KaiserElectric

Mobile Suit Gundam: LIFELINE

Johanna Hölzel

HopPer, Revolutionary Firebrand

23/475 R.C.║Mekon Movement║Lunite/Venusian║Female

Physical Appearance

Johanna is a small fry, usually standing a head below those around her yet still easily spotted by her messy green hair and newsboy cap. Appearing deceptively lithe and thin, most of the right side of her body below the neck and both of her legs have been replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, and though she likes to bounce between comfy pop culture t-shirts, overalls, and whatever happens to be clean enough to wear, she's never without her oversized bomber jacket or her seemingly infinite pairs of rimless glasses.

Personality Traits:

Radical
Scrappy
Inventive
Wily
Temperamental
Weird

Biography:

Johanna Hölzel doesn't have fond memories of her childhood. The runt of a large family of Lunite farmers, she was the product of an affair between her mother, a Venusian marrying into a Lunite family, and a Venusian corporate officer. As a result, she was pretty much despised from the moment of her birth, not helped by a Venusian deformity that made her unusually frail, prone to injury, and generally useless for farmwork. The only thing she ever got from her family was a name, and even that was lost to time; she only ever remembers being called Runt or Rat. By the time she was six, the poor girl finally snapped and beat half of her siblings with farming implements before running away to hide on an outgoing freighter.

Things weren't substantially better on the freighter, but a few of the laborers did show her some kindness, making her something of a mascot and allowing her to help with basic repairs and securing heavy shipping containers. She grew quite close to the elderly engineer Hölzel, who did his best to educate her on the robotics and sciences he had learned and taught her how to pilot the mobile workers the crew used to move heavy objects and perform some repairs. He tragically passed in his sleep shortly before she turned thirteen, leaving her a kit of tools and his favorite pair of revolvers.

Shortly after Hölzel's passing, the girl lost control of her temper again and got into a scuffle that ended with her being booted off of the freighter. While recovering at a clinic, she learned that she was in fact fully Venusian and possessed the Human Kai genetic markings, explaining her physical disabilities and a wide bevy of health and emotional issues she suffered from thanks to her implants. Scrounging and selling the few things she could call her own, except the gift from the old engineer, she managed to get some secondhand medications that treated the imbalance from the implant interfering with her Venusian genetics, and it was like a fog lifted from her mind from the first time in her life. Finally choosing a name for herself, Johanna, she managed to snag a job at a small repair shop in one of the busier Luna ports, living penny to penny for some time and often going hungry or without a bed for the night. Things finally changed for the better, oddly enough, when a shady individual, one that her boss explicitly told her not to help, offered her a substantial bonus if she could quietly repair the engine on his "trade ship". Eager for the money, she happily did the job and got a nice big pile of money for her troubles on the condition that she tell no one that he arrived on Luna, and when the police came calling and asked if she spotted a notorious space pirate asking around for repairs, Johanna didn't say a word.

Johanna got her first taste of piracy, and it tasted pretty good.

She quickly got a reputation as a reliable fixer who could do fast jobs for people who didn't want to leave paper trails, and she made quick cash repairing ships, mobile suit components, and cybernetic parts for criminals on the run from the law, corporate interests trying to cover up their negligence, and occasionally just wealthy traders who didn't want to wait for a form to clear before they got their dangerous equipment served. For once Johanna had money to burn, and she spent it first on the medicine to keep her head mostly clear and the cybernetic upgrades needed to repair and augment her frail body into something a bit sturdier and tougher, then on giving her only real friend, an AI of her own creation named LAGO, a proper body of his own as well. Working her new mechanical fingers to the bone, so to say, Johanna worked her way up and finally managed to score a battered COOL-te mobile suit and a decently out of the way place to keep it. The suit in question happened to have been built with a messy collection of communications equipment that Johanna tinkered with and tidied up, hoping she could use it as an outlet to vent about her many, many frustrations.

Stuck at the bottom of the pecking order her whole life, she knew firsthand how mistreated people could be under the thumb of the Empire, and her experiences living and working with decent people just trying to get by only to be crushed underfoot by a corrupt empire angered her, not in the mindless fury from her condition, but a righteous anger, one that demanded to be heard. Thus, when she plugged in her new communications system, she spent a good hour ranting and raving against the government and every injustice and mistreatment that she saw committed on a daily basis, not knowing that she accidentally broadcasted it publicly. Said rant was enough to get her in serious trouble with the Zern Empire, but after spending a few days in prison for royal harassment she returned to her day job and found a few people were listening in to her broadcast that she didn't see before.

Johanna was intrigued by this, so in between her usual odd jobs and trading, she started to make weekly broadcasts, toning down her rhetoric somewhat to avoid getting in too much trouble and finding some musical files salvaged from the old Earth to broadcast in between. The show proved influential, especially within the ranks of the Mekon Movement as the girl who came from less then nothing and was barely able to hold conversations with anyone but her robot companion became an influential voice among the resistance. In time, she even became an important member of it as well, meeting with resistance fighters and agreeing to help pass on messages and indicate juicy targets through her programming using carefully coded words hidden in plain sight. Settling into a little bunker on the outskirts of Venus out of which she still broadcasts and takes odd jobs, Johanna can't help but feel there's going to be a sea change coming, especially when HopPer happily reported to her listeners that the Emperor was dying...

Skills and Abilities

Augmented: Johanna has extensive cybernetic modifications to her body to overcome the physical disabilities from her Venusian biology, replacing three of her limbs outright and adding a subsurface mesh to the parts of her body she still has. She may appear rather scrawny, but combined with a bit of experience in rough street brawls, the modifications have made her surprisingly strong and durable, as well as allowing her to push beyond the limits that a genetically enhanced human of similar strength may possess.

Homegrown Wrench-head: Working with engineers and mechanics since she was six years old, Johanna may lack a formal education but she's more then a match for any fancy Martian engineer with an expensive degree, having firsthand experience with everything from communication equipment and personal robotics to ship maintenance and mobile suit construction. She has a great love of tinkering and experimentation and is uniquely gifted in the art of jury-rigging, baffling formal engineers with her slapdash improvisational workarounds.

Second Sighted: Johanna is a Human Kai, and while it's a double-edged sword at times because of the interactions with her implants, it still gives her a mild precognition that gives her an edge in fights, inside or outside of a mobile suit. It also tends to help her with mechanical or intellectual insights, allowing her to spot something or find an answer that others might have missed.

Personal Items and Equipment

LAGO: LAGO is Johanna's companion and only real friend, an AI in a robotic body resembling a bipedal anthropomorphic rabbit. The robot body is about a foot and a half tall, equipped with a small variety of useful tools and devices, and can fold itself into a smooth morph-ball for fast movement through tight spaces. Unusually advanced for an AI program, thanks to years of Johanna pouring her heart and soul into this one friend of hers, LAGO is mischievous but friendly, fiercely protective of Johanna and communicates through electronic chirps, sound bites, and holographic projections.

Falco Revolvers: Handed down to her by an old man that fancied himself a cowboy, Johanna's twin revolvers are old but reliable, and pack some impressive stopping power for such an outdated weapon. Made by the now defunct Falco Firearms as a weapon for "those with a bit of outlaw in 'em", they are easily distinguished by the falcon crest engraved into the barrels. Johanna cheats on the quick draw by modifying her cybernetics for spring-loaded quick drawing.

Rucksack: A simple satchel which carries everything she needs for a quick and dirty repair job, as well as spare ammunition, her medication, and other essentials. It's also a comfy carrying case for LAGO to ride around it.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Johanna is gifted with an incredible homegrown acumen for the technical and mechanical, knowing her way around spaceships and mobile suits with ease and can find solutions and fixes that no one else can. She may not be a trained fighter but she is a scrappy one, never shying away from fighting dirty or exploiting a weakness to gain the upper hand.

More then anything else though, there's a fire in Johanna that drives her every action. Fueled by the hardship she suffered throughout her life, she truly believes in the purity of the Mekan cause and the utter corruption of the Empire, and whether she's behind a microphone or fighting for her life, she turns that pain into an unstoppable force for justice and righteousness, and there is just no stopping her when that fire is burning bright.

She isn't without her flaws though. A Venusian with Lunite modifications, she's prone to extreme mood swings and health issues as a result of her mutated DNA reacting badly with the chip. Augmenting her body and some experimental medications help to control her more violent outbursts, but they don't entirely eliminate her mental health issues.

Ironically, despite her magnetic charm on her radio show, she's also rather reclusive and socially inept around other people in person, preferring instead the company of robots and machines such as her robo-bunny companion.

Chosen Mobile Weapon

BUN-e (Customized COOL-te Mobile Suit)

BUN-e

2nd Generation General Purpose Mobile Worker (modified)

Codified Mass Production|| Johanna Hölzel

Unit Appearance

The BUN-e bears a resemblance to the familiar blue COOL-te with some striking differences, including slightly more bulk and its familiar bright blue paint job reduced to a more subdued powder blue. The most notable difference is that the boxy head has been replaced entirely with a custom-made model, more rounded in shape, possessing two eye-like sensors as well as communication antennae that resemble long ears extending from the top.

Technical Details

Accommodation: Pilot only, enhanced curved-screen cockpit in torso
Dimensions: 15 Meters
Powerplant: Low-output Wilberforce Reactor “overclocked” to Medium-output (Actually a Scutson reactor that she overclocked herself)
Equipment and Design Features:

•COOL-te Base
-BUN-e has much of the same features as a COOL-te base model, though much of it has been heavily modified by Johanna to reduce risks such as overheating.

•Plasteel Reinforced Hull
-While nowhere near a tank, BUN-e has strategicly layered Liten and Plasteel to give greater protection against firearm damage then expected for a model like this.

•LeapFrog Component
-Salvaged from an obscure mobile suit add-on, the Leapfrog is a modification that reinforces the leg joints and allows the thruster to perform a quick booster fire, effectively allowing BUN-e to perform high and long-distance jumps, eliminating any delays to ignition and providing immediate acceleration.

•HopScotch Infiltration System
-Johanna's suit contains a bevvy of communications equipment that allows her to broadcast her radio show via signal relays, and in a fight the communication system can work in tandem with a special system of her own design that uses concentrated Wilberforce particles to deliberately cause technical malfunctions in enemy equipment, throwing off guidance sensors and causing slowdowns in computer systems. Given enough time, she can also attempt to piggyback onto enemy communication signals and spy on them for a hidden edge.

Weapons and Combat Capabilities

Handheld Armaments

•120 mm TMKF-Rifle
A crude falling block rifle scoped for long-ranged combat. A rare weapon frankensteined together from salvaged marksman rifles and punctuated with a pricey Gyrojet cartridge; it's not at all effective up close but from a distance it can punch holes through all but the strongest armors with ease.

Fixed Armaments

•Punch Dagger
A spring-loaded blade loaded above the wrists on both hands of the MS. Super simple and unimpressive, they're a last resort weapon if anything else, though it can punch through armor in a pinch and the surprise of their appearance is a very subtle edge in a fight.

•Escape Plan
Mounted on the rear of the BUN-e, the Escape Plan is a creation of Johanna's, a crude launcher that can dumb-fire mixed canisters of chemical propellants and chaff that create a thick smog of obscuring smoke. It's not a damaging weapon in the long term, and its best used to distract and throw off enemies long enough to make a quick retreat, or fall back to fighting distance.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Not quite ready to be a frontline fighter, Johanna built her mobile suit to shut down an enemy before they got close enough. BUN-e is a deadly enemy at long-range, able to slow down, outmaneuver, and confuse opponents with its defensive systems and electronic interference devices long enough to land a single lethal shot.

