Nation Name: Azurian Republic of Planets

Nation Flag: http://oi54.tinypic.com/amb783.jpg

National Insignia: http://oi53.tinypic.com/2hoh5w8.jpg

National Motto: Reach for the heavens, let them never deny you.

Major Gentellic

Azurian (A-zoor-ee-an)
The primary species in the Azurian Republic, they are a humanoid species with bones that draw iron into their construction rather than calcium, providing a stronger bone. Since their blood is also iron-based, this means that a typical Azurian will have to ingest around 1.5 to 2 times the amount of regular iron needed by a human. Aside from their unique bones, the Azurians are reptilian in appearance, including scaly skin, a forked tongue and small horns on the top of their heads that mature through age. They’re also cold-blooded, so to make space exploration and colonization effective, most Azurians who travel away from their homeworld carry portable solar-powered heat packs to make sure they can function effectively in cool environments. They’re actually not descended from lizards, but from the Azurian’s equivalent of a crocodile. As such, they have incredibly powerful jaws full of iron teeth, and their scaly skin can easily stop bullets of mid to low-calibre along with hand-held laser and plasma weapons which leave a burn but don’t do much worse.

Veela (Vee-lah)
An insect-like species, they used to be a species that were horizontally instead of vertically oriented. However, when the Azurians discovered them, they decided that any Veela who traveled away from their homeworld would receive a support spine, allowing them to walk on two legs and use the other four limbs for grasping. Originally it was mandated by the government for every Veela venturing off-world; however it soon became so popular that everyone began to get the new support spine and now seeing a Veela who isn’t bipedal is incredibly rare. Most get the treatment as soon as they are born. Unlike other insect species, the Veela never evolved with a matriarchal system, so they have no queen to speak of. Any female can reproduce with any male, and the species has evolved a sort of “hive mind” that allows nearby Veela to communicate with each other and even share visual images. To make sure that a single Veela's mind is not overwhelmed, he/she will usually block the hive mind away until it is needed or wanted. Their faces are easily recognizable through compound eyes and antennas and are usually painted to help distinguish Veela from one another.

Moneran (Moh-nay-ron)
An odd people, The Monerans are technically humans, except with a unique belief system. They believe that they need to escape their original “impure” bodies in order to eventually attain true spirituality. To this end, the Monerans have created new bodies for themselves. At the age of eighteen, either their sperm or their eggs are catalogued so eventually they can be combined with another egg or sperm. After their DNA is catalogued, their mind is transferred to a portable hard drive and then a new robotic body is prepared for them, based on what the individual wanted to be his occupation. There are a variety of bodies, with different features and additional programming depending on the job. Transferral is possible, though costly, so a Moneran is urged to think deeply before choosing a job. Monerans who join the military are also treated to a variety of specialized bodies with built-in weapons depending on the role. Their bodies are equipped with the toughest EMP shielding in the galaxy, because their life depends on it. If a successful EMP affected a Moneran, his/her memories could be altered, his/her personality changed, or the hard drive that stores his/her brain wiped.

Nation Population: 1485 Billion:

Core Systems- 200 Planets
400 Billion Azurian, 600 Billion Veela, 200 Billion Moneran

Outer Systems- 75 Planets
75 Billion Azurian, 150 Billion Veela, 37.5 Billion Moneran

Outer Space Colonies- 12 Planets
6 Billion Azurian, 12 Billion Veela 4.5 Billion Moneran

Government:
Tripartite Republic (a system of government with 3 rulers who rule over their individual planets, and come together for matters concerning the entire empire)

Key members of Government:
Azurian Prime Minister Dolesk Grent
Veela Hive Master Zelen Leehey
Moneran High Minister Hilde Velidictin
Minister of Military and War Jacob Mirael
General Sophia Mirael
Trade General Grask Hesin
Minister of Technology and Research Teegin Branei
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Military
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The Azurian Republic had an enormous task ahead of them after its initial formation. It had to merge 3 different military organizations into a single cohesive military and make it tactically viable. Considering the troubles inherent in that approach, they actually managed remarkably well in converting the different cultures’ military into one. Most times when an Azurian, Veela or Moneran signs up for the military, they are each given special considerations that employ their different strengths.

