Unathi Military Structure

Содержание

Historically, the Unathi within and without the Hegemony have operated under a feudal levy system, where lords were required to maintain a personal and well-trained military force to be summoned by their liege in times of war. This tradition continues, though at a greatly reduced level as the vast majority of Unathi men of fighting age perished in the nuclear fire of the Contact War. In the modern age, however, this tradition has had to change and adapt to cope with the realities of an interstellar empire, with the establishment of the Izweski Navy.

The Hegemonic Army

The armed forces of the Izweski Hegemony largely rely on vassal levies, made up of the peasantry. During times of war, lords are required to conscript a certain percentage of their population to serve under them in the Hegemonic Army, with this percentage being set by the Hegemon and subject to change as the war demands. The largest percentage of levies raised was in the midst of the contact war, when the conscription rate reached 80% of all male Unathi in the Hegemony’s territories. This reliance on peasant levies to fill in the army has resulted in the Izweski having a tiny standing army, compared to their neighbors such as Dominia and Elyra. Once the peasant levies are raised, should the situation require it, there is a marked drop in levels of production in all industries across the Hegemony, as their workers are called to war. For this reason, the Hegemony only calls its full army to bear in the most extreme circumstances, instead preferring to rely on Bannermen and Men-at-Arms.

A peasant levy stands watch over in a destroyed town staring out at the newly formed wasteland during the Contact War.

Peasant Levies

Peasant levies make up a majority of the armed forces of the Hegemony when they are raised for war, which is only in the direst of circumstances. Most of the time, those who would be in the levies are simply peasants working the land under their lord, not the normal jobs for soldiers. Untrained and generally under equipped, they act as fodder to bolster the strength of the professional trained regiments of Men-At-Arms, who are full time soldiers. To be called into a peasant levy is to be essentially conscripted, as it would be in other nations, except these conscripts are provided little to no training in military matters, instead simply equipped with the bare minimum of gear, and thrown into the fight. Their losses therefore are normally heavy, compounded by the callous disregard most of their officers(normally nobility)have for their ability as soldiers, instead seeing them as mostly meat for whatever grinder is nearby.

Equipment within a Levy is the bare minimum of what one would bring into battle in the 25th century, normally consisting of a simple set of poor quality body armor, old rifles, and whatever spare equipment a noble can dredge up out of storage for war. However, despite how ill-equipped the levies are, morale is rarely an issue, as should a levy be raised to war it is a sign that the war is going badly for their leaders, and all hands are needed to ensure that their lands do not suffer because of it. Peasant Levies are usually inspired by being told they are fighting for their homes themselves, instead of a distant idea of honor or debt to their lords. Still, once battle commences peasant levies can not be relied upon to maintain their normally high morale, as their officers command them to engage in areas that are little more than meat grinders, long slogging engagements, mostly pinning down enemy forces until the actual soldiers can come and kill them. These engagements extract heavy casualties from the peasant levies, who even if they are victorious, become disillusioned with the idea of fighting for their lord in such a way. Desertion after the first battle a peasant levy engages in is normally high, and Lords make every effort to publicly punish those they can catch.

Additionally, when peasants are called for a levy, they are no longer working their normal jobs on the home front. This leads to a marked drop in production of all goods whenever a peasant levy is called to war, and the high casualties mean production continues to suffer as fewer men are now working the lands. This is the primary reason the Hegemony has been slowly working towards phasing out peasant levies, attempting to replace them with a standing army of Men-at-Arms, yet the finances of most lords are not to the point where the Hegemony would have access to an army the likes of their neighbors should peasant levies be fully abandoned. So, for now, the levy system remains.

Bannermen and Men at Arms

Since the beginning of the Unathi Industrial Area, it quickly became clear even to the feudalistic rulers at the time that armies required at the very least a core of professionally trained soldiers, instead of just massed peasantry with minimal training. From this, Bannermen and their accompanying Men at Arms would be born.

Bannermen and Officers

Bannermen is a title for a noble Unathi outside of the normal feudal structure, not holding any lands but instead being the leader of a noble’s professional force of a regiment of Men-at-Arms. It was born out of the nobility's desire to ensure their classes continued control over the trained section of the army, not trusting peasants to consistently be loyal. As time has passed since its creation, there have also been more titles created to represent different levels of officers within a regiment that are still held by the nobility. Unlike other noble titles, the title of Bannerman along with other officer titles is non-hereditary, instead being an appointed one by the ruler to which the Bannerman gives fealty. However, most landed rulers will continually pick from one clan their Bannerman, essentially making the position hereditary for a single clan. The only landed title a Bannerman may have is being the ruler of a military base, or something similar, where the title is non-hereditary and constantly changing hands between different officers. As stated, officers usually come from noble clans that have been long associated with the clan of the landed ruler. These clans, often referred to as ‘Shieldbearer Clans’, exemplify the martial leanings of the Unathi species, steeped in the traditions of Unathi war. From the time they first walk, male members of these clans will be taught how to wage war, both on the personal level and at the strategic level, in hopes that one day they may become officers themselves. Those who excel in this learning do end up at their dream, becoming an officer, but for the rest, very little remains tying them down to Moghes. Instead, many of these so-called “wash-outs” instead look to the stars, where their years of experience and education in all matters of warfare/fighting are highly valued. Many become officers within the Hegemonic Navy, while some venture even further to employment within human corporations such as Zavodskoi, or the PMCG, using their skills to line their clan’s pockets with more wealth. These clans tend to be traditionalists, except in one aspect; the army and its technology. Shieldbearer clans tend to be progressive towards the extreme when it comes to the organization of army/regiments and the technology used by it, even in more traditionalist areas such as the Tza Prairie. They constantly advocate for new equipment, training material, and tactical ideas to be tested or implemented, in whatever form they can. However many Lord’s cannot afford the cost of this, leaving those bannermen and their regiments beyond those pledged to the wealthiest of lords equipped at a much lower level than their contemporaries in other nations.

For those nobles who do eventually become an officer, a spartan life of war and preparation for it awaits them. The Officer Corps know that not only their individual lords, but the entire Hegemony has only them and the men they command to rely on as professional soldiers in the event of a conflict, as barely any training is ever afforded to others. Therefore they push themselves and their troops to the absolute limit of training, constantly developing new tactics and strategies, while keeping their physical skills finely honed. The end result is that Unathi Officers, specifically those of higher rank are some of the best commanders in the spur, steeped in not only tradition but education, so long as they are kept to the field of battle they know.

Officers pledged to a lord will often not start near the top of a regiment, instead starting as a Slhiri, or Troop-Leader, commanding the smallest units within their regiment. At this point the officer will probably be around sixteen years of age, and still undergoing heavy education in martial matters. These low-ranking officers are never viewed in the light painted by most Hegemonic Officers, that being incredibly talented and smart, but instead viewed as arrogant and stubborn, poor quality officers. Those who learn quickly may advance, slowly working their way up the chain of command to become bannerman themselves one day, but many, now having been granted a command, do not, and remain poor quality officers at this lowest level. The result of this has seen regiments across the Hegemony have very talented high command, while the lower commands which actually take part in the fighting are forced to suffer under the difficulties of incompetent officers.

Men at Arms

Men at arms(also called Armsmen) are the professional soldiers of the Hegemony’s nobility, commanded by noble officers. Unlike the officer corps, Men at arms are mostly peasantry, those Sinta who wanted to become professional soldiers instead of tilling the land for the remainder of their lives. However they live separate from the rest of the peasant population, isolated within Castles or Military Bases when not deployed, and encouraged to remain so when they are. Men-at-arms are chosen in a variety of ways, from the local watchmen, notable levies on the field of battle, to applications and trials similar to boot-camps. Whichever way they are chosen though, for one to become a Man-at-arms is to commit oneself to the warrior’s code, and live a life of war. For unlike other professional armies, one cannot resign from being a Man-at-arms, it is a career position that one must serve in until they become too old, or are wounded to the point where they can no longer fight. However, for this life of service, they are owed a debt by their lord, not just in their standard wages, but a pension at the end of their service, whether that end comes from age or injury. This pension can sustain a Unathi in relatively comfortable conditions, not needing to be worked for, and is what all Armsmen dream of receiving one day.

