Talk:Adhara in Sphere 1
Old Adharan Fluff stored here.
As Of August 2195
Genre: Blessed be you by the light of Blake (Religious Transhumans) :|
Head of State:
Head of Government: (decide later)
Government: Interim Coalition Democratic Government
History Paths
If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. - Voltaire
- Longshot Mission (+100 Faber)
- Adhara's launch and existence was entirely dependent on some of the most brilliant cyberneticists and transgenic scientists, with Russian blessing, taking a longshot to create the new man, without the fears of Strauss-Kaserism and with a Core power, even a small one, at their backs. They soon invented a religion and ideology to call their own, one that the colonists embraced.
- Dominantly Transgene (+40 Transgene)
- Given the religious pressure towards advancement and human enhancement that the early Adharans had, it was no surprise that they embraced modification. To worship their creator, they would create him, and his heavenly host, via augmentation and AI research.
- Hell World
- They chose a world that was actively hostile to human existence, with conditions reminiscent of primordial Earth. It was their Eden.
- Adapt (Radical Morphological Change)
- Humanity had become weak and broken with their sin, which made many think that Adhara was hell. They were wrong, of course. It was Eden.
- Transgene Migration (+60 Population, +20 Transgene)
- Despite their status as a religious cult, the offer of free top of the line bioenhancement to anyone who emigrated was sufficient to bring many into the fold, and the technology used to enhance the men and women who arrived developed rapidly. And for a time, it was good.
- Military Action (+2,500 Military)
- Religious disagreement created an Adharan civil war, a black mark in one of Russia's few sponsored colonies. The Adharans called for help dealing with this, but what was sent would find itself stranded by the Breakdown.
- Narco-Warfare (+2,500 Military, +Doctrines, -60 Pop)
- The war was long and brutal, killing many and turning others into refugees.
- Isolated (+100 PIP)
- The Adharan Schism raged near the Breakdown, and cries to the motherland and the few other Russian colonies for help were silenced by the Breakdown even as the first reinforcements trickled, turning the tide. War raged and factories expanded to provide this effort. Particularly out on the edge, Adhara found itself entirely cut off from contact.
- Go Weird (+40 Transgene)
- Even as the war raged, scientists adapted the Adharan to war, boosting their bodies for combat.
- The CIS, and The Future
- Adhara may have been established by men and women from many nations but it was with Russian funding which allowed the longshot, influence in the CIS government that kept those refugees looking for a new life as a superman coming, the Schism was won with Russian support. Those, along with its location, made it a shoo-in for becoming one of the CIS's colonies-one successful in its own interesting way.
- Whatever The Cost (+120 Pop, +Morale, +20 Transgene, -100 Wealth)
- The war left them weak, but they would rebuild. They would prosper. And they would ensure that the Dawn would not be able to keep its promise.
- Infodump (+4 Global Tech Level, +100 Dust)
- Soldier of the Future (++Ground Doctrines, +Cybernetics, + Ground Tech)
- Adhara has some of the leading researchers in cybernetics design in the Sphere so close to the Core, and its excellent education system, high-capability template, and religious encouragement towards learning the hard sciences has given it a sizable and well-educated staff of researchers and engineers.
- Multiparty Democracy (+Morale, +Application (common), +100 CIP)
- Adhara itself is run on a coalition government between various interests, forged originally to oppose the Dawn and now a fully fledged democracy in its own right.
- Chaotic)
My Little LacusCivil War: I'm with the Eschatonics! (+20 Transgene, -2,500 Military)- Well they blew themselves up to forge supermen in the fires of war. What's there to say?
- Licensed To Kill (++Infiltration, ++Security, 10% Secrets, +50% Secret Projects Cost)
- The Oculus is well-funded, well-equipped, and as it was formed in support of a special operations unit (instead of the other way around), primarily better at short-term missions than prolonged operations.
