Military
Ground
Legacy technology is too expensive to exploit on a large scale for weapons, so most soldiers are equipped with ballistic rifles. However, it is quite common for Senior Officers to carry laser pistols as a mark of status. These pistols are not vastly more damaging than standard firearms, but are accurate at longer ranges. Certain specialised forces also equip snipers with laser rifles, though these are not deployed on a large scale due to sheer expense.
Platoons are equipped with heavier weapons such as large and unwieldy autoguns which can fire a bullet every second or so. This is not vastly quicker than experienced soldiers can manage with ordinary rifles, but allows for sustained fire without a loss of aim. Mortars and antivehicular rockets are used to damage vehicles; the prevalance of these countermeasures means that the Empire's cars and buses do not see much use in battle (when they are used, passengers consider them to be death traps). Explosive grenades are also sometimes deployed, though they frequently cause as much damage to the thrower as they do to the enemy.
Cavalry units are relatively common, able to evade rifle fire but sometimes vulnerable to autoguns or heavier artillery. These troops are sometimes armed with pistols and sabres but are also often used as a means of transportation, with riders dismounting and using rifles to fight.
Soldiers wealthy enough to afford a Gravcycle will ride one of these into battle as it makes the rider extremely manoeuvrable and able to evade much incoming fire. Gravcycle troops are normally formed into separate units which are capable of charging down machineguns and decimating infantry firing lines. These troops are often armed with pistols and sabres for close range fighting once the enemy has been engaged. Experiments to incorporate weapons directly into the bikes suggest that this is a difficult problem that will require a skilled Technologist to solve.
Large artillery guns are also used, but are relatively inaccurate due to a lack of extensive mapping and ranging technology. For this reason, they are primarily used by firing them directly at a target rather than using a high firing angle.
Throughout the Empire, fighting units of ordinary troops are formed into Legions, with a standard size of 10,000 men. Specialised units have varying sizes, with some units, especially those mounted on Gravcycles, numbering less than 100 men.
Space
Frigates are the most common class of ships used for military operations in space, but this is such a broad category that several subcategories have been devised. Larger classes are designated Battleships or Ships of the Line; these ships are rated according to their firepower. First Rate denotes any ship mounting Legacy laser weapons, whilst Second and Third Rates are differentiated purely by the number of cannon they mount - Second Rates mount at least 80, Third Rates at least 50.
Smaller Frigates are designated Cruisers. These ships mount less than 50 cannon and are able to operate without ammunition resupply for much longer. For this reason, Cruisers have historically been used to strike at enemy military supply lines.
Fighters are used in combination with Spiders to screen ships before they enter the line of battle, to deploy bombs against larger ships and to defend against bombers and boarding chutes.
Boarding chutes are small pods which can be launched from Frigate docking bays at high speed, aimed at other Frigates. The chutes bore holes into the hull of the target ship, sealing the breach with the chute itself. The passengers are then able to disembark and carry the fight directly to the crew of the target ship.
House Forces
Each Noble House maintains an army and a fleet, which are used as part of the Imperial Army, to quell disturbances in House territory and in House Feuds.
Since the Navy is often considered to be the more important of the two forces, high ranking Navy officials command an Army force as well. The following describes the types of troops under the command of officers with the corresponding level of the Military skill along with an example title.
Army officers:
- Lieutenant – Commander of an army detachment of a few hundred troopers or a member of an elite unit.
- Major – Commander of a Legion or a unit of elite troops along with an appropriate transport ship.
- Field Marshal – Personal command of a unit of elite troops, with responsibility for a number of Legions under the command of their subordinates.
Navy officers:
- Squadron (or Patrol) Leader – Commander of a wing of Fighters or a small patrol Cruiser.
- Captain – Commander of a Second or Third Rate Battleship.
- Commodore – Commander of a flotilla consisting of around half a dozen Battleships and two accompanying army units and their transport ships (either a Legion or a more specialised unit).
- Admiral – Personal command of a First Rate Battleship along with a handful of escort Battleships and responsibility for two Commodores and a Field Marshal or two.
- Lord Admiral – Commander of the entirety of the House's military forces.
Due to the problems of space sickness, it is normal for a House to split their forces into four or five fleets, each under the command of an Admiral. These fleets are then expected to perform a different role every six months. A typical rotation will have a fleet on patrol of the House's territory for 6 months, then on secondment to the Imperial Army, then back on patrol and finally a 6 month reserve duty for training and equipment maintenance. This schedule will obviously be modified if the Imperial Army calls up more of the House's troops than normal.
Gifted officers are sometimes allowed to skip this rotation by transferring to another fleet when their normal command is held in reserve. This allows the House to keep its best officers in the field at all times, but does expose them to the risk of space sickness.