The most common way that Men-at-arms are chosen is from the many millions of former levies who fought in the Contact War. Many of the surviving warriors who fought for the Hegemony wished to remain in military life, instead of returning to their homes - as many of them no longer had homes to return to. While many of these men formed the backbone of the newly formed Izweski Navy, many of them have remained in the Army, enlisting as Men-at-arms. There were so many in fact that the Hegemon created brand new Regiments, whose men would secure the various Wasteland outposts, as well as patrolling key bases and locations across the Uueoa-Esa system that are deemed vital enough for the Hegemon to take a direct hand in overseeing them.

Divided up into regiments each focused on a different aspect of war, Men-at-arms spend nearly every day until their retirement under the direct command of their officers, and any subordinates he chooses to appoint to assist his command. Each men-at-arms regiment is equipped in a different way, determined by their specialization and local lord, than all of its contemporaries. For example, a Heavy Infantry men-at-arms regiment may be equipped with breacher suits, heavy autocannons, and only stand at 500 men strong, whereas a Infantry Regiment may be equipped with basic body armor, assault rifles, and stand at 5000 men strong. This difference in equipment and specialization makes those who have served in a men-at-arms regiment unable to truly relate to others who served in a different regiment, regardless if they served under the same lord. Regiments will interact with one another regularly though, with training exercises being incredibly common not just only within a Lord’s territory, but with those loyal to a different Lord of the Hegemony.

These training exercises are the most constant part of the daily life for an Armsmen, with them being scheduled regularly by whichever Bannermen, in order to constantly keep Armsmen not only physically impressive but mentally talented in the arts of war. This training at the intense amount of energy that goes into it - after all, you don’t need money to train just space - has left the Armsmen being some of the best trained troops within the Spur, having vast experience in many different types of combat and engagements. These training exercises, when they are not between two forces of armsmen, normally see Armsmen vastly overpowered by their imagined enemy, whoever it may be, allowing for far better training not only for the officer commanders, but for individual Armsmen who become used to the feeling of needing to fight an enemy better than they are. This was shown clearly in 2465, when the Hegemon and Overlord Hutay’zai used their Armsmen to pacify a rioting Ouerea. The pacification took only two days, being brutally violent, and while it resulted in thousands of deaths, only ten of the combined Ouerean watchmen and Hegemonic Armsmen were killed during the unrest. However, Armsmen have never been tested against a foe beyond internal Hegemonic issues, and only time will tell if they’ll be able to live up to their training, or fall short of what is expected of them.

While Men-at-arms may serve any number of lords, there are two lords, and one clan, that stands out for the amount of regiments, bannermen, and Armsmen at their call. That clan being the Izweski. The Hegemonic government, being built on the principle might makes right, necessitates a large force under the direct command of the Hegemon, or those implicitly loyal to him such as his clan members. The Regiments of the Izweski Clan, either pledged to the Hegemon himself or Mirazuz Izweski, number in the thousands, with their associated armsmen accounting for 35% of all Armsmen within the Hegemony. This massive professional force has been the main source of deterrent during Not’zars reign, keeping potential enemies at bay. However, though large internally, it is important to remember that the total number of Armsmen within the Hegemony does not even reach two million men, while the population is in the billions.

Battle Order

The equipment of the different regiments of armsmen is as varied as their background, and depends on so many factors it cannot be easily defined. For those Armsmen serving poorer landed nobility, equipment is markedly poor quality, and in poor condition as most purchases are second-hand from human space. It is the opposite for those of richer lords. However, as a majority of the Armsmen within the Hegemony are pledged to those rich lords, and so by defining background, we can generally define the equipment of those well-equipped regiments.

Regiment Equipment and Type

Infantry Regiments

A Motorized Infantry Squad roles into a Wasteland Village.

Infantry Regiments are the most diverse of the bunch, being the basic regiment that nearly every single Hegemonic lord will create at least one of. Their level of equipment varies wildly, however for those in regiments pledged to the wealthy lords; The modern Hegemonic infantryman is usually equipped with a Hegemony-manufactured laser rifle, as well as a pistol and energy sword as sidearms. They do not have much in the way of conformity, instead simply using the colors of whichever lord they are pledged to, though they can be identified by their ceramic-metal composite body armor, also sporting to the heraldry of their lord. Specialized troops within the Regiment will also be equipped with extra gear, such as tripod-mounted weapons, medical supplies, or other specialized equipment.

Within the umbrella of Infantry Regiments, there are also many different types, such as Motorized, Mechanized, Spaceborne, or Waterborne, Infantry Regiments, each with their own set of specialized equipment. The main two types of Infantry Regiments beyond the basic that can be found are Motorized and Mechanized, which use half-tracks and exosuits respectively.

Besides Spaceborne and Waterborne Infantry Regiments, which only Not’zar has, Infantry regiments are limited to ground deployments, mostly on Moghes itself. They use the Izweski Rail Network to travel normally, though sometimes shuttles are required for particularly fast deployments, or to wasteland outposts. The Wasteland itself represents the largest deployment area for Infantry Regiments, as the Hegemony is constantly fighting against its denizens, whether it be raiders, reclaimers, or other anti-hegemonic forces. A bulk of this fighting is on foot, and those non-specialized Infantry Regiments take the brunt of it, while the more specialized(and expensive) regiments are held back.

Heavy Infantry Regiments

The most famous of Unathi warriors, Heavy Infantry Regiments are composed of heavily armored infantry in breacher hardsuits, armed with the heaviest weaponry available. It is a common view throughout the Hegemony that energy based weaponry is for lightly equipped troops who cannot carry the amount of ammunition that someone in a hardsuit can. For this reason the standard Heavy Infantry Armsmen are normally equipped with projectile weapons, such as Heavy Sluggers, Railguns, or sometimes Miniguns, depending on the situation and their opponents. However, for those Armsmen who have proved their worth and been assigned to specializations, such as providing fire support or leading assaults, much more weaponry is available, the utilization of weaponry normally meant for crew served guns. These weapons, whether they be 20mm cannons, rocket pods, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, anti-tank missile launchers, recoilless rifles, or even sometimes tank cannons, are common to see among specialized armsmen of heavy infantry regiments, though most will have been changed to be operable by a single person.

Despite the weight of their equipment and armor, Heavy Infantry regiments tend to be the most mobile of unmounted infantry, using their hardsuits to leap high into the air, and remain more mobile than vehicles, able to climb or navigate rough terrain. Breacher Hardsuits used by most Heavy Infantry Regiments are manufactured by Hephaestus Industries within the Hegemony, and the design for the Hardsuit as well as its specifications are a heavily guarded secret, both by the corporation and the Hegemony. What is known is that the suits are incredibly expensive on top of being highly advanced, making the equipping of a proper Heavy Infantry regiment an impossibility for those lords who do not have extreme wealth. The suits themselves seem to be able to transform an above average soldier into one who could cut down dozens of men. For this reason those Armsmen who have served in proper Heavy Infantry Regiments are seen as the ultimate warriors of the Unathi, and in the Unathi’s martial culture, fawned over by many. Yet despite their material prowess, they are rarely deployed in any meaningful conflict, as the expense of replacing lost Armsmen and their gear is incredible, one which most lords wish to avoid. Therefore, they are most often deployed in socially significant roles such as honor guards, or when brutal, uncontained violence is needed to make a point against an enemy.

To become one of these warriors is no easy task though, as their high status allows those Bannermen in command of heavy infantry regiments to get the best of the best in recruits, acting as a sort of special forces for the Hegemony. Which, they might as well be, as the only Lords to have proper heavy infantry regiments within their men-at-arms are the Hegemon himself, holding the majority, and each Overlord. None other can afford the cost of their creation and maintenance. As a rule, these regiments recruit only those who are already serving as an Armsmen, whether it be for their direct lord or one of his vassals, after said Armsmen has proved themselves in one way or another. Once selected, recruits are then put through a grueling set of tests known as the Anvil Trials, that are designed to break those unloyal, or too weak to be given the power of joining the heavy infantry. Very little is known about these tests as the regiments attempt to keep them secret, but it is known that some have died attempting to pass. After the tests are passed, the recruits are then given their armor and weaponry, before being inducted into the regiment for a year trial, after which they will either pass and join the Regiment, or fail and be returned to whichever regiment they were a part of before.

