The Armed Federation of Xenohumanity (FT, CLOSED)

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:47 am

THE ARMED FEDERATION OF XENOHUMANITY

OFFICIAL FACTBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. General Information
2. Drakon and Xenans
3. Xenohuman History
4. Systems and Holdings
5. Very Important Persons
6. Economics
7. Todularianism
8. Extracorporate Factions
9. The Xeno-Tech Corporation
10. The Xenohuman Consortium of Independent Business Enterprises
11. XenoMil: Overview
12. XenoNavy / Ranking and Organization
13. XenoNaval Register
14. XenoNavy: Supercapitals
15. XenoNavy: Capital Ships
16. XenoNavy: Ships-of-the-Line
17. XenoNavy: Support Vessels
18. XenoNavy: Task Ships and Piloted Craft
19. XenoNavy: Assorted Technologies And Weaponry
20. XenoArmy
21. XenoMarine
22. XenoArmy/Marine Weapons and Equipment
23. XenoArmy: Macro-Armor and Walkers
24. XenoArmy: Heavy Armor and Support Vehicles
25. XenoMarine: Wet-Water Vehicles
26. Errata
27. Xenohuman Culture

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:03 pm

GENERAL INFORMATION

Name: The Armed Federation of Xenohumanity
Government: Combining aspects of stratocracy, libertarian capitalism, and figurehead democracy, the government can be called a “representational tyranny”, with a federation-wide, once-elected dictator-for-life (Lord General Superior) ruling over a system-based, council of regional representatives and advisers (The Federate). The national government then oversees system-based governorships and grants the systems nominal independence and local law.
Current Lord General Superior: Rai’a Sirisi
Capitol: Xeno City, Tuzus II
Currency: Galactic Credits / Tuzunius
Official Language: Galactic Common (Basic)
Colors: Bright red and dark blue.
Numer of Controlled Star Systems: 17
Number of Inhabitable Planets: ~21
Number of Worlds (planetoids, moons, asteroids): Approx. 240
Average age: 52
Unaugmented average life expectancy at birth: 83 for humans, 92 for Drakonians
Augmented average life expectancy: 140 for humans, 170 for Drakonians
Population: 240 billion (OOC note: Inflated due to FT)
Population make up: 58% Homo Sapiens (Human), 37% Homo Draconis Xeno (Drakon-Xeno) 5% Imigré (non-human, non-Xenan citizens)

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:04 pm

DRAKON
Drakon-Xeno
Homo Draconis Xeno

The Drakon-Xeno, politely referred to as the Drakon or Drakon, are one of the most curious examples of a created species on record with the Assembly of Worlds. Born as soldiers to the now-destroyed Todularian Ecclasiarchy, the inheritors of power after the XenoCide, and now the genetic ruling class in the Federation, the Drakon battled, leveraged, and now enjoy the benefits of genetic type-casting and Todularian over-specialization.

The Drakonian genotype is partially reptilian, but the phenotype is almost completely mammalian due to the inclusion of a secondary genome to combat against viral weaponry and oncogenetic mutation. They stand on average 2 to 3 feet taller than most humans, and easily hundreds of pounds larger thanks to dense bones, larger muscle groups, and redundant vital organs.

With sleek, semi-conductive scales covering their bodies, they seem like lizards with casual observation, but have body structures and physiological similarities with mammals, with exothermic bodies, live births, and hominid reproductive and digestive structures. Other indicators include clawed, 5-fingered hands, 3-toed feet ending with sharp toe talons, and occasional occurrence of a bone-like “crest” at the back of their long, triangular, reptilian skulls that only form ‘horns’ with congenital mutation (associated with the Pairbond Sequence elaborated on later) or aesthetic gene-modification.

Wingless and tailless in contrast to the Dragyn of Todularian myth, they are not based off of any pre-existing organisms or species, being truly original beings. Coded in computers, drawn up from raw genetic material and born in vats in Eccalsiarchy laboratories, the first generation of Drakon were all too proud of their social role as military strong-men and avatars of the Gods. However, their descendents grew restless, joining the social and scientific movements that later sparked the Xenohuman Civil War and saw the end of the Ecclasiarchy. This generation’s children fought in the XenoCide and inherited the nation, becoming arrogant and pernicious. Now, in a galaxy that has changed much, the 4th generation of Drakon, the fighting and working youth of the nation aged 15-35, are a more stable, balanced race willing to work with others to advance the nation as a whole, and less receptive to genetic and political propaganda than their ancestors.

Occasionally resenting consignment as lizard-men alongside other reptilian races evolved naturally into their current state of being, racism from the Drakon is passive-aggressive, rarely showing itself as outbursts of anger or violence. However, this latent tension has caused issues on a few occasions, with relationships with the Saurisians, Gorn, and other reptilian races turning into love-hate relationships driven by a dangerous whirlwind of slight racism and competitive biotechnology.

In Xenohuman society, Drakons are known as the stronger part of the Federation. Physically superior and politically better-placed than Xenohumans, they hold the vast majority of military and political positions, with the Xenohumans themselves thankful that they can live their secure, routine lives in safety. However, older Drakons tend to view Xenohumans with disdain, seeing them as simply unable to keep up in a galaxy where domestic blood competes with foreign blood for survival, be it through military combat or reproductive capability. With politicized Genetic Soundness Tests and the Federal Charter of Genetically Questionable Races a product of the Drakon, they are rarely questioned morally by the non-Drakon populace save extraordinary or arbitrary placement of certain peoples.

With 70% of all Drakonian males serving in the military for five years or more, and with over 90% of all held government positions going to Drakon, it is not unheard of for other nations with sub-standard intelligence programs to think that all Xenohumans are Drakonian, leading to contentious confusion as to the genetic origins of the Drakon-Xeno in relation to modified humans or Homo Sapiens-based nonhumans. However, XenoIntel works hard to combat this rumor, despite the fact that it has sometimes leveraged this fact in information warfare.

Visual:

Drakonian sight is binocular and generally forward-facing, but the capacity for vision can extend up to 270 degrees if the eyes are turned to the sides as far as possible. This extended vision is more peripheral and loses considerable detail, but military gene-fixing removes this easily, making Drakon deceptively aware of their surroundings. Average visual acuity stands at 20/14 due to purpose-built optical tissue refinements in the retinal tissues that allow far better resolution adjustment when presented with objects of varying distance. This gives Drakon supreme distance judgment and hand-eye coordination, another gift from the Todularians to make them natural-born gunmen.

Auditory:

Rather than ears, Drakon use genetically modified tympanums, or external eardrums to hear. An array of 6 small tympanums on each side of the head are located behind the eyes, each one made of durable, flexible skin-like material and ringed with hardened cartilage. When sound strikes the drum, vibrations on the drum are transmitted to small tissue rods that stir material in the inner-ear tubes of the Drakon. This stirring moves nerve-hair which transmits the motion into crystal clear sound.

When the Todularians designed the Drakonian Tympanum, they also incorporated a brilliant failsafe found in most frogs. Drakonian lungs also contain sensory tissues to pick up sound, transmitting any sonic waves that strike or enter the lungs directly to the tympanum systems and converting them into sound. This not only allows extreme air pressure and sound pressure to be safely equalized through the lungs, but allows for pin-point accuracy in finding the source of a sound, as comparing the pressure between the cranial ears and the lung sensor-tissues allows for accurate distance and direction measurement.

The system, as it is merely a simplification of hominid hearing systems, does not detract from the frequency range and hearing distance of the Drakon. Lab studies have found a gene-fixed frequency range of 5 Hz – 20,000 Hz, with greater perception at the lower bandwidths. Due to the resilience of the tympanum tissues, regenerative inner-ear tissues, redundant nerve connections, and pressure-reactive bio-analgesics, Drakon can handle long-term sound pressures of approximately 115 dB without sustaining hearing damage, and have been shown to have a threshold of pain of an astounding 160 dB, making them naturally resistant to stun grenades and concussive sensory injury.

Tactile-Sensory:

Drakonian ‘scales’ are extremely deceptive, for they are in fact a cutaneous plating over a dermal tissue wrap, making them more like dense fingernails than anything else. Even then, due to their small size, they are barely noticeable, giving Drakon a sleek, moist shine rather than a gem-like glimmer. Semiconductive to electricity by design, the Todularians gave Drakon a natural affinity to mechanical augmentation, allowing their skin to serve as a much better neural connector than additional wiring. However, this does mean that Drakon are more likely to be harmed by static discharges and electrical accidents, meaning that a few Drakon are gene-fixed and ‘rubber-skinned’ to reduce this conductivity to a minimum.

Drakonian sub-skin is generally grey, white, or black. The color of the scales themselves can be greatly variable, covering the ‘chromatic spectrum’ in accordance with Todularian color-catechism. Reds, blues, whites, blacks, and greens are all common-place, with gene-modification allowing for pinks, greys, and purples as well.

Digestion:

Todularians were self-hating people at times, and their Drakon were designed to facilitate flagellant penance and humility when eating. Therefore, the Drakonian digestive system is durable, high-capacity, naturally anti-toxic, and suited to break down nearly anything it faces. With extremely strong stomach and intestinal muscles, diverse and genetically engineered floral and faunal colonies in the digestive tract, and extremely efficient waste removal systems, everything from rocks to urine can be consumed with relatively minor consequence. Artificial poisons still effect Drakon negatively, but raw meat, contaminated food, and rot toxins have been found to do little to dampen Drakonian health.

Sexuality:

Drakon were born to be warriors, and an unfortunate reality of the Todularian perception of that role was aggressive military sexuality, often at the expense of others, now referred to by XenoIntel propaganda as a literal ‘rape culture’. While gene-fixing exists that moderates the hormones responsible for aggression and sexual drive, it is usually administered only as a punitive measure to civilian sexual criminals. Due to the loosening of public morality after the Civil War, open cultural exchange with progressive and liberal nations, and hormonal surpluses, Drakon are very forward about their needs and wants, and ‘double-talk’ and innuendo are seen as deceptive and dangerous. Immunosuppressive aptitudes towards negating STIs and venereal blights combined with gene-fixing administered in-utero bring the risk of negative repercussions of base physical activity to a minimum.

Female Drakon maternalize hormonally during gestation, making pregnancy the only time ‘at-a-glance’ gender distinctions arise. Mammarial tissues begin to multiply in preparation for a hungry infant and muscle mass decreases as it is catalyzed into nutrition for the unborn, continuing over the course of the 30 weeks of pregnancy. Drakon children are almost always single births, with twins the result of a congenital mutation that the Todularians referred to as ‘Pairbond Sequences’ and are of interest to psionics and biotics researchers, due to their uncanny aptitude for biotic and psionic implants.

Drakon were genetically programmed to birth their young quickly, and to grow up with the same speed. While born a pale white and with no teeth erupted, the full set break within 4 weeks and the skin and scales colorize within 6 months. Breast milk is weaned out of the diet after a year, and physical maturation continues at an accelerated pace until the age of 8, when puberty proper begins, finishing at around age 15.

Biotics and Psionics:

The Drakon were intended to exist as soldiers, and the Todularians held psionics and other metaphysical capacities as a hallmark of the ruling class. This was codified into the Drakonian double-genome as a natural ineptitude for hyper-mental ability, high rejection rates for biotic and psionic implants, and notable mental vulnerability to psychic influence. While the majority of Drakon feel they have lost little, and those who do find solace in extensive mechanical and nano-augmentation, there are a select few who are born with the capacity for power beyond scientific reckoning.

Theories abound in regards to the true origins of the Pairbond Sequence; cult conspiracies, midiclorian mutation, neurotoxic gene-venoms integrating into cellular systems, and even foreign infiltrators tampering with modern medical gene-fixes. However, the true nature of the P.S. is unknown. What is known is that it exhibits itself exclusively in twin births, with approximately 80% of such births resulting in phenotypic Pairbonding. Physically, the hides of the twins are always a dull grey, with reduced muscle-mass, lean limbs and increased general joint flexibility, which has most civilians to simply refer to those exhibiting the phenome as ‘lanks’ or ‘chameleos’. Psychologically, the twins are co-dependent, forming their identity together rather than on their own; some go so far as to abandon individual names and identify as a pair constantly. However, this psychological disturbance is far outweighed by the utility of the physiological alterations.

The Pairbond Sequence mutation manifests itself as a nervous system mutation that results in levels of neurological efficiency and signal capacity several orders of magnitude greater than the average Drakon. With secondary sub-brains along the side of the spinal cord, self-correcting neural nets, increased conductivity of the skin and scales to facilitate nerve activity, and a natural generation of static electricity, higher-level brainwaves, and phase-space energy. This stew of fields, known as ‘Strange Magnetism’ and harnessed outside of the Phenome by bio-technologial exo-brains and expensive micro-digital integration into a generator unit, is generated from this enhanced CNS functioning properly and magnified by the presence of properly functioning biotic or psionic implants.

Pairbonds without psionic or biotic augmentation are discomforted by their naturally high energy levels, manifesting in numbness and motor tics. This, combined with their high-capacity neural systems, makes them viable candidates for such augmentation. When operating together, a pair of P.S. mutants can easily overpower most police forces, and this knowledge results in most pairs being drafted into military service for public safety.

At our conclusion, certain terms should be clarified. Biotics are implants that utilize Strange Magnetism in order to modify space-time and classical mechanics on a local level. Also known as ‘Force powers’, biotic manifestations are known for their kinetic magnitude and ease of application in a military setting. This contrasts with Psionics which use Strange Magnetism to alter the electro- and neuro-chemistry of other living things, often through psychological influence or mechanical body control alteration (such as seizure induction or black-out shocks). Both utilize the same basic mechanics, but use different training protocols and implant firmware to facilitate actualization.

Rumors and whispered nothings regarding the 'Unreal Sequence' that fringe scientists blame for Drakonian psionic difficulties, and its full expression resulting in 'anti-psionics' are openly mocked and derided by XenoScience officials as the ravings of the under-funded.

XENANS
Bellalupii-Xeno
Homo Bellalupus Xeno

Two xenan cubs
Xenan homesteaders during the XenoCide
A xenan Genestealer agent

The first and last great genetic engineering project of the Xenohuman Republic, Homo Bellalupus Xeno, or ‘The Xenans’ were an attempt by eager Xenohumans to redeem the T.A.N.K. Program’s technologies for the greater good, bringing life into the universe for life’s sake. While this optimism would be crushed brutally during the XenoCide, the millions of Xenans cloned and raised in joint corporate-government creches, and the millions more who were naturally bred and raised by the first and second generations populated the Federation rather densely at one point, accounting for up to 10% of the population according to census data pre-dating the XenoCide.

During the end stages of the Saurisian War, a coalition consisting of the Federation and the AXIS Powers (the Alversian Republic, the Kitsune Empire of Xiscapia, and the Setulan Republic) seized several systems from the Saurisian States. The Xiscapian Empire, unbeknownst its allies, had rescued one of the last surviving Xenans from slavery at the hands of a multi-syndicate criminal operation. Donating her DNA to the Xiscapian Navy, Samosi Tiqaqua would become the ‘Eve’ of the Xenans; her DNA was templeted onto a new strain of Koch’s Contagion, which was then deployed against the Saurisians. Forced mutation into Xenans along with neurobiological loyalty reprogramming resulted in a dozen system’s worth of Xenans, bringing the species back from extinction, undoing their earlier genocide. They have now reintegrated into a society that realizes it has forgotten what made them hate Xenans in the first place. While some elements of XenoAdmin still try to institutionalize racism against them, the vast majority of Federals see no need, and welcome a chance to get past the ugliest days of the Armed Federation.

Xenans are a genetic chimera, containing chromosome segments from various other animal species or lab-fabricated organisms. Genetic samples from various mammalian orders along phenotypical sequences from assorted other orders (i.e. Selachimorpha (sharks) and Accipitriformes (avian raptors, etc.). Standing at an average height of 6’3”, roughly as heavy as a human at that size, xenans are considerably smaller and generally less durable than drakon; they simply lack the body volume to support the redundant organs and dense tissues of the drakes. However, to compensate, xenans prove one of the most flexible endoskeletal sapient species in the galaxy. Xenan tendons, ligaments, and muscle tissues are highly elastic yet extremely strong for their mass, minimizing sprains and injury in order to maximize range of motion. Xenans are double-jointed as a rule, a race of contortionists and rogues according to stereotypes. While it is true that they were originally gene-mapped to support the drakes in military activity, providing technical support and serving as infiltrators and secret agents, this does nothing to diminish the everyday utility of being able to squeeze through closing elevator doors before they shut.

