Tau Ceti Armed Forces

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The insignia of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces.

Tau Ceti Armed Forces

Created following the myriad of problems experienced during the annexation of the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and the growing tensions across the Orion Spur, the Tau Ceti Armed Forces aims to ensure the protection of the sovereignty of the Republic of Biesel and to ensure that its light of liberty keeps shining. The Tau Ceti Armed Forces is built of four divisional service branches which consist of the Tau Ceti Minutemen, Republican Fleets, Foreign Legion and lastly the Auxiliary Corporate Forces. The Minutemen and Fleet are full-time professional organizations, whereas the Legion utilizes a part-time volunteer program. The President of the Republic of Biesel is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with several of the departments comprising the greater Biesellite government.

Rooted within the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, which now exists as a divisional branch, the Tau Ceti Armed Forces additionally has a reserve force which stands as a method of ensuring that in need of additional manpower, they’re available to ensure the light of liberty that Biesel refers to remains shining. However, individuals can only be moved to reservists after completing at least four years of active service, or two years for the Foreign Legion. Those within pre-existing reserves of the Foreign Legion have already been moved over to the Tau Ceti Armed Forces’ reserve. Those within the reserve are provided with a moderate stipend but are only eligible if their income doesn’t exceed a certain threshold.

Those that have completed active service within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces can apply to have their student debt covered by the Tau Ceti Corporate Scholarship funded by the constituent megacorporations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate – which has become a popular method among the youth of Biesel to ensure an education, where they might not have been able to afford it prior to enlisting. Though believed to have gotten better since the creation of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, there is still a notable bias to non-humans, with a majority of them being deployed to the dangerous regions where injuries and casualties are more likely to occur, but there is yet to see whether this will hamper non-humans from ascending the ranks.

Ranks

Ranks in ascending order, beginning with Recruit Legionnaire and ending with General, or Admiral if one is within the Republican Fleets. In order to attain your commission, an enlisted person is required to purchase a certificate of commission or have it sponsored by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Upon purchasing the certificate of commission (a rather expensive undertaking) an enlisted person must still undergo training in order to be promoted to a commissioned officer.

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Enlisted

• Recruit Legionnaire (RLgn)
• Legionnaire (Lgn)
• Senior Legionnaire (SLgn)
• Prefect (Pfct)
• Senior Prefect (SPfct)

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Commissioned

• Aspirant (Asp)
• Decurion (Dcn)
• Centurion (Cnt)
• Captain (Cpt)
• Major (Mjr)
• Lieutenant-Colonel (LtCol)
• Colonel (Col)
• General (Gen) / Admiral (Adm)

Branches

Tau Ceti Minutemen

Most similar to the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion prior to the implementation of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, the Tau Ceti Minutemen– or sometimes merely the Minutemen – now seeks to replace and complete the objectives of the defunct armed forces it replaced. It is the most well-funded service branch and is fully equipped to deal with the threats posed to the Republic of Biesel. The Minutemen are expecting to see themselves act as a secondary policing force within the Corporate Reconstruction Zone; managing riots, hunting insurgents and ensuring compliance with the laws of the Republic. Due to its similarity to the now defunct Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, the new service branch has found itself poaching many of the former’s effective volunteers, offering better pay than that of the incorporated service branch – generating animosity between those that elected to pursue the opportunity, and those that remain behind in the Foreign Legion.

Operational Unit Structure

The operational unit structure of the Tau Ceti Minutemen plays a crucial role in ensuring the hierarchy of orders issued either during times of peace, or conflict. Beginning with Field Army, it descends to Corps, Division, Legion, Cohort, Century, Maniple, Troop, Section and lastly Team. Though most see themselves following a naming structure that relies on numbers, Division and Legion have a different approach: the former relies on landmarks, and the latter on notable figures within the greater Orion Spur – such as the Greatkrag Artillery Division or the Roosevelt Medical Legion. The Minutemen are composed of three Field Armies, each with three Corps, followed by six Divisions within a Corps, and fifteen Legions within a Division. Legions can be comprised of any amount of Cohorts, Centuries, Maniples, Troops and Sections.

