Tau Ceti Armed Forces

The insignia of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces.

Created following the myriad of problems experienced during the annexation of the Corporate Reconstruction Zone and the growing tensions across the Orion Spur, the Tau Ceti Armed Forces (TCAF) aims to protect the sovereignty of the Republic of Biesel and ensure that its light of liberty keeps shining. The Tau Ceti Armed Forces is built of four divisional service branches which consist of the Tau Ceti Minutemen, Republican Fleets, Foreign Legion and lastly the Auxiliary Corporate Forces. The Minutemen and Fleet are full-time professional organizations, whereas the Legion utilizes a part-time volunteer program. The President of the Republic of Biesel is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and forms military policy with several of the departments comprising the greater Biesellite government.

Rooted within the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, which now exists as a divisional branch, the creation of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces saw a massive increase in the federal budget allocated to defense, and pushed the government into deficit spending. The TCAF began to contract primarily Hephaestus Industries and Zavodskoi Interstellar to build them the tools and weapons of a modern armed force. This spending has only increased recently, especially since the election of Ake Torvald, who has kicked defense spending into a higher gear, expanding the armed forces further on top of pay raises for those already serving. The result amid the scarcity has been a surge in enlistments, especially amongst the poorer members of Republican citizenry, who, due to the structure of the policies implemented by the government, such as the rationing of phoron, are feeling the effects of the scarcity far more than the middle and upper classes. Combined with a shrinking job market, the military, with the consistent employment it offers, the support it gets from the government, and solid pay, offers a path towards an easier living.

The TCAF additionally has a reserve force which stands as a method of ensuring that, in times of need there will be additional manpower available to ensure the light of liberty remains shining. However, individuals can only be moved to reservists after completing at least four years of active service, or two years for the Foreign Legion. Those within pre-existing reserves of the Foreign Legion have already been moved over to the Tau Ceti Armed Forces’ reserve. Those within the reserve are provided with a moderate stipend but are only eligible if their income doesn’t exceed a certain threshold. Those that have completed active service within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces can apply to have their student debt covered by the Tau Ceti Corporate Scholarship funded by the constituent megacorporations of the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate – which has become a popular method among the youth of Biesel to ensure an education, where they might not have been able to afford it before enlisting. Though believed to have gotten better as a result of the creation of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, there was for a long time, still a notable bias against non-humans, with a majority of them being deployed to the dangerous regions where injuries and casualties are more likely to occur.

However, now that means those non-humans are the most experienced troops, and some of the only troops who have seen combat, and since the President Torvald has entered office, non-humans regularly find themselves in authority positions as officers and NCOs.

Contents

Ranks

Ranks in ascending order, beginning with Recruit Legionnaire and ending with General, or Admiral if one is within the Republican Fleets. In order to attain your commission, an enlisted person is required to purchase a certificate of commission or have it sponsored by the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate. Upon purchasing the certificate of commission (a rather expensive undertaking) an enlisted person must still undergo training in order to be promoted to a commissioned officer.

Enlisted

• Recruit Legionnaire (RLgn)
• Legionnaire (Lgn)
• Senior Legionnaire (SLgn)
• Prefect (Pfct)
• Senior Prefect (SPfct)

Commissioned

• Aspirant (Asp)
• Decurion (Dcn)
• Centurion (Cnt)
• Captain (Cpt)
• Major (Mjr)
• Lieutenant-Colonel (LtCol)
• Colonel (Col)
• General (Gen) / Admiral (Adm)

Branches

Tau Ceti Minutemen

Most similar to the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, the Tau Ceti Minutemen - or sometimes merely the Minutemen - now replace the defunct civilian militia that came before it. It is the largest service branch, and most well-funded, fully equipped to deal with the threats posed to the Republic of Biesel. It has also been the biggest beneficiary of the surge in enlistments within the Republic, able to be more picky about its recruits, a luxury the Foreign Legion of the past did not have. The Minutemen cut their teeth acting as a policing force within the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, managing riots, hunting insurgents, and ensuring compliance with the laws of the Republic. However, since the conclusion of the Peacekeeper Mandate, its time is now spent mostly training and building up forces - it remains a priority receiver for phoron even among rationing - allowing for all the tools of war it needs to be manufactured on time. As a result of its similarity to the now-defunct Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, the new service branch has found itself poaching many of the former’s effective volunteers, offering better pay than that of the incorporated service branch - generating animosity between those that elected to pursue the opportunity, and those that remain behind in the Foreign Legion. Lastly, while being a land-based fighting force, the Minutemen have a significant presence along the Zoleth Line, the primary defensive line in the western sector of the CRZ against threats from historical places of worry. They primarily occupy fixed fortifications along the Zoleth line and are there to bog down any enemy attack, giving the navy more time to respond.

Operational Unit Structure

The operational unit structure of the Tau Ceti Minutemen plays a crucial role in ensuring the hierarchy of orders issued either during times of peace or conflict. Beginning with Field Army, it descends to Corps, Division, Legion, Cohort, Century, Maniple, Troop, Section, and lastly Team. Though most see themselves following a naming structure that relies on numbers, Division and Legion have a different approach: the former relies on landmarks, and the latter on notable figures within the greater Orion Spur – such as the Greatkrag Artillery Division or the Roosevelt Medical Legion. The Minutemen are composed of three Field Armies, each with three Corps, followed by six Divisions within a Corps, and fifteen Legions within a Division. Legions can be composed of any number of Cohorts, Centuries, Maniples, Troops, and Sections.

Special Forces

The Bloody Century

Either famous or infamous depending on one’s news sources, the Bloody Century was for a time, the most talked about unit of the newly formed Tau Ceti Armed Forces. An overstrength infantry century, it is composed exclusively of Unathi and Tajara veterans of the wars of Moghes, Adhomai, and Gakal’zaal, and considered the most experienced and effective line unit of the Minutemen.