That being said, if any enemy does get close enough to BUN-e, it's about as dangerous and deadly as an actual rabbit, Caerbannog notwithstanding. Its melee defenses are pitiful and the deadly rifle is decidedly less so when its not fired at a distance, and while Johanna definitely made a well-designed mobile suit, she doesn't have much in the way of combat experience just yet.

Technical History

BUN-e started out as a battered COOL-te unit purchased by Johanna as a helpful tool in her repair work. Previously piloted by an explorer, the COOL-te still had a lot of leftover communication equipment, which Johanna retooled with a custom cranial unit and used to help broadcast her show via signal relay, so she couldn't be traced back to her bunker.

Since becoming more fully involved in the Mekan movement, she started to make combat improvements to the MS, including enhancing the communication equipment and throwing together a good long-ranged weapon, as she didn't really want to get into a fistfight and risk damaging her valuable broadcast tech. It has yet to cut its teeth in a real engagement, but the BUN-e is almost certainly combat-capable and ready to prove itself.

Mobile Suit Gundam: LIFELINE

Johanna Hölzel

HopPer, Revolutionary Firebrand

23/475 R.C.║Mekon Movement║Lunite/Venusian║Female

Physical Appearance

Johanna is a small fry, usually standing a head below those around her yet still easily spotted by her messy green hair and newsboy cap. Appearing deceptively lithe and thin, most of the right side of her body below the neck and both of her legs have been replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, and though she likes to bounce between comfy pop culture t-shirts, overalls, and whatever happens to be clean enough to wear, she's never without her oversized bomber jacket or her seemingly infinite pairs of rimless glasses.

Personality Traits:

Radical
Scrappy
Inventive
Wily
Temperamental
Weird

Biography:

Johanna Hölzel doesn't have fond memories of her childhood. The runt of a large family of Lunite farmers, she was the product of an affair between her mother, a Venusian marrying into a Lunite family, and a Venusian corporate officer. As a result, she was pretty much despised from the moment of her birth, not helped by a Venusian deformity that made her unusually frail, prone to injury, and generally useless for farmwork. The only thing she ever got from her family was a name, and even that was lost to time; she only ever remembers being called Runt or Rat. By the time she was six, the poor girl finally snapped and beat half of her siblings with farming implements before running away to hide on an outgoing freighter.

Things weren't substantially better on the freighter, but a few of the laborers did show her some kindness, making her something of a mascot and allowing her to help with basic repairs and securing heavy shipping containers. She grew quite close to the elderly engineer Hölzel, who did his best to educate her on the robotics and sciences he had learned and taught her how to pilot the mech workers the crew used to move heavy objects and perform some repairs. He tragically passed in his sleep shortly before she turned thirteen, leaving her a kit of tools and his favorite pair of revolvers.

Shortly after Hölzel's passing, the girl lost control of her temper again and got into a scuffle that ended with her being booted off of the freighter. While recovering at a clinic, she learned that she was in fact fully Venusian and possessed the Human Kai genetic markings, explaining her physical disabilities and a wide bevy of health and emotional issues she suffered from thanks to her implants. Scrounging and selling the few things she could call her own, except the gift from the old engineer, she managed to get some secondhand medications that treated the imbalance from the implant interfering with her Venusian genetics, and it was like a fog lifted from her mind from the first time in her life. Finally choosing a name for herself, Johanna, she managed to snag a job at a small repair shop in one of the busier Luna ports, living penny to penny for some time and often going hungry or without a bed for the night. Things finally changed for the better, oddly enough, when a shady individual, one that her boss explicitly told her not to help, offered her a substantial bonus if she could quietly repair the engine on his "trade ship". Eager for the money, she happily did the job and got a nice big pile of money for her troubles on the condition that she tell no one that he arrived on Luna, and when the police came calling and asked if she spotted a notorious space pirate asking around for repairs, Johanna didn't say a word.

Johanna got her first taste of piracy, and it tasted pretty good.

She quickly got a reputation as a reliable fixer who could do fast jobs for people who didn't want to leave paper trails, and she made quick cash repairing ships, mobile suit components, and cybernetic parts for criminals on the run from the law, corporate interests trying to cover up their negligence, and occasionally just wealthy traders who didn't want to wait for a form to clear before they got their dangerous equipment served. For once Johanna had money to burn, and she spent it first on the medicine to keep her head mostly clear and the cybernetic upgrades needed to repair and augment her frail body into something a bit sturdier and tougher, then on giving her only real friend, an AI of her own creation named LAGO, a proper body of his own as well. Working her new mechanical fingers to the bone, so to say, Johanna worked her way up and finally managed to score a battered COOL-te mecha and a decently out of the way place to keep it. The mecha in question happened to have been built with a messy collection of communications equipment that Johanna tinkered with and tidied up, hoping she could use it as an outlet to vent about her many, many frustrations.

Stuck at the bottom of the pecking order her whole life, she knew firsthand how mistreated people could be under the thumb of the Empire, and her experiences living and working with decent people just trying to get by only to be crushed underfoot by a corrupt empire angered her, not in the mindless fury from her condition, but a righteous anger, one that demanded to be heard. Thus, when she plugged in her new communications system, she spent a good hour ranting and raving against the government and every injustice and mistreatment that she saw committed on a daily basis, not knowing that she accidentally broadcasted it publicly. Said rant was enough to get her in serious trouble with the Zern Empire, but after spending a few days in prison for royal harassment she returned to her day job and found a few people were listening in to her broadcast that she didn't see before.

Johanna was intrigued by this, so in between her usual odd jobs and trading, she started to make weekly broadcasts, toning down her rhetoric somewhat to avoid getting in too much trouble and finding some musical files salvaged from the old Earth to broadcast in between. The show proved influential, especially within the ranks of the Mekon Movement as the girl who came from less then nothing and was barely able to hold conversations with anyone but her robot companion became an influential voice among the resistance. In time, she even became an important member of it as well, meeting with resistance fighters and agreeing to help pass on messages and indicate juicy targets through her programming using carefully coded words hidden in plain sight. Settling into a little bunker on the outskirts of Venus out of which she still broadcasts and takes odd jobs, Johanna can't help but feel there's going to be a sea change coming, especially when HopPer happily reported to her listeners that the Emperor was dying...

Skills and Abilities

Augmented: Johanna has extensive cybernetic modifications to her body to overcome the physical disabilities from her Venusian biology, replacing three of her limbs outright and adding a subsurface mesh to the parts of her body she still has. She may appear rather scrawny, but combined with a bit of experience in rough street brawls, the modifications have made her surprisingly strong and durable, as well as allowing her to push beyond the limits that a genetically enhanced human of similar strength may possess.

Homegrown Wrench-head: Working with engineers and mechanics since she was six years old, Johanna may lack a formal education but she's more then a match for any fancy Martian engineer with an expensive degree, having firsthand experience with everything from communication equipment and personal robotics to ship maintenance and mech construction. She has a great love of tinkering and experimentation and is uniquely gifted in the art of jury-rigging, baffling formal engineers with her slapdash improvisational workarounds.

Second Sighted: Johanna is a Human Kai, and while it's a double-edged sword at times because of the interactions with her implants, it still gives her a mild precognition that gives her an edge in fights, inside or outside of a mechsuit. It also tends to help her with mechanical or intellectual insights, allowing her to spot something or find an answer that others might have missed.

Personal Items and Equipment

LAGO: LAGO is Johanna's companion and only real friend, an AI in a robotic body resembling a bipedal anthropomorphic rabbit. The robot body is about a foot and a half tall, equipped with a small variety of useful tools and devices, and can fold itself into a smooth morph-ball for fast movement through tight spaces. LAGO himself is mischievous but friendly, fiercely protective of Johanna and communicates through electronic chirps, sound bites, and holographic projections.

Falco Revolvers: Handed down to her by an old man that fancied himself a cowboy, Johanna's twin revolvers are old but reliable, and pack some impressive stopping power for such an outdated weapon. Made by the now defunct Falco Firearms as a weapon for "those with a bit of outlaw in 'em", they are easily distinguished by the falcon crest engraved into the barrels. Johanna cheats on the quick draw by modifying her cybernetics for spring-loaded quick drawing.

Rucksack: A simple satchel which carries everything she needs for a quick and dirty repair job, as well as spare ammunition, her medication, and other essentials. It's also a comfy carrying case for LAGO to ride around it.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Johanna is gifted with an incredible homegrown acumen for the technical and mechanical, knowing her way around spaceships and mechsuits with ease and can find solutions and fixes that no one else can. She may not be a trained fighter but she is a scrappy one, never shying away from fighting dirty or exploiting a weakness to gain the upper hand.

More then anything else though, there's a fire in Johanna that drives her every action. Fueled by the hardship she suffered throughout her life, she truly believes in the purity of the Mekan cause and the utter corruption of the Empire, and whether she's behind a microphone or fighting for her life, she turns that pain into an unstoppable force for justice and righteousness, and there is just no stopping her when that fire is burning bright.

She isn't without her flaws though. A Venusian with Lunite modifications, she's prone to extreme mood swings and health issues as a result of her mutated DNA reacting badly with the chip. Augmenting her body and some experimental medications help to control her more violent outbursts, but they don't entirely eliminate her mental health issues.

Ironically, despite her magnetic charm on her radio show, she's also rather reclusive and socially inept around other people in person, preferring instead the company of robots and machines such as her robo-bunny companion.

Chosen Mobile Weapon

BUN-e (Customized COOL-te Mecha)

BUN-e

2nd Generation General Purpose Mobile Worker (modified)

Codified Mass Production|| Johanna Hölzel

Unit Appearance

The BUN-e bears a resemblance to the familiar blue COOL-te with some striking differences, including slightly more bulk and its familiar bright blue paint job reduced to a more subdued powder blue. The most notable difference is that the boxy head has been replaced entirely with a custom-made model, more rounded in shape, possessing two eye-like sensors as well as communication antennae that resemble long ears extending from the top.

Technical Details

Accommodation: Pilot only, enhanced curved-screen cockpit in torso
Dimensions: 15 Meters
Powerplant: Low-output Wilberforce Reactor “overclocked” to Medium-output (Actually a Scutson reactor that she overclocked herself)
Equipment and Design Features:
(Go into detail and individually list out and describe the various systems and equipment used by your unit. Things like armor type, sensors, thrusters, built-in tools, and other non-weapon systems should be mentioned and explained here.)

•COOL-te Base
-BUN-e has much of the same features as a COOL-te base model, though much of it has been heavily modified by Johanna to reduce risks such as overheating.

•Plasteel Reinforced Hull
-While nowhere near a tank, BUN-e has strategicly layered Liten and Plasteel to give greater protection against firearm damage then expected for a model like this.

•LeapFrog Component
-Salvaged from an obscure mechsuit add-on, the Leapfrog is a modification that reinforces the leg joints and allows the thruster to perform a quick booster fire, effectively allowing BUN-e to perform high and long-distance jumps as needed.

•HopScotch Infiltration System
-Johanna's mechsuit contains a bevvy of communications equipment that allows her to broadcast her radio show via signal relays, and in a fight the communication system can work in tandem with a special system of her own design that uses concentrated Wilberforce particles to deliberately cause technical malfunctions in enemy equipment, throwing off guidance sensors and causing slowdowns in computer systems. Given enough time, she can also attempt to piggyback onto enemy communication signals and spy on them for a hidden edge.

Weapons and Combat Capabilities

Handheld Armaments

•TMKF-Rifle
A crude falling block rifle scoped for long-ranged combat. A rare weapon frankensteined together from salvaged marksman rifles and punctuated with a pricey Gyrojet cartridge; it's not at all effective up close but from a distance it can punch holes through all but the strongest armors with ease.