Xenans are slender, almost gangly, with long limbs and thin figures. Sharply angular muzzles, long pointed ears, and narrow eyes speak to their meat-heavy diets, although xenans are of course omnivorous in order to assure proper nutrition. They carry themselves on strong, digitigrade legs with four toes and an opposable ‘thumb-toe’ that allows them to secure solid footing on steep inclines and unstable terrain. They also balance themselves with slender, thick-furred tails tipped with a thick tuft of fluff. Well suited to rugged environments that would slow down other sapients, Xenans often put their agility to good use serving as scouts, survey corpsmen, and other military and private-sector roles demanding rapid mobility.

Visual:

Xenan sight is binocular, with a field-of-view of but the capacity for vision can extend up to 40 degrees if the eyes are turned to the sides as far as possible thanks to their angular head-shape. Average visual acuity stands at 20/10, stronger than drakon and allowing for better long-distance vision without compromising short-range acuity. Further improving on the drakon archetype, xenans eyes are very dense with rod cells, allowing for highly precise night vision in exchange for a slight dulling of color during daytime.

Auditory:

While not as durable and pressure-proof as drakon auditory organs, Xenan ears prove much more sensitive and can pick up a much broader bandwidth of sound, ranging from 60 to 32,000 hertz. Their ears are capable of independent motion, able to turn and perk towards sources of sound to better pinpoint their location and distance. Able to hear quieter sounds at greater distance than panhumans and their auditory equals, Xenans are often slighted as natural eavesdroppers, even if they can’t help it.

Tactile-Sensory:

Xenans are fur-covered, in stark contrast to their scaled drakon countrymen. The thickness of this fur changes seasonally, thinning during summer and thickening during winter, but they tend to stay fluffier than not regardless of weather conditions. Thick tufts at the base and tip of the tail, the back of the neck, and the chest remain regardless of seasonal shedding. The color patterning among xenans is fairly consistent, either a monochromatic coat (tending towards light colors such as beige and white) or a posterior-anterior divide, with a light color on the belly and front and a striking hue on the back and crown of the head. Reds, blues, and greens are the most common, with dark greys and blacks tailing behind as recessive shades.

Digestion:

The xenan sense of smell is marginally stronger than that of a panhuman, but it is their sense of taste that proves one of their strongest traits. A xenan is able to identify chemicals and taste-bearing substances with only a few parts-per-billion, generally categorized as ‘super-tasters’. As they were gene-mapped for long patrols in the field with little food, their ability to naturally identify poisons and edible substances through small samples is invaluable. Their body can also handle a higher load of toxins and other harmful substances due to gene-tweaked kidney and liver tissues. This is essential, due to the fact that xenans do not sweat and are not able to disperse toxins through that means, leaving it entirely to filtration and catalyzing tissues. While certainly not as poison-proof as the drakon, xenans are able to live on little food and water for much longer periods of time, embodying natural survivalist adaptation as opposed to drakon ‘death-proofing’.

Tail:

The xenan’s tail tends to be a point of pride, being the only tailed species in the Federation (excluding the ‘unpeople’ known as the Celestials). Measuring anywhere from 70-85% of a body-length, the tail provides balance and counter-weight during rapid movement, allowing for sharp turns and agility on any surface. This also allows for great agility in ZG conditions and underwater (as long as the xenan in question makes sure to prepare for great drag given their fluff). Their tail is also prehensile enough to grasp small objects and serve as an effective striking limb during hand-to-hand fighting.

Sexuality:

Unlike drakes, xenan sexuality was designed with civilian life in mind. This translated into increased hormone regulation, more generous pregnancy times, and a slower developmental cycle overall. Healthy pregnancies last nine to ten months (depending on the gender of the child, with females developing an extra month in the womb), births are quick and relatively easy given the mother’s xenan flexibility, and children grow at a slow pace, reaching puberty at around 14 and maturing fully at around age 22. This sometimes presents troubles in Federal society given that drakes reach full maturity at age 15, but the rebirth of a long-dead species will invariably come with some friction to be worked out over the decades.

A newborn xenan is blind, deaf, toothless, and pink, with a thin coat of albino fur. By two months, the pup will have begun to see, hear, begin taking on coat color, and begun to experience tooth eruption. Nursing continues for a few months until the child is ready to begin eating solid food, and by the end of the first year, the pup will have progressed past milk entirely.

Biotics and Psionics:

Unlike the drakon, xenans do not have a genetic predisposition against psionics. Unlike the xenohumans in turn, they do not have a predilection towards biotic and psionic ability naturally. Of course, xenohuman sequences were included in their genome in order to encourage this, and this results in rates of psychic / biotic ability slightly higher than average in sapient populations. Still, their abilities pale in comparison to xenohuman psykers, requiring much more training and neurocomputational augmentation in order to manifest biotic powers or transmit psychic influence upon other beings. However, as they are much quicker and agile than xenohumans, and far more flexible, xenans are capable of somatic gesture-patterns and acts of arcana that would prove impossible for the progeny of Todular’s mages. Combining this with their ability to evade enemy attacks, this makes xenan biotics deadly hit-and-run attackers, and makes xenan psykers battle-phantoms, flitting in and out of cover and around enemy flanks to wrack the courage and sanity of their enemies while evading returning fire.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:14 pm

BASIC XENOHUMAN HISTORY
“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future…”

The Todularian Empire of the Ecclesiarchy was a relatively new addition to the galactic scene during its short-lived prime. Deeply religious, and only 500 years old since achieving FTL technology despite having been in existence as a civilized people for over 40,000 years, they had spread like colonial ants, covering a wide array of almost 60 planets at great expense to the living quality of the masses. On one of these worlds, a science colony known as Tuzus, a secret research project had just come to fruition.

The Todularian Antropomorphic New-life: KASTROS (T.A.N.K.) Project, named after their lord of the gods, had just borne its first batch of machine coded, tank-bred ‘Dragyn’, known scientifically as the drakon. Scientists and secularists rejoiced through-out the empire, but the leadership of the Ecclasiarchy and the more devout Todularians had to disagree with the mood of jubilation. With the recent, religiously-fueled additions to the ruling council who had been kept out of the loop about the project to prevent dissent protesting on behalf of their followers, the empire quickly divided over the issue. For the following two centuries, the political strife led to slowed conquest at the frontier, and all the while, more drakon were being bred and naturally copulating, spreading throughout the outer regions of the Ecclasiarchy.

It came to such a point that two halves of the Empire became notably segregated culturally into one that clang to religion and the ways of faith, psionics, and religion, and another that looked forward to science, individualism, and technology, each with mutual hatred for the other.. The Empire divided into the Church of the Todularian Deitarchy and the self-christened Xenohumans, a collection of human frontier-folk and 'liberated' drakon free to live outside the military system. While the Deitarchy had numbers and psionic power at their side, the Xenohumans had cutting-edge scientific advancement gathered from secret interaction with foreign powers, arming themselves with energy weaponry and non-psionic vehicles that allowed the common pinkskin to serve as more than cannon fodder.

Apocalyptic civil war broke out, entire planets burning under nuclear and psycho-temporal hellfire and the thick running of blood across earth becoming the only language of discourse between the opposing factions. Psionic monstrosities tore ships apart with ease while experimental weaponry rent time and space asunder to get to their foes. Ground-fighting was just as barbaric, the blades and faith of the Dragyn-Knights clashing with the cyber-gear and genetic enhancements of their drakon brothers. Both parties became equally animal in their fervor to win as the combat stretched into its 60th year, but the advanced and advancing technology of the xenohumans saw them through. After purging Todular herself of the taint of the old Deitarchy, the surviving drakon and their xenohuman allies claimed victory.

Forming the Xenohuman Republic, the newly formed governance decided that technology and military industry were an absolute must in order to maintain legitimacy after such heavy resource loss. With its high population of scientists, soldiers, working hands, and pre-existing scientific and military infrastructure from the front-lines of the Ecclasiarchy's imperialist expansion, the xenohumans quickly caught up with their more well-established neighbors in terms of power and technology. Within a span of 75 years, millennia of religious stagnation and social apathy were undone. Religiously bound principles of meta-quantum technology were quantified and utilized, fabricators previously restricted to the priest caste were utilized in the rebuilding efforts, and the materials sciences, once neglected as peasant research, saw a renaissance such that the remaining xenohuman navy, once ships of composite-stone and weighty macro-metallic alloys, became worthy ships-of-the-line in a bold new galaxy.

All was well for those many decades, as cities were rebuilt and an economy boomed. Previously, the Ecclasiarchy had managed the economy centrally with mixed success, but with their absence, the void was filled by countless enterprises and businesses. However, a well-subsidized research foundation known as the Xeno-Tech Corporation quickly took the lead, consolidating businesses and entering the galactic market with a bang. Branching into genetic sciences, materials R&D, consumer goods, and everything else that can be imagined, the Corporation quickly became a megacorporate syndicate of subsidiaries and wealthy share-holders, all headed by the recently posthuman businessman now referring to himself only as ‘Xenon’.

Change never stops, even for the optimists. Independent researchers, eccentric government groups, and other scientific bodies continued the Todularian T.A.N.K. program with reckless abandon. Using knowledge from abroad and secretly built equipment, another sapient, pan-humanoid species was brought into existence. Labelled the ‘Xenan’ people, these mammalian predators began to expand and populate over the course of the last 40 years of the Republic, assisted by state-operated cloning programs, filling societal roles and helping to further prepare the nation for inevitable first contact.

However, this century of growth was not without troubles. As the population grew and diversified and contact in the streets of the cities became shoulder-to-shoulder, the first mega-skyscrapers began going up on the remnants of the urban worlds while arcologies and hydroponic super-farms began sprouting up elsewhere. More worlds were discovered, but the resources and financial benefits of them slowly found their way into the hands of the drakon, whose military connections and public discourse of national security allowed them relatively free reign over frontier claims. Rumors that the Xenans had been created simply to secure political hegemony for certain parties had a veneer of truth to them, even after the state cloning programs were shut down at the behest of worried senators fearing a military subversion of the system.

However, it all came to a cultural head when with the Inferno at Rembrandt Habitat. A Xenan mega-skyscraper that had caught fire during the night, Rembrandt Habitat was a relatively new development. However, the tragedy was in more than the actual disaster. Dozens of thousands of xenans lost their lives over the course of several weeks of unabated structural collapse. Shocking reports of possible arson and relief-interference operations by the military circulated, followed by indifference on the part of civil defense forces and the refusal of subpoenaed military officers to heed constitutional demands to submit to investigation.

The fact that most civil defense forces were drakon should have been a sign, but the people of the Republic did not see them in time. The drakes were a warrior race at heart, proud and always hungry for power. Having them holding most of the military’s guns, policing most of the streets, and operating a fair share of the public utilities might have been foolish, and in a happier galaxy, in another time and space, it might have even ended well.

Alas, history was never merciful to the Todularians, and it was the same with the Xenohuman Republic. A band of drakons who had situated themselves perilously close to supreme power mustered their forces, met in the shadows, and arranged for a great upheaval to put the nation on their tracks, whether not they were the right ones. A confederacy of generals, police chiefs, congressmen, and businesses rallied their resources and influence in a conspiracy of unparalleled malice and masterful execution. Motivated by greed, racial pride, and concerns that the Republic was ill-equipped to cope with the swelling tide of cultist and techno-communist violence beginning to permeate society,

The Xenocide, the great upheaval that forever changed Xenohumanity’s soul and body, began in 2565 AD and concluded in 2572 AD. Information warfare, semi-legitimate propaganda campaigns, and a notable darkening in popular culture marked the first year, with a marked increase in racially motivated crime on the part of the police with a government helpless to stop it. The second year was the tipping point, with civil defense forces, naval forces, and the Federal Marines as a whole declaring secession from the Xenohuman Republic, rallying with the help of a racist population and beginning a campaign of ‘national democratization’ and ‘purification’ of the national genome. Xenans and their accomplices were executed as enemies of the state through systematic use of genetically targeted weaponry, occupation of cities by self-appointed 'purge forces', and lastly, the infamous Promise of Morphoza, where the remaining xenan populace were forced upon the eponymous colony ship that toured the Republic with the drakon forces in tow. There are historians who argue that the following years should be properly named ‘The Second Xenohuman Civil War’, as the military engagements between Xenan populations and the ‘Federal Army’ were as heated as any battlefield. Cities and slums burned, armor units faced off against kitbashed trucks and haulers, and war crimes that would haunt the nation were committed by both sides. Killing trenches, torture, and chemical warfare were all tools in the arsenal as the Xenohumans battled with themselves for the future of the state.

Alas, in the third year, then-president Bryan Vallne was ordered to step down from his position by the General Superior, Andor Sirisi after the Federal Navy moved onto Tuzus itself, destroying the Promise of Morphoza overhead to signify the end of the human government's attempt at 'take-over'. Promptly executed before a cheering mob with a gunshot to the back of the head, Bryan’s name would quickly be phased out of the history books. Andor and his fellow commanders gave themselves their crowns quickly, with Sirisi himself, the mastermind and logistical genius behind the Xenocide, becoming Lord General Superior, and his accomplices the Superiors of their respective forces. The remaining Xenan forces, and with them, their species, were wiped out down to the last man, woman, and child. Remaining genetic samples were destroyed, disposable scientists tied with the project were killed, and the Xenans themselves were also partially phased out of history, demonized as mutants and misguided experiments by the neo-theocrats. Those few who'd fled the nation new better than to inform foreign powers of their existence, and so the xenans were considered dead and gone forever.

The Republic itself was morphed into the Federation, with the Senate turned into the 'Federate', a figurehead organization with no power whatsoever other than that of advising the LGS of courses of action. The Xeno-Tech Corporation and the newly christened Armed Federation of Xenohumanity joined forces to repair the damages, further modernize the nation, and prepare for a true first-contact with the outside. The Federation became outgoing economically, freeing trade and accepting outside cultural influence in order to disguise the disgusting atrocities that birthed her.

With Andor's induction, Todularianism became a hanging crime, the military delegated domestic peace-keeping to Xeno-Tech mercenaries, and a bastardization of a fascist state and hypercorporate plutocracy rose from the ashes of the great experiment that was the Republic. Andor bore a son with an unknown woman (or possibly had one produced through gene-stock cloning in cooperation with Xeno-Tech) named Rai'a, and had him educated privately in statesmanship and military strategy. Rai'a would eventually help lead the development of Macro-Armor as an experimental pilot and project overseer during his early adulthood.

Unfortunately, Andor died in the line of duty during the Reannexation of Ramam, fighting against the remaining techno-communist forces that had fortified on the world during the Xenocide and emerged from their tunnels in an attempt to capture the planet in cooperation with Todularian cultists. Rai’a Sirisi was granted the position of LGS by the other members of the ruling junta. The propagation of 'XenoCulture' helped Rai'a win the hearts and minds of his people, a cyberpunk policy of bread and circuses backed by disautomation of the economy to keep the masses working by day and revelling by night, too busy and too content with the status quo to consider joining subversive political factions or protesting the state's suppression of dissent, protest, and disregard for the anarchic actions of its sub-contracted police forces.

Now, the nation seeks to befriend and beguile its neighbors, subjugating planetary states and waging limited wars against its foes when convenient.

From knowledge, the future.

The Celestial Republic’s collapse and annexation by its neighbors did nothing to remove the problem of the Celestial people themselves. Xenohumanity’s four takings from the debacle were inhabited by several billion natives, and simply purging the planet a la XenoCide was a non-solution due to the oversight of the Galactic Assembly. Thus, the Celestials were begrudgingly accepted into the fold of the Armed Federation as second- and third-class citizens.

The first major obstacle to assimilation is the alien nature of the Celestial. Homo Vulpes Inanis-Gloria, classified literally as the ‘Vainglorious Kitsune’, are insufficiently panhuman to qualify for the benefit of the doubt from the average Federal. Phenotypically, yes, they are hominid, but the remainder of their physiology and genotype make it impossible to reconcile with their origins.