Armored Regiments

Besides Infantry Regiments, Armored Regiments are the second most prolific form of regiment for Armsmen to be in, as Unathi had made use of tanks and other armored vehicles since centuries prior to first contact. This is what Armored Regiments use, essentially being a mobile heavy hitting force of tracked vehicles. As such their equipment is varied, but not as wildly as one would think. Unathi view armored regiments as generally unnecessary, afterall, their main enemies for now are wastelanders, not another state which may field their own armored vehicles. In addition, should it come to war, it is fairly easy to teach a peasant to drive, so why pay for a force of armored vehicles constantly? Therefore, armored regiments are generally overlooked, both by the nobility and Unathi society, generally having contact era equipment, and being used in supporting roles with infantry regiments.

However armored regiments still do have some specialized gear, notably the Couser, a recently invented tank designed for mobile fire support. Its design was mainly driven by the weakened Hegemonic Fleet, and fears that if war should come to the Hegemony, either from Dominia or Elyra, the heavens may fall into their control, necessitating mobile forces which can evade orbital strikes and detection. As such it comes equipped with high-end jamming equipment, and a plethora of guns ranging from a 100mm direct-fire cannon to four 15mm autocannons. It sports very little armor however, trading protection for a top speed of well over 30km/h, because as the Inventor put it “You can’t really protect against an orbital strike.”

Artillery Regiments

Artillery Regiments are where the line between militarily strong lords, and weak lords is drawn. Infantry regiments will often be complimented by some specialized members with simple mortar tubes, sometimes even full on artillery guns, but unless a Lord has a large force of men-at-arms, or is constantly fighting at the borders of the wasteland, an entire regiment dedicated to artillery and artillery alone is rarely worth it. Artillery Regiments, as the name implies, are regiments that revolve around firing artillery, or supporting it. As they are used so infrequently, Artillery Regiments follow a standardized book, laid down by Yaret Akrezi, a noble ruler who made famous use of artillery against the Traditionalist Coalition during the Contact War, before dying to radiation related illnesses shortly before its collapse. The standard he set would go down as being ahead of its time in terms of military thinking, and be adopted universally among the Bannermen who command after him.

The standard composition of an Artillery Regiment set by Yaret Akrezi reflects the time when it was made, being useful only for a regiment providing artillery for a large army, such as the kinds found during the contact war. In Akrezi’s eyes, an artillery regiment should be built around a core of twelve batteries, each boasting sixteen 165mm guns, the standard gun for Hegemonic Artillery. These guns, unlike the towed version that Unathi commanders had to use at the time, should instead be mounted on a vehicle, to allow for more mobility of the batteries, essentially advocating for the creation of self-propelled artillery. Half of these batteries should then operate independently of each other, instead being attached to other regiment groups and their commanding Lords, providing fire support for them. The other half should be held in reserve, and be shuffled around to where large-scale combat is occurring, lending all their guns to support that effort, hopefully tipping the balance in favor of the Hegemony. Outside of these twelve core batteries, an artillery regiment should have a robust network of supply to keep guns fed with fresh ammunition, and a further four batteries made up of six self-propelled light artillery pieces each. These light artillery pieces, mostly 105mm guns, would be spread out among the army, with none allocated for the main point of fighting, instead acting on the wings with the flank troops. Doing so, in Akrezi’s eyes, would allow the big guns to support the biggest groups who were going to decide the course of the battle, while still not depriving the rest of the army of fire support. Lastly, that there should be two batteries of twenty self propelled artillery pieces each, being made up of what we would know as MLRS’s, or Multi-Launch-Rocket-Systems. Akrezi envisioned these final batteries to be the only part of the Regiment, outside of the logistics system, under the personal command of the Firemaster, the Bannerman who leads the regiment. They would act as the overall Army Commander’s personal artillery batteries, able to assist anywhere they wanted fire support given. In his writings, Yaret Akrezi vaguely referenced the possibility of also allowing MLRS’s to fire small tactical level fission bombs, but does not go into detail about it, or recommend it.

In the end, Akrezi would get his wish. Following the conclusion of the Contact War and his death, the Hegemony quickly realized their two biggest potential threats were the nations of Dominia and Elyra, both humans, and both with better navies than that of the Hegemony. Therefore, their tactics adapted accordingly, and Bannermen across the Hegemony began to ask what they needed to fight a war without having control of the planet’s orbit. Hephaestus Industries quickly picked up on this, and after acquiring weapon schematics believed to be from Zavodskoi Interstellar(though it was never proven), began rolling out a line of self-propelled artillery, with the option of 165mm, 105mm, or MLRS weapons attached to the baseline chassis. The line was an instant hit, and Hephaestus found a market for their inventions as Bannermen across the Hegemony clamoured to their lords to purchase them. Once done, those artillery Regiments not already following Akrezi’s standards reformed to do so, and today the Hegemonic Artillery Regiments stand as the best organized aspect of their wider military.

A sketch of an Izweski Sky Behemoth, the first aircraft used in war by Unathi.

Air Regiments

Unathi have always had a strange relationship with flight, rarely making use of aircraft in war aside from the Sky Behemoths used by the Izweski Hegemony in the past. However under Mizaruz Izweski, that is beginning to change. Air regiments are a new unit for Unathi, a regiment of trained pilots and their support staff who fly around not in balloons, but advanced aircraft bought from Hephaestus Industries. Due to the cost of these aircraft, and the break from tradition they signify, only the Hegemon commands the loyalty of an Air Regiment currently.

The equipment given to Air Regiments is, as stated, provided by Hephaestus Industries in the form of 3 distinct aircraft. The first is the Gryphon-120, a space/orbital control fighter-bomber designed to enforce superiority within a planet’s orbit, being based at stations around the planet itself. It has dual-capabilities, being able to engage not only enemy fighters but enemy ships, with an incredibly large payload it can deliver. The Hegemony has purchased them with the plan to station them around Moghes only, and should the Hegemonic Fleet ever be defeated, use them as harassers against any force that might wish to invade the Unathi’s home planet. Therefore, the stations holding them are heavily camouflaged, almost impossible to detect, and orbiting Moghes extremely high within its gravity well. The 120’s are similarly camouflaged, but the effectiveness is vastly reduced once they leave the vicinity of their stations. Currently, they are in-use by Lord-Admiral Yizarus attempting to combat smuggling, but have not had significant success, often being given the information too late. Secondly are the Gryphon-118s, a space/air capable aircraft, designed for providing air support to ground units. The Izweski have split these up, with half being stationed in orbit over Ouerea, and half being stationed on Moghes, near Skalamar itself. They have seen the most combat of the new Air Regiment, supporting ground units in conflict around the Wasteland, or quelling the recent Ouerean Riots. Lastly are the Irontooth-135’s, incredibly large aircraft designed for bombardment on a planetary scale, being space/air capable. The 135’s are the Hegemony’s failsafe aircraft, compatible with the attaching and dropping of Nuclear Warheads. They are based in Low Moghes Orbit, constantly on standby and should another contact war like situation break out, ready to bomb whoever Not’zar tells them to.

For the Armsmen in the Air Regiment, their newfound position is still odd to them. Very few of Unathi have ever flown before, and therefore the training and selection of Armsmen for the Regiment is intense. The Hegemony, badly wanting pilots, but not wanting to detract from the navy, has even begun to encourage Unathi to leave Moghes and work for a Human Megacorporation that will teach them how to fly, such as the SCC.

Support Regiments

Support Regiments are the final type of regiment, and most varied. Like Artillery Regiments, Support Regiments are normally only found pledged to those Lord’s who have command of large armies, and for those lords that do not, the duties of Support Regiments are normally folded up into already existing regiments.

Support Regiments as the name suggests, support other regiments which do the actual fighting. The type of support regiments vary wildly, from those focused on logistics, to medical concerns, reconnaissance, even to cooks and making food, the list goes on and on. What matters in the end is that these regiments are incredibly rare, being found only pledged to Overlord’s and the Hegemon, who are the only ones who may muster a large enough army to require dedicated units to support it. During peace-time, these regiments remain active to train with their compatriots, even if they are never deployed. And it is very rare that these regiments are deployed.

