@KRIEEEG@Banana I am warning you people. If the spider dies (which will probably ensue in him being stuck in some dark afterlife corner, as it happens), the fat tick-summoning mind flayer might just become a reality.
I am still here, as well as, I suppose, @Turbowraith; a character sheet shall soon be forthcoming. I do, however, have some questions regarding the latter: should the provided character image be in the style of the original medium, or are photographs likewise acceptable? And, where fighting style is concerned, should the description include possible usage of one's Stand in combat?
Type of government: Nominally a confederation of sovereign states; factually a centralised oligarchy
Leaders: While the Coalition was once composed by three distinct states, each of them ruling itself in accordance with its internal procedural regulations, with collective actions and undertakings being coordinated by a Central Administrative Council formed by representatives of the three governments, in the course of the last century various events led to the presence of a strong central authority becoming necessary for its survival. Although these nations still exist to this day, they have in practice been reduced to specialised economic and social branches controlled by the CAC, which has assumed complete authority over all fields and functions within the Coalition. The latter is nowadays tacitly understood to be a single political entity.
The current members of the Central Administrative Council are:
From the Techno-Sphere, formerly the Inter-Planetary Rule of Ekhrilthurl:
High Administrator Ealkhaltl Decorated Proto-Engineer Iurrvelt High Defence Coordinator Aalthallr
From the Weavers of the Cycle, formerly the Transglobal Union of Skereth:
From the Bearers of the Abyssal Word, formerly the Blessed Thearchy of Zsresris:
Rseslar, Voice of the Deep Exalted Strategist Sralsresr Deep-Vassal Rsilrsesr
Persons of Importance:
Proto-Engineer Eullthellr: A major scientific authority within the Coalition's core industrial systems, Eullthellr is one of the most capable developers in the field of Autonomous Operative Systems. He has grown intrigued by the concept of artificial intelligence, and believes that securing and studying such an entity would lead to a significant advancement in the Techno-Sphere's research.
Cycle-Master Rezthir: A Skirol leader an gene-weaver, known with his experimentations with micro-organisms. Rezthir is responsible for developing several pathogen strains employed by the Coalition military, and oversees the activity of various bio-plants tasked with creating befoulers and infesters.
Supreme Deep-Speaker Sreslrir: The second highest autority in Bearer hierarchy after the Voice of the Deep, Sreslrir seeks to emulate the example of his predecessors, who spurred the Coalition onto a victorious campaign and warned them of the new menaces which arose at that time. He thus never tires of rousing hatred against the external foes within his adherents, and, with the blessing of the Zsrolor, urges them to do the same.
These fungal creatures, hailing from a largely barren and inhospitable, but mineral-rich planet, have a long history of struggling with hostile environments, which, combined with their lengthy gestation period, frequently threatened to thin their numbers almost to the point of extinction. Consequently, there remains in them an atavistic aversion to being exposed to physical danger, and a proportional willingness to decrease the chance of such an occurrence as far as possible. As their soft, malleable pseudopods, which can, in various circumstances, exert a firm grip or perform fine manipulations, render them naturally suited for occupations wherein such flexibility can be vital, Ekhrilthur industry is the Coalition’s finest in terms of mechanical implements and technological advancement, its wares widely available on any inhabited world. Despite this, the Ekhrilthur themselves are seldom seen outside the industrial worlds they administer - despite the latter often amounting to little more than planet-spanning factories and mining operations.
Skirol:
The inquisitive Skirol developed in a rich and complex ecosystem, the entirety of which they still suspect they have not yet quite understood. Such a wealth of life never ceased to fascinate a great many of them, and, ever since the dawn of their civilisation, lead them to wonder how marvellous the world of organic forms might be if it were guided by a wise, calculating intellect - such as their own. Since the Skirol seldom hesitate before passing from words to action, there scarce can be found a life-form in Coalition space which they have not experimented upon, and the products of their biological engineering are slowly yet steadily making their way toward wholesale employment in the civilian sector as well as the military. Skirol are a rather common sight throughout the Coalition, especially on worlds rich with organic life.
Zsresriir:
The zealous, belligerent Zsresriir are best known for their ferocity and their curious devotion to the Zsrolor, with whom they share their homeworld. Their large size, abundance of natural weaponry and curt demeanour often cause them to be mistaken, when first encountered, for little more than savage beasts; however, they have time and again shown themselves to be remarkably disciplined and organised, not to mention law-abiding to an extreme. These traits render them well-suited for military service, and, indeed, the majority of the Coalition’s internal peace-keeping forces and non-synthetic troops are Zsresriir. A number of Zsresriir (about 15% of their overall population) is innately endowed with unusually fine senses, enabling them to sense even faint ground tremors beneath them. These comparatively rare individuals are recruited into the Deep-Speakers, the clergy of the Bearers of the Abyssal Word, as their abilities enable them to communicate with the Zsrolor and convey their wishes to the surface. In recent times, a few notable Zsresriir, such as high-priests and distinguished commanders, have begun to occultly receive "blessings", in the guise of physical alterations, from their Zsrolor masters. These individuals are transformed into towering horrors, possessing tremendous strength and resilience, and are believed by many (though no proof has ever been produced to substantiate these claims) to become vessels of a figment of the Deep Ones' essence, be it divine or genetic.
