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Sir Nihlus
08-18-2015, 09:07 PM
As details are discussed and agreed upon, this thread will contain the most detailed information regarding the factions that populate the FC Universe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


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The Empire


The Brotherhood Alliance


The First Imperium

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The Imperial Marine Corps

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The Royal Enforcer Deployment Division

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The Imperial Navy

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The Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence

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Sir Nihlus
08-18-2015, 11:18 PM
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THE FIRST IMPERIUM

The Empire, alternatively known as the 'First Imperium' in historical circles, has its roots in United Nations Space Command, the military wing of the now defunct United Earth Government. With the resulting dissolution of the United Earth Government as a result of political pressure from the "Blue" movement in June 2567 and the chaos that followed it's absence, United Nations Space Command remained active and ordered martial law on all UNSC-controlled colonies until an interim provisional coalition government could be established with protestors and negotiations would begin. However, those negotiations never really took place as an unknown Lieutenant General from the UNSC's Marine Corp took control of the organization in a coup backed by small elements of his namesake organization. This leader, his name still unknown to this day, stormed the former United Earth Government Public Relations Center in New York, New York on Earth with elements of the Marine Corp's ODST segment where negotiations were set to begin and stopped the peace process entirely. The following occurred immediately afterwards; any UNSC military leader in the building was imprisoned as was the political leaders from the protestors movement who had attended the summit with the hopes of finally ending an Earth-based human government. This Lieutenant General subsequently garnered for himself the title of 'Emperor', and re-organized the crumbling remnants of Humanity's first universal government into what is now known today as "The Empire."

The Empire's beginnings did not remain as smooth as its takeover, however. Numerous planetary governors in the UNSC, installed after the UEG's collapse and charged with keeping the peace, were quick to capitalize on the early instability of the Empire. Nearly all of them were high-ranking military officials, and thus retained high amounts of loyal soldiers, ships, and ordnance. These men and women took the position of warlords, seceding away with vital planets such as Mars, Victoria, Mamore and others. The Emperor subsequently re-organized the UNSC's military elements into the Imperial Navy, Imperial Marine Corps, Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence, and ordered Dr. Catherine Halsey's SPARTAN program revived and restarted. He then set about destroying each warlord piecemeal; the first to fall was Mars, being it was a fortress world at Earth's doorstep. The other planets who had broken away quickly followed suit, and those who chose to surrender were summarily executed in public areas as an example of what happened to traitors in the new regime. By 2570, nearly 90% of all self-proclaimed independent warlords had been exterminated and the Inner Colonies had been brought back entirely under Imperial control. By 2571, the remaining 10% had been exterminated as well, leaving only the same Insurrectionists who existed in the Outer Colonies just like before the United Earth Government had collapsed. To this end, the Emperor selected elements of the Imperial Military, still the UNSC in all but name, to seek out and eliminate these rebel elements. 2571 also marks the first time Imperial soldiers were identified as having crimson and red coloring added to their armor. The "Blue" political movement went underground immediately as it's leaders were systematically abducted and never heard from again.

The next year went extremely well for the Empire. Military research and development went up nearly 50%, primarily funded by taxation of Outer Colony agri-worlds and mining worlds. Relations with the Sangheili species and it's lesser servant species were renewed, ensuring a strong ally in the event of another interstellar conflict, and recruitment for the Imperial Military went up 77%. The SPARTAN program was accelerated and the formula for creating the perfect soldier perfected; the end result was the Spartan-IV, more numerous and robust than all three of their preceding classes. Equipped with updated variants of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor suit, more specifically Variant VIII, these Spartans began to be churned out at first in regiments and later on at division strength. Although still not nearly as numerous as the men and women of the Marine Corp, their presence became an added reminder of the power of the Empire, and their official designation as a group was the R.E.D.D., or Royal Enforcer Deployment Division. Officially attached to the Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence, the R.E.D.D. answered directly with full loyalty only to the Emperor, taking an oath of service until death directly to him rather than to the Empire as a whole to ensure they would remain faithful. However, the new Spartan program was not without flaws. The extent of these defects would not fully be realized until 2573, when the "Blue" political movement re-emerged from hiding in a militant manner as the Brotherhood Legion of United Exiles and Spartan-IVs and Marines alike would turn their backs on their oaths.