Total Path Bonuses:
- Radical Morphological Change, +100 Fabers, ++Morale, +140 Transgene, +2,500 Military, +100 PIP, +100 CIP, +100 Dust, +120 Pop, ++Ground Doctrines, +Doctrines, +Cybernetics, +Ground Application, +Common Application, -100 Wealth
Covert Ops:
- ++ Infiltration, ++Security, 10% Secrets, +50% Secret Projects Cost
Faction Bonuses:
- Unknown
Technology Level
Global Technology Level: 24
- Shipbuilding: +5 [29]
- Propulsion: +5 [29]
- Materials: +5 [29]
- Railguns: +10 [34]
- Collarize: +30 [54]
- Civilian Tech: -2 [22]
- Mass Production: +2 [26]
- Transgenics: +18 [42]
History
The 21st century Brazilian debacle was one of the many obstacles that transhuman technologies had during their adoption. The discreditation of mental enhancment technologies was a harsh hit to the Church of the Imminent Eschaton, which was a rapidly-spreading religious view that mixed concepts from sources such as Christianity, Hinduism, and quantum physics. The major tenets of said religion, that God had made man in His image to create himself in the future, a perfect loop of reincarnation and divinity, and that the method to get closer to God, to worship Him, was by heavily enhancing oneself in body and mind, made it anathema in the backlashes against human enhancement, both mental and physical, that occurred. The founder and his flock left, eight thousand strong, finding a world to colonize. The loss was palpable, as many of the worshippers of the Church of the Imminent Eschaton were brilliant or at least dedicated scientists and engineers, specializing in human enhancement. Ironically or perhaps by fate, the proto-Adharans had generally used mechanical or nanotechnological methods instead of the Brazilian retroviruses for cognitive enhancement, replacing chunks of skull with solid-state machine. Thus, they avoided most of the problems of said enhancement.
The world they chose was Messier, in the Adhara star system, with conditions extremely similar to primordial Earth. Perhaps in a few hundred million years, life would evolve in its organic-rich seas and its harsh rocky continents. The symbolism of having a true Garden of Eden, a world like that which developed humanity, instead of the false gardens that others sought, was combined with pragmatism-by ensuring that only the heavily enhanced could survive the environs without severe technological aid, it ensured that they would be left alone for the most part.
The colonists set forth rebuilding themselves and building a society, one where the circumstances of your birth were unimportant, as enhancement was offered freely, to save one's soul. Adharan evangelist-cyberneticists traveled far and wide, spreading the word, to a range of responses ranging from interest to open hostility-but there were those, the poor, the sick, the ones who saw a method to improve their lot in life-and so they went and were enhanced. Most of them converted, whether out of indoctrination or out of gratitude. Some did not, and came back with their augmentation. Sometimes nations sought to deal with Adhara, sending converts and money and supplies in exchange for blueprints. The touch of Adharan design, whether purchased outright or reverse-engineered, can be seen in most of the cybernetic and some of the genetic augmentation in the human sphere, even today. It seemed like despite their fundamentalist roots and their belief, they were on their way to building a true Eden, one where all that mattered was your ethics and drive.
In the 2120s and early 2130s, though, a demagogue interrupted this process of self-improvement. A minor schism in the two religious leaders and a growing secularist faction from immigrants created a societal situation that got worse over time. The disagreement was over something relatively minor-the divinity of posthuman works and their worthiness to be worshipped. The most extreme of the idolators believed that any posthuman technology was to be worshipped and that using it was akin to dissecting the works of their deity for short-term, crass gains, but few of them went that far. This level of idolatry spread through a significant portion of the populace, who started worshipping, assisting, and otherwise aiding the drones even as they raided nearby space. Those who refused to believe so highly in the divinity of posthuman machinery, who eventually called themselves the moderates, allied with the secularists to provided a united front in governance against this behavior, to hopefully forestall some level of intervention or the creation of something that was like god but did not have the judgment of said.
Debate became argument, disagreement created hatred, and mutual dislikes spiraled into war. The once peaceful and almost idyllic colony was consumed, as Adharans put their enhanced intellect and physical ability towards combat. Factories originally building additional facilities and civilian technology started constructing railguns and battle armor and tanks and aircraft, as the two sides fought. The secularists and moderates had infrastructure on their side, but the extremists had numbers and were more than willing to use and salvage technology from feral drones, and their fanaticism made up for their minor disadvantage in infrastructure. Although the coalition of secularists and moderates could hold against them, inch by inch they were slowly losing ground. Desperate, the coalition fighting them called for help.
The CIS had a vested interest in not allowing the extremist exhumanist sect to win-having an unstable, aggressively proselytizing theocratic power in their backyard would be inconvenient at best, and dealing with the problem now was sufficient impetus to send reinforcements.
The Exodus
The now-losing side realized that it had little hope of victory, but perhaps it had hope for survival. Negotiated peace and the use of an arkship allowed them their survival in the face of their likely annihilation. A UN-backed negotiation gave them a chance to leave, relatively peacefully on a converted arkship. Those negotiating probably hoped that within a century or two, the sect would secularize, or at least become unimportant to larger problems, going into self-imposed isolation like More did.
They were very, very wrong.