Zsrolor:
The enigmatic beings known as Zsrolor - such is the name given to them by their compatriots, the Zsresriir - are, as far as it is known, a species of large, subterranean, possibly highly intelligent creatures. They are worshipped as deities by the Zsresriir, whose Deep-Speakers they are able to contact and instruct by the means of a code conveyed through ground shocks caused by their movements. The Zsresriir claim they defer in all matters to the authority of their “gods”, who have, since time immemorial, always ruled them wisely and led them out of many a crisis. Attempts to study the Zsrolor are forbidden by the central Coalition administration. No Zsrolor has ever been known to appear on a planet not inhabited by Zsresriir.
Ulvath:
The Ulvath are a race of docile mollusc-like creatures which were discovered by the Zsresriir in the early stages of their expansion and “uplifted” to be part of the Blessed Thearchy, where they were treated as second-class citizens. Though they were granted rights equal to all other sentient species upon being integrated into the Coalition, due to their simple, trusting mindset they seldom rise above subordinate ranks. Despite, or perhaps because of, this, the Ulvath mingle well with the other species, and may nowadays be found virtually anywhere in Coalition space, from Ekhrilthur factories through Skirol bio-plants to patrol craft and army barracks. Their strength and obedience make them prized labourers and, on occasion, useful combat assets.
Religions:
Demographics:
Creed of the Ultimate Truth - 27% Sanctity of the Cycle - 27% Zsrolor Worship - 38% Minor Religions or Unaffiliated - 8%
Creed of the Ultimate Truth: It might be odd to hear that the notoriously materialistic Ekhrilthur are not only open to religion, but have even produced a faith of their own. In fact, the Creed of the Ultimate Truth is not so much a religious confession as a philosophical stance. In simple terms, those who subscribe to it believe that there is, concealed somewhere in the cosmos, a notion which, if discovered, would explain all uncertainties there exist on the nature and origin of the universe. There are innumerable interpretations of this basic axiom, which have birthed almost as many schools of thought within the Creed. Most of the latter’s adherents are Ekhrilthur and Skirol, though there may also be found among them some of the more curious Ulvath.
Sanctity of the Cycle: The closest the Skirol Weavers of the Cycle have to an official religion, the postulates of the Sanctity maintain that organic life should strive to attain balance among the many forms it might take. How exactly this is to be done is where most of the schisms occur. Some believe that organic life should be modified through bioengineering until it reaches the desired “perfect” state; others, that all “undesirable” life forms should be removed from existence so that they might not disrupt the order of things. What almost all agree upon, though, is that the Skirol are those upon whom it falls to establish the sacred balance. Needless to say, most believers in the Sanctity of the Cycle are Skirol; the others are prevalently Ulvath fascinated with Skirol culture.
Zsrolor Worship: The religion upon which the Bearers of the Abyssal Word are founded, the cult of the Zsrolor states that these beings should be revered as gods, and their will enforced wherever possible. While it might at first seem that such rigid imperatives might be problematic within the increasingly collectivised context of the Coalition, the Zsrolor have shown themselves to be quite reasonable concerning this matter, encouraging the faithful to follow the dictates of common legislation and never contradicting the authority of the CAC. Virtually all Zsresriir worship the Zsrolor, as do many Ulvath who have remained within their sphere of influence.
A number of minor cults and religions exists within the Coalition, as well as some individuals who do not subscribe to any faith, even nominally. However, none of those forms a sufficiently significant fraction of the overall population to be listed here separately, and most of them are of strictly local nature.
Culture and Background:
Though the three nations which form the Coalition are culturally vastly different, being populated by creatures whose intellects and societies evolved in environments which resembled each other marginally at best, the very fact that there should have been established a lasting alliance between them testifies that there is, after all, something all of them share in equal measure. Unsurprisingly, what most united them in this regard was the segment of their history they have in common - namely, their subjugation by the Imperium and the following struggle to regain their much-coveted autonomy. Diverse as the beings one may encounter within its territory are, the vast majority of them partake of an intense dislike for humans (or Terrans, as they are known there), and merely mentioning the Imperium is guaranteed to kindle the collective-patriotic sentiments of anyone who might be present, despite the fact that about two centuries have elapsed since its fall.
The success once achieved through unity has persuaded the species of the Coalition, and especially the successive generations of their leaders, that the “common good” is not merely a matter of idle rhetoric, but a source of very tangible advantages. Thus, over the years following the “Purification”, increasingly intensive propaganda campaigns, devised by the CAC and supported by the three governments (as well as, interestingly, the Zsrolor), aimed at promoting ideals of belonging to a single, vast political super-organism which, while not as centralised and tyrannical as the loathed Terran occupants (the CAC has always been careful not to overtly exert its authority with too great a frequency), would provide protection and well-being for its inhabitants, no matter their species, asking nothing in return but that they be good, dutiful citizens. This continuous action, often carried out subtly and indirectly, has contributed to strengthen a feeling of limited cosmopolitism in the populace, to the point that, if nowadays a randomly selected member of the latter were abruptly asked where their fealty lies, they would be driven by a pseudo-instinctive impulse to name the Coalition more promptly than their original state.