Housed Under: Ministry of Military and War

Military Divisions: (to be finished)

Ground Troops

Soldier: The standard infantry unit in the Republic, these soldiers are given basic armor to stop bullets and help dissipate energy, but compared to the more specialized units, they get the short end of the stick. Their uniform consists of a green background with the Azurian national insignia on the top right, a red, yellow, and blue stripe over the circle in the middle of the insignia. For weapons they receive the Kaesan Rifle, the Cluster Shotgun (which soldiers have taken to calling the “Clusterfuck”), the Skie Pistol and the EnergyBlade gauntlet. Heavy weapons specialists receive either MXLA (Magnified X-Ray Laser Apparatus) or the Beeline Missile Pod. Snipers receive the Horizon Mark I sniper rifle with thermal imaging scope or in some cases the Vea Anti-Material Rifle. All of the weapons mentioned above (except for the MXLA and the weapons the Snipers receive of course) come equipped with RM (reactive material) as their primary ammunition. As for grenades, they receive a mix of concussion, smoke (poisoned or otherwise), shrapnel (with RM inside), incendiary and immobilization (which sends out a burst of sticky material that will immobilize most standard soldiers). In a pinch, the Azurian soldiers can overload their heat-packs to serve as grenades, the Veela have scaly armor that can help withstand projectiles, and for a Moneran, his weapons are either pre-installed in the body he receives upon joining the military or are easily attached via magnetism, without the need for straps.

Elite: The Republic’s answer to power-armoured troops, these at first appear to be normal Soldiers. However, their armour is much more complex. On the surface is a series of overlapping ballistic plates modeled on the Azurian’s own scales. Underneath is a shear-thickening armour system (armour filled with a substance that hardens on impact and absorbs the energy) laced with nano-molecular carbon tubes. If that is not enough, Elites are also provided with a protective energy barrier that can run indefinitely on worlds with access to sunlight. Without sunlight to recharge, it can run constantly for a period of 5 hours. If the machine overloads from too much punishment, it may shut down before those five hours are up.

For weapons, an Elite is given most of the standard weapons a regular soldiers carries, with one exception. Instead of having a pistol, Elites are granted a Jariah Sub-machinegun, loaded with RM rounds. If an Elite has been trained in anti-vehicular duty, you’ll usually see them carrying explosive mines instead of grenades.

Pulser: These are the technical experts of the army, denoted by two purple strips going across each shoulder. Their helmets are modified from a standard Soldier helmet to be a veritable Electronic Warfare Suite. It allows the soldier to hack into enemy systems, shutting them down or taking them under the Pulser’s control. The helmet can also allow the Pulser to control allied automated defences for coordinating fire. As for the rest of the armour, a Pulser A Pulser is armed with a Cluster shotgun (RM rounds of course), and several specialized types of grenades. The first is an EMP grenade, which sends a localized EMP after it attaches to a targeted object; the second is a Drain Grenade, which absorbs localized energy around it before exploding, and the third is an adhesive grenade, which sprays a substance that quickly solidifies into something harder than concrete which can gum up enemy equipment. While Monerans already have incredible EMP shielding, Pulser bodies have even greater EMP shielding, making it downright impossible to knock them out that way.

Horizon: These are the some of the best soldiers in the entire Republic, and they are trained in one thing extensively; accuracy. They are the most accurate soldiers in the Republic, bar none, in some cases maybe in the entire galaxy. Most of them are trained to be Snipers, true, but they can choose any weapon upon beginning their training including vehicular and starship weaponry. Horizons are divided up into 4 ranks, with each rank denoting the soldier's skill. Each rank is shown through the number of cross-hairs sewn into their shoulder. The ranks are solely based on performance, and are not part of the overall command structure.

