Name: The Icarus Order / The Order /
Imperial Knight, sect IcarusFlag: 
Type of Governement: Stratocracy; military order.
Description of Governement: The Order has around five Grandmasters whom each hold a sphere of influence over the necessities of their organization, do keep it running. Those being Arnaments(Logistics), Knowledge(Training), Combat(Deployment), War(Fighting) and Vision(Communications with the Empire and Direction of the Order).
Main race: Ikath
A race of sub-humans, whose past originated from a forgotten world known as Icarus - a world where two suns scorched the heavy jungle world. A world filled with the most dangerous predators, deadly toxins and ancient home, of the Ikath. A race of humans, whom had adapted to the world they lived in - their skin turning red and their bodies becoming hardened against poisons, toxins and hardship.
Minority races: Vespen
The only worthwhile mention, is the Vespen - who are the native, carnivorous and beastial occupants of Icarus Prime. They are usually kept at bay by Repulsor Fields and the Icarus Order - yet during the initial colonization, the Vespen were known for being very deadly predators.
Namely their exoskeleton and hide are known to be very tough against projectile weaponry - the older a Vespen becomes, the tougher it's hide. To the point, that the weapons of simple grunts - couldn't pierce their carapace. They have been kept at bay, but have become more active in the last few years.
Demography: Planet Icarus Prime
- Ikath 15%
- Humans 35%
- Xeno 50% (10% regular, 40% Vespen)
Religion: The Ikath have divine believe in martial strength and of challenging oneself to better improve their physique - to kill and defeat strong predators is a sport and honor for them - with the biggest shame, of dying to old age. Might makes right for them, and anybody that doesn't improve themselves - is considered weak and unworthy in their eyes. They hold the Immortal Emperor as the Divine Warrior - the highest order of Warrior Gods in their mythos.
Culture: The Ikath have a warrior culture - meaning their young learn the art of fighting from a young age. Upon reaching adolescence they are given their own armor and weapon to improve and care for - any Ikath neglecting his care, is stripped of his equipment and thrown into the jungle. To either survive and be allowed to rejoin or die and be stricken from the Order' registery.
The Ikath mostly fighting in hand-to-hand and meele range - eschewing ranged weaponry all-together. Despite this fact, their armor is very strong and weapons deadly. Their focus is on defeating the enemy, how that is achieved doesn't matter to them - only victory matters and dying for the cause, is still considered a worthy way to die.
They have made it a habit, of also gathering trophies of their fallen prey - be they animal, xeno or the rare human. They have taken to incorporating the bones, carapace and venom into their equipment - as such is required to remain self-sufficient. Due to an incident in their past ancient history - it is considered impolite and almost unethical in their belief, to show their face to anybody but a fellow Ikath.
History:
IncarnationThe Icarus Order, or usually called the Order on Icarus Prime - is a military order, based around the worship of the Emperor and martial might. Their duty is to protect the untold masses on Icarus Prime - to die in service to the Empire and it's Emperor.That is their official and documented history - a group of sub-humans, whose mission and purpose is to defend the people of Icarus Prime against the Vespen in the deep jungles of Icarus Prime. Their status as sub-humans have cometh from their choice in enforcing strict biological, genetic and cybernetic alterations into their bodies - as penance for their once failure against a xeno horde.
In truth, the Icarus Order is far older than that - having originated from a planet once in the Inheritor(Milky) Galaxy. Their sub-human status coming due to their ancestors having adapted to the rigid and hostile environment of the original Icarus planet. They had been conscripted once into the Imperial Knights - a caste of elite warriors, to serve only the Emperor' wishes and desires.
During that time, the Ikath were amongst the strongest, toughest and most loyal Imperial Knights at the call. Being highly trained and very resourceful on the field of battle - yet however, they had been betrayed. An unknown Imperial noble had mislead the Imperial Knight, sect Icarus - causing them to take their first defeat in their service history. Most of the knowledge had been lost to the dust of time - but what was remembred, that the Icarus Sect was stripped of their status and banished from the Imperial Knight ranks. They were allowed to stay and serve - but with many knowledgable of their status as sub-humans.
The Grandmaster of that time - wrote a new Code for their Icarus Order; documenting their fall and whom they had once served. In essence, it culminated with Ikath distrusting the Empire but still loving their Emperor - since the Emperor had inducted their race into the Imperial Knights in the first place; yet they were dismissed at the whim of a document. The Grandmaster believed that the Emperor and Empire had been betrayed from within.
Over the years, the message and understand changed - due to losses, recoveries, reformations and stagnation. Most of this knowledge has been twisted and corrupted along the way - namely since the First Grandmaster believed that their Order should be more self-reliable and being minded that some Imperial humans might not have the best intentions. Due to such knowledge being passed on by by word, instead of text - it has culminated with the modern Order belief: that the Empire can't be trusted nor its 'elected' leaders, the Emperor is their only word of authority and that they have to self-sufficient with no reliance on any Imperial command.
