I'm gonna assume that means that there aren't any objections. Duck, you never said it, so- Am I accepted?

Monkeypants: Sure, sounds fantastic to me! I'd assume that, what, the dwarv- I mean, Guan - were originally neighbors to the Fay, who in turn subsequently abandoned the Guan when the Laujin came knocking? Add some myth and legend coupled with the occasional rumor from actual sightings, the Fay having a soft spot for the Guan and generally acting nicer toward them than anyone else, and I think this could go somewhere.

Seems like this RP is pretty young, you guys still accepting?

The dwar--guan (lol) came from the same star system as the laujin, explaining their similar humanoid looks. But had a significant technological advantage early on. (doubt warp drive as if that were true, they would be far more advanced than now.) many years.. Centuries.. ago when the vygran dominion was founded and began its initial aggressive expansion, your fairi-fay were close enough to the beginning assault that they did what they did. Vygrans would have lesser races integrated but none would be prolific enough to really matter (aside from fluff). Your ancient neighbor would have been a victim. It all just fits. You have the potential of having your roots in the immediate area near the dominions home. Like alpha centari distance away. So yeah, we have some potential.

**Name of nation:** The Social-Nationalist Interstellar State of Siastrapliny **Species:** Siastraplinicorns, formerly known as unicorns. They are creatures with more than a passing similarity to ordinary Terran horses. Their pelts only come in shimmering white, silver or black. Their eyes glow in a variety of colourations. They, of course, have their distinguishing single horn. The mane is an important feature of the siastraplinicorn to determine their future role in the society. The more vibrant the mane, the more magically gifted a unicorn is. This vibrancy is left in the wake of arcane residue. Horn length and other horn features are another element taken into consideration. The horn serves as a focus of sorts for a siastraplinicorn's power, so the longer it is, the better at channeling magic it is. Horn spirals also assist in the process, acting in a manner almost analogous to the role coils play to a coilgun's functioning. [Siastraplinicorn](http://www.image-share.com/upload/2821/253.jpg) **Description of government:** They operate under "The Splendiferous Leader Principle", which is to say, they are essentially a despotic nation, wherein one destined unicorn, denoted by their mane consisting of the most grand, vibrant hues possible, holds the power equivalent to an Emperor. The present holder of the title of Splendiferous Leader is Dandy Myriadmane the Savoury. The Splendiferous Leader is theoretically benevolent. Siastraplinicorn society functions through structures commonly referred to as "guilds." The guild institution is somewhat technocratic in function. Each guild represents a particular industry, with leadership of the guild only going to those who are most skilled in that particular field. Siastraplinicorns belonging to these guilds are able to vote on matters pertaining to whatever their particular vocation may be. **Description of military:** The Siastrapliny military is not particularly sizable when compared to their counterparts of other nations, given their role mostly only covers defense of their own sectors of space and wars only with their most immediate neighbours. On the land, siastraplinicorns utilize machines to amplify their already somewhat formidable magical powers instead of firearms. The most ubiquitous example, the horn sheath, slots over a siastraplinicorn's horn, as the name implies. They are designed to enhance the magical output of their horns, honing these energies into lethal beams. They come in a variety of "calibers", varying from the sheath equivalent to a laser rifle, to specialist devices with firepower comparable to artillery. Their equivalent to armor comes in the form of harnesses bearing arcane shield generators and other equipment their soldiers require on and off the battlefield. Aside from transports and other utilitarian vehicles, their armed forces are actually bereft of the standard array of combat vehicles. Their equivalent of an armored formation should instead be envisioned as specialist units of siastraplinicorns galloping over the field with upper tier shield generators and high caliber horn sheaths, giving the individual of their race the might comparable to a tank. Even then, as impressive as it may be to see lone soldiers wielding such power, they are nonetheless still as vulnerable much the same things as their aforementioned counterparts. The shields can only take so much damage before dissipating, after all. More over, as implied, it is only the elite of the army that get such mighty arms and armament. The standard infantry are about on par with the galactic norm. Air and sea vehicles are less easy to supplant with these magitech gadgets, and are more readily comparable to the norm than their land forces. They are fairly bog standard as far as such things come, save for their arcane engines and weaponry. Fighters are much larger than usual as to accomodate for something of the shape and size of a horse, as well as their protruding horns, their control panels also drastically different to accommodate for their physiology. The space navy is also greatly constrained by its size. The thousands of years of history the siastraplinicorns have with ship design does ever so slightly mitigate the gulf between the might of their navy and those of their counterparts, but it only does them so many favors. The bulk of their heavier classes of ships are equivalent to upgunned heavy cruisers, rather than battleships. Their true battleships are rather scarce. Their Sangfroid-class dreadnought ships, of which there are only two ("Sangfroid" and "Crumbsicle"), are theoretically mighty, outfitted with truly ruinous arcane weaponry, but have never seen combat