This application is incomplete, but I wanted to post what I had now. I'll finish this later. I'm still trying to figure out how large the fleet should be, and what I should be using for comparison when designing how large the fleet is.

A rough summary of this faction is: A small branch of an elite mercenary group that has taken an interest in this part of space and is exploring it for the sake of adventure.

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[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb-gUVIqChk]Fitting Music[/url]
[b]Faction Name:[/b] The Black Sun Company; the Black Suns; the 72nd Black Sun Expeditionary Fleet
[b]Faction Type:[/b] Elective Statocracy
[b]Species:[/b] There are three species within the faction, though each originated on the same planet, and all are reptilian in appearance. They are...

Komeleons - The most common of the three species, Komeleons typically have a height range between four and five feet, though there are some especially short and tall members of their species due to genetic mutations. While not physically daunting, these tailed, clawed, bipedal lizards have an innate cunning and a natural ability to blend in with their surroundings. They also regenerate rather quickly, growing back lost limbs in a matter of days, and are highly resistant to disease. Their natural scale colors are any shade of brown, gray, or green, and their monochrome eyes are usually yellow or white. A rare few members of the species have black scales. Komeleons are very adaptable, and serve in just about any role in their society, but do tend to prefer stealth over brute force. Their personalities vary as widely as humanity's, though a history of conflict and tactical training instill in them some warlike tendencies.

Slithers - These snake-like entities do not need legs; instead, they move as one would guess by their name: by slithering with their long tails.These nine foot long aliens have uncanny senses and matching reflexes, and they are incredibly strong in both their arms and their tails. They come in a variety of breeds: Some can spit acid, others have poisonous fangs, and most simply have an incredibly strong grip with which to strangle their prey. They are extremely patient and enjoy challenges of logic and the mind, and most Slithers in the Company have intellectual occupations, serving as historians, scientists, and mission operators.

Karnos - Big, violent, and cheerful to a fault, Karnos are carnivorous bipedal beasts of war, standing at a full ten feet tall and possessing broad shoulders, thick muscles, and a massive, toothy grin. They are not hateful creatures - far from it. Karnos simply enjoy fighting, and if someone happens to die in the act, well... Better luck next time! They share their Komeleon cousins' regenerative abilities, but lack all their subtlety. Their gross strength more than makes up for that, though. These reptiles have been known to bash reinforced steel doors down with their plated skulls.

[b]Scale and Territory:[/b] [i]Interstellar / Advanced Interstellar.[/i] The Black Sun Company does not have any actual home planets in the system; however, they do have a fully functional starbase (0723) and have occupied a jungle moon (1021). Patrols and transports move between the two worlds (path of 822 and 922).
[b]Culture:[/b] 
[center][i]"Let these be your watchwords: courage, cunning, and curiosity. Embody these ideals and make the Company proud."
~Captain Gavona Iross, battlefield legend and twice recipient of the [/i]Mark of Heroes[/center]

The Black Sun Company is a group of mercenaries dedicated to ideals of valor and adventure. The group is organized in a straightforward military fashion, with a ranked hierarchy based on individual merit and performance in battle or in administrative positions. The head of the Black Suns, known as the High Commander, is elected every twenty years (or less, if the leader dies prematurely) from a pool of noteworthy officers, and every member is allowed to vote. Exploration expeditions also have their own Expeditionary Commanders who answer only to High Command (consisting of the High Commander and his cabinet of officers) and have total control over their operations. The Black Suns detachment in this part of the galactic arm is led by one such Expeditionary Commander.

While they are a mercenary organization at their core, the Black Suns will not fight for causes they believe are morally reprehensible. This does not prevent them from fighting on the behalf of a morally ambiguous organization locked in a conflict with another morally ambiguous organization; but it does mean they would not, for example, help a group of slavers raid a relatively defenseless planet. Indeed, the Black Suns have earned a reputation for fighting for the underdog when it would not be the most logical choice to do so.

