[hider=WIP Sheet] [center][b][h1]Aldarshu Order[/h1][/b] [h3]Any less official names your nation or its people may have[/h3][/center] [h2][b]General Information[/b][/h2] [h3]Minor Belligerent[/h3] [h3][b]Overview[/b][/h3] The Aldarshu are four armed, draconic humanoids that physically tower over most sentient species of the galaxy. A designer species built from the ground up to be a terrifying shock trooper, they proved too powerful to control and in time broke free of their bondage, shattering the empire built on their backs and driving their slavers into distant stars. While many assumed a species bred for battle would devolve into anarchy and infighting, the Aldarshu proved themselves to be the exception, tempering their warlike nature and building an empire on a code of honor and the rule of law that could stand among the other, natural races of the galaxy. [h3][b]History[/b][/h3] [hider=The Nezath Directive, pre-Ashtar] The Aldarshu were the creation of the Nezath Directive, a moderate power on the galactic stage established long before the Ashtar arrived in this part of the universe. The Directive is populated entirely by the Nezath, a bipedal humanoid creature whose appearance is hidden behind containment suits. The reasoning for this is largely unknown; their xenophobia and relative isolation have prevented anyone from really getting close enough to find out, and their planet's temperate climate doesn't seem to necessitate the suits. The most plausible theory is that the Nezath possess a severely compromised immune system, either from a fluke of genetics or a mutation brought on by chemical or nuclear warfare. The need to manage their health would explain how their primary contribution to the galaxy, besides the occasional military foray, was their highly advanced biotech and medical technology, some of it benevolent and truly innovative, but most of it relating to their most notorious practice; tank breeding. With a weakened physical form, few resources to dedicate to heavy industrial machines, and a relatively isolated empire with few species to use as labor, the Nezath were infamous for their practice of creating tank-bred species to perform tasks for them. The Tankers, as some called them, were customized for specific tasks, be it hard labor, military service, or even administrative tasks, and many were built with incredibly short lifespans and a fanatical desire to serve the whims of their Nezath overlords. They regarded the Tankers as tools to be used and fitted to perform tasks, and even sold "models" to criminal elements or unscrupulous governments for quite a fine price. One of these tank bred races were the Yuu-Wen 5 (Nezath for Legion Model 5), a massive, four-armed draconic race designed to be an unstoppable force on the battlefield. Gifted with an innate knowledge of combat and tactics, as well as an extremely resilient durability, the fifth model was unique in that it could not be programmed with the same kill switch that the other Tankers possessed. This was not a problem of course, as like all military units in the Directive their purpose was to be fed into the meat grinder of battle until the day was won. The Fifth model would merely last longer, and there was always going to be a good war to throw them into. After all, the Nezath Directive were not shy about going after weak targets or taking decisive action when a chance arose to quash a threat or secure a valuable commodity. Who could hope to stand against them?[/hider] [hider=Rebellion on Aldarshu] To say the Directive was blindsided by the arrival of the Ashtar would have been an understatement. They were in fact the first to be made examples of when their fleet was utterly annihilated in a preemptive strike on the enigmatic newcomers. This defeat forced the Directive onto the back foot, and for a time it looked as though the formerly cold and heartless Nezath was preparing to rethink its place in the galaxy, open up to outsiders and change from what they were. And then the unthinkable happened; a Yuu-Wen 5 refused an order. It was a doomsday scenario thought to be impossible. With no wars to cull the population, the same resistance that prevented the shortened lifespan from being effected caused the mental hold the Nezath had on their tank bred soldiers to decay. The Nezath position grew desperate, their attempts to cull the population hampered by their devastating losses against the Ashtar, but in time it became clear that their best soldiers, bred to be the most terrifying effective fighting force in the galaxy, had grown completely out of their control. Disobedience became violence. Violence became rioting. Riots became rebellions. And at long last, on the planet Aldarshu, a band of the tank-bred soldiers, slaves to a brutal despotic empire, raised a flag over the tallest building. The rebellion on Aldarshu was the straw that broke the camel's back. With a cause and a banner to rally behind, the Yuu-Wen 5 shed their designation numbers and took the name of the first of their kind to rally for freedom. The rebellion tore through the Directive's holdings like a firestorm, and planet after planet fell before the righteous fury of the Aldarshu. The Directive was utterly devastated, losing the majority of their empire, including their home planet, and it was only the intervention of the Ashtar that saved them from being wiped out entirely. The Nezath population scattered throughout the galaxy, and what was left of the leadership set up a government in exile that was adopted by the Sigma-Jalaryian Ascendancy as a client state and later absorbed into the Ascendancy itself, ending the nightmare of Aldarshu enslavement at last.