Standing at an average of 5’8” in height for both genders, the Celestial is covered in a thick coat of short fur, colors ranging naturally across the spectrum with more extreme and vibrant shades holding genetic dominance over more muted, natural tones. Vulpine ears, muzzle, tail, and feet along with sensory balance predisposed towards olfactory precision take them even further from the panhuman body-type, and oddities such as seemingly unnatural eye coloration, large feathered wings rooted on the sides of their spine from the shoulder blades to the bottom of the ribcage, and their uncanny affinity with ‘Force’ energies lend credence to theories that they are an engineered species from a long-extinct forerunner race who would likely be disappointed in their creation.

If it was merely their impractical bioengineering that was an issue, Xenohumanity would be able to take them in smiling and nodding for the Galactic Assembly’s press people. However, the staunch cultural segregation that the Celestials impose on themselves makes any attempt to make the Celestials ‘normal’ moot. While the democratic structures of the Republic destroyed themselves, the people remained hopeful that their Empress and her family would bring some semblance of unity that never came. What resulted was a self-delusional hope for the future that the state would bring itself back together, either into the Celestial Republic or into the Steppe Empire of old. Regardless of political affiliation, all Celestials seem hell-bent on ‘getting themselves together’, commissioning colony ships, and trying again to start a country.

In the meanwhile, though, the Celestial people are at the lowest they have ever been. Xenohumanity filled the gap left by civil war and infrastructure evaporation, seeing millions of colonists and military crewmen entering Celestial space and squatting on neutral space under the guise of reconstruction. To be sure, the schools, habitats, agri-towers, and orbital infrastructure put up was perfectly valid and healthy, but the Celestials failed to recognize the silent cessation of sovereignty. This resulted in much confusion when the Celestials began learning that they were being forcibly inducted into the Federation as citizenry of some sort or another, but they failed to complain sufficiently in order to stop the situation from worsening.

As a result, the average ‘Vainglory’ only knows life from the inside of an internment camp, racial ghetto, or factory dormitory. Apartheid would not be an overstatement; XenoLaw and XenoMilitary are dead set on killing off the Celestials through over-work, under-feeding, crime, and the occasional outright slaying by law enforcement mercenaries. Because keeping them all on three or four planets is a bit difficult, most Celestials were forcibly extradited throughout the Federation and placed into ‘Habitation Centralizations’, allowing for the construction of bare-bones arcologies and labor tenements specialized not to the world in question, but to the highest bidder who had won mastery of the fates of those within.

The Xeno-Tech Corporation and the Xenohuman Consortium of Independent Business Enterprises both claim several dozen of the approximately 90 Centralizations, each containing approximately 5 million Celestials in overly dense shantytowns and dangerously shabby industrial production plants. Other groups such as XenoArmy, the Xiscapian Triad Consortium, and the Galactic Assembly Committee of Sapient Rights Oversight have also entered the bidding war and come away with one or two Centralizations of their own.

This oppression, of course, does not come without backblast; While the average Celestial lies within the bottom 20% of the Federation’s income-earners, they also rate within the top 10% of the most politically and religiously militant elements of the criminal world. Their affinity with the Force manifests itself in mercenary psionics and their pride in their nation is expressed through militant Reich-Fascist or communist allegiance to street gangs and terrorist organizations. The rampant drug abuse of the average Federal manifests itself in the sale of unlicensed metamorphines, stimulant alkaloids, and other ‘hardcore’ drugs rather than the recreational substances of the middle and upper classes.

by **Xenohumanity** » Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:29 am

HOLDINGS, COLONIES, AND WORLDS

6 O’NEILL CYLINDERS (to be fluffed later)

The Xenohumans reside in the Milky Way Galaxy near their progenitors and former neighbors, the Todularians. They have a firm foothold in several dozen systems, mostly yellow starred systems with a few easily defensible planets. The home system of Tuzus remains the largest colony, is the most heavily defended, and the center of all administration and military action.

Darsun
Population: 2,000,000,000
Inhabitable planets in system: 2
Moons in system: 6
Planets owned: 2
Moons owned: 6
Notable Cities: New Chichitzen, Fort Hampton
Defenses: HDI Draggers, Sentry-Turret Orbiter Grid
System Fleet: 4th Fleet
System governor: Armand Darrir
Exports: Chemicals, Weapon Fuels

Geography of Darsun I: Darsun I is a planet cloaked in an uncomfortably high-density, high-absorption atmosphere that carries latent static electricity from the solar winds. The clouds are a strange color of dark blue rather than grey when ready to precipitate to the sheer density of the clouds that form thanks to strengthened polar bonding. Where and when the clouds part, the light from the binary blue giants of Darsun are blindingly bright and dangerously hot. The combination of hearty rain and powerful light results in massive jungles, dark most times of the day due to the density of the canopies. The wildlife is deadly, the plants are just as dangerous, and the native residents are the worst of all, thanks to a militant lifestyle and an unhealthy reliance on violent hunting methods when hydroponic solutions are present. The remnants of the A’spasn civilization, the first of three major powers destroyed by the Todularian Ecclasiarchy, remain explorable, a hot-spot for xenohistorical students and foreign professors alike.

Geography of Darsun II: Darsun II is a terrible place to do such things as breathing and heavier-than-air flight. Thanks to an atmosphere that is breathable only thanks to intensive ox-pumping at dedicated stations, the air is far too dense to be of much use aside from keeping the planet's water on the surface. Motion through the air is difficult, making surface life a nice simulation on a high-gravity world without the long-term health damages, and the light of the yellow-ish sun is perceived as a dull red that gives only half the hours of sunlight it would on a typical planet. However, it is great for doing 'science' (well-hidden experiments protected by the atmosphere) that other worlds would be too frightened to do, and also serves as the main training station for XenoMil’s ToxMarine, AquaMarine, and other extreme-conditions programs.

Population: 9,500,000 permanent residents, approx. 2 times that number including tourist populations year-round
Inhabitable planets in system: 1
Moons in system: 1
Planets owned: 1
Moons owned: 1
Notable Cities: Ver’tick City, XenoPolis™, Goodcoast
Defenses: HDI Draggers, Sentry-Turret Orbiter Grid, HDI Minefield
System Fleet: 24th Fleet
System Governor: Hu’ni Nekhen
Exports: Cultural Products (visual / audio arts, celebrity), organic farm produce, Gynoid/Android robotics and biomechanical body-sleeves

Geography of Tyloa: A world of broad tropics, gentle axial tilt, and high water levels that managed to be shaped into a ‘paradise planet’ by the Todularians with little effort. The closeness of its moon results in severe tidal activity, but due to wonderful engineering, the cities and coastal affairs of the planet have little to fear. The surfer’s-dream waves and clean, glimmering water frame islands of burgeoning (carefully maintained) flora and fauna, and the world’s peace and prosperity make it a natural choice for tourism, domestic cultural development, and, most obviously, insidious crime operations. The planet serves as the heart of the Consortium’s drug and slaving enterprises (giving new urgency to the term ‘tourist trap’), as well as XenoAdmin’s peddling of hedonist propaganda and Xeno-Tech’s family-unfriendly ‘Red Zone’ affairs. Nevertheless, as long as one does their research and avoids the obvious dangers and bad leads, a vacation on Tyloa is always a lovely prospect.

Geography of Zioncos: The moon of Zioncos is inhabited mostly by the ‘ugly necessities’ of system management. Government compounds, military installations, diplomatic installations, and all the other legalities are accounted for on the little verdant orb that gets a beautiful view of Tyloa above. Warm, sunny, with quick days and even quicker nights, even the Federation’s administrators and bueracrats have a fun time. Some say it’s even ‘funner’ than down on Tyloa due to the Federation’s closed doors and well-known higher-level depravities, but until someone dares to come out and admit to Roman cyber-deviancies made manifest in holodecks and through body-hopping biomorphs, it remains the stuff of jovial conjecture.

by **Xenohumanity** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:17 am

VIP'S OF XENOHUMANITY

Gorren Dukannon, Agent Superior of LethalOps
Current Incarnation’s Age: Unknown, estimated at around 43-46
Height: 7’6”
Gender: Male
Species: Drakon (BlackDrake Clone)

“Sometimes, I feel like I’ve done all of this before… The combat, the training, the living, everything… Like déjà vu runs in my blood 24/7…”

Public History: Born in a down-trodden sector of Xeno City, the orphaned Drakon known as Gorren Dukannon was found by CorpSec mercenaries, taken in, accommodated for, and turned in to an ultra-loyal super-soldier. From years one to nineteen, he was raised with Spartan discipline, chemically doped, and martially trained in many varieties of melee and ranged combat, from bows and arrows to bolt-guns and shoulder-fired focus cannons. Once training was complete, XenoAdmin bought Gorren's service and he was further conditioned for the next five years, trained in the arts of infiltration, assassination, and once his next layer of training was finished, he spent the next decade years serving XenoMil working with XenoArmy and XenoMarine, working as a corporate assassin, front-line riot control enforcer, and occasionally acting as a heavy weapons or distance-work specialist during Genestealer operations.

Appointed as Agent Superior for LethalOps, he now wields as much political influence and military decision-making power as a street-born could ever hope. A decade and a half of intense combat experiences and of getting his way with almost every individual he meets has made Gorren an arrogant, self-serving bully who gets what he wants and wants whatever he thinks he can get. Thinking, no, knowing that he is the best around, he has a habit of proving his points with fists thrust into faces, horrible bouts of profanity, and at the least, sharp retorts and cocky self-confidence.

Actual History: BlackDrake 887-293-Zeitgeist was an experimental project by the Xeno-Tech corporation in enhanced learning and social stabilization in the BlackDrake series. Previous experiments often suffered from severe psychosis, anxiety disorders, self-rationalizing suicidal psychiatric profiles, and other neural maladies. Psychosurgical experimentation, in which a neural landscape was altered through coding and programming in a VR simulspace, led to the creation of the ‘Zeitgeist’ cyber-brain, capable of biological function and sapience sustenance, but without the uncontrolled self-alteration and logical flaws that led to the destruction of countless previous units.

After arrangements with Wyrm Defense were finalized, 'Gorenn Dukannon' was tank-birthed. After the proto-consciousness that would become the man was uploaded into the cyber-brain, the baby’s entire CNS was replaced, effectively killing the old Dukannon and replacing it with a more secure version. From there, the child was planted in the ghettoes and collected. From there, the experiment ran its course and Siars proved to be perform above and beyond all expectations. A little cajoling with XenoIntelligence saw the details of the plan shared, contracts written up, and Siars ensured a place in national command. Now, with Dukannon sitting on the chief-of-staffs board of Superiors, Xeno-Tech waits to see what further developments might warrant additional ‘testing’ and augmentation. Official paperwork refers to him as Gorren Dukannon in order to throw off the tails of those who are attempting to access information that they don't ever need to know. Other 'production models' based on Gorren's archetype are either in monitored real-world development or under tight containment by Xeno-Tech itself.

BlackDrake Experiments
Progenitor’s Age: Died at age of 38
Average Height: 7’9”
Gender: 70% Male, 25% Female, 5% other (hermaphroditic, neuter, budding, etc.)
Species: Drakon

“The body is a machine. The mind is a computer. Life is a grand experiment, and all we can do is ensure there is something to learn from it.”

Progenitor History: Born to death cultists in a down-trodden sector of Tuzus Capitalia (what would become the Industrial Sector of Tuzus II) the mentally unstable bare-handed who called himself Endrok became one of the Todularian Council’s greatest arguments against continuing the Drakonian species. Becoming a drug-addled psychopath raised semi-parentally by gene-hackers and gangers in the ghettos, he wandered the shadows and ruled the streets, killing and eating his victims for month-long stretches of terror. With a kill-count in the low triple digits by the end of his career, he was finally captured and killed by Todularian military personnel shortly before the Xenohuman Civil War began.

During the war, before the Fall of Todular, resistance personnel successfully broke into an Ecclasiarchy gene-lab and stole samples of Endrok’s genome before destroying the lab. Upon analysis, it was found that Endrok was nothing short than a genetic messiah for the Drakon. With genes exhibiting near-sapient self-modification and time-dilated evolutionary improvement, it represented the last best hope for Drakonian self-actualization as a species.

After the course of the war, the Xeno-Tech Corporation obtained exclusive rights to the Endrok Samples and began making the kind of big plans that usually get the Assembly of Worlds investigating. In order to push the boundaries of gene-tech and biotechnology, a series of dangerous experiments began taking place, changing what could be understood as Drakonian and occasionally daring the galaxy to reconsider what could be aesthetically considered sapient life. Codenamed ‘BlackDrake’, the project has received continual funding both from Xeno-Tech itself as well as XenoIntel and XenoSci.

Notable BlackDrakes – Public Launches
BD-799-883-Wallstreet: After a long series of combat-focused experiments, Xeno-Tech decided it was high time to plan for the future and attempt to create a social-focused BlackDrake. No holds were barred: Pheremone emitters, neural booster tech-implants, and aesthetic planning borne of countless hundreds of focus groups were the tip of the iceberg. The birthing was a success, and ‘Orson Nayr’ was ready. After spending several years in stasis having his cyber-brain loaded with skilsofts and more information than could physically be learned otherwise, he was released and given control of Wyrm Defense, Xeno-Tech’s largest private military contracting subsidiary and deemed a tremendous success.
BD-800-293-Zeitgeist: BlackDrake 887-293-Zeitgeist was an experimental project by the Xeno-Tech corporation in enhanced learning and social stabilization in the BlackDrake series. Previous experiments often suffered from severe psychosis, anxiety disorders, self-rationalizing suicidal psychiatric profiles, and other neural maladies. Psychosurgical experimentation, in which a neural landscape was altered through coding and programming in a VR simulspace, led to the creation of the ‘Zeitgeist’ cyber-brain, capable of biological function and sapience sustenance, but without the uncontrolled self-alteration and logical flaws that led to the destruction of countless previous units. As the current Agent Superior of the LethalOps program, 'Gorren Dukannon' is likely the most objectively successful BlackDrake to date.

Xenon, Corporate Executive Officer of the Xeno-Tech Corporation
Age: 623 (including parallel consciousnesses)
Height: N/A when digitized, varies from body to body
Gender: N/A when digitized, varies from body to body
Species: Exosentient (Virtually Suspended Intelligence)

“I sent four Genestealers into Imperial space after hacking into the Jaunt Gate system with nothing more than my own complex-forms. Why? Because I found it very, very funny when they died. The look on the Emperor’s face was good too, and the Syndicate got a good kick out of it, but I did it mostly to send men to their deaths in a novel, painful way. I shouldn’t have to tell you the lesson, but here goes, you poor soul; don’t fuck with me. Don’t you ever try and fuck with me.”

History: Iulius Landen-Ardelan was a patterns-recognition savant from a poor family living on Tuzus at the time of the Xenohuman Civil War. Entering the newly instated Republican Artificial Intelligence program, he proved to be one of its greatest assets, developing Artificial General Intelligence independently and taking on successful genetics and cyberware programs ‘on the side’. Using his vast intelligence and skill, he also founded the Xeno-Tech corporation and used his innovations to quickly become one of the largest megacorporations, buying out competitors and crushing opponents with breakthrough consumer technologies. However, his favorite project was the Exosentient Intelligence program, a way to transfer consciousness and possibly even ‘souls’ from man, machine, and android without data-loss or memory failure. After decades of work, he finally had enough resources and willpower to plug himself in.

Becoming a being of pure energy existing in a datascape of incomprehensible power spanning what eventually became a continent’s-mass of hardare on the North Pole of the homeworld, ‘Xenon’ also created Cyber-Surrogacy, BioSleeves, and the Omni-Specitated Avatar Apparatus in order to continue operating in the material world. With his ‘terrestrial holdings’ well-protected with extraterritorial law, he is constantly conniving, plotting, acting, and occasionally trolling the powers of the galaxy for power and personal pleasure.