of any particularly significant scale. Representing an investment too large to risk in battle, they are most often employed more in the role of deterrence. In their last war, they were kept at port in sectors near enemy supply routes, their presence inspiring their foes to commit more of their ships to safeguard their military's lifelines from their potential danger, keeping these escort ships from being deployed to other parts of the front-line. With the concept of direct confrontation being something widely held to be something with extremely slim chance of turning out well for their navy, the focus is instead upon harassing supply lines and merchant shipping, with the hope of strangling adversaries into submission. A portion of the fleet consists of cloaking vehicles as to fill the role submarines would for the equivalent to such strategies with wet navies. The true might of the siastraplinicorn space navy is to be found in the Fortress of Exultation. Situated near the homeworld, it consists of a massive network of fortifications suspended in a shielding field of arcane energy forming a perimeter around the centerpiece of the station: its main battery, Grandhorn. When Grandhorn is brought to bear, around 100 of the most magically potent siastraplinicorns the navy has at its disposal are gathered aboard it and focus all of their sorcerous energies together. The cannon then amplifies this and fires it as an absolutely devastating beam with incredible range. However, such vast outpourings of power greatly tire the gunnery wizards, and so the cannon is neither given the order to fire at all frequently or lightly. **Technological Overview:** Moderately advanced compared to the average, owing to their frequent inter-meshing of the arcane with science, but they don't really dominate in either field. Their extremely long lasting space ship building tradition ensures their vehicles are mechanically very reliable, but there are never enough, as far as their military needs go. The aforementioned horn sheaths also have non-military variants that are used for a wide array of applications. They are the most commonly encountered siastraplinicorn-machine interface, using their magic to input commands for whatever device the particular sheath belongs to. They fill the roles of things like control panels for vehicles and even the equivalent of keyboards. Present research is directed towards machines to enhance the natural capabilities of the siastraplinicorns even further. Cybernetics are one possible avenue that is considered, but the emphasis on maintaining the purity of their kind lends itself to the disapproval of such technology. Instead, worn gadgetry to magnify arcane output are favored, such as the aforementioned combat sheaths and shield generators. They are reaching the upper extremes of size for horn sheaths, so work has commenced on exoskeletons to accommodate even greater calibers of horn sheath than previously available. Most power generation is derived from magic, though what exactly it is they use to provide this when it comes to their larger engines is poorly understood, and the siastraplinicorns keep their secrets well guarded. **Cultural Overview:** The siastraplinicorns emphasize three things above all others: health of body, mind and spirit. Siastraplinicorns that do not meet these standards are callously cast out of their society, through any means necessary. Their struggle for survival that has spanned many millennia makes no concessions for weakness. Those born with no horns are considered to be no better than their idiotic Earth relatives, horses, and are particularly despised. The siastraplinicorns are rabid, paranoid survivalists, and are prepared to make any sacrifice to ensure the continuance of their great race. The more extreme of their kind have expressed sentiments along the lines that if they were to destroy everything around them but one male and one female unicorn, this would still constitute a victory in their eyes. Siastraplinicorn culture is extremely vain and self-aggrandizing. Statues and murals demonstrating the sublime splendor of their kind decorate every street and square of their settlements. The tragedy of "Great Betrayal" is a common theme in their media of all kind, using it to kindle their hatred towards anything resembling their perceived antagonists, the humans, too closely. **History:** The origins of this race of space unicorns can be found well into the distant past of their former home planet, Earth. Their own legends and mythology purport that the early history of their race and the Christian Bible are intertwined. As it goes in their minds, the unicorns were yet another one of the world's creatures, but when the great flood came and all animals were gathered upon Noah's Ark, they were forsaken and left behind. This is what they today refer to as "The Great Betrayal." Instead, the unicorns took fate into their own hands and constructed their own evacuation vessels. Using their powerful arcane unicorn minds, they had in fact created ancient precursors to space vessels. Their exodus took them far from Earth. They believe that in spite they also took all of the magic from that planet with them. After a long, painful journey, they found their way to an unoccupied system on the fringe of the Andromeda galaxy, there establishing their new homeland. While the veracity of many of their claims are questionable, it is certain that the unicorns were of Terran origin and did indeed set forth on their intergalactic journey upon thaumaturgic transports while mankind still inhabited mud hovels. Since the colonization and establishment of themselves in the sectors of the galaxy that belong to them, they have expanded in ultimately small, but locally extremely noticeable chunks of territory, securing many new planets for their realm. Their extreme paranoia and arrogance has brought them into many conflicts along their border, but their nation endures. **Other:** **ONE LEADER.** **ONE NATION.** **ONE HORN.** **SIASTRAPLINY!**