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Special Forces

The Redsnouts

Sought out for their strength and resilience, it was inevitable that the Redsnouts be formed. Owing to their origins within the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and the creation of a Breacher-esque suit during the height of the Peacekeeper Mandate, the Tau Ceti Armored Unathi Infantry Century has become renowned for their shock tactics across the battlefield, capable of withstanding significant incoming damage. Those within the Century can easily be identified through their snouts, painted in crimson-red in near-ritualistic fashion once they find themselves integrated within the ranks of the Redsnouts.

It borrows many principles from the Breacher-wearing Unathi Soldiers of the Hegemony, with the Redsnouts wearing heavy hardsuit-like armour of Tau Ceti innovation to act as infantry-sized tanks across conflict zones, and despite being capable of shrugging off large amounts of punishment, the lesser-quality hardsuit doesn't generally sustain itself as long compared to its Hegemonic counterpart, where efficient and quick usage is generally the only way to ensure the fullest potential can be reached. Additionally, they are cumbersome and slow, thanks to the heavy weaponry to complement the Redsnout-Suit. The majority of those selected for the Redsnouts are Unathi Legionnaires that have proven to be "unwavering" in the face of overwhelming firepower, where they proved their ability to fight and remain calm on the battlefield.

The Redsnouts have earned themselves an infamous reputation across Mictlan, where during the quelling of the planet's more insurgent regions during the Peacekeeper Mandate, with ruthlessness becoming the centre of criticism across the planet. With claims and rumours of significant destruction in the wake of their marches, with which the Redsnouts blame insurgents for spreading, the Century maintains that it is necessary to undermine enemy fortifications to ensure a "level" playing field. There even exist rumours that the crimson-red colours across the snouts of the Century aren't merely just paint, but the blood of their victims.

Tau Ceti Intervention Command

Tau Ceti Intervention Command (‘TCIC’) is a Skrell-dominated special operations unit within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. Informally known as "Frogmen", TCIC is responsible for counterterrorism and reconnaissance operations, with the responsibilities divided into two century-level groups that operate independently of one another. Each century is named after a stellar body within Tau Ceti, while each descending group is given a letter designation. Intervention Command always has two centuries active at all times, but has several reserve centuries that can be mobilised when required.

Intervention Command has its roots in Skrell units that served in the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, renowned for their ability to perform rapid strikes on enemy positions and scout terrain that would normally be considered inhospitable for regular troops. The Minutemen capitalised on the experiences of these Skrell to equip a light yet effective force, unencumbered by hostile climates and with a natural affinity for strategic planning.

Active Centuries

• Field Manoeuvre Group "Gibson": Responsible for the unit's more conventional military operations, tasked with conducting reconnaissance, raiding, and insertion and extraction operations, typically while attached to a conventional combat group. TCIC's Field Manoeuvre Groups avoid direct conflict where possible, preferring quick engagements at long range rather than prolonged firefights.

• Intervention Group "Valkyrie": Conducts counterterrorism operations throughout Republic space. Intervention Groups work closely with law enforcement within Tau Ceti and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone to combat terrorist and insurgent organisations and also play a role in training local law enforcement and military organisations in anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics. Intervention Group "Valkyrie" is currently focusing its efforts on Mictlan - despite the dwindling presence of the Samaritans.