Xenon’s standard BodySleeve
Datascape self-construction of Xenon Central Sentience

Darrin Darmouth and Wair Cobali
Ages: 32 and 36
Heights: 5’8” and 7’7”, respectively
Species: Xenohuman and Drakon, respectively
Professions: Former XenoSci Solo Scout and Former XenoMarine DigiMarine, currently Smugglers / Treasure-Hunters

“Hey, wanna go out to Dastor VI, go see if there’s any archeo-tech gizmos we could sell?” “What? That one with the old dig-site the cultists occupied? That the army’s sitting on trying to smoke ‘em out?” “Yeah, that one.” “Yes. Hell yes.”

Bios: Darrin Darmouth was the unremarkable son of two indentured migrant factory workers who were shipped from planet to planet wherever specialized machine-repair skills were required. Seeing the whole of the federation by the time he finished his Extranet-based schooling, Darrin showed a particular aptitude for piloting, and made his parents proud when he was taken by XenoSci into their Scout-Survey program. However, this meant serving alone on a mostly autonomous ship, which led him to his lifestyle of cynicism, Extranet addiction, and moderate drug abuse (leaving him with a low-mole heroin habit he nurses to this day). After assisting a Genomitan surveyor with investigating a space hulk and coming upon ‘nasty things’ that XenoSci saw fit to ‘un-remember’ in him, he was re-assigned to closer patrols aboard the XSSS Chemistral.

Wair Cobali was deposited unceremoniously into a XenoMarine orphanage on Tyloa by a night-lifer mother he has never met. Trained, augmented, modified, and chipped with the hardware of a DigiMarine combat hacker, Specialist Cobali was given the Mark of High Service (1st Class) for exceptional leadership under duress of fire while neutralizing a Consortium slaver stronghold. However, after this battle, he was put onto ship-maintenance duty aboard the XNV Andross, a boring job which dedicated XenoNavy personnel already managed rather well. A short tour of duty later, he was reassigned again aboard the XSSS Chemistral after skill-software training in ship piloting.

Thus the XenoMarine and the XenoScout met for the first time. After some time of standard scouting, the pair came across a wrecked XenoAdmin freighter. Embarking and boarding, the two discovered all manner of high-grade mineral fuel, secret composites, and other valuables. Deciding that a life on the run wasn’t all that bad in exchange for the pay, the two made off like bandits and left the wreck unreported for three weeks until another patrol found the looted vessel. Living on the run and turning mighty profits, the pair take up odd jobs, explore ruins and wrecks, and even help move people and goods for the right price, and the two are never known to turn down a job simply because it’s dangerous or fool-hardy.

by **Xenohumanity** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:24 am

ECONOMICS

Trading Policy

Xenohuman markets are no-tariff, completely open affairs, save the monolithic Xeno-Tech corporation's uncanny ability to beat out the competition on local grounds. However, due to the fact that Xenohumans are sometimes overly fond of incorporating foreign goods in their compulsive need for more, foreign trade is a major part of the Federation's economy. While the upper classes live off of fabricator technology, and the mass industry and hab-agriculture of the middle and lower classes would allow the federation to effectively secede from the galaxy should the need arise, the need for exotic resources, specially trained workers and tradesmen, and the occasional 'liability-debatable asset gives XenoAdmin sufficient reason to engage in open trade.

Freighters

Xenohuman shipping is performed by either XenoTrade, the Federation's national shipping group and merchant marine, or by the Xeno-Tech Corporation, supplying itself and engaging in personal business on a mass scale. During wartime, XenoTrade freighters are often used to transfer weapons and personnel discreetly, with Xeno-Tech vessels exercising extraterritoriality and working with the Federate government to combine business and 'patriotism' to engage in the same tactical operation. Due to the fact that most freighters are somehow customized or at least aesthetically modified, ships can be classified in four main groups based on specialization.

Volume Freighters - Haulers

Carry capacity, low maintenance, and reliable delivery under any and all circumstances separate the Volume Freighters, typically called haulers, from their smaller or foreign cousins. With energy systems devoted to high-speed Phase Drives rather than maneuverability or notable speed in real-space, and with a vastly automated crew, the haulers make up the majority of Xeno-Tech and government shipping vessels. When designed, the haulers were built to handle any threat short of a dedicated military assault. With this in mind, the haulers almost universally are heavily armored, mounted with almost military-grade weaponry, and under orders to tolerate absolutely no interference with their work. However, this policy is susceptible to bribery, corruption, and treasonous activity, and these three often explain any inefficiencies in Xenohuman shipping. In emergencies, haulers can be further armored and deployed by XenoNavy as mine-layers, Q-ships, and other low-speed high-armor positions.

Lodsemone-class Shipping Hauler
Crew: 15
Length: 3,250 meters
Capacity: 4 million tons

Marco-class Commodity Hauler
Crew: 35
Length: 6,675 meters
Capacity: 10 million tons

Liquidity-class Route Establishment Hauler
Crew: 70
Length: 9,205 meters
Capacity: 15 million tons

Velocity Freighters - Runners

Unlike the Haulers, the Velocity Freighters are designed for transporting individuals and small shipments within a system, usually operating through a larger ship’s hangar resources or making system-to-system transit using Waystations exclusively, as the available generators would be strained by the use of a SlipSpace drive. Due to the square-cube law, their acceleration and highest practical speed is greater than the volume freighters, allowing for more inconspicuous and secure transport of undesirables, high-value goods, and persons operating beyond strictly legal limits of Federal trade law.

Sanick-class Route Runner
Crew: 1, with room for up to 5 passengers/crewmen and baggage
Length: 40 meters
Capacity: 100 tons

Enterprising-class Civilian Logistics Vessel
Crew: 6
Length: 120 meters
Capacity: 400 tons

Hermitage-class Civilian Away-Shuttle
Crew: 4 operating, capacity for 100 passengers with baggage
Length: 60 meters
Capacity: 100 passengers OR 220 tons of cargo

Utility Freighters – Scrappers and Scanners

To call the utility freighters ‘freighters’ is misleading, as they rarely carry actual cargo. Instead, these specialized vessels are deployed whenever and wherever ‘objects of interest’ come up on XenoAdmin and Xeno-Tech’s collective radar. Deconstructors move in when ships are beyond repair, repurposing scrap metal and space hulks into usable materials, as well as being sturdily equipped to handle dangerous fuel leaks and radiation venting that often results when military vessels are destroyed. Scanning ships analyze anomalies, carry small scientific labs, and are fast enough to enter areas of contention to drop off and pick up research teams when other shuttles would be stopped and investigated. Scout-Survey vessels, a mainstay of Federal astrocartology and frontier-pushing, serve as the plentiful scouts and scanners of XenoSci and Xeno-Tech, often making First Contact with other races and making first headway into dangerous and uncharted areas of space.

Extorsic-class Heavy Deconstructor
Crew: 25
Length: 140 meters
Capacity: 7,500 tons, 15,000 if the ship is equipped with compressor chambers and grav-assist modules

Analyth-class Variable-Energy Scanning Ship
Crew: 1-4
Length: 50 meters
Capacity: 50 metric tons and/or 20 passengers

XSSS-class Scout-Survey Vessel
Crew: 2-10, depending on configuration
Length: 45 meters
Capacity: 75 metric tons and/or 30 passengers

Trading Partners

Note: This list only represents states which conduct contracted trade with XenoTrade itself. The Xeno-Tech Corporation is willing to trade with over 90% of established galactic nations for the right price, meaning that such a list would be difficult to keep complete.

Setulan Republic
People’s Republic of Alversia
Extrasolar Empire of Karaig
Kitsune Empire of Xiscapia (Mekajiki Shipyards are a joint-held subsidiary)
Terran Federal Union (Connected to the Terran Gate System)
Huerdaen Empire
United Dinosaur States of Saurisia
Solarian Empire of Cilistia Novaren (Vivisen-Class Trading Hub in orbit over Tuzus II)
Transhuman Community of Genomita

Imports: Element Zero, foodstock, agricultural supplies and machinery, cultural goods and services, pharmaceutical drugs, military equipment.

Exports: Computer systems, weaponry, robotic and biological labor, recreational and pharmaceutical drugs, pre-fab starcraft and repair components, consumer goods, scientific apparatus and experimental systems.

by **Xenohumanity** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:25 am

TODULARIANS
Cults of Xenohumanity

Overview:

The Todularians are classified as an extinct culture by the Assembly of Worlds and the Armed Federation, but in reality, the holistic religious tradition and simple lifestyle of the forerunners of the Drakon continues to exist. While it is not by any means a pervasive philosophy, there are still some minor influences in modern Federal living, and those who quietly adhere to the Todularian way of life continue carrying on the old ways. Scientists and merchants, soldiers and gangers, corporate officers and even government officials have been known to ‘fall prey’ to Todularianism, but the reality of worship is much more complicated, as explained below.

The remaining seven gods survive only in cult worship, and the only surviving remnants of this proud and ancient culture are passed down from priest to acolyte and by those scientists and looters brave enough or foolish enough to venture to ‘the old worlds’ and recover artifacts, records, and Relic-Technology.

by **Xenohumanity** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:29 am

EXTRACORPORATE FACTIONS OF NOTE

BioFaction
Also Known As: Cultists, The Wrong-Faithful, Fleshies

"Praise be to the Somati, the joiners of flesh and the casters off of wretched slave-sentience!"

If the government ever says a group that can afford to get a space-ship doesn't exist, don't believe them.

Officially, BioFaction does not exist as a unified terrorist cult, per se, but the fact that several tens of thousands of local-space and foreign-space Xenohumans have banded together to spread the faiths of Todularianism and Ultranietzschism states otherwise. A loose-knit coalition of pirates, scientists, priests, and body-hopping AIs that formed before the Xenohuman Civil War petered to a halt after the Glassing of Todular, they occasionally serve as the first faces foreigners meet of Xenohumanity, much to XenoAdmin's chagrin. Todularianism, the ancient faith of pagan near-pantheism, oppressively large text-volumes, and a deep tradition of varied psionics and ultrahuman genetics, survived the death of Todular in the form of refugees and codices. Continuing to attempt to resettle the radioactive planet occasionally, they primarily busy themselves with attempts to steal Xeno-Tech and foreign-corp genetics research, suborn and indoctrinate foreign civilian vessels and their crews, and serve as a philosophical thorn in the side of XenoAdmin's anti-religious policy due to the genuinely progressive and beneficial 'basic gods' and ethical guidelines that the core texts lay out for the average galaxy-citizen.

Ultranietzchism, however, is a newer construct that various independent intelligence agencies have stumbled upon. A 'theophilosophy' built on transcending chemical nervous systems ('thinking flesh') and using a combination of AI/AGI-assisted body-hopper tech and various forms of flesh-zombification ('living flesh'), the radicals are known for a brutal and gothic aesthetic in their stolen vessels and corrupted bodies. Regarding Necromorph Markers and the various CNS-degrading pathogens of the galaxy as holy, most of them are content to try to take over the universe one body at a time. However, the more extreme members who actually have entered the 'living flesh' and take on the title of 'Somati' quickly become the 'Ultranietzchaeans' that named the sect. As their powers of data-comprehension exceeded their life-experience and scale-of-comprehension, they quickly become violent, paranoid recluses eager to kill and dominate others to validate their existence and assert their dominion over their own realities. They are as dangerous and unstable as they sound.

by **Xenohumanity** » Wed Jan 12, 2011 5:34 am

THE XENO-TECH CORPORATION

Also Known As: Corporate, X-Tech
Subsidiaries: AuRa Energy Solutions, Wyrm Defense Services, Skywarden Naval Industries, Resonance Incorporated, Mekajiki Orbital Foundries
Notable Transplanetary Gang-Vassals: The Lonestars, the Red Giants, Cypner

“We offer more than goods and services. We offer safety, security, normalcy, and fiscal solvency. Xeno-Tech. The greatest way of life.”

Overview:
The first major business enterprise to cross-planetary boundaries in the early days of the Xenohuman Republic, the Xeno-Tech Corporation was, at the time, notable only for quickly gaining popularity for its wide variety of high-tech consumer goods and its inception of Xeno- as a now pervasive prefix. However, despite its stature, the enterprise still has its worries, requiring dutiful day-to-day management in order to assure equal parts profitability and political influence.

While technically a private organization, the Xeno-Tech Corporation is undoubtedly a federal institution. Its size, power, terrestrial-holdings extraterritoriality and enforcement of local law, and absolute omnipresence in the lives of the Xenohuman populace puts it into a place of power equal to XenoAdmin in some ways. While the Federal government conducts the military actions and enforces laws, Xeno-Tech is mainly responsible for using undiluted capitalism to ensure the prosperity of the nation, as well as play a major role in foreign relations and trade.

Xeno-Tech is a syndicate-style hyper-corporation, being a flagship with majority share in several smaller mega-corporations. Headed by Xenon, an exosentient intelligence utilizing a continent’s-worth of computer systems to give himself multiple parallel consciounesses and memory space to run his business enterprises, he often uses BodySleeves to conduct business in the material world, coming in every imaginable (and sometimes unimaginable) shape and species. As an integral part of Xenohuman culture, finance, domestic law enforcement, and the majority of foreign-interactive trade agreements, Xeno-Tech sometimes claims it is a part of the Federal government, which most foreign analysts and political science researchers wouldn't entirely disagree with.

by **Xenohumanity** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:57 pm

THE XENOHUMAN CONSORTIUM OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
Also Known As: The Consortium, The Indepp Group, X-CIBE
Notable Member Corporations: Indepp Financial, TWB Armaments, Citadel Security Services, Solaris & Company Stellar Transport Solutions, Allister Unified General Mechanical Enhancements and Natural Technologies (A.U.G.M.E.N.T.)
Notable Transplanetary Gang-Vassals: The Nuturks, The Horde, The Wyvern Kings, AhMeCron Unity

"Competition is the lifeblood of evolution, and any businessman knows that applies to economics as well. Xeno-Tech should thank us for every bit of trouble we give them."

Overview:
With the rise of the Xeno-Tech Corporation, many other businesses felt reasonably threatened that they would be pushed off the cliff, so to speak. As the syndicate grew, gathered vassal corporations, and began leveraging its extraterritoriality more and more martially, other groups banded together in order to hold their own against the tide of the invisible hand. With the XenoCide and the final nail in the coffin for domestic competition in the Federation, the self-christened Consortium of Independent Business Enterprises found itself in an impossible situation. Torn between their personal business ethics and their own survival in an increasingly animal market, the Consortium decided to do what had to be done and enter the criminal realm. On the streets of Xeno City, the dunes of Lattrobee City, and the tropical paradise resorts of Tyloa and Phillos, the ‘new mafia’ waged corporate, economic, and literal war against Xeno-Tech and its associates in the XenoMarine Military Police. Quickly buying out and propping up street gangs and branching out into every sort of organized crime, as well as continuing surface operations of a completely legitimate nature, the Consortium quickly became associated with a desperate, often futile struggle for a semblance of ‘the old morality’ and order in Xenohuman space.

The leadership of the Consortium, unlike the public personas put out by the Xeno-Tech group, is a shadowy group of men, women, and likely foreigners who maintain total anonymity and function through proxies, disposable and skilled alike. Accounting for about 75% of organized crime and with a hand in at least 40% of all street crime in the Federation, X-CIBE has tendrils, contacts, bases, fronts, legitimate factories and financial buildings, and other sorts of influence in every Federation world, with attempts to branch out abroad currently underway.

Battling the ‘post-ethical’ market approach of Xeno-Tech has brought elements of the Consortium into such enterprises as weapons smuggling, illicit drug manufacture and shipping, unlicensed gambling operations, untaxed gynoid and AGI production, speak-easies for particularly criminal chemicals, information warfare, indenture-contract forgery, kidnapping, various pseudo-slavery operations (such as ‘avatar-napping’ and ‘trode-napping’ ), blackmail, extortion and protection rackets, and the corruption and influence of government officials of all walks and ranks.

