy or in exchange for test subjects and slaves. Interacting with them is a very strange game of manipulating their collective views and doing anything you can to avoid making them see you as a threat to their existence.
00 - Outline of the Vmiskii System - 00
- Lost Causes (Rank -Infinity to -12)
Don't become one of these. You aren't born one ever, but hyper-demotion is a form of mass shaming done in the Vmiskii Empire. Lost causes usually are executed on streams, sold as food to alien societies, just arbitrarily tortured or otherwise just plain killed in a cruel and arbitrary way.
- Nudists (Rank -12 to 12) [The Aveterriat use base-12 counting]
Nudists are the lowliest forms of Vmiskii adherents. The Vmiskii was formed from Aveterriat belief systems, and so has reincarnation built into it. Whatever your species, you are born a nudist if you die. Complete and total reset on default, but if you had a harsh enough punishment you are given an even lower rank than 0. Common learning is usually done here.
- Augmented Nudists (Rank 12 to 24)
Augmented nudists are cybernetic nudists who make up a large set of domestic society. A large share of Vmiskii are augmented nudists. Specialized learning usually is done here.
- Machinists (Rank 24 to 48)
Machinists are the higher form of Vmiskii, being able to use shells with all the higher order technology that comes with it. They often take on less domestic roles and whenever the Vmiskii invade, they use Military Machinists.
- Professionals
Professionals are the highest achieving Vmisk who spread their knowledge to all. They are part of the Codominant and despite being professionals also adhere to the Insann codes. It is a position of extreme power and extreme risk in a system as cutthroat as the Vmiskii system. They are always watched, at all times by lower ranked Vmiskii.
0 - Tech - 0
Vmiskii technology is extremely iterative and notable for being obsessively detailed in glyphs that reiterate the spoken words of regional professionals.
Vmiskii industry is vast, with 100% employment since all are assigned purpose from the egg, all will find their purpose in existence or be euthanized so they may be reborn again and maybe do things right next time.
They make use of carbon computing with algorithmic AIs who tend to be integrated into machinists.
- Shells Shells are spherical, hyper resistant spheres that fully immerse the user into a core that can roll around and boost like a large wrecking ball. So even an unarmed Machinist Core can be used for demolition applications.
These shells are a modular apparatus given a wide range of components to carry out tasks connected to their jobs, regardless of what these tasks are. Aveterriat engineering is incredibly advanced in general, the engineering of the Vmiskii empire integrated from a wide range of Aveterriat World States being the height of it.
-Particle Accelerators The Vmiskii have a strong understanding of magnetism, so strong that they figured out ways to accelerate tiny particles to rapid velocities. Such weaponry is mainly used by machinists and have heating problems that limit them to quick, burst fire usage.
-Vmiskii Hypermetals Vmiskii engineers make hull systems that can absorb energy weapons with ease, being able to divert the heat from super heating to charge their plasma cell systems. Vmiskii spaceships are able to also have energy barrier systems that can hold off attack with low failure rates.
-Antimatter Power The Vmiskii Empire attained the power of anti-matter to some level. They use them in limited fashions, however since the stability of antimatter is still suspect especially at the quantities needed to weaponize or otherwise sustain energy with them, not even considering the fallout of a reactor meltdown.
-Antigravity (?) Antigravity technology is something Vmiskii Engineers have managed to such an impressive extent they have sky cities that act as hubs to the stars for local worlds. Often occupied worlds get a sky city that is also a military outpost from which management and survelliance is carried out from.
0 - Military - 0
0 - Miner-Killers
Miner-Killers are the standard interplanetary combat shell units utilized by the Vmiskii Empire. Their namesake comes from their dual role approach, being used as small but effective mining vessels due to their high penetration pulverizing missiles happening to also be useful for mining asteroids with their interception systems being also useful as mining lasers.
In combat, they are usually assault craft that act in small formations of 6 units that coordinate with each other to deep-strike enemy positions, taking advantage of fusion engines and the metallurgical prowess of Aveterriat Engineering to do hard hitting hit and run strikes. The quality based approach however, means that loses are hard to replace and repairs can be outright tedious. Not that the augmented nudist engineers mind, since it means more labour, more favor and more rank to get to repair a Machinist vessel. They are overall, more inclined to being combat vessels with their uses in mining limited compared to more dedicated mining vessels, the secondary function being more or less the task assigned in "peacetime".
0 - Demolitions
Demolition Vessels are a dedicated combat vessel that are used mainly in planetary assaults. They are equipped with a wide range of missiles and bombs, including aptly named Earthquake bombs that induce earthquakes, cause infrastructural damage and can even cause Tsunamis. They are a strategic ship, mainly focused on shock and awe tactics to force opponents into submission while shaking their infrastructure up to give them some work to do once taken over.
