The 13th Ward Gallowglass are one the newest and most eclectic Venti militias in terms of population and military doctrine. The former 13th ward militia “The Gaping Rhincodons” were replaced following violent upheaval of the Ylinanic Purges. The Rhincondons were deployed against the newly Dyoorphidian 13th ward civilians who were rioting over the execution of their Saint Gharamackiel. The bloody 8 month conflict saw the Rhincondons' forces being eroded in brutal close quarters street fighting. Ill prepared for urban warfare and vastly outnumbered, the Rhincodons fled with their patron and in their absence a new order emerged.
The Gallowglass were initially little more than armed mobs of faithful Dyoorphidians but with the support of the Orphite Papacy and the newly liberated weapons of the Rhincodons they became much more. Their numbers swelled with each throng of the faithful as they developed and refined their unique style of warfare. The heady combination of religious zeal, continual victory and lack of ammunition emboldened the 13ths predilection for close quarters combat. The Gallowglass found greater effect reconstituting the propellent from their ammunition into improvised explosives and took to grenadier tactics infantry, power armour and MOA. Mines, demolition charges and grenades were signature brutal opening fusillades employed by the Gallowglass. The reeling foe were set upon by infantry with oyster axes and crab hatchets while MOA eliminated heavy targets with scatter lasers and thermal axes. These tactics were eventually codified in the Venti military as the “Mobile Defilade Doctrine” (MDM).
Though the Gallowglass themselves have vehemently resisted wider Venti attempts to “standardize” their operational strategy, the essence of their warfare is preserved within MDM. MDM tactics call for MOA to defend and transport infantry and power armour so that they can brought to bear in overwhelming grenadier assaults. Infantry and power armour jockey MOA on rumble rigs that trade protection for tactical versatility and swift disembarkation. Volleys of explosives are used to soften resistance and light elements engage in CQB while the heavies move onto eliminate armoured targets.
Though oyster axes and crab hatchets have been altered to better suit the needs of the Gallowglass their iconic profile remains on the 13th ward's heraldry with along the twin snakes and the Venti wheel fiddle. The Gallowglass banner is probably the most travelled of the Militia banners owing to their wanderlust, military adventurism and their reputation as stout hirelings. The Gallowglass are common sights on the battlefields of the frontier and there are rumours that they have established illegal fortalice outposts secure their influence in the region. Armournauts encountering hostile Gallowglass should aim to protract ranged engagements and defeat in detail their assaults. Armournauts fighting alongside the 13th ward are generally well respected, emulating their tactics however is ill advised unless infantry and power armoured support are secured.
The Lunar Irregular Corp (LIC) is a recruiting initiative of the Lunar Union's military the seeks to outfit non-citizens into numerous partisan militias. Recruits are primarily sourced from the Union's satrap population but it is possible for anyone to become an Irregular. Provided they have the means to arm and maintain their own equipment.
Enlisting involves a group no smaller than 25 enlistees filing a virtual expression of interest with central recruitment. Prospective militias are then embedded with a proctor and sponsor who train and assess recruits over a 2 year invigilation period. During this time recruits learn tactics, strategy, logistics, leadership, history and politics. The LIC acts as a pathway to union citizenship and naturally this entails more a more holistic education, with a scope broader than most military educations permit.
After 2 years a militia can attempt the collective excellence exam which recognises enlistees as provisional servicemen and citizens of the Lunar union. Upon completion, Irregulars become eligible for union contractual work and limited education and healthcare support. Following completion of the invigilation period Irregulars began a 3 year tour of service. In this time militias are expected to display proficiency in peacekeeping and defense of the union. Irregulars can consult Union Command for assignments or deployments but many militias elect to source private contracts or supplement local non-Union operations. Proctors compile reports providing impressions of militia suitability and progress, this helps ensure militias act ethically and adhere to Lunar Union military doctrine.
Irregulars by definition are non-standard elements of the Lunar Union military and as such vary greatly in terms of weaponry and equipment. The only requirement is that a militia must possess at least 25 members though the exact roles and duties of these members are highly mutable and often reflect the capacity or speciality of the recruits. In Armournaut militias it is exceedingly common to have 1-3 combat personnel with the remainder of the militia being entirely support staff. Larger militias can equal fleets or divisions in terms of soldiers and staff. Official figures on LIC strength is a closely guarded secret Venti estimates place force size at 2 400 000 personnel. Temple estimates are much more conservative approximating size to be 800 000 - 1 100 000 of active personnel.