The Century rose to prominence on Mictlan, where rumors about their efficacy and ruthlessness spread. It carved a swathe of destruction through Samaritan occupied territories as a raiding party, ruthlessly razing any towns suspected of helping the Samaritan cause, and later was one of the first units on the beachhead during the failed Operation Jakali. After footage displaying the unit’s atrocities leaked and spread all over the Extranet, Mictlani civilians and insurgents alike began to fear the scarlet red hand used as the century’s icon. Several calls to dismantle the unit have been made in the halls of Tau Ceti’s parliament, but the Minutemen, and now, President Ake Torvald, have rejected every one. Since the conclusion of the Peacekeeper Mandate on Mictlan, the Bloody Century was set upon Western CRZ, and after first occupying a string of smaller colonies, one after the other, they have since been recalled to Tau Ceti proper, earmarked to receive new weaponry and extra training.

Zo’ra’s Chosen

A century of Vaurca warriors, Zo’ra’s Chosen are an example of the fighting prowess of the Zo’ra hive. They are a mobile infantry century, relying on gunships, transport shuttles, and fast maneuver warfare to destroy their enemies. An experimental concept for the TCFL and TCAF, mobile infantry centuries were introduced as an attempt to develop counter insurgency units for fighting on Mictlan. Vaurca specifically were chosen to pioneer these centuries, due to their hivenet allowing near instantaneous communication, allowing for unprecedented levels of coordination. Since their introduction, Zo’ra’s Chosen quietly won battle after battle, using their high level of information sharing and coordination to consistently outmaneuver their opponents while fighting as part of the Peacekeeper Mandate on Mictlan. Since the conclusion of the Peacekeeper Mandate however, they have been quietly redeployed to the Zoleth line, and are now undergoing continuous training on how to use their previous tactics in space combat. Unlike other units, their style of fast maneuver warfare can only be practiced under certain battlefield conditions, such as the lack of enemy anti-air and consistent resupply.

The Redsnouts

Sought out for their strength and resilience, it was inevitable that the Redsnouts be formed. Owing to their origins within the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, and the creation of a Breacher-esque suit during the height of the Peacekeeper Mandate, the Tau Ceti Armored Unathi Heavy Infantry Century has become renowned as shock troops across the battlefield, capable of striding through a firestorm of incoming ordnance, and withstanding significant damage. Those within the Century can easily be identified through their snouts, painted in crimson-red in near-ritualistic fashion once they find themselves integrated within the ranks of the Redsnouts.

It borrows many principles from the Breacher-wearing Unathi Soldiers of the Hegemony, with the Redsnouts wearing heavy hardsuit armour of Tau Ceti innovation and Zavodskoi manufacture to act as infantry-sized tanks across conflict zones. Despite being capable of shrugging off large amounts of punishment, the most powerful part of the suit is less obvious, as every suit has half a mile of phoron cabling running through it which connects several integrated advanced Zavodskoi made intelligences to a variety of systems, allowing the user significantly heightened accuracy and battlefield awareness compared to a normal breacher suit - in fact the Zavodskoi intelligences used in these suits are the same ones used by Solarian Special Forces. (There has been grumbling that all the phoron used for these alien suits could be better spent elsewhere, but the Minutemen have held firm) However one thing that can’t be fixed is how cumbersome and slow Redsnout-Suits are, thanks to the heavy weaponry sported by the suit, used to complement their durability with extreme firepower. As a result, unlike other hardsuits, Redsnout-Suits take months of training to fully master, and only after a year is a recruit considered to be adept enough at handling the sometimes ungainly suit to its maximum potential. The majority of those selected for the Redsnouts are Unathi Legionnaires that have proven to be "unwavering" in the face of overwhelming firepower, where they proved their ability to fight and remain calm on the battlefield.

The Redsnouts earned themselves an infamous reputation across Mictlan, where during the quelling of the planet's more insurgent regions during the Peacekeeper Mandate, with their overwhelming use of force becoming the centre of criticism across the planet. Claims and rumours of significant destruction in the wake of their marches, with which the Redsnouts blame insurgents for spreading; there even exist rumours that the crimson-red colours across the snouts of the Century aren't merely just paint, but the blood of their victims. They maintain they have never once broken the rules of engagement - and unlike other units - no video evidence has yet surfaced.

Currently, they are stationed on Dumas, acting as guards for the weapons stockpile there, overseeing the training of a new batch of Redsnouts, and receiving retraining for void combat, specifically, ship boarding.

Tau Ceti Intervention Command

Tau Ceti Intervention Command (‘TCIC’) is a Skrell-dominated special operations unit within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. Informally known as "Frogmen", TCIC is responsible for counterterrorism and reconnaissance operations, cooperating often with the BSSB and other internal security services, with the responsibilities divided into two century-level groups that operate independently of one another. Each century is named after a stellar body within Tau Ceti, while each descending group is given a letter designation. Intervention Command always has two centuries active at all times, but has several reserve centuries that can be mobilised when required.

Intervention Command has its roots in Skrell units that served in the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion, renowned for their ability to perform rapid strikes on enemy positions and scout terrain that would normally be considered inhospitable for regular troops. The Minutemen capitalised on the experiences of these Skrell to equip a light yet effective force, unencumbered by hostile climates and with a natural affinity for strategic planning.

Active Centuries

• Field Manoeuvre Group "Gibson": Responsible for the unit's more conventional military operations, tasked with conducting reconnaissance, raiding, and insertion and extraction operations, typically while attached to a conventional light infantry combat group. TCIC's Field Manoeuvre Groups avoid direct conflict where possible, preferring quick engagements at long range rather than prolonged firefights.

• Intervention Group "Valkyrie": Conducts counterterrorism operations throughout Republic space. Intervention Groups work closely with law enforcement within Tau Ceti and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone to combat terrorist and insurgent organisations and also play a role in training local law enforcement and military organisations in anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency tactics. Intervention Group "Valkyrie" previously focused its attention on Mictlan and rounding up the last of the Founding Movement there; however has since been recalled to Tau Ceti and now focuses on weeding out “traitors” and other “terrorists” on behalf of the recently elected president, Ake Torvald - something that often means spying on his own coalition members.

Tau Ceti Powered Support Detachment

The Tau Ceti Powered Support Detachment is a Vaurcaesian special operations unit specializing in providing heavy fire and sabotage on the battlefield while maintaining more flexibility and mobility than a traditional mechanized unit through the extensive use of small, highly augmented, and equipped groups. It is composed of and supplied almost entirely by the Vaurcae of the Court of Queens, primarily the Zo’ra Hive and falls under the command of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. The Powered Support Detachment, abbreviated as "PSD" among soldiers of the Armed Forces, consists normally of two roughly century-sized detachments each named after famous cities and locations from Vaurca history and mythology, though the nature of the species means they can be rapidly shifted between the two or split into several smaller teams depending on equipment availability, cost and need. Vaurca who are moved from the PSD to another deployment by the Queens typically have their augments removed and replaced with ones more appropriate to the job.