As it often is the case, such an increase of patriotism required, for greater stability, some sort of counter-balance, ideally in the form of general distrust and hostility toward everything that was not part of the Coalition itself. Such an effect was even simpler to obtain due to the aforementioned long-lasting hatred toward the Terran invaders and the sentient species associated with them - that is, anything which was not Ekhrilthur, Skirol, Zsresriir, Zsrolor or Ulvath, as not even the governments were truly aware of what exactly existed in the wider galaxy beyond the Terrans and the occasional non-human subject of the Imperium who visited their distant reaches, though this was certainly no obstacle to their tactics. If anything, it simplified them even further, as all “outsiders” were heaped together in a large pile of indistinct but precedent-fueled menace, against which popular discontent stemming from any small issue could be channeled. In fact, so effective were the methods of persuasion used that their very instigators began to wonder whether the situation might actually just reveal itself at some point to be just as grim as they had painted it. Reasoning that, after all, one can never be too careful, some decades ago Coalition leadership launched a motion for wide-scale militarisation of society, prompting the greatest part of industrial sectors, from Ekhrilthur roboticists to Skirol gene-weavers, to turn their attention toward bellic production. As every branch progressed along its own research paths, someone among the military commanders was struck with a brilliant thought: the diversity in the troops fielded by each nation could be exploited to emphasize just how much every member of the Coalition depended on the others in order to function at the peak of their capability. The idea caught on, and soon “interdependence” became a byword throughout the confederation’s economic and social sectors as well as the army.
As it began its expansion over a hundred years ago, the Coalition stood as a solid front against anything it perceived as threatening its well-being. Firmly united between themselves, its people were eager to defend their collective hegemony from the despised outsiders, and the general sentiment that its current holdings were not quite what such a paragon of cooperation and unity deserved fuelled its aggressive campaign from the onset. The widespread, unwavering patriotic confidence in the nation's indisputable strength was, however, destined to leave it exposed to general surprise when the nearby Totalist State first began to attempt to destabilise it economically and afterwards, upon encountering the violent resistance the governments had been swift to instigate, launched a military conquest operation against it. Having believed itself almost invincible, the Coalition, faced with a vastly superior opponent, had no choice but to abandon its holdings and ignominiously flee westward in the wake of its own fleet.
It would appear that such a sound defeat was bound to brutally demoralise the Coalition's population and cause its designs of grandeur to grind to an abrupt halt. And yet, this was not the case. With remarkable skill, the CAC contrived to salvage its predicament situation for all it could possibly be worth, and unexpectedly turned the exodus itself to its advantage. Stressing the urgency of the situation, its propaganda campaigns, accelerated to a frantic pitch, exhorted the masses to surrender all thoughts of individual advantage in order to ensure both the survival of the common good and their own, as their forebears had when they had risen up against the Imperium. The combined effect of immediate danger, concrete, steady guidance and flattering historical comparisons wrought wonders - within weeks, if not days, an overall collectivisation of society, now doubly unified under the strong, central rule of the CAC, was achieved, and, through a phenomenal industrial effort, the Coalition disappeared from the systems it had occupied in its entirety (whether by escape or summary execution for "subversive activity") before being destroyed or subjugated.
The success of the operation, as well as the numerous victories obtained by the Invasion Fleet on the western front and the ensuing territorial expansion, greatly bolstered public faith in the CAC and its policies, radical though the latter might have been. And radical they were: seeing as its status as governing organisation, though unofficial, was all but universally accepted, and as the three states having founded the Coalition had, with the loss of geographic references, become a surprisingly vague concept, the CAC redefined the latter as socio-economic entities whose nature was dictated by their contributions to the collective. Thus, the Ekhrilthur state became the Techno-Sphere, a conglomeration of engineers and technicians responsible for mechanical production and the exploitation of uninhabitable mineral planets (most of which have already been torn apart by immense mining compounds); that of the Skirol was made into the Weavers of the Cycle, tasked with studying and altering potentially useful life-forms; and the Blessed Thearchy shed its political trappings to become a full-fledged religious order, supplying trained personnel for military and law-enforcement purposes. The Ulvath, as was their custom, remained nondescriptly spread across the three organisations.
In such a rigidly utilitarian environment, it was but a question of time before faceless conformity became the norm. Nowadays, citizens of the Coalition are chiefly defined by their role and functions in the vast industrial and military machine which the nation has transformed into. While individuality is not overtly suppressed, it has been stripped of most of its significance, and the only remaining methods of expressing it are purely aesthetic. The most relevant example among such manifestations is that of custom physical enhancements, mechanical or biological, which have become of widespread usage and are readily made available by authorities eager for workers to perform beyond their best.