Ranks

Auxiliary(Sinta’unathi: Rekeha): This rank is largely unused in times of peace, referring to the reserves of a nobleman’s levy that are only called up in times of war. Auxiliaries are required to spend at least one day of the week training with weapons, and are paid a small stipend from their lord for their readiness to fight. These men make up the bulk of a lord’s standing army - below the professional full-time soldiers, but above the largely poorly trained peasantry who may be called to battle.

Man-at-arms(Sinta’unathi: Rezasl): These men make up the core of any standing army - full-time professional soldiers of whatever lord they may serve. They are usually used to supplement law enforcement, protect their noble clan, and ensure the safety of a region against threats too great for local city watchmen to handle.

Specialist(Sinta’unathi: Ozas): An in-between rank, applied to warriors with skills outside of combat that are of use on the battlefield. This rank is frequently used for medics, engineers, technicians and any others, an odd mixture of any and all specialists within a lord’s military force. This rank is one of the rare positions where women have historically been permitted to serve, with healers often finding positions at this rank within times of war.

Standard-bearer(Sinta’unathi: Kiruki): These warriors are the equivalent to non-commissioned officers, with each kiruki being responsible for leading an individual squadron of soldiers on the battlefield. For many peasants, this is one of the highest stations that they can reach in life. A kiruki is responsible for the wellbeing and discipline of their men, and will usually be the first to be blamed for a disaster.

Troop-leader(Sinta’unathi: Slhiri): These warriors are the lowest rank of a Regiment’s officer corps, with each one traditionally commanding the smallest units of whichever regiment they are a part of. As with all officers, these are usually nobles, often young and untested, and they have a reputation for being arrogant and stubborn among the enlisted men.

Battle-leader(Sinta’unathi: Uezsla): Higher officers, these officers would generally be the commander of a number of Slhiri, overseeing the Slhiri and reporting to their own commander, the Seiirak. Unlike Slhiri they do not command any fighting units of their own, instead leading a specialized command squad which helps them run the affairs of their portion of the regiment. These officers to date have all been nobility. The number of Uezsla depends on the type and size of a regiment, but in general there will be five Uezsla per regiment, four in command of different portions of the fighting force, and the last in command of any support elements which are attached to the fighting force.

Bannerman(Sinta’unathi: Seiirak): The commander of a single Regiment of Men at Arms. They are appointed by their landed lord, and are the final arbiter of the entire Regiment. Like the Uezsla they do not command any fighting units of their own, but instead have a large unit, the size of a company, known as their banner, which normally has a bodyguard contingent who work to protect the Bannerman’s person. Bannermen may sometimes command the regiment directly, but normally work through the chain of command to their Uezsla to ensure their orders are carried out.

Master-at-arms(Sinta’unathi: Ozur’saa): These men directly lead the private retinue of a clan, and will serve as the highest authority for an individual landed noble’s forces. They are normally selected from amongst the Bannerman, and act as the professional military adviser of the Lord. Should the landed lord control a small amount of land, or otherwise not required to be politicking heavily, the Bannerman will also often be the Lord’s Claws, holding a seat on his council. However, for those Lords who rule over large sections of the Hegemony, or need to politick heavily, they will often choose a different Lord’s Claw, one more politically advantageous. In this case, the Ozur’saa remains the Lord’s professional military adviser, but cannot sit on council meetings and often has to accede to the thoughts of the Lord’s Claws, whatever he may think of them.

Deployment

Nominally, all these forces fall under the Hegemon during times of war, their lord’s required to answer calls to fight at his side. Therefore, in addition to the peasants taken as levies, the Hegemon may also take the regiments of his lords to war, though he cannot directly command them. Bannermen, who command the individual regiments, will only answer to their lord or his Master-at-Arms, none other, including the Hegemon. Therefore, when the Hegemonic Army is fully assembled, communication is the biggest issue it encounters.

How the Hegemonic Army Marches

Under the current law, the Hegemonic Army can be divided up into distinct sets, those sets being the armies under the command of Overlords. Each Overlord leads an army composed of the peasants and armsmen of their territory, plus those of their vassals territory, so on and so forth. Each portion of this army only responds to the lord who raised them, so commands must go from Overlords to lords, then to the officers of a regiment, instead of professional military commanders. This means that communication from the top of the chain of command to the bottom is incredibly slow, but also disjointed, as each noble lord commands a different number, set, and type of men than the next, instead of something predetermined, therefore communications change depending on the lord. Certain troops may also be unfit for certain orders, but this being unknown to the Overlord, who merely assigned it to a Lord, who assigned it to one of his Regiments. It is the worst possible scenario, where the commander does not even know the disposition or number of men under his command. While all this is going on, the Overlord still needs to command his own personal forces, who are loyal to him and not another.

This army has just been called to war, and already, cracks are starting to appear, as communication becomes incredibly difficult and sometimes just impossible. These problems are only reinforced in battle, as communication may break down entirely and each regiment/levy fights its own small war for survival, until either victory is achieved, or the forces are routed. It is for these reasons that in the Modern day, the Hegemon and his Overlords do not call their vassals Armsmen to war, instead simply relying on their own regiments of Armsmen and peasant levies to fight. This allows for smoother control over the army, and less difficulties in communication. Should they be needed though, the regiments of their vassals may still join the Hegemonic Army, but instead of calling them to war, the Hegemon or an Overlord will ask their lord to lend them his regiments. The difference here, while minor, is a legal loophole used by the Hegemon. When a lord calls his vassals Arsmmen to war, by definition he must also call his vassal to war, and have his vassal command any troops that have pledged to him, or are raised by him. However, should a lord instead ask that a vassal lend their Armsmen to his cause, the Armsmen are then placed under the command of the vassals lord directly, cutting out the difficult communication process described earlier. It is this way that the contemporary Hegemonic Army would march, should it ever be called to war again.

Conclusion, The Modern Day

A closer image focusing on the factions surrounding the Izweski Hegemony's territory, showing it's precarious position between two rival powers.

Contemporarily, there is one thought above all else that flashes through every high-ranking member of the pieces that would contribute to the Hegemonic Army, and one thought that is constantly on the mind of Mizazuri Izweski and his staff; What if our neighbors invaded? This thought has become the dominant driver of the Hegemonic Armies planning, as tensions grow between Dominia and Elyra the possibility of the Hegemony being invaded as part of a war between the two begins to look more and more likely. What could the Hegemony do to forestall this, or if necessary, fight back and win against either of the human nations?

The answer time and time again has been, very little. The Hegemonic army as it currently is still relies far too much on untrained peasant levies to fill it’s ranks instead of a proper standing army to defeat the trained armies of it’s human neighbors, and it is unlikely that a proper standing army will be formed any time soon, as the influence of Sirax Razi prevents any movement towards that. In a straight up invasion, the Hegemony would be overwhelmed in better trained, equipped, and more numerous troops from either nation. Unable to form a standing army, and their untrained masses of peasants predicted to fare incredibly poorly against their human counterparts, those planners who decide the Hegemony’s military strategy in the office of the Hegemon’s Claws have picked the only alternative available; to make it the Sinta type of war, brutal and bloody.

The main idea behind this alternative that is now the modern day security for the Hegemony is to turn what would be a mostly void war, fought between ships, into a conflict that suits the Unathi defenders better, making an invader peel resistance off of every asteroid, every planet, in every star system in a ground action to secure their rear areas before advancing further. While the Hegemonic Navy, a shadow of either of it’s likely adversaries would be unable to delay them, Hegemonic planners believe that a combination of trained Armsmen and peasant levies, if posing a credible threat to invading naval vessels, could force a ground based confrontation and delay invaders from advancing for a time, while extracting a huge cost in men and material. However, these Armsmen and Levies would essentially be cut off from any possible support or evacuation, and would have to fight to the very last. The sacrifice of thousands, just for a delay and some losses in men and material; or, in other words, the type of war Unathi have always fought best, brutal and bloody. Yet, it serves the overall goal of the plan. The Hegemony realizes that it is incredibly unlikely to be the target of an invasion by either of its neighbors, unless those neighbors are at war with each other. Then the Hegemony, situated directly between Elyra and Dominia, would become a target - either to sway or to invade, as both nations would require the Hegemonic starways to mount a meaningful attack on the other. Whatever the Hegemony chooses to do in such a situation, unless it has a deterrence, it will have to make an enemy- either one or both of the two nations.