Rank 1: This rank denotes soldiers that were able to pass Horizon Training, yet are only slightly better than actual Snipers. They are not given any special equipment, and are allowed to retake the test in case the rank is not to their liking; however you still see Horizons bearing this rank, and proudly. No super-human accuracy here; although make no mistake, they're not incompetent, just disappointing.
Rank 2: This is the rank one most often encounters on the battlefield. They are a lot better than traditional snipers or Rank Ones, able to account for any number of environmental and artificial factors. As a rule, most Rank Twos have to have enough understanding about physics to calculate where their shots will land, and as such it is not uncommon for retired Mark Twos to serve as physics teachers for Azurian students. For extra equipment they receive the Mark II Horizon Rifle which comes in two standard forms: Traditional (with regular ammunition or with RM Rounds) or Laser. Added to the bottom of the weapon is a small MD, used to get rid of armor composed of metal.
Rank 3: These are the prime Horizons, able to reach at least a mile and a half with most of their shots if given the proper position. Most of this rank is composed of Monerans, because their cybernetic bodies allow for enhanced capabilities however there are a few Veela and Azurians in the ranks as well. For enhanced equipment they receive the Mark III Horizon Rifle which comes in either Traditional or X-Ray Laser variants. For scopes they receive a combination X-Ray and thermal imaging scope. They also receive an MD which hangs underneath the rifle along with a personal Stealth Generator which absorbs all the heat the user and weapon give off. However, this has a side effect of raising the user's internal temperature; use for more than a half hour leads to a lethal fever.

Veelan’Quen (Vee-lahn Ken): Translated roughly as “Masters of Night” from the Veela language, these are the assassins and intelligence agents in the Republic. They are skilled in bladed as well as long-range weapons, and wear the Ajak Infiltration Suit. This suit is composed of a complex material interlaced with sensors and other technical equipment. The suit has several pre-installed settings which change the suit’s appearance so that the user can blend in. One of these settings is Invisible for operations in contested territory, and the suit has equipment in it which masks it from sensors constantly. Along with the suit, a Veelan'Quen is given a sniper rifle with Repulser ammunition that can cut through shielding, as well as Repulser Blades which perform the same function. Azurian Veelan'Quen even have Repulser tech surgically grafted into their claws.

A new kind of Veelan’Quen is emerging however. It is now possible to genetically engineer a willing Veela or Azurian into possessing the qualities of the suit naturally, in their own skin. This is because of Veroose DNA donated from an as-yet unknown source. This allows them to manipulate their appearance to an even greater degree, almost as much as a normal Veroose. These new and improved Veelan’Quen are rare because the procedure is still very expensive but there are more of them appearing every day.

Mages
All mages are sent into combat with the weapons and armour Soldiers normally receive, although the higher level ones will receive the weapons usually allowed for Elites. This is to make sure that Mages can actually defend themselves in a firefight in case their magic is taken away.

Silent: While nowhere near as powerful as the other mages, they are arguably much more important. While other mages use mana drawn from Slipspace and then either have to turn the mana into a useful spell or let it dissipate, a Silent can draw the mana from Slipspace and direct it around the world. While normally this doesn’t do anything, when used in conjunction with ManaTech, it can perform all sorts of feats. A Silent can even draw off mana from other users, depriving them of their spell-making capabilities or enhance an ally's by providing him/her with extra mana. Unfortunately, the process used to turn one into a Silent removes all emotion and takes away the voice. No one knows the exact method, but it is rumoured to be tortuous to both the subject and the one conducting the process. While these have no formal standing in the military, one can often find them around battlefields and military presences so that they can recharge any ManaTech around.

Blitzer: These are the mages specialized in all-out attacking; they use spells focused primarily on dealing raw damage to the enemy, such as fireballs, lightning strikes and the like. These mages are skilled in elemental manipulation primarily, but some have been known to deal in other forms of magic. The mages that deal with elemental manipulation get a symbol stitched onto their shoulders showcasing which element(s) they are most skilled in; the more symbols that are the same, the stronger the mage, all the way up to 5 symbols. The highest level Blitzer has 5 symbols for every element (wind, rock, earth, air, electricity) and has a rank equivalent to that of General. He’s almost never seen on the battlefield as if he’s usually busy training Blitzers that sign on to the military.