With the high levels of monitoring and particular brutality of law enforcement in Federal space, the Consortium typically functions as a low-key, underground organization. However, in the lower-class areas of large urban areas, open street gangs can easily be granted forged open-carry rights to enforce holdings at gunpoint. If a gang or small business cannot be coerced into the fold, it is typically destroyed with particular brutality; bombings, firing lines, and roof-top executions come to mind when the average Xenohuman is asked how the Consortium deals with opposition. While it is willing to do anything possible to fight the Xeno-Tech Corporation and its interests (often including the public good and wellbeing), it has cooperated with law enforcement, military personnel, and foreign powers to ‘do the right thing’ on a few occasions.

by **Xenohumanity** » Thu Mar 22, 2012 11:27 am

XenoMilitary: GENERAL INFORMATION

FORCE ORGANIZATION

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:41 pm

XenoNavy
Motto: The Fleet, The Fit, The Finest

If a nation is to consider itself 'faster than light', it requires some sort of deep-space naval capability to guard its FTL routes and ensure its planets remain in control. The Todularians, being by and large surrounded by planetary states and nations willingly neglecting space travel, built ships out of religious devotion and in order to facilitate large platforms for psionic and experimental technology. However, with the fall of the Ecclasiarchy, the Xenohuman Republic, and later, the Armed Federation of Xenohumanity saw that it had to quickly step up its game in order to maintain national security in a universe of callous empires and macroviral super-species.

XenoNavy’s duty is, to quote standard training materials, ‘defend national and international access points and assets, enforce national sovereignty, ensure optimal utilization of Federal resources, and expand the resource-base of the Armed Federation of Xenohumanity through military intervention and annexation’. Cutting through the double-talk, this means that XenoNavy and its ships exist to protect trade routes, WayStation points, national borders and frontier colonies, maintain orbital and extrasolar installations, ensure orbit-defense assets such as turret grids and anti-orbital guns are maintained, conduct survey and mapping missions in foreign and neutral territory, and orchestrate the extra-planetary theater of combat against planetary states and multi-system nations.

Standard tactics in ship-to-ship combat are focused on using the durability and fire-volume of capital ships to their fullest while protecting support vessels in order for them to provide sufficient ‘edge’ and ship-by-ship advantage for the slow, gradual advance of the fleet-formation to break the enemy’s spirits and force a surrender. Stellar Swine-Formation (a pyramid or octahedron of Capital and Mainline ships containing Support Vessels), NeoBroadsides (a ‘conga line’ of ships, typically ordered Capital-Support-Mainline-Support-Capital, capable of engaging foes in all directions), and other three-dimensional shapes and strategies are standard fare, for solid fundamentals and sheer force of will are policies that have proven effective against even the most hyper-reflexive and adaptive opponents. XenoNavy prefers to engage foes at ranges shorter than one light-second, allowing for effective ramming and more powerful energy-based attacks, as well as keeping combat manageable in the event that PHLUMOCS are knocked offline and automated fire-management or weapons-tracking systems fail to operate beyond close-range in case enemy jammers or hostile PhaseSpaced vessels are present.

Against planets, installations, habitats, and other large-scale entities, XenoNavy is noted for its apathy for the well-being of ‘groundsiders’, preferring to delegate precision operation to the XenoMarines or the occasional XenoArmy invasion force. Typically meant to ensure orbital and air dominance, ships engaging a planet or habitat are directed to destroy pockets of urban resistance and remove potential weapon-threats without mercy, using both precision and broad-spectrum weaponry with little regard for collateral damage. XenoNavy also takes command of all atmospheric craft, deploying large numbers of remote-operated fighters and bombers to continue projecting force with speed over a wide area as well as monitoring shuttles, supply craft, dropships, and FireBase landers as they make their approach and perform operations on the ground.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:42 pm

Room for Expansion

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:43 pm

XENONAVAL MACROCAPITAL SHIPS

The largest and most experimental vessels ever fielded by Xenohumanity in deep space, the MacroCapital ships far and away dwarf the Capital ships by an order of magnitude. First created as a ship-class in 49 AXC with the production of the first Nirvana-Class warship, the MacroCapitals range from mere rumors in other nations of star-shattering super-vessels to legitimate, power chips in the world of military statecraft. They are, as a whole, exceptionally massive due to heavily redundant systems, armor overlays, shield and power generators, super-weapons, and extensive armament batteries, and their presence in a battle typically ushers in its prompt resolution by virtue of the mere threat of overwhelming firepower. Capable of engaging the heaviest orbital installations, largest macroviral entities, and entire enemy fleets single-handedly, the logistics and bookkeeping behind them is overwhelming, and they are relegated to weapons of last resort when other means simply will not suffice. MacroCapital vessels are commanded by nothing short of an Admiral with the most experienced and efficient PHLUMOCS systems at his side, with a half-dozen subordinate Captains to manage logistics, maintenance, crew life, and patrol and fleet-action movement.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:52 pm

XENONAVY CAPITAL SHIPS

Capital Ships are deployed as the routine flagships, anti-capital vessels, and reliable shock-and-awe units in XenoNavy Field Groups and Fleets. These ships are held as the ‘golden standard’ of XenoNavy vessels, and are produced in numbers often matching their specialized escorts, as these ships are the mainstay of most tactics and strategem used both for anti-fleet and anti-planetary action. All of these ships are equipped with notable fighter-carry hangers and Procul decks, as fighter ‘swarms’ are used to further expand the fearsome area-of-influence of these craft. Due to their size, their high-ranking commanding officers, their extensive weapons batteries, and their reputations as durable, vengeful vessels, the Capital Ships are what most galactic citizens imagine when they picture XenoNavy vessels.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:55 pm

Room for Expansion

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:56 pm

Room for Expansion

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:57 pm

Room for Expansion

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:59 pm

XENONAVAL TECHNOLOGIES AND WEAPONS

Positronic-Heuristic, Lightly Unified, Multiple-Operation Control System – PHLUMOCS / ‘Flummox AI’

Computer systems are often the most valuable sub-system onboard a vessel, and as Xenohumanity prides itself on its advancements in the fields of artificial and digitized intelligence, it was natural that it created a series of Artificial General Intelligences to play a defensive role. AGI’s known as PHLUMOCS, or ‘Flummoxes’ are a standard part of every Xenohuman vessel, civilian or military. Civilian ships use them primarily as drivers, assistants, and sometimes friends on long and lonely freighter trips.

However, military applications are much more intensive. Everything from drone piloting to factory-management, from gun operation to evasive maneuvers management, and even substituting for the Captain if he is incapacitated are expected from the ship’s Flummox. Each Procul Pilot Pod uses two in conjunction, main-line battle ships have one for tactical command, and all ships have one for pilot assistance and general operations. Instances of ‘rebellion’ are rare due to the careful and personal nurturing of each AGI as an individual (often by specially trained Xeno-Tech parents or by other AGIs), but they are known to occur when the systems are abused or grossly neglected.

Within the virtual realm, Flumoxxes self-elect their avatars and often name themselves and their ships, caring little for formality and often wholesaling jovial nomenclature from the Mind AGI’s of the Culture. Often appearing as mighty warriors or helpful cyborgs, they are often more diverse than others, due to the wide range of Extranet information they soak in. However, their handlers do well to keep them in check, moderating them like proper authority figures and ensuring they are properly indoctrinated in Xenohuman policy and ideals. While some might see this as intellectual slavery, but as the topic of artificial sapient rights is still a fervent one in some areas of the galaxy, Xenohumanity simply moves the goalposts and continues their actions while fighting for other nations to create their own AGIs in the first place.

Dislocative Awareness Redirection Turret – ‘D.A.R.T. Systems’

=A hyper-specialized T.E.S.T. combined with specially programmed and anti-biological SmartDust is the mechanical heart of the D.A.R.T. System. Taking the form of either a wall-hidden turret or a sliding-panel dispersal mini-mortar, the Dislocative Awareness Redirection Turret is simply scientific double-talk hiding the fact that the D.A.R.T. System was designed to hijack the brains of boarding enemies and force them into combat with their allies before disposing of themselves in a practical manner. When triggered, either by remote security or local trip-wires, the D.A.R.T. system releases a cloud of dart-like SmartDust into the chamber. Seeking unauthorized personnel out and targeting paths of least resistance, the dust attempts to penetrate a target’s armor and skin and enter the bloodstream in order to enter the victim’s central nervous system. Once inside, the SmartDust runs T.E.S.T. programming and forcibly assimilates higher brain function to that of the D.A.R.T. system, effectively slaving the victim’s mind to a small network. Once slaved, the D.A.R.T. system then attempts to use the victim’s body to do the most damage to the invaders possible, usually forcing a hapless intruder to attack his own compatriots before killing himself for lack of additional foes to repulse. If the victim’s body cannot be breached, usually due to heavy armor, the SmartDust will then attempt to simply manipulate the armor, either hijacking power armor and performing the same roll or simply flooding unpowered armor with sufficient electrical charge to render the attacker useless.

AGI-controlled Androids – ‘The Tron Squad’

=While Xenohumanity is proud to call itself a ‘disautomated society’, preserving jobs for its populace and only using robots and androids where truly necessary, the Federal AGI population is not averse to the use of automatons and mechanical artificial bodies. Aboard most XenoNavy vessels and spatial installations, the ship’s dedicated PHLUMOCS AGI often utilizes such a body in order to interact with the crew and assist in mechanical self-maintenance. Typically flesh-wrapped androids with modified dermal metabolisms to minimize nutrient demand, these bodies are easily produced and far sturdier than their natural counterparts. A minimum of 5 spares are stocked for safety purposes as well as for the novelty of the AGI, but in the event of hostile attack, the AGI is fully capable of commandeering multiple bodies, taking up arms, and assisting in defense. Thanks to the AGI’s link with the ship’s internal and external security suites, this crack squad of lethal operatives is capable of lightning fast movement, devastating hit-and-run attacks, and generally ruining the tactics of invaders through superior intellect and situational awareness.

Disassembly Nanosludge – ‘Boarding Smooze’

=Orders to ‘dump the bucket’ or ‘flood the sluice’ aboard a XenoNavy vessel are signs that something has clearly gone wrong, for these are slang terms for venting disassembly nanosludge into various compartments in an attempt to kill intruders at all costs. Contained in decently large canisters typically stored in the security office, ‘Boarding Smooze’ is a stew of SmartDust and nanite minifabricators programmed to seek out any living thing failing to bear friendly Xenohuman IFF chip-tagging and break it down into its constituent molecules and atoms in a timely manner. As it is fairly indiscriminate and difficult to put back into storage safety, it is rarely used unless valuable cargo or personnel are at risk of capture or termination.

Phase-Modulated Hypervelocity-inducing Particle Fields – ‘The Invisible Fist’ / ‘Phase Darts’

=While monomolecular wire systems can pose a danger to friendly troops left out of the loop, the ‘Invisible Fist’ system proves a reliably safe way to kill intruding personnel in such a manner to leave the surviving witness psychologically unsuitable for combat. The system consists of ship-integrated repulsor/receiver pads built into the corridors and bullkheads of a vessel, recursive-circuit Phase-Field generators and quantum-tunnel energy transmitters, and an IFF system to prevent friendly fire. Using IFF tags that are easily associated with standard Xenohuman implant technologies such as the binary-cognition computer or integrated I.D. chipping is easily done, and can be applied to friendly boarders and other non-standards on a case by case basis easily from the ship’s main security center or by the PHLUMOCS AGI. The Phase-Field generators within a vessel, typically dedicated to certain specific shields, have recently begun seeing wider installation as the PmHiPF system has become standard in larger military vessels. Using quantum-tunneling to transmit the vibration-phased energy created by the generators, the resulting ‘phase charge’ can be stored in repulsor/receiver pads. When an enemy intrudes in an area with the Invisible Fist, the pads automatically detect them and prime a small 5-microgram slug for firing. When the enemy crosses the path of two pads, the repulsor-pad launches a slug at c-frac speeds with a pulse of high-phased electromagnetic energy (through the target, with lethal effects), with the receiver-pad quickly phasing the slug out into Phase-Space for safety and gathering energy from the slug to prime for another shot if necessary. Attempts to flee the pads often activate more pads, resulting in a ‘dart trap’ effect sufficient to keep intruders in place until security details can react to a threat.

Combat Servitors – ‘Rectifiers’

=One of the more grisly fates that can await those convicted in Federal space is to be inducted into the Servitor program, usually through XenoSci. After a short mechanical lobotomy, the convicted is placed into a medical coma and psychosurgically reprogrammed in such a way that borders on the animal; fixations on violence, obedience, efficiency, and senses of satisfaction and physical pleasure only coming from a job well done replace any semblance of sentience. After this programming, the subject is given an extremely invasive series of surgeries and cybernetic replacements in order to make them more machine than mortal. Cyberbrains, artificial skeletons and cardiopulmonary systems, minimized digestive and immune functions, and the replacement of limbs with variable-weapon socketed appendages and hyper-flexible joints are normal, but case-by-case additions are almost impossible to track thanks to the input of XenoNavy officers. This input is so powerful because the finished ‘Rectifier’ is then almost certainly put back into chemical coma and put aboard a XenoNavy vessel as a defensive installation. Awoken at the first sign of trouble, either from enemy boarding or simply if men need pulling apart and beating over the head, a Rectifier is a Commissar’s closest friend and a XenoMarine Naval Commander’s greatest weapon.

By using advanced quantum calculations and entropy-heavy strong-force reactions in semi-SlipSpace, Planck’s Constant can be changed. By utilizing the latest in Entropic Containment/Focusing technology, the resulting change in Planck’s constant in the area can be magnified and weaponized. Using it alone creates an explosion that can either increase or decrease the ‘graininess’ of the universe in the affected area for a few milliseconds, with the results being the violent shrinking and re-expansion (resulting in chaotic implosion) or violently expansion and shrinking (tearing apart the affected area with a violent explosion) of the target.

Using Entropic Containment Field (ECF) technology, this effect can also be actualized into a beam. By aiming the beam and releasing the contained entropic burst through the beam, an enemy ship, vehicle, or crewman hit by the beam will experience the effects of the atomic disruption in a localized area, with fine-tune adjustments to the increase/decrease of Planck’s constant conducted at the firing station. Use in atmosphere results in a horrid, storm-like roaring and boils the air around the beam into a toxic oxide that can instantly rust exposed metals and cause prompt oncogenetic mutation in those who breathe the free radicals. The target itself is reduced into ‘quantum dust’, a grainy fallout that is treated as a high-grade radiation hazard due to its biocidal properties.

While most famously seen as the ‘great pink beam’ used to slice enemy dreadnoughts in twain, the system is also utilized in the Planck Adjustment Bomb. A warhead containing a large sample of the contained entropy is guided to the target, typically using smart-linked, target-designated guiding fins. Upon impact, the bomb embeds itself in the ground, promptly deploying 8 above-ground and 8 below-ground director vents for the Planck Adjustment sub-beams. This explosion is known to knock out heavy fortifications with single blasts, reducing the structure and the ground beneath it to quantum dust.

Comparative analysis and reverse-engineering of Xiscapian Randomized Efficient Amplified Particle Entropy Rays (R.E.A.P.E.R. Systems) allowed for bleeding-edge variability in the use of altered Planck Constants on a weapon-scale level. Skilled technicians and properly trained XenoMarine engineers are now able to coerce the entropy to enter ‘binary state’ through deft application of electromagnetics and ECF ‘nudges’. Once this is entered, the beams seem to form a swirling helix of orange and green beams in conjunction. However, entering binary state simply to merge the beams is pointless, for the purpose of this state is to allow only one of the beams to pass, dramatically altering the effect of the weapon.

Using the green beam alone derives the ‘Planck Crush’ effect, emphasizing the dramatic reduction and normalization of Planck’s Constant. This reduces the target into a grey slurry of free quarks and gluons more rapidly than with dual beams, making it a far better hull-breaching tool against unshielded targets such as disabled ships or pesky blast doors. Using the orange beam, conversely, amplifies the ‘Planck Amp’ effect, with the violent magnification and natural reduction serving as an ultra-efficient, high-energy version of the standard beam. While less effective against matter due to the reduced vibration of the impact site, it is rapacious when turned on energy shields and other barriers, overloading systems and shorting out generators such that re-raising shields and ablatives will be impossible without changing out the system.