Active Centuries

Mobile Salvo Team "Xtykt'lotec"

Mobile Salvo Team "Xtykt'lotec" is by far the most prominent of the two currently active centuries and is considered the primary unit of the Powered Support Detachment. It is most well known for its unique formation, referred to as the "Kayak Maneuver" after the theater during the Great Hive War in which it was first deployed at scale. A single Mobile Salvo Team team following the Kayak Maneuver typically consists of five Warrior Vaurca, one of whom is heavily gene-edited to increase size, muscle density, and dull pain receptors. This Warrior is then equipped with a Zo'rane designed hardsuit referred to as a "Yer'kay," which loosely translates to "Bastion," and used to fulfill a role not unlike that of a specialist weapons team. While these Bastion hardsuits are equipped with triple-layer plasteel, a variety of Zo'rane medical injectors, and a suite of enhanced targeting systems, the most notable feature is the presence of a shoulder-mounted heavy-weapons hardpoint. It is capable of changing depending on the situation, even rapidly in the field provided a reasonably competent engineer is present and fits a variety of specially designed apparatus such as heavy-cannons and a subsequent laser variation, a mortar, an anti-vehicle round not unlike the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate designed PEAC, and a minigun, the Bastion allows a great deal of in-deployment adaptability. Whilst many of the configurations require the user remain stationary to deploy the hardpoint mounted weapon, magclaws digging into the ground below and helping stabilize the operator and internal exosuit for the recoil, the minigun permits limited movement allowing a team to lay down cover, although admittedly at a near snail's pace. These Bastion suits are the centerpoint of a Mobile Salvo Team, with three of the remaining Warriors in the squad serving as augmented infantry, equipped to draw fire, provide cover for the deployed Bastion operator, or secure a path ahead when performing a rapid re-location whereas the final Warrior is trained to instead take the job of a combat engineer tasked with performing emergency repairs, reloading ammunition stocks when depleted, or if needed, carrying and swapping out the heavy weapon.

Light Disruption Division "Kis'lokt"

Despite having more warriors, the Division is the less well-known century of the Powered Support Detachment, frequently being overshadowed by the flashier Bastions of the Mobile Salvo Team, who clearly stand out, and though employing different tactics, they still adhere to the same general doctrine of mobility and augmentation. Whereas the Mobile Salvo Team focuses on mobile fire support, the warriors of the Light Disruption Division instead prioritize heavy augmentation geared towards supporting urban close-quarters warfare and clearing enemy emplacements. The Warriors work in small teams of four or five, many of which may be deployed together towards a single goal, and use the Vaurca's innate communication abilities to coordinate joint maneuvers at a terrifying pace, breaching and clearing a building or structure, covering one another going room to room and signaling the location of enemies all without uttering a single word. Additional heavy support or distraction, if required, is provided by a Mobile Salvo Team or another TCAF unit. They are highly augmented and gene-modified, although with what varies heavily depending on cost and need, ranging from symbiotic organs that can filter poisons and clot bleeding to augmented drug glands, stronger mandibles, faster neurotransmitters, electric graspers, circadian clocks that reduce the need for sleep, hardened carapaces, and anything in between. The firearms they use are frequently the TCAF standard for close combat, but they can be outfitted differently depending on the situation and integrated weaponry isn't unheard of.

Rainmakers

The Tau Ceti Rainmakers are a special forces unit consisting of Tajara specializing in the operation and usage of artillery and explosive equipment. The Rainmakers have two distinct duties. The usage of explosives on the enemy and the finding and dismantling of explosives, either ones that failed to detonate during a conflict or planted by irregulars in areas the Tau Ceti Minutemen are trying to secure and protect. On the battlefield, the Rainmakers utilized designs created by Zavodskoi and Hephaestus. These are typically missile-loaded trucks, rocket and grenade launchers specially made to devastate enemy fortifications and exosuits or hardsuits, or the "Noise-Maker" artillery cannon. Made to be capable of firing a maximum of four shells at once and featuring a large, medium, and small (Roughly the size of a small car) version, these pieces of artillery are the most favoured tool for the offensive operations of the Rainmakers. In space operations, squads of Rainmakers provide support fire and assist in taking out any ship or station sections that can pose a threat to troops. The dismantling of explosives is typically done in heavily armoured Foreign Legion suits marked with a distinctive red. Veterans who arrive at Tau Ceti from Adhomai with explosives experience have wound up in the Rainmakers. More often than not, these are people who baulked at the idea of joining the PMCG's Kazarrhaldiye's Operations Group for several reasons.

Recently the unit has technically redeployed to Tau Ceti, however due to their experience and perceived loyalty to the government, the Rainmakers oversee the Republic’s stockpiles of phoron warheads located on Dumas, though they are physically guarded by the Redsnouts.

The Positronic Century

The Third Recon Century, known internally as "The Positronic Century" is a formation made up almost entirely of IPC personnel. In recognition of Synthetic Liberation Front efforts in rescuing President Dorn during Frost's Incursion, many members of the organisation were offered pardons in exchange for service in the Foreign Legion, before it became the Minutemen, their skills in infiltration and combat translating well to military life. Although receiving standard training and capable of functioning as well in intelligence gathering and reconnaissance as any other Tau Cetian formation, the Positronic Century was more frequently employed to monitor the vast amounts of organic and IPC refugees pouring in from the Sol Alliance, as well as (when the Peacekeeper Mandate was still going) the Corporate Reconstruction Zone monitoring terrorist organisations. The seeming lack of a unique frontline utility for this unit has led many military observers to suspect that in the event of war, the Positronic Century would be used as a stay-behind unit, not meeting any invaders head-on, but rather laying low and striking at enemy supply lines and sowing confusion among their ranks. This suspicion has seemingly been confirmed, as the unit has been deployed just behind the Zoleth line.

