Name of nation: The Hocklyn Slaver Empire
Species: Hocklyn
Hocklyns are a very peculiar race when you take into account their natural biology. Naturally, they are crystalline where we are squishy- that is, they evolved from a planet that was more crystal, wafer, and the like than the moss, grass, trees, animals, etc., that humans came from. That being said, they can't be entirely crystalline- they would not be able to move if they were. Rather, the crystal that makes up their 'skin' is similar to our skin and layer of fat. Hard, thick, coil-like muscle is underneath, the coiling effect allowing for stronger, slower movement rather than the faster, relatively weaker movement of a human. As such, a Hocklyn of equal size to a human would be much more powerful- able to toss the human back with a single hit- but much slower, primarily in redirection. They can swing fast, but not change it to get a moving target, see.
A Hocklyn's eyes are that of my former application's mass detection of the Valkians- that is, they have no eyes. Rather, they send out a slightly radioactive signal- that is, a wave of very dilute, very unusual gamma radiation- which goes out and bounces back once for everything it hits. The wave can only go through so much before it stops- the denser and thicker something is, the less they'll see beyond it. Make it thick enough, and they can't see for crap. Light and dark means little to them, as do trees, plants, etc. However, some Hocklyns see through cybernetic implants with light-detecting sensors, which leads to some places being lighted and decorated.
Hocklyns have also started making a habit of getting cybernetic implants- all fighters all must have neural ports so that they can interface with their fighters and bombers, while many bridge crews get memory and thought speed enhancement devices. Many of the most elite soldiers, and all but one of the Hierarchy Council, have undergone extensive modification, making them more machine than Hocklyn, resulting in a Hocklyn-shaped cyborg, that acts and thinks like a Hocklyn, with the abilities of a computer and the strength of a armor suit. The picture at the top of the app is one such example.
Description of government:
A sort of autocracy, with absolute power placed in a Hierachy- a council, of sorts, made of 5 members. These members are the highest ranking of the 5 military branches- hence the autocractic society. They act as one, with the decisions and problem-solving of five.
Description of military:
Powerful, since it is both the labor force and the security- it keeps the slaves in line, gets more slaves, and protects the empire against external threat. Acts as the primary source of Honor for individuals and clans. A force of weapons as mixed as human opinions, from mass accelerator cannons to beam weapons, they use anything and everything to make their military as effective as possible.
Infantry divisions
... consist of elite squads- there are few large-number 'armies,' due to the ineffectiveness of armies due to advanced technology. Each of these squads- often know as quads- are groups of four that work independently based on intelligence from CentCom and other quads in the area. There is a rifleman, capable of both mid-range combat with a semi-automatic rifle, and with the ability to add modular upgrades that extend the range and precision for long-range shots. The second solder in a quad is often armed with a support machine gun, likely a flechette weapon that fires dozens of high-velocity bursts of tiny fragments, meant to shred and force enemies into cover. A third soldier carries longer-ranged communication equipment, and is often armed with an assault rifle and a support weapon- likely a grenade launcher or Special Target Elimination System, or STES launcher, which has four barrels that launch 40mm missiles of differing payload. They are often dropped in sub-orbital drop pods, in a dropship, and are sometimes accompanied by a light infantry support vehicle, or four attack bikes, which are armed based on the situation.
Armored divisions
... consist of similar small-team tactics, utilizing Hex squads, which are 6-unit groups of armored walkers, which range from two meters tall to ten meters. Most often, a Hex squad consists of one anti-air walker, often designated a "Swatter", armed with a fast-targeting Surface-to-Air Defense System, which is essentially a 37mm autocannon loaded with high-explosive rounds with light armor-penetrating capabilities. Swatters are also armed with a grenade launcher and another autocannon, loaded with armor-piercing ballistic-capped rounds in a 20mm cannon, which can be used to cause high damage in a small area- that is, shooting through something and shredding the area immediately around its trajectory. Two walkers are armed with similar dual 37mm high-velocity autocannons, which are armed with similar rounds to the armor-piercing ballistic-capped rounds, also known as APBC rounds. These guns fire alternatively, allowing for the walker to fire a constant stream of the otherwise slower-firing weapons, which fire a round once a second. Two more walkers are armed with more support capbilities, wielding only one 37mm anti-vehicle cannon with APBC rounds, and with a 40mm grenade launcher that fires higher-payload, low-velocity grenades similar to the STES. Grenades range from high-explosive to gas. The last vehicle is often a command walker, which is armed with powerful communications, and with a 75mm autocannon that fires once every five seconds, armed with high explosive, full armor-penetrating rounds, and APBC rounds. Most generally used for longer-range artillery or for taking out enemy heavy units.
