Shen'ihr Military

Overview

When other alien species encounter the Shen'ihr, it is typically the Gatekeeper military that they first meet. This can lead to false impressions that the Shen'ihr are a highly militaristic society or a race of conquerors. While military service is one of the most populous professions, they are hardly a purely martial people. Below is a breakdown of how the Shen'ihr armed forces are divided into individual Disciplines and ranks.

History

According to historians, the first cohesive militaries emerged in the Shen'hr's transition period from a fearful, nomadic group of tribes to a more stable, agrarian way of life. These were little more than ragtag militias with sharpened stone weapons and hide-and-bone armors, meant to kill predatory animals that threatened the herds. As communities grew and encountered one another, military action was sometimes necessary. Militias began to develop tactics and strategies for defending themselves against other tribes as well as the cunning beasts that still made meals of them. Men began to train and develop new techniques to make themselves superior to their enemies. With the eventual discovery of metal, several tribes gained a distinct advantage.

The modern Shen'ihr armed forces came into being during Varin Staciadon's Unification Wars. He gathered disaffected slaves and as many hidden power-wielders as he could find to his cause, and marshaled them into the most effective guerrilla fighters the world had ever seen. In the twelve centuries since, the military has continued to evolve - most significantly when the Shen'ihr began to explore space, and discovered that there 'was' other life out there, and not all of it was friendly.

Ranking Structure

The Shen'ihr do not have individual, unique rank structures for each discipline in their military. The entire armed forces shares a single ranking hierarchy, with each discipline's roles molded around the chain of command.

The Enlisted

The "Enlisted" (Vana'gol) comprise nearly 70% of the Shen'ihr's military might. They are the soldiers and field commanders, the men and women facing the vast faceless Enemy out in the void of space and on the soil of alien worlds. Much of the Shen'ihr's officer material is drafted from the veteran ranks of the Vana'gol, but there are academy programs which prime young minds for the rigors of administration, logistics, and high command.

Etri'gol

The rank of Etri'gol is bestowed upon graduates of one of the Shen'ihr military's various discipline academies. It signifies that they have a complete understanding of the fundamentals of their discipline and how they function within the whole of the armed forces.

Netra'gol

Netra'gol is the first promotion given to a soldier. Most Etri'gol who survive a full combat tour attain this rank. This is considered the 'baseline' rank for most purposes. Disciplinary guidelines do not permit for a demotion below this rank; alternative measures are taken if required.

Halryn'gol

Netra'gol who distinguish themselves in combat and other fields get promoted to Halryn. Typically this takes a full year or more of service, though an absolute minimum of three seasons is stipulated to give commanders some leeway with particularly bright Netras. Halryns make up the largest segment of the ranking structure by population.

Mida'ke

Often called "dayks" by their subordinates, Mida'ke rank bestows the privilege of small-group field command. Those of Halryn rank can apply for a promotion to Mida'ke, if they are not reccommended for one but feel confident they can pass the unforgiving exams. Command is not given lightly, and applicants are treated harsher than those who have already proven their worth. Mida'ke squads are typically comprised of 4 to 12 Halryn'gol and lesser ranks, depending on their mission objectives.

Aiyyo Mida'ke

In the field, "Ay-dayks" oversee the operations of four to eight Mida'ke and their squadrons, planning their moves and assessing the theaters in which they will operate, themselves under the supervision of Tirahn Mida'ke.

Nakyo Mida'ke

Somewhat of a 'sidestep' from an Ay-dayk, Nakyo Mida'ke (somestimes called "kyo-deks," in reference to large, aggressive herd-warden animals) are equal in rank to Aiyyo Mida'ke, but they are responsible for overseeing the training of new recruits, and specialist training for individual disciplines. The rank does come with greater pay and a typically planetbound position, but sometimes a promotion to Nakyo is not a good thing...

Tirahn Mida'ke

Tirahn Mida'ke oversee groups of Aiyyos and Nakyos, and their subordinates, within their disciplines. In the field, they relay orders from High Command and are often privy to more current information from front-line combat than the officers, allowing them to make strategic adjustments to the overall battle plan as the theater evolves.

Khyyri Mida'ke

Khyyri Mida'ke are the overall troop commanders for a given discipline in an engagement. They coordinate with four Tirahns and their platoons, and typically assist officers in the routine operations of military installations, outposts and field bases.

The Officers

Shen'ihr Officers are a mix of older, veteran Vana'gol who have been awarded ranking promotions for their accomplishments and younger Shen'ihr who train for the positions in specialized academies on the homeworld. Officers are responsible for the higher command functions of the military: maintaining operational theaters on various planets and in sectors of open space. They manage material procurement, recruiting, allocation of resources, research related to new wartime applications of technology and the Shen'ihr's natural powers, as well as serving on advisory councils to the Crown, colony, and provincial governments.