Even the current planet they are stationed on - has made some Grandmasters believe that their time might be coming. As the name Icarus had once been their ancestral home, now shrouded in myth and legend. They trust, that the time will come - that the Order will show the Emperor the deep incompetence and corruption of the Empire and be re-accepted into their rightful place.
CurrentThe Order has kept peace on Icarus for two centuries - it had been close to the initial landing, and the planet was rich in rare minerals necessary then for the Imperial warmachine. The problem arose, when the native beasts the Vespen started attacking the mining settlements - the Icarus Order was sent to the location. Namely cause the Vespen' tough hides were difficult to pierce with ranged weaponry and the Order had been the most elite faction with trained melee combatants; but it was also a policy of trying to 'off' undesirables from the Empire. The Order however managed to survive and even thrive on the planet. They initially fought alongside the Empire' Armies in defending against the Vespen - but as specialized Repulsor Fields designed to deter the beasts were build, the soldiers were shifted to other duties.
In the current time - the Order is known as the watchmen of the gates and the mines. They are there to keep the Vespen away from the mineral mines and to keep the small gaps in the Repulsor Fields sealed against attacks. While there are large contigencies of regular human soldiers - they are used to keep the xenos, most usually kept in ghettos or in the mines in check.
A delicate balance had been established on Icarus Prime - as the Order hasn't shown any sign of any treasonous nor hostile intent and are known as near-fanatics of the Emperor. This has been aided by the fact, that the Ikath don't show their faces to any humans or xenos. Are heavily drilled warriors, whom have taken suicidal odds in the Emperor' name and that nobody but their Grandmasters harbor the 'Truth'. And only a select few high human leaders have seen the faces of any Ikath. The average person doesn't know much of the Order - except that they are loyal, guardians and sub-human yet not known why. Their status as humans offering them better protection against scrutiny than xenos - yet their sub-human nature proving a great deterrent against any normal humans wishing to join them.
Icarus Prime is known as a stable, albeit dangerous planet - namely cause the Order keeps the deadly Vespen at bay and the Empire' armies keep the xenos down. This however, has left a major flaw in the delicate system. Namely cause the Empire' Army has suffered from stagnation, corruption and lack of experience - since most of the heavy rebellions have been crushed decades ago. With any rebellions nowadays being easily crushed - leaving the army vunerable to any massive Vespen attacks, should the Order for some 'mysterious' reason stop obeying them.
While the Icarus Order has kept their skills sharp and warriors trained for centuries - slowly awaiting for the 'Sign' the time to, let the corruption be burned away.
Important characters:
Grandmaster of Vision; Alexius Harakam
Alexius is the
de-facto leader of the Order - his duty being to communicate with the Empire' authority on Icarus Prime and also choosing the fate and future policies of the Order. Amongst the Imperial humans, he has been known as a rather more reactionist leader than his predecessors. Namely as Alexius has taken a more larger interest in daily activities of the planet - beyond keeping Vespen away from the mines and cities. This has however, been a false front - as Alexius is somewhat of a radical, believing the 'Change' is coming and as such, has faith it will arrive soon. His closest ally is Lucius Empath.
Grandmaster of War; Lucius Empath
Lucius is the Order' most elite combatant - compared to his Grandmaster of Combat, he doesn't command the Order' forces from afar or plans strategies; rather he charges into the fray alongside the other Knights and Paladins. He is forerunning expert on the Vespen and nearly all forms of Ikath combat.
Description of Military: Their forces are split into five Chapters - each of which, is overseen by a specific Grandmaster and tasked for such operations. This make each Chapter specialized in a particular field yet all of them are trained daily in physical combat and fighting.
Down the Chapters are divided into Paladins whom are in charge of leading the Knights and if-need be Initiates into battle. The number of people under a Paladin' depends on the Chapter - as they can have any from a few dozen to a thousand.
Technology: Compared to the EOM' technology, the Order is rather scarce. Namely cause for several centuries they had organized a policy of self-sufficiency and adapting to changing circumstances almost at the flip of a switch. As such, the Order makes due with recycling and refurbishing older yet more durable technology.
Their armor and plating are older models or made from older blueprints - back when the EOM used more hard-hitting and durable forces to brake the Xeno' Empires. This has been customized and upgraded with local improvements - namely having the skin of Vespen' beasts sewn into the underskin of the armor. Making all Order' soldiers tough, durable and difficult to take-down.
One technology they have almost religiously kept updated and for centuries upgraded - is the Power-Sheathe System. Namely the core used in Power arms - like Power swords, axes, polearms and poleaxes. It is what gives the Order' weapons the sharpness to cut through many materials, hides and even armoring. Based of old combat-blades that vibrated at certain frequencies to allow for increased sharpness in various edged-weapons.
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