Terran Empire

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KimballJ
Space Krill
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Joined: Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:25 pm

Terran Empire

#1 Post by KimballJ »

I really wasn't much for the other two Human factions I saw here: Human Republic was too cliché (IMHO) with democracy and free speech and other sweet, good things. Genus Hominum was slightly Eurocentric (it might have been the dark ages in Europe, but in China, Persia, Arabia, and others, culture was flourishing) and having a Roman backdrop seemed cliché to me as well (IMHO as well, and no offence to anyone).

So I decided to try my hand at making my own Humans, trying to be interesting and break the cliché.


Terran Empire (Humans)

Intro:
A barbaric and bloodthirsty species whose entire history consisted mainly of killing and enslaving each other and whose greatest technological achievements arose from finding new ways of doing such things.


Homeworld:
(Earth) A once lush ecological paradise, now a blasted wasteland due to planetary nuclear exchanges, a runaway greenhouse effect and environmental abuse.


Reason for leaving home planet:
Too inhospitable for comfortable survival.


Physical Description:
Having once called home a large, high gravity, rocky planet, humans are a predatorial race who are comparatively built sturdier and stronger than most species. Living on a world with even larger predators and tougher herd beasts, has given them hunter and killer instincts which gives them an edge in combat.

Two forward facing eyes gives these predatorial creatures superb depth perception and peripheral vision, allowing them great accuracy with ranged weapons, an advantage they exploit in space warfare. A bipedal frame allows for swift movement, whilst two dexterous arms allow for the manipulation of various forms of weaponry, all limbs, however, are weapons in their own right. Not known for their honour or valour in battle, but rather for their brutal and bloodthirsty efficiency when it gets down and dirty, this species is truly a terrifying sight to behold. Opposing fleets and regiments will often abandon their posts as they know their fate is either enslavement or death. Only sheer numbers or technological weight can offset what nature has given these natural killers.


History:
Dwindling oil supplies sometime in the 21st Century plunged the Nations of the Earth into conflict once again. Limited nuclear exchanges between nations competing for the last remaining oil reserves escalated into full blown nuclear wars as old alliances crumbled and the United Nations lost all power to keep the peace.

It was every country for itself, as unrest began to brew at home, the powerful Interventionist nations such as America couldn't afford to send their assets to far flung corners of the globe. Nations were on constant alert as enemy saboteurs and even entire armies were beginning to attack other countries to capture and steal supplies of vital Hydrocarbons.

Terran society is powered by oil, and without sufficient oil left for production and research, new scientific breakthroughs which could have halted the greenhouse effect never came into play, condemning the world to a slow death as civilization crumbled as technological advances dependant on oil no longer functioned.

As nations collapsed, no corner of the earth was untouched by conflict. Local militias and tribes began to form, mirroring the early, uncultured history of humankind once more. Incessant fighting continued for decades, under a dark and blackened nuclear winter sky.

Amidst the decaying ruins of the once prideful human civilizations, a new power began to stir. Ruling through fear and force of arms, a dictatorial warlord emerged from the ashes. With his makeshift palace built on one of the few reaming nuclear stockpiles he threatened the world into submission with promise of nuclear annihilation should any resist.

Crowning himself Emperor, he and his privileged noble class lived lavishly off the last gasps of a dying world whilst those under his iron heel subsisted in squalor. He began to rebuild his new Empire in a Tyrannical and Elitist fashion.

After some time, the remnants of an unknown alien refugee fleet, the final survivors of their species, arrived on the Terran's doorstep, begging for shelter. After communication links with Human scientists were established the Emperor, although fiercely disgusted at their appearance, allowed them refuge on his world. He had ulterior motives.

Once they had landed, the Emperor and his Terror Guard massacred the aliens, and, stealing away on the aliens' ships, left with the handful of their Upper Classes, leaving the commoners to rot on a dying world.

They settled and began anew on a world similar to their old Earth: an ecological paradise. Despite having back engineered the ships' technologies, they still needed quick a source of power, and old habits die hard. They once again turned to fossil fuels to power their industries and machines. The Emperor desired mass production for his expansionist ideals and for the Noble class to live a pampered lifestyle. For this, he envisioned vast armies of slaves, who would labour in industry and work the fields at the tip of a whip and the point of a gun and be ready to perform any service at the whim of the masters. He got his wish.

Social Structure:
The Emperor rules with an iron fist from a bloody throne. The society he oversees is cut-throat with sons murdering fathers for position of Duke or Noble and Imperial Princes committing fratricide to be the next in line for the throne. The Noble families jockey with each other for power, to see who can gain enough of it to usurp the Throne and crown their leader Emperor. However, any Emperor strong enough to survive in this society will have his Terror Guard breathing down everyone's necks so as to prevent any organised movement against him.

Barons, Dukes and other Nobles administer the provinces with equally iron-handed nature and the commoner, reduced to a Serf, is forced harsh working conditions upon him. Serfs are often whipped, beaten and killed by Nobles to work faster, or simply for the sadistic fun of it. In the early days of the Empire, these lower classes were fellow Humans, however as the Empire expanded and enslaved, human serfs have been gradually climbing the social ladder as they were replaced by Alien slaves.

All humans of Noble birth (now having met and enslaved large populations of aliens, almost all Humans are considered noble) go through a Spartan style militaristic educational system. They know that they cannot continue expanding and keeping the lower classes under their jackboot without martial prowess to back up their threats of force.

Humans are extremely xenophobic and view all other species as inferior. Nowadays, they see themselves as the blue blooded aristocrats of the Cosmos and if a human chooses to harm a non-human, they can do so with impunity. The Emperor and the Nobles frequently sabre rattle with neighbouring alien nations, and would gladly follow through on those threats given half the chance: they are always eager to expand their holdings and gain new slaves.



Racial Attributes:
All their technology has come from the back engineered spacecraft stolen from the Alien refugees to their home planet. As such, they have little technology of their own and scientific advancements are slower than normal.

Their brutal slaver nature increases production and their ability to control enslaved populations.

They are xenophobic, thus attempting to trade or conduct diplomacy with them will be difficult. They also have high loyalty to the Empire

They are racist/speciest – every enslaved world will boost morale. Exterminating entire planets gives a one time morale spike

Being a warlike species, they receive boosts to space and ground combat

Emperors and Nobles want to increase their own holdings, they are very expansionist

Due to their hatred of other species (and their reputation for this hatred), they do not spy much, and any spying attempts have little chance of success because a Human would need a very good excuse to be around 'filthy aliens'. Conversely, their anti-spy defence is high.


Back Engineered Tech – Slower research. Relies on stealing technological advancements from conquered worlds and captured ships
Xenophobic – Decreases diplomatic and trade ability. Increases Loyalty
Slavers – Increases production (everywhere, but most greatly on enslaved worlds) and control of enslaved populations
Racist – Enslaved worlds add to Human only, Empire wide morale. Exterminated worlds give one time morale spike and reduces dissent in slave worlds. Captured planets can never integrate, they are always held as slaves
Warlike – Moderate Space Combat boost with greater Ground Combat bonuses
Expansionist – Morale boost (only for Humans in the Empire) for every captured/colonised world
Population growth is slow. Despite wanting heirs, only one person can be a Duke or the Emperor at one time, and with more children to fight over inheritance, dissent is bound to occur
Spying ability greatly decreased, however spy defence is immensely increased
Terran society is powered by burning Hydrocarbons and Oil for fuel, an inefficient form of energy. Ship movement range is penalized.
Slight reduction in planet quality due to disregard for the environment and the burning of oil, creating greenhouse effects.

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