Imperial Army
The Imperial Army is made up from the House Armies, plus commanders from House Lystra and the Imperial Elite Guard. The Noble Houses provide the majority of the forces, with the Imperial Admiral able to call on them to provide between one and three quarters of their forces for the Imperial Army.
The Elite Guard is of comparable size to a single House force, but the troops are subjected to the most rigorous training possible. Notably, the Elite Guard lacks a large number of Battleships, preferring to concentrate on ships which will allow it to transport its ground troops easily.
However, the Imperial Admiral makes the famous Legacy Battlecruiser his flagship. This highly destructive ship is unique in its use of shield technology that makes it more than a match for a number of ordinary Battleships.
A detachment of the Elite Guard have also been called to serve in the ARC, to protect the Aaron's Roads network. This is a permanent placement to allow them to become familiar with the Technologists who they must work with.
Famous Ships
House Lystra
- Imperial Dream – the Emperor's City Ship; location of Court Meetings
- Light of Endeavour – the Technologist City Ship. Briefly captured by Versto Migan, the Light was recovered after the development of Navigator technology (and with assistance from a number of Psychics).
- Damocles – the Imperial Gaol Frigate. The Damocles is not capable of independent hyperspace travel.
- Anvil of the Empire – the Legacy Battlecruiser. The Anvil proved highly useful in the Hollann war and has become the flagship of the Imperial Fleet. Almost all pirates who have faced the Anvil have fled in terror; those who stood to fight all perished.
- Ray of Hope – a Second Rate Battleship whose timely arrival saved the colonists on Xanolph following a pirate blockade.
- Emperor's Shield – a First Rate Battleship whose crew have earned the distinction of being permanently assigned to guard the Emperor.
House Karpeer
- Singularity – the Karpeer City Ship
- Solar Dawn – the Second Rate Battleship used so effectively by Uther Karpeer during the Battle of Mykor in the Hollann War, the Solar Dawn was the sole survivor of an attempt to break the Hollann lines to bring word of an ambush to the Imperial Fleet.
- Lunar Corona – a First Rate Battleship; flagship of Admiral Marta Calwell Karpeer at the time of the Hollann War.
- Comet – a modified Cruiser, the Comet is the fastest ship in the Karpeer fleet.
- Nova – a Second Rate Battleship with a reputation for crippling the engines of its foes.
House Machello
- Pride of Hirona – the Machello City Ship
- Niben Albus – the flagship of the Machello fleet, this First Rate was named in honour of the eponymous General Niben Albus Machello who rescued the Emperor Truniss XII on the mining planet of Coruss.
- Justice of the Increate – this Third Rate Battleship was renamed from the Sword of Justice following a spiritual vision aboard by its captain, a devout follower of the Increate.
- Rapier – a Cruiser, the Rapier has a well-deserved reputation for being able to pierce any enemy blockade.
- Lance – a First Rate Battleship, the weapons of the Lance are reputed to be pinpoint accurate.
House Omar
- Obsidian Globe – the Omar City Ship
- Bloodstone – the high number of Boarding Chutes deployed by this Second Rate Battleship makes the Bloodstone responsible for a large number of fatalities amongst enemy crews.
- Citrine – this Cruiser was the first military vessel to be fitted with a Navigator.
- Amethyst – this Second Rate Battleship is the main guard of the Legacy Prime complex on Sunder.
- Jade Eagle – this Third Rate Battleship was once lost in hyperspace for a week. The crew refuses to this day to speak of the apparent years of aging they endured during their disappearance.
House Truniss
- Sarrelon's Bequest – the Truniss City Ship
- Divine Right – this First Rate Battleship was the flagship of a major Truniss force which tried to persuade many former Hollanni worlds to join the Empire.
- Flame of Purity – this Third Rate Battleship is best known for igniting a pocket of gas which caused the pirate ships it was fighting to be engulfed in fire, severely damaging their weapons.
- Righteous Ire – a Cruiser whose crew is known for their fanatical devotion to duty.
- Iron Duke – a Second Rate Battleship which has been the subject of a number of experiments into reinforcing ship armour, the Duke has since withstood several onslaughts with only minor damage.
House Vinka
- Opportunity – the Vinka City Ship
- Salvation – this Cruiser was Admiral Bethina Per Vinka's first command and her ship at the time of the Hollann War.
- Dauntless – this Third Rate Battleship was instrumental in a rearguard action which allowed House Vinka's fleet the chance to retreat and regroup following a Migan attack. Heavily damaged, the Dauntless has now been repaired and is once again ready for battle.
- Audacity – this Second Rate Battleship was one of the ships modified to sport heavy Mining Lasers during General Massan Voli Machello's defence of Jitta against the (then Hollanni) Legacy Battlecruiser.
- Retribution – after being ambushed and left for dead by pirates, this First Rate Battleship has led a number of successful raids against them.