00 - Pulverizers
Pulverizers are the heavy assault ships of the Vmiskii Empire. They have particle accelerators for close range burst-fire barrages of rapid, hard hitting dust particles and lots of missiles, mainly of the fusion variety. High ranking Rippers do at times even use anti-matter missiles but the risks associated with them make it rather uncommon. In peace time, rippers usually are used for plain old demolition or in Vmiskii style art works.
00 - Saboteurs
Saboteurs are light interceptor-type vessels that can also double as kamikaze vessels due to their use of anti-matter drives. To the point they often are regarded as a borderline hard to make and produce missile more than a formal kind of combat spaceship. Their purpose is very much niche, as specialized ships made to go behind enemy lines and destroy critical infrastructure in blitz assaults.
They are capable of orbit-sky flight and often of questionable stability, to the point Saboteurs are used mainly in suicide missions. They make use of particle accelerators and have anti-matter missiles, but are unstable and can be rapidly destroyed if you can hit them before they can hit you.
Unlike most ships, there is no peacetime applications for them except at best, as backup power generators.
0 Non-Combat
00 - Gestators
Gestators are the largest ships in the Vmiskii Empire, they are akin to highly mobile shipyards that are mainly large transit vessels with all matter of trade activities and favors being dealt with. Many of them even have nudists working their way up the ranks, as it is often quicker to do so within a Gestator as a caretaker or engineer as the matinence and work demands of Gestators are high. They are where other ships are assembled using parts refined on the planets and melded together by the engineers about. With lower ranking Aveterriat using them in test flights to make sure it all is working and Machinists usually piloting them. They carry with them usually a few dozen military ships and whenever they go in, you know they mean business.
00 - Inspector
Inspectors are technical crafts, they are high ranking Machinists usually and make use of various tools, algorithms and bits of equipment. They often come with data mining augmented aveterriat in small investigative crafts of noticeably lower quality than the ships usually encountered outside the Vmiskii Empire itself.
Inspectors are ships made to go far distances and are equipped with higher end jump drives than the norm. Inspectors are used both within the Vmiskii Empire and outside of it for the same general purpose and so do the same thing they always do, war time or peace time. Inspectors usually are associated with the Institute for Galactic Stability.
Inspectors are known to also do considerable amounts of espionage to gauge weaknesses of other societies, but the main use of the data is meant to be the gauge the productivity and entropic qualities of other space faring societies to see if they are in line with the ideal state of life or are destabilizing the universe further.
00 - Salvager
Salvager ships are a common sight in Vmiskii Fleets, they are ships that act as backing ships mainly for morale often having various stimulants stocked up they hand the more direct fighter crafts. Salvager vessels come armed with some defensive weaponry, but nothing on the level of higher end ships and their lower rank is clear in how they usually are packed with augmented nudists at the controls.
They can in peace times have traders on board instead, doing exchanges for salvaged metals from war sites or otherwise handing them to the factories and refineries in Vmiskii controlled space. Salvagers are important because valuable metamaterials are hard to make, so they usually try to collect whatever fragments of fallen comrades to recycle the material instead of having to go through the harder process of manufacturing said metamaterials.
Salvager lasers can cut into hulls to slice them into smaller bits to carry on board, with augmented Nudists suited up and let out to go grab and take stuff from destroyed ships.
00 - Harvester
Harvesters are dedicated mining vessels used mainly by augmented nudists. Harvesters often are under more stress and demand to succeed during war time when Miner-Killers aren't available to help pick up the slack. Harvesters are way better for mining regardless, as their mining crews and large storage capacities mean they actually can get loads of raw materials for the Vmiskii machine.
0 - Planetside
00 - Combat Constructs
Combat constructs are the main assault units of the Aveterriat Militaries. Combat ships in orbit can fling them into critical places just fine thanks to the resilience and inertial dampening that goes into their machinist shells. These combat constructs often make use of gyrojet turrets and their own kinetic forces to bust into and destroy enemy formations to destabilize their discipline while other constructs mop up scattered enemy forces.
00 - Hunter Constructs
Hunter Constructs are surface-air constructs that are highly specialized, making use of particle rifles and missiles against enemy air craft or as a means of sniping certain ground units. They can go between flight mode and land mode, but lack mobility while on land and only usually use land mode when trying to snipe. When flying the purpose is locating the target, when in land mode the purpose is picking off the targets deemed the 'heads'. They also can and do fly into larger enemy vehicles when desperate.
00 - Janitors
Janitors are a peculiar kind of Machinist fighter, the name is deceptive, as while they do clean up, said clean up has to do with cleaning up stragglers. They are bulkier than your usual machinist, with plasma thrower to burn through heavily plated bunkers and a particle rifle to rip through whatever may be hiding. They survey areas to find an pick off whatever may survive or otherwise occupy areas to keep the enemy from retaking them. Their bulkiness and use of a plasma thrower also makes them decent mine sweepers.
-Various aveterriat world state NPCs who follow more rigid dual caste systems by default. -The Protectorate, which houses the Aveterriat Homeworld of Sidilico and is also an NPC
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