The resulting rebellion caused by the Brotherhood hit the Empire like a firestorm in a room full of highly flammable material. For quite sometime Imperial injustice had become rampant with public executions, over-taxation, corrupt officials and a myriad host of other problems. The Brotherhood, no longer in hiding, capitalized on this when it hacked Inner Colony Courier's news stations and flooded human-controlled planets with evidence of Imperial cruelty in February 2573. Public opinion of the current government automatically went south, and riots and crackdowns occurred everywhere as these atrocities were brought to light to the more modest elements of society. The immediate effect was legions of citizens flocked to enlist to fight for it's cause; the secondary, and in many opinions the more serious effect, was whole professional divisions of Imperial Marines, regiments of Spartan-IVs, and whole naval fleets flocking to the Brotherhood as well after seeing the severe corruption and war crimes of certain areas of the Empire and Imperial Military. Overnight, the Brotherhood became a full-scale Insurrectionist movement with a serious desire to see the end of the Empire before the turn of the decade. Despite such mass-scale defections and internal problems, however, the Empire still maintained a sizable military force and as such staved off any threats of immediate invasions by virtue of the very men who had defected who knew the true extent of the Imperial war machine.

However, the Empire severely misunderstood how much of a threat the Brotherhood was once their enemy was made known to them in opening engagements, and it's highest military leaders chose to treat these "Blues", the derogatory term for them, as common rabble who had no true organization or martial skill. When Victoria became the first planet to re-secede from the Empire and became the Brotherhood capital in April 2573, the Empire sent a massive force comprised of the Imperial Navy, Marine Corp, and the R.E.D.D. to the colony with the intention of "curbing this autistic proletariate uprising once and for all." Upon arrival out of Slip Space, however, the armada was obliterated by a mixture of defected Imperial navy ships and rebel ships still in operation from the Human-Covenant Era and beyond. Simply caught unprepared and unready for such a sudden blitz, nearly 40% of the fleet was destroyed in the first hour of the naval engagement and another 30% was boarded and seized by Brotherhood forces, who proved to be remarkably well-organized for only a few months preparation out in the open (it was apparent however this defending fleet relied heavily on defected professional Imperial military elements and not uniquely rebel units). The remaining ships that did escape the initial engagement proceeded with the operation under the foolish orders of Imperial High Command (IMHC) Outer Colonies, and landed their ground forces planet side. These units, comprised of the Imperial Marine Corps and the R.E.D.D, initially fared well until what remained of their naval fleet was destroyed two weeks after landing. After another two months and lacking supplies, these planet-side forces surrendered entirely. Subsequently, the entire brass of IMHC Outer Colonies was executed for incompetence.

The remainder of 2573 through 2581 was not kind to the Empire. In early 2574, the Empire sustained another crushing loss at Harvest, and lost another major deciding engagement in 2577 when they tried to invade and take Victoria a second time. All the while, the Brotherhood's power grew and grew while the Empire continued to decay and lose ground in the Outer Colonies until it maintained control over only a fraction of Outer Colony planets. It was only when reconnaissance ships discovered Installation 03 in 2581 and the Empire subsequently landed forces on the Halo Ring that the tide began to turn when reverse-engineered Forerunner technology began to pop up in higher class echelons of the Imperial Military and they began to regain the upper hand in conventional engagements against the Brotherhood. Weaponry, better technological systems such as improved FTL engines, etc. improved the efficiency and became the standard of the Imperial Military, reviving it's sagging war economy. The effect was not immediate, but by 2586 with Forerunner technology and more competent leaders the Empire had re-surged to take back previous Brotherhood gains on the edges of the Inner Colonies and began to move on the offensive. It successfully staged three defenses of Reach, preventing Brotherhood access to Earth, and ironically annihilated a Brotherhood armada en route to Mars as well as one en route to Sigma Octanus VII. This trend of one-sided victories has not continued, however; currently, it is on an even keel with the Brotherhood in terms of technology and military strength after the Brotherhood discovered the location of Installation 03 and captured upgraded Imperial technology in recent engagements.

