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The Imperial Army
Made up of mainly infantry formations with armour support, the Imperial Army is responsibly for most ground side operations, automatically deferring to the Imperial Guard on the rare occasions they operate together. Organisation stands at one division per world, each consisting of two infantry and one army brigade and attached units. There are several independent units and branches, such as the engineering, medical and signals corps, but the bulk of their strength is found in the infantry. Highly trained and disciplined, they have been known to stand their ground against even BattleMech's, using their massed fire to inflict damage and buy time while armour units are called up. Soldiers who distinguish themselves are often recruited into the Imperial Guards.

The Imperial Army operate their own conventional aircraft and a number of surface-navy vessels. They also man many of the few strategic defence emplacements.

The Imperial Navy
Tasked with protecting Imperial worlds from space, the Imperial Navy possesses a small but growing fleet of JumpShips, DropShips and Aerospace fighters. Their main job is to protect merchant convoys and isolated outposts, but limited numbers means that they are reliant on random patrols rather than standing picket forces. They are also responsible for moving Army units from planet to planet, although most have their own transport DropShips.

The Imperial Marines
Once little more than troops trained to fight on or from ships, the Imperial Marines have developed into a commando unit second only to the Imperial Guards themselves. Trained in asymmetrical warfare, counter-terrorism tactics and other clandestine arts, the Marines operate as the equivalent of special-forces and shock troops, often the first to be deployed in a combat zone due to their high state of standing reediness. Despite this, they lack the heavier weapons of the Imperial Army, and seldom conduct large scale assault unaided.

The Imperial Guard
The Elite of the Elite, the Imperial Guards are the senior most service in the Gothic Empire, tasked with guarding the Royal Family and other key individuals and locations. They are known to operate several battalion sized Mech formations, and pilot slots are hotly contested; only those who have proven themselves to be the most skilled and most trusted of the Empire are given the honour of piloting one of their few, prized BattleMech's, as well as the knighthood that goes with the position. Many a noble family owes its founding to a MechWarrior, and they are considered quite the catch in the social circles, often being sort after by noble families looking to increase their standing through marriage.

MechWarriors aside, the Imperial Guards have the best equipment the Empire can provide, and their presence on the battlefield has been known to steady units on the point of breaking. Many a pirate raid has been turned back by the appearance of an Guards standard, and several of their BattleMech's have been captured from bandits who chose to surrender rather than face certain death before the unwavering ferocity of the Imperial Guards. Those that do chose to surrender rather than fight are often treated with leniency, a fact the Empire does its best to promote, as it encourages opponents surrender peacefully, saving lives and avoiding damage to near irreplaceable BattleMech's.

The Guards alone are responsible for manning the surface-to-orbit laser cannons and missile batteries of the Mount Royal Castle Brian, the only true capital-scale weapons the Empire possesses, which stand guard over the city of Windsor. They also have a handful of dedicated JumpShips at their disposal.

The Yeomanry
A citizens militia, the Yeomanry acts as a first line of defence against pirates when regular military units are elsewhere, and has a solid backbone of veterans, often acting as NCO's and training officers. Unfortunately, while they are often highly motivated, they are at the bottom of the pecking order when it comes to weapons and equipment. Aside from a few occasions, most of their supplies hand-me-down from the Army, often decades out of date, even by local standards. They also lack any heavy armour, often stuck with little more than civilian vehicles with hastily added armour and weapons. Despite, or perhaps because of these limitations, they are known for being highly skilled at the art of improvisation, using what little they have in unexpected ways to make the most out of it. Key individuals are sometimes selected to cross-train with regular forces, passing on what they have developed themselves, while also learning new skills their can adapt to their own situation.

But all the pluck and determination in the galaxy can only get you so far, and their losses when they do see combat are often three or four times higher than a regular unit would suffer. The main reasons for this are sub-par training and poor equipment.

...Sounds like they need drone JS - probe one jump, return.  Repeat as necessary.

Still doesn't matter what AU or universe. I see Imperial Army and I start hearing the Empire's signature tune in my head. 

The Praetorians from 40k are closer to what I had in mind, sort of a SteamPunk Thin Red Line:




Think “Richard Sharpe with a laser rifle”.

Mount Longdon
Port Stanley
Outer Colonies
The Periphery
December 17th, 3065

Captain Anne Shepard had to take a deep breath and remind herself that, as the Admiralty's chief of operations, she had as much right to be in the room as anyone else. It didn't help that the other's present included Admiral Simone Giraudoux, the Chief of Naval Staff, General Viktor Kravinoff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Helena Stark, Chairwoman of the Council of Eleven. She didn't know who the grey haired man with the piecing blue eyes was standing next to Stark, but given the company, he could very well have been Death given human form. All she did know was that she felt a shiver run down her spine every time she caught him looking at her across the massive holo-tank that displayed every inhabited world within 300 light years.

“I'm still surprised that the Emperor agreed to the talks.” Stark commented as she selected a cigarette from an expensive looking silver case, blatantly ignoring the strict no-smoking rules that were in place to protect some of the delicate electronics in the room, “I know the Alliance has been holding their own against the latest round of attacks, but they've been loosing ground on Oz for the last year.”

“The last two shipments of weapons from the New Americas have been late: they've been having to rout them through even more planets and shell companies ever since the Knights Templar captured those artillery rounds with the Springfield Armoury stamp still on them.” Giraudoux smirked, his own experiences dealing with both the Reman Imperium and their benefactors in the more distant New Americas leaving him somewhat jaded on the matter, “Queen Annabel played her cards rather well on that one, pointing out that we've only been shipping them medical and humanitarian supplies.”

“If you ignore the heavy weapons the Minnesota Tribe's been passing them from some of our older caches.” 'Death' commented as if the secret shipments were common knowledge, “I take it as a professional insult that they didn't at least try and do a better job in hiding it.”