Tau Ceti Powered Support Detachment

The Tau Ceti Powered Support Detachment is a Vaurcaesian special operations unit specializing in providing heavy fire and sabotage on the battlefield while maintaining more flexibility and mobility than a traditional mechanized unit through the extensive use of small, highly augmented, and equipped groups. It is composed of and supplied almost entirely by the Vaurcae of the Court of Queens, primarily the Zo’ra Hive and falls under the command of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. The Powered Support Detachment, abbreviated as "PSD" among soldiers of the Armed Forces, consists normally of two roughly century-sized detachments each named after famous cities and locations from Vaurca history and mythology, though the nature of the species means they can be rapidly shifted between the two or split into several smaller teams depending on equipment availability, cost and need. Vaurca who are moved from the PSD to another deployment by the Queens typically have their augments removed and replaced with ones more appropriate to the job. Active Centuries

Mobile Salvo Team "Xtykt'lotec"

Mobile Salvo Team "Xtykt'lotec" is by far the most prominent of the two currently active centuries and is considered the primary unit of the Powered Support Detachment. It is most well known for its unique formation, referred to as the "Kayak Maneuver" after the theater during the Great Hive War in which it was first deployed at scale. A single Mobile Salvo Team team following the Kayak Maneuver typically consists of five Warrior Vaurca, one of whom is heavily gene-edited to increase size, muscle density, and dull pain receptors. This Warrior is then equipped with a Zo'rane designed hardsuit referred to as a "Yer'kay," which loosely translates to "Bastion," and used to fulfill a role not unlike that of a specialist weapons team. While these Bastion hardsuits are equipped with triple-layer plasteel, a variety of Zo'rane medical injectors, and a suite of enhanced targeting systems, the most notable feature is the presence of a shoulder-mounted heavy-weapons hardpoint. It is capable of changing depending on the situation, even rapidly in the field provided a reasonably competent engineer is present and fits a variety of specially designed apparatus such as heavy-cannons and a subsequent laser variation, a mortar, an anti-vehicle round not unlike the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate designed PEAC, and a minigun, the Bastion allows a great deal of in-deployment adaptability. Whilst many of the configurations require the user remain stationary to deploy the hardpoint mounted weapon, magclaws digging into the ground below and helping stabilize the operator and internal exosuit for the recoil, the minigun permits limited movement allowing a team to lay down cover, although admittedly at a near snail's pace. These Bastion suits are the centerpoint of a Mobile Salvo Team, with three of the remaining Warriors in the squad serving as augmented infantry, equipped to draw fire, provide cover for the deployed Bastion operator, or secure a path ahead when performing a rapid re-location whereas the final Warrior is trained to instead take the job of a combat engineer tasked with performing emergency repairs, reloading ammunition stocks when depleted, or if needed, carrying and swapping out the heavy weapon.

Light Disruption Division "Kis'lokt"

Despite having more warriors, the Division is the less well-known century of the Powered Support Detachment, frequently being overshadowed by the flashier Bastions of the Mobile Salvo Team, who clearly stand out, and though employing different tactics, they still adhere to the same general doctrine of mobility and augmentation. Whereas the Mobile Salvo Team focuses on mobile fire support, the warriors of the Light Disruption Division instead prioritize heavy augmentation geared towards supporting urban close-quarters warfare and clearing enemy emplacements. The Warriors work in small teams of four or five, many of which may be deployed together towards a single goal, and use the Vaurca's innate communication abilities to coordinate joint maneuvers at a terrifying pace, breaching and clearing a building or structure, covering one another going room to room and signaling the location of enemies all without uttering a single word. Additional heavy support or distraction, if required, is provided by a Mobile Salvo Team or another TCAF unit. They are highly augmented and gene-modified, although with what varies heavily depending on cost and need, ranging from symbiotic organs that can filter poisons and clot bleeding to augmented drug glands, stronger mandibles, faster neurotransmitters, electric graspers, circadian clocks that reduce the need for sleep, hardened carapaces, and anything in between. The firearms they use are frequently the TCAF standard for close combat, but they can be outfitted differently depending on the situation and integrated weaponry isn't unheard of.