... also consist of heavy and light armored units, primarily lighter infantry support vehicles such as 50mm high-velocity armed light tanks, Adaptable Infantry Support Vehicles- AISVs- that are essentially just four-to-eight-man troop armored vehicles, acting more as a car than a light tank, despite a smaller 23mm MG mounted on top, or a 30mm grenade launcher. Occasionally seen with a 37mm anti-air autocannon mounted, with half the passenger space repurposed for ammunition and to reinforce the vehicle to handle the much larger cannon. Heavy vehicles include multiple heavy tanks and walkers- primarily tanks. As said before, military vehicles use heavy rubber tires rather than tracks, due to their environment and their emphasis on speed. Heavy tanks are 8-wheeled heavily armored vehicles resembling Russian IS-series vehicles, with slanted armor and somewhat rounded turrets, armed with 105mm high-velocity long-barreled cannons for increased accuracy and range. Modifications to the tank have yielded an anti-air variety, with an open-top turret and four 37mm autocannons replacing the 105mm main armament, and another variant has been armed with missiles rather than autocannons or a cannon. The last variant is armed with a beam turret, a squatter, wider turret with triangular short barrel. When firing, three guidance laserlights emit from the three corners of the triangle to mark its target before firing- like all Hocklyn weapons, the beam is an instantaneous burst, firing a superheated charge of particles in a single blast towards a target. While being more effective than any of the other weapons, the energy cost has deemed them somewhat inefficient, and are used more rarely, due to the need for upgraded engines.
Waterborn Naval divisions
... consist of the standard fare of fast attack destroyers armed with torpedoes, light to medium support cruisers armed with ballistic missiles or ICBMs, and heavier cruisers or light battleships armed with anywhere from one to eight long-range railguns. Submarines generally consist of larger, advanced ships armed with torpedoes and ICBMs, and are often the size of a medium cruiser to a light battleship, used as command posts and surprise attacks. They use a variety of technology to prevent them from being detected- more so than any of the other naval ships, since a single torpedo or lucky projectile can critically damage the ship's life support and pressurized hull, which results in the ship's implosion when deep under, or in the rapid flooding of the ship when under the surface. They generally have the maneuverability of a light cruiser or especially large destroyer. The only aircraft carriers are 400-meter long behemoths that can fly up to a thousand missions in a single day (Nimitz-class aircraft carriers (333-meters long) can fly up to 700, see) with its compliment of joint-strike fighters and multipurpose fighters.
Spaceborn Naval divisions
... consist of smaller attack fleets and the occasional command-and-resupply fleet. Most generally, a fleet will be nothing more than fifteen to forty smaller destroyers or cruisers, armed with a variety of weapons from drones, mines, missiles, beams, railguns, mass accelerator cannons, and torpedoes.
There is often a 25% composition of destroyers armed with torpedoes and built around a single mass accelerator cannon, which is used both for primary forward and backward propulsion, as well as a heavy-hitting weapon. This leaves the destroyers structurally inferior to other, solid ships. 50% of the fleet will be cruisers of different sizes, armed with longer-ranged torpedoes, missiles, and MACs, with railgun turret defenses of varying sizes. The last 25% of the fleet will be cruisers or destroyers armed with mines, drones, missiles, or built around a much larger mass accelerator cannon, also used for propulsion and offensive capability.
In larger fleets, 33% of the fleet is often made up of various larger ships, such as medium or heavy cruisers or a battleship or three, and always at least one carrier, armed with a large amount of fighters and bombers for anti-capital ship purposes, and for removing hostile drones and bombers. Another 33% of the fleet is made up of lightly armed, more heavily shielded cargoships carrying ammunition, supplies, marines, and fuel. Sometimes a cargoship will also be a research vessel, capable of analyzing hostile tactics and strategics during a battle, and providing valuable counters. The last 33% of the fleet is made up of a variety of destroyers, all using mass accelerator cannons for both propulsion and offensive capability, and are armed with either a package of drones and mines, or torpedoes and drones.
Defense stations are positioned strategically in orbit around Hocklyn worlds to control and direction drones and fighters
Technological Overview:
Primarily physical and technological in nature- no magic here. Slight traces of psionic powers have been found within the Hocklyn ranks, likely due to the willpower and strength of the individual that is encouraged and reinforced in the military. The Hocklyns primarily prefer high-velocity kinetic weapons, powerful energy burst weapons, and when the situation calls for it, fighters escorting bombers that deploy shorter-ranged 'torpedoes,' which are large and can do devastating damage due to their higher payload yield.
Hocklyn Mass Accelerator Cannons- commonly known as MACs to many intergalactic species- is a weapon that uses a series of magnetic rings to create a field to launch particles or mass in a single direction. This can be used to propel a ship, or to launch projectiles from the surface of a planet into orbit, or to fire high velocity slugs into enemy ships. They are a very versatile tool for the Hocklyns- one genius commander even used it to launch a series of marine orbital drop pods into a damaged ship- deploying a squad immediately into the depths of an enemy cruiser.
Hocklyn beam weapons- Hocklyn beam weapons come from a variety of manufacturers and in different flavors, but most generally, Hocklyn beam weapons are single-burst 'magazines' that send a relatively instantaneous burst of supercharged particles. In effect, the weapon is just an instant (or near instant) burst of heated particles. Rather than a penetrating effect, the blast of particles often splash against the target, creating a large area where the hull is damaged, and is being slowly eaten away by superheated particles. The end result is usually a fair amount of armor in a splatter pattern eaten away and exposed, covered with a grittier, rougher alloy that is formed in the aftermath of the beam.