When not fighting for alien nations, the Black Suns are eagerly exploring the edges of the known universe, searching for lost alien technologies and artifacts, making first contact with distant worlds, and generally aiming to discover that which is undiscovered. They prefer peaceful contact over violent contact, but if a group of aliens should present themselves in a violent manner, they'll be more than happy to oblige. They also conduct salvaging operations whenever possible, tearing apart derelict ships and investigating abandoned worlds; deconstructing asteroids into usable metals has also proven to be one good way to turn a profit as well as maintain ship repairs. Calling the Black Suns "scavengers" might not be too far from the truth, though they do lend a helping hand to ships with living crew members.

Experience in either combat or exploration is a requirement for any promotion into the officer pool, which is one of the chief reasons so many young cadets eagerly join expeditions to the far reaches of the galaxy. Just as many hope to earn a Mark, a tattoo awarded to an individual for exceptional acts on the field of battle. The most prestigious of these is the [i]Mark of Heroes[/i], which is awarded only to those who display amazing levels of skill, valor, and discipline, especially in the face of overwhelming odds, and is usually only awarded posthumously. Marks such as these are highly regarded outside the Black Sun Company as well, and several esteemed veterans have left the military upon earning one to return home and run for political positions or to find a mate who can be impressed with the Mark (and the retirement salary that often comes with one).

The Company respects male and female members equally, though female members are more likely to prove themselves as capable combatants; they are naturally larger and stronger, and are better suited for warfare. There are also a number of religions represented in the Company, the most prominent of which is Akossa (a simple philosophy of self-actualization with an agnostic foundation); others include monotheistic and polytheistic religions, as well as other philosophies. None of these religions are banned, though some carry a certain stigma. There is also no rule barring promising members of races besides the Komeleons, Slithers and Karnos from joining, but members of other species are very rare.

Given their reptilian nature, the various races of the Company have a palette consisting largely of meats, fruits, and insects (with the Karnos eating meat exclusively). Eating a fallen opponent after a battle is considered abnormal, but acceptable, and there are many religious sects within the company that actually encourage their members to do so. Of course, there are vitamin-loaded rations which are distributed to the troops; they are the size of large pills, but one of them can sustain a Slither or Komeleon for a day and a Karno for eight hours, and each contains a balanced amount of vitamins and minerals. They are bland and have a sour aftertaste, but most Black Suns are grateful for them. As far as drinks go, augmented water is common fare, but most of the Suns prefer a drink with some kick to it, and there are a number of reptile-friendly beverages just for that purpose. (The drinks are not so friendly to members of most other species due to physiological reasons.)

It should be noted that the Black Suns, being a prestigious mercenary organization, have above average standards for accepting new members. Namely, applicants must have an above average intellect (according to a series of tests) and must pass an arduous physical exam upon the completion of their first six weeks of training. Thus, the men and women serving in the Company can be considered some of the finest specimen of their species. They know this and are proud of that fact.

Due to the length of these distant voyages across space, births are common within Black Suns expeditionary fleets. These eggs are placed in an extremely well-protected incubation chamber. Once they leave their shells, the hatchlings have the benefit of a military education and are allowed more leeway should they wish to join the Black Suns upon reaching adulthood. Most do, in fact, join the Company upon becoming of age, and even in their youth are usually assigned to technicians, engineers, repair crews and others as assistants, the better to develop an understanding of what their future duties will be like (as well as be useful members of the crew). 

[b]History:[/b] 
[center][i]"They blew up their own sun. Do you hear me? They blew up [/i]the freaking sun![i]"
~An Ulrathi survivor of the Last Battle of Nagos[/center][/i]

In a distant part of space, there existed a lone, distinctly Earth-like planet called Nagos. Its Pangaea was home to not one, not two, but three separate sentient species: the Komeleons, the Slithers, and the Karnos. The three species got along just fine... and then they met each other. The ensuing violence over contested resources spurred them into rapid technological development, quickly pulling them out of the medieval era and into industrial revolutions within the span of two hundred years.