Stabilizer: Unlike the Blitzers, these are the defensive mages. These are focused on shielding troops and healing them. There are medics within the regular army in case there are no Stabilizers present, however the mages are usually more effective. A Stabilizer focused on healing is highly trained in medicine, to make sure their healing talents are most effective. That’s not their only use however. Stabilizers have developed a spell that makes sure they’re not completely helpless offensively. The spell shoots out a bolt at the target, and if it hits it immediately begins bringing dead cells back to life or creating new cells. Even cells that have died of natural causes will be brought back. This has the unfortunate effect of causing a body-wide cancer for as long as the mage can hold up the spell or until all dead cells have been brought back. This kills surprisingly quickly, and even if it doesn’t, the target usually goes through excruciating pain before they die. Stabilizers focusing on shields have also developed other uses for their abilities besides the obvious like siphoning off an enemy’s shields to feed their own, or covering ammunition with small shields for added penetration. The classes are represented with two different signs; a shield for the mages who specialize in barriers and wards, and a cross for mages who specialize in healing. The only mage with 5 symbols of each is back with the top Blitzer, training other Stabilizers.

Summoner: This type of mage is specialized in extracting spirits from beyond the mortal world and placing them into bodies of their own, often with unique and varied results. Sometimes a mage may summon a demon, but it is frowned upon because demons are harder to control than your average spirit. Spirits can possess anything, animate or otherwise, causing strange effects within the object. A Summon is denoted by a large S symbol on his shoulder. Since there is only one level of Summoners, the highest among them is denoted by the last S on their shoulder being tinted red. She’s with the top Stabilizers and Blitzers, training other Summoners.

Mechs, Vehicles and Automated Weaponry

Automated weaponry occupies a unique role in the Azurian military because of the Monerans. Their ability to inhabit robotic bodies means that almost every single automated weapon (mechs and UAVs) can contain a Moneran, allowing that machine a unique capability to think on its, acting coherently with other squad members instead of using pre-programmed calculations to go about its business. This allows mechs to coordinate with one another and perform complex strategies.

Valkyrien: The Valkyrien is the lightest mech in the Republic’s arsenal, used mostly for scouting purposes. Equipped with a cloaking device which masks it from visual identification, it also possesses a device that absorbs the heat generated over small periods, although this heat has to be released after a set period to prevent parts of the mech from melting. The Valkyrien comes equipped with an MD mounted on its right wrist, and a Horizon Mark II rifle for its lower left arm. Mounted on its shoulder is a HexaPod Mini-missile launcher equipped with 6 mini-missiles. Since every mech has an optional piece of ManaTech only used if the outfit has a Silent, the Valkyrien's is a jetpack which converts the energy in the Mana Battery into thrust, which the mech can control using a series of directional vents.

The police force in the Republic use a variation of the Valkyrien, which trades out its MD for a wrist-mounted Taser and its Horizon rifle for a weapon which fires a beam of microwaves that penetrates under the skin to where the pain receptors are located. This causes a feeling of intense pain in the target, but causes no permanent damage. The cloaking system and jetpack have been stripped from the design, and the HexaPod missile launcher has been traded for a Grenade launcher that fires tear gas, smoke, or flash-bang grenades.

The Veelan'Quen also use a variation when on infiltration assignments. This variant has stripped out its jetpack and missile launcher, instead choosing to use the extra space provided to enhance its CloakTech systems, so as to provide better efficiency to the cloaking device, which allows it to be active for longer periods of time.

The last variation is the OSS or Optimum Survey System. This one gets rid of all of the weapons and embedded ManaTech and replaces it with a complicated computer system inside the mech that works with optics, scanners, and complicated listening equipment to determine exactly where on the battlefield hidden enemies are. The system is so sensitive it can find out where a soldier is through the glint of the rifle scope or the light reflected off of its eyes. Of course, before-hand it has to be loaded with troop movements and such to make sure it doesn’t accidentally recognize friendly soldiers as enemies.

