Unathi Military Structure

The Hegemony, the primary government of the Unathi, has a military that operates under a feudal system.

The nobility of the Unathi operate under a fuedal system of obligations and mutual protection, where Lords are granted certain priviledges. In exchange, the Lords are obligated to maintain a personal standing army to be summoned in times of war to defend the Hegemony or advance its interest. Legally, Hegemony Clans are obligated to provide 70% of their levy to the Hegemon during war. Historically this has been contained to Moghes, though in recent years, with the creation of a navy that can operate in deep space the feudal concept has expanded to include an admiralty.

The Army

The Hegemony's primary army is a shell of its former self. The many Lords all had levy's averaging between 400 to 12,000 soldiers ready to be mobilized and deployed. The Lords would lead these armies equivalent to human Generals, with the Hegemon being the overall commander. The total combined strength of the army is believed to have been around 2.3 million men.

Clan Lords were responsible with maintaining private retinues to defend their personal clan's holdings, or to be summoned by their greater Lord. A Clan Lord often commissioned engineers from the Engineering Guilds to fashion vehicles and RIGsuits of war, such as Breacher Suits or a Warcarrier.

Master at Arms, similar to a human Commander rank, directly lead the private retinue of a clan, which generally size between 30 - 700. They are almost, if not always, members of that Clan's immediate family.

After the Contact War most adult fighting men have been killed, made incapable, or abandoned Moghes in the face of the growing Wasteland and many Lord's inability to pay their men. The current estimated combined levy strength of the Hegemony is believed to be between 200,000 - 300,000, most of them consolidated in the Untouched Lands save for periodic expeditions to assault bandits or other minor threats from the lawless Wastes.

Warcarriers

A Warcarrier is a large tank that serves as a land-roving military base, equipped with barracks decks and facilities for carrying, arming, and deploying various war assets such as helicopters, infantry, and Breacher suits. Typically it was the capital base for ongoing campaigns, where it was used to house the most prestigious tacticians and warriors in a modern clans levy, as well as an armory of weapons. These Warcarriers range from being the size of a R.V. to the size of an aircraft carrier. The strongest clans had the largest and most extravagant Warcarriers, even including feast halls to celebrate victories.

Warcarriers were rarely used in actual battle, being only large transports and housing, but some variations from the later parts of the Contact War, created by the Traditionalist Coalition, did include artillery and jetplane decks. Almost all of these variations have been left to rust, local populations claiming that mad spirits populate these empty vessels for their acts against Moghes.

Some of these wrecks have been taken from their desert graves, no longer being commanded by any nation or clan - but by bands of raiders or religious zealots, roaming and raiding in the Wasteland, barely surviving in their nomadic lifestyle.

A sketch of an Izweski Sky Behemoth.

Sky Behemoth

A Sky Behemoth is a massive, floating zepplin. The airship has twin propeller engines and giant sails that unfurl when the Behemoth wants to either gain speed with the wind, or to intimidate a target. They are used as weapons of terror or mass destruction. The first Behemoth was commissioned by the Sarakus Hegemony and the maiden vessel had finished construction the day before the Izweski seized control, and it was the Izweski that expanded the fleet and used them extensively to control the countryside. In the past and leading up to the Contact War the Izweski used its fleet of 20 Behemoths as weapons of war and as tools of intimidation. The front of the vessel has a funnel that can release liquid fire from an internal storage tank. It can melt Sinta in their armor or burn an entire town to cinders. Before the dawn of modern weapons a single Behemoth unfurling its sails would be enough to send an entire enemy army into a rout, and a siege could be ended immediately at the arrival of these terrifying weapons as the defenders would surrender or be razed from the sky.

During the Contact War the Behemoths saw limited success. Several were slain by Traditionalist aircraft or heavy weapons. But several towns and castles were still destroyed when a Behemoth arrived, and an army that had a Behemoth overhead were considered heralds of doom.

In modern times the Behemoth struggles to remain relevant. The Izweski still hold 7, and in modern times they slowly patrol the Wasteland, scaring away bandits and terrifying villages into submitting to Izweski rule.

A Behemoth usually has a crew of 50 and they are piloted exclusively by members of the Izweski family.

General Doctrine and Battle Honor

Most battles are fought by infantry, as mounted units are something uncommon in modern times due to the growing use of ranged weapons in combat. When War Riders do show up, they function like human knights, using their mount to run into the enemy formation and swipe at heads or necks. They fight with war glaives and laser pistols, riding their massive, armored Warmount beasts. Threshbeasts are smaller, 'salamander' like creatures also ridden into battle, which are lighter and thinner but are much faster than the cumbersome Warmounts.

The Unathi have also created and field Breacher Suits, which are heavily armored EVA suits that let a single unathi function as a walking armored tank on both terrestrial surfaces and in space.

While modern ranged weapons has been becoming more standard in the Izweski Nation, the vast majority of Unathi shun them and consider them dishonorable. Melee weapons and claws are the most important tools of battle to the vast majority of Unathi. They take extreme pride in their weapons, and there is honor of killing someone in hand to hand combat that many Unathi consider completely absent in human warfare.