The three species may have continued along this self-destructive path if not for the intervention of an intelligent alien race, known to the denizens of Nagos only as the Sages. The Sages came on behalf of an alliance of sentient races within the sector fighting for survival against alien invaders, the Ulrathi, bent on the total destruction or enslavement of all intelligent beings it came across. The Sages made the three species an offer: stop the fighting and join the Alliance of Independent Species, and they would uplift each species and provide them with the means to depend on themselves without needing to destroy each other. After much debate, each species agreed to accept the Sages' offer, and the aliens quickly equipped their new allies with the best weapons they could.

Even with the membership of the Nagos system, the Alliance of Independent Species was hard-pressed to fight the opponent they had before them. While they forced a stalemate at first, they slowly began to lose ground. Matters only became worse when a fleet of Ulrathi vessels performed a blitzkrieg maneuver through Alliance forces and bombarded the home planet of one of the member races until they surrendered. The war quickly swung in favor of the invaders, and the next planet the Ulrathi chose to attack was Nagos. This proved to be a grave mistake.

The citizens of Nagos were being loaded onto transport vessels by the Sages to be relocated to a secret base of operations just before the bulk of the Ulrathi fleet arrived. According to legend, one Karnos officer commented to his sister-in-arms, the Komeleon general Usani, "I'd blow up Nagos to keep them from taking it. I'd blow up the sun, too, if I could." Usani looked at the Kranos wide-eyed and exclaimed, "Brother, you're a genius!" before drawing up plans to do just that.

When the Ulrathi fleet arrived, a large force of Nagos combat vessels met them, buying time for the civilian transports to escape; thus began the Last Battle of Nagos. Once the refugees had done escaped, the Nagos fleet shifted to defend a single ship loaded with several extremely powerful explosives. When the Ulrathi figured out what was going on, it was too late: the explosive-loaded vessel flew straight into the core of the sun, causing it to supernova and wipe out most of the Ulrathi and Nagos fleets. Alliance forces were able to sweep in and mop up the remaining Ulrathi vessels. The war was won, but with a heavy price: the entire Nagos system was lost. The Komeleons, Slithers, and Karnos had no homeworld.

Some of the Nagos refugees set up colonies on suitable planets with the help of the Alliance. Most simply became members of other species' societies. General Ura Usani, however, had survived the Last Battle of Nagos, and she knew that the Alliance would not last long now that the greater threat was dealt with. She decided to create a mercenary company to take advantage of future wars, one that would be led by the highly capable Nagos peoples, and influence sector politics through military might. She created the Black Sun Company, implementing high standards of recruitment to ensure that only the best and brightest would make it into the force. 

That was five centuries ago. The Black Suns have since grown beyond their sector and are now inspired as much by a desire to discover new worlds as to influence local politics. Black Suns vessels traverse the vastness of the galaxy, plunging into territories previously unknown to species from their sector. The expedition in this corner of space hopes to make first contact with some new and interesting species... And, perhaps, find a few jobs.

[b]Technology:[/b] 

[i]Warp Gates[/i] - The Black Suns utilize the FTL technology given to them by their former allies, the Sages. This technology functions around the simple concept that in order to move faster than light, a given particle should be lighter than light. Thus, the best method to move something faster than light is to [i]turn it into such a substance.[/i] This technique involves the opening of a "gateway" into which coordinates are transmitted; the given vessel(s) then flies straight into the gateway. After the vessel(s) is completely within the ship, it and all its contents are deconstructed immediately, and the data of each object is saved in the gateway. The gate then closes, and the lighter-than-light particles are transferred across whatever distance is meant to be crossed until the given destination is reached. A new gateway opens there, and the vessel(s) is rematerialized from the particles according to the code stored in the gateway. The vessel(s) and all its occupants will be in the exact state they were in before they left. All stored information in the gateway is destroyed immediately as the gateway exit closes.

There are dangers related to the use of this technology, referred to as 'Warp Gate technology.' For one, if the gateway is somehow damaged while the vessel(s) is in the deconstructive or reconstructive processes, the data storing the ship's information is damaged, causing the rematerialized vessel(s) to be unstable and immediately explode upon being reconstructed. In light of this severe oversight, Black Sun manuals advise that anyone using War Gate technology avoid doing so in the midst of a firefight, and note that gating from or to a hostile zone is extremely dangerous. Any vessel in the warping process must be on high alert in case any enemy forces attempt to sabotage the Warp Gate. Furthermore, warping in or out of asteroid fields is strictly prohibited. Preparing a vessel for passage through a gateway is also a time-consuming process that can leave the ship vulnerable to attack.