More unicorns

Oh, there are other unicorns?

no, Duck just used a race of spaceponies/spaceunicorns for half a dozen consecutive reboots in the MWG version. You're fine.

Oh, I see. Well, I'm sure there are differences to be found. Sometimes certain races just keep popping up in these things, like dragon people. On an additional note, it seems like Duck's were MLP inspired, looking back. I can't claim to have watched more than an episode of that show, myself. Wasn't much my thing. My decision to play as space unicorns was due to a completely different inspiration.

I know. Just unicorns

Just dragon people? (I really don't understand.) EDIT: Oh. Herp. You probably mean like, "Yeah I know they're just unicorns", yeah?

Yeahup. :b

I like to believe that the Fay think the Siastraplinicorns are incredibly arrogant and vain, completely ignoring their own arrogance and vanity. Rather like the pot calling the kettle black.

> I like to believe that the Fay think the Siastraplinicorns are incredibly arrogant and vain, completely ignoring their own arrogance and vanity. Rather like the pot calling the kettle black.  Just kidding. Draconians are kinda like that- "Woah! You're WAY too violent for your own good!" Meanwhile, they're slaughtering some smaller, primitive sentient nation for saying no to their expansion on their planet.

> Just kidding. Draconians are kinda like that- "Woah! You're WAY too violent for your own good!" Meanwhile, they're slaughtering some smaller, primitive sentient nation for saying no to their expansion on their planet. Too bad this isn't the other RP, because the humans would justice-slap you and force you to draw a picture about what you did and explain why it was wrong. Before going off to invade some primitive planet to "stop a war". Which they do by annexing the entire planet.

I will take the silence as a "Sure thing friend, by all means make a nation app and have fun and stuff" App will be up soonish.

Yeah, we are always accepting. Edit:Wilson your still in awaiting, I have asked someone to look over your app for me who I trust and can catch anything I missed.