Temple Grand Stylite Yule Clearonomas famously discounted the LIC in joint wargames stating “if this were a real war and a fair fight we estimate only 30% of your forces would survive, this 30% is the LIC divisions which, we predict, would surrender flee or switch sides at the declaration of conflict”. Polemarch Joannina Jackson responded “If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly. Though I do like you Yule, my Irregulars and I wont permit a fair fight”.Polemarch Jackson has since retired from active service but her sentiment for the Irregulars is shared by many of her compatriots.
Irregular militias are charged with preserving the democratic principles of the Union and securing the safety and liberty of whomever requests their assistance. In return the Union commits to secure the existence of all registered militias whether through direct intervention or indirect support. Militias have incorporated many settlements, colonies, stations and worlds into the Union. Whether through lobbying for democratic reform, investment in local communities or providing security. Irregulars are peacekeepers first and foremost and only intervene in the governance to secure free elections and safe transition of power to the people.
Armournauts are often highly sought after additions to militias, even a sole pilot can be a tremendous force multiplier when adequately supported by a militia. Many Armounauts join the Irregulars seeking Union citizenship or as alternative to more temperamental and legally dubious PMC work.
Rex Panthera is a small PMC operating in frontier space that specializes in infiltration, asset expropriation and assassination. Being unable to accommodate large scale or sustained operations, Rex Panthera instead prefers to remain mobile and versatile, utilizing small combined arms tactics in high value transient contracts. No job is too dangerous or distasteful, provided the pay or prospects for procurement are sufficiently attractive. Tenable operations rely on speed, surprise and superiorly equipped and experienced agents. Rex Panthera has inherited much of its strategic and tactical doctrine from the Lunar Union but derives its unparalleled ruthlessness wholly from its constituents.
Rex Panthera was formed by Major Winston King from the remnants of the Union’s special operations branch “Cohort 9”. The entirety of Cohort 9 was charged with treason after an unsanctioned hijacking of a temple Einstein class warship. It is unclear how exactly King convinced his rogue unit to seize a warship for an unknown benefactor. The readiness and apparent enthusiasm that Cohort 9 engaged in war profiteering, dereliction of duty and piracy was equally troubling to the Union.
The Union’s Special Internal Branch “Cohort 0” in collaboration with Temple operatives has displayed unprecedented cooperation in the eradication of Rex Panthera. Long standing bounties, joint task forces and swathes of assassination attempts have done little to curtail their activity. Though Rex Panthera does not appear to be growing in strength, its continued existence, if not threatening, is considered unacceptable.
Rex Panthera’s high constituent turnover is offset by its steady recruitment of only the most skilled mercenaries. Many are attracted to the company in pursuit of its alluring articles of agreement. Accepted constituents are housed and fed freely. Additionally, constituents take equal shares in any contract they take part in, after organizational expenditure has been accounted for. On contract constituents nominate a boss who collaborates with the constituents to plan and execute the contract. During combat the boss has absolute authority and accountability for the success or failure of the mission. Constituents may elect to not partake in a contract but are required to aid in the defense of the argosy if under attack.
In reality this nominative command structure is born out of necessity rather than altruism or companionship. Constituents can and do leave Rex Panthera when not satisfied. Treatment of crew based on arbitrary ranks or merits engrains a vulnerability to mutiny when tensions or envies bubble over. Even King, the de-facto commander of the company is beholden to its articles of agreement. In this way effective collaboration is ensured by the twin motivators of profit and survival.
Lighting assaults with unmatched aggression and coordination allow Rex Panthera to take on vastly larger forces if the element of surprise is secured. Veteran freebooter squads and power armoured shock troopers are supported by drone tanks, mechs and aerospace gunships. In and out is ideal, in prolonged engagements drones can absorb the lions share of enemy fire allowing constituents to safely complete the mission or escape.
Armournauts should cautiously consider joining, associating with or hiring Rex Panthera. Doing so dares enmity with both the Union and Temple aside from the inherent risk of their reckless and unscrupulous approach to completing contracts. With a quick mech and quicker whit, Rex Panthera offers the quickest fortune in the entire frontier. However, prospective Armournauts should recall there is no honor among thieves and there is a reason that Rex Panthera’s motto is “no hard feelings”. Treachery is a two way street after all.