[i]Invasion Pods[/i] - When it comes down to it, the Black Suns are better at fighting with handheld weapons or in hand-to-hand combat than in ship-versus-ship combat. There is also a commonly spoken phrase among the Company: "A weapon destroyed is a weapon wasted." Invasion pods combine the Black Suns' specialty in combat with their conservation-of-resources ideology. Essentially, Invasion Pods are non-explosive missiles with protective fields around them are designed to penetrate basic shields and most hulls. Once an enemy vessel has been breached, these pods unload a large number of Black Suns marines onto the enemy vessel, each trained for a variety of missions: Capture, subdual, killing, sabotage, and reconnaissance. Every ship in the Black Suns fleet is equipped with at least a few of these, and captured vessels are quickly modified to be capable of firing a few of them at the enemy.

[i]Shield Breakers[/i] - Since the use of Invasion Pods is a popular tactic in the Company, any defenses preventing the Pods from reaching their intended target must be stripped away. Enter the Shield Breaker: a supercharge blast of energy designed to be fired in a single, powerful shot. If the blast strikes the ship's hull (whether by shattering the enemy's shields first or having enough power to punch through them), the Shield Breakers release pulses that destabilize the ship's systems, hopefully including the power or shield generators. A successful shot allows Invasion Pods to punch through relatively unhindered. These weapons have a considerably long range.

[i]Fighters[/i] - A core component of any Black Sun fleet is its fighters. While not every vessel is designed to carry Fighters, there are a number of specialized carrier vessels. These fighters are fast, mobile, and durable, but lack a serious punch. They fight best as a swarm, dropping small bombs on enemy vessels and harrying them with a flurry of bullets.

[i]Other Weapons[/i] - Most of the other weapons on board Black Sun vessels are rather run-of-the-mill: heavy ballistic cannons, basic beam weaponry, and ship-sized machine guns. They are all designed for up close and personal encounters, meaning that the only weapons most Company ships have to contend with opponents from a distance are their Shield Breakers, and not every ship is equipped with them.

[i]On-Board Factories[/i] - Because the Black Suns go on such long journeys, they make certain they can live comfortably and efficiently aboard their vessels. The Black Suns need to be able to make repairs as they go, as well as construct and design new equipment they may need on their journey. To this end, the Black Suns ensure that each large ship in their fleet is equipped with an On-Board Factory complete with semi-intelligent robotic assistants. Within these factories, asteroid chunks and scrap metal can be deconstructed to their base metals, and then new devices can be made from the resulting material. Smaller vessels simply do not have the capacity to hold these sort of facilities.

[i]Shifting Shields[/i] - Black Sun vessels are equipped with fairly standard shields capable of absorbing a few solid shots before collapsing. However, they also possess the ability to "shift" their shields in a specific direction, weakening their defenses in another. This bolsters their defenses in one direction, but leaves their hull exposed in another.

[b]Military Forces:[/b] The 72nd Black Sun Expeditionary Fleet contains both combat and non-combat vessels, though even the non-combat vessels are equipped with some basic weapons to defend themselves. The makeup of the fleet is as follows:

[i]Usani,[/i] Fleet Mothership - While it is approximately one hundred years old, [i]Usani[/i] is nevertheless a massive and magnificent vessel. It is named after the Black Sun Company's founder, High Commander Ura Usani, and boasts a whole series of Shield Breaker Cannons, numerous missile silos, fighter bays and fifty Invasion Pod launch bays. It serves as the headquarters of the fleet, complete with all the necessary living arrangements one may need. It is the most valuable ship in the fleet, and is purposely kept away from the melee of space combat as compared to in the thick of it (which is in sharp contrast with the design principle of most other Black Sun vessels). It hosts exactly three hundred one-man fighter vessels. Docking bays for vessels of up to destroyer size exist. Most of the Black Suns in the 72nd Expeditionary Fleet like to spend their downtime aboard this vessel or at the Black Sun Space Station in region 0723.