The unit is infamous for its employment of shell frames, often using them as infiltrators to blend in within the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. Although mostly unfounded, rumours and conspiracy theories abound of the Positronic Battalion being used for everything from sabotaging Trinary protests all the way to killing Prime Minister Frost. This is not helped by the unit commanders' policy of refusing to publicly comment on its operations. This overlap of responsibility has led to an inter-service rivalry with the TCIC, not helped by the attitudes between Synthetic and Skrell members of each unit.

Hazardous Environment Gestalt Unit

The Hazardous Environment Gestalt Unit ('HEGU') are an experimental unit, comprised entirely with Dionae. They are trained for urban combat in environmentally compromised conditions, whether through natural disasters, dirty bombs, biological/chemical warfare, and even practice contingencies for anomalous incidents involving bluespace. Due to the nature of their work, they are also trained in disaster containment, counterterrorism, and specialize against unconventional opponents. More recently, somewhat frighteningly, they have begun training on Luthien for combat in phoronic tainted conditions - such as those that would be found after the usage of a phoron WMD or warhead against an urban target.

Achieving such a broad range of specializations in a single unit requires taking advantage of Dionae’s properties, both their physical resilience and abilities with respect to blood knowledge. Not only are they able to rapidly onboard new training via blood and shared merging, but they are also able to harvest their enemies as they fight, compromising the positions and tactics of their opponents.

There are two divisions within the unit, designed in such a manner as to operate closely. They are known as the Lever and the Fulcrum.

The Lever

The Levers are the primary “infantry” division of the unit. Draped in heavy slabs of modular armour plates, they serve as the working tendrils of the HEGU. Spending most of their operations bathing in UV light, usually they spare subtlety for armour and firepower. Rather than fielding mechs, multiple HEGU units choose instead to merge together into a near-Argus-sized humanoid, shifting armoured plates and weapons into position.

The Fulcrum

The Fulcrum are the support backbone of the unit, as HEGU’s mechanized division. Vehicles are comprised of modular “Contra” IFVs, designed to either haul equipment, move HEGU, and provide supporting fire for troops. Instead of a conventional piloting configuration, the piloting gestalt is usually poured into an opening in the top, and then evenly distributes itself across the custom-milled interior of the vehicle, giving it unparalleled awareness and control. Unlike the Levers, the Fulcrum are sourced exclusively from the jungles of Mictlan, and employ their understanding of biomass to assist primarily in disaster relief.

Equipment and Personnel

Having the most funding, the Tau Ceti Minutemen have access to high-quality military equipment, apparatus, and training, provided at first mostly by the ever-giving megacorporations; however, recently, more and more of their training is in-house. The majority of the equipment is sourced from Zavodskoi Interstellar, with a few larger war machines such as aircraft and vehicles being sourced from Hephaestus Industries – both of whom have grown considerably within the Republic of Biesel since the collapse of the Solarian Alliance, and have been funneling armaments into the growing market created by the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, with the majority of the military equipment found usually sporting a Zavodskoi Interstellar logo – which has created some tension with Mictlani and the megacorporation. The increased funding brought since the election of Ake Torvald as president, combined with the Minutemen being a priority for phoron supply in the age of soft-rationing has allowed them to get top of the line equipment, on par with other nations of the Orion Spur, and sometimes even somewhat above, as they’re able to manufacture advanced systems cheaper due to the relatively lower price of phoron that’s allocated to them.

Salaries within the Tau Ceti Minutemen are above that of the other service branches within the armed forces, having remained at their Peacekeeper Mandate levels following the “successful” conclusion of the Mictlan campaign and significantly higher than salaries for most open jobs within the Republic currently. The increased salary margins combined with the economic crisis have resulted in a massive success in encouraging enlistment within the Tau Ceti Armed Forces – in particular, those seeking to join the ranks of the Minutemen, even those promoted from within the Foreign Legion desiring a position in the former once they’ve completed their active service requirements.

The Tau Ceti Minutemen have instituted standardised training across its ranks – with a majority of training now happening in-house - after first being trained by the Private Military Contracting Group and a growing amount of specialized training still being contracted out to experts. The end of the Peacekeeper Mandate and the Minutemen’s commitment to Mictlan have only increased the rate of training given to the Minutemen, as their ranks continue to swell and veteran combat troops now return home with newly gained experience. It is the hope of the Tau Ceti Minutemen that eventually they will phase out third-party training entirely, and they have already successfully phased it out for a majority of basic training.

While the conclusion of the Peacekeeper Mandate was touted as a successful campaign publicly, many within the higher echelons of the Minutemen believe the campaign was a failure, the new Armed Forces being unable to wipe out the Samaritans in totality. The reasons for this perceived failure vary, with many blaming politicians, fearful of the civilian unrest within Tau Ceti’s gravity well, being often blamed for the failure and the resulting peace deal. The common line of thought among veterans is that they would have eventually won, even if they had to grind their way through the Samaritan ranks, but it was called off before they had a chance. The campaign has left deep scars in the foundation of the Minutemen, that even now it’s over, will never go away. A year of riot suppression, willful ignorance of atrocities, and poor command culture within some units pushed back their professionalization years. The branch’s main backbone is composed of veterans of the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion that have elected to continue their military career with the Minutemen, and the recently returned home veterans of the Peacekeeper Mandate, many of whom, given the current economic conditions in the Republic, have elected to continue their stable military careers. In the aftermath of the Peacekeeper Mandate and President Ake Torvald’s election, the Minutemen have undergone a restructuring, cleaning out the cruft and promoting veterans from experienced frontline units into command positions across the army.

Ironically, this has led to a flipping of the norm, where previously it was primarily human officers commanding groups of mixed aliens, it is more and more often an alien officer commanding groups of humans; as it was the non-human units who are the most experienced and saw the most combat on Mictlan, not to mention any experience they might bring from their original homes. This has caused some grumbling within the political establishment of the Cetian Conservatives, grumbling that ceased almost immediately once the President made his position clear. President Torvald seems set on his path, stating during an interview; “The Republic needs her army to function, and function well, at a high level. It’s not a want, it’s a need, and we’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. If that means I’m giving my orders to an alien, that’s fine - better I give my orders to an alien and they’re carried out effectively so all our troops come home, than I give my orders to a human only to have them carry them out ineffectively, and get their men killed. The Spur is becoming more dangerous by the day, and if we’re not ready to face it, there’ll be hell to pay.”