Fixed Armaments

•Punch Dagger
A spring-loaded blade loaded above the wrists on both hands of the mech. Super simple and unimpressive, they're a last resort weapon if anything else, though it can punch through armor in a pinch and the surprise of their appearance is a very subtle edge in a fight.

•Escape Plan
Mounted on the rear of the BUN-e, the Escape Plan is a creation of Johanna's, a crude launcher that can dumb-fire mixed canisters of chemical propellants and chaff that create a thick smog of obscuring smoke. It's not a damaging weapon in the long term, and its best used to distract and throw off enemies long enough to make a quick retreat, or fall back to fighting distance.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Not quite ready to be a frontline fighter, Johanna built her mech to shut down an enemy before they got close enough. BUN-e is a deadly enemy at long-range, able to slow down, outmaneuver, and confuse opponents with its defensive systems and electronic interference devices long enough to land a single lethal shot.

That being said, if any enemy does get close enough to BUN-e, it's about as dangerous and deadly as an actual rabbit, Caerbannog notwithstanding. Its melee defenses are pitiful and the deadly rifle is decidedly less so when its not fired at a distance, and while Johanna definitely made a well-designed mech, she doesn't have much in the way of combat experience in mechs just yet.

Technical History

BUN-e started out as a battered COOL-te unit purchased by Johanna as a helpful tool in her repair work. Previously piloted by an explorer, the COOL-te still had a lot of leftover communication equipment, which Johanna retooled with a custom cranial unit and used to help broadcast her show via signal relay, so she couldn't be traced back to her bunker.

Since becoming more fully involved in the Mekan movement, she started to make combat improvements to the mech, including enhancing the communication equipment and throwing together a good long-ranged weapon, as she didn't really want to get into a fistfight and risk damaging her valuable broadcast tech. It has yet to cut its teeth in a real engagement, but the BUN-e is almost certainly combat-capable and ready to prove itself.

Original Mobile Suit Gundam Roleplay/Mecha Roleplay

In a mecha mood, you can count me interested on this. ^_^

The Marauders (2018)

Working on trying to get back into this too, school just started and I'm dealing with a handful of IRL annoyances.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG Season 2- New Horizons (Closed)

---

Maddy's collar itched like crazy. Considering she designed it specifically so it would not itch, it had to be the nerves getting to her again. Why did it only take fifteen minutes into the first day to feel like something was dreadfully wrong?

Standing off to the side by herself, the lobby of the SPARK center was otherwise packed, flooded with at least a couple dozen young heroes in flashy new costumes milling about and showing off their superpowers. Gouts of flame and bursts of energy went off like firecrackers at random intervals, and quite a few heads bobbed up and down as their owners demonstrated flight powers. Maddy winced as a loud thud echoed across the area and someone dressed like a ninja pirate slammed into a far wall.

"Hey, calm the fuck down!" came a sharp Irish-inflected voice from the front area. "We need Team Leaders up front, A Group!"

That was her, Maddy thought. Pushing up through the crowd, she came to the front desk, where a handful of security guards in brand new outfits flanked a frazzled looking redhead violently sorting through some files.

"Wait a moment," Maddy said, feeling around in her pockets. "I have my-"

"I know it's you Caliber, you're local," the redheaded guard said. "Head on back, first door on the right past the entrance."

"Th-thanks..."

Maddy quietly made her way towards the door in question, glad that no one seemed to have noticed her just yet. Shouldering open the double doors separating the tumultuous lobby from the main halls, she found that the door in question she was due for was already open.

"Well well, if it isn't Caliber."

Maddy flinched as something large dropped from the ceiling right in front of her, with a barely visible outline. It reminded her briefly of the Predator before a pair of yellow slit eyes suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Eep!"

"Oh...did I scare you?" The intruder's voice was harsh and rough, but distinctly feminine all the same, and as she came into view and Maddy got a good look at her, it was a suitable fit. What was a mysterious cloaked figure turned out to be a large, reptilian girl, with pale green skin and a punk hairdo. Her heavy tale swished back and forth as the lizard girl approached, standing a few inches taller and flashing her sharp, glistening white fangs.

"You just...surprised me," Maddy defended herself, trying to take a step back. The lizard girl made a harsh sound that might have been a chuckle on a second listen.

"Gotta stay on your toes if you're gonna order people into a scuffle," the lizard girl retorted sharply. "Fame can't get you everywhere."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean..." the lizard girl continued, coming threateningly close to her. "If you keep coasting on your brand, people are gonna get hurt."

"What brand? What on-" Maddy gasped as the lizard girl clamped a hand around her wrist, her talons coming close to scratching open her skin.

"I'll go as slowly as possible," the lizard girl leaned in within inches of Maddy's ear, animosity practically radiating off of every threatening, drawn-out word. "You're not posing for pictures and getting autographs like the squid bitch, princess. So you'd better straighten up, before someone else straightens you out."

"G-get off of-!"

"Hey, wh-what's going on here?"

The lizard girl hissed and immediately backed off. Before Maddy could react, the threatening reptile had vanished and stalked away, leaving her more then a little unnerved. Was it a test, some weird measurement of how she handled being under pressure? If it was, she REALLY didn't want to know her grade there. Good thing there was someone else to scare her off.

"Miss, are you okay? You, uh, look kinda scared..."

"N-no, I'm fine," Maddy said dismissively, fighting to regain her composure as she turned to face her savior. "Just dealing with a crazy rep-"

Maddy caught herself as she found herself thanking a rather familiar face; another reptile lady, only this one was short and stocky, dressed in a lab coat and round glasses, a clipboard clenched in her claws.

"A crazy what?" Dr. Alphys asked nervously. "Is there something loose from the labs again?"

"No, nothing like that!" Maddy waved her hands defensively. "I didn't mean to scare you Alphys!"

"How did you...oh, right. From the game!" Dr. Alphys tilted her head slightly. "Still getting used to a lot of strangers knowing who I am. Weird."

"I have the same problem, allegedly." Maddy thought back to the comments the meaner lizard said to her. "I take it you showed up with the Game Genie."

"Oh yes, I've been laying low since that whole thing blew over, just...searching for a few people, doing some odd jobs," Alphys recounted, a hint of sadness in her tone. "Then SPARK contacted me and asked if me and some of the other characters with science backgrounds could come and help out, and so far it's been pretty good! The food's better, lots of nice people, and it's so easy to find good anime!"

"I'm surprised no one else is hiring the video game characters," Maddy mused out loud.

"Well it's not perfect, some of us are having trouble adjusting to a new set of physics and universal rules and all that," Alphys recounted. "Like, there's an alien singing show tunes who's having trouble because he keeps forgetting this world doesn't have a zero element, or something."

"Gilbert and Sullivan, right?"

Alphys' eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know?"

"Had a hunch," Maddy shrugged.

The two nerdy girls flinched as something exploded, blowing the door that Maddy was supposed to enter open.

"Well, uh, good luck with that," Alphys waved as she backed away. "I'll be around if you need me for anything!"

What I need right now, Maddy said to herself as smoke poured from the room...is an adult.

The Last Laugh

OSV Mosull-Gal
Orbiting the Keltan Dockyards
Jin System

The Mosull-Gal was an old ship, elegant and proud. Even among the newer, younger ships teeming about the spaceborne docks, it was a commanding presence, the binary suns casting shadows off of its elegant yet sturdy architecture. It was no wonder that even with its age it was still considered the pinnacle of Aldarshu Order technology. No flashy bells or whistles like the Ascendency or the Union loved to tarnish their ships in; just hardened steel and skilled construction. Nothing could compare.

That's what the previous Grandmasters had espoused, the current Grandmaster Kali'zil Nun thought to himself as the Mosull-Gal ponderously made its way out of the gravity well of the system. With the reports that neighboring empires were rearming in preperation for a war over some damned wasteland the Ashtar were fond, it became necessary to at last make some upgrades to the grand old ship, bringing the flagship of the Aldarshu Order up to fighting standards once again. In a sense, Nun almost resented the previous Grandmasters, who during their reigns enjoyed the luxury of Ashtar domination or the honorable combat of the Great War.

"Grandmaster, we're clear of the dockyards. Beginning warmup to gate drive now!"

"Very well. Set course for Aldarshu Prime," Grandmaster Nun ordered with a hint of disinterest. No doubt upon his return he would need to deal with the Lazul Council and their incessant demands to further dismantle the years of prosperity his predecessors had built. Even his mentor Kina, the Grandmaster he himself succeeded, would have been ashamed to know he had so readily allowed the Stellar Guard to build that damned space cannon, let alone to see half the Order eager to go to war over the Ashtar's ruined rock of a planet.

"Such a damned waste," the Grandmaster muttered to himself. Rising to his impressive height, he adjusted the cape across his right shoulder and strode from the bridge, not willing to inflict his dour mood on his fine crew. His office in the back of the bridge was a welcome respite from the constant spars with the council and the repair trips; pleasantly spartan with but a few creature comforts and decor. The black and blue banner hanging behind the simple electronic desk dominated the area, with several ceremonial weapons indicating his achievements in battle and command sharing the spotlight next to it. Letting out a deep sigh, he took his seat and mentally prepared himself to deal with the Stellar Guard admiralty again, which of course involved a healthy serving of his drink of choice, an angry red concoction that sizzled violently on exposure to air.

It wasn't alcohol, as many foreign dignitaries were disappointing to find out. An inability to become inebriated were one of the many odd perks that came with being born in a breeding tube. It was an odd choice considering how many other armies in history used liquor to "steel the soul" as the saying went. Perhaps the Nezath didn't want their clone soldiers to lose control of their faculties. Either way, it made finding enjoyment from strong drinks go in a bit of a different direction for the Aldarshu, in this case favoring taste and texture over the sensation of drunkenness.

"Ah, Grandmaster?"

One of his aides knocked quietly on the door before poking his head in. It was one of the newer additions to his personal staff, a promising youth by the name of Ki'rin Doz barely into his third year in military service but already holding many achievements for his skill and bravery. He'd become somewhat aloof since his ascension to the post, but perhaps that was just nerves talking. The lad did seem rather nervous.

"Yes Adjunct?" Grandmaster Nun asked, taking a sip of his angry red drink.

"I was...wondering what your opinion was on the plan the Admiralty suggested," the adjunct asked, not taking his eyes off the glass.

"I don't plan on entertaining their desperate attempts to throw good soldiers into that meat grinder," Nun responded pointedly. "My decision will...*hmmph*...stand." He rubbed his throat with one of his hands, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"I...I see."

"Is something bothering you Adjunct Doz?" the Grandmaster inquired, slightly stifling a cough. "Might be the air filtration systems, it feels like something is off." Grandmaster Nun tried to give a rare smile, but was taken aback by the absent, almost terrified look on the young man's face. "Adjunct, what is-" he tried to say, only to be interrupted by a cough that snuck up on him, forcing him to cover his mouth. He withdrew his hand, and found it covered in flecks of green.

"What in-"

Another hacking cough, more green flecks. He looked up at the Adjunct, who seemed more determined but no less frightened. He watched with abject terror as he realized what was happening. He tried to call for his guards, but his voice caught in his throat with a raw, hacking cough, spewing green across the desk.

"Our duty is to the Kuresan. The Order will die in the mire of idleness."

The Grandmaster made one last, sputtering cough before collapsing on his face, blood pooling onto the desk. Adjunct Doz waited just a moment before rushing out of the room, calling for medical aid.

May the ancestors forgive me, he thought.

---

Changing of the Guard

Fleet Admiral Zisa's Office
Stellar Guard Central Command
Andjety-4 Station

"So Kali'zil Nun is dead, then," Fleet Admiral Lete'nal Zisa recounted. "Poor bastard."

"How could they tell?" the Nezath standing off to the side interjected.