####**|Name of nation:** Min-Vakai Syndiarchy, or more commonly, The Cephalid Hegemony (both are acceptable) --- ####**|Races of the Hegemony** While Koros and her moons are predominantly oceanic, there do exist small continents and island chains on the surface which are host to a myriad of life including multiple sentient species. The four sapient species of Koros are listed below. **Cephalids(Min Vakai)** The Cephalids themselves are bipedal amphibians averaging 1.6 to 2.3 meters in height. Their name originates from the mass of prehensile tentacles which hangs from their face, covering a bone-shattering beak. While averaging heights taller than humans Cephalids traditionally boast a slimmer build than humans, but the need to survive in the crushing pressures of the deep seas of their home give them a much greater strength and endurance than their non-aquatic counterparts. Like humans Cephalids have two arms and two legs, but Cephalids boast broad, webbed hands and feet with six clawed digits for maneuvering under the waves. **Ulaks:** The Ulaks more qualify as a prime example of Cephalid Scientific prowess than they do as a sentient species. Ulaks are massive, ten-legged, armored creatures who bear a cursory resemblance to the giant Isopods of earth writ large. Before they were tampered with by the Cephalids the Ulaks were semi-sentient bottom dwellers who showed very little likelihood of ascension to full sentience on their own, but the Cephalids saw promise in them as some extra muscle to bolster their ranks. Through several generations of genetic tampering the modern Ulak was born. While not the brightest of species, topping out in the brain category at about a human 8 year old, they boast one quality that makes them useful to the Cephalids, A naturally armored exoskeleton and ability to carry and use extremely heavy weapons. Family-Syndicates often employ Ulaks as Shock Troops and bodyguards for influential members. Because their natural habitat happens to be the bottom of the sea, Ulaks cannot survive prolonged exposure to the lack of pressure that comes with not being in the crushing depths. For this reason, in order to function on the surface, Ulaks require specialized encounter suits. The militarized versions of which take the standard impressive bulk of the Ulak and expands it to absurd levels. The first time humans saw a fully suited Ulak it was thought that the Hegemony had battlefield mecha in their arsenal. **Grund:** The Grund are a species which hail from the bayou of one of Koros’s only continents which rests along the planet’s equator. The grund are massive and described as “Terrifying” to the first humans who made contact with them. The Grund have an average height of 3.5 to 5 meters , however as they slither along the ground on their eel-like lower bodies the averages are closer to 2.5 to 4 meters in height. Their upper body Has four muscular arms with the upper two being used for brute strength and the lower two used for manual dexterity. They boast heads which are akin to a terran Viper fish and their skin is an oily black color. The most interesting feature about the Grund is their incredible abilities of electroreception which allow them to detect electrical signals from incredible distances. In ancient times it was thought that the ability was magical, early Grund society was often dominated by powerful shamans whose senses were the strongest amongst the tribe. After industrialization and the formation of a high-technology society by the Cephalids it was thought that the Grund would be left behind in history as the great masses of electric signals from cities would cause sensory overload which came with incredible pain and disorientation. The Cephalids, beaming from the success of their experiments with the Ulaks came to the Grund with a potential genetic fix to their little problem that would help them function in society. The next generation of Grund born were modified with a more refined sense of electroreception than previous generations, much to the chagrin of the Grund, they found that their newly altered senses were actually more sensitive than those of previous generations but also no longer ran on pure instinct. With some training the Grund found themselves capable of shutting out specific electronic signatures at will. The Grund suddenly found themselves capable of advancing with the rest of Koros, and the Cephalids found themselves with the greatest trackers in the galaxy forever indebted to them. **Hruul:** The Hruul are another species hailing from the swampy equatorial region of Koros, however their ancestors took a decidedly different approach to evolution than the Grund. The Hruul, unlike many of the sentients of Koros bear little resemblance to any terran sea-creature or animal, in fact they could best be described as plant or fungus-like. A Hruul’s body is composed of an almost sponge-like core which contains the Hruul’s few vital organs(Sensory organs and a digestive tract mostly) and also serves a dual purpose. The porous nature of the Hruul’s main body means that as a hruul travels across the swamp throughout its life with its six vine-like limbs, its body collects debris and detritus from the environment, as a Hruul ages this layer of muck and plant life evolves into a natural camouflage with the