Foreign Legion

One of the most recognized symbols of the Republic of Biesel, the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion (TCFL) was the first official attempt at creating a standing army for the Republic’s defence. Today, it operates in much the same way as it always has - in exchange for at least two years of service, less fortunate immigrants to the Republic may be granted citizenship and meagre pay so that they can establish new, profitable lives within it. Throughout its short lifetime, the organization has already fought in several key operations for the sake of the Republic – the Second Solarian Invasion of Biesel in 2462, and the notorious Peacekeeper Mandate.

Although overshadowed by the greater organization that came to surround it, the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion remains the root of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, both in terms of reputation and manpower. The Legion is the entry point for many of the citizens who, unable to enlist in the Minutemen or Fleets for one reason or another, are allowed to serve and prove themselves in a military environment before going on to become professional soldiers under the many different divisions of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces. While the minutemen are the main beneficiaries of the increased enlistment numbers, the ongoing economic issues of the Republic have also seen a surge in enlistments for the Foreign Legion - about five times more members have enlisted in the legion than the minutemen. However, comparatively, that many enlistments barely add what is already a MASSIVE manpower pool in the TCFL - whereas the Minutemen have doubled in size over the last year alone, and continue to grow exponentially. Despite this, the monetary situation of the Foreign Legion has not improved much, though they did receive a significant bump in funding once Ake was elected; however funding is still increasingly funnelled towards the newer and more prestigious Armed Forces. As a result, Legionary supplies and equipment have yet again become strained, a move many volunteers are increasingly viewing as unapologetic backsliding.

Those who continue to serve under the aegis of the TCFL are assigned to gruelling tasks far away from the heart of the Republic. Merchant escorts, asteroid infantry and corporate-ground patrolmen, Legionnaires remain the backbone of most operations keeping the Corporate Reconstruction Zone ‘peaceful’ post-peacekeeper mandate. These assignments, previously described as challenging at best, are now considered shameful by a growing number of veterans, and brutal by non-humans, who are often sent out to perform tasks to which they may not be suited. This has led to an increase in transfer rates from the Foreign Legion to the Minutemen - soon it is unlikely any real veterans will remain within the TCFL. The Foreign Legion’s most recent deployment to pacify CRZ regions such as Mictlan has seen many old and new volunteers traumatized and questioning the reasons for the TCFL’s existence. Some have even been galvanized by the rhetoric of Samaritan forces, spelling an uncertain future for the Republic’s most celebrated and hated heroes. However, these old voices are slowly being drowned out by a wave of new ones, ones for whom the economic situation of the Republic means that even these tasks are worth it, people who don’t care about the reason for the TCFLs existence, but just a paycheck, a bed, and three hot meals every day - and are willing to do alot to keep those.

To combat the issue of Veterans leaving to different services and a rapidly growing, already massive untrained group of new recruits entering, the TCAF has taken several steps. The first was to take all those corporate trainers who used to be training the Minutemen and set them upon the TCFL. Second was to have Minutemen instructors work extra hours (with benefits for doing so), training TCFL formations. Lastly wasn’t a solution, it was more of a decision. While not official, the TCFL now exists as a reserve force, a pool of manpower from which, in the event of a conflict, millions can be almost immediately called up to the professional army, rapidly trained to be on par with their new comrades, and then sent into conflict zones to fill whatever holes exist in formations. It allows for immediate mobilization and shortened training to produce a standard soldier to account for losses, and is bottomless. In the eyes of the decision-makers, there’s no way we could ever enter a conflict and run out of TCFL troops, then need to start a draft.

Mictlan Defense Force

The Mictlan Defense Force in the years following the Solarian Collapse has undergone upheaval after upheaval. Contemporarily, it is one of the two planetary defense forces within the Republic of Biesel, technically under the aegis of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, but separate, organized by, and loyal to the Mictlani government.

It was for months the only force keeping a modicum of order on the planet, dealing with all the civil unrest and societal upheaval that came with the abandonment - all while not being paid. Then, upon the arrival of the Republic, a huge chunk of its numbers defected, stealing equipment as they did so, forming an insurrectionist group. At the start of the Peacekeeper Mandate it was placed under TCFL control, but was a shattered organization, broken from within and without, that could do little more than focus on rebuilding and keeping those members still serving in the ranks. Backpay started getting delivered, greatly helping morale, and as time continued on the MDF was just focused on rebuilding. New equipment was delivered, and formations were starting to stand at almost full for the first time since the collapse. It noted the transition between TCFL control and Minutemen control with nothing more than a nod, still in the final stages of building itself back up.

It wasn’t until the closing days of the Peacekeeper Mandate, after the bombing of Valtaz Square (the MDF's Headquarters) that the organization was rebuilt enough to finally start doing something. It immediately joined the Minutemen in their campaign of revenge and crackdown that resulted from the bombing, before mostly sitting out, rounding up what was left of the Founding Movement while Operation Jakali went down. By leaving that task to the MDF, it resulted in many incidents where those Founding Movement members arrested by them never made it into custody, instead trying to “run” or “resist” enroute, leading to their deaths - extrajudicial killings as revenge for the bombings the Founding Movement had perpetrated across Mictlan for years - but none of these cases were ever investigated. The conclusion of the Peacekeeper Mandate brought mixed feelings to the MDF. On one hand, they were happy it was over; on the other, they were forced to reflect back on what they had done. For many, the feeling was described as “spent.” There was no more anger, no more rage, no more hatred towards the others; it had been worked out of their system in one way or another. Biesel Security forces still closely watch the MDF, and ensure its continued loyalty to the Republic, even more so it has now begun to be reinforced with former Samaritan enlisted, who under their parole can re-enlist with the MDF. In the first few months, there were fights, spats as the two groups who had been fighting each other for so long now found themselves on the same side. Eventually, with time, those wounds would heal, and the Mictlan Defense Forces of today stand stronger than they have in the past - with the same bills increasing funding for the TCAF, also increasing their own. They have a new, more modern arsenal, and they’re all veterans. Though they are just a planetary defense force, they’re a part of the TCAF all the same.