The Adharan
Adharan Transgenics
98+% Adharans (35 x 4 [140])
- +2 Physical (13)
- +1 Tough (3)
- +3 Survival (Bio/Radio/Chem Resistant) (0)
- +2 Reactions (15)
- +2 Intelligence (15)
Tech Modifier: (-10)
The prototype Adharan genome was built as a variant of the original Alpha splicer design, by Doctor Ilia Roman, then an independent researcher at BioGEN Human Development, one of the "Big Five" biotech firms which suffered during the Crazy Years and the popularizing of Strauss-Kaserism. The project was a side development of the Alpha emphasizing intellect development, endurance against trauma, and resistance to high-threat biological environments as well as a greatly improved ability to synthesize necessary tissue components over social ability, intended for colonists who might end up in environments potentially difficult to colonize.
Although extremely niche and ending up passed over in several high-notability cases (the greatest being Haraway's World, which due to their sociopolitical leanings decided to homebrew a highly-regimented caste system rather than use a marketed gene template), the work attracted the attention of several leading theorists and human augmentation scientists with similar views about improving transhuman survivability, and during the crackdown on genetic modification scientists, gained a sudden resurgence of ironic popularity among those fleeing Earth for planets that were more often than not, only marginally habitable.
Sociology
Adharan society is based off of one tenet-equality. Equality in ability as well as equality in opportunity. Adharan education, medical care, and augmentation are all subsidized, with privatized or semi-privatized education, healthcare, or mods being a high crime. Inheritance and wills are illegal, with any property at the time of death (save a very small allowance for heirlooms, slightly larger if the heirlooms are inherently without utility such as jewelry or the like) returning to the state. They have not been able to eliminate the "old boy's club" entirely, as the rich still have connections, but they have been able to curtail it somewhat with social stigma-many Adharans refuse such help due to said.
Although nominally secular worshippers of the Church of the Imminent Eschaton are still favored, especially in occupations where augmentations are routinely upgraded or replaced such as military or high-risk construction fields. This is most visible in the field of human augmentation, where someone without a divinity degree is unlikely to be accepted into a prestigious program (and is not very likely to be accepted into any program)-although not an explicit policy this is a heavy societal norm.
The Adharan Baseline
The Adharan government has been a stable multiparty democracy for nearly a decade, although a dictatorship for nearly double that. The CIS "humanitarian relief" vessels and military aid to quell the civil war, although cut off by the breakdown, were enough to allow the secularists and their coalition to tip the balance and ensure the victory of the Techno-Progressives. However, stuck there, the peacekeepers had to adapt to their new location with FTL travel being intermittent and spotty at best. Isolated, they integrated to society as best they could and have made their new home on the moon of Messier, the original forward operation center for coordinating the peacekeeping, now expanded into a metropolis. The high gravity and extreme conditions of Messier have made integration of the peacekeeping forces difficult, and there are many who believe that they should be allowed to break away and form their own sovereign nation with their own laws instead of following Adharan ones. However for now most are happy enough to accept being part of this society.
A few particularly adventurous members have married into Adharan families or modified themselves to fully assimilate into the local society, but most have ideological biases against such actions. With the return of common FTL travel, the Adharan baseline minority is slowly shrinking as many move back to more conventional CIS worlds or giving in and fully assimilating, genetics and all, but despite predictions otherwise a stubborn minority have invested too much in making a living here and are too conservative to take the extreme amount of modification necessary for long-term life on Messier without heavily shielded facilities and constant use of an environmental suit with power-assist.
The original expeditionary force was, of course, a military force and essentially 100% military, skewing attitudes on Adhara. Baselines on Adhara are more likely to think highly of the military (especially considering the praise and adulation harped on the intervention forces by the Techno-Progressives) and have other societal tendencies caused by the original basis of the settlers, creating a rather unique minority culture which Adharan sociologists believe could become a significant issue if left entirely unchecked. Currently attempts to get them to either convert or leave have been of mixed success, especially given that they are a voting bloc, however small.
Military
The Adharan military has three arms with nominally separate chains of command, although in practice someone is expected to defer to someone of equal rank in a higher-prestige unit. These arms are generally separated by quality of training, harshness of selection, and miscellaneous requirements, with all personnel starting in the Adharan Citizen's Defense Forces, issued basic equipment and given basic training. ACDF personnel are expected to defend Adhara from foreign invasion and assist in civil affairs.
ACDF personnel who perform particularly well in practice are allowed to attempt to apply to the Adharan Expeditionary Forces, the arm generally deployed to quell external threats whenever CIS requests assistance from its colonies in a peacekeeping action or the like. ACDF personnel are generally heavily enhanced with cyberware and given training roughly equivalent to a ranger or parachute battalion. Although cross-training with the VDV is common there are often minor issues with conflicting egos between the two sides. Furthermore, some have criticized the AEF for their particularly large egos as well as the common condescension they show towards baselines (whereas the ACDF are generally friendly and the MD are generally indifferent).