Hocklyn torpedoes- Hocklyns have invested significant time and money into the torpedoes that are used on smaller destroyers and on bombers or special fighters. Similar to their waterborn counterparts, torpedoes are often limited-movement warheads with a single propulsion system. Larger than standard missiles, torpedoes do far more damage due to dual warheads- one for penetrating, another behind it for blasting- and because they are much larger the average missile- the largest torpedo can be as large as a school bus. They are designed to do heavy, heavy damage, and to cripple a ship as soon as possible. Getting hit by a torpedo means that that the hull will more than likely be breached by the armor-piercing warhead. The secondary warhead follows just afterward- detonating just afterwards, in an attempt to blow open an even larger hole, and to spread as much shrapnel through as many rooms as possible. A single torpedo can cripple a ship, because not only does it blow a hole in the armor, it also blows smaller holes all throughout the area it detonated at. A single-hulled ship would find many rooms and hallways around the blast site open to the void- their occupants dead from the vacuum.
Hocklyn FTL- They have two forms of FTL, common to many nations- gates and drives. Hocklyns use the term 'porting' for when they warp to another place. Like most basic FTL technology, FTL gates are known as Port Gates, which take up large amounts of power to hold open a permanent, nearly instantaneous 'portal' to another place. Due to the limited technological achievements of the Hocklyns in the area of FTL, the portal must be a closed circuit ring to create a portal- that is, if the giant circle that has the portal between it is no longer a circle because there is a hole in the edge of it, then the portal shuts down and the energy is released most violently- often resulting in the destruction of both Port Gates and anything inside or near them. FTL drives, which are installed on independently-porting ships, take up a great deal of energy and expend a great deal of heat. Because of this, jump drives are always close to the hull, within their own secondary bubble of shielding and armor, and their position is usually marked by a larger-than-average number of vents and heat sinks to keep it from being damaged, or from overheating and blowing the entire ship up.
Hocklyn stealth technology- Because of the small-unit tactics that the Hocklyns often employ, it's been found to be extremely beneficial to be unseen. Thus, stealth technology is an in-progress avenue of study, with the most experimental prototype only being able to be installed in a medium-sized destroyer. If a smaller destroyer has it, it will not be able to produce enough power for it. If a larger destroyer or ship has it, then the ship will be too large to be effectively 'stealthed.' Prototypes are invisible to standard radar and scanning, but produce large amounts of heat and radiation, which makes them somewhat easy targets. This prevents stealth technology from being used in the field until alternatives can be implemented to prevent such leakage.
Cultural Overview:
"Honor is how others see you. Pride is how you see yourself."
The Hocklyns have a heavy emphasis on Honor and Reputation. While the form of money, "Vels", are used, Honor is often a measurable amount that is given to soldiers, leaders, workers, etc., based on their performance in different tasks. Panicking and surrendering is a severe loss of honor; dying in a burn of glory in the midst of overwhelming enemies leads to one's family and clan getting a large amount of honor. The Hocklyns honor each other for great deeds, and shun those who are not so honor-bound. In addition to honor- which can get one discounts and the like, making even smaller wages stump larger ones- there is Reputation, which is almost like a given rank. There are hundreds of titles that are often given to soldiers, ranging from assassin-y types to politcal titles, to back-stabbing names and such. Having a period of low reputation will forever taint one's record, and will forever haunt them with the contempt of friends, families, and country. Thus, most Hocklyns are very determined, practically suicidal creatures that will often run themselves through with their own sword, than let themselves be captured or even tortured.
History:
The Hocklyns were not always brutal. They were hard, and harsh, but not always to the point that they are now. Long story short, they were a race like the humans, just with more military focus. They had twice the wars in twice the time, their warmongering leading to many periods of frenzied technological development- the encouragement of death and destruction leading to significant military, medical, and other scientific achievements. In the Hocklyn's version of World War II, they were using primitive railguns as smaller, .50 caliber MG-sized artillery weapons, launching slugs into the battlefield from a strategic position, faster, more accurately, and more efficiently than mortars or tanks. Tanks used thick rubber tires instead of tracks, because the rubber tires proved to be more adaptable to the sharp, crystalline environment of their homeworld.
Throughout these periods, the Hocklyn's honor system often lead to fast reproduction- birthing a large family is a very honorable deed- and despite the losses in battles, it's often shown that populations burst near the end of the wars, or post-war, far more greatly than America's Baby Boom, four times after each of the World Wars.
The last World War was fought on the planet itself, and in space in fledgeling interplanetary warships- at its conclusion, it was decided to turn focus outwards. While individual states inside the Hierarchy still scrabble for dominance, they've all mostly come together to spread throughout the galaxy, and spread their spoils more or less evenly with each other. As they spread through their rather dense cluster of stars, they quickly found other life- which they, through a nearly unanimous decision, decided to enslave, each and every time. Sentient species were enlightened to facts about the world, the system, and the galaxy, and then they were put under the yoke to power the Hocklyn Slaver Empire. At this moment, they have claimed a half-dozen other primitive sentient races to carry their war machine.
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