Tactical Electronic Systems Tampering (T.E.S.T.) Agent-Programs

Information warfare is a standard aspect of the faster-than-lightspeed battlefield, and with combat hackers, DNI attacks, and dedicated AIs and AGIs set on using VR/AR technology and hypercomputing to do in their foes, XenoSci set about creating a catch-all countermeasure to all forms of electronic and fiber-optical warfare. After intense study with conjunction with Xeno-Tech’s Exo-Sentient Intelligence program, Xenohumanity finally had a leg-up in the virtual arms race.

Stored in computer memory aboard power-armor systems, ship servers, or within the neural chips of combat hackers, the Tactical Electronic Systems Tampering Agent-Program is a self-directing artificial intelligence. Specialized in the art of system infiltration, data modification, and the planting of quick-burn viruses and worms, they are used against any sort of electronic system, wired or wireless. Whether they are hand-planted by infiltrators into secure databases or thrown at the enemy in large numbers during a space combat, the T.E.S.T.s will quickly map out the system, learn of or create backdoors, bot-slave any available systems, rootkit continued access in light of enemy I.C. programming, and perform other mundane hacking tricks.

Once it is ready, the system is given free rein to do whatever it wants or has to in order to achieve its objective. For example, a T.E.S.T. thrown out by a combat hacker into an enemy weapon can over-load a battery, dump a cartridge, jam the weapon, retract the trigger, or automatically fire when the weapon is oriented towards other hostile targets. While not capable of self-education like the PHLUMOCS, they are more than capable of using fuzzy-logic programming to act uncannily like the smart-aleck coders behind them, leading to certain T.E.S.T. specializations gaining infamy, such as the ‘Encryption Conniption’ Security Inverter, the ‘RAMIREZ’ TacComm Line Tap, and the ‘Ambrosia’ Augment Disability Worm.

‘Koch’s Contagion’: KC-XV Techno-Evolutionary Diversion Antigen

Koch’s Contagion was born of a misguided effort to attempt to combat a short-lived outbreak of a highly infectious nanoviral bioweapon on the now-dead world of Olangmar by gene-fixing the populace and providing nanite innoculations. While a larger portion of the local population was killed by the cure than by the disease before the nanovirus was eradicated, the knowledge gained was more than worth it to the more conspiratorial elements of XenoIntel.

Developed by Professor Koch by Xeno-Tech Industries (and earning him the position of Genemaster and chief of biomedical R&D), the blight in question is a complicated, programmable mutagen. Comprised of sanguine nano-bots, micro-replicator units, and using the latest in guided evolutionary refinement, KC-XV stands head and shoulders above the majority of artificial diseases. Cost-effective to the extreme, the plague forgoes feralization or subject termination in favor of relatively stable, survivable respeciation.

An individual can be infected by KC-XV either from injection, sexual transmission, ingesting contaminated food or water, or through inhalation, depending on the particular strain. Incubation ranges from a mere 6 hours to indefinite lengths of time, again depending on the strain. Regardless, the Contagion makes its home in approximately 90% of the body’s cells, harboring nanobots, chemical catalysts, nano-computer nodes, and biological and nanomechanical fabricators. If the infection is detected at this point, and if state-of-the-art medical facilities are on hand, the systems can be neutralized using pin-pointed, high-dose electromagnetic surges, but purging the dead machinery from the body would require expensive counter-nanites that currently only Xeno-Tech holds production rights on. The remnants of the disease once treated often manifest as lethargy, However, if left untreated, the machinery can be activated remotely through phase-encrypted channels, inducing the full range of symptoms.

The nanocomputers begin to server-synchronize, gathering enough collective computing power to give the nanofabricators and catalysts their instructions. Each strain of the virus carries different orders and physiological, chemical, and neurological modifications. The nanomachinery begins re-writing genetic material on a cell-by-cell level, selectively activating and deactivating strains in order to begin prompt mutation. The process, which takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours depending on the strain, completely changes the subject’s species. Further alterations such as gender, certain psychological aspects, and remote-controlled congenital defects are also possible, but require a longer incubation time.

Defenders of the use of KC-XV point to the variable alteration capability, use for treating genetic and nanomechanical disease, and entertainment applications, but critics still see the use of KC-XV as the illegal legitimization of nanoviral warfare. Microbiologists and nanotechnologists draw disturbing parallels between the KC-XV varieties and the ‘Blacklight Contagion’, responsible for the Vulpes Vulpes population in the Sen Systems Alliance. While careful analysis of the two does show remarkable similarity, XenoSci vehemently denies accusations of involvement with the production of Blacklight.

Type XXC-III Dimensional Coordinate Designator/Annulator

Description: The Calabi-Yau Multiverse structure is the now-commonly-known shape of the multi-verse in all 11 dimensions according to Unified M-Space Theory. Using an objectively dangerous combination of massive particle accelerators, entropy containment, anti-matter multi-charges, X-ray-reflective fission detonators, this dimensional adjacency and the zero-point energy found in dimensional strings can be used against foes in a horribly effective manner by taking advantage of a theoretical phenomenon known as ‘vacuum metastability’.

By loading the aforementioned components into a 300-foot-long missile (held inside a ship’s hangar bay), equipping the rocket with a Q-Entanglement phase field to guard against enemy counter-projectiles and using Slip-Space drives to quickly arrive at its destination, quickly scans its objective location in the time-space continuum, trying to find the point where dark matter is low and dark energy is high for maximum effect. Once the ‘weak spot’ is found, the payload is detonated. What unfolds can only be described as mind-warping.

The very location of space-time designated is snapped like a rubber band by both 7D and 11D Ultraspace and removed from reality, gone from our world, sent spiraling into the multiversal void as a lone snapped sinew of reality. That one point ceases to be until the void is filled by the surrounding space-time strings. This sonic-boom-like void-filling is where the weapon causes damage. Snapping M-Strings in the surrounding cubic kilometers, sending a massive wave-motion gravity ripple out, and ending it with a micro-cosmic singularity burster, a planet hit by the Calabi-Yau can count on being rocked with asteroid-like force, hit with a massive EMP, torn open violently (often exposing mantle and outer core layers), and being partially (if not completely) pulled into the quick-filling black hole. Used against stars, it typically induces supernova, regardless of stellar mass.

The weapon has only been used twice during testing flights of the Yahweh-class MacroCapital ship, and only against nuclear wastelands formerly belonging to the Todularian Ecclasiarchy.

“Where there is no necessity, desire will do in sufficient measure.” These words from Xenon himself sparked the race to create a weapon capable of firing through SlipSpace without losing appreciable mass-energy power from tradition FTLi systems. While most militaries accept FTLi and work around it, Xenon in typical form sought to simply work through it like any other problem. Startlingly, he did.

Xeno-Tech began by becoming fully aware that FTLi is like any other field or gravitational well: it is a discrete matter with barriers and gradients which effect the offending projectile. “So, why don’t we just go onto a dimensional perpendicular and strike fromCalabi-Yau,” they asked. “Because the process will cause the projectile to lose so much energy and velocity that it will get intercepted anyway,” replied the rationalists. To this, the progressives returned “To hell with the projectile. Just put the energy there and let it melt the damn ship down by virtue of over-Kelvin.”

This is far easier said than done, as it had never been done before, and for good reason. Taking energy and simply hauling it in a cohesive package without using mass or gravity-wells anyhow is a daunting feat even for advanced civilizations. Still, Xenon and his organization were never ones for common logic, and so they started turning the problem in on itself until it cried ‘uncle’.

Kugelblitzes were once hypothetical entities according to general relativity. If the numbers work, sufficient radiation poured into a limited space will bend space-time enough to create a self-gravitating body, namely, a singularity with an event horizon wider than its physical radius, also known as black hole. However, this black hole would be formed from high-density energy rather than mass, making it strange and delightfully useful for the problem presented. Here, as it is apt to do nowadays, general relativity found itself in a pickle, for experimental data showed that despite its event horizon, the type of matter-energy that created it did matter, as the bending and temporary shrinking of the event horizon allowed for energy to be retrieved in a (somewhat) safe manner.

Thanks to the clever application of gravitational mini-lenses, solid-state entropy, and old-fashioned dumb luck, Xeno-Tech’s Experimentals Division was capable of creating a .00003-meter-wide Kugelblitz in laboratory, keeping it from evaporating or breaking apart, and adjusting local gravity constants and the Immirzi Coeficcient to ‘shave’ portions of the energy-ball off. This ultra-high-voltage, high-temperature ‘KC Light’ or ‘Hellfire’ was also found to be remarkably ‘dense’, seemingly expanding when physical constants returned to normal and releasing exponentially greater amounts of energy than had been gathered. The violation of mass-energy conservation can be explained by the suction of energy from SlipSpace and the Calabi-Yau manifold, which makes the actual release of this energy much more terrifying.

The first part of the problem solved, Xeno-Tech set about figuring out how to fling little balls of Hellfire through SlipSpace without burning a ghastly hole in common reality or accidentally dropping the whole damn Kugelblitz into anti-space and losing an 800-billion Credit investment. The application of previous technology was called for to balance out the bleeding-edge progress made earlier, and a modified version of the XXC-III Dimensional Annulator delivery chassis was prototyped, sized up to carry a modified version of its SlipSpace drive that would take a ‘longer’ route through Calabi-Yau space proper rather than the parallel dimension of SlipSpace. With test-runs successfully converting the decommissioned XNV Loremonger into white-hot ferrosteam after interdicting a medium-grade FTLi field (a Heisenberg-Disassociative Field from XenoNavy) by virtue of hitting it at an ‘indeflectable angle’ relative to realspace, the tests were deemed a success and many a case of XenoBeer was won in the wagering.

The weapon itself awaits mass production, but will be a common sight on Capital and Macro-Capital vessels due to its ability to quickly deliver a ship-killing blow with minimal chance of interdiction save mechanical interference during the deployment and dimension-launch sequence.

Procul Extraphysical Operation Systems

Xiscapian Technological Import

Weapon Type: Interface
Classification: Remote Neural Fighter Operation
Damage Grade: Variable, depending on pilot skill
Reload Time: Depends on fighter re-construction time.
Description: The pilot is placed into a V.R. berth aboard the operator's carrier. Equipment aboard the fighter links with the unit and creates a real-time simulation of the cockpit of the operator's ship around them. Communications are made via Phase-Space Quantum Tunneling FTL from the berth to the fighter so the pilot controls the fighter through their connection and experiences everything as he would if he was physically present in the cockpit without actually being there. The most obvious advantage, of course, is that if the fighter is destroyed the pilot lives on to fight another day. However, if the fighter was on board a capital ship, carrier, or factory ship, an identical unit can be manufactured and the link uploaded to the new ship, which the pilot can then control. This means that as long as the pilot remains alert and the materials necessary for making fightercraft do not run out, the pilot can go into combat from his or her berth indefinitely, thanks to life support systems in the V.R. Another advantage is that while the new fighters are complex to design, they are relatively cheap and easy to make, not requiring actual life support systems since there is no pilot aboard. Finally, the removal of the pilot means the ship can pull off maneuvers that no biological could, making it matched with any droid or A.I. controlled ship, while still retaining the originality and imagination necessary to make an organic being an ace pilot. Finally, an A.I. backup is installed in the program in case the carrier ship is destroyed or the pilot disconnected, so the Procul ship with continue the fight. The link can only be terminated by the will of the pilot, the destruction of the fighter, or the destruction of the carrier. Unlike most variants of Xenohuman SlipSpace Phase-Modified FTL, the link is immune to FTLi due to QT-capable 'quantum force-feeders' that serve to render the interdiction inverse/null, and cannot be blocked, jammed or hacked.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:00 pm

XenoArmy

XenoArmy personnel go through a ten-week course of basic training, cut down to six weeks during a draft. Mostly humans, as suitable Drakon are usually inducted into the XenoMarines at a young age, XenoSoldiers are fully aware of their increased disposability, but also of the far greater armory associated with a system-scale warfare body. Full training includes firearms cleaning and safety, basic marksmanship, military vocabulary and command structures, vehicle instruction, and basic field martial arts. Draft training trims tis down to marksmanship, martial arts, command, and basic safety, trimming down a month of training in order to produce infantry on the cheap and on the double. Should training prove successful, XenoArmy personnel are given a battery of aptitude tests and psychosurgical examinations to determine their strengths and weaknesses empirically. Those who show sufficient skill in one area or another are specialized, but most are further trained in front-line infantry performance.

XenoSoldiers
Motto: Blade of The Nation

The XenoSoldiers that make up the bulk of the XenoArmy, drawn from the ranks of corporate and private volunteers alike, serve as a flexible asset-efficient fighting force to be reckoned with.. Operating in conjunction with armored forces, XenoMarine shock infantry, air support, and other units, the XenoSoldier is one of the most reliable assets in the military. What they lack in brute strength or raw firepower, they make up for with organization, camaraderie, and a versatile array of weaponry. With the proper gear, one squad can eliminate anything from heavy infantry and mechs to enemy aircraft and armor. Using foot-mobility to carry crewed weaponry to where they need to be, XenoSoldiers can be surprisingly tenacious and hard to root out of a position once held. However, they are not as combat-effective as XenoMarines. While quicker to train and deploy, their cost-effectiveness ratio is objectively lower than the Marines across the board, meaning that they are often used as defensive, garrison troops rather than frontline infantry.

XenoEngineers
Motto: Fabricating The Future

Shovels, excavators, and profuse yet odorless sweating are the hallmarks of the tactical logistics branch of XenoArmy. Relatively unaugmented save synth-muscle and odor-reduction gene-fixes, XenoEngineers hold responsibility for constructing earthworks, bridges, FireBase junctions, keeping supply chains stable, distributing ammunition, weaponry, rations, and other pieces of equipment, and everything else associated with ‘boring army jobs’. Playing the role of heavy-weapons crewmen, vehicle drivers, and supplemental assault infantry with the same basic training as XenoSoldiers, they are arguably the easiest branch to move out of into civilian life, as demand for their services is high in private military contracting groups, given their combination of combat training and logistical and business education.

XenoSnipers
Motto: Patience with Fervor

Easily the most augmented soldiers on the battlefield due to the heavy investment of training and specialized equipment, the XenoSnipers are an under-reported but vital asset to a XenoArmy defense. Responsible for long-distance engagement and the removal of highly armored or logistically valuable targets immediately after acquisition, they have such upgrades as (including but not limited to) cyber-eyes, speed-boosted spatial geometry neuro-computers, fly-by-wire synth-muscle, ferro-skeletal reinforcement, metabolic tuning, micro-photosynthetic dermis, and Wi-DNI drone control implants. Trained in deep infiltration, camouflage and stealth-gear use, rapid foot-mobile and ‘improvised’ exfiltration (including commandeering enemy vehicles, spoofing command personnel through cyber-larynx and modified CommsCrusher use, etc.), the XenoSnipers are preternaturally patient and attentive, capable of keeping a bead on a target for days at a time in order to get one perfect shot off.

XenoMedics
Motto: All Man’s Able

The minimizing of combat losses is a top priority in XenoArmy, especially considering the brutal nature of galactic warfare. XenoMedics are deployed to combat zones in an attempt to mitigate these losses and recover personnel under any circumstance. Operating XenoM.A.S.H. camps, performing hot-zone triage and combat surgery, and filling the logistical roles of unit doctors and general-purpose physicians, ‘X-Meds’ are often seen as the most personable XenoSoldiers due to the majority of them having some form of interpersonal diagnostic software and implanted tricorders, allowing them to calm and treat with patients undergoing the most extreme stress, pain, and disfiguring injury modern combat injuries can deliver. Also augmented with ‘fly-by-wire’ twitch-synth muscle fibers to allow for far faster running and gear-transport speeds, they provide reliable injury evacuation from the front in case treatment is not possible on site. Armed with side-arm only in order to carry their triage gear, they are distinguished by their white-and-red armor. Despite this, some foes may target the XenoMedic specifically, to which they answer with the same training and determination as any XenoSoldier, along with the ire of his teammates. While they are not under obligation to necessarily make life easy for captured enemies, they are obliged under multinational law to deliver what treatments they can.