Oldest Hruul being almost Indistinguishable from its surrounding landscape, the old adage is that a Hruul can only be found if it wants to be, which is good for the Hruul as they are ambush hunters, waiting for prey to slip near before engulfing them in their vacuum like maw whole. Prey too large to be instantly engulfed are instead wrapped up in the vine-limbs of the Hruul and crushed/asphyxiated. There is no true upper-limit on the size of a Hruul, with the oldest having bodies which can be as wide as 1.5 meters and vines which extend for 6. Hruul go through two distinct stages in their life, the “mature” Hruul as described above, and a filter feeder “infant” which bears many characteristics of a polyp. While Hruul are educated in official schools and know of the outside universe their society is still notably pre-industrial and tribal, this is not for any anti-technological sentiment amongst the Hruul, it is merely that they are generally content with their existence in the swamp, and those who are not are free to leave and join greater Cephalid society with no societal stigma. The most advanced piece of technology adopted from Cephalid society into the Hruul’s is something akin to an atlatl. Because of their naturally stealthy nature many Cephalid houses employ Hruul as spymasters. --- ####**|Government and Society** The Cephalids lack a unified government in the truest sense of the word; instead Koros and her moons are divided amongst dozens of Family-syndicates who only come together in an archaic council to discuss issues that have repercussions across all Families such as their mutual defense, but even then rarely pass any resolutions. While the individual governance and structure of a Family-Syndicate varies from family to family there remains one constant amongst them all. The Ruling elite of a Family-Syndicate rule through fear and intimidation, and will do anything to make a profit. While some Family-syndicates are industrial juggernauts or scientific hubs; Piracy, Racketeering, Poaching, smuggling, bounty hunting, and assassinations are common means for Family-syndicates to not only acquire wealth but also instill fear and respect amongst their fiefs and rivals. This has led many humans to christen the governing body(s) of the Syndiarchy a literal “Gangster Government” Family-Syndicates are composed Exclusively of the Cephalids themselves, while other species may act as agents and enforcers for a Family-Syndicate they are not allowed to be a part of the political process. As expected, the Family-Syndicate’s hierarchy is based primarily on heredity. The head of a Syndicate is the Matriarch or Patriarch, below them are their children who are each given a portion of a Family-Syndicate’s holdings to preside over. The amount of land or capital given to a child is highly variable depending on how well they use/govern what it is they are given. The screw-up child will often find their holdings divided up amongst their siblings if their errors are grievous enough. This helps to ensure that more often than not it is the most capable child who takes over after their parents’ death or abdication as they will be the ones with the most assets to assert their dominance over their siblings when the time comes. Once a new family head takes their position and the attendant chaos subsides, those siblings which survives (not a very common occurrence) often find themselves with few choices. Those who were on good standings with the new Patriarch or Matriarch are often given the job of being the Family-Syndicate’s representative in the Council; a mostly ceremonial position which still allows them to live a life of high status and keep their own retainers. Those whose relations with their sibling were more sour are encouraged to lend their services to the Navy where they will be out of the way or simply disappear as they have no place in the world anymore. The children of these loser siblings retain whatever it was that they held beforehand dependent that they acknowledge the new leader as legitimate. Below the Family-Syndicate’s head, the hierarchy extends downwards in a similar fashion with the children further dividing up their own assets amongst either their own children, or trusted advisors and associates. A Cephalid’s loyalty is always first to themselves, but self has a strange meaning within society. By its very nature Cephalid society supports competition and selfishness as proper traits to express as they breed strong individuals, however this is not to say that they are not social creatures like all other sophonts. Selfish goals may drive their actions, but it is often found that those that work together are able to achieve more goals than those who work alone. This is the central idea behind which the Family-Syndicate functions, all members are looking out for their own interests by agreeing to cooperate for furthering the enterprise of their syndicate, and in doing so, providing greater benefits to themselves. Family is also an essential element to the success of a given Family-Syndicate. Cephalids view their family as extensions of themselves, those related by blood are all rolled into the collective idea of self in a far greater manner than one would expect from such selfish creatures. Cephalid parents consider their children to actually be a