Seskune: This is the medium mech used by the Republic and its armour has been considerably improved over the Valkyrien. While the Valkyrien armour was only resistant to bullets and energy, it didn't stop them completely, only slow them down or lessen the energy. A Seskune's armour can stop most bullets fired from pistols or assault rifles entirely, and stops most conventional hand-held energy weapons, although ones that have had their power improved may still get through. Ones that aren't will simply dissipate on its surface, and in the case of Lasers, will go to powering the mech itself.

As for armaments, the Seskune is armed with a wrist-mounted rocket launcher on one wrist and an MD on the other. Embedded inside each arm is an assault rifle loaded with RM rounds, which fires out of the mech's palm. On each of its shoulders is a variable weapons mount. These can either be a Heavy MXLA or a HexaPod with normal missiles instead of miniature ones. There is also a Heavy version, which replaces either both or one of the Seskune's arms with a Scram Cannon.

The Seskune's embedded ManaTech is a device known as the Last Word System. Using the Mana-battery, the LWS pulls in all of the machine's left-over energy as well as the energy in the Mana battery to form a devastating explosion, decimating the surrounding environment and any enemies nearby. This is only used if the mech has sustained critical damage, is far enough away from friendlies so as to not harm them, and there are no other viable options.

There is another variant of the Seskune which replaces the embedded ManaTech with a unique device known as the Iron Curtain. What it does is detect an oncoming explosive (whether grenade or rocket) and it gives off a pulse which causes the explosive to explode prematurely far enough way to not do any damage to the machine. Since this reacts automatically, the system has to be shut off if the machine is firing its own missiles, otherwise complications will arise.

Hykaera: The heavy mech, primarily used to penetrate extraneous defences too tough for the other classes to handle, or when dealing with heavy artillery. It can shrug off anything less than a rail-gun fired artillery shell with impunity. It’s based off the Veela, and as such has 2 extra mounts to place weapons onto. Several variations exist, although what remains consistent in the design are the two MDs, mounted on each of the lower arm wrists. For the standard version there are two DecaPod missile launchers mounted on its shoulders. Mounted on the lower two weapon mounts are 2 Vea Anti-Material Rifles, loaded with RM ammunition with the two MDs mounted below the rifles. Its upper arms end in two massive cannons. Its embedded ManaTech consists of a unique system which allows each auto-cannon to fire a ball of concentrated mana energy at the target, exploding on impact with a force that rivals that of a miniature nuclear device. However, this can only be done once per auto-cannon, and the system is usually activated upon direct orders to the machine.

One variant is known through military slang as “Missile-Spam” or Spam for short. It’s called this because its designers tried to place missiles in every conceivable place to turn the mech into a sort of mobile artillery. With all of the missile launchers, there are 45 missiles housed all over the thing, which means it sacrifices precision for wanton destruction. If it releases all of them at once, it’s almost guaranteed that if the target is in range it will be blown to kingdom come. Of course since there are no short or medium range weapons on the thing its use outside of mobile artillery is pretty limited. Another variant of the Hykaera is one that completely replaces the lower arms with 2 scram cannons, although this is less widespread because of cost.

Dauntless: The Republic’s primary land troop transport, this one a traditional vehicle rather than a walker of some sort. Riding on metal treads and armor-plated to protect against projectile and energy attack, this is the primary land troop transport for the Republic. Mounted on its roof are 6 sonic cannons, used to blast away any enemy infantry who try to crowd around the vehicle. They’re powerful, and can vibrate the flesh off of a person’s bones if directed properly. It also isn’t blocked by shields, being made of sound and all. The Dauntless can hold up to 100 soldiers within its shell, and there are several ports around the armour for soldiers to fire their weapons.

Fearless: The Republic’s space-to-air transport, the Fearless is deployed from ships which are too big to land in orbit themselves. Able to carry approximately 50 troops, the entire vehicle is air-tight however it does not possess FTL-capable technology, so it’s only use is for air and space transport. On the vehicle’s sides are 2 mounted machine-guns (RM rounds), with 2 MDs mounted on the vehicle’s top. The Fearless is reinforced with armour plating, but is also equipped with shielding in case it gets attacked during space travel.