Since 2590, the Empire has regained a position similar to what it was before 2573, albeit at a very diminished capacity. Despite the amazing number of setbacks and defeats suffered at the hands of the Brotherhood, the Empire has one thing going for it still: establishment. The Empire still has more numbers, more resources, more technology, and more allies in the form of half the Sangheili race, the Unggoy and the Mgalekgolo. However, it's inability to adapt to such an enemy that can fight both conventionally and unconventionally at the same time may prove it's undoing. Only time will tell whether the juggernaut that is the Empire will be able to even touch it's adversary in any major way. Currently, the Empire is in a balancing act between attempting to acquire Forerunner technology and fighting off the Brotherhood.

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THE IMPERIAL MARINE CORPS

The Imperial Marine Corps is easily the largest of the Empire's military assets. As there is no standing Imperial Army, the Marine Corps oversees duties originally taken care of by the UNSC Army such as garrisoning conquered territory and launching land-based campaigns against topside targets in addition to space operations where they are generally working in coordination with the Imperial Navy. Numbering in the millions, the Marines are generally considered the first line of defense against Brotherhood rebels invading Imperial territory or the first forces thrown into an offensive against the Brotherhood. R.E.D.D. detachments often work in close coordination with Imperial Marines and their ODST counter-parts; however, the Imperial Marine Corps has been involved in every major deciding engagement starting with the loss of Victoria in April 2573 while the R.E.D.D is only called in when it is obvious standard humans cannot complete the task at hand. The Imperial Marine Corps is an exact copy of the UNSC Marine Corps from the last years of the United Earth Government with the exception of equipment and appearance changes and the addition of a blood oath that is sworn by every initiated marine. No ranks have been changed, and the structure of how it is arranged has only changed with the addition of another quasi sub-unit: the legion.

Although they are exceptionally well-equipped and generally have better training as opposed to the inconsistent substandard training of a Brotherhood guerrila, mounting losses have dropped the average age of a drafted or volunteer recruit from 19 down to 16, and the life-expectancy of said new recruit is generally two to three weeks due to fresh Marines often being thrown into the thick of the fighting as soon as they can be shipped off from basic either on Mars or from any other Inner Colony planet. Imperial Marines are most often equipped with MA5G ICWS, which maintains a 32-round clip and is fully automatic (this weapon is heavily reminsicent of the Human-Covenant War-Era MA5C ICWS); their sidearm is the M6L, which is essentially an updated version of the M6C but with the small aesthetic addition of an Imperial sigil etched into the side with it's serial number. Imperial Marines most closely resemble UNSC Marines from 2531; their BDUs are dark grey fatigues with reddish-scarlet composite armor covering most of their body, and every soldier is issued polarized tactical goggles and a balaclava to conceal their face although personal preferences may vary. There are no camouflage variations in the uniform of an Imperial Marine; this has led to Brotherhood snipers being able to easily distinguish Imperial troopers in both urban and rural environments with ease. ODSTs have red-scarlet accents, but otherwise their battle armor has not been changed dramatically; only software and component upgrades have taken place.

Imperial Marines generally fair well against Brotherhood soldiers in both individual firefights and conventional warfare. They undergo rigorous training even when hurried up by the demand for fresh soldiers on the front, and are generally well-versed in close quarters combat as well as being proficient marksman while the consistency of the standard Brotherhood rebel varies from time to time as they have both volunteer recruits and professional soldiers who have defected from the Empire. However, tactics and strategies implemented by the Imperial Marines are meant for usage in conventional warfare; a lack of ability to adapt to the tactics of the Brotherhood has led to decimations of entire well-trained divisions simply because of poor planning: units often sustain casualty rates of upwards 50% in large-scale prolonged engagements even where the Empire is favored. Imperial Marines are a cake-walk for Brotherhood Spartans; they are only human, and cannot compete with the genetic enhancements Spartan-IVs enjoy. Regardless, squads of Imperial Marines working in coordination have brought down Brotherhood Spartans before although this is a rarity. Currently, Imperial Marines are deployed on every active planet-in-contention with the exception of Victoria.