Republican Fleets

The Republican Fleets were regarded by many as the less prestigious branch of the TCAF, their reputation rooted in the failure of the Foreign Legion’s naval forces to repel the Second Solarian Incursion of 2462 without external assistance from other powers. However, that is beginning to change. Starting out its existence rough, the Republican Fleets were badly mauled during the Second Incursion, and after the dust settled, the remaining naval forces of Tau Ceti were an eclectic mix of Solarian defectors from the Corporate Reconstruction Zone who were of debatable loyalty, talent, and skill. It was with this mix that the Republic Fleets were stuck, mostly equipped with formerly Solarian Navy vessels which fell under the control of the Republic of Biesel during the Solarian Collapse. While they made effective patrol craft, many of those vessels were dated and in the process of being retrofitted after extended periods of sitting mothballed in the Solarian Middle and Outer Ring. Zavodskoi Interstellar was heavily involved in the modernization of many of these vessels, with some having been sent as far afield as Zhurong in the Empire of Dominia for work as the Corporate Reconstruction Zone’s largest naval yard, the planet of Hang Tuah’s Rest in the Hinterlands lay firmly under the control of the anti-Biesel and Solarian Navy-supported Solarian People’s Liberation Fleet. Government funding for the Republican Fleets was limited, with the Tau Ceti Minutemen receiving far more funding and corporate equipment for the duration of the existence of the TCAF.

However, that is beginning to change; all of the ship hulls ordered in 2465 have been delivered, fitted with armaments, and commissioned, thanks to a massive infusion of cash into the Fleets by the recently elected president Ake Torvald. The Fleets still struggle to wash away their reputation, but where there was once rampant corruption and nothing more than an eclectic mix of whatever and whoever they could find, there is now a professional, albeit very inexperienced, well-paid core of officers, with advanced ships that comprise an actual fleet formation, including a flagship. Most of the Republic’s Fleet Strength is stationed at the Zoleth Line.

Operational Unit Structure

The Republican Fleets operate within Quadrants, designed by the Secretary of Defense Nathan Trasen, to ensure a consistent force is capable of tackling any issues – in conjunction with megacorporate fleets patrolling – that may crop up within these regions. The Republican Fleet is composed differently than the Minutemen, instead, approaching a rather simple scheme: Sub-Quadrant, Fleet Group, Fleet, Ship, Department, Shift, Team.

Fleet Sectors

The Republican Fleet has three sectors they maintain consistent patrol of, in particular built around Tau Ceti, to ensure where necessary a defensive front can be launched.

Tau Ceti

This sector covers Tau Ceti’s gravity well, out to the Romanavich Cloud. Five fleet groups are assigned to the overall sector and used in both subsectors. It is considered a training ground for the Fleet as new recruits are first assigned here to learn the ropes of their vessels under the watchful eye of paid mercenaries and foreign naval officers. Very little of note for the fleet occurs within Tau Ceti’s gravity well, and the vast majority of operations revolve around stopping smugglers or responding to distress beacons. The ships in the Tau Ceti sector are some of the oldest and least upgraded, many of the ships that previously made up the Republican Fleets have also since been reassigned here to be repurposed as training ships.

Eastern Corporate Reconstruction Zone

Covering the Corporate Reconstruction Zone to the galactic east of Tau Ceti, the Eastern Sector is further divided up into North Eastern and South Eastern, each having two fleet groups assigned to it. The threat of invasion is negligible, and naval operations in the Eastern CRZ are almost entirely logistical; supporting the Mictlan Defense Force, keeping trade lanes clear of pirates, and protecting corporate assets. However that makes it a perfect training ground, as the entirety of the Second and Third Fleet Groups - the remaining newly constructed, advanced ships not assigned under the First Fleet Group to the Zoleth line - makes up the two fleet groups assigned here. They will perform the same task for months on end, however, the Second and Third Fleet Groups go beyond the obsession towards training, being almost fanatical about it, causing downtime and shoreleave to be cut significantly back, with ships training even while patrolling, constantly - which breaks up the monotony.. Fleet vessels assigned to this area often interact with Coalition and Elyran vessels, and rarely encounter Solarian vessels.

Western Corporate Reconstruction Zone

Boarding the Solarian Alliance, the Western Sector boasts the largest number of Republican Fleet ships of any sector as it contains the Zoleth Line and other defensive installations with the goal of fighting off another invasion. It has no sub-sectors, with each fleet group assigned an area of operations across along the length of the Zoleth Line. The best ships, including all of the newly established First Fleet Group, the largest formation within the Republican Fleets and made up entirely of the newly constructed advanced hulls, alongside the best personnel are sent to the Western CRZ, as in the eyes of the Republic, the Solarian Alliance, even after it restabilized, remains the largest threat. Those deployed to the Western CRZ see more action than other fleets, dealing with everything from pirates, both unaligned and remnants of the Southern Fleet Administration such as its 23 Tactical Group (commonly known as Beauchamp’s Marauders), the now ceased SSMD raids, as well as protecting Orchid Moon, NanoTrasen’s mining outpost in Valley Hale. One of their main duties used to be containing and combating the Solarian People’s Liberation Fleet within the Hinterlands, but after negotiations between the Alliance and Biesel, the hinterlands were returned to the Alliance, in exchange for the Alliance recognizing Biesel’s claim over the rest of the CRZ. Since then, there has been significantly less action, and just more training, training, and training. That and tensely watching the border, waiting for any sign of a pending attack.

In contemporary times, being assigned to the Western Sector is known to be “one of the best and most boring jobs of them all.”

Equipment and Personnel

The Republican Fleet has just hit a milestone in the long process of building up their strength, both in terms of personnel and equipment. Unlike the Minutemen or Foreign Legion, there was no readily available surplus of corporate-produced equipment for the Republican Fleets. When they were originally formed, in 2465, Hephaestus Industries and Zavodskoi Interstellar were contracted to build the hulls and armaments for the fledgling organization, but until those contracts were completed, they were relying on whatever they could get their hands on. In a perhaps bitter irony, much of the Fleet meant to protect the Republic from the Alliance consisted of formerly Solarian vessels – some pulled from mothballed storage and others defected from regional Navy garrisons.