Harbinger: The Republic’s primary automated drone, used mainly for sniper missions and to back-up Pulsers in tricky situations. They’re incredibly quick, and have very little armour to speak of. They’re main use is speed, not absorbing damage. Armed with a Vea anti-material rifle, the Harbingers are mostly used to take out individual enemy combatants, and have earned the nickname “Butterbee.” among the troops off of the popular phrase.

Stellar Navy:

Paenere: The Azurian interceptor-fighter, really only useful in taking out other fighters and maybe taking out small cruisers and frigates if they’re damaged. Armed with 2 MDs, 4 x-ray lasers and 2 torpedo bays loaded with RM shrapnel torpedoes, the Paenere is a versatile fighter, though incapable of taking down larger ships without help.

Granei: The Azurian’s fighter-bomber meant for taking out larger ships and usually protected by Paeneres. Approximately the same size as the Paenere, the Granei is much slower, mostly because of all the explosives it has to carry. Replacing the x-ray lasers are 2 Liquimetal cannons which fire streams of a liquid metal alloy (suspended by an electromagnetic field) composed of iron, uranium and osmium at a 70 % the speed of light. This destroys enemies through impact force and intense heat. While these can often be enough to destroy a ship on their own, the Granei also carries 4 torpedo bays with depleted uranium torpedoes for increased impact. Additionally the torpedoes are also fitted with an explosive charge which detonates a second after impact. What remains the same in the design are the 2 MDs mounted on the top of the fighter.

Rattler: The Rattler is a rather unique fighter. Shaped like a large metal sphere with weapons mounted on it, the Rattler doesn’t look at all remarkable. Its weapons are different than the Paenere in that the x-ray lasers are replaced with additional MDs for a total of 6. The Rattler also has 2 torpedo bays filled with RM shrapnel torpedoes. Inside the ship is something completely different. Instead of one or two organic pilots, the Rattler is equipped with 3 Monerans that are hooked into the system. Each of the three is specially trained to handle a different aspect of the Rattler’s systems. As for movement and weaponry, they control those systems collectively. For shielding, instead of the traditional Grid shielding array used for other ships, the Rattler uses a Cyclonic shielding system, which rapidly rotates shielding around the craft, knocking attacks away rather than stopping them head on.

A Moneran like the one on a rattler can handle hundreds of firewalls and attacks on an enemy ship’s onboard computer systems. It can create viruses or worms on the fly after analysing an enemy’s defences. If successful, these attacks can allow access to life support, weapons and shielding. A Moneran also controls the ship’s extensive sensor suit. The information gathered by the sensor suite is then forwarded to the rest of the fleet which allows them to spot ships that would otherwise be out of range. However because of all of the complex systems within the Rattler, there is no room for a living pilot. Another problem is that since each Moneran can come to a different conclusion, weapons and thrusters can end up not functioning if an argument brakes out between the 3.

Shocker: The Azurian cruiser which is usually sent out on scouting missions or border patrols. It’s useful in light skirmishes and taking out fighters, but not much else. It, like all its larger ships is fitted with an anti-missile and torpedo x-ray laser grid which shoots down any that are aimed at the ship. However these are relatively short-ranged and only carry enough power to shoot down missiles, however with prolonged fire they can bring down enemy fighters. What the shocker specializes in are flechette missiles; these are missiles which are shot from several ports within the shocker and speed after enemy fighters. If, after a period of time the missiles don’t impact their target, each missile splits apart into 7 smaller missiles which seek out targets to destroy. Each missile is fitted with an RM warhead, although vry rarely a Shocker may utilize nuclear missiles.

Military Readiness: Very militant on the outer borders, midway between lenient and militant in the core.

Military Population: Approximately 100 billion
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Economy
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Currency: Scales

Housed Under: The Trade General’s Ministry

Major Exports: From the Monerans, computer software and technology of all sorts is most predominant; the Veela deal mostly in medicines, drugs, cybernetic limbs, and other things having to do with bio-modification; The Azurians prefer to trade in ores and metals for their coin.

Unique Manufacturing: The MD (Metal Duster) is their primary unique good, although you couldn’t pay enough money for them to give away its secrets.

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Technology (to be finished)
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