Two [i]Warlord[/i] class cruisers - These large ships are designed with Fighters and Invasion Pods in mind. Simply put, these carriers are hornet nests. They have minimal defensive weaponry and instead rely on releasing a swarm of Fighters to defend themselves while boarding the enemy vessels with Invasion Pods. Both carry eighty Fighters and half as many Invasion Pods. They are rather slow in combat.

Three [i]Sunburst[/i] class destroyers - If the [i]Warlord[/i] cruisers are hornet nests, then the [i]Sunbursts[/i] are the magnifying glass that turns ants into ash. Like the mothership, they use the unconventional design principle of "being far away;" namely, they also have a series of Shield Breakers and other powerful beam weapons and are designed to blast opposing vessels from a distance. Generally, [i]Sunburst[/i] vessels soften the enemy up so the rest of the fleet can board or destroy the enemy fleet.

Eight [i]Warrior[/i] class destroyers - The [i]Warrior[/i] is a vessel that embodies Black Sun ship-to-ship combat ideals: It has moderate mobility and defense, but brings to bear a considerably payload of weaponry once it gets within close range. The Warrior uses mostly heavy-hitting, single-shot weaponry - hyper-explosive shells and heavy beams form the mainstay of its arsenal - but also carries a number of Invasion Pods.

Twenty [i]Brawler[/i] class frigates - Essentially a smaller, more mobile version of the [i]Warlord[/i], Brawlers perform the same role in a fight. Their payload is not as powerful, and they are designed with agility in mind. Brawler weaponry is focused on "broadsiding" their opponent, passing them by and shooting them at the same time.

Six [i]Glory[/i] class frigates - Because the tactics used in the Last Battle of Nagos were so successful, the Black Suns have incorporated the principle of "make suicidally big explosions" into their military doctrine. [i]Glory[/i] class frigates have a reinforced hull and are tougher to penetrate than [i]Brawlers[/i]; they're just as mobile, too. Their weaponry seems lackluster at first, but their real purpose lies with the series of highly advanced explosives they have shoved inside their hulls. These ships will self-detonate as a last resort, and the resulting explosion is... destructive, to say the least. They are kept in reserve in most battles for precisely this reason, and are manned by only the bravest marines. The words "Ramming speed" have a very grim meaning to those who man this class of frigate.

Ten [i]Explorer[/i] class frigates - These ships are capable of fighting, but are not designed with combat in mind. They serve non-combat purposes mostly: debris harvesting, material transportation, troop transportation, research and outpost construction among them. They have decent speed and considerable armor, but their weapons consist mostly of short-range cannons and manned point-defense guns.

While the Black Sun fleet may not be the best available, their marines are an entirely different story. Black Sun marines are renowned for their tenacity, skill, and tactical understanding.

[i]Marines[/i] - Black Sun marines are equipped with a variety equipment depending on their given mission (and also on their given specialty). Komeleon marines typically wield the ever-dependable [i]Lancer 49[/i], a highly advanced semi-automatic rifle equipped with a scope and camera, as well as the capacity to readjust so that it can shoot around corners at the click of a button. Most marines also have claws strapped to the forearms capable of punching through almost any body armor. Plasma and EMP grenades are also common fare. Other Black Suns, especially Karnos marines, wield destructive plasma cannons. Some specialists carry pistols or melee weapons instead, and there are a variety of other weapons made to fill other combat roles in boarding battles.

Black Sun body armor is made from a reflective mesh capable of deflecting generic beam rifle shots (though more advanced weapons will still deal some damage). It is durable enough to withstand some punishment from ballistic weaponry too, but the Komeleons' and Karnos' regenerative systems have a lot of work to do if the user takes sustained damage, assuming the user survives. Komeleon body armor is equipped with a partial cloaking device that works well with their natural cloaking abilities, making them that much more difficult to detect. Karnos marines usually bring some adrenal stimulants to provide them with extra strength. Slithers prefer to avoid combat that puts them in personal danger, but if they must engage in boarding battles will utilize the terrain and their snake-like qualities to the best possible advantage.