Seaside is the largest privately owned PMC in the cluster. Its emphasis on the utilization of spacecraft in decisive large scale operations has ensured its dominance over its competitors. Facing Seaside is a daunting task for most navies let alone PMCs. Most nations have sizable retainer forces and maintain standing contracts to perpetuate contractual conflicts and preclude Seaside being deployed against them.
Seaside first acquired prominence in the Embargo Wars between the Venti and The Yscenics where they were utilized by both sides to great effect. The were vital in the battles of Lirbidonnis, Yowcan and Idris where their bombardment and logistic strategies were instrumental in facilitating the first full-scale ground wars in Cluster history. Building upon this they expanded their operations to the point where the involvement in the Kambiku crisis was enough to dissuade the Temple and the Venti declaring war over the disputed territorial claim.
Estimates of Seaside's current fleet strength place its numbers and composition at 18 battleships, 23 cruisers, 60 carriers , 200 landing craft, 600 destroyers and over 1000 patrol craft in active service. The Lunar Union likely Possesses more vessels but they are spread through the vastness of Union space and currently operate in relatively small battlegroups. The costly nature of hiring Seaside means that only the incredibly wealthy or nations may higher them and even then not for long. By design they are meant to be utilized as a sledgehammer to create opportunities that other military elements can capitalize on.
Smaller scale operations are conducted throughout the frontier with patrol boat sized craft acting as trade or colonial security to protect against piracy or insurgent groups like Stragovi 111. The LNA might possess the biggest fleet presence in the frontier by Seaside has the most well equipped and arguably most experienced crews. Seaside contracts most of its Amournatus in the frontier as there is little cause for them to incorporate sizable non-fleet assets in the rest of cluster space. It is very rare for Seaside Armounauts to be engage in non vacuum combat, primarily power armoured and light mech boarding teams are utilised to cripple and seize enemy vessels. Seaside employees consider Armounauts, other PMCs and most professional millatires to be vastly inferior to them. This can and has lead to lasting feuds where aforementioned groups may refuse to work with Seaside. They do this at their own peril however as this might result in the termination of lucrative contracts or even open conflict with Seaside.
Armounauts encountering Seaside should be mindful of coaxing any enmity from them. Their extensive black lists have been known to financially beggar even the most enterprising Armournaut. The Frontier is likely the easiest place to evade Seaside but it is hard to say for how much longer this will be the case.
The Farimba tradition hails from the world Odelke within Venti controlled space. Their planet, now administered by The Ysenics, is one of the most developed industrial worlds in the cluster. Its primary exports are consumer electronics, MOA and aerospace vessels. This was not always the case for Odelke, then again, the sea was not always carbonic acid and the air was not always toxic. The Jauori were the native population of Odelke and were a technologically advanced constitutional monarchy prior to the rediscovery of space flight and contact with the temple. The Jaori’s home world boasted some of the most diverse biospheres and landscapes in the cluster. Odleke was a super-earth type planet with vast turbulent green blue oceans, wreathed in continental coral reefs yielding to deserts, tropical rainforests, balmy plains, frigid tundra and beyond them, the largest glacial polar caps of known earth type planet.
At this time the Jauori youths were obliged to participate in national service groups administered by the royal family on behalf of the people and the parliament. Youths were expected to help their community from 15 to 23 years old where in addition to their regular schooling they would enlist in military, commercial, medical or civic volunteering where they could learn and earn a wage. Those that volunteered for the military and continued onto full enlistment were called Farimba, this distinction made them eligible for more advanced training often made them more viable candidates for the intelligence and officer corps. Special forces and paratroopers were comprised almost entirely of Farimba and consequently Farimba came to mean elite soldiers of the Odelke Military.
Upon contact with the temple, the secrets of the pillars and corridor space were exchanged for Odelke genetic samples and ambassadorial delegations. It was at this time that the Farimba learned of their neighbors the The Yscenics and their homeworld Arcadia, diplomatic contact was followed shortly by cultural exchange and commercial trade. The strict caste system and wealth gap present on Arcadia resulted in large mass emigration, Odelke being the shortest trip was inundated with Arcadian asylum seekers. This along with the cessation of lucrative trade agreements incensed the Yecnics, tension escalated over a 15 year period until the outbreak of the triple war.