XenoHackers
Motto: Masters of Machines

Electronic warfare was always a strong suit in XenoMil, and the existence of combat hackers as a specialization attests to that. In addition to infantry training, those with compatability with additional DNI augmentation and a little computer skill are trained in systems security, hacking and counter-hacking principles and protocol, smart-dust deployment and manipulation, electronics and hardware maintenance and upgrading, manual and AI-assisted programming on and off the field, T.E.S.T. logistics and deployment, and receive additional psychosurgery to make them compatible for binary-consciousness augmentation to allow them to truly multitask, with a parallel cognition devoted entirely to the datascape. When facing enemies less advanced than most that do not use smart-gear or other battlefield networks, they play the same role as XenoSoldiers on the battlefield, much to their chagrin.

High Orbit Drop Drakes
Motto: As Above, So Below

XenoArmy tactics typically call for strong defensive and supply lines, firing ranks utilizing automatic weaponry, and combined arms assault when the front must move forward. However, there are instances when it is up to the Army to lead the charge rather than the XenoMarines. For this purpose, the High Orbit Drop Drakes were created, shortly following the Reannexation of Ramam. A unit of entirely Drakonian shock troopers with impact-resistant subdermal plating, modified Eustachian tubes and equilibrioceptive systems, and spatial-awareness enhancement, the HODD troopers are masters of shock-and-awe and violent insertion. Whether they enter battle via drop-pod, gunship, FireBase, or Excelsior-Jumping with a jetpack from an orbiting ship, they always make a point to arrive dramatically and to inflict as much on-point collateral damage as possible in order to demoralize the enemy and break holes in their formations.

LethalOps Special Attachment
Motto: The Unknowables

In situations regarding high-priority objectives, top-secret intelligence and assets, and operations that simply cannot be allowed the chance of failure, XenoAdmin and XenoIntel often sends their own agents to personally monitor and assist ground forces in the field. Agents from LethalOps, often type-cast by local commanders as snipers, infiltrators, demolitions specialists, and Macro-Armor operators, usually deviate rather promptly from assignment in order to operate discretely and work towards whatever true goal XenoIntel has in mind, whether it is black-flag orchestration, politically deniable assassination, or anything else that falls into the realm of black operations. With a peculiar interest in recruiting or drafting individuals showing the Pairbond phenome or other tags of psionic or biotic potential, the LethalOps commandoes are also called upon as V.I.P. bodyguards for high-ranking commanders during non-clandestine operations, and the sight of two or more grey-skinned Drakon with psionic/biotic amp-hoods and digi-armor are not uncommon on flagships and at military and hypercorporate installations.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:00 pm

XenoMarine

The epitome of bio-technological military prowess, this planetary landing and invasion branch of XenoMil is the most elite, most deadly, and most technologically well-supplied branch of the military. Recruits are selected from birth, either out of state orphanages or through gene-tracking programs typically conducted by the Genestealers or XenoIntel. Genetically prime specimens of Drakonian or human origin are raised by the state and prepared for a life of training, physical modification, mental programming, martial education, and other necessities of the XenoMarines. Starting ‘The Aasinan Procedure’ sooner than other races with similar programs, the modifications begin by the age of 4. Using methods created by the Ecclasiarchy of Todular and perfected by Xeno-Tech Industries on commission, the thirteen organs, augmentations, and gene-modifications prescribed are administered to the recruit while he undergoes several years of combat and technical training, and by age 15, the human or Drakon has become a living engine of war, capable wearing suits of ultra-powered armor that work with the Tertiary Nervous System (TNS) DNI array to go from 1,800 lbs of metal to a nimble, fully integrated extra layer of the Marine’s body.

Wielding a wide variety of weapons that push the boundaries of galactic weapons technology, they can easily destroy anti-infantry mecha in melee or ranged combat, and can go toe to toe with fellow power-armor. Thanks to the benefits of nano-composite armor and VR-enhanced speed-training, they are only rivaled in combat effectiveness by dedicated armor units and enemies taking advantage of Strange Magnetism to produce biotic or psionic effects. XenoMarine commands massive orbital transport navies, terrestrial vehicles and support structures, and oceanic landing fleets, dropped from orbit to conduct blue-water warfare. While harder to train and raise than XenoSoldiers, their combat effectiveness is several orders of magnitude greater, resulting in them used as the primary offensive force during wartime.

XenoMarine Light Human Armor
XenoMarine Light Drakonian Armor
XenoMarine Drakonian Armor
XenoMarine Human Armor
XenoMarine Explosives Ordinance Disposal / XenoMedic Armor
XenoMarine Covert Operations / AquaMarine Armor

XenoMarines
Motto: March, Fight, Live

The iconic XenoMarine, standing at an average of 8.5 feet in their armor, armed with a trusty bolt-thrower, represents the Federation’s chief military asset in the field of planetary warfare. Speed-trained in VR chambers, gene-tuned and augmented to the event horizon of their standard speciation, and ever so slightly brainwashed into patriotism and loyalty in the face of a hedonistic culture and the stupidly dangerous nature of modern warfare, the XenoMarines are the power-armored main-line infantry of XenoMil and the most oft-deployed personnel aside from XenoNavy vessel crewmen. With armor paintings that range from camouflage and the red-white-blue of the Federation to the more famous ‘chapter paintings’ of noteworthy units that have earned a more intimidating moniker due to action in the field, their range of gear varies greatly, due in equal part to the diversity of threats and counter-threats in the galaxy and to the endless fascination of Xeno-Tech with putting ‘something cool’ in the military’s hands to ‘try out for a while’.

ToxMarines
Motto: Where Gods Fear to Tread

Originally tasked with the operation of experimental weaponry during the Xenohuman Civil War, and still notorious for their notable pleasure in the destruction of enemies living or otherwise, the Toxin Marines are deployed as extreme-conditions, anti-biological, and terror troopers. With the rise of the Federation, they have been tasked with the mitigation and destruction of all uncontrolled macroviral, metaphysical, and pseudo-necrotic outbreaks such as Tyranid incursion, nanite containment breach, and Necromorph Marker discovery. With a wide array of blood/air scrubber implants, multi-lungs and internal oxygen reserves, and overcharged personal shield generators, the ToxMarines are the most durable XenoMarines in active deployment, capable of surviving weaponry that would easily render some vehicles (and most XenoMarines) inoperable. Also used in disaster relief efforts involving Todularian contraband, C/B/R releases, and particularly dangerous flora and fauna, they are often the first to board derelict ships, space hulks, and other potentially hazardous environs in Federal space. Deployed in small squads often cut off from support and facing unknowable horrors, they are viewed as heroes, madmen, and knuckleheads with enough skill to justify their very comfortable pay-grade.

ArtMarines
Motto: Front-Line Industry

Referring to themselves colloquially as the ‘Scrap Artists’, Artillery Marines specialize in the operation, maintenance, and movement of heavy infantry weaponry, turrets, and XenoMarine vehicles. Wearing black and yellow high-density ‘safety armor’ to warn other marines of their presence, their weapons often have backblast or other hazards to nearby personnel, warranting the additional caution. Serving also as combat engineers and general purpose mechanics, ArtMarines are responsible for tactical construction (including bridges, earthworks, and FireBase deployment), demolitions, mine laying and clearing, and armor column logistics. Capable of operating in any environment planet-bound or celestial, ArtMarines are seen as ‘the smart guys’, often contracted after retirement for PMC management positions on and off the field.

MediMarines
Motto: Saviors of Saviors

In contrast with the XenoMedics, whose role is focused on personnel recovery and triage designation, the MediMarines devote themselves to keeping men fighting on at any cost. Heavily up-armored, augmented with internal medigel-production organs and almost universally grafted with two or more medical and cybernetic-repair mechadendrites, and arguably the least sympathetic doctors in the galaxy, their hulking white-and-red forms can be seen clambering amidst the bodies restoring basic life functions and grafting in cybernetic hardware to quickly replace dismembered limbs and innards. They also crew XenoM.A.S.H. tents, performing all manner of cybernetic repair and replacement, grown-tissue surgery, and acting as primary battlefield pharmacists in wartime.

AquaMarines
Motto: Force Where Needed

In contrast to their nomenclature, derived from their original deployment as blue-water specialists and incongruously stealthy infiltrators, the AquaMarines are primarily snipers and tactical saboteurs, rarely seeing oceanic deployment in the modern age. Equipped with enhanced tactical geometry computers, integrated sat-links for range-finding and spotting purposes, and with elite members undergoing skin-grafted optical redirectors for toggled translucence, they are the most far-sighted of the XenoMarines, often undergoing additional surgery for additional cranial reinforcement and fly-by-wire synth-muscles in the legs in the event that counter-sniping and possible discovery disrupt operations more dangerously than anticipated.

Trained to target high-ranking soft assets, exposed targets of opportunity on enemy vehicles and installations, and provide long-range long-term suppressive fire on open foes, the AquaMarines focus less on sniper nests and long-term ‘camping’, believing that the fluidity of the modern battlefield warrants high mobility, fast reaction time, and the ability to survive engagement with decently large tactical units over holding dedicated overwatch positions. In the event that their self-guided, high-mobility actions sees them uncomfortably isolated, though, they do have the skills to fortify a position with limited resources and hold their own until reinforcements arrive. Usually working either in pairs or with a DigiMarine as a drone-operating spotter, AquaMarines also make extensive use of UAV drones either for fire support or accuracy and visibility enhancement.

DigiMarines
Motto: The Future of Warfare

Also known as ‘TechMarines’ due to the recent renaming of the specialization, the DigiMarines are the logical and financial extension of the XenoHackers. Utilizing more powerful software and hardware, capable of forcibly inducing wireless connection in wired or disconnected software through minor use of their back-mounted Strange Magnetic Generators which make their smart-dust almost invisible and much more difficult to physically remove, and capable of fully hacking and hijacking vehicles, androids, and even cyber-chipped organics, the DigiMarines are also used as battlefield support engineers alongside the ArtMarines. Whereas the latter handle mechanical logistics and supply movement, the former deals with data movement, communications, system security, and generally are seen as ‘the radio guys’ off the field. PMC work by retired DigiMarines usually sees them as security spiders or drone rigger-operators rather than front-line personnel.

Genestealer Special Attachment
Motto: For The Genepool

XenoMarine and the Xeno-Tech Corporation have a long-standing, unstated alliance in the field of battle. While the former performs active military action against foreign powers, the latter funds, supplies, assists, and motivates those soldiers in order to do their best, as well as using their vast monetary strength as a liquid war asset in their own right. Occasionally, in order to ensure flawless operation of objectives in the field, the Corporation will send its own agents to the field to fight on the front lines as saboteurs, assassins, deep intelligence agents, and deadly close-quarters combat specialists. The Genestealers are no strangers to violence, and will use an array of experimental cybernetics, biotics, hacking and combat-hacking equipment, surveillance drones, and black-flag foreign equipment in order to achieve their objective, whether it is the removal of high-rank soft assets, destruction of vital hardware, terror or shock-and-awe attacks, or simply monitoring the battlefield and its players (allied and hostile) for a chance to make a healthy profit off of notably illicit activity.

Xeno-Tech Experimentals
Motto: INnovation+EXpansion (IN.EX)

Xeno-Tech realizes that despite its extensive laboratory facilities, ‘ivory tower’ analysis simply does not suffice at this stage of technological advancement, where entropy itself is considered nothing more than a limited-access commodity and the forces of thought itself are within the grasp of high-budget operations. Therefore, whenever something of particular operator-hazard or novelty requires field-testing, a group of Xeno-Tech Experimentals is commissioned and attached to a deploying XenoMarine unit, with a healthy commission to motivate their sponsor to ‘give it a shot’ despite the hazards. While the safety record of the Experimentals is less than spotless, they often prove to be great leaps forward. The Experimentals program saw the birth of Friction Fielding, man-portable grasers, and a wide array of consumer-grade psionic and biotic safeties and amps, alongside [=[=[LISTINGS REDACTED]=]=].

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:01 pm

INFANTRY EQUIPMENT

Man-Portable Shield Systems: Like many other nations with the capability to field high-level power generators on a man-to-man basis via power-armor and phase-venting fusion generators, Xenohumanity issues shield generators to its fighting infantry and armor. Due to the inherent differences between a largely inorganic ship and an infantryman, shield types differ. With two main deployment types and three shield systems often used in conjunction, a squad of men can see total variety in their shield usage and defenses.

Shields are deployed either as Cloaks or Bubbles. Cloak Shields are man-portable, back- or hip-mounted, and are personal defense fields to ensure individual survival when under duress of arms. Using a combination of Friction Shielding and Buzz Shielding, they provide decent protection from both solid-state and energy weaponry by neutralizing incoming projectiles and absorbing low-level energy attacks. When overloaded, the shield will ‘pop’ as it vents excessive energy immediately to prevent self-detonation, requiring time to cool off and regain functionality.

Bubble Shields are a misnomer; they can take many shapes aside from spheres or half-spheres, including “everything-proof” riot shields and translucent bunker-rectangles or bunker-cylinders. Using the same principles, Bubble Shield systems are often larger, which prevents ‘popping’ but requires more dedicated systems for transport and energy supply, meaning power armor or vehicle mounting is a must to make them mobile.

Man-Portable Variable-State Armor: In the days of the Todularian Ecclasiarchy, armor was armor, nothing more and nothing less. Made of composite nano-metallic ‘super-alloys’ almost lost to modern science and hand-forged by master smiths in advanced refinery complexes, yes, but hopelessly neo-medieval. Typically made with exo-ferronite, often alloyed with plasteel or woven with C-22 nanofabrics, the Todularians saw fit to use it for Knyght’s Plate, ship hulls, vehicle armor, and much more. The old armor systems were very durable, but extremely heavy, totally inflexible, and very hard to repair without totally refabricating a wounded section.

Modern Xenohuman infantry armor exists in both powered and unpowered forms, with power armor primarily used for front-line combat, riot control, and other ‘large-mass’ roles. Unpowered armor is still popular, as it allows greater physical flexibility for untrained personnel, a much smaller target silhouette, and additional slotting for auxiliary shield generators, to compensate for the lack of sheer resilience. Both use different chemistries and construction, and so shall be covered separately.

Power Armor: In order for PA to function, it must have notably strong power source. For this, zero-point atomic radiator batteries are primarily used, with energy-intensive armor augmentations or weapons load-outs warranting the attachment of an additional fusion generator to be mounted on the back. This does warrant legitimate questions of breach safety, and this is answered by having a phase-shift failsafe mounted into each generator, such that if containment is lost, the entirety of the fusion core is dumped into an alternate quantum phase, rendering the explosion as nothing more than additional galactic background radiation, rendering the inevitable explosion harmless to normal time-space denizens.

The armor itself is composed of an outer shell of advanced anti-materiel alloys, coated with refractive vinyl to aid in repelling energy attacks. Beneath this is a layer of variable-density nanofoam to reduce impact pressures from explosions and kinetic weapons, as well as reactively guard against medium-caliber fire that penetrates the outer layer. All of this is supported by a third layer of biochemical gel, capable of catalyzing sweat and adrenal hormones with body temperature to produce a medical ‘paste’ that automatically helps to staunch wounds, begin nerve repair, and even hold organs in place during extreme mechanical duress. This is held in finally by a bodysuit with interfaces to react either with a XenoSoldier’s digital augmentations for H.U.D. feedback and strength-boost management or with a XenoMarine’s more extensive DNI suites for a wider variety of infantry enhancements and greater reaction times and movement speeds.

Unpowered Armor: The external layers consist of electro-spectral recyclers and micro-vents, heat resistant composite-ceramic scales, and impact-resistant nanotube sheets laid over honeycombed durotanium plates, in that order. Larger suits may also include reactive-blast, electromagnetic, or liquid-state anti-kinetic integrations for further protection. Additional defenses and exact specifications are based primarily on role specialization, such as EMP resistance or radiation-proofing, as well as brand name and manufacturer. Internal layers are mostly moisture- and static-wicking fabrics and joint-supporting low-friction rubbers, with typical extensions including auto-medical arrays and DNI-compatible H.U.D. information feeds. While not as weapons-proof as power armor, it is cheaper to produce, more easily replaced, and is less intimidating for use on the streets of the Federation for policing and private security work.