part of themselves as in a broad genetic sense they technically are, and will defend their children as fanatically as their pragmatic natures allow. This protectiveness is rarely shown as strongly by the children as it is with their parents whom a Cephalid child often sees as a potential rival along with his/her siblings, a stance which parents work to actively cultivate in their child because to them fostering these attitudes is protecting them in the long run. A proud Cephalid parent is one whose son or daughter has put a knife in their heart to take their place as head of the family-syndicate. The competitiveness and borderline bloodthirstiness of Cephalid child rearing often comes off as cruel to other races, but to the cephalids themselves it is anything but. The oceans of Koros were a cruel place for ancient cephalids where only the hardiest survived, often by sacrificing those around them. The danger has long since passed, but the mindset has become deeply ingrained in Korosi culture, nature won the debate over nurture a long time ago and its worked out for them so far. The political assassination of an opponents is a favorite tool for the upstart Min Vakai and where that fails there is always classical assassination. Anything goes in the politics of the Hegemony where one’s opponents are their own next of Kin. On the grander scale, inter-Syndicate politics are often similar to those of intra-syndicate political games but on a much grander scale. Certain Syndicates assert their dominance over smaller ones who may or may not do the same, a twisted objectivist feudal system that extends up the chain from the lowliest of houses to the greatest of the family-syndicates. The number of family-syndicates is always fluctuating as smaller ones are absorbed by larger ones and jilted members of others strike out on their own and create new ones. It is also possible for Cephalids to be adopted into other Family-Syndicates, at which point they throw away their former allegiances for those of their new family. While some degree of nepotism exists even in the highly competitive society of Koros, adoption by a family is based solely on merit and its by adoption or the Korosi equivalent of marriage that even Cephalids who are not members of the ruling family of the Syndicate that rules them are capable of moving up the social ladder. --- ####**|Technology** As mentioned above, the Syndiarchy is an extremely advanced society, but one who has a tendency of misappropriating its advancements. No race in the galaxy can match the Cephalid’s deftness with the biological sciences(at least that's what they think, they are extremely good at it though). The Ulaks are testament to their prowess in the field of genetic modification, their spacecraft as well as oceancraft boast semi-organic hulls which can adapt to their surroundings in the heat of battle and regenerate, it is not unheard of for larger Cephalid warships to be taken out of battle early only to regenerate themselves with armor more suited to their combat environment. Like many other sentient species(Mankind included) The Cephalids have also cracked the code of gravity manipulation which is present within their spacecraft and their weaponry predominantly. Gravity manipulation as stated is another area in which the Hegemony excels. Gravitic drives are the primary form of transit technology for both Hegemony Space and surface craft. Instead of providing traditional thrust, gravitic drives "push" or "Pull" ships to their destination by the creation of artificial gravity fields. The most common small-arm in the Cephalid Arsenal is the shattershot. Shatter-shots use a pair of Gravity coils to subject a section of their ammunition source, a Cylinder of a crystalline material which is forged in the vents of undersea volcanoes to extreme gravitic forces from all sides, causing this section to shatter into dozens of pieces ranging from .5 mm to 1cm in length. The shards are then propelled by the same gravitic forces at hypersonic speeds out of the weapon A single “magazine” for a hand Shattershot will generally hold enough material for 20 shots The Material contains several elements which are toxic to humans and many other carbon-based lifeforms such as Cadmium, Arsenic, and in some cases the composition even includes Hydrogen cyanide. Given the Vicious and numerous wounds left by a shatter-shot as well as the toxic nature of the ammunition, most powers have banned the weapons through intergalactic treaty, of which no Cephalid Family-syndicate was a signatory, citing that Shatter-shots were a cultural symbol of Cephalid society and have been in use since time immemorial and no stinking treaty was going to stop them. Perhaps the most devastating weapons designed by the Cephalids are the so-called “warp-cannons” Warp cannons use Cephalid Gravity manipulation and FTL technology to warp the fabric of space-time in a channel that is little more than a centimeter wide, this channel is extended as far as the cannon is able, in the case of the main batteries of cephalid warships this can be light-seconds. This Channel is in essence a light-second long, centimeter wide Beam of WRONG. Opening tunnels into hyperspace which ships can travel through is an extremely delicate science, any misstep can lead to the universal equivalent