"Vannis!" Zisa barked sharply.

"An honest question, I assure you," Vannis said, raising his hands defensively. "I wasn't aware you were so fond of him."

"I wasn't," Zisa said, pulling up fleet orders and cycling through them. "That doesn't mean I'm going to dance on his pyre. And don't you dare say what you're thinking of."

"You wound me Admiral," Vannis countered smoothly. Zisa rolled her eyes, intending to return to her work when the door suddenly burst open without so much as a warning. Ever the disciplined officer, Zisa didn't even flinch as the intruder stormed up to her desk.

"Zisa!"

"Yes, the Grandmaster is dead, may the Kuresan protect his spirit," Fleet Admiral Zisa said dismissively. "I'm well aware of what goes on outside the office Riga."

"You've been spending too much time with Vannis," Riga grumbled, scratching at the scars stretched across his upper-right eye.

"I consider you a much better teacher of that brand of sarcasm," Zisa coolly replied.

Admiral Riga huffed, trying to hide a bemused chuckle. The old warrior had been Zisa's longest ally since becoming an officer in the Stellar Guard, save for the slippery Nezath that functioned as her aide. Despite her higher rank, the man was several years her elder, and had more then earned the right to speak his mind, at least to her. If he wanted to, he could have been the highest ranking admiral in the Stellar Guard, but ever the traditionalist, he just didn't feel at home when he wasn't at the helm of a battleship. He'd still be a Captain if he could get away with it, but alas he had to be an Admiral if he was going to command the Vodimal Class.

"As it happens, I did want to speak with you about the passing of the Grandmaster," Riga continued on. "Namely, the succession."

"Ah, has the Chancellor given you any hints?" Zisa said coolly, well aware of the old man's friendship with the Chancellor.

"The favorite right now is another Legion officer, nothing special," Riga grumbled. "But I've heard there's a chance for a real upset to occur. The populace hasn't been happy with Kali'zil Nun's leadership, and there's talk that the Masuran Assembly is going to go in a different direction."

The old admiral took a deep breath.

"They're looking for someone from the Admiralty."

"A Stellar Guard Grandmaster?" Vannis interjected. "That would be the first in the history of the Order wouldn't it?"

"Yes, and as is my understanding, if a suitable candidate were to arrive on Aldarshu Prime in the next few days, they would be conferred with the mark of office," Riga said.

Fleet Admiral Zisa looked between Vannis and the old admiral, a look of realization suddenly spreading on her face.

"If this is supposed to be some sort of joke, it's not funny," Zisa said coldly.

"I am entirely serious, as is the Chancellor," Riga insisted.

"I am barely qualified to hold any sort of elected office!" Zisa said. "If the Masurs see a Stellar Guard admiral with no political experience barge in and demand the title there will be a riot! They want a Grandmaster, not an...upstart stellar brat."

"I've never known you to be modest, Zisa."

"I'm not modest!" Zisa shouted, slamming all four hands on the desk. "I'm not qualified to be any sort of leader!"

Vannis cleared his throat. "Hmm...graduated top of your class at the Urtarian Academy, led a fleet of outdated warships to victory against the Izzirak Pirates, awarded the second highest honor in the Order and the highest honor given to anyone in the Stellar Guard, and currently commanding half of the Aldarshu Order space fleet despite being the youngest to achieve the rank of Admiral in our recorded history."

Zisa leveled a glare at the Nezath that could melt the glass of his helmet.

"Not bad for a stellar brat." Vannis concluded, sounding quite pleased with himself."

"I always liked you Vannis, don't ever let that be in doubt," Riga wheezed, trying to stifle a laugh. "The Nezath is right though, to everyone from the enlisted to the Masurs you're a war hero, Zisa. And you're what we need right now."

Zisa stewed, thinking about the reports she had been getting lately. With Agdemnar and the recent rekindling of old rivalries now that the Ashtar were long gone, war was coming, and even she had been rallying for new reforms to bring the fleet up to snuff that the former Grandmaster had been slow to enact. Even getting him to even abandon the Detente treaty was like pulling arms off. Maybe it was time for a change, but was that really supposed to come from her?

"Well?" Riga asked, getting slowly to his feet. "Is the Stellar Guard going to have a Grandmaster at last?"

Zisa's eyes glanced upwards, trying to come to a decision in the moment. She recounted the oath she made when she scrounged her way into the academy, to always uphold Kuresan and the Order. If action wasn't taken, both would be at risk, she knew as much from the reports.

Maybe what the Order needed, more then anything right now, was Grandmaster Lete'nal Zisa...

The Last Laugh

The Aldarshu Order

Aldarshu Order

The Order, Four-Arms, Dragons, Tankers (considered a slur), Blues (nickname for the Azurian Guard)

General Information

Minor Belligerent

Overview

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.

History

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?

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.

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, settling grievances with some of their neighbors and putting their new armed forces to the test. They were steady participants in the war, seen in many of the major battles and earning fame for relieving the brutal siege of the Taulron planet Barisol in spite of long odds. No victory was as important to the Aldarshu people, however, as seeing their signature on the treaty ending the Great War. Long regarded as outcasts or misfits because of their tank-bred, slave soldier histories, their being included as a proper nation in the peace negotiations was the final step in the forging of the Aldarshu Order, which emerged in triumph as a new power ready to make its mark on the world.

Major Holdings

Aldarshu Prime: The Capital of the Order, the first planet in the defunct Directive to fall to the Aldarshu Rebellion. A tropical planet that was once little more then a stockyard for batches of clone soldiers, the slave pen that first flew the banner of the Aldarshu stands at the monument in the center of the gleaming metropolis that was built around it. With few natural resources outside of extensive hydroelectric facilities, Aldarshu Prime is largely an urban administration center, serving as both an important trade hub in the order as well as hosting the government plaza and the bureaucratic institutions that manage and micromanage the day to day goings on in the Order.

Urtaria: A sandy sun-blasted world, with the major cities clustered around oases and rivers that dot the surface. Urtaria was used by the Nezath to battle-harden the Aldarshu and under new management it serves the same purpose, albeit slightly differently. Despite it mostly being a desert, a cluster of rivers near the northern pole created a unique blend of different terrains and environmental conditions, perfect for training soldiers in every climate. Today the planet hosts the largest number of military bases and outposts on any Aldarshu world, as well as the prestigious Urtarian Academy, where the best officers and leaders are trained. Urtaria is also a huge energy provider as well thanks to extensive networks of solar panels across the surface.

Nez: The former homeworld of the Nezath species, now under new management. Despite early efforts to raze the planet in retaliation, cooler heads prevailed and it was rebuilt much like the rest of the Order, and is the only place where a sizeable population of the Nezath still live. A lush temperate world, the cloning labs have since been torn down and replaced with respectable and ethical scientific institutions, where some of the best and brightest arrive to innovate and experiment. The strife of the uprising still runs deep however, and the planet is host to a political movement urging reconciliation with the defeated Nezath despite less savory elements elsewhere in the Order that demand the purging of the slavers from Aldarshu space for good. Today a statue stands in the capital city depicting a Nezath and an Aldarshu shaking hands, while the Order mulls over new legislation allowing the wayward Nezath to immigrate back to their homeland.

Des and Nin: A double planet located in a dense asteroid field, the dual planets are the industrial heartland of the Order. Precious minerals are mined Des and the surrounding asteroids, are taken to Nin for refinement, and shipped out to shipyards and factories all across the Order. A large portion of the mining and refinement is done with the help of automation, thus the planets have a small population compared to other key regions, consisting mostly of administrators and technicians, and of course military forces.

Andjety: The planet Andjety itself is a dead world, its population having annihilated itself in an atomic war that destroyed the ecosystem long before even the Nezath showed up. While still a magnet for archeologists interested in pre-spacer civilizations, the Andjety system is more importantly known as the hub of the Aldarshu Order's navy, home to the most extensive shipyards in the region as well as the command center for spacefaring operations in the Order. The population of the Andjety system largely resides in the bio-domed satellite orbiting the dead planet, one of the largest of its kind with an extensive defensive system keeping the people, as well as the naval commanders, safe.

Demographics

Population

The population of Aldarshu Order planets is, naturally, overwhelmingly Aldarshu. The Aldarshu stand at nearly ten feet tall on average and are largely reptilian in appearance, easily distinguishable by their extra set of arms and secondary set of eyes. The Aldarshu are unique in that they are tank-bred, created to be fearsome warriors. To that end they serve their purpose well, and they are renowned for their natural strength and incredible endurance that might fool some onlookers into thinking that they are merely dumb brutes. Being tank bred also means they do not have the means to reproduce, thus it is a common practice for Aldarshu parents to simulate the experience via cloning to create new children. It's a necessary action, but a taboo one, as it is considered a sign that they are not a proper species like the other great races in the galaxy, not to mention that the Order regular needs to trade for medical tech to prevent the Aldarshu genetic code from decaying in successive generations.

Small minorities of other species inhabit the Aldarshu planets, most notably the race that's infamous for creating them, the Nezath. Humbled by the collapse of their directive, the more normal-sized race are still as enigmatic as ever, well-known for the distinctive sealed suits that hide their appearance from the outside world. Relations are cool between the Nezath and their former slave soldiers, naturally, but given their sordid history things could be a lot worse for them, all things considered. One thing is for certain, though.

You don't get to see what they look like behind the helmet. Bad things happen to the people who try.

Society

The Aldarshu Order is defined by their unique status as a designer race bred by another species, and equally defined by the inherent desire to move past that stigma. Aldarshu are by design naturally inclined to work and coordinate together, and are most comfortable in rigid command structures with their day to day activities dictated by tight schedules. This would have in any other instance led to a race favoring authoritarianism and fanatical loyalty to a single strong leader, a mindset that the Nezath worked to cultivate in the pre-rebellion days when the Aldarshu were merely shock troopers, but when a flag was raised over Aldarshu prime, the belief in a higher authority that can do no wrong was shattered. With the help of new allies in the Ashtar, instead of collapsing into infighting as expected, the Aldarshu re-evaluated their position, attempting to reconcile their freedom with their inclination for order. The result was the Kuresan.

The Kuresan, roughly translated as the Brotherhood, has come to signify the bond that all Aldarshu share with one another, redefined from a series of genetic codes to encourage cohesion to the desire to band together to show that they are free and independent like any other race in the galaxy, and deserve to be treated as such. Thus the Aldarshu Order became not just a nation or a galactic empire, but the collective will of the Aldarshu people, joining together in once voice to say "I think, therefore I am." It's a touch confusing to outsiders to say the least, who tend to regard such lofty language as populist or socialist despite Aldarshu society being so orderly and scheduled.

Thus the Aldarshu moral code is centered around the Kuresan, with their actions defined by this nebulous concept. Service to the state, militarily or otherwise, is considered something to be proud of, as well as acting charitably and honorably towards friends as well as enemies. The displeased are encouraged to make their voices heard, and to the Aldarshu even good leadership should be challenged if necessary.

It's also worth noting that the Kuresan is the only form of spirituality that the Aldarshu practice, given that they are atheists who reject the idea of creator beings since their creators were the Nazeth. Rather they believe that the Aldarshu share a collective spirit that connects them to their long dead ancestors, and as such notable figures of the past become venerated in their death. And all Aldarshu are ready to fight and die as they did; combat training is a mandatory part of a developing Aldarshu's education, and they are never afraid to use it when the time is right.

Economy

The Aldarshu Order is entirely a state-controlled economy, and what little free enterprise exists is heavily regulated. As a result, the Order is largely self-sufficient and produces as much as it needs to run the day to day functions of the state, at least in terms of physical goods. The Order does recognize the importance of a vibrant economy however and has allowed a limited degree of free trade, closely watched and neatly folded into the bureaucratic mechanisms of the state. It's not the Wild West, but a wily trader can still turn a profit in Aldarshu space, provided they have the right forms filled out.