History:
When the conquering fleets of the Terran Imperium reached the zone which is currently Coalition territory, the three local civilisations which had risen upon various worlds and, until then, thrived unchecked - Ekhrilthur, Skirol, Zsresriir and assimilated Ulvath - were barely past the planetary development stage, their first crude vessels tentatively reaching out and scarce daring to stray from their home systems. As could be expected, the Imperium met little difficulty in shattering what feeble resistance they could offer and subjugating them, annexing their resource-rich home-worlds. Due to the four species’ radically alien physiology, considered extremely repulsive by human standards, and bizarre cultural traits, Imperial enforcers found it simple to consider them as little better than beasts, and treat them accordingly. Their homelands were ruthlessly exploited for all they were worth (Skereth’s famed ecosystem survived only owing to the Skirol’s clandestine actions), and the beings themselves were herded as slaves and summarily tried and executed upon the least suspicion. The Zsresriir and Ulvath suffered most, bearing the brunt of Imperial retaliations for the casualties and devastation frequently wrought by angered and elusive Zsrolor.
Discontent soon reached soaring levels in the colony, and riots and rebellions were not late to occur. They were usually limited in reach and poorly coordinated, yet their sheer quantity forced the Imperium to increasingly strengthen garrisons on occupied worlds. This, in turn, sparked further uprisings, but it soon became clear that, however brutal, ferocious and even physically superior the rebels might have been, they were no match for the well-trained, well-armed and well-disciplined occupants. Under such conditions, the Imperium’s complete victory and pacification of the zone would probably soon have been complete, had it not been for a fatal mistake. Noticing how fitted for specialised roles the various species seemed, a newly appointed governor devised a scheme to create groups comprised of some individuals of each of them, which would have been able to autonomously carry out a variety of tasks. This project was soon enacted, and a number of especially bright or otherwise prominent creatures was gathered, as per instructions, in “multipurpose xeno-labourer units”.
The components of these units, who soon learned to communicate between themselves in a simplified form of the Ekhrilthur speech (which would later become the common language of the Coalition), were not slow in establishing contact on another level as well. They all yearned to be free from the Imperium yoke; now, they were afforded an opportunity to reach this goal by preparing to strike from where their enemy least expected it, and each found vital new allies in the others. Thus, while outwardly appearing as though they actively collaborated with the Imperials, the multipurpose units covertly worked to develop their own traditional technologies, all while remaining in contact with each other and rebel groups, who spread messages of renewed hope among the general population.
When the newly invigorated forces of the three occupied nations believed themselves ready to launch the long-expected uprising, the Imperium was already showing signs of weakness. Some of the garrisoned troops had been withdrawn, and there was little hope new reinforcements, had been necessary, would have been timely. Thus, the position of the local Imperial forces was somewhat weakened; yet they did not deem it worthwhile to increase vigilance, believing the locals to have finally lost all strength to rebel, and were caught unawares when the masses of the xenos turned upon them at once, supported by swarms of bio-engineered monstrosities and fearsome war machines which had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Soon, the entirety of the Terran troops present in the occupied zone had been torn to shreds; yet the exultant rebels did not find this sufficient, and turned upon human civilians with undiminished ferocity. Those who were not immediately slaughtered were transported to Skirol bio-plants, and were never heard from since; those attempting to flee from the systems were pursued with captured Terran spacecraft and secretly constructed prototypes, the forerunners of the Coalition armada, and annihilated. When news of this massacre reached the Imperium, it dispatched a fleet to subdue the insurgents; however, it already had few ships to spare at that time, and the assault was successfully repelled. What occurred during the Liberation was nothing short of genocide; yet the inhabitants of the Coalition still remember it with pride, and never tire of glorifying the “heroic deeds” of their ancestors.
With the hated oppressors destroyed and peace restored in their territories, the newly freed nations set to rebuilding their planets as they deemed it best and planning their future courses of action. Mindful of the Liberation’s success, their leaders convened that it would have been most advantageous to consolidate their alliance, and founded the Yrrkeltharl Coalition, named after the appellation of their sector in the common language. Over the next centuries, the CAC and state leaders tirelessly worked upon strengthening the ties between their peoples, largely through the methods described above, and further developing their stunted industries and economies, contributing, where possible, to causing them to be greatly reliant upon each other. Such a focus upon internal affairs did not leave sufficient amount of time or resources to spare upon external expansion, and isolationism was virtually enforced during that period.
Roughly at the time of the beginning of the Great War, however, the Coalition leadership, believing the confederation to be sufficiently strengthened and prepared for conflict, and launched a campaign of expansion. The bulk of its Invasion Fleet, which had grown over the decades of stabilisation, was dispatched to the west, where, after defeating and annihilating a number of lesser states with relative ease, it breached the border of the Musashi Empire, a powerful human nation which, at the time, occupied a significant portion of the galactic south. Despite the invading force being designed to face larger enemy fleets, a sufficiently fast and vigorous reaction would probably have put an end to its venture; however, due to increasing internal instability and pressure upon multiple fronts, the Empire was unable to stage a sufficient counter-attack. Several confrontations saw the Invasion Fleet victorious, and numerous Musashi worlds were besieged and razed.