The Manus Dei, the Hands of God, are the most elite arm of the Adharan military, and the most selective. The basic requirements to attempt to join are at least 2 years' service in the AEF or ACDF, a divinity degree, and an Atherholt Trauma Function score of 88 or above. Manus Dei generally serve as special forces, although they are technically a fully independent (if small) military with their own naval, armor, and aerospace arm as well. Although there are still noncombat occupations in the Manus Dei, all members are expected to be at least capable of functioning as elite light infantry if necessary no matter if they are chaplains, intelligence analysts, naval crew, or pilots. For this reason the Manus Dei training regimen is extremely tight packed, pushing even Adharan augmentation to the limits as personnel get a minimum of respite, sometimes training for more than 20 hours a day for weeks on end.
Although promotion upwards is fairly standard, Adhara often promotes soldiers with particularly high levels of competence and drive "sidewards" into more prestigious units. The prestige of being a member of the AEF or Manus Dei is such that there are inevitably more applicants than there are ever acceptances, with the rejection rate being anywhere from 30% for the AEF to over 75% for the Manus Dei.
Adharan Citizen's Defense Force
Pro patria vigalans (watchful for the country) -motto of the ACDF
The much-maligned, much-underestimated ACDF is the backbone of all Adharan defensive operations and after the gross failure of the AEF to become a peacekeeping and humanitarian relief force, take up most of the brunt of that side of things as well. Only lightly augmented with standard issue being implant radios and medical implants at best, equipped with cheap no-frills technology, and trained to a standard intended for cost effectiveness rather than individual superiority, the ACDF has done well given what it has.
Considering that anyone with exceptional talent gets scouted and inducted into either the special operations units of the Manus Dei's monastic order, or the elite soldiers of the Adharan Expeditionary Force, the ACDF often suffers from a shortage of talent as well as top of the line technology. It is tribute to the Adharan spirit, one would say, that the ACDF still remains functional and disciplined despite the parasitism of the two other military arms. Others would say that many of the retirees from the Manus Dei and AEF often end up in training and oversight roles in the ACDF, so as much as the higher-ups in the Colonial Defense Force bitch and moan about them, the aggregate experience of the Manus Dei and AEF are what's holding the masses of green soldiers in the Colonial Defense Force together.
As an Adharan is an immensely capable soldier and their natural environment brings them heavy defensive advantages (which insane man would wish to invade Adhara?), the ACDF is largely untested in combat not with its own brothers and sisters. Without any institutionalized combat experience, they are entirely untested outside of drill.
Adharan Expeditionary Force
Provehito in altum (launch forward into the deep) -motto of the AEF
You are not Superman. AEF members take note. -barracks graffiti, AEF training barracks.
The Adharan Expeditionary Forces were only structured in the late 2170s and early 2180s as a force projection method that the new government could use to assist in peacekeeping operations. Originally intended to be little more than peacekeepers and figurehead forces, the ZOCU war and the rediscovery of the Eternal Dawn caused more than a few panics and a rapid restructuring of its curricula and doctrine. Quite a few would say that it was restructured for the worse-the majority of the AEF top command were veterans of the Adharan Schism, battle hardened warriors looking for a new war to fight. Like begets like and what was once intended to be a token force for peacekeeping and humanitarian relief became a brash, aggressive military force with attitudes that many would call "extreme".
AEF soldiers are somewhat infamous for a few well-publicized incidents involving fights, insults and intimidation, and a significant minority of its personnel holding an attitude towards baseline humanity which can at best be called "arrogant". The stereotypical AEF soldier is an inhuman brute of myomer muscle and metal containing a handful of still-living organs, dismissive of anything the transgene, let alone the baseline could do, and with a lack of discipline, discretion, and intellect.
It's not quite true but stereotypes only exist when certain traits start showing up very often. Some particular critics of the "elite force" attitude consider it that attitude taken to extremes by their exhumanist or "ultra" tendencies-an uncompromising belief in their own superiority, a fetishistic worship of the infantryman, and often taking courses of action intended to showcase ability instead of being efficient uses of men and materiel.
On the other hand, its proponents say, it has extremely high esprit de corps, the vast majority of its soldiers are perfectly respectable citizens, and although they might occasionally take a few risks, they get the job done and do it well. They also add that although they might look different, nobody has ever proven that inhuman cybernetic alterations have ever encouraged any aggressive, sociopathic, or arrogant behavior and given their line of work wouldn't you want every edge you could get?