The Odelken navy was overwhelmed in the early weeks of the war and sizable Arcadian Ghilman forces touched down onto Odelke. The ground war was a brutal stalemate until PNCs that would later become Seaside began saturation bombardment of densely populated cities. The current Odelken king Eodocius Samenthu agreed to a ceasefire after 8 days and an unconditional surrender 1 month later. 3 weeks after the surrender Eodocius was executed after his daughter Morania refused to surrender herself and her children to Arcadian forces. Resistance reignited but large scale disarmament had already neutered the Odelken Military's capacity for response.
An Odelke special forces Cataphract unit called the Extremophiles continued the conflict, securing the safe evacuation of Morania, the parliamentary cabinet and approximately 430 000 civilians. These asylum seekers were granted refuge in temple space and were settled on Aqilmendî's moon, Fardinnis, which was being terraformed by the temple. The New Jauori provisional government was established and a continental holding was bequeathed by the Temple. National service traditions were re-established but now all were expected to partake in military service. The new Jauori military, limited in manpower and resources, shifted focus to the tactics exemplified by the Extremophiles. The same tactics that allowed the extremophiles to continue the war without resupply or reinforcement until today.
Odelken Cataphracts were initially exo-suited shock and assault troopers that possessed considerable anti-armour and anti-infantry capabilities. Exosuits as precursors to power armour were highly effective but limited in terms of the effective operational time because of their demanding power and munition expenditure. Over time logistical pressures mounted and the disarmament had seriously compromised chances for reliable resupply. Early Genetically Engineered Life Form (GELF) armor and weaponry, though being proliferated through the Relay Rats, was still largely untested and the triple war was the first conflict to see its large-scale utilization. GELF skins, carapace and muscle rigs were combined to breed GELF Cataphract Sleeves. These full body living organic semi-sentient suits enhanced the wearers combat capabilities whilst also providing excellent nourishment and environmental protection. Traditional resupply needs were circumvented as cultivation of replacement sleeves and weaponry like the Nematocyst submachine gun and the Cnidocyte incendiary repeater were extremely simple processes. In truth the triple war never truly ended as descendants of the extremophiles have continued to conduct operations uninterrupted since the ceasefire. Their resolve has inspired the formation of the Farimba Extremophiles, a Jauori state administered military company emulating the composition and tactics of the extremophiles. Their key distinction being the new extremophiles posses for more sophisticated GELF armour and armaments elevating them most assuredly to the resilience of biological namesake.
The Yesenic/Farimba conflict is a controversial and sensitive topic not just among the two nations but between the Venti and Temple as well. The Venti, unaware of the initial conflict, were keen to enter trade negotiations with the Ysenics, their diplomats being taken to “Show Villages” that displayed only healthy and productive Odelken citizens working in small thriving communities. Sold on a story that the Odelken planet was in ecological collapse before the Ysenics volunteered to help direct their industrial efforts and assist in cleaning their planet’s atmosphere, the Venti conglomerates were all too ready to begin doing business with what seemed to be a burgeoning new industrial base. After reports came out of Temple space however the Venti soon realized they were trapped into a trade deal that could potentially lead to mass Odelken casualties from a collapsing economy should the Venti pull out of their agreements with the Yesenics, essentially creating an uncomfortable situation in which the population of Odelke are being hostage and the Venti are secondarily profiting from it. The Temple has been a moderating force, sympathetic to the government in exile but recognizing that the Venti are somewhat stuck, and this could have happened to them but for some slight alterations in circumstances, this is one of the early events that led to the Contact Protocol that holds each nation to strict standards of ethical consideration before integrating a society into the cluster community.
The Farimba Extremophiles have been utilized by the superpowers and nearly every nation in the cluster, they are peerless in their mastery of GELF warfare and unequaled pioneers of longitudinal warfare. In the frontier they are often highly sought after, with a reputation for enduring the harshest environments with an elan and ferocity that honors their tradition. Armournauts that work with Farimba Extremophiles must have the will and the means to undertake prolonged operations in extreme pressures, temperatures, weather, biological and radiological conditions. From the infinite black of the deep sea to the infinite black of deep space Extremophiles persist.