Rainmakers

The Tau Ceti Rainmakers are a special forces unit consisting of Tajara specializing in the operation and usage of artillery and explosive equipment. The Rainmakers have two distinct duties. The usage of explosives on the enemy and the finding and dismantling of explosives, either ones that failed to detonate during a conflict or planted by irregulars in areas the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion are trying to secure and protect. On the battlefield, the Rainmakers utilized designs created by Zavodskoi and Hephaestus for the Foreign Legion. These are typically missile-loaded trucks, rocket and grenade launchers specially made to devastate enemy fortifications and exosuits or hardsuits, or the "Noise-Maker" artillery cannon. Made to be capable of firing a maximum of four shells at once and featuring a large, medium, and small (Roughly the size of a small car) version, these pieces of artillery are the most favoured tool for the offensive operations of the Rainmakers. In space operations, squads of Rainmakers provide support fire and assist in taking out any ship or station sections that can pose a threat to troops. The dismantling of explosives is typically done in heavily armoured Foreign Legion suits marked with a distinctive red. Veterans who arrive at Tau Ceti from Adhomai with explosives experience have wound up in the Rainmakers. More often than not, these are people who baulked at the idea of joining the PMCG's Kazarrhaldiye's Operations Group for several reasons.

The Positronic Century

The Third Recon Century, known internally as "The Positronic Century" is a formation made up almost entirely of IPC personnel. In recognition of Synthetic Liberation Front efforts in rescuing President Dorn during Frost's Incursion, many members of the organisation were offered pardons in exchange for service in the Foreign Legion, their skills in infiltration and combat translating well to military life. Although receiving standard training and capable of functioning as well in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance as any other Tau Cetian formation, the Positronic Century is more frequently employed in monitoring the vast amounts of organic and IPC refugees pouring in from the Sol Alliance, as well as the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and monitoring and combating terrorist organisations. The seeming lack of a unique frontline utility for this unit has led many military observers to suspect that in the event of war, the Positronic Century would be used as a stay-behind unit, not meeting any invaders head-on, but rather laying low and striking at enemy supply lines and sowing confusion among their ranks.

The unit is infamous for its employment of shell frames, often using them as infiltrators to blend in within the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. Although mostly unfounded, rumours and conspiracy theories abound of the Positronic Battalion being used for everything from sabotaging Trinary protests all the way to killing Prime Minister Frost. This is not helped by the unit commanders' policy of refusing to publicly comment on its operations. This overlap of responsibility has led to an inter-service rivalry with the TCIC, not helped by the attitudes between Synthetic and Skrell members of each unit.

Hazardous Environment Gestalt Unit

The Hazardous Environment Gestalt Unit ('HEGU') are an experimental unit, comprised entirely with Dionae. They are trained for urban combat in environmentally compromised conditions, whether through natural disasters, dirty bombs, biological/chemical warfare, and even practice contingencies for anomalous incidents involving bluespace. Due to the nature of their work, they are also trained in disaster containment, counterterrorism, and specialize against unconventional opponents.

Achieving such a broad range of specializations in a single unit requires taking advantage of Dionae’s properties, both their physical resilience and abilities with respect to blood knowledge. Not only are they able to rapidly onboard new training via blood and shared merging, but they are also able to harvest their enemies as they fight, compromising the positions and tactics of their opponents.

There are two divisions within the unit, designed in such a manner as to operate closely. They are known as the Lever and the Fulcrum.

The Lever

The Levers are the primary “infantry” division of the unit. Draped in heavy slabs of modular armour plates, they serve as the working tendrils of the HEGU. Spending most of their operations bathing in UV light, usually they spare subtlety for armour and firepower. Rather than fielding mechs, multiple HEGU units choose instead to merge together into a near-Argus-sized humanoid, shifting armoured plates and weapons into position.

The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum are the support backbone of the unit, as HEGU’s mechanized division. Vehicles are comprised of modular “Contra” IFVs, designed to either haul equipment, move HEGU, and provide supporting fire for troops. Instead of a conventional piloting configuration, the piloting gestalt is usually poured into an opening in the top, and then evenly distributes itself across the custom-milled interior of the vehicle, giving it unparalleled awareness and control. Unlike the Levers, the Fulcrum are sourced exclusively from the jungles of Mictlan, and employ their understanding of biomass to assist primarily in disaster relief.