Yet, while the Coalition's foreign ventures were successful, its home systems were not quite as safe as its leaders believed. The nearby Totalist State was itself aiming to expand in that zone, and to that end sought to subversively destabilise its most significant powers - such as the Coalition itself. When the latter violently reacted to indirect approaches, driven by never quite extinguished hatred of extraneous influence, especially if human, the Totalists brought their military might to bear upon it. Had even the bulk of the fleet been recalled in time, it would have been powerless to repel such a force; the only remaining alternative to being conquered and assimilated was therefore flight. By centralising the Coalition's government apparate almost overnight, the CAC succeeded in organising a somewhat disciplined exodus, and the entire surviving population departed in the wake of the Invasion Fleet. As the average citizen had little choice but contributing to the war effort by any possible means until the situation had grown stable, the armada's capabilities were significantly bolstered, and before long a large part of what had been Musashi space was under the Coalition's control. The Empire, severely weakened and assailed by marauders and other foes, collapsed soon afterwards.
Now once again controlling territories of its own - and more than ever heretofore - the Coalition set to populating its new holdings and rebuilding its might. With a previously unthought-of abundance of resources at its disposal, and other major nations tending to their own wounds after the Great War, it was able to reorganise itself into a potent politico-economic apparatus, all while remaining true to the policy of remaining a closed system, inaccessible to external markets. Presently, it is far better prepared for conflict than a century before, and no less eager to engage in it.
Technology:
While the age of Imperial domination remains ever reviled, it is undeniable that it contributed to furthering the three nations’ technological development, both owing to their own subversive projects and the establishment of infrastructure and production facilities by the occupants, and rather simplified their initial stages of industrialisation, leaving them with plenty of expropriated material to work upon. Notably, the basic apparatus structures of the Coalition’s communication systems and warp drives, though long since rendered unrecognisable by numerous improvements and modifications, were once almost integral replicas of the original Terran devices. However, after centuries of more or less overt exhortations to leave the vestiges of an abhorred past as far behind as possible, and develop previously unthought-of technology as a testament to the alliance’s scientific brilliance and industrial might, the joint efforts of Ekhrilthur and Skirol researchers have succeeded in developing a number of inventions which are, to all effects, unique in the galaxy, due to the peculiarity of their design and the alien nature of the minds which conceived them.
One of the first issues to be raised to the attention of the newborn Coalition was that of energy production. Previously, the latter had been achieved through the consumption of material resources extracted by the Imperium, a method which the new governments were unanimously opposed to perpetuating. Thus, after a mere few month of feverish activity, the nascent Ekhrilthur industries constructed the first vacuum-core reactor. The fundamental principle of this design consists in creating an enclosed, stable pocket of void, to which was added a small number of catalyst particles, and converting its physical traction into kinetic energy, which could then be transformed and employed as necessary. Such reactors provide a high output, but have the disadvantage of being, even in their most reduced forms, large and unwieldy. Nevertheless, to this day they remain widely used in factories and aboard ships, where they fuel engines, shields and the occasional heavy weapon.
A more versatile generator was developed recently as a result of the combination of Ekhrilthur experiments with nanotechnology and Skirol microbiological engineering. Cultures of genetically modified bacteria, designed in such a manner than they multiply and feed upon each other and multiply at an unnaturally fast rate, preserving a balance in their numbers, were placed in vats along with nano-machines which harvested the energy released as a result of their frenzied activity. Such devices, which could be produced in varying sizes depending on their application, soon became the most widespread energy source in Coalition space, as they could provide autonomy as far as on a personal level. Bacterial tubes, as they are commonly known due to their usually cylindrical form, have caught the attention of military engineers, and were swift to be made into batteries for energy beam weapons, which were consequently dubbed “bio-lasers”. In particular, army-issue blasters, used by Planetary Invasion Forces, but not law-enforcement personnel, are fitted with a special breed of bacteria, whose activity produces toxic waste. The latter is then expelled in pulverised form from vents in the weapon’s sides, perpetually cloaking Coalition forces in combat in tell-tale venomous clouds.
Another relevant technological field is that of robotics. The Ekhrilthur have always been loath to conduct hazardous work in person, ever devising more and more efficient tools which could be exposed to danger without personal risk, and what tool is safer than a remotely controlled, or, better yet, autonomous machine? Thus, mechanical drones were, even in the chronicles of ante-planetary times, associated with their production. However, as the quality of these drones grew, so did, at a far swifter rate, their numbers, and the difficulty of managing them. Even the most advanced of autonomous machines often found themselves in positions where two or more units were accidentally given contradictory instructions, and the entire situation was deemed greatly unsatisfactory. Several solutions were tested, until finally the first Autonomous Operative System was implemented. Though not exactly sentient, this processing program nonetheless reached such a degree of complexity as to be able to control numerous drones at once, all while taking full stock of its surroundings and calculating the consequences of its actions and nearby events by combining almost indefinite factors. The experiment was a success, and AOS mass production began soon afterwards. Often these systems will combine into networks to manage large facilities, sometimes spanning continents. As was almost inevitable, the design was adapted and optimised for military operations, and specialised Tactical Autonomous Local Operative Systems (TALOS) currently control the Coalition’s hordes of war-drones and automated fighter craft.