of a Knee-jerk reaction. If done Improperly it could be thought that the universe regards this tunnel as one made of pure WRONG and this wrong must be righted, the tunnel collapses almost immediately unleashing an ungodly amount of energy. This is the premise upon which a warp cannon is based, as the WRONG collapses energy is released, a lot of energy, energy which is most easily measured in Gigatons in the largest examples of these weapons. The energy is then lensed into a coherent beam and pushed along to smite the enemies of the Hegemony. --- ####**|Military** Like many things within the Hegemony much of their terrestrial fighting power is broken up amongst the many police forces and gang enforcers of the various Family-Syndicates. For this reason, most of the actual ground forces of the Hegemony lack much in the way of heavy equipment as their primary duty is for keeping the peace/instilling fear in a civilian populace. Most of these forces are composed of what humans consider light infantry, troops armed with hand weapons (mostly Shattershots) and body armor capable of withstanding limited small arms fire. Shock units used for riot control or heavy suppression are mainly composed of Ulaks armed with heavy support weapons and a Cephalid or Grund officer and a dedicated Grund tracker to direct fire. Most family-syndicates lack any form of heavy artillery or armored support and given that many syndicates have their bases of operations under the sea there is little need for air support although sea-craft with armament of some kind are standard for the protection of territory. Only one Family-Syndicate employs much of what other races would consider essential for planetary warfighting: House Akt. Akt saw a niche that was not being filled and quickly moved to corner the market on all manners of warfighting. For this reason, when analysts speak of the “Cephalid army” they are truly speaking of House Akt and for good reason. House Akt makes heavy use of Military aircraft in the form of grav-engined gunships which are equally capable of engaging in dogfights as they are providing close air support with dragonfly like agility. In the way of armored support, House Akt actually use the favorite of the non-military Family-Syndicates, the Ulak, to fill a niche that needed filling for field combats. By equipping the Ulaks with suits of powered armor they are capable of bringing to bear armor and armament comparable to the heaviest tanks. The Armor also has an intimidation factor as it makes the already massive Ulak even larger making them comparable in size to the tanks whose same job they fulfill. While in their natural aquatic environments the Cephalid and Grund forces of House Akt make use of suits specially designed for incredible mobility within their native seas. these suits are highly expensive and are therefore only issued to the elite elements of Akt’s legions. The most obvious use of these forces being the assertion of dominance over their fellow family-syndicates, the infamous “Sea Raiders” are the most feared members of the Syndicate’s forces and help to maintain their status as one of the greatest family-syndicates. The space forces of the Hegemony are an entirely separate matter from most things Cephalid. When the topic of who should control the defense of the space around the worlds of the Syndiarchy was brought before the delegates of the council there was massive dissent of opinion on where the responsibility should fall. The Syndicates whose enterprise was interstellar commerce argued that the job was theirs, they had the most experience with starships. The scientists balked, they were the ones who designed the drives and weapons any prospective warship would require. Akt argued heavily that as the go-to warfighters the job should fall to them. In the end a very Korosi compromise was settled on, a compromise that left everyone furious. It was decided that no existing family-syndicate would be allowed access to warships of any kind, a fact helped along by the invention of the Warp-cannon making the various syndicates step back and truly consider what they had just unleashed. Instead it was determined that a new entity would be created to handle the job, a dedicated navy who wouldn’t have to meddle in the byzantine politics of the Hegemony. Politically, the navy was to be treated as if it were a Family-Syndicate all its own, however it was to be one made entirely of members of other houses. In joining the navy, members swore off their allegiance to their former families and were to consider the Navy their new one. Also like a family-syndicate, the navy has a dedicated enterprise to which they put their effort towards. The listed enterprise was carefully crafted to ensure that survival and defense was their chief concern. For this purpose the listed enterprise of the navy is “the protection of the races and peoples of Koros and the Hegemony.” No mention is given anywhere of individual syndicates despite heavy attempts at changing this. For perhaps one generation this was the case, but like many things, the navy rapidly became filled with plants from various houses out to make sure that the navy took into consideration their interests. However, for the most part the highest echelons of the Navy have been able to retain some of that same