X932 Shoulder-fired Magnetic Accelerator Carronade (SMAC)
=A man-portable coilgun capable of throwing a kilogram slug at sufficient speeds to penetrate most known composites sufficiently to destroy most tanks and fortifications. Heavy, unwieldy outside of power armor, and requires room for back-blast due to rapidly displaced air and plasti-powder (the friction of which greatly reduces. The slug itself can be a solid-mass armor-piercing round, an anti-infantry flechette cartridge, or an impact explosive, depending on what the situation calls for. Loaded into the side, the weapon must be cleared before another shot can be fired, making it a relatively slow weapon.
Planck Adjustment Ram
=Similar to a minigun in appearance and application, this device feeds off of a back-mounted entropic generator in order to produce a P.A. Beam. Typically used as a suppression weapon or as a breach-and-entry device, binary states can be used to adjust the weapon’s output based on the situation presented, changing the user from the ‘minigun meat-shield’ into a more tactically flexible fighting unit. The weapon’s standard pulse-fire and multiple barrels makes overheating a non-issue, but requires a time-intensive batt-pack change after 3 minutes of sustained fire.
XKR-87 Guided Distance Engagement Rifle
=A .45 caliber over-the-horizon sniper rifle designed for use with power armor, but still usable by civilians if used with extreme caution, with a magazine capacity of ten rounds. The weapon uses a variety of satellite links, laser and radar designators, variable-state optics, and internal computers to ensure accurate round placement under a wide variety of conditions. The weapon also uses experimental self-guiding ‘Gauss Rounds’, smart-linked with the weapon and capable of self-navigating to a preselected target via self-application of opposed and unopposed magnetic fields, making it capable of reaching behind cover and ensuring that wild shots during uncomfortably close combat still find their target’s power source or cranium.
XAR ‘Argos’ Man-Portable Xaser Cannon
=Typically carried by XenoMarines, with most XenoSoldiers requiring power-bracing to operate despite their synth-muscle, the ‘Argos’ is a powerful, unforgiving energy weapon designed for anti-armor and anti-fortification assault. Pulse-firing four high-energy amplified X-Ray beams powered by a back-mounted auxiliary generator (cycling barrels to prevent barrel-warping), XAR attacks are consistently traumatic to infantry and disabling to vehicles and vehicle crewmen. Some praise the weapon as ‘the most efficient weapon since air bombing’, but some operators view its highly traumatic injuries, dramatic nerve damage, and the Argos’ tendency to require amputation and graft-augmentation as enough to label it the ‘Walking Warcrime’.
PS-2L ‘Nieflheim’ Tripod Autocannon
=Do not be fooled by the small size of the actual autocannon; a set-up and well-manned Nieflheim turret is capable of eviscerating infantry and proving a serious damage hazard against lightly armored vehicles and aircraft. Firing .280-caliber rounds at about 1,200 rounds per minute, and capable of belt-feeding either from a weapon-mounted box, a back-mounted ‘mega-magazine’ bolt storage pack worn by the gunner, or from a seemingly endless belt fed from a vehicle, the PS-2L proves time and again to be a favorite with XenoArmy defensive installations for its ease of use and utility against combined arms attackers.
SRS-11S ‘Gandalf’ 2-Bore Automatic Mounted Shotgun
=Originally used as a riot control device by the Todularians, the ‘Siyani Gospelate’ was built to be loaded with non-lethal rounds. However, due to the dearth of high-power anti-infantry setup-guns in the Xenohuman Republican Army, the system was modified and fitted with a converse-helix coil-gun firing system. Rather than the heavy sandbags and rubber rounds of old, the SRS-11S instead fires shells of high-temperature C-22 or durotanium shot. Combined with standard infantry engagement weapons, the ‘Gandalf’ can ensure a position is secured against all manner of armored foes, and has seen extensive use in urban and installation combat due to its complete control over enclosed areas.
L44-9X1 ‘Langolier’ Self-Contained Armor-Piercing Sabot Launcher
=Produced in both infantry-level (Mk.I, Mk.II) and ordinance-level models (Mk.III and beyond), the Langolier is a multi-tube self-contained missile launch system designed for direct fire. Fired over the shoulder or mounted in place to handle recoil, the system uses the same coilgun-thermochemical combination of accelerants as the Bolt Thrower, but on a much larger scale, with many times more voltage and more potent fuels. The missile itself is an Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot unit, discarding the fuel-jet and the mounting when exhausted and revealing a ferroliquid payload. This payload is capable of ripping through tanks and blowing apart power armor and mechs, making its relatively low ammo capacity even more precious.
AL-CH ‘Alkhenost’ Man-Portable Missile System
=Contrasting with the Langolier, which is an armor-penetrating unguided round, the AL-CH fires volleys of 12 small, target-seeking anti-personnel and anti-drone micro-missiles. Fired like any shotgun, stock against shoulder and braced properly, the weapon is considerably more mobile than the Langolier as well, with easily loaded 3-shot missile-packs allowing for much longer hold-outs and trap-nest lifetimes using the weapon.

DPF ‘Varden’ Concealed-Carry Sidearm
=A light-weight .357-caliber firearm popular both with CorpSec and the XenoMil officer corps, the Varden is the better known of the standard XenoMil handguns for a variety of reasons. While its popularity among street gangs and organized crime groups is well known due to the weapon’s nano-ceramic components giving it a much smaller signature on security scans, the weapon itself is just as notable. A six-shot revolver, loadable either with gas-laser cartridges or nanocarbon rounds, the Varden proves highly effected in trained hands against decently armored targets.
APB ‘Guardsman’ Miniaturized Bolt Thrower
=Another popular choice with CorpSec due to its range and stopping power, the Guardsman operates on similar concepts to the XNMB Bolt Thrower, but lightened and specialized for standard-armor users. With a 20 round magazine and a rate of fire of 400 rounds a minute, the APB fires a .44 round using electromagnetic pulses similar to a railgun. The bolt then self-accelerates to the target with thermochemical jets after leaving the barrel, making contact sufficient to break through most light body armors and ballistics gear. Unlike the XNMB, the Guarsdsman contains fire switches to allow the bolts to self-neutralize within the target in order to reduce lethality, or to maintain internal detonation for a sure kill.
JRO ‘Handaxe’ Open-Carry Shotpistol
=The standard sidearm of XenoSoldiers, and size/caliber-augmented for XenoMarines, the 29-JR ‘Handaxe’ is a high-powered micro-bolter, using self-propelled chem-jet rounds fired using a small coilgun mechanism. The rounds have the standard option of detonating inside a target, but the intention of the weapon is to detonate the round prematurely, as the internal explosive is a shaped charge that fragments the round into a high-trauma 20-gauge shot. While the ‘Handaxe’ is a fairly low-caliber weapon as far as flechette guns go, its 14-shot magazine capacity makes up for it.

‘Groke’ Atmospheric Distribution Grenade
=The depopulation of agrarian and suburban Xenan villages during the XenoCide forced the XenoMarines to adapt their weaponry in order to minimize the effort spent on clearing out living complexes. However, after some clever thinking and extra requisitions of nerve gas and cellular degenerators, the field-built prototypes of the Groke ADG were put to use extensively on Tyloa and other planets with lower-than-average population density. Normally fitted with either astantine-citric acid fogs or custom-built dodecocarbonate microflechette ‘Lungflayer’ nanite cloudlets, the Groke uses pressurized gas to forcibly expel its payload, but can be pre-timed to slowly leak in order to serve as an area-denial tool. While astantine-citric acid proves highly effective against unprotected foes, melting flesh off of bone and causing acute damage to major organs damage upon inhalation, foes using N/B/C protection or EVA equipment are not safe from Lungflayers, specifically designed to seek out weak points in armor and exposed flesh and burrow towards the cardiopulmonary organs in an attempt to destroy them.
’Malgebolge’ Incendiary Grenade
=Incendiary weapons have continually miniaturized in the Federation, dating from Todularian vehicle-mounted flamethrowers, evolving into Republican hand-flamers and eventually reaching fruition in the form of the fist-sized Malgebolge. Incorporating small wood-work innovations from the Huerdaen and the Genomitan peoples in the form of secondary detonation and particularly horrific biochemical accelerants, the Malebolge IG is possibly the most horrific non-Planck weapon in the Federal arsenal. When it first detonates, the shattering of the weapon spreads a thin adhesive paste over an area approximately 6 meters in diameter. While bio-hazardous in and of itself, the secondary detonation of the grenade’s interior blasting caps reveals the flammability and water-resistant properties of this paste. Capable of burning at temperatures comparable to industrial grade thermite, proving the Genomitan’s skill at creating gene-ware and Xenohumanity’s skill at weaponizing new technologies, the Malgebolge serves as a primarily anti-personnel weapon, as Planck weaponry and the Atomicide PAG are more effective at neutralizing modern heavy armor and mobile weapon platforms.
‘Atomicide’ Planck Adjustment Grenade
=An obvious application of Planck Adjustment technology, the Atomicide’s uncreative title is misrepresentative of the technology and highly versatile design of the actual PAG. Consisting of six small capsules containing a contained-entropy charge and a central detonator consisting of a larger contained-entropy charge coupled with a small element-zero core. Standard weapon usage dictates the priming of the central charge followed by throwing the grenade. Upon detonation, the central charge will detonate, releasing sufficient entropy to induce the element zero to form a biotic field and fling the secondary charges into range immediately before their detonations, resulting in a kill radius of up to 45 meters depending on weapon orientation. Individual detonators can also be taken off, primed, and used as smaller charges, typically for breach-and-clear operations, with a kill radius of about 6 meters.
‘Plaguedog’ Electromagnetic Grenade
=With special attention paid by the military to combat hacking and frontline information warfare, the development of electromagnetic and broad-spectrum infantry weapons was a priority in the early days of XenoArmy. Part of the standard load-out of combat hackers and DigiMarines, but a common sight on the belts of most XenoSoldiers, Plaguedog Grenades utilize a hyper-miniaturized CommsCrusher hooked up to an overcharged nanotube battery and encased in durable, conductive meta-metals. When active, the grenade sends out a 35-meter sphere of high-amplitude spectrum-filling noise that renders communication impossible and quickly begins to build up systems-killing static on enemy hardware. In the event that enemy gear has been EMP-hardened, combat hackers can also lock onto specific foes and use the grenade’s micro-generator to begin attacking them physically with arcs of electricity until the grenade has been exhausted.
‘Frollo’ P.A.C.K. Mine
=Deployed as XenoArmy’s standard defensive anti-personnel mine, the Planck Adjustment Cluster Kill Mine is one of many reasons approaching armed Xenohuman holdings is a dangerous proposition. Designed as a hybrid cluster-bounding munition, the P.A.C.K. is laid by drones or androids, with most minefields spacing them apart approximately 20-30 meters apart. When any combination of weight, electromagnetic / thermal signatures, and direct-feed tactical data from spotters or satellite observation are sufficient to identify an in-range infantryman or light vehicle is placed on the mine, the mine’s can-like body launches a small cluster bomb loaded with small Planck Adjustment Bomblets. The mine launches 36 of these bomblets after reaching a height of four or five meters, spreading the payload to an area of 50 square meters. The bomblets then detonate, bathing the area in an instant of total spatial explosion. The result is almost universally lethal to infantry and power-armored units, with swathes and gouts of the victims disintegrated and the local shockwaves resulting from the atomic fission of a portion of the air pulping the remains.
‘Peter’ P.A.U.L. Mine
=The Planck Adjustment Undercarriage Land Mine, similar to the P.A.C.K. in terms of the physics involved, is deployed as an anti-armor mine in the field. Planted in the earth, the P.A.U.L. is triggered using similar mechanics to the P.A.C.K., accepting different, heavier conditions before detonating, in order to specifically target vehicles. The P.A.U.L. is a two-stage explosive, initially launching a foot-long ferrofluid cylinder into the underside of the target, penetrating armor and leaving a gaping hole, often reaching through the roof. This is followed by the deployment of a fist-sized Planck Adjustment explosive, thrown up into the middle of the target. When detonated, it pries the target vehicle apart and vaporizes the contents, throwing quantum dust into the surrounding area and totally destroying the occupants and cargo of the victim.
‘Handwave’ Optronic SmartDust Nanocomputing Swarms
=The idea of cross-platform remote hacking might seem dead, and would appear to be particularly arrogant and mind-numbingly foolish on a modern battlefield. However, due to advances in quantum computing, nanomechanics, minor kinetic manipulation, and a few too many spy thrillers on the part of R&D personnel, such feats of software mastery are now commonplace in XenoMilitary engagements. Launched in small capsules that disperse well in air or vacuum, the individual micro-computers form a large wireless synaptic network, granting itself relatively powerful processing capabilities. Using microjets, the swarm locomotes to the target hardware, designated by a hacker, and attaches itself. Due to their size and electrical charge, they are transluscent and almost impossible to remove from metal and painful to scratch off of exposed flesh while they do their work.

From here, they have multiple options. They can simply build a charge and release it explosively, often causing a number of problems in enemy software and hardware such a premature round detonation and armor-OS disability. However, this is merely the rookie’s option, as skilled hackers can use this small network and set it to work probing enemy equipment for weaknesses, backdoors, and the occasional zero-hour glitch. Once established, the hacker can use these exploits to wreak havoc. It is not limited to external hardware, either; cybernetic augmentation and neural digi-ware are also fair play, resulting in cyberlimb dislocation, grand-mal seizures, and other, far more painful attacks.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:02 pm

XENOARMY: MACRO-ARMOR AND WALKERS
Mechanized Infantry and Role-Tasked Walkers
Motto: ‘Giants Among Us’

Macro-Armor:

Macro-Armor, also known as Mechs or Battlesuits, stands between power-armor infantry and dedicated combat vehicles in terms of tactical utility. Differing from Power Armor by virtue of larger size and altered user interface, holding the user in the ‘torso’ to operate the unit through a DNI-connected cockpit, Macro-Armor allows any trained infantryman to increase their durability, speed, and firepower, while maintaining a relatively tight target silhouette and their ability to operate alongside other infantry. Developed by the Todularians as ‘Knyght’s Plate’, used to allow bladesmen to reach and destroy unarmored targets when confronting firearms, Xenohumanity recognized the true utility of the concept after research into foreign war-systems and Battlesuit applications, and adapted Macro-Armor into four distinct specialties, each focusing on notably improving some subset of a crewman’s operating capacity in the field.

Walkers:

Walkers, while similar to Macro-Armor, differ in two key ways that are worthwhile to elaborate on. Firstly, where Macro-Armor is meant to be operated as an extension of the users, walkers are vehicles in their own right, crewed by one or more operators who use DNI interface to operate more effectively rather than ‘jump in’ and become one with the vehicle. Secondly, Walkers are on the whole much larger than Macro-Armor, partially because of their increased crewing, but also because they must bear large specialized support systems and fire-power options, making them more imposing individually but requiring infantry support for maximum tactical effectiveness. Thirdly, Macro-Armor primarily serves to augment infantry while still serving traditional infantry roles (objective acquisition, controlled firepower point-application, etc.), but walkers are more variable in their application, serving as anything from comms-science nodes to deep scouts to high-mobility artillery platforms.

by **Xenohumanity** » Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:02 pm

XENOARMY: TANKS AND SUPPORT VEHICLES
Tracked, Wheeled, and Grav-Motive Combat Vehicles
Motto: 'Canned Goods And Services’

Macro-Armor’s mobile firepower and skill at zero-grav and urban combat is balanced by limited survivability against sustained infantry attack or combined-arms offensives. Keeping in line with the need for durable combat platforms, both for symmetrical and asymmetrical warfare scenarios, XenoArmy’s doctrine has consistently placed great weight on tracked and wheeled vehicles as well as highly mobile grav-motive ‘hover’ vehicles. All modern Federal designs can be traced to Republican developments during and after the Xenohuman Civil War, with Todularian designs relying on (officially impossible) designs that sourced power from SlipSpace drives, ‘daemonic’ intelligence in lieu of AI or AGI, and weaponry that modern engineering has deemed ‘violent and insecure fantasy’, using mathematics and mechanical systems that physics dictates cannot function. Favoring reliability over flash-in-the-pan hardware, no salvage from the Todularian Ecclasiarchy was kept for research and so Xenohumanity based its designs on Terran and other panhuman militaries, later adopting battle-tested, war-hardened techniques and innovations from the AXIS Alliance after contact with the Home Galaxy.