A final note should be expended upon the matter of personal augmentations, which have lately attained vast popularity among the Coalition's population. Such enhancements, originally only employed in the military sector, often combine the Techno-Sphere's aptitude for inorganic mechanics with the Weavers' expertise in organic modifications, though exclusively metallic or biological implants are by no means uncommon. Their nature differs wildly from case to case, ranging from prosthetic (occasionally supplementary) limbs to new sets of sensory organs, through more subtle alterations to muscular or exoskeletal structure or the Ekhrilthur's characteristic amorphous masses of nano-machines welded to the carrier's body. The more rare and difficult to obtain an implement is, the more extraordinary its effects are; whereas the more readily available ones are usually minor, primarily cosmetic in nature.
Military:
The Coalition's collective military, ambitiously named Planetary Invasion Forces, perfectly reflects the concept it contributed to inspire - that of cooperation and mutually dependent fractions operating in unison to secure victory through the combination of their respective strengths and by compensating for each other's weaknesses. This general strategy, as well as the diversity of its ranks, makes it an altogether highly versatile army, capable both of engaging an enemy force in the field and stealthily sapping its strength through guerrilla warfare, as well as rearranging itself almost instantly in order to adapt to varying conditions. The Coalition's ground forces are its pride, and numerous simulations have estimated them to be capable of tremendous destruction - which the famed destruction of the Imperium's forces can only confirm. The Planetary Invasion Forces are broadly divided into three categories:
War-Drones
These machines, variants of Ekhrilthur drones especially built for military action, controlled by TALOS networks, typically mount direct attacks upon the enemy. Their immunity to pain or fear renders them ideal frontline combatants, and their coordination, unmatched by organic units, ensures that its manoeuvring should be invariably as rapid and efficient as it could possibly be.
Standard Invasion Drone
Standard Invasion Drones form the bulk of the Coalition's frontal attackers. While not especially resilient, they are nonetheless strong, dexterous and, most importantly, disposable. Armed with bio-laser blasters, their advance pushes forth along the front the Coalition's trademark poisonous vapours.
Heavy Invasion Drone
Slightly larger and significantly more heavily armoured than the Standard model, these drones are understandably more expensive to produce, and thus fielded in lesser numbers; those which do appear upon the battlefield, however, abundantly compensate for their scarcity. Their weapons fire conglomerations of destructive nano-machines, which gruesomely tear their way through flesh and metal indiscriminately.
Bio-Engineered Creatures
Spawned from the pits of Skirol bio-plants, these horrors, intelligent enough to be trained, usually serve as mobile infantry, flanking enemy formations or eliminating small, elusive targets. They are immune to the toxins and pathogens employed by the Collective military, and, in case of defeat, scatter about the desolation wrought by the main forces, possibly enduring for years as isolated threats or joining successive invasions.
Shredder Beast
Agile and ferocious, shredder beasts are usually unleashed in droves upon foes. Though they are capable of recognising and exploiting vantage points, they prefer to charge at their targets directly, striking them where they are most vulnerable, for instance, in the rear lines.
Ravager
More cunning and patient than shredder beasts, ravagers often organise ambushes and surprise attacks against their targets, assailing them when they least expect it - such as when they are certain of victory, and consequently careless. Their camouflage abilities enable them to blend in with their surroundings, and thus all the better catch their prey unawares.
Befouler
These winged beasts swoop down upon assembled enemy ranks, spitting out corrosive ichor, or harass flying machines, compensating for the Coalition's lack of atmospheric vessels. It is not infrequent for them to suicidally dive onto their targets - which is, oddly, a valid strategy, as their bodies rapidly decompose into purulent, infectious puddles upon death.
Zsresriir Soldiers
The elite of the Planetary Invasion Forces, those Zsresriir who take up arms to defend (and expand) the collective good of the confederation are the Coalition's most prized and formidable military assets. Not only are these "heroes" subjected to rigorous training and intensified propaganda; there are likewise likewise bestowed upon them numerous Ekhrilthur mechanical implants and Skirol grafted enhancements aimed at improving their senses, strength and agility, to the point that many of them barely resemble Zsresriir at all. They are usually protected by semi-organic combat armour, which, along with shielding them from damage, filters the air they breathe, enabling them to operate in usually impracticable environments and wield bio-laser rifles.
Those who display the greatest amounts of zeal and fanaticism are further "upgraded", being outfitted with a Skirol symbiotic carapace. The latter is, rather than a suit of armour, a separate, semi-intelligent entity, which, in addition to greatly enhancing the wearer's potency and performing the usual functions of heavy defensive equipment, is able to regenerate damage to both itself and the Zsresriir within at preternaturally rapid rates.