zeal that inspired the first admirals of the Hegemony fleet. It is only in the Navy where one can find that rare creature known as a Cephalid nationalist. Although the likelihood is one in a million, there are several million individuals enlisted in the navy. Compared to the battlefleets of other races, the Cephalid navy is a small thing with a little under 300 rift capable vessels, but with less than a dozen systems to police, the fleet is more than capable of doing its job. Cephalid Ships also tend to be smaller than their counterparts in other fleets. another race's battleship can be upwards of a kilometer in length and half that in width and height, whereas a Cephalid Battleship is a little over 800 meters long at the biggest. Their relatively small size is more than made up for in their offensive and defensive capabilities however. As mentioned above, the primary weapon of Cephalid Warships are the infamous warp-cannons, weapons of such monstrous firepower that few races have weapons in their arsenal that compare. Warp-cannons are capable of two fire modes, the traditional beam as well as a localized blast function. The former gives a more powerful overall energy output and increased range as the energy is lensed into a tighter focused area, whereas the latter creates smaller broken rifts at a specific point in space far away from the ship. The blast function provides a similar tactical role to short range heavy torpedoes though they cannot be intercepted by Point Defense, though fields of charged particles disrupt the creation of rifts and therefore render this function useless against shielded targets. Not all warships can mount warp-cannons, anything smaller than what others would consider a cruiser instead use simpler Gravity-guns. In principle they function similarly to shattershots on a grander scale, only instead of slinging toxic buckshot, they launch heavy shells at noticeable percentages of light speed. Grav-guns are also common secondary armament for Cephalid battleships as warp-cannons have incredibly long refire times. For defensive purposes Cephalid ships mount clusters of Graser turrets for shooting down enemy ordnance and small craft. Their ships are also armored with the classified Cephalid "living armor" which is highly adaptable and can be modified for a number of needs, even in the heat of battle (assuming the ship isn't currently fighting of course, the process can take hours) as well as Gravitic shielding which functions like ablative armor by distributing kinetic energy across its surface until the field is shattered. Gravitic shields are highly effective against KEWs but are virtually useless against lasers or particle weaponry. --- ####**|History** The Hegemony is an ancient nation, having been star-fairing for at least a thousand years, and ruling their system for quite a while before then. Much of their Pre-stellar history is lost but can be inferred upon by their culture. Cephalids themselves were once small-fry creatures trying to make it in an uncaring world who adopted a kill or be killed mindset which has stayed with them throughout their history and has since been adopted into their political and economic structures. At some point in their history the Cephalids left their oceans partially, discovered the Grund and Hruul, created the Ulaks, subjugated them all, and planted their claws into their genetics. There are few records of interstellar wars between the Hegemony and other races, and such things are avoided at all costs. After a brief period of expansion the Hegemony collectively shrugged and said "good enough" and once again turned their focus inwards. There are many records of inter-syndicate wars during this period, and it was this period of conflict where the Akt family-syndicate rose to prominence and the Navy Family-Syndicate was born. --- ####**|Other:** Tl;dr they are an ancient collection of things you'd find in sushi who wield horribly advanced technology but are often too busy screwing themselves over to make a big threat to the galaxy. They like to trade with people and have much to offer for those looking for genetically engineered anything or the secrets of gravity manipulation (that one doesn't come cheap). They're a literal Squid-faced Gangster Government. --- Didn't follow the format word for word mainly because I'm translating it over from another setting. On that note, I don't know how certain things function in this setting (FTL and suchforth)so if anything in here is incongruous with the established setting then by all means slap me and tell me to change it. Things like the Warp-cannons can obviously be toned down to match (or slightly exceed if I'm being honest with myself) other Nations' WMDs, I just like them thematically and would prefer if the idea itself remains (though if it turns out there's a specific form of FTL then I guess they wouldn't work at all and could just be incredibly big particle cannons instead). Their stuff seems incredibly powerful on the surface (and it is) but I'm hoping that between the infighting and small size I've made them suitably balanced.

Oh god my hiders aren't working. pls explain. Triple edit: Think I found a worthwhile way to format without my beloved hiders, things don't look as godawful as they did on my first run through so I'll call it victory.