Its combat record has given both sides fuel for this debate, as if either needed it, and constant bickering on the role and utility of the AEF is, in the opinion of many educated Adharans, likely to be a constant for the next few centuries unless something unforeseen and drastic appears.
AEF Rank System
As CIS standardized.
AEF Cybernetics
The Adharan Expeditionary Force is proud of just how much augmentation it packs onto its personnel, and no unit would be caught dead with an unaugmented candidate. Although the Manus Dei might take the religious tenets to heart and augment themselves continually because of belief, the AEF do so for more worldly reasons-personal power, intimidation value, and most importantly prestige. Not only does the AEF issue cyberware and stipends for its installation, many of its personnel save their own income to purchase and install further augmentation.
This augmentation is almost generally considered vulgar and emphasizes inhuman traits-digitigrade legs for faster movement, the complete removal of facial features and articulation to install an armored mask, weapons dendrites, and other highly exotic enhancement. Heavy peer pressure in the group exists to guide inductees away from retaining human traits and form, as well. Some AEF soldiers go so far as to shock or even disgust their comrades in the Citizen's Defense Force and the Manus Dei, who although univerally augmented rarely prefer the exotic, inhuman modifications so popular in the AEF. Interestingly enough, the primary cause of this is secular and ideological, where the Manus Dei prefer the human form due to their religious beliefs while the AEF, although still mostly filled with those nominally of the Church of the Eschaton, are often those who believe that the human form was intended as a stepping-stone to greater works. Others are more secular and merely take this heavy augmentation out of peer pressure or out of pragmatism.
This intra-military religious conflict has led to more than a few disagreements, some ending up physical. Although the Manus Dei do not like to fight, they are not pacifists and are more than willing to demonstrate to a foolish AEF Kryten that the efficiency of one's augmentation is not the only determinant of combat prowess.
The Manus Dei
The Manus Dei are a religious order of soldiers who were originally special forces for the non-Schismatics. As a concession to the coalition, the Manus Dei were given special recognition and rights as an arm of the Adharan armed forces and an entirely separate chain of command, although this comes with an expectation that the majority of the time the Manus Dei assist the Adharan armed forces in their goal. Given this it is the most differentiated segment of the Adharan armed forces compared to the rest of the CIS.
Ranks and Authority
From highest to lowest w/rough conventional equivalency:
- Seraph-9X (O-8 Major General)
- Cherubim-8I (O-7 Brigadier General)
- Throne-7H (O-6 Colonel)
- Ophanim (O-4 Major)
- Dominion-6G (O-3 Captain)
- Virtue-5F (O-2 1st Lieutenant)
- Power-4E (E-9 Sergeant Major)
- Principality-3D (E-7 Sergeant First Class)
- Archangel-2C (E-6 Staff Sergeant)
- Angel-1B (E-5 Sergeant)
- Noviciate-0A (Recruit)
Ranks 1B to 9X are ranks used by active-duty personnel, Noviciate/0A is given to trainees regardless of their previous rank-if successful, they are inducted into the Manus Dei with the Manus Dei equivalent of their original rank. Ranks Angel/1B to Power/4E are enlisted, Virtue/5F to Seraph/9X are commissioned officer rank-equivalents.
As the Manus Dei are technically a monastic order, the leader of the Manus Dei is always an Abbot (if male) or Abbess (if female) and holds proportional religious authority. Most commissioned officers in the Manus Dei also hold religious authority as well, although this is not technically required.
Personnel
The path of the faithful is marked by continual enhancement. -Chapter 41, The Pancreator's Projection
All applicants to the Manus Dei are taken from the members of the Adharan Citizen's Defense Force and Adharan Expeditionary Forces. To join an applicant must have an Atherholt Trauma Function test score of above 80%, a degree in divinity or a related subject, and be extremely mentally fit with high scores in problem-solving, willpower, and other desirable traits. Physical fitness is optional as most Manus Dei submit to extremely heavy cyberization, the start of which is during training-however an ability to tolerate extreme augmentation is not.
The Manus Dei training regimen is secret but what is known is that it pushes even the heavy cybernetic augmentation of its candidates to the limit. After successfully completing training, the noviciate is given their callsign and the history of the callsign, as well as its former bearers. This story is their link to the unit. Until they retire, whether from death or discharge, they are that person, often calling it their "True Name", with their birth name being their "Blood Name". As an unwritten code, former Manus Dei do not talk about their True Names in the unit, since legend goes that when they retire and another member is given the name in their place the legend and the spirit both pass on to the new inductee.