Tourism and scientific expeditions are a common sight in Aldarshu, thanks to the Nezath keeping their systems closed from the rest of the galaxy and the Aldarshu themselves being unusual to the other races that visit them. Aldarshu metallurgy is highly sought after as well, and the Order is happy to trade their excellent refined metals for use in construction, keeping the best materials for themselves of course. What the Aldarshu want in return tends to change on a whim thanks to the highly regulated economy, but there's always an appetite for foreign cultures among the Aldarshu, a population eager to see all the exotic, luxurious artifacts that their neighbors make. In addition, they also regularly trade in biotechnology, exchanging their own tech for advances to help keep their genetic code strong during cloning.

Government

The Order is governed by a mixture of representative democracy and bureaucratic administration. Merit factors heavily into the selection of new leaders, with education or a period of government service (military or otherwise) being a requirement for most leadership positions, especially the elected ones.

Inspired by their neighbors, the Aldarshu established a central government with a single legislative body, called the Masuran Assembly. Representation is determined by population, and while all representatives, known as Masurs in the Aldarshu language, serve for life, there is a mechanism in the legal code where a snap election may be declared at any time to oust a Masur. The Masuran Assembly serves to voice the concerns of their constituents, draft laws, and elect the Grandmaster of the Aldarshu Order.

The Grandmaster of the Order is the political head of state and the supreme commander of all military forces under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Like the Masurs, the Grandmaster serves for life and can also be voted out of office if need be. The Grandmaster performs what is expected of the head of state, along with his council of ministers, the Lazul Council, who are approved by the Masurs to act on his behalf and oversee large segments of the Order's resources, as well as provide advice to the ruler. One of these roles is the Chancellor, a sort of vice-ruler who manages the government in the event that the Grandmaster is leading men into battle. The lower governments of the planets and states on the planets generally follow this model of governance, depending on the local situation.

The Order also has a bureaucratic system that manages the inner workings of the Empire, their members chosen entirely on merit and who keep the industry and economy rolling as well as providing essential services to the populace in terms of health care and education, among others.

Technological Information

Major Techs

Aldarshian Titanium: The Aldarshu's talent for metalwork is second to none, and their best creation in this field is the rare alloy Aldarshian Titanium, built with rare materials only common in Order territory and forged by beings bred for war and innately experienced with the concept of battle damage. Aldarshian Titanium is lightweight and malleable, and possesses an uncanny ability to resist and absorb energy, kinetic or otherwise, making it perfect for every military application from body armor to reinforced hulls.

StimGel: This bio-mimetic gel is a Nezath invention, made to treat serious battlefield wounds but has since been refined and perfected by the Aldarshu. StimGel is made of cloned stem cells modified to grow and develop at a rapid pace, replacing wounded or missing flesh and blood with brand new material indistinguishable from the old. StimGel medkits are standard in all Aldarshu military units, where it is a fast and easy fix to normally debilitating and even fatal wounds. StimGel is also invaluable to doctors, where it can be used to assist in surgeries and, with some modification, even be used to regrow brand new limbs and organs.

Zarinometry: Zarinometry is not a physical technology, but a special branch of mathematics and mechanics that the Aldarshu have an innate understanding of. Derived from military programming given by the Nezath and codified and recorded so it can be studied and taught, Zarinometry is effectively a mashup of mathematical theory and ballistics that the Aldarshu apply to their everyday lives. The obvious usage is military of course, what with allowing their guns and weaponry a degree of accuracy that other galactic empires have difficulty matching. Zarinometry is also utilized in their programming and computer technology, making even their computer guided targeting systems more accurate. A secondary benefit to this unique branch of science is its difficulty; it's hard for non Aldarshu to understand all the nuances and different theories that go into the subject, making it difficult to decipher and infiltrate their computer systems, which uses code derived from Zarinometric theory. Zarinometry is also utilized in their warp drive FTL engines, helping predict more efficient pathways through warp space.

Military Information

Military Overview

At first relying on their tried-and-true strategies of shock attacks and brute force, the military doctrine employed most often by the Order emerged in the crucible of the Great War as a method of utilizing the resilience, firepower, and the powerful assault tactics in their arsenal to their greatest effect.

On the surface and among the stars, Aldarshu military strategy focuses on the preparation of the strike just as much if not more then the strike itself. This doctrine encourages careful planning and maneuvering, avoiding foolhardy engagements and positioning their forces on the proverbial higher ground, harassing the enemy with skirmishes, artillery, and other attrition tactics until an opening presents itself where they can press their advantage. Bullets, after all, are cheaper then bodies, and the Aldarshu can always be counted on to take more punishment then the enemy can deal them, and give out more punishment then the enemy can take.

Currently, the Aldarshu armed forces, known as the Order Guard, is made up of citizen soldiers proudly serving the state, well-trained and reliable thanks to a natural inclination for war and mandatory military training in education. The Order Guard is further diversified into the Legion, the ground and planetary forces, the Stellar Guard, the naval and fleet personnel, and the elite Azurian Guard.

Fleet/Navy

Dreadnoughts:
The first generation of Dreadnought class vessels manufactured by the Order towards the end of the Great War was the Mosull Class. Built to lead fleets into battle, the Mosull is a bruiser built to lead the charge, equipped with heavy armor, mass drivers, and rail guns alongside the usual standard armaments. The most notable Mosull Class is probably the Mosull-Gal, which serves as the flagship for the Grandmaster of the Order. Since the message was broadcasted and the treaty lapsed, the Order has resumed manufacturing and updating of the Mosull class, improving its capacity as a command ship as well as commissioning a new Ezirol Class dreadnought with a more balanced approach towards combat.

Battleships: When the Order entered the Great War, the vessels that led the charge were the Ovek Class battleships. Ornately designed and renowned for their ability to punch holes in the toughest armor plating with their mass driver armaments, the Ovek Class led the Grandmaster and his generals to victory in the war and even as its glory days are long behind it, the ship can still be found as an honor guard or in the reserves keeping order in the untamed reaches of space. After the war, the Ovek Class evolved into the Ovekal Class, later the Ovekal-Lin and Ovekal-Shu variants, a superheavy armored and long-range artillery variant respectively, all of which didn't quite live up to the expectation of its predecessor thanks to the treaty but nevertheless was an important step in the evolution of Order military strategy. With the lapsing of the treaty, the third variant, Ovekal-Ren, was instead retooled into the much more effective Overen Class, able to properly lead fleets and support their larger Dreadnought cousins with their heavy cannons and armor.

Battlecruisers: The little brothers of the Ovek were the Eiso Class vessels, another classic ship from the Great War. It filled a similar roll to the Ovek on a small scale during the war, but radically changed in the post war period. In fact, it differed entirely in that its Detente Era successor, the Eisoren, was both more experimental and more successful then the Ovek variants. The Eisoren was the first made in the mindset of the new military doctrine, and as a result was built with more fleet support options, such as point defense, target hardening, and computer-assisted range-finding. The post-Detente successor the Eisorenek continued the reputation of the original ship, and its less militant design has lead it to be used as flagships in diplomatic missions where a softer hand is required.

Cruisers: From the Great War Kilesh Class to the more modern Himaro class, the cruiser has long been the workhorse of the fleet, the front-line fighter able to trade blows with the enemy, holding off assaults as easily as they do leading them. Equipped with good armor and strong batteries (the gun kind not the Duracell kind), the Himaro and the newly designed Himaroku are ready and prepared to bring on the fight.

Destroyers: Destroyers diverged in two directions following the Great War, the old strategy and the new strategy. The old resulted in the Tiso Class, less a ship and more a large artillery piece with a ship built around it, that is brought into battle for long-ranged firepower and bombardment. The other variant, the Osh Class, is a considerable divergence in that it's built as a scouting and harassment vessel, able to slip in and cause trouble and get out before they take too much of a beating. Both are glass cannons, the Tiso more so then the Osh, so they are rarely seen without support from the larger vessels.

Frigates: Aldarshu Frigates are largely seen in support of the destroyers and cruisers, oftentimes fulfilling similar roles in regards to scouting and front-line assault. The Oss Class is the most common variant used at this time, with modest firepower for its size, but the Ossven Class variant is a highly reliable troop transport, filled with marines and grouped with Cruisers to serve as boarding parties and infiltration teams.

Corvettes: Corvettes are defined by the hardy Kare class, rugged and reliable and serving with some modification since the Great War. It is most commonly used as troop transports and patrol ships, usually in the reserves and more commonly used to combat pirates and bandits rather then any military threat. That being said, experimentation is ongoing in regards to a new variant designed to disrupt enemy fleet movements, the Karelon Class.

Strike craft: Aldarshu Strike Craft are a recent development, made in line with their new change in tactics. They are often loaded onto battlecruisers and cruisers where they join in battles to cripple enemy ships or in skirmishes to harass them. Due to biological limitations, ie their physical size, their lightest S Class fighters are heavier and slower then most others in their class, with them and the interceptor K Class relying more on their firepower then their maneuverability in a fight, as is expected. Their bomber class, the Y Class, is a more ideal strike craft, able to be equipped with armor penetrating and high explosive weaponry in a modular fashion.

Army/Planetary forces

The Legion makes up the bulk of the foot soldiers and land troops in the Order Guard. Soldiers in the Legion are often specialized, but can be relied upon to be heavily armored and powerfully armed, with some accounts comparing Aldarshu Legionnaires to small tanks rather then foot soldiers thanks to their resilience and size. Equipped with their heavy modular assault rifles and backed by powerful artillery cannons and support tanks, Legionnaires can afford to be patient, entrenching and playing safe until the time comes to attack, charging forward under fire and closing in with explosives, rapid concentrated fire, and deadly bladed weapons. One critical part of the legion is the Wardens, a peacetime segment of the Legion which performs policing and anti-piracy actions, and the Stellar Guard has marines that function in a similar capacity to the Legion.

While most of the Aldarshu armed forces are citizen soldiers, the Azurian Guard are dedicated warriors, shock troopers and infiltrators well-versed in the tried and true tactics of the Aldarshu. Made up of the best warriors the Order has to offer, the Azurian Guard are often found in specialized roles on the battlefield, such as sharpshooters, paratroopers, and elite marines on the larger fleet vessels.

Hyperdread

Vodimal Class

The Vodimal Class began life as a glass cannon dreadnought, an attempt to mount the most powerful gun possible onto a vessel before it was upscaled to a hyperdreadnought. Bristling with powerful cannons, missile platforms, and a dedicated strike craft force alongside an elite Azurian Guard regiment, the Vodimal is a titan among titans, but the gun it is built around is the real firepower, an immense railgun exploiting the energy absorbing properties of Aldarshu Titanium to fire a single, deadly blast with enough speed and force that merely passing by enemy ships can inflict damage. The explosion from the shells can annihalate all but the toughest opposing ships, and the shockwave from the blast can cripple enemy fleets, wiping out smaller ships and cracking the hulls of the larger vessels.

The Last Laugh

The Aldarshu Order

Aldarshu Order

The Order, Four-Arms, Dragons, Tankers (considered a slur), Blues (nickname for the Azurian Guard)

General Information

Minor Belligerent

Overview

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.

History

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?

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.

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, settling grievances with some of their neighbors and putting their new armed forces to the test. They were steady participants in the war, seen in many of the major battles and earning fame for relieving the brutal siege of the Taulron planet Barisol in spite of long odds. No victory was as important to the Aldarshu people, however, as seeing their signature on the treaty ending the Great War. Long regarded as outcasts or misfits because of their tank-bred, slave soldier histories, their being included as a proper nation in the peace negotiations was the final step in the forging of the Aldarshu Order, which emerged in triumph as a new power ready to make its mark on the world.