Therefore, this policy is their deterrence; they will make it too costly for either side to invade them. By doing whatever it takes to do the most damage to any invader, any nation which invades it will find themselves eventually winning, but at a huge cost that has now put them at a significant disadvantage against their main rival, who will be poised to attack them the second the Hegemony is knocked out, then driving all the way to their core systems. Only a fool would then attack the Hegemony, and the leaders of Dominia and Elyra, while not the smartest, are not so blind to not see the obvious outcome of invading the Hegemony. Even if one nation invades before declaring war on the other, in all likelihood their rival would intervene anyway, not wanting them to get the upper hand. It is through this that the Hegemony attempts to secure its future, a possible spectator on the sidelines of a war in the Badlands or the Sparring Sea, rather than an unwilling participant. However only time will tell if this plan is enough to actually work.

Unathi Martial Tradition

The Unathi as a species are widely perceived steeped in violence, honor, and war. Whether or not this is the case, Unathi warriors certainly have a long martial tradition - particularly those who have fought for the Izweski Hegemony.. The first obvious part of the culture of war is the Warrior’s Code, a code of honor that is applicable to all warriors, even all males, and marks grave consequences for those who do not abide by it. However, that is a code which applies to all Unathi warriors, regardless of their origin - and the traditions and culture of the has been, like almost every aspect of Unathi society, shaped in the devastation of the Contact War.

The Contact War

Contemporary martial culture within the Hegemony is the product of relatively recent events, those events being the Contact War. The war which destroyed so much of Moghes also destroyed much of the martial culture that came before it, while nuclear fire provided the heat to mold the culture of those soldiers who fought it into something new, something different. After the war ended, it became apparent that during the decades it raged, it had changed the men who fought, in as many different ways as there were returning men, but had changed how Unathi, warriors and civilians alike, viewed war as a whole. The Contact War is unquestionably the largest conflict in Unathi history - and that is reflected in how the psyche of the species as a whole has changed following it.

Before the Contact War, wars were seen as fleeting, short-spanning things that rarely lasted more than a handful of years. Civilians were hurt of course, as troops marched through lands taking whatever they pleased from the local population, looting them dry, but they were minor affairs. Surrendering, while shameful, was seen as a realistic option, and who won or who lost didn’t really matter to the individual soldier. The Contact War changed all that. When nuclear fire swept the planet, the Unathi discovered a new idea; Total War. A war where everything is on the line, there can be no compromise, and it must be fought with everything one has. No longer was war limited, it was all encompassing, the end result of everything one strove to be, and winning was necessary. Civilians began to be hurt more, eventually, as the refugee crisis swelled, fleeing civilians began to be gunned down out of hand, as the lands held by the Hegemony were full. Prisoners were no longer taken, surrender no longer contemplated, all must fight, all must die, for it is necessary. Eventually as the war dragged on, it became something not even done out of necessity, it was done simply because those fighting in it had literally forgotten how to stop, how to pull themselves out of the horrors of war, how to accept anything less than total victory by any means. In short, the Contact War was a traumatic event for a species, one whose effects would cut through it like a shockwave, removing nearly all previous cultures, and ideas, replacing them with something new. For the military, those soldiers who fought through the war, this shockwave hit the hardest. Their culture completely changed, along with everything else, as men who had seen too much returned home, or in most cases, had completely forgotten how to do anything but wage war, joined a piece of the Hegemonic army, or the Hegemonic Navy.

Contemporary Culture

Forged by the events of the Contact war, the contemporary culture of Unathi warriors is of duty, of sacrifice, of annihilation, of totality. The trauma freely given by the Contact War to those who fought it broke them, and in order to keep fighting, remade them into shells of Unathi, chained to violence. There are no other options, there is no need for reason, there is only what one must do to be victorious.

Duty is the strongest part of contemporary warrior culture, an unwavering focus placed upon it. For a warrior, whatever their station, must do all they can to fulfill their duty, even if it is the smallest of tasks, for without duty a warrior is nothing. This reflects the fact that without duty, without something to hold onto, those warriors who survived the Contact War would be revealed for what they are; nothing but shells, machines, no longer with free will, just doing something because they forgot long ago how to surrender to anything. Therefore this sense of duty is taken to the extreme, an idea that Duty encompasses everything needing to be done to secure victory, or if victory cannot be secured, everything needs to be done to make it cost the enemy. The idea of contemplating surrender has been forgotten, there is only victory, or death, no other options for that is the Duty of a Warrior.

The idea of dying for one's duty ties in with sacrifice. It is a new idea that all warriors must be prepared to sacrifice everything on the altar of victory, not only their own lives, but their honor, family, love, and even souls. The soldiers of the Contact War fought with everything they had, giving it all for the hope of a victory that would see the Hegemony become a planetary government, and their sacrifice is the most remembered of Unathi society today. However, when it is said that they sacrificed everything, those speaking mean everything, not just their lives and minds. Atrocities were committed during the Contact War, and with such frequency that soon minds became numb to the horror, people broke, and for those who managed to escape death, their sacrifice continued by living on having experienced, and partaken in the horrors of war. For victory, one must be ready to sacrifice everything.

Annihilation is the only option in war, as the contemporary martial culture of Unathi sees it. There can only be total victory, the complete destruction of one's enemy, or total defeat, the complete destruction of oneself, at the highest possible cost to the enemy. To try and find a middle ground, to make peace, has been forgotten, burned to ash like much else during the Contact War. Even if it had not, the trauma was so large during the contact war, it would have been seen as merely delaying the inevitable annihilation required for war to end.

Which brings us to the last part of the contemporary martial culture of Unathi, the Totality of war. In the eyes of those who lived through the contact war, and now propagate this culture to all Unathi warriors, war is the beginning of the story of the Hegemony, and the end of the story. It will always be with the Hegemony, and the Unathi species, inescapable, impossible to deny. There will always be war, and in the end, it will be over everything, and nothing; it will simply be. To deny it is to deny the Great Spirit, and to try and avoid it only makes it come faster, for war is the only truth, the only recourse, the only thing, left tangible.

Taking a Step Back

This contemporary culture has been analyzed by human psychologists, and they find it nearly matches the symptoms of a person in a severe depression; never working to improve, just going about their tasks because they have forgotten how to do otherwise, and suffering all the while. It is theorized by psychologists across the spur that the events of the Contact War were so traumatic not just to a few, but to an entire species that it left a permanent scar on their psyche, one that manifests itself as a severe depression within culture. The exact reasons behind the development of these cultures, and these feelings within the Unathi as a species may never be known, but it is clear that the Contact Warr played a part, and most likely left its trauma with no regard for who it parted it to.

The Kataphract Guild (Saa’Izweski)

An ancient order, the knights of the Kataphract Guild have long enjoyed a storied place in Unathi history, as defenders of the helpless and a scourge upon the wicked and dishonourable. While their historical role was more complicated at the best of times, ranging over their history from strict adherents of the Warrior’s Code to little better than mercenaries, the popular perception of the ancient knights remained as one of bold, honourable and fierce warriors. During the rise of the Sarakus Hegemony, the Kataphracts were viciously crushed by the first Hegemon Sarakus, and their order would not be revived for centuries, until Not’zar Izweski restored them in 2459. The new Kataphracts are a fusion of the best ideas of the ancient order and the practical realities of modern Unathi - they are sworn to follow the Hegemon and the Warrior’s Code equally, and act as an elite military force to bolster the Hegemon’s personal strength when necessary.

When not necessary, they travel the Spur, largely using repurposed naval vessels, seeking honourable causes to fight for, as well as lending their services as mercenaries to many across the stars. Kataphracts have been found in many military conflicts across the Spur, with the largest of these being the S’rand’marr Coalition, where many Kataphract knights fought for the People’s Republic of Adhomai in the Second Revolution. This fighting is done partially to maintain themselves, as the Kataphracts are only paid by the Hegemony in times of war - and to increase their skills as warriors. Kataphract knights are known as Saa’Izweski, or simply Saa for the sake of brevity.