Manus Dei never die-the True Names are recycled no matter how the member is retired.
Structure
The Manus Dei is divided into three rough arms, the Oculus Dei (Eyes of the Pancreator), Laminus Dei (Blades of the Pancreator), and the Potentius Dei (Strength of the Pancreator). The vast majority of personnel are in the Potentius Dei, with the Oculus Dei possessing the lowest amount of manpower. Roughly divided, the Oculus Dei are intelligence as well as liaisons between the Manus Dei and allied military forces, the Laminus Dei are the direct action and indirect-action arm of the Manus Dei, and the Potentius Dei are support, including air support, armor support, infantry support, and military support. Furthermore, the auspice of the Potentius Dei also contains most noncombatant members of the Manus Dei, including the chaplain corps, medical corps, and training staff.
The Oculus Dei: Ipsa scientia potentia est (knowledge itself is power) -Oculus Dei motto
- As the intelligence arm of the Manus Dei, the Oculus Dei keep tabs on allied, enemy, and neutral troop dispositions, research, and technology. Primarily ELINT based, they have a small HUMINT section of paramilitaries culled from the ranks of the Laminus Dei. These paramilitaries are trained to work with improvised weapons and taught to act as drill instructors and advisers to friendly forces, as well as to throw wrenches in the works when they need throwing.
The Laminus Dei: Fortis cadere, cedere non potest. (the brave may fall, but cannot yield) -Laminus Dei motto
- Although not the largest arm of the Manus Dei, the Blades of the Pancreator are the most visible and well-known arm of the Manus Dei. A direct-action group primarily specializing in unconventional warfare operations, they often crosstrain with, and occasionally have assisted, Spetsnaz operations.
The Potentius Dei: Perge Sequar (advance, I follow) -Potentius Dei motto
- Members of the Potentius Dei fulfill a boring but vital task-keeping the members with the exciting jobs supported, whether that means with military support, logistics, or training. The personnel inducted into the Potentius Dei pilot mobile suits and man naval vessels, they form battalions of special operations capable infantry, they drive transports and they train the noviciates who will take up the True Names of the fallen. Their work is generally not as glamorous as the image of Laminus Dei soldiers kicking in doors and advancing, all heavy body armor and blued-metal rifles, but without the security, logistics support, and naval assistance that the Potentius Dei Shadow Divisions provide, many operations could not be successful. Given the critical role of the Potentius Dei the vast majority (approximately 75%) of all Manus Dei personnel are inducted into this aegis.
Leadership
Current Leader: Abbess Irina Blake (Seraph/9X)
- The current director of the Manus Dei, Irina Blake took over after the retirement of Abbot Paul Simons in late 2189. Formerly the commander of the Laminus Dei during the ZOCU war, she used postwar reformations and adaptations to further increase the size, scope, and military might of the Manus Dei. Her current projects are advising the League Foreign Legion to buffer against Magnate (to be precise, Eternal Dawn) encroachment, as well as her standard religious and political duties.
Oculus Dei Director: Bishop Thomas Wu (Cherubim/8I)
Laminus Dei Director: Minister Shahrazad Shanaz (Cherubim/8I)
Potentius Dei Director: Alexander Engel (Throne/7H)
Tenets
- First tenet: Uphold your faith as a scholar in peace and as a warrior in battle. You have been blessed with the talent to argue your faith with weapons and with words. Use it well.
- Second tenet: Uphold your duty to the Adharan peoples, no matter where this duty takes you or what it asks of you. Understand that as one of the hands of the Pancreator, you will be expected to do the impossible.
- Third tenet: As a warrior show respect to your fellow warrior no matter the situation. He who is fighting against you today merely misunderstands. He will come to learn in time.
- Fourth tenet: Show no disrespect to those of lesser ability, brook no hatred towards the apostate. In time they will, too, learn by example. It may take decades or centuries but were we not all too ignorant of the word of god until recently?
- Fifth tenet: Our brothers are most valued. Stop at nothing to get one back.
- Sixth tenet: As one of the hands of god, you continue a lineage based on your name. Your body is a mere vessel for your heritage. Do not hesistate to sacrifice it if god wills that it be done. As long as your name and your deeds are remembered, you will never truly die.
- Seventh tenet: Remember your comrades and their deeds. As long as one still remembers, the Manus Dei will never cease to be.
- Eighth tenet: The enemy is not the true obstacle. Your doubt is. If you believe the impossible is possible, you will find a way to make it so. If you believe the possible is impossible, you will find excuses to render it impossible.