Major Holdings

Aldarshu Prime: The Capital of the Order, the first planet in the defunct Directive to fall to the Aldarshu Rebellion. A tropical planet that was once little more then a stockyard for batches of clone soldiers, the slave pen that first flew the banner of the Aldarshu stands at the monument in the center of the gleaming metropolis that was built around it. With few natural resources outside of extensive hydroelectric facilities, Aldarshu Prime is largely an urban administration center, serving as both an important trade hub in the order as well as hosting the government plaza and the bureaucratic institutions that manage and micromanage the day to day goings on in the Order.

Urtaria: A sandy sun-blasted world, with the major cities clustered around oases and rivers that dot the surface. Urtaria was used by the Nezath to battle-harden the Aldarshu and under new management it serves the same purpose, albeit slightly differently. Despite it mostly being a desert, a cluster of rivers near the northern pole created a unique blend of different terrains and environmental conditions, perfect for training soldiers in every climate. Today the planet hosts the largest number of military bases and outposts on any Aldarshu world, as well as the prestigious Urtarian Academy, where the best officers and leaders are trained. Urtaria is also a huge energy provider as well thanks to extensive networks of solar panels across the surface.

Nez: The former homeworld of the Nezath species, now under new management. Despite early efforts to raze the planet in retaliation, cooler heads prevailed and it was rebuilt much like the rest of the Order, and is the only place where a sizeable population of the Nezath still live. A lush temperate world, the cloning labs have since been torn down and replaced with respectable and ethical scientific institutions, where some of the best and brightest arrive to innovate and experiment. The strife of the uprising still runs deep however, and the planet is host to a political movement urging reconciliation with the defeated Nezath despite less savory elements elsewhere in the Order that demand the purging of the slavers from Aldarshu space for good. Today a statue stands in the capital city depicting a Nezath and an Aldarshu shaking hands, while the Order mulls over new legislation allowing the wayward Nezath to immigrate back to their homeland.

Des and Nin: A double planet located in a dense asteroid field, the dual planets are the industrial heartland of the Order. Precious minerals are mined Des and the surrounding asteroids, are taken to Nin for refinement, and shipped out to shipyards and factories all across the Order. A large portion of the mining and refinement is done with the help of automation, thus the planets have a small population compared to other key regions, consisting mostly of administrators and technicians, and of course military forces.

Andjety: The planet Andjety itself is a dead world, its population having annihilated itself in an atomic war that destroyed the ecosystem long before even the Nezath showed up. While still a magnet for archeologists interested in pre-spacer civilizations, the Andjety system is more importantly known as the hub of the Aldarshu Order's navy, home to the most extensive shipyards in the region as well as the command center for spacefaring operations in the Order. The population of the Andjety system largely resides in the bio-domed satellite orbiting the dead planet, one of the largest of its kind with an extensive defensive system keeping the people, as well as the naval commanders, safe.

Demographics

Population

The population of Aldarshu Order planets is, naturally, overwhelmingly Aldarshu. The Aldarshu stand at nearly ten feet tall on average and are largely reptilian in appearance, easily distinguishable by their extra set of arms and secondary set of eyes. The Aldarshu are unique in that they are tank-bred, created to be fearsome warriors. To that end they serve their purpose well, and they are renowned for their natural strength and incredible endurance that might fool some onlookers into thinking that they are merely dumb brutes. Being tank bred also means they do not have the means to reproduce, thus it is a common practice for Aldarshu parents to simulate the experience via cloning to create new children. It's a necessary action, but a taboo one, as it is considered a sign that they are not a proper species like the other great races in the galaxy, not to mention that the Order regular needs to trade for medical tech to prevent the Aldarshu genetic code from decaying in successive generations.

Small minorities of other species inhabit the Aldarshu planets, most notably the race that's infamous for creating them, the Nezath. Humbled by the collapse of their directive, the more normal-sized race are still as enigmatic as ever, well-known for the distinctive sealed suits that hide their appearance from the outside world. Relations are cool between the Nezath and their former slave soldiers, naturally, but given their sordid history things could be a lot worse for them, all things considered. One thing is for certain, though.

You don't get to see what they look like behind the helmet. Bad things happen to the people who try.

Society

The Aldarshu Order is defined by their unique status as a designer race bred by another species, and equally defined by the inherent desire to move past that stigma. Aldarshu are by design naturally inclined to work and coordinate together, and are most comfortable in rigid command structures with their day to day activities dictated by tight schedules. This would have in any other instance led to a race favoring authoritarianism and fanatical loyalty to a single strong leader, a mindset that the Nezath worked to cultivate in the pre-rebellion days when the Aldarshu were merely shock troopers, but when a flag was raised over Aldarshu prime, the belief in a higher authority that can do no wrong was shattered. With the help of new allies in the Ashtar, instead of collapsing into infighting as expected, the Aldarshu re-evaluated their position, attempting to reconcile their freedom with their inclination for order. The result was the Kuresan.

The Kuresan, roughly translated as the Brotherhood, has come to signify the bond that all Aldarshu share with one another, redefined from a series of genetic codes to encourage cohesion to the desire to band together to show that they are free and independent like any other race in the galaxy, and deserve to be treated as such. Thus the Aldarshu Order became not just a nation or a galactic empire, but the collective will of the Aldarshu people, joining together in once voice to say "I think, therefore I am." It's a touch confusing to outsiders to say the least, who tend to regard such lofty language as populist or socialist despite Aldarshu society being so orderly and scheduled.

Thus the Aldarshu moral code is centered around the Kuresan, with their actions defined by this nebulous concept. Service to the state, militarily or otherwise, is considered something to be proud of, as well as acting charitably and honorably towards friends as well as enemies. The displeased are encouraged to make their voices heard, and to the Aldarshu even good leadership should be challenged if necessary.

It's also worth noting that the Kuresan is the only form of spirituality that the Aldarshu practice, given that they are atheists who reject the idea of creator beings since their creators were the Nazeth. Rather they believe that the Aldarshu share a collective spirit that connects them to their long dead ancestors, and as such notable figures of the past become venerated in their death. And all Aldarshu are ready to fight and die as they did; combat training is a mandatory part of a developing Aldarshu's education, and they are never afraid to use it when the time is right.

Economy

The Aldarshu Order is entirely a state-controlled economy, and what little free enterprise exists is heavily regulated. As a result, the Order is largely self-sufficient and produces as much as it needs to run the day to day functions of the state, at least in terms of physical goods. The Order does recognize the importance of a vibrant economy however and has allowed a limited degree of free trade, closely watched and neatly folded into the bureaucratic mechanisms of the state. It's not the Wild West, but a wily trader can still turn a profit in Aldarshu space, provided they have the right forms filled out.

Tourism and scientific expeditions are a common sight in Aldarshu, thanks to the Nezath keeping their systems closed from the rest of the galaxy and the Aldarshu themselves being unusual to the other races that visit them. Aldarshu metallurgy is highly sought after as well, and the Order is happy to trade their excellent refined metals for use in construction, keeping the best materials for themselves of course. What the Aldarshu want in return tends to change on a whim thanks to the highly regulated economy, but there's always an appetite for foreign cultures among the Aldarshu, a population eager to see all the exotic, luxurious artifacts that their neighbors make. In addition, they also regularly trade in biotechnology, exchanging their own tech for advances to help keep their genetic code strong during cloning.

Government

The Order is governed by a mixture of representative democracy and bureaucratic administration. Merit factors heavily into the selection of new leaders, with education or a period of government service (military or otherwise) being a requirement for most leadership positions, especially the elected ones.

Inspired by their neighbors, the Aldarshu established a central government with a single legislative body, called the Masuran Assembly. Representation is determined by population, and while all representatives, known as Masurs in the Aldarshu language, serve for life, there is a mechanism in the legal code where a snap election may be declared at any time to oust a Masur. The Masuran Assembly serves to voice the concerns of their constituents, draft laws, and elect the Grandmaster of the Aldarshu Order.

The Grandmaster of the Order is the political head of state and the supreme commander of all military forces under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Like the Masurs, the Grandmaster serves for life and can also be voted out of office if need be. The Grandmaster performs what is expected of the head of state, along with his council of ministers, the Lazul Council, who are approved by the Masurs to act on his behalf and oversee large segments of the Order's resources, as well as provide advice to the ruler. One of these roles is the Chancellor, a sort of vice-ruler who manages the government in the event that the Grandmaster is leading men into battle. The lower governments of the planets and states on the planets generally follow this model of governance, depending on the local situation.

The Order also has a bureaucratic system that manages the inner workings of the Empire, their members chosen entirely on merit and who keep the industry and economy rolling as well as providing essential services to the populace in terms of health care and education, among others.

Technological Information

Major Techs

Aldarshian Titanium: The Aldarshu's talent for metalwork is second to none, and their best creation in this field is the rare alloy Aldarshian Titanium, built with rare materials only common in Order territory and forged by beings bred for war and innately experienced with the concept of battle damage. Aldarshian Titanium is lightweight and malleable, and possesses an uncanny ability to resist and absorb energy, kinetic or otherwise, making it perfect for every military application from body armor to reinforced hulls.

StimGel: This bio-mimetic gel is a Nezath invention, made to treat serious battlefield wounds but has since been refined and perfected by the Aldarshu. StimGel is made of cloned stem cells modified to grow and develop at a rapid pace, replacing wounded or missing flesh and blood with brand new material indistinguishable from the old. StimGel medkits are standard in all Aldarshu military units, where it is a fast and easy fix to normally debilitating and even fatal wounds. StimGel is also invaluable to doctors, where it can be used to assist in surgeries and, with some modification, even be used to regrow brand new limbs and organs.

Zarinometry: Zarinometry is not a physical technology, but a special branch of mathematics and mechanics that the Aldarshu have an innate understanding of. Derived from military programming given by the Nezath and codified and recorded so it can be studied and taught, Zarinometry is effectively a mashup of mathematical theory and ballistics that the Aldarshu apply to their everyday lives. The obvious usage is military of course, what with allowing their guns and weaponry a degree of accuracy that other galactic empires have difficulty matching. Zarinometry is also utilized in their programming and computer technology, making even their computer guided targeting systems more accurate. A secondary benefit to this unique branch of science is its difficulty; it's hard for non Aldarshu to understand all the nuances and different theories that go into the subject, making it difficult to decipher and infiltrate their computer systems, which uses code derived from Zarinometric theory. Zarinometry is also utilized in their warp drive FTL engines, helping predict more efficient pathways through warp space.

Military Information

Military Overview

At first relying on their tried-and-true strategies of shock attacks and brute force, the military doctrine employed most often by the Order emerged in the crucible of the Great War as a method of utilizing the resilience, firepower, and the powerful assault tactics in their arsenal to their greatest effect.

On the surface and among the stars, Aldarshu military strategy focuses on the preparation of the strike just as much if not more then the strike itself. This doctrine encourages careful planning and maneuvering, avoiding foolhardy engagements and positioning their forces on the proverbial higher ground, harassing the enemy with skirmishes, artillery, and other attrition tactics until an opening presents itself where they can press their advantage. Bullets, after all, are cheaper then bodies, and the Aldarshu can always be counted on to take more punishment then the enemy can deal them, and give out more punishment then the enemy can take.

Currently, the Aldarshu armed forces, known as the Order Guard, is made up of citizen soldiers proudly serving the state, well-trained and reliable thanks to a natural inclination for war and mandatory military training in education. The Order Guard is further diversified into the Legion, the ground and planetary forces, the Stellar Guard, the naval and fleet personnel, and the elite Azurian Guard.