Equipment and Personnel

Considered the most well-equipped and funded, the Tau Ceti Minutemen have access to high-quality military apparatus and training, provided mostly by the ever-giving megacorporations that dominate the Orion Spur. However, the majority of the articles have their origins in Kumar Arms – a subsidiary of Zavodskoi Interstellar – which has grown considerably within the Republic of Biesel since the collapse of the Solarian Alliance and the diminishment of the market there, funnelling armaments into the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. Kumar Arms was responsible for providing equipment during the days of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion’s campaign on Mictlan, with the majority of the military equipment found usually sporting a Zavodskoi Interstellar logo – which has created some tension with Mictlani and the megacorporation.

Salaries within the Tau Ceti Minutemen are above that of the other services branches within the armed forces, mostly owing to their continued deployment across the Corporate Reconstruction Zone as the Peacekeeper Mandate maintains its presence – thanks to the “success” of the Mictlan campaign, President Dorn has maintained that it shall remain in operation until insurgency has been quelled, and stability has returned. However, most within the Minutemen have coined the extra compensation as “hazard pay” with some rumours even circling of certain groups calling it “blood money”. Regardless, the increased salary margins have shown some success in encouraging enlistment within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces – in particular, those seeking to join the ranks of the Minutemen, even those promoted from within the Foreign Legion desiring a position in the former once they’ve completed their active service requirements.

The Tau Ceti Minutemen have instituted standardised training across those within its structures – despite its recent formation and little experience, the Minutemen have already contracted the Private Military Contracting Group in order to commence training its troops – with each of the associated private military companies within the megacorporation having a unique usage in the training. It is the hope of the Tau Ceti Minutemen that eventually they will phase out the third-party training, where a sufficient number has been reached where they can rely on themselves to train Recruit Legionnaires, and those seeking to climb the military ranks of the service branch. The branch’s main backbone sees support from veterans of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion that have elected to continue their military career with the Minutemen, the majority of which maintain deployment within the eastern jungles of Mictlan, attempting to bring the planet into unity. However, it is unlikely without additional training and experience that the Minutemen would manage to rival stronger powers.

Foreign Legion

One of the most recognized symbols of the Republic of Biesel, the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion (TCFL) was the first official attempt at creating a standing army for the Republic’s defence. Today, it operates in much the same way - in exchange for at least two years of service, less fortunate immigrants to the Republic may be granted citizenship and meagre pay so that they can establish new, profitable lives within it. Throughout its short lifetime, the organization has already fought in several key operations for the sake of the Republic – the Second Solarian Invasion of Biesel in 2462, and the notorious Peacekeeper Mandate.

Although overshadowed by the greater organization that came to surround it, the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion remains the root of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, both in terms of reputation and manpower. The Legion is the entry point for many of the citizens who, having shown not only their prowess but also their desire to continue operating in the field, go on to become professional soldiers under the many different divisions of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. Much of the wider organization is staffed this way. Despite this, the monetary situation of the Foreign Legion has not improved, as funding is increasingly funnelled towards the newer and more prestigious Armed Forces. As a result, Legionary supplies and equipment have yet again become strained, a move many volunteers are increasingly viewing as unapologetic backsliding.

Those who continue to serve under the aegis of the TCFL are assigned to gruelling tasks far away from the heart of the Republic. Merchant escorts, asteroid infantry and corporate-ground patrolmen, Legionnaires remain the backbone of most operations keeping the Corporate Reconstruction Zone ‘peaceful’. These assignments, previously described as challenging at best, are now considered shameful by a growing number of recruits, and brutal by non-humans, who are often sent out to perform tasks to which they may not be suited. The Foreign Legion’s most recent deployment to pacify CRZ regions such as Mictlan has seen many old and new volunteers traumatized and questioning the reasons for the TCFL’s existence. Some have even been galvanized by the rhetoric of Samaritan forces, spelling an uncertain future for the Republic’s most celebrated and hated heroes.