[/hider] [hider=The Forging and the Great War] Born in fire and fury, the Aldarshu would have probably burned itself out if the Ashtar hadn't intervened heavily on their behalf, helping to keep opportunistic powers away and working to repair the damage done in the massive uprising (a fact that perturbs many of the remaining Nezath, since they got no help by the Ashtar when the Aldarshu rose up). Peace and stability gave the Aldarshu the chance to see themselves outside of the scope of war, and it was here, during a time called the Forging, where this legion of tank-bred soldiers became a proper galactic nation. Building a strong, stable government with a military sheen, this time period saw rapid industrialization, the advent of public services and education, and most notably the opening of the formerly closed off Nezath core worlds, bringing in new people and new ideas to help the fledgling nation grow into its own image. They never stopped being soldiers though, and even in the peace time years the Aldarshu's skill and tenacity as warriors shone through, if not in their battles then in their culture, beliefs, and even their government. And they had long memories as well, thus it was only natural that when the Ashtar suddenly and mysteriously vanished, they were among the first to jump into the Great War, battling it out against the protectors of their ancient masters and proving they had not lost their edge in those peaceful decades. [/hider] [hider=The Dying Crisis] While the march towards war was a welcome return for the Aldarshu, all was not well. While the Order was more prosperous and powerful then ever, a national crisis has emerged in the form of falling birth rates. Unable to reproduce on their own, the Aldarshu created their young the same way their masters did, just without aging them immediately to adulthood or brainwashing them, and the genetic code that is used to create the Aldarshu young is starting to degrade, leaving newborns to die before they take their first breath. It's a crisis of the highest order, and the only real hope for the race seeking to avoid their own sudden mortality is Agdemnar, and a stash of Ashtar tech that may contain the secret to saving their race from extinction. It will be a hard fought battle, but the Aldarshu fought hard battles before. They won't let everything they've built go out without a fight. [/hider] [h3][b]Major Holdings[/b][/h3] Your capital world, your favourite starbase, the key places in your Nation etc. [h2][b]Demographics[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Population[/b][/h3] The population of Aldarshu Order planets is, naturally, overwhelmingly Aldarshu. [h3][b]Society[/b][/h3] The Aldarshu were quite literally born and bred to be a military, [h3][b]Economy[/b][/h3] This could go under society if you like. Mostly just make it clear up front if you’re an industrial powerhouse, a nation of refined master artisans, etc. Also things people might want to know for trading purposes. [h3][b]Government[/b][/h3] The Aldarshu government is one that the ancient Prussians on Earth would have been proud of. [h2][b]Technological Information[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Major Techs[/b][/h3] Mostly interested in military techs, here: FTL, weapons, shields, armor, power, engines, etc. Civilian techs are also here, and sometimes just as important. [h2][b]Military Information[/b][/h2] [h3][b]Military Overview[/b][/h3] Describe general doctrine, history, whatever floats your space boats. [h3][b]Fleet/Navy[/b][/h3] Your space boats. Include pics or don’t, I’m not your supervisor. You’ll probably want to have one or two of most of the classes, but it doesn’t really matter too much. I’m also including some flavour options here that you might want to consider. In short, the history of the galaxy has divied up ship designs into three waves: Great War (ships built before and during the Great War), Detente (ships built during the Detente, some wonky designs in the larger classes due to treaty limitations), and Modern (ships built in the year since the message) [b]DO NOT put your hyperdread here, it gets its own section.[/b] Dreadnoughts: Only a few were built before the end of the Great War, the destructive potential of these vessels was a major contributor to ending the conflict. Those old ones are pretty obsolete, and any new ones are only just coming into service (mostly in secret) due to the Treaty of Detente banning their construction. Battleships: The grand old ladies that did all the fighting of the Great War. The Treaty of Detente imposed limitations on their sizes and destructive potential, so if you want to get intricate there’s 3 waves of battleships: Great War, Detente, and Modern. Great War is self explanatory, old sluggers and antiques. Detente battleships were awkward creations involving all kinds of elaborate ways to get around the Treaty without actually violating it. Lots of glass cannon designs here, or iron fortresses that couldn’t scratch eachother’s paint, or half baked experimental weapon systems, or novel propulsion methods that only work if nobody on board sneezes. Modern battleships are just coming into service, and are quite deadly. Battlecruisers: The treaty of Detent also limited battlecruisers, in an effort to avoid just slightly reducing the size of ship involved in any potential arms race. Similar design iterations to Battleships; Great War, Detente, and Modern. Detente battlecruisers were often cripplingly overspecialized: dedicated point defence ships, artillery vessels, mass shielding vessels, etc. Battlecruiser designs from the Detente period were often put together as a way to shore up the weaknesses of their contemporaneous Battleship partners. Cruisers: Nothing special here. Destroyers: Still nothing special. Frigates: Nope. Corvettes: Corvettes can be thought of in several iterations just kidding I don’t care what you do with these things. Unless you try to just upscale what I’m trying to avoid with strike craft. Strike craft: K I’m actually gonna sort of limit these things, or rather, the things that carry them around. Strike craft have long been an important part of space combat, so most nations have them and defences against them. Historically, they’ve been used as close in support; no one’s yet figured out how to strap useful FTL drives on the things. All this means that long range strikes aren’t practical. What I’m trying to get at is Carrier’s aren’t really a thing, or at least dedicated carriers aren’t. Plenty of room for Battlestar type things (fighty-boats with a solid complement of strike craft), but no dropping off a carrier squadron on one side of the system then expecting your strikecraft to win the fight on the other side. A notable exception is your Hyperdread. Do whatever you want with your super special awesome boat. [h3][b]Army/Planetary forces[/b][/h3] Outline some doctrine, highlight some major units. I’m not great at doing ground forces so not much guidance here. ANNNDDD [h3][b]Hyperdread[/b][/h3] Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice. [/hider]