“That's enough, David.” Stark's voice was as cold as liquid helium, her eyes fixing him in place like twin searchlights, “We went over it all with Mak; Mary was within the letter if not the spirit of the law. And you know as well as I do that it wouldn't be the first time that old equipment marked as released for disposal just happened to find its way into the hands of someone else. Governments have been doing it for hundreds if not thousands of years.”

“It's not the fact that they did it.” The grey haired man replied calmly, “It's the fact that she was so bloody open about it.”

“Neither the less, what's done is done.” General Kravinoff spoke up, the deep scar running down the left side of his face just catching the corner of his mouth and tweaking his voice ever so slightly, “Where as before the Imperium had the advantage, the balance is starting to tip in favour of the Alliance, and Dante wants to get to the table while he's still holding some of the good cards.”

“I couldn't have said it better myself. But whatever the reason, anything that gets them to agree to a ceasefire is good in my book.” Stark nodded in agreement, “Shakespeare has agreed to host the peace conference, which is good because both sides see it as neutral. But that brings us to why we're here; they want us to provide transport for the delegates.”

“I can see their point.” Giraudoux typed a command into the holo-tank, and it highlighted the most direct rout between the Reman Imperium, the Alianza Española, and the independent world of  Shakespeare, which sat to the 'south-west' of the Outer Colonies, “Hogan's unlikely to try anything, but Shakespeare is well within range of Teach and Patch, and I wouldn't put it past the scum-bags on either of them to try and make a grab for an accredited diplomat they could hold for ransom.”

“We could scare the rust-buckets they go around in off with a couple of destroyers.” The man now identified as David laughed, “But something tells me that assigning a couple of tin-cans isn't going to cut it diplomatically.”

“We could send our latest pair of Bellerophon's and it would be seen as an insult by someone, even if they are fresh from the builders yard.” Giraudoux snorted, “We spend more on those ships than the entire military budget for the Imperium, and they'd still be considered 'only' destroyers.”

“Unfortunately true.” Stark frowned, “What else we go?”

It took Shepard a moment to realise that the question was addressed to her, but she managed to maintain her cool and brought up a list of every warship operated by the Outer Colonies Defence Force.

“If we disallow everything smaller than a cruiser, we have thirty-one commissioned ships.” She highlighted the vessels in question and removed the others, expanding the remaining to show class, location and readiness, “Of those, six are due for overhaul.” half a dozen more ships, including the SLS Vanguard, a McKenna class battleship that severed as the flagship, dropped off the list, “Add to that, three are taking part in a 'deep space training exercise', staged by the Minnesota Tribe, and we don't know where they are.” another trio of names flashed out, “That leaves is with twenty two.”

“Well, I'm not sending any of the Battleships without escorts, because that's just asking for someone to stage an incident.” Stark shook her head, “And you can forget about any of the Potemkin's; they'd be seen as an even bigger insult than a destroyer.”

“That leaves us with eleven ships.” Shepard brought up the final list, “Five battle cruisers, five heavy cruisers and a cruiser.”

“Can't send two different classes; someone will only claim that one is better than the other.” David pointed out, “I know the diplomats on both sides; they can be worse then school children when they want to be.”

“So the Quicksilver and Albion are out.” Shepard's fingers flew over the controls, and the two ships dropped off the screen, “That leaves four Cameron's, three Avatar's and a pair of Luxor's.”

“Part of me wants to send whatever is the smallest, just on general principle. But that's just me being petty.” Stark lamented, “Okay, what's got the best accommodation?”

“Well, the Avatar's have bigger grav-decks, but the Cameron's have a certain prestige to them.” Giraudoux put forward, “For one, they're Battle Cruisers, and secondly, they're named after the House of Cameron. On the downside, you're going to have a lot of people full of self-worth having to spend a prolonged period of time in close confines with the crew.”

“Then the Avatar's it is.” Stark nodded as the details of the three ships expanded to fill the holo-tank, including images taken of them in space, “I'll let Mary know that we're going to need, let's see, the Daedalus and the Caledfwlch for a while. She's bitches too much, I'll remind her that we've not gone public with those arms sales.”

“I'm glad to see that you're finally learning how to play the Great Game.” David bowed his head with a smile, “The New Americas thought they could start a war right on our doorstep to keep us distracted and sap our strength. But with our new basing rights in the Casablanca system and our new ships, we'll be in an even better position to keep an eye on them, and keep the peace between the Alliance and the Imperium.”

“We're not the Star League Defence Force of old.” Kravinoff warned sharply, “We have neither the strength of arms nor political will to impose peace on anyone. All we can do is try and create the right circumstances for the peace to create itself.”

“You fight with armies and navies, my dear Viktor.” David chuckled, and shot his companion a wolfish grin,“My weapons are more subtle, but no less effective.”

“That's enough, gentlemen.” Stark warned, “We have other matters to attend to, and I'm sure the good Captain would like her office back.”

With that the meeting broke up, the various attendants moving off to whatever pressing matters they had to attend to, leaving Shepard alone with the feeling that she'd just been witness to something far bigger than she had first realised taking place. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it wouldn't be long before she could call it a night and go home, which she was thankful for as she suddenly felt the need to be with her family.

You know, a part of me is still convinced that, if I keep posting long enough, you might actually post a comment that tells me what you think of this, rather than just a few letters or words that could be taken a multitude of ways.

We of Clan Fennec chose our words carefully. We do not waste words like Some other Clans (ICE HELLION) but we do give praise where it is earned and due. So to Starbug You have crafted an excellent Universe and We for one Thank You for making it available. Hail and Good Health to you and we await your future posts. Also enjoy the maps will you put out a master map so we can see where everthing fits together