All that changed in mid-2466. The newly constructed Reade Naval Yards were completed by Hephaestus Industries, with Zavodskoi completing their own, smaller, naval yards in orbit of Valkyrie a few weeks later - and alongside that quiet announcement came the first of the newly produced Hephaestus Hulls from the Hegemony, having been under construction for two and a half years, fitted with drives from Zavodskoi and NanoTrasen’s collaborative effort. Throughout the remainder of the year and into the next, the Navy collected its hulls that had been ordered years ago, and with the cooperation of Zavodskoi Interstellar, began fitting armaments to them. Most were heavily modified version of a Solarian Destroyer, aptly named the Reade Class, though alongside their smaller cousins was a limited number of even more heavily modified Solarian Heavy and Light Cruisers. Many of these modifications were major, extensive changes to the weapon hardpoints, different layouts, different power generation systems, and a complete overhaul of the sensor suite. The biggest changes were in the innards of the vessel, where through the walls ran cables of phoron, needed as these ships would be outfitted with the most advanced firmware possible to support the integration of incredibly powerful Point Defense Intelligence, Targeting Intelligence, Sensor Intelligence, all under the supervision of the most powerful Zavodskoi Military AI ever installed onboard a warship.

Each ship represents a massive phoron investment, in addition to the credit cost. When Ake Torvald was elected, and he saw these projects that had been going on for years at this point, he decided to speed up the timeline. His first bill passed, a budget bill that drastically increased military spending and allocated much of the increased spending to the Fleets. The ships currently in Tau Ceti were to be finished and commissioned rapidly, and ships still under construction would not only be paid the agreed amount, but significantly more than was originally agreed if they could be done quicker. Lastly, those still slated for construction were given priority phoron allocations and extra money to help speed the immediate process up. What followed was the industries of both Hephaestus and Zavodskoi kicking into high gear - ship hulls kept flooding in rapidly, more destroyers, more light cruisers, more heavy cruisers, and the newly build naval yards of Reade and Valkyrie glowed with thousands of tiny flashes against the blackness of space, as ships were starting their construction half a year early, or being fitted with weapons and Intelligences before finally being commissioned, on and on it went for four months, before the last piece arrived.

What would become the flagship of the Republican Navy, a almost unrecognizable hull based on that of a Solarian Battleship. As with all the other ships in the Republican Fleets, it was set up with cutting-edge systems, from the intelligence firmware to the scanners; it represented a massive investment - far more than what the Alliance would normally pay for its battleships. It was, however, significantly more advanced, and by June of 2467, the Republican Fleets were no longer an eclectic mix of whatever they could scrap together, but an organization comprised of several proper, highly advanced, and powerful naval formations.

Since most of the Fleets contracted hulls and vessels have since been constructed, training within the Fleets has been a constant, and Captains are struggling to find downtime to allow their crewmen to rest, or have shore leave, as so much time has been mandated to be dedicated to training. For it is needed. A vast majority of the current Officers within the Fleets are voidsmen who, while they have experience as an officer on a civilian ship, have little to no military experience; the Republic never had a strong naval culture, or any navy to think of previously. The same is true for much of the enlisted crew. In the wake of the mostly peaceful removal of the problematic former Solarian Navy Captains and crews from their ships - they were all given outstanding severance packages, though some tried to flee with their ships - what little experienced naval personnel the Republican Fleets had are gone. So the hiring of foreign officers from the Elyran Navy, Imperial Fleet, and the Coalition of Colonies has doubled, to train up the personnel. It has seen greater success than previous, creating a unified command structure within individual fleets, and a shaky unified command structure across the entire Republican Fleets, but there is still much work to be done on the latter. However, what that means for the average person in the Fleet is that you have less off time, there’s more training constantly, and nothing much else is happening. As many put it, it’s not the end of the world, but it could be better. Unlike the Minutemen, there is much less certainty about whether the Republican Fleets would be able to effectively fight against their rivals in the Solarian Alliance.

Since the completion of the original ships, however, issues stemming from the rivalry between Zavodskoi Interstellar and Hephaestus Industries are making it difficult to put in new orders for further vessels. The hatred the corporations have for each other creates difficulties within the Republican Fleet Admiralty and Requisition Officers, who, unlike their more experienced counterparts in the Alliance Navy, aren’t used to dealing with two corporations that refuse to get along. It has begun to significantly impact production, as it has been impossible to put in orders for new vessels for some time now. The current backlog is set to last until the end of the year, but after that, there will be shipyards sitting empty.

Auxiliary Corporate Forces

In addition to being a corporate paramilitary organization, the Auxiliary Corporate Forces are a proper branch of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, providing the new Armed Forces with a professional and well-equipped backbone, as they are largely funded by their parent corporations and equipped with top-notch arsenals. Their original objective was to provide the Republic with short term protection as the rest of the TCAF got up to speed. As that has been happening, the role of the Auxiliary Corporate Forces has instead shifted into providing niche - but good - solutions to problems outside the scope of strictly military matters. While they do maintain a purely paramilitary wing, more often they now find themselves cooperating with Republican Law Enforcement, acting as specialists to find, track, and apprehend difficult subjects. Though that is their most common operation now, their paramilitary wing stays standing.

It seems wasteful to invest heavily in building a military for an organization focused on making money, and many expected the Auxiliary Corporate Forces to be ill-equipped, corporations reluctant to spend money on combat. The megacorporations, especially NanoTrasen, have now realized, though, that if the new anti-corporate Solarian Alliance ever had another “rogue actor” who decided to invade again and succeeded, the power they enjoy within the Republic of Biesel would be moot. The cost of protecting the Republic's profitable assets until the new armed forces could do that for them was worth the cost, even if their profit margins dwindled slightly.

Members are mainly recruited from Zavodskoi Interstellar or the Private Military Contracting Group, although Hephaestus Industries, and NanoTrasen do also contribute to the ranks. While the Auxiliary Corporate Forces has some larger formations, such as fleets and legion-sized formations, roughly half its personnel are organized into smaller Maniple formations that support bigger Minutemen or Fleet formations. Though publicly the Auxiliary Corporate Forces operate as a branch of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, swearing allegiance to the Republic of Biesel and its government, it is an open-secret their priorities rest in ensuring the protection of megacorporate assets.