Armoured Vehicles
Combat vehicles generally fill the role of mobile artillery and battlefield support in Coalition armies. Though it is possible for them to engage similar units, they are especially adept at demolishing buildings and other structures - it matters little whether military or civilian.
Reaper Tank
The most common of the Coalition vehicles, Reapers are quite fast, which enables them to out-manoeuver larger engines or pursue fleeing enemies. Their armour, however, is fairly light, and their weapons, though rapid, are largely ineffective against stronger plating and fortified structures.
Devastator Tank
Heavily armoured and carrying the largest bio-laser cannons among the Coalition's ground forces, Devastators might well qualify as artillery platforms in their own right. Their versatility, though, is impaired by their slow movement and large size, which renders swift manoeuvring impossible and marks them as conspicuous targets.
Specialised Boarding Units
These highly hazardous creatures are only employed in boarding operations, where they are released in separate pods. However, there have been suggestions to use them on planetary surfaces as part of scorched-earth strategies.
Infecter
Despite their small size and lack of natural defences, save for a chameleon-like capability to render themselves nearly invisible, infecters are invariably handled with extreme caution. Their peculiarity consists in filling breathable atmospheres with airborne viral infections; a sufficient number of them could render an entire ship uninhabitable within less than an hour.
Ingester
As simple as a pluricellular creature could possibly be, an ingester is no more than a larger equivalent of an amoeba. The closest there is in it to neural activity is an urge to advance and consume all organic matter it encounters, which it promptly does whenever possible by externally digesting and assimilating its victims. As they lack anything resembling organs, and thus any vulnerable point, these entities are tremendously difficult to stop. It is assumed that they can only be destroyed by thorough burning, though even that has never been verified.
Fleet:
Originally, the Coalition's military fleet was, due to resource constraints, rather small and limited in its ability to engage enemies frontally. Its combat tactics primarily relied on extensive boarding operations, executed by the means of small, nimble boarding pods, each filled with drones, bio-engineered monsters or Zsresriir shock troops:
Such pods are designed to attach themselves to larger craft and locate a hollow surface upon it, then wear away at its defences and unleash its contents within, eliminating the crew and thus neutralising the ship.
Since then, the Coalition has been able to construct a fleet to rival those of other major nations. While boarding pods are still employed, they are nowhere as crucial to victory as they once were. Overall, its current space combat tactics greatly rely upon aggressive engagements and overrunning enemy formations with large numbers of swift, agile vessels. The relatively short range of their weapons is compensated for by their speed, which enables them to rapidly reach firing distance, and, while their vacuum-powered shields are fairly easy to breach with focused attacks, they have the property of swiftly regenerating while not under pressure, rendering them ideal for absorbing stray blasts or precision strikes.
Known Coalition combat ships include:
Fighter Drone - Controlled by TALOS networks optimised for space combat, these drones are a negligible threat on their own, but can be quite a nuisance when swarming about in large numbers.
Deployer - Unlike other fleets' carrier ships, deployers do not carry smaller fighters, but boarding pods, often launching them directly at enemy ships as they sweep by.
Hunter - Hunter craft do not engage larger vessels, but, being exceedingly fast for their size, pursue enemy fighters and corvettes, destroying them with swift, accurate bursts of fire.
Battleship - Though nowhere as imposing or destructive as the dreadnoughts fielded by larger nations, Coalition battleships are far more agile than those colossi, and can prove quite versatile as concerns battlefield functions.
Breaker - Larger than hunter ships and armed with frontal vacuum reactor-powered cannons, breakers are designed to surround large vessels and destroy them through sustained fire, preferably directed toward especially vulnerable spots.
Armoured Transport - Despite not being quite combat vessels, transport ships fill a vital role in the Coalition fleet, carrying as they do large numbers of Planetary Invasion Forces toward besieged planets. Large numbers of them typically follow in the wake of a battle fleet.
Colony Ship - Similarly to the transports, colony ships are not designed for combat, being equipped with a mere few turret-mounted weapons. Their purpose is instead to complete planetary surface invasions and lay the foundations for the subsequent assimilation of a world. Each colony ship houses several miniature factories and bio-plants, and carries within itself a small army of troops and worker drones, enabling it to gather raw materials from its surroundings and churn out waves of reinforcements to bolster the ranks of the Invasion Forces.
The Agonis Remnant
Though the Agonis Collective is gone, records of its activity and, most importantly, some of its technology have since been recovered by the Coalition. This, along with the victory over Magnus and his followers and the ensuing capture of their instruments and devices, has enabled it to replicate some old designs and more or less subtly improve upon them where necessary, thus fielding a refurbished force capable of meeting present-day armaments and vessels on equal terms. A few well-concealed industrial systems have been devoted to constructing vessels imitating Agonis designs, as well as birthing by the means of bio-plants an army of homunculi similar to those raised by the AIs. In this field as well, the Coalition has somewhat modified the original schemes, breeding new strains and altering or altogether replacing previously existing ones to better suit its needs.