- Ninth tenet: Be swift, efficient, and precise. Waste no energy on atrocity or unnecessary action. Every move should be considered, every action consciously decided on. The pancreator did not bless you with a mind of silicon and crystal-matrix processors to waste it on actions that a beast could take.
- Tenth tenet: As a champion of transhumanism, the Church of the Imminent Eschaton, and of the Adharan peoples, all eyes are on you. No matter the situation, act with discipline and precision. In your body and your augmented mind there is a shard of divinity. Any actions that you commit that reflect poorly on you, reflect poorly on the Pancreator as well.
Test Units
Aerospace
S-SHA-0 Shade
ACDF standard, the S-SHA-0 Shade is a relatively high-performance mass-production fighter that has a reputation for durability, agility, and being immensely hard to fly. Unlike most fighters which use primary missile armament the S-SHA-0 often carries heavy energy weapon armament, as well as moderate armor and high agility. Pilots who have been trained on multiple airframes enjoy its long-duration firepower but find its exotic aerodynamics and high TWR difficult to handle much of the time.
S-SHA-0 Shade (Clean)
Numbers are unrounded.
Speed 14, Agility 10.75?, Evasion 8, Armor 3, 4 Hits
1 Expansion
Internal Space: 8 + 4 = 12
- 3 x Fusion Reactor (Pwr 12, Space 5)
- 3 x Armor (-0.75 Agility, +3 armor, Space 3)
- 2 x Verniers (+2 Agility, +1 Evasion, Pwr 2)
- 4 x Fusion Thrusters (+4 Speed, +2 Agility, +2 Evasion, Pwr 2)
Excess Power: 8
Free External Space: 8 + 2 = 10
S-SHA-0 Shade Prime
The Shade Prime uses a single pulse gun as 'gun' armament and supports it with a pair of missile racks for multirole use.
- 1 x Pulse Gun (Range 8, accuracy +8, penetration +1, Strength +0), 6 Spaces, 5 Power
- 2 x Missile Racks
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-SHA-0 Shade Alpha
The alpha variant, intended for engaging targets such as mecha, packs a single beam gun and nothing else.
- 1 x Beam Gun (Range 12, accuracy +4, penetration +5, Strength +2)-8 Spaces, 10 Power
- 1 x Fusion Reactor (Pwr 4, Space 2)
S-RSK-0 Rusalka
The standard Adharan Expeditionary Force fighter through the ZOCU conflict, the alien-looking, angular Rusalka is well armored and shielded for a fighter, capable of deflecting light weaponry and, at a favorable angle, nullifying the effects of the Hoplite's particle rifle.
Nevertheless, it is still very agile and surprisingly fast, owing to its high-performance extralight engine. Designed to rapidly hot-swap weaponry the base chassis had a gross excess of power, allowing it to use powerful energy weapons, like the Lord's Light Heavy PPC it normally mounted, which it backed up by a pair of micromissile racks, one under each folding wing. Despite its large size and high mass the radical variable geometry wings and verniers could retract, meaning that the Shade took up little more space than a standard fighter, also decreasing its target profile in vacuum.
Its armor came as a surprise to Combined Militia mobile suit pilots, as did its powerful primary weaponry. Although its armor lost much of its value with the fielding of the Sarissa (and its Mega Particle Beam rifle) in numbers, the Shade is still a potent, if expensive fighter.
Shadow Division Rusalkas (as well as Strigas and Shades) exist with superior components but are, like all Manus Dei Shadow Division systems, rare. Shadow Division units are designated with S-RSK-1(type) as standard.
S-RSK-0 Rusalka (Clean)
Numbers are unrounded.
Speed 14, Agility 13.75?, Evasion 8.5?, Armor 3/3 Shield (+3 AP Protection), 4 Hits
3 Expansions
Internal Space: 8 + 12 = 20
- 7 x Fusion Reactor (Pwr 28, Space 7)
- 1 x Scattering Field (-1 Evasion, +3 Armor/3 AP, Space 1, Pwr 8)
- 3 x Armor (-0.75 Agility, +3 armor, Space 3)
- 5 x Verniers (+5 Agility, +2.5 Evasion, Pwr 6)
- 4 x Fusion Thrusters (+4 Speed, +2 Agility, +2 Evasion, Pwr 2)
Excess Power: 12
Free External Space: 8 + 6 = 14
S-RSK-0 Prime
The standard Rusalka, representative of what most AEF pilots fly as normal.
- 1 x Beam Gun (Range 12, accuracy +4, penetration +5, Strength +2)-8 Spaces, 10 Power
- 2 x Missile Racks
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-RSK-0A Aleph
The Aleph adds applique armor and 2 pulse guns for close-in dogfighting against mecha.