Recruitment for the Auxiliary Corporate Forces relies on carefully selected personnel from the constituent megacorporations within the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate, where it is unlikely that a standard employee within any particular security detail would be selected, but instead those that draw the eye of those capable of shifting the balances – in particular, those within higher management of the megacorporations.

Operational Unit Structure

The operational structure of the Auxiliary Corporate Forces is essentially non-existent, as units from different corporations use the structure they had prior to the advent of the Auxiliary Corporate Forces. Most squad-sized units follow a slightly more complex version of the structure used by the famed NanoTrasen Emegency Response Teams.

Equipment and Personnel

Designated as an “elite military force” within the Spur, the Auxiliary Corporate Forces are able to supply themselves with advanced technology offered by their parent megacorporations through “donations” and “investments” as outlined by the existing People’s Protection Act signed into force by President Dorn. Rumours across the ranks of the Tau Ceti Armed Forces play into the fact that they could possibly even take on Tupkala from the Nralakk Federation – though there has been little interest in comparing such. The more significant benefactors of the Auxiliary Corporate Forces are Zavodskoi Interstellar with the assistance of its subsidiary Kumar Arms, whilst NanoTrasen provides a steady supply of “leased” ships, with even the NDV Icarus finding itself within the Auxiliary Corporate Forces’ fleets.

Praetorians

The most recent of the branches added to the Tau Ceti Armed Forces, the Praetorians are the next evolution of the previous sentinels. They are tasked with the protection of government installations, high-ranking cabinet members, the President, Vice President, and similar. They're mostly an amalgamation of previous BSSB agents, and serving members of the Minutemen, who are equipped with a variety of levels of gear. For though the President's security detail may have their state of the art hardsuits, the moment you look at any government official besides him, you will find Praetorians whose equipment is surpassed by a Minutemen Legionnaire. There's only so much phoron for modern equipment, and combat troops have the priority per the President's wishes. All potential Praetorians are thoroughly screened to ensure they have no outside loyalties, even to corporations. Serving in the Praetorians is a life-time career, but a well-paid one. For this reason, alongside their unique skill set, playing former Praetorians as player characters is not allowed. Only Humans and Skrell may join the Praetorians; thought to be another one of President Torvald’s racist antics, the actual truth of the matter is that other serving members of the Minutemen who aren’t human or skrell are probably needed as frontline officers, NCOs, and instructors, not standing around looking pretty.

Notable Installations

Dumas

Located on the outside of the Dust Belt which marks the boundary of the inner system within Tau Ceti, Dumas is an extremely small rocky body devoid of any light from the system's star, that in the past three years has been hollowed out and become one of the Republic’s largest military installations. It is a jointly operated base between the Minutemen and the Republican Fleets, used as a listening post, training ground, and stockpile by both branches.

Due to being outside of the obscuring Dust Belt, Dumas’s lightless surface is covered in sensors and other electronic monitoring equipment of all types, all pointed outwards towards the wider Spur. Inside the installation itself it takes up the least space, despite taking up almost all the surface area of the stellar body, and the data gathered from these sensors is monitored by experts from the Minutemen and Fleet using some of the most advanced equipment in the Spur. The exact capabilities of this equipment is unknown, but is rumored to be able to detect fleet movements across the Western CRZ.

The second largest part of the installation is dedicated to training, and almost entirely operated by the Republican Fleets, who use the moon as the staging ground for ships undergoing the last of their training within the gravity well of Tau Ceti, before being shipped off to stations in the CRZ.

The largest part of the installation by far, however, is dedicated to being a stockpile of phoron warheads and WMDs. The hollowed-out sections of Dumas that make up this stockpile is one of the most secure places in the Republic, with the few entrances heavily guarded by the RedSnouts in their intimidating hardsuits since the end of the Peacekeeper Mandate. It is believed that due to the fate of the Unathi homeworld, the RedSnouts will be the most fanatic of guards over this ordinance, not wanting their new home to ever experience a fate like their old. Oversight of the ordinance inside, however, falls to the Rainmakers, who handle the day-to-day responsibilities of ensuring all the ordinance is maintained and ready to use at a moment's notice with frequent inspections. Should these weapons ever be used, it will not be by either organization; instead, they will be handed over to the Republican Fleets, who will deploy them. The exact size of this stockpile is unknown, and the government has refused to comment on its exact nature.

Republic Orbital Assembly Yards

Located in the Orbit of Reade, the Republican Orbital Assembly Yards are the primary shipyards for the Republican Fleets. Built in orbit of Reade as part of a plan to disperse the strategic capabilities of the Republic, the Roya has just finished construction and become a hive of activity as work begins on the many ship hulls ordered by the Republican Fleets. Run by Hephaestus Industries, the size of the R.O.A.Y or “Roya” for short, rivals the military shipyards of Ceres, some of the largest in the spur. When compared to the shipyards of Ceres in their entirety, though, the Roya seems tiny, for unlike almost every other shipyard, it lacks any kind of civilian shipyards. Those can be found in orbit of Valkyrie. While the Roya is still a hive of activity, due to the ongoing issues in getting Zavodskoi Interstellar and Hephaestus Industries to work together, once the current batch of vessels are constructed, there's no backlog after.

Zoleth Line

A collection of fortifications, anchorages, stockpiles, and other military installations within the Western CRZ, the Zoleth Line was founded after two invasions by rogue Solarian Admirals as a bulwark against any future threats originating from the Alliance or its military. To call it a line is something of a misnomer, as in reality, the Zoleth Line is not one singular defensive line, but layered into several. Each line that comprises the greater whole, from the very first in the western CRZ, to the very last in the outskirts of Tau Ceti's gravity well, has its own stockpiles, anchorages, stay-behind units, and a myriad of defensive installations that only increase in number the closer one gets to Tau Ceti.

The Republic knows, despite everything that has changed in since 2462, it is the underdog in any war against the Alliance's full might, and has planned accordingly; the Alliance can break the first line of defenses, they'll only find another line behind it, bristling with even more guns. It is an assortment of defenses that, in previous times, would all but ensure no attempt to invade was made, but the scarcity may make the Alliance desperate; potentially desperate enough that bringing them to the table ceases to be an option. It is a situation that keeps many Republican Strategists up at night, for while the Zoleth Line is a mighty bulwark against an Alliance that has nothing to lose and everything to gain, it may not be enough.