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THE ROYAL ENFORCERS DEPLOYMENT DIVISION


The Royal Enforcer Deployment Division, or R.E.D.D., is the pen and paper name of the active duty militarized segment of the official Spartan-IV program. It is worthy to note that it is not actually division size: currently, there are fifteen thousand-man strong classes of Spartan-IVs listed alphabetically from Alpha to Oscar with Classes Papa and Quebec in training and recruiting efforts underway for the Romeo, Sierra, and Tango Classes. The first batch of Spartan-IVs were deployed into active combat zones in the Outer Colonies against insurgents in February 2572 and were extremely effective against standard humans in nearly every combat situation they were applied to even when heavily outnumbered and outgunned. Contrary to the Imperial Marine Corps, the R.E.D.D. sustains very low casualty rates in combat theaters but the trade off to this is that they are not nearly as numerous as their un-enhanced counterparts and are only deployed when extra kick is required to get the job done. Spartan-IVs are not directly attached to Imperial NAVSPECWAR Command anymore; instead, their ultimate loyalty lies with the Emperor and conditioning ensures they keep their loyalties straight. The Imperial Marine Corps may have been involved in every major engagement of the war, but the presence of the R.E.D.D. has been the deciding factor in whether the battle was considered a victory or defeat. A large portion of Imperial military spending goes into ensuring that the Spartan-IV program is constantly funded and is being improved upon; all other expenditures are considered a close secondary objective. However, the Empire is so vast that resources are not considered a problem at this point in time unlike the financing issues faced by the UNSC with the Spartan-II program.

Recruitment processes for the R.E.D.D. has changed since the days of the Spartan-II program. Candidates are now screened at the age of five, and the requirements for the gene-candidate pool have become less restrictive as a result of improvements in the augmentation process that the candidates later undergo. A mix of high quality military training and higher education from a young age ensure the children are both knowledgeable and deadly. Imperial propaganda is constantly present everywhere they go, and conditioning ensures they are absolutely loyal to the Empire and more importantly the Emperor, whom they swear allegiance and fealty to upon completion of augmentation which begins at age 14 just like in the older programs. Leaders are identified early on and selected for officer training to command both teams and larger units of Spartan-IVs; however, company-strength is the largest size a R.E.D.D. detachment will be organized into battle although multiple companies may take part. Upon completion of training, Spartan-IVs are equipped with MJOLNIR VIII variant powered assault armor suits; due to the varying nature of their varying advanced training paths, appearances may vary although generally most choose to keep their armor as uniform as possible to prevent distinction of job specializations. All armor suits are a full red or crimson shade; there are no camouflage variations and it tends to create an intimidation effect amongst Brotherhood rebels for however long they are alive to see the blur moving against them. Equipment varies between each individual Spartan-IV. Currently, the highest rank held by a single Spartan-IV is Major with numerous Captains coming in behind. When a Spartan-IV is too old to continue active duty or has been wounded sufficiently enough to severely impair their combat abilities, they are given positions to train the next generations before official honorable discharge and retirement on Earth.

2573 has proved that the conditioning of the Spartan-IVs that is supposed to make them perfectly loyal is imperfect and still needs re-testing. When the Brotherhood went public, Imperial fleets and marine divisions were not the only professional forces to flock to their cause. The three most veteran and senior classes (Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie) each had mass defections to the enemy cause and similar desertions amongst the Delta and Echo classes occurred in the following months afterwards into late 2574. Although portions of these classes remained loyal, their size was so incredibly diminished that Alpha and Bravo were folded into one contiguous unit while allowed to keep their original class designations while Charlie was absorbed into Delta entirely. Although these loyal Spartan-IVs remained in active deployment and not a single defection would not occur again until 2576 with the decimation of Class Mike, this led the Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence to do a complete review of the program for deficiencies (which none turned up; it was simply a clash of loyalty and morale virtues). Drill instructors in the future were ordered to place loyalty above the former emphasis on also doing what was right and wrong, and the propaganda presence in training facilities on Reach, Luna, and Mars where most Spartan classes are trained was increased ten fold. The defection of Spartans-IVs has allowed the Brotherhood to emulate the Spartan-IV project with their own program, although their requirements are not quite as stringent and thus they lack the quality control found in the ranks of the R.E.D.D. In relation to Brotherhood Spartans, Imperial Spartans are generally more disciplined and rigid. Whereas Brotherhood Spartan's combat abilities vary between below average to excellent, Imperial Spartans are always at a consistent, yet vague level that has been described as "very good with a few exceptional...exceptions to the rule."