Fleet/Navy

Dreadnoughts:
The first generation of Dreadnought class vessels manufactured by the Order towards the end of the Great War was the Mosull Class. Built to lead fleets into battle, the Mosull is a bruiser built to lead the charge, equipped with heavy armor, mass drivers, and rail guns alongside the usual standard armaments. The most notable Mosull Class is probably the Mosull-Gal, which serves as the flagship for the Grandmaster of the Order. Since the message was broadcasted and the treaty lapsed, the Order has resumed manufacturing and updating of the Mosull class, improving its capacity as a command ship as well as commissioning a new Ezirol Class dreadnought with a more balanced approach towards combat.

Battleships: When the Order entered the Great War, the vessels that led the charge were the Ovek Class battleships. Ornately designed and renowned for their ability to punch holes in the toughest armor plating with their mass driver armaments, the Ovek Class led the Grandmaster and his generals to victory in the war and even as its glory days are long behind it, the ship can still be found as an honor guard or in the reserves keeping order in the untamed reaches of space. After the war, the Ovek Class evolved into the Ovekal Class, later the Ovekal-Lin and Ovekal-Shu variants, a superheavy armored and long-range artillery variant respectively, all of which didn't quite live up to the expectation of its predecessor thanks to the treaty but nevertheless was an important step in the evolution of Order military strategy. With the lapsing of the treaty, the third variant, Ovekal-Ren, was instead retooled into the much more effective Overen Class, able to properly lead fleets and support their larger Dreadnought cousins with their heavy cannons and armor.

Battlecruisers: The little brothers of the Ovek were the Eiso Class vessels, another classic ship from the Great War. It filled a similar roll to the Ovek on a small scale during the war, but radically changed in the post war period. In fact, it differed entirely in that its Detente Era successor, the Eisoren, was both more experimental and more successful then the Ovek variants. The Eisoren was the first made in the mindset of the new military doctrine, and as a result was built with more fleet support options, such as point defense, target hardening, and computer-assisted range-finding. The post-Detente successor the Eisorenek continued the reputation of the original ship, and its less militant design has lead it to be used as flagships in diplomatic missions where a softer hand is required.

Cruisers: From the Great War Kilesh Class to the more modern Himaro class, the cruiser has long been the workhorse of the fleet, the front-line fighter able to trade blows with the enemy, holding off assaults as easily as they do leading them. Equipped with good armor and strong batteries (the gun kind not the Duracell kind), the Himaro and the newly designed Himaroku are ready and prepared to bring on the fight.

Destroyers: Destroyers diverged in two directions following the Great War, the old strategy and the new strategy. The old resulted in the Tiso Class, less a ship and more a large artillery piece with a ship built around it, that is brought into battle for long-ranged firepower and bombardment. The other variant, the Osh Class, is a considerable divergence in that it's built as a scouting and harassment vessel, able to slip in and cause trouble and get out before they take too much of a beating. Both are glass cannons, the Tiso more so then the Osh, so they are rarely seen without support from the larger vessels.

Frigates: Aldarshu Frigates are largely seen in support of the destroyers and cruisers, oftentimes fulfilling similar roles in regards to scouting and front-line assault. The Oss Class is the most common variant used at this time, with modest firepower for its size, but the Ossven Class variant is a highly reliable troop transport, filled with marines and grouped with Cruisers to serve as boarding parties and infiltration teams.

Corvettes: Corvettes are defined by the hardy Kare class, rugged and reliable and serving with some modification since the Great War. It is most commonly used as troop transports and patrol ships, usually in the reserves and more commonly used to combat pirates and bandits rather then any military threat. That being said, experimentation is ongoing in regards to a new variant designed to disrupt enemy fleet movements, the Karelon Class.

Strike craft: Aldarshu Strike Craft are a recent development, made in line with their new change in tactics. They are often loaded onto battlecruisers and cruisers where they join in battles to cripple enemy ships or in skirmishes to harass them. Due to biological limitations, ie their physical size, their lightest S Class fighters are heavier and slower then most others in their class, with them and the interceptor K Class relying more on their firepower then their maneuverability in a fight, as is expected. Their bomber class, the Y Class, is a more ideal strike craft, able to be equipped with armor penetrating and high explosive weaponry in a modular fashion.

Army/Planetary forces

The Legion makes up the bulk of the foot soldiers and land troops in the Order Guard. Soldiers in the Legion are often specialized, but can be relied upon to be heavily armored and powerfully armed, with some accounts comparing Aldarshu Legionnaires to small tanks rather then foot soldiers thanks to their resilience and size. Equipped with their heavy modular assault rifles and backed by powerful artillery cannons and support tanks, Legionnaires can afford to be patient, entrenching and playing safe until the time comes to attack, charging forward under fire and closing in with explosives, rapid concentrated fire, and deadly bladed weapons. One critical part of the legion is the Wardens, a peacetime segment of the Legion which performs policing and anti-piracy actions, and the Stellar Guard has marines that function in a similar capacity to the Legion.

While most of the Aldarshu armed forces are citizen soldiers, the Azurian Guard are dedicated warriors, shock troopers and infiltrators well-versed in the tried and true tactics of the Aldarshu. Made up of the best warriors the Order has to offer, the Azurian Guard are often found in specialized roles on the battlefield, such as sharpshooters, paratroopers, and elite marines on the larger fleet vessels.

Hyperdread

Vodimal Class

The Vodimal Class began life as a glass cannon dreadnought, an attempt to mount the most powerful gun possible onto a vessel before it was upscaled to a hyperdreadnought. Bristling with powerful cannons, missile platforms, and a dedicated strike craft force alongside an elite Azurian Guard regiment, the Vodimal is a titan among titans, but the gun it is built around is the real firepower, an immense railgun exploiting the energy absorbing properties of Aldarshu Titanium to fire a single, deadly blast with enough speed and force that merely passing by enemy ships can inflict damage. The explosion from the shells can annihalate all but the toughest opposing ships, and the shockwave from the blast can cripple enemy fleets, wiping out smaller ships and cracking the hulls of the larger vessels.

The Last Laugh

WIP Sheet 2

Aldarshu Order

Any less official names your nation or its people may have

General Information

Minor Belligerent

Overview

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.

History

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?

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.

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, settling grievances with some of their neighbors and putting their new armed forces to the test. They were steady participants in the war, seen in many of the major battles and earning fame for relieving the brutal siege of the Taulron planet Barisol in spite of long odds. No victory was as important to the Aldarshu people, however, as seeing their signature on the treaty ending the Great War. Long regarded as outcasts or misfits because of their tank-bred, slave soldier histories, their being included as a proper nation in the peace negotiations was the final step in the forging of the Aldarshu Order, which emerged in triumph as a new power ready to make its mark on the world.

Major Holdings

Aldarshu Prime: The Capital of the Order, the first planet in the defunct Directive to fall to the Aldarshu Rebellion. A tropical planet that was once little more then a stockyard for batches of clone soldiers, the slave pen that first flew the banner of the Aldarshu stands at the monument in the center of the gleaming metropolis that was built around it. With few natural resources outside of extensive hydroelectric facilities, Aldarshu Prime is largely an urban administration center, serving as both an important trade hub in the order as well as hosting the government plaza and the bureaucratic institutions that manage and micromanage the day to day goings on in the Order.

Urtaria: A sandy sun-blasted world, with the major cities clustered around oases and rivers that dot the surface. Urtaria was used by the Nezath to battle-harden the Aldarshu and under new management it serves the same purpose, albeit slightly differently. Despite it mostly being a desert, a cluster of rivers near the northern pole created a unique blend of different terrains and environmental conditions, perfect for training soldiers in every climate. Today the planet hosts the largest number of military bases and outposts on any Aldarshu world, as well as the prestigious Urtarian Academy, where the best officers and leaders are trained. Urtaria is also a huge energy provider as well thanks to extensive networks of solar panels across the surface.

Nez: The former homeworld of the Nezath species, now under new management. Despite early efforts to raze the planet in retaliation, cooler heads prevailed and it was rebuilt much like the rest of the Order, and is the only place where a sizeable population of the Nezath still live. A lush temperate world, the cloning labs have since been torn down and replaced with respectable and ethical scientific institutions, where some of the best and brightest arrive to innovate and experiment. The strife of the uprising still runs deep however, and the planet is host to a political movement urging reconciliation with the defeated Nezath despite less savory elements elsewhere in the Order that demand the purging of the slavers from Aldarshu space for good. Today a statue stands in the capital city depicting a Nezath and an Aldarshu shaking hands, while the Order mulls over new legislation allowing the wayward Nezath to immigrate back to their homeland.

Des and Nin: A double planet located in a dense asteroid field, the dual planets are the industrial heartland of the Order. Precious minerals are mined Des and the surrounding asteroids, are taken to Nin for refinement, and shipped out to shipyards and factories all across the Order. A large portion of the mining and refinement is done with the help of automation, thus the planets have a small population compared to other key regions, consisting mostly of administrators and technicians, and of course military forces.

Andjety: The planet Andjety itself is a dead world, its population having annihilated itself in an atomic war that destroyed the ecosystem long before even the Nezath showed up. While still a magnet for archeologists interested in pre-spacer civilizations, the Andjety system is more importantly known as the hub of the Aldarshu Order's navy, home to the most extensive shipyards in the region as well as the command center for spacefaring operations in the Order. The population of the Andjety system largely resides in the bio-domed satellite orbiting the dead planet, one of the largest of its kind with an extensive defensive system keeping the people, as well as the naval commanders, safe.

Demographics

Population

The population of Aldarshu Order planets is, naturally, overwhelmingly Aldarshu. The Aldarshu stand at nearly ten feet tall on average and are largely reptilian in appearance, easily distinguishable by their extra set of arms and secondary set of eyes. The Aldarshu are unique in that they are tank-bred, created to be fearsome warriors. To that end they serve their purpose well, and they are renowned for their natural strength and incredible endurance that might fool some onlookers into thinking that they are merely dumb brutes. Being tank bred also means they do not have the means to reproduce, thus it is a common practice for Aldarshu parents to simulate the experience via cloning to create new children. It's a necessary action, but a taboo one, as it is considered a sign that they are not a proper species like the other great races in the galaxy, not to mention that the Order regular needs to trade for medical tech to prevent the Aldarshu genetic code from decaying in successive generations.

Small minorities of other species inhabit the Aldarshu planets, most notably the race that's infamous for creating them, the Nezath. Humbled by the collapse of their directive, the more normal-sized race are still as enigmatic as ever, well-known for the distinctive sealed suits that hide their appearance from the outside world. Relations are cool between the Nezath and their former slave soldiers, naturally, but given their sordid history things could be a lot worse for them, all things considered. One thing is for certain, though.

You don't get to see what they look like behind the helmet. Bad things happen to the people who try.

Society

The Aldarshu Order is defined by their unique status as a designer race bred by another species, and equally defined by the inherent desire to move past that stigma. Aldarshu are by design naturally inclined to work and coordinate together, and are most comfortable in rigid command structures with their day to day activities dictated by tight schedules. This would have in any other instance led to a race favoring authoritarianism and fanatical loyalty to a single strong leader, a mindset that the Nezath worked to cultivate in the pre-rebellion days when the Aldarshu were merely shock troopers, but when a flag was raised over Aldarshu prime, the belief in a higher authority that can do no wrong was shattered. With the help of new allies in the Ashtar, instead of collapsing into infighting as expected, the Aldarshu re-evaluated their position, attempting to reconcile their freedom with their inclination for order. The result was the Kuresan.

