Motto: Factum non verbum
With roots lost in the distant past of the prehistory of the Warring States on Old Xiscapia thousands of years ago, the Xiscapian (Kitsune) Imperial Army is easily the oldest service. The XIA has changed in size, purpose, composition, role and technological level over the centuries, but it began as and remains a professional, highly accomplished force with more battlefield experience than many entire nations. Only recently has the XIA begun accepting non-kitsune into its ranks on a large scale, mostly humans of various types; however, the overwhelming majority of the service is still comprised of kitsune. Interestingly, the XIA has a higher male-to-female ratio than the KIN, which tends to have a large imbalance in male-to-female members, with males outnumbering females as much as 3:1 in some areas. The Army is also the more popular of the two routes taken by those seeking citizenship in the Kitsune Empire, as it does not generally require as high a degree of training and specialization.
During the Korr Wars the bulk of the Imperial Army was kept garrisoned on Xiscapia, with armies being dispatched out to secure the fortress moons of Jomstar that separated Xiscapia and Korrillia. As a result of this style of warfare the XIA as a whole became extremely proficient at both clearing fortified areas of enemy troops and constructing and using defenses in those same areas against attack, as was constantly the case. The closing years of the Korr War strained the Imperial Army greatly but gave it experience in large-scale defensive operations and assaults, valuable experience for the post-War years. Since then the XIA has both decreased in size (no longer enforcing conscription) and modernized, going under a reevaluation, mass de-commissioning and both developing and importing new technology. In the twenty five years since the Imperial Army has increased its capacity for multi-spectrum warfare while retaining a specialization in storming defended positions and a penchant for effective defenses.
Today the XIA is utilized in this capacity primarily for two things: planetary garrison and planetary assault. When garrisoning a world the Army works together with local intelligence, law enforcement, paramilitary and militia agencies and groups for both defense and security purposes. On protectorate planets, or worlds with a non-Xiscapian native population, the Army coordinates with the indigenous for these purposes as well. When on the defensive Army doctrine mandates aggressive tactics to prevent the enemy from gaining a significant foothold in order to hold out long enough for Kitsune Imperial or allied reinforcements to arrive and destroy the invaders. In such cases it is not uncommon for subordinate forces to act as reinforcement, support or guerrilla units for the Imperial Army.
On the offensive the XIA is tasked with taking and securing the surface, submerged and subterranean areas of a moon or planet. Even more so than defensive maneuvers, aggression and advancement is emphasized along with multi-spectrum warfare, in that any given target can and should be assaulted by a combined force of infantry, mechanized, armored, drone, aerial and orbital units at once. In general an invasion force will mark a few high-priority objectives and proceed to displace, destroy or capture targets in the process to those objectives until the stated goals are met with the ideal of bringing an area -be it a shipyard, industrial base, population center or entire continent- under the control of the XIA. Strategic planners will often make fixed goals but dictate fluid terms about how those goals are accomplished, giving the force room to react to new circumstances or enemy deployments and maneuvers. This allows the XIA clear objectives without compromising vital flexibility.
When combating the enemy XIA soldiers are trained to be merciless unless a given opponent either needs to be captured for interrogation purposes, or is surrendering. Once the opposition has surrendered they will generally be rounded up, stripped of weapons and equipment and removed entirely from the field of battle; prisoners of war are usually treated well, with the aim of using them in trades to regain captured Xiscapian personnel and as a bargaining chip in negotiations. Should the opposition fake surrendering, however, or surrender only to attempt to turn on their captors, they are invariably executed to a man, regardless of whether they try to surrender a second time. Captured officers can expect to be interrogated about everything ranging from their orders and troop movements to local positions and their own military culture. Forcible interrogations, including but not limited to torture, are sanctioned by the Xiscapian Imperial Military.
If a civilian population exists it is not usually deliberately targeted. While XIA doctrine calls for the capture or destruction of enemy or enemy-controlled infrastructure including factories, shipyards and starports, where civilian casualties are probably unavoidable and indeed may be heavy, so called "terror bombing" or attacks made directly against civilians in an attempt to break civilian will, is seen as counterproductive. However, if a resistance which uses civilians springs up, or the civilian population attacks XIA units or resists attempts at deportation, the XIA is not adverse to destroying an area's civilian population to remove a threat and/or obstacle. Generally speaking the preeminent objective of a given conflict is the destruction of the enemy force and/or the control of territory, so the presence of a civilian population is entirely secondary to XIA objectives. Efforts are usually made by the XIA to sway a planet's civilian population to the side of the Kitsune Empire; however, these are not always possible or successful.
Because of the rising number of non-kitsune in the ranks, as well as the incorporation of native militias and levies, has led to the creation of a variety of race-specific units. This includes various human formations including the Alversian multi-spectrum 511th Battalion, the Setulanite 74th Shock Corps, the Avalan 1010th Division of battlefield engineers, the Olacian 66th psyker Brigade, Neo Kirisuban Teishin Shudan and Giretsu units and others. Non-human troops also incorporate Berrax anti-armor teams (404th Battalion), Zillar skirmishers (599th Battalion), Escan pathfinders and sappers (200th Regiment), Alumina special forces (9th Company), Sar aquatic warfare squads (760th Army), Abhuman guerrilla fighters (irregular), Initiate sniper partners (irregular) and a number of others. These units sometimes (but not always) have kitsune officers and, often possessing immigrants seeking citizenship or second-generation Xiscapian-born aliens, follow their own customs and cultural considerations. The most famous of these units is the Xis-Set Joint Army, better known as the Hand of Judgement.
In most territories the Imperial Army holds two subordinate units typically drawn from the general population: A Militia or Levy of troops. Militias are volunteer forces made up of civilians, mercenaries, reservists and other able-bodied natives for the express purpose of defending a homeland. Levies are units of the indigenous population, typically non-kitsune, who are conscripted to serve in the defense of the territory. The size, composition, training and equipment varies from territory to territory; some, such as the Xiscapian Freedom Corps, are highly-motivated, well-equipped and undergo military training, putting them on par with most modern military forces. Others may not be so advanced. Regardless, militias and levies constitute and important part of any Kitsune Imperial garrison's defensive strategy.