Deonan

Officers of Deonan rank are either senior Vana'gol with extensive service records or significant field achievements, or young Shen'ihr fresh from a taxing Officer Training program. They are most often attached to a Jutal, performing tasks and duties associated with maintaining operations on a planet or a given sector of space, or advising a Jutal or Thomor on unique battlefield conditions.

Drimah

It isn't unheard of for veteran Vana'gol to skip over Deonan and be appointed to a Drimah rank, if it is thought that additional authority is needed in their task. Smaller installations and frontier outposts often have a Drimah and handful of Deonan in command of a full discipline, reporting to a Jutal.

Thomor

Thomor rank officers can oversee a full discipline on larger, permanent bases (with assistance from Drimah and Deonan subordinates), and report to a Shur'tu in overall command of the facility. On medium-sized installations, Thomor officers work independently for the Shur'tu, performing highly specialized tasks unique to each base and operational theater.

Jutal

Jutals are the higher discipline commanders for large bases. Eight of them form a council that reports to a Shur'tu in command of the entire facility, or to a Vin in charge of an entire theater.

Shur'tu

Shur'tu officers oversee entire military bases, reporting to Vin ranks.

"Vin" Ranks

The graded 'Vin' ranks (Mo'vin, Sai'vin, and Shi'vin in order of ascending authority) denote the most senior officers in the military. Sai'vin are usually field generals managing multiple bases on a planet, or multiple posts out in space. They have a handful of Mo'vin to assist them in managing each discipline, and a small team of lesser officers to run the mundane tasks. Shi'vin are the penultimate commanders, overseeing entire planetary operations and major fleet movements.

Myou'vin

There are only three Myou'vin rank officers at any given time, managing the full-time operations for the entire armed forces. One Myou'vin is assigned to sit on the King's High Council and report to His Majesty relevant developments in the military sphere.

Disciplines

"Disciplines" are the backbone of the Shen'ihr's military structure. Each specializes in a particular aspect of warfare, and has their own methods of molding the roles of its Disciples around the chain of command.

Terrestrial Forces

The Shen'ihr Terrestrial Forces are, by and large, the most populous discipline. It covers close to every type of ground and sea-based combat unit, and is the most traditional and linear in terms of rank progression. TerraForces often work very closely with other disciplines, most often Mechanized Armor and Special Forces, when in-theater.

Terrestrial Force divisions include:

• Ground Forces
  • General Infantry
  • Reconnaissance and Scouting
  • Demolitions
  • Combat Engineering (separate from a similar division in Mechanized Armor, specializes in battlefield manipulation and fortifications)
• Maritime Forces
  • Aerospace Carrier division
  • Ships of the Line
  • Submarine Corps
  • Amphibious Assault
• Medical Corps
  • Field Surgeons
  • Psionic Surgeons
  • MASH Units
  • Field Hospital Support Staff

Mechanized Armor

The Mechanized Armor discipline covers much of the Shen'ihr's combat machinery. Everything from personnel transports to the highly advanced power-reactive walking armors. This discipline is split into various divisions depending on what kinds of machinery the division specializes in.

MechArmor divisions:

• Personnel Transportation (aka, "The Motor Pool")
• Siege Weaponry (including artillery support)
• Amphibious Armor (consistently cross-trained with Naval forces)
• Mobile Assault Weapons
• Spiritual-powered Armors
• Psionic-powered Armors
• Combat Engineering (specializing in front-line repair work and modification)

Aerospace Forces

Aerospace covers anything that flies in a planetary atmosphere or out in the void of space. It is the second-largest discipline by population, after Terrestrial Forces. The ASF discipline has a modified structure for assigning ranks within itself: Etri'gol, Netra'gol and Halryn'gol ranks are almost exclusively shipbound crew - gunners, system techs, engineers and other support staff. To become a pilot, one must attain at least Mida'ke rank and undergo extensive training. Aiyyo Mida'kes are squadron leads, and Tirahn Mida'ke command fighter wings of several squadrons. Khyyri Mida'ke act as subordinates to the officer in command of the ship, station, or outpost's entire fighter craft complement.

Aerospace Divisions:

• Engineering (maintenance of all ship and station systems, repair work to fighter craft)
• Astrogation (piloting of larger vessels, navigation, charting, also deep-space surveying)
• Fighter Piloting (Mida'ke rank or above required with additional training)
• Ship / Station Support ('gol ranks, crewers, system technicians)

Special Forces

Special Forces are those unique military roles that simply do not fit into an existing Discipline and Division. They are often exceedingly specialized in their particular abilities, with training, equipment, and support access simply unavailable to other troops. Special Forces members all possess individual, powerful abilities not normally seen in the rank-and-file, and often harbor unique powered mutations that give them additional advantages.

There is a degree of overlap between SF and Intelligence, with both disciplines handling covert spying work. The difference lies in that SF spies are deployed when there is a significant chance of large-scale armed combat.

Members of the Inquisition who are required to work with the military often draw from available personnel in the SF discipline, depending on the individual needs of their missions.

SF divisions:

• Lightweaving
• Infiltration / Exfiltration
• Espionage
• Assassination