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THE IMPERIAL NAVY

The Imperial Navy is the greatest source of strength for the Empire. Of the three major factions currently in power, the Empire easily maintains the largest naval force with the Brotherhood coming in a close second as the Sangheili Hegemony is currently divided down the middle in civil war. Although land battles may be a toss up an even percent of the time, in space the Empire wins and it wins quite often. Compared to the Brotherhood's fleets, it is a juggernaut: some of the greatest modern officers emulating legends like Cole and Keyes are currently commanding cruisers and carriers in the Imperial Navy. Unlike the ships employed by United Nations Space Command during the Human-Covenant War, the ships employed by this modern space force are nearly 40% larger in size and armament than their predecessors and utilize reverse-engineered alien technology donated by the Sangheili Hegemony to improve their FTL engines as ensure more accurate slipspace jumps during fights so as to literally jump above or directly behind Brotherhood cruisers and destroy them at point blank range. As with weapons, the Imperial Navy has mostly undergone a revolution and not an evolution however. Pulse laser and plasma weaponry has not become widespread due to most research funding being placed on the Spartan-IV project; currently, there are sixteen super-carriers that are being outfitted with experimental plasma turrets and torpedo systems. Because the Imperial Navy has been traditionally dominant in combat, missile pods and magnetic accelerator cannons are still the favored avenue of approach for ship to ship combat and no major plans have been made to fix what isn't broken.

As stated, the Imperial Navy is a force to be reckoned with. Like the UNSC Navy, the cruiser is still the working backbone of the Imperial Navy as opposed to the Sangheili Hegemony which places an emphasis on carriers and star-fighter capacity. Generally, Imperial fleets operate in planetary sectors after being broken up into one of two regions: the Inner and Outer Colonies. Reach has traditionally been the seat of power for the Imperial Navy, but the Empire is no longer in full control of Reach as a result of a major Brotherhood invasion designed to punch a hole towards Earth. As a result, a full fourth of the Orbital Defense Platforms have been taken offline and the Imperial Navy is for the first time in a stand off with an equally powerful Brotherhood armada. In tandem with this effect, the Imperial Navy has relocated it's formerly compromised headquarters from Reach to Saturn, and construction of a new major shipyard has begun to replace the one destroyed during the Brotherhood invasion of Reach. Despite the fact that the Empire does not enjoy full control of Reach any longer, the presence of it's navy serves to keep any Brotherhood attempts at seizing space control at bay. The Imperial Navy among other things is in charge of orbital defenses on every Imperial-controlled planet and is also responsible for working in close tandem with the Imperial Marine Corps (primarily transportation and fire support). Against Sangheili Hegemony rebel fleets, the Imperial Navy is faced with a disadvantage against superior technology. Due to being unable to foresee the split that occurred amongst their ally faction, commanders have been caught totally off guard with the prospect of facing an enemy that decimated their predecessor's forces during the Human-Covenant War. A lag in the research of experimental plasma weaponry and shielding mentioned above can be attributed to an unwillingness to change tradition and the presence of Sangheili Hegemony loyalist augmenting Imperial fleets.


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THE IMPERIAL OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

The Imperial Office of Naval Intelligence is what it has always been: shady, secretive, and in every corner of the Empire. After United Nations Space Command morphed into the entity it is today, the Office of Naval Intelligence simply changed it's name, added some crimson to it's emblem, and resumed operations as normal. All former sections still operate as normal with some modifications to the structure. The Prowler Corps has been folded into Section I, and the Signal Corps has been folded into Section I as well. ONI "spooks" are present in nearly every major engagement to "observe", and their presence is considered extremely discomforting by Spartan-IVs in particular. Section Zero has been tasked with rooting out defects in the Spartan-IV program as well as eliminating possible liabilities (i.e. defectors) in the R.E.D.D. This is a well-known fact amongst Spartan-IVs, as the Office of Naval Intelligence's intervention resulted in the elimination of Class Mike entirely. Although they are directly related due to ONI Section 3's handling of the research projects and the Spartan-IV program, ONI and the R.E.D.D. often work at odds with each simply because Spartan-IVs and their commanders regard the underhandedness of ONI as dishonorable and cowardly. In any rate, the Office of Naval Intelligence holds more sway with the Emperor and higher elements of the Imperial Military's command branches so more or less the R.E.D.D. is forced to tolerate it's existence whether it wishes to or not. ONI maintains a small private force of Spartan-IVs directly attached to Section Zero for usage in covert operations; their existence is considered highly classified and it is not common knowledge that they operate. These Spartans are seized from their class early on after being specially identified and continue training in seclusion. Their number is speculated upon but is most likely between thirty to a hundred strong.