Kataphracts generally prefer to fight in melee, though they do tend to carry energy pistols and the occasional slugger. Their traditions of combat are viewed as antiquated by some - however, underestimating a Kataphract is a fool’s mistake. They are some of the most highly-trained and well-equipped warriors that the Unathi species has to offer, and have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds time after time.

Ranks

The ranking of the Kataphracts is far simpler than that of most militaries, resembling that of a guild more than an army.

Kataphract-Hopeful(Zo’saa): The Zo’saa are the bulk of the order’s fighting force, made up of those who wish to earn the right to call themselves Kataphracts. Their lives are hard and regimented even by military standards, training at all times of the day and night in whatever conditions they may find, from battles as mercenaries across the Spur to surviving the harsh sands of the Moghresian Wasteland. Several K’lax warriors have also become Kataphract-Hopefuls, and though their understanding of the Warrior’s Code is often poor compared to their Unathi counterparts, they have proved a fearsome addition to the order’s forces.

Kataphract Knight(Saa): These are the warriors of the Kataphract Guild, who have earned the right to call themselves knights. They range in age, experience and skill, but all of them have completed the gruelling trials of a Kataphract-Hopeful and sworn their oath before whatever faith they may follow - to uphold the Warrior’s Code, to obey and defend the Hegemon and his people, and to protect the innocent against cruelty and dishonour wherever it may be found.

Kataphract Knight-Captain: These are the more seasoned commanders of the Kataphracts, usually found in command of a vessel or a large group of knights and hopefuls alike. When multiple Knight-Captains come together in a particularly large operation, they will often elect one from among them temporarily to serve as the commander of the force.

High Kataphract: The leaders of the Kataphract Order, the council of High Kataphracts are the highest authority for the guild in its entirety. They are few in number, and seasoned warriors one and all, answerable only to the Hegemon. When the order in its entirety is called to war, they are responsible for summoning the knights from wherever they may be, across the Spur, and for deploying them as the Hegemon wishes.

The Navy

The flag of the Izweski Hegemony. It is used as the Naval Ensign for the Izweski Navy.

The Navy is a true professional force, and the bulk of the Izweski’s armed forces. Currently, the Navy has three active fleets, with many of their larger ships currently mothballed in Uueoa-Esa due to lack of phoron supplies. Fleets are commanded by Lord-Admirals, and deployed across Hegemony-controlled space. The Navy’s lower ranks are structured similarly to those of traditional Unathi armies, with men-at-arms making up the bulk of a naval vessel’s enlisted crew. For officers, however, the structure of the Navy is based largely on human interstellar navies, with captains commanding individual ships and commanders acting as their second-in-command.

The Izweski Navy is a relatively young organization - but that does not mean it is an untested one, as myriad clashes against the pirates of the Badlands and Sparring Sea have let the Navy cut their teeth in battle. While they have yet to face a true interstellar conflict, the warriors of the Izweski Navy are disciplined, experienced and well-trained - though only time will tell whether or not that will be enough. Due to the phoron scarcity, the Izweski Navy is greatly weakened - with the vast majority of its ships relying on bluespace travel. In order to conserve valuable phoron resources, all ships larger than destroyers are currently on standby in the Uueoa-Esa system - leaving the outlying colonies of the Hegemony open to attack.

The arrival of the K’lax Hive in Uueoa-Esa has been a great boon to the Izweski Navy - with the plentiful labor and advanced technology of the Vaurcae helping greatly in both the construction and crewing of the Navy’s vessels. The Queen Vedhra has been particularly invested in the Izweski Navy - believing that the K’lax must be capable of interstellar warfare for the inevitable return of the Lii’dra Hive to the Orion Spur.

Naval Fleets

The Izweski Navy is divided into four fleets, with three currently being active.

The First Fleet is commanded by Lord-Admiral Trazarial Yizarus, known as “Izharshan’s Bane” due to his victories against the pirates of Izharshan’s Raiders. He is one of the most experienced military commanders in the Hegemony, a decorated war hero, and a fierce supporter of Not’zar Izweski, having stood by the Hegemon’s side since before his ascent to the throne. The First Fleet’s flagship is the famed HMV Cataclysm, the first of the Hegemony’s dreadnoughts. Currently, the First Fleet is tasked with protecting Moghes.

The Second Fleet is commanded by Lord-Admiral Oyuti Gour'za - the first commoner to ever be appointed to such a prestigious position. Gour’za is known to be an aggressive, ambitious and highly intelligent commander, known to be extremely restrained and focused on his work - knowing full well that the slightest slip-up will be used by the nobility to call for his removal from his position. The flagship of the Second Fleet is the HMV Catastrophe, a Cataclysm-class dreadnought. The Second Fleet is currently tasked with the defense of Ouerea.

The Third Fleet is commanded by Lord-Admiral Za’Akaix’Xitac K’lax, a Vaurca Warrior of the Queen Vedhra’s brood and a brilliant tactical mind. Though young, they have rapidly earned the respect of the Sinta serving under them - and while their strategies may be considered unorthodox, none can deny their effectiveness. Armsmen of the Third have given themselves the nickname of the ‘Xsain Fleet’, in reference both to the Vaurca commanding them and the seemingly incomprehensible nature of Xitac’s tactics. The Third Fleet is commanded from the HMV Annihilation - the third Cataclysm-class dreadnought, which is currently positioned in orbit of Tret. Currently, the Third Fleet is inactive, with its ships having been shuffled around to bolster the Navy’s other fleets.

The Fourth Fleet is a recently established one - while it was planned for, the phoron crisis caused rapid adjustments, with nearly every ship still capable of affordable interstellar travel being assigned there. It is under the command of Lord-Admiral Xitac, and it is responsible for protecting the Hegemony’s colonies outside of Uueoa-Esa - no small task, especially given that the fleet solely consists of Brawler and Foundation-class vessels. While it serves for scaring pirates and marauders away from Hegemonic colonies, no one is under the delusion that the Fourth Fleet would be capable of facing a rival nation’s navy on equal measure.

Naval Personnel and Equipment

Personnel

The navy, much like the ground forces of the Hegemony, is broken up into two distinct personnel categories. The officer corps, composed of mainly nobility and some K’lax Warriors, and the enlisted, which is an odd collection of Unathi Peasantry, K’laxan Vaurcae, and even some lesser nobility who were unable to become officers immediately. They use the same ranking system as the Hegemonic ground forces, with key differences in the officer ranks - based instead on human interstellar navies, with officers given far more power over their assigned ships. The biggest difference of naval officers though is their position as a standing force of the Hegemon. Instead of being loyal to vassals or other Lords of the Hegemony, naval officers swear fealty directly to Not’zar, making the navy his and his alone, granting the Izweski total control of the star lanes. This is not the case for enlisted crew, who instead swear fealty to the officers(lords) of their ships, swearing new oaths every time they are transferred from one ship to another, or a ship command is changed. It is this that allows Hegemonic naval officers to take the title of Lord-Rank, instead of a simple rank, such as Lord-Admiral Trazial Yizarus, the most famous Unathi naval commander.

However, having enlisted crew swear allegiance to their officers instead of the Hegemon directly has been met with criticism by some, most notably Mirazuz Izweski himself, and not without reason. When Hegemon S’kresti entered a coma in 2460, a succession crisis erupted within the Hegemony between Not’zar, Skresti’s eldest son, and Lord S’linzar Ickza, S’kresti’s son-in-law, over who should be given the title of Lord Regent. Half the fleet officers defected from the Izweski Clan under the command of Lord-Admiral Azikyui Yizarus, Trazial’s younger brother - and the enlisted men, bound by oaths to their officers, went along with them. While the crisis was averted, and Not’zar eventually placed as Lord-Regent of the Hegemony, it illustrated the potential issue of disloyal officers, particularly those who were from the original pirate fleet assembled by S’kresti. Not’zar would respond to this by initiating a fleet-wide purge of officers under the direction of Lord-Admiral Trazial Yizarus - who had sided with the Lord-Regent during the crisis - in order to turn the naval officer corps into not only a professional force, but one that was loyal to the Izweski alone. This purge laid the foundation of the modern officer corps known today, with sweeping reforms that for the first time opened education centers similar to officer-candidate-schools, where potential officers would be taught the fine points of space warfare, while also heavily indoctrinated with engrained senses of loyalty to the Izweski. Yizarus would use his powers as director of the purge, for better or for worse, to install many of his clan within the reformed officer corps, resulting in clan Yizarus making up a vast majority of the navy's higher ranking members. With the arrival of the K’lax, Not’zar saw an opportunity to expand these schools as well as the navy itself, and began inducting K’lax as not only instructors, but officers for his new fleet. Today, the officer corps of the Hegemonic navy is composed of military professionals, who despite using outdated tactics, are loyal and eager to serve their Hegemon and his clan, but who will also never forget the betrayal of half the fleet during the succession crisis.