- 1 x Reactive Armor Coating (Armor +1, Space 2)
- 2 x Pulse Guns (Range 8, accuracy +8, penetration +1, Strength +0), 12 Spaces, 10 Power
S-RSK-0B
The Beta variant is intended to deal massive damage against soft targets while surviving light antifighter weaponry, with an additional scattering field generator .
- 1 x Scattering Field (-1 Evasion, +3 Armor/3 AP) 2 Spaces, 8 Power
- 2 x Shotcannon (Range 4, accuracy +0, penetration +0, Strength -3, Burst Bonus +9) 10 Spaces, 4 Power
- 1 x Missile Rack
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-RSK-0C
The Chi variant is intended for a strike role, with additional speed, protection, and limited-endurance missile armament.
- 1 x Scattering Field (-1 Evasion, +3 Armor/3 AP) 2 Spaces, 8 Power
- 1 x External Fusion Thrusters (+1 Speed, +0.5 Agility, +0.5 Evasion) 2 Spaces, 1 Power
- 1 x Pulse Gun (Range 8, accuracy +8, penetration +1, Strength +0), 6 Spaces, 5 Power
- 2 x Missile Racks, 4 Spaces
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-RSK-0D The Delta is intended for missile strikes and has no additional armament.
- 2 x External Fusion Thrusters (+2 Speed, +1 Agility, +1 Evasion) 4 Spaces, 2 Power
- 5 x Missile Racks, 4 Spaces
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-STR-0 Striga
The Striga is a heavy fighter intended for strike roles. Surprisingly fast and nimble for its nearly 90-ton frame, the Striga's heavy armor, powerful shielding, and excess of power makes it a fighter which requires delicate handling to get the most out of as although powerful and fast, its heavy mass and inertia make it hard to control. Due to the prototype's tendency to break up from stress fractures in high-G flight its frame has also been heavily reinforced.
S-STR-0 Striga (Clean)
Heavy Fighter, 4 Expansions
Speed 11 Agility 7.5 Evasion 6.5 Armor 15 (+3 AP), 6 Hits
Component Space: 24
- 8 Fusion Reactors (32 Pwr)
- 6 Armor (+6 Armor, -1.5 Agility)
- 2 Reinforced Frame (+2 Hits, -.5 Agility)
- 4 Thrusters (+4 Speed, +2 Agility, +2 Evasion), 4 Power
- 1 Scattering Field (+3 Armor, +3 AP, -1 Evasion), 8 Power
- 3 Verniers (+3 Agility, +1.5 Evasion), 3 Power
External Space: 16
Excess Power: 17
S-STR-0 Prime
The Prime Design uses all its (extensive) additional space for anti-mecha weaponry.
- 2 x Anti Missile Lasers (2 Space, 2 Power)
- 2 x Pulse Guns (Range 8, accuracy +8, penetration +1, Strength +0), 12 Spaces, 10 Power
- 1 x Missile Rack
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-STR-0A Aleph
The Aleph is a dedicated strike design with no defensive armament, turning the Striga into a fast missile boat.
Speed 11 Agility 7.5 Evasion 6.5 Armor 18 (+6 AP), 6 Hits
- 1 x Scattering Field (+3 Armor, +3 AP, -1 Agility), 8 Power, 2 Spaces
- 2 x Anti Missile Lasers (2 Space, 2 Power)
- 6 x Missile Racks
- Strike Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +7, penetration +7, Strength +5, Guided +5, 1 Shot)
- Assault Missiles (Range 25, accuracy -1, penetration +10, Strength +10, Guided +5, 1 Shot, 2 damage)
- Cluster Missiles (Range 8, accuracy +10, penetration +2, Strength +0, Guided +8, 3 Shots)
- Anti-Air Missiles (Range 25, accuracy +10, penetration +3, Strength +0, Guided +13, 1 Shot)
S-STR-0B
The Beta variant takes the Striga and arms for a dogfight, using some of the spare power to increase its agility and speed. Combined with its formidable durability it is a surprisingly effective close-in combatant.
Speed 13 Agility 7.5 Evasion 8.5 Armor 15 (+3 AP), 6 Hits
- 2 x Shotcannon (Range 4, accuracy +0, penetration +0, Strength -3, Burst Bonus +9) 10 Spaces, 4 Power
- 2 x Anti-Missile Lasers 2 Spaces, 2 Power
- 2 x External Thrusters (+2 Speed, +1 Agility, +1 Evasion) 4 Spaces, 2 Power