The Kuresan, roughly translated as the Brotherhood, has come to signify the bond that all Aldarshu share with one another, redefined from a series of genetic codes to encourage cohesion to the desire to band together to show that they are free and independent like any other race in the galaxy, and deserve to be treated as such. Thus the Aldarshu Order became not just a nation or a galactic empire, but the collective will of the Aldarshu people, joining together in once voice to say "I think, therefore I am." It's a touch confusing to outsiders to say the least, who tend to regard such lofty language as populist or socialist despite Aldarshu society being so orderly and scheduled.

Thus the Aldarshu moral code is centered around the Kuresan, with their actions defined by this nebulous concept. Service to the state, militarily or otherwise, is considered something to be proud of, as well as acting charitably and honorably towards friends as well as enemies. The displeased are encouraged to make their voices heard, and to the Aldarshu even good leadership should be challenged if necessary.

It's also worth noting that the Kuresan is the only form of spirituality that the Aldarshu practice, given that they are atheists who reject the idea of creator beings since their creators were the Nazeth. Rather they believe that the Aldarshu share a collective spirit that connects them to their long dead ancestors, and as such notable figures of the past become venerated in their death. And all Aldarshu are ready to fight and die as they did; combat training is a mandatory part of a developing Aldarshu's education, and they are never afraid to use it when the time is right.

Economy

The Aldarshu Order is entirely a state-controlled economy, and what little free enterprise exists is heavily regulated. As a result, the Order is largely self-sufficient and produces as much as it needs to run the day to day functions of the state, at least in terms of physical goods. The Order does recognize the importance of a vibrant economy however and has allowed a limited degree of free trade, closely watched and neatly folded into the bureaucratic mechanisms of the state. It's not the Wild West, but a wily trader can still turn a profit in Aldarshu space, provided they have the right forms filled out.

Tourism and scientific expeditions are a common sight in Aldarshu, thanks to the Nezath keeping their systems closed from the rest of the galaxy and the Aldarshu themselves being unusual to the other races that visit them. Aldarshu metallurgy is highly sought after as well, and the Order is happy to trade their excellent refined metals for use in construction, keeping the best materials for themselves of course. What the Aldarshu want in return tends to change on a whim thanks to the highly regulated economy, but there's always an appetite for foreign cultures among the Aldarshu, a population eager to see all the exotic, luxurious artifacts that their neighbors make. In addition, they also regularly trade in biotechnology, exchanging their own tech for advances to help keep their genetic code strong during cloning.

Government

The Order is governed by a mixture of representative democracy and bureaucratic administration. Merit factors heavily into the selection of new leaders, with education or a period of government service (military or otherwise) being a requirement for most leadership positions, especially the elected ones.

Inspired by their neighbors, the Aldarshu established a central government with a single legislative body, called the Masuran Assembly. Representation is determined by population, and while all representatives, known as Masurs in the Aldarshu language, serve for life, there is a mechanism in the legal code where a snap election may be declared at any time to oust a Masur. The Masuran Assembly serves to voice the concerns of their constituents, draft laws, and elect the Grandmaster of the Aldarshu Order.

The Grandmaster of the Order is the political head of state and the supreme commander of all military forces under the jurisdiction of the Empire. Like the Masurs, the Grandmaster serves for life and can also be voted out of office if need be. The Grandmaster performs what is expected of the head of state, along with his council of ministers, the Lazul Council, who are approved by the Masurs to act on his behalf and oversee large segments of the Order's resources, as well as provide advice to the ruler. One of these roles is the Chancellor, a sort of vice-ruler who manages the government in the event that the Grandmaster is leading men into battle. The lower governments of the planets and states on the planets generally follow this model of governance, depending on the local situation.

The Order also has a bureaucratic system that manages the inner workings of the Empire, their members chosen entirely on merit and who keep the industry and economy rolling as well as providing essential services to the populace in terms of health care and education, among others.

Technological Information

Major Techs

Aldarshian Titanium: The Aldarshu's talent for metalwork is second to none, and their best creation in this field is the rare alloy Aldarshian Titanium, built with rare materials only common in Order territory and forged by beings bred for war and innately experienced with the concept of battle damage. Aldarshian Titanium is lightweight and malleable, and possesses an uncanny ability to resist and absorb energy, kinetic or otherwise, making it perfect for every military application from body armor to reinforced hulls.

StimGel: This bio-mimetic gel is a Nezath invention, made to treat serious battlefield wounds but has since been refined and perfected by the Aldarshu. StimGel is made of cloned stem cells modified to grow and develop at a rapid pace, replacing wounded or missing flesh and blood with brand new material indistinguishable from the old. StimGel medkits are standard in all Aldarshu military units, where it is a fast and easy fix to normally debilitating and even fatal wounds. StimGel is also invaluable to doctors, where it can be used to assist in surgeries and, with some modification, even be used to regrow brand new limbs and organs.

Zarinometry: Zarinometry is not a physical technology, but a special branch of mathematics and mechanics that the Aldarshu have an innate understanding of. Derived from military programming given by the Nezath and codified and recorded so it can be studied and taught, Zarinometry is effectively a mashup of mathematical theory and ballistics that the Aldarshu apply to their everyday lives. The obvious usage is military of course, what with allowing their guns and weaponry a degree of accuracy that other galactic empires have difficulty matching. Zarinometry is also utilized in their programming and computer technology, making even their computer guided targeting systems more accurate. A secondary benefit to this unique branch of science is its difficulty; it's hard for non Aldarshu to understand all the nuances and different theories that go into the subject, making it difficult to decipher and infiltrate their computer systems, which uses code derived from Zarinometric theory. Zarinometry is also utilized in their warp drive FTL engines, helping predict more efficient pathways through warp space.

Military Information

Military Overview

At first relying on their tried-and-true strategies of shock attacks and brute force, the military doctrine employed most often by the Order emerged in the crucible of the Great War as a method of utilizing the resilience, firepower, and the powerful assault tactics in their arsenal to their greatest effect.

On the surface and among the stars, Aldarshu military strategy focuses on the preparation of the strike just as much if not more then the strike itself. This doctrine encourages careful planning and maneuvering, avoiding foolhardy engagements and positioning their forces on the proverbial higher ground, harassing the enemy with skirmishes, artillery, and other attrition tactics until an opening presents itself where they can press their advantage. Bullets, after all, are cheaper then bodies, and the Aldarshu can always be counted on to take more punishment then the enemy can deal them, and give out more punishment then the enemy can take.

Fleet/Navy

Dreadnoughts:
The first generation of Dreadnought class vessels manufactured by the Order towards the end of the Great War was the Mosull Class. Built to lead fleets into battle, the Mosull is a bruiser built to lead the charge, equipped with heavy armor, mass drivers, and rail guns alongside the usual standard armaments. The most notable Mosull Class is probably the Mosull-Gal, which serves as the flagship for the Grandmaster of the Order. Since the message was broadcasted and the treaty lapsed, the Order has resumed manufacturing and updating of the Mosull class, improving its capacity as a command ship as well as commissioning a new Ezirol Class dreadnought with a more balanced approach towards combat.

Battleships: When the Order entered the Great War, the vessels that led the charge were the Ovek Class battleships. Ornately designed and renowned for their ability to punch holes in the toughest armor plating with their mass driver armaments, the Ovek Class led the Grandmaster and his generals to victory in the war and even as its glory days are long behind it, the ship can still be found as an honor guard or in the reserves keeping order in the untamed reaches of space. After the war, the Ovek Class evolved into the Ovekal Class, later the Ovekal-Lin and Ovekal-Shu variants, a superheavy armored and long-range artillery variant respectively, all of which didn't quite live up to the expectation of its predecessor thanks to the treaty but nevertheless was an important step in the evolution of Order military strategy. With the lapsing of the treaty, the third variant, Ovekal-Ren, was instead retooled into the much more effective Overen Class, able to properly lead fleets and support their larger Dreadnought cousins with their heavy cannons and armor.

Battlecruisers: The little brothers of the Ovek were the Eiso Class vessels, another classic ship from the Great War. It filled a similar roll to the Ovek on a small scale during the war, but radically changed in the post war period. In fact, it differed entirely in that its Detente Era successor, the Eisoren, was both more experimental and more successful then the Ovek variants. The Eisoren was the first made in the mindset of the new military doctrine, and as a result was built with more fleet support options, such as point defense, target hardening, and computer-assisted range-finding. The post-Detente successor the Eisorenek continued the reputation of the original ship, and its less militant design has lead it to be used as flagships in diplomatic missions where a softer hand is required.

Cruisers: From the Great War Kilesh Class to the more modern Himaro class, the cruiser has long been the workhorse of the fleet, the front-line fighter able to trade blows with the enemy, holding off assaults as easily as they do leading them. Equipped with good armor and strong batteries (the gun kind not the Duracell kind), the Himaro and the newly designed Himaroku are ready and prepared to bring on the fight.

Destroyers: Destroyers diverged in two directions following the Great War, the old strategy and the new strategy. The old resulted in the Tiso Class, less a ship and more a large artillery piece with a ship built around it, that is brought into battle for long-ranged firepower and bombardment. The other variant, the Osh Class, is a considerable divergence in that it's built as a scouting and harassment vessel, able to slip in and cause trouble and get out before they take too much of a beating. Both are glass cannons, the Tiso more so then the Osh, so they are rarely seen without support from the larger vessels.

Frigates: Aldarshu Frigates are largely seen in support of the destroyers and cruisers, oftentimes fulfilling similar roles in regards to scouting and front-line assault. The Oss Class is the most common variant used at this time, with modest firepower for its size, but the Ossven Class variant is a troop transport, filled with marines and grouped with Cruisers to serve as boarding parties and infiltration teams.

Corvettes: Corvettes are defined by the hardy Kare class, rugged and reliable and serving with some modification since the Great War. It is most commonly used as troop transports and patrol ships, usually in the reserves and more commonly used to combat pirates and bandits rather then any military threat. That being said, experimentation is ongoing in regards to a new variant designed to disrupt enemy fleet movements, the Karelon Class.

Strike craft: Aldarshu Strike Craft are a recent development, made in line with their new change in tactics. They are often loaded onto battlecruisers and cruisers where they join in battles to cripple enemy ships or in skirmishes to harass them. Due to biological limitations, ie their physical size, their lightest S Class fighters are heavier and slower then most others in their class, with them and the interceptor K Class relying more on their firepower then their maneuverability in a fight, as is expected. Their bomber class, the Y Class, is a more ideal strike craft, able to be equipped with armor penetrating and high explosive weaponry in a modular fashion.

Army/Planetary forces

The foot soldiers and ground forces of the Aldarshu are often distinguished between the regular army

ANNNDDD

Hyperdread

Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice.

The Last Laugh

WIP Sheet

Aldarshu Order

Any less official names your nation or its people may have

General Information

Minor Belligerent

Overview

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.

History

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?

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.

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.

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.

Major Holdings

Your capital world, your favourite starbase, the key places in your Nation etc.

Demographics

Population

The population of Aldarshu Order planets is, naturally, overwhelmingly Aldarshu.

Society

The Aldarshu were quite literally born and bred to be a military,

Economy

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.

Government

The Aldarshu government is one that the ancient Prussians on Earth would have been proud of.

Technological Information

Major Techs

Mostly interested in military techs, here: FTL, weapons, shields, armor, power, engines, etc. Civilian techs are also here, and sometimes just as important.

Military Information

Military Overview

Describe general doctrine, history, whatever floats your space boats.

Fleet/Navy

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)

DO NOT put your hyperdread here, it gets its own section.

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.

Army/Planetary forces

Outline some doctrine, highlight some major units. I’m not great at doing ground forces so not much guidance here.

ANNNDDD

Hyperdread

Go frikin nuts. Pics are nice.