For the enlisted however, the story is different. Little has changed for them since the Hegemonic Navy was first formed, and they toil under their officers the same way they always have. Ships have become more modern and training generally become higher quality, but for many advanced tasks, officers are still relied upon. For many of the enlisted ranks, they are keenly aware that despite having reached a pinnacle of what may be their military careers, and trained beyond what even some armsmen undergo, they are still lessers of their officers, who view the enlisted as little more than rabble whose help is needed to run the ship in combat. The enlisted members of the navy are trained to do their tasks in rote order, doing one thing after the other day in and day out, rather than truly thinking for themselves. Onboard a Hegemonic vessel, whenever serious repairs are undertaken or things outside of what enlisted would consider their daily tasks done, it is common to see officers holding the tools, or completing the task; though sometimes, a particularly trusted enlisted man might be given a rank similar to standard-bearer, plus some extra training, and work in an officers stead. This lack of intensive training for the enlisted of the navy is born out of a mistrust by the nobility of the Hegemony, who Not’zar was forced to yield to. The biggest concern for any noble is that a peasant uprising would be able to occur aboard one of the vessels of the Hegemonic Navy, and that the peasants, once in control, would be able to effectively operate the vessel. Therefore, outside of the countless minor tasks needed to keep a starship functioning, the training of larger operations, such as firing the weaponry, piloting, and so forth, is entrusted only to the majority noble officer corps.

It is debatable what effect this has had on the effectiveness of the Hegemonic Navy. One could argue it has no effect at all, but that would only be because the Navy’s tactics are so outdated that their baseline effectiveness is too low for this type of stringent difference in training to have an effect. What is more important is the effect that this has on the Navy’s morale. While officers generally live in good conditions, well compensated for their service with a high degree of freedom, the enlisted ranks find themselves curtailed, poorly-compensated, and looked down upon by their officers. Morale within the enlisted ranks is therefore incredibly poor, with consequences for the Hegemonic Navy. Under Not’zar’s reforms post-succession crisis, he believed that the enlisted ranks could be filled out on a volunteer basis - a man would volunteer for a set term, before either re-enlisting or being discharged to pursue other goals. Due to poor morale, re-enlistment rates within the navy are incredibly low, near twenty percent for non-Vaurca, resulting in what many call a “revolving door scenario” where men simply move through the navy instead of remaining in it. These men mostly look beyond Moghes to the rest of the stars for future work, using their limited experience with the Hegemonic Navy to secure positions with human megacorporations throughout the rest of civilized space. So far, there has been no attempt to reform the navy to deal with this problem, as the Hegemony has been dealing with more pressing matters. Yet, Mizaruz Izweski has begun to make noises about it, calling it a shame, and pushing the Hegemony, most notably the Yizarus clan, to begin reforming the navy so that it may better treat its enlisted members, and thereby hold onto them for longer.

As the Navy and the Kataphract Guild have served similar roles - acting as forces directly answerable to the Hegemony - it is perhaps natural that a rivalry has developed between the two groups. Some among the Navy’s personnel tend to, though with respect for their prowess in combat, view the Kataphracts as arrogant - seeing their adherence to ancient tradition as nothing more than a way to make themselves seem more grand, and their mercenary work across the wider Spur as a dereliction of duty. In short, viewing them as overly dramatic and arrogant warriors, who treat their service to the Hegemon as an inconvenient fact rather than a duty, and who waste the resources given them by the Izweski on wandering about the Spur going on adventures.

The Kataphracts, meanwhile, have a similar opinion of the Navy - believing that, though they provide a necessary service, they are not true warriors, only experiencing combat from across the vastness of space - and that their insistence on looking down on those who serve the Hegemon elsewhere dishonors them. Though the two groups have often cooperated in military actions, there is a general spirit of competition and one-upping between Kataphracts and Naval forces when this does occur - with the Kataphract-Hopefuls tending to become far more invested in the rivalry than their superiors.

A refitted ship going through space. Ships like these were what made up the vast majority of the original Izweski Navy. Done by CNEGecko#9618 on Discord.

Vessels and Equipment

When it was first formed at the order of Hegemon S’kresti, the Izweski Navy was a ramshackle collection of vessels - stolen and retrofitted civilian freighters and shuttles, with crudely-mounted weapons - capable of defending against pirates, perhaps, but not of facing any greater threat. Though the Navy was able to threaten the forces of the Sol Alliance and Nralakk Federation into withdrawing from Ouerea, no one among the Izweski was under any delusion that, if the alien powers had chosen to remain on the planet, the fledgling Navy would have stood a shadow of a chance.

Since then, however, enormous strides have been made. The Izweski Navy has vessels of its own, and well-equipped and professional troops aboard them. This is in large part thanks to two factors - the investment of Hephaestus Industries, and the arrival of the K’lax Hive in Uueoa-Esa. Though a Hegemonic shipbuilding guild did exist briefly in the form of Hegeranzi Starworks, it was unable to live up to the Hegemon’s expectations, and was soon absorbed by Hephaestus. With the aid of Hephaestus’s wealth and experience in the field, the earliest versions of Izweski-designed ships began to be produced - which was only amplified by the arrival of the K’lax. Though the Vaurcae had little experience with spaceflight, they had access to technology far beyond the wildest dreams of the Unathi, and their ability for mass industrial work was invaluable. Through working with K’laxan and Hephaestus scientists and engineers, the Izweski Hegemony has begun to produce five main ship classes, as well as various associated shuttles, fighters and gunships - a comprehensive list of which can be found here.

Many of the Izweski Navy’s military vessels are equipped with weapons produced by human manufacturers - with Kumar Arms rotary guns often being seen on the smaller corvettes and fighters of the Navy. However, their engineers have made great strides in weapon design, and much of the Navy’s modern-day equipment is now Izweski-designed, Izweski-produced and Izweski-wielded.

The Hegemony Model I ‘Bruiser’ was the first spaceship-mounted weapon to be designed by Izweski engineers - a simple enough design for a heavy ballistic cannon. The Bruiser is also notable for the light weight of its ammunition, allowing an Unathi to carry a shell without need of mechanical assistance - minimizing the expensive equipment that a vessel might require to fight. The Model I Bruiser was inaccurate, slow to fire and prone to overheating, leading to the design of the commonly-used Hegemony Model II ‘Bruiser’, largely seen on the corvettes and destroyers of the Izweski Navy. The Model II is faster, more accurate and capable of firing at much higher velocities, enabling the smaller ships of the Navy to punch above their weight class in battle.

The Hegemony Model III ‘Thunderer’ is the main armament of Brawler-class destroyers - a heavy mass driver weapon designed by some of the brightest minds of the K’lax. Firing enormous magnetic slugs, the Thunderer is aptly-named, capable of tearing lightly-armored vessels such as those often flown by pirates to shreds. Each of the Hegemony’s Cataclysm-class vessels is equipped with a full battery of these guns, and the theoretical design of the Hammer-class would also rely on these as its primary weapon.

The Hegemony Model IV ‘Aperture’ is only an armament in name, equipped on most small vessels such as Brawlers and Corvettes, and is essentially a battery of canons designed to fire boarding pods containing heavily armored Unathi or K’lax warriors into enemy vessels, where they will wreak havoc. The Aperture is the result of Unathi ground forces being much better equipped compared to the navy, and their powerful hardsuits wanting to be utilized even in space battles. It is equipped on the smaller, fast moving vessels as according to Izweski battle doctrine, these vessels should close the engagement distance with an enemy fleet with capital ships providing fire support from a stand-off distance.