As far as anyone knows, the Remnant is led by the God-Entity, a virtual being which claims to contain in itself all of the Collective's former members. What is not quite so widely known, however, is that the God-Entity is a simple interactive program, whose prompts and responses were modelled after the constructors' knowledge of the intelligences' demeanour. In truth, Remnant forces operate under the hidden control of the Coalition itself. Their attacks are carefully directed upon vulnerable objectives in the territories of other major nations, or targeted at their operative groups in neutral space. The Coalition leadership is ready to deny any knowledge of the existence of the "Agonis", and sweep aside any queries as to whether they have made their appearance in its space as well.
Population:
Khraal Ghouls
While the Khraal homunculus design, being quite easily adaptable to various forms of mass production, was not altogether eliminated by the Coalition as it set to re-engineering Agonis's ranks, it has undergone some significant alterations. The new Ghoul breed, while not as cheap resource-wise as, and thus less numerous than, its predecessors, noticeably exceeds them in size, strength and agility, and is an even match even for trained human combatants in hand-to-hand struggles. While possessing limited intelligence and being unable to use weapons, Khraal Ghouls can infect their victims with a maddening disease, which might cause one to turn upon their comrades in paroxysms of blind fear and anger.
Varusch
Unlike the other homunculus types, the Varusch, designed as they were to suit various functions and be easily modified if the situation required it, remained largely unchanged, save for a few new breeds being devised to meet the reformed force's needs. They constitute the Remnant's all-purpose creature-power and the backbone of its armies, and have, though their sheer variety, replaced the Khraal as the most numerous sort of construct.
Varusch standard troopers
A Brute-breed Varusch, larger and bulkier than the standard type and armed with heavy weaponry
An Elite-breed Varusch, possessing greater autonomy and intelligence and donning power armour
Ulkor Overseers
Replacing the Agaathi in the role of homunculus commanders, the Overseers are somewhat more manageable for their new masters. Save for tactical skills, they are only marginally more intelligent than their underlings, and obey the Coalition's orders unquestioningly. Overseers possess limited psionic abilities; this enables them to telepathically transmit orders to their troops and, if enough of them are present, mount direct localised mental assaults. While their commanding method has certain advantages, it also causes subordinate creatures to be overly reliant on their continuous supervision; eliminating all Overseers in an area will thus leave the homunculi they directed, with the exception of Varusch Elites, momentarily disoriented. On the battlefield, Overseers appear clad in metallic armour and wield portable plasma weapons.
Fleet:
Though the Remnant's ships are equipped with Coalition technology, thus greatly outclassing their predecessors, they exteriorly maintain the appearance of the Collective's fleet, including decorative symbols and marks of identification.
@Sigma Another question - do you suppose it would be plausible for the Coalition to have expanded into former Musashi space in the intervening hundred years, so as to presently stand on the same level as the other major galactic powers?
Are we over here now? Whatever the case, I am still in as well. (By the bye, should those of us who began in old thread create new nations, or update our previous ones?)
Ah, splendid. Just as it seemed that the destruction of the inn had finally given pause to these assembled savages' murderous tendencies, a new monster, apparently angrier yet than all of the previous ones collectively, had appeared. Not only this, but the goblin had, in a display of suicidal foolhardiness which drove Khri'zhatt to vigorously strike himself upon the snout, to both provoke it and stir the orc's momentarily sedated drunken bloodlust once again. And to say that the goblin had at first seemed to him the comparatively least insane member of the group who still physically had a head over his shoulders... At least the two brutes were, for the moment, focusing on the instigator of this new degeneration, who, it seemed, had not even been prepared for a retaliation to his taunting.
Noticing that the goblin, caught in the orc's grip, had begun to panickedly fiddle with his equipment in a manner which surely betokened no good, and had an overwhelming likelihood of ending in a large explosion of flames, scraps, fried green flesh and bones, Khri'zhatt himself began to grow rather alarmed. Knowing the green pests as he did, it was doubtless a matter of seconds before this one condemned to a fiery death everyone in the immediate vicinity - which happened to include him, Khri'zhatt. This was not at all a satisfactory turn of events; in fact, perishing to a goblin's machinations, however involuntary, was one of the last things he was planning to do that week, or at all, for that matter.
He hurriedly began to look about for some means of protection. Scurrying away swiftly enough was out of the question due to the wound inflicted by the orc's chain-hook (now, seeing him explode would have been far more enjoyable). Ordering Thrik to crouch over him would not do, either, as, besides there being a substantial chance of the lumbering beast crushing him, he was not certain the umber hulk's carapace was strong enough to withstand what would come flying out of the sizzling pile of metal. The only apparent solution was to find something to cover himself with. Pity that the inn's doors had all been either destroyed or buried under the rubble... Just then, his eye fell on the elf's still headless corpse. It might not have been of much use in the case of a large detonation, but it was soft enough for stray shrapnel to embed itself in it, and besides, had the elf not already shown himself willing to take blows for him? "Thrik, fetch!" he commanded. The umber hulk reached over with its horridly long arms and, seizing the corpse, held it as a shield before itself (or as much of itself as the relatively diminutive form could cover, at least) and its master, bracing for the presumedly incoming blast.