Space Warfare

Despite being the youngest spacefaring species, their unpredictable and borderline suicidal tactics often take their opponents by surprise. Unathi combat vessels tend to be heavily armored at the front, with huge plasteel spears mounted on the front. The typical strategy is to turn engines to maximum power and bluespace incredibly close to a target vessel to "ram" it - often getting as close as 500 feet. Many ships can be split entirely in half by the ramming of the heavier Unathi vessels. With breacher suits modified to be functional in the vacuum of space, marines jettison from the unathi ship and attach themselves to the target vessel, breaching it with plasma cutters and boarding the ship with energy weapons. The strategy is devastating when used effectively - very few ships can withstand a Unathi boarding action because few Captains or Admirals expect such outlandish tactics to be executed with such zeal. Unfortunately for the Unathi, their tactic relies on the element of surprise or disbelief from their victim. A seasoned captain or admiral can easily counter unathi ramming actions.

If a naval vessel captures a ship in battle or other seizures, that ship is owned by the Admiral of that fleet as his Prize. Second-in-Commands of a ship in the fleet are then appointed by the Admiral to take command of that new vessel. The Izweski have also issued a system where all known classes of ship have a Bounty on them. They pay out to a fleet that manages to capture a ship of that class. The money goes to each Captain of the fleet, with the Captain of the ship that actually captured the ship getting the highest cut, and the other Captains and the Admiral getting the rest. Spoils that are captured in battle are inventoried by the quartermaster. Captains and Admirals are allowed the privilege of taking what loot they like before it is distributed to the men. Anything else is sold at port and the money being distributed through the fleet. There are no laws regarding how spoils are handled, but it is expected as a fact of life that the warriors who fought in any boarding action can keep what they took. It is highly unusual for an Admiral to demand spoils that a marine captured in battle, and is considered to be highly dishonorable.

With honor, dishonor is an actual criminal crime. It's illegal to mistreat the helpless, infirm, or any prisoners taken by a soldier. The mindset is that there is nothing to prove in abusing someone at your mercy, which just becomes sadism and can stain the honor of the offender's clan. Unfortunately the behavior of Unathi Raiders and slavers in the frontier have given most people the perception that even the military of the Izweski participates in abuse or slaughter, a stereotype that the Hegemon military is growing increasingly sensitive of.

The Navy

Currently the Hegemony has three fleets, unique in being a professional standing army rather than a collection of levys. Lord-Admirals command their individual fleets, with the human naval structure adopted to some degree. Captain's run the individual ships, with Commanders being the second in command of the ship. The navy maintains a force of 120,000 men, though it continues to grow as the Hegemony attempts to expand its power into space.

The Fleets

The 1st Fleet is commanded by Lord-Admiral Trazarial Yizarus who leads it from the flagship HMV Cataclysm. He is a decorated war hero and famous for his unshakeable adherence to the unathi code of honor. During the succession crisis between Not'Zar Izweski and S'linzar Ickza, Yizarus defied Ickza and continued to support Not'Zar until his eventual restoration. The 1st Fleet has the Cataclysm-class Cataclysm as its flagship, 2 Bulwarks, 3 Brawlers, and 14 Foundations.

The 2nd Fleet is commanded by Admiral Oyuti Gour'za. is notable for being the first commoner being appointed to such a prestigious post. He is aggressive and highly intelligent. The fleet was formerly commanded by Lord-Admiral Azikyui Yizarus, Trazarial's brother. He was known to be hot-headed and opportunistic. He supported Ickza during the crisis. Fortunately the two siblings did not come to blows and Azikyui swore fealty to Not'Zar after the crisis. He got to retain command of his fleet for just long enough for Not'zar to force his quiet retirement. The 2nd Fleet has the Cataclysm-class HMV Catastrophe as its flagship, 9 Bulwarks, 6 Brawlers, and 12 Foundations.

The 3rd Fleet is commanded by Admiral Za'Akaix'Xitac Klax, a Vaurca from Tret. They lead the fleet from their flagship, the cataclysm-class HMV Annihilation. Xitac differs greatly from the other admirals. They are willing to work with people that traditionally would be ignored to establish information networks - they are known to be extraordinarily patient until they can be sure they have absolute initiative, at which point Xitac becomes a ruthless and unstoppable force. They use intuitive fleet maneuvers and strategies to always maintain a flexible battle plan and to always have an escape plan.

Ship Classes

Foundation-Class ships are similar to human Corvettes. They are small vessels designed for patrol or skirmish action.

Brawler-Class ships are similar to human Destroyers. They are larger and better armored than Foundations. They are usually equipped with heavy mass-driver weapons and reinforced shapes at the front of the vessel designed for ramming actions. They make up the majority of the Hegemony's navy.

Bulwark-Class ships are similar to human Cruisers. They are equipped with heavy laser and ion weapons. Similar to Brawlers they are designed for ramming actions, with their large size making this action an immense threat to smaller ships.

Hammer-Class ships are similar to human Battleships. The Hegemony does not currently possess a Hammer-class ship, favoring instead to jump immediately to the superdreadnaught class vessel.

Cataclysm-Class ships are a class of super-dreadnaught. The Hegemony possesses only three, and original plans to build more were scrapped. They are very large vessels. Despite its firepower, it is still designed to engage in ramming actions.