The Hegemony Model V ‘Sk’akh’s Spear’ is the first energy weapon designed by the Izweski Navy - a heavy laser cannon, designed to tear through even the heaviest of armor. The size of these cannons leads to an enormous power strain on the vessel, meaning that only the larger ships of the Navy are capable of firing them for any amount of time. Their power drain can also cause wild fluctuations in a vessel’s shields, and while this has not proved a fatal flaw so far, it may prove troublesome for the Navy in future. Due to its design being based on the energy weapons often used by Izweski ground forces, the Model V’s beams have a distinctive golden glow to them - resembling some ancient depictions of the Aspect of the Warrior, and granting it its name.

The Hegemony Model VI ‘Shieldbreaker’ is the other energy weapon currently fielded by the Izweski Navy - an enormous ion cannon, mounted on Bulwark-class vessels. The Shieldbreaker is designed for exactly what its name says - to overwhelm shields and guidance systems of enemy vessels, allowing the fleet to annihilate the helpless vessel. Similarly to the Model V, this weapon drains enormous amounts of power - and due to its electromagnetic pulse, it cannot be fired without first lowering a vessel’s shields. This makes use of the Shieldbreaker a risky, yet potentially battle-shifting prospect for captains - though so far, it has seen little use in battle.

The Hegemony Model VII ‘Glory’ Battery is perhaps the most impressive - at least in theory - design of the Izweski Navy. An enormous railgun battery, so far its only use has been on the Cataclysm-class dreadnoughts, where it makes up the bulk of their long-distance offensive capability. The Glory is capable of firing hundreds of railgun slugs extremely quickly - to devastating effect in all field tests. Though the Cataclysm-class bristles with other weaponry, those who have crewed them tend to speak particularly fondly of the Glory - believing that there is no weapon in the Spur capable of rivaling its sheer power. Whether or not that is true, however, has yet to be determined.

Tactics

When it comes to the tactics of the Izweski Hegemony, the first thing that comes to many people’s mind is the tactic of ramming. Popularized in the media, particularly after the formation of the Hegemonic Fleet when its first battles were being fought, contrary to popular opinion, ramming is not the standard Izweski battle strategy. While it once was, under the more traditionalist pirate captains who made up the original navy, it has since been phased out by Not’zar’s reforms, as Captains and Admirals are schooled properly on the tactics of space warfare. However, despite this schooling, it still remains within the public consciousness and many young captains, eager to win fame and glory for themselves, will unnecessarily resort to it, causing severe damage to their vessels in doing so. The preferred method of Izweski battle is one of stand-off and rush, using their capital ships' powerful weaponry to cripple the enemy, while the faster Brawlers and other escorts close distance with the enemy fleet in order to employ their Apertures. The secondary reasoning behind this tactic is an economic one. The Hegemony has never been a rich nation, and replacing capital ships lost in action is an expensive undertaking, one that is better avoided if possible. This tactic has been used to much effect in the past, but only against pirate fleets, rather than other professional interstellar navies. However, it comes with one main drawback in the modern day, the lack of capital ships available to the Izweski Navy. With the ongoing phoron scarcity, the Hegemony does not have enough phoron to effectively power the bluespace drives of it’s larger ships, leaving them stranded in orbit around key planets within the Uueoa-Esa system, such as Moghes, Ouerea, and Tret. The lack of these capital ships has diminished the effectiveness of the Izweski’s main battle tactic, making it almost impossible for smaller ships to close the distance with enemy forces without taking unacceptable losses. There have been many proposed changes to account for this, but for now, the navy seems to still be unable to effectively cope with the loss of their biggest vessels.

Yet these common tactics, even at full effectiveness, go directly against the supposed strategy of the navy. In theory, the Izweski Navy embraces a strategy of hit and run, harassing enemy vessels before quickly maneuvering out of engagement range before battle can begin in earnest. However in order to board troops, a key part of Izweski Tactics, vessels must get close to enemy formations, significantly hindering their ability to flee before being destroyed or otherwise receiving damage. The Hegemony so far has not yet encountered an issue with this, as the strategy of hit and run is only considered a strategy against “near-peer” foes such as other nations interstellar navies. Yet, it goes to illustrate the core failing of the Hegemonic Navy, being a new force that has not yet had the time others have to properly develop strategies and tactics that synergize with each other.

Admirals

The admirals of the Izweski Navy are each skilled tacticians - with Lord-Admiral Yizarus especially having been celebrated as the mind behind many of the victories that the Navy has achieved in recent years. Each of them has a unique approach to battle, and while their opportunities for a true test have been limited so far, even the most hardline opponent of the Hegemon must admit that he has chosen well.

Lord-Admiral Yizarus is known for his patience and harshness - an odd combination. He punishes failure among his officers strongly, and though it is the nature of an admiral’s position that sacrifices must be made, he is feared and respected in equal measure for his willingness to make such difficult choices with little hesitation. His patience manifests in his tactics - where other commanders may rush in, Yizarus is seemingly always calm, collected and capable of making a strategic decision. It is rumored that some of the crew of the Lord-Admiral’s flagship, the famed HMV Cataclysm, have a running bet as to who can get the infamously stone-faced Yizarus to laugh. The current pot is believed to sit somewhere around four thousand credits, six kegs of xuizi, and a Siro-class fighter. To date, no one has been able to claim the prize. This unflappable exterior, combined with his prowess as a defensive commander, has led the Lord-Admiral to be nicknamed ‘Old Ironscales’ by his men - though never to his face. Yizarus has been a foundational figure in the modern Izweski Navy - and should war come to the Hegemony, it has never been a question who will be leading its navy into the fray.

Lord-Admiral Gour'za, of the Second Fleet, is known for his rapid and aggressive tactics - often engaging in strategies that his peers have criticized as reckless, though these strategies have succeeded far more than they have failed. Part of this aggression in battle is due to his precarious position - as a commoner raised to such a high rank, he knows that he must do twice as well as his rivals for half the acclaim, for the slightest slipup could be used as an excuse to strip his rank from him. Gour’za is considered something of a maverick among the Izweski court - unfamiliar with the usual manner in which a nobleman conducts war, yet brilliantly and astoundingly effective at it. Due to his lowly origins, Gour’za is loved by the enlisted, and often despised by the officers of his fleet - with the former viewing him as an aspirational figure, who rose to the ranks of the aristocracy and proved himself better than all of them. Many among the noble officers, however, tend to view him as a jumped-up commoner with no business giving them orders - though these thoughts are best-left unexpressed, as Gour’za is all too willing to crack down on dissent within his fleet. The nobles have all manner of names for Gour’za, best left unsaid - but the enlisted men of his fleet know him by one name, “The Hegemon’s Spear”. Wherever enemies of the Izweski may wait, the enlisted of the Second Fleet know one man who will be leading the assault - and based on his history, may well be leading it to victory.

Lord-Admiral Za’Akaix’Xitac K’lax, of the Fourth Fleet, is by far the most distinctive of the Izweski Navy’s admirals. The K’laxan Warrior is young, having emerged from virtual reality ten years ago - but it has rapidly proven its unorthodox genius in command, rising to become the Queen Vedhra’s personal military advisor prior to its appointment to the Navy. There is a reason the Third Fleet, prior to its inactivity, was known as the ‘Xsain Fleet’ - and it is not just due to the Vaurca commanding them. Xitac’s tactics are incomprehensible, baffling and often appear insane - yet so far, the Vaurca admiral has gone undefeated in battle, often relying on seemingly random chance to deliver a victory. Some speculate this is due to some hidden Vaurca technology, or the processing power of the Cephalons allowing Xitac to predict the future - but whatever the case, the Sinta of the Third Fleet, wherever they may be now, have grown proud of their alien commander, proclaiming the virtues of “Xitac the Undefeated” to their fellows in other fleets. Xitac is alien, often incomprehensible, and if reports are to be believed, downright terrifying to actually speak to - but the warriors of the Third would rather follow no one else, to the ends of the Spur and beyond. A common saying among the former Third Fleet regarding their admiral expresses this perfectly - “We’d fly to the Chained Waste and back if the Xsain ordered us - and he would.”