The Atorians.	The Atorians.		The Atorians.
The Atorians. The Atorian Vendral Flag. Administrative Center: A Soujourner-Class Spaceship, suspected to be in the Quartej Galaxy. Largest City: Same. Ideology: Atorian Jihadism. Type: Nomadic rebel. Current Settlements In: Many systems; Mostly mining and energy development operations. Estimated Militry Strength: 520,500-2,0598,700. Leader: The Supreme Chieftess; A religious, political, and militry leader. Parliamentry Body: The Council Of Captains. Establishment: 2052. Equipment (est): Spacecraft: Space Stations: Dropships: Corvettes: Frigates: Destroyers: Cruisers: Capital Ships: 5 or 6; 8,000-10,000; 3,00-4,000 1,000; 20; 300; 400. Aero-Space Fighters: Veritechs: Aero-Space: Space; Aerial: Around 1/2 million, mostly Orguss Fighters. Around 1/2 million; Around 1/4 million; 10,000. Ground Vehicles: Robots: Powered Armors: Other Ground Vehicles: 10 million. 25 million. 25 million. While the larger Fehrans culture capitulated and eventually assimilated back into the galactic fold, a rebellious faction of Fehrans who stubbornly refer to themselves as "Atorians" has continued to resist; This insurgency has continued since the fall of Ferha and the escape of the Exodus Force. Each Atorian ships is a semi-autonomous entity; They cooperate, the do not attack each other, but they are not beholden to each other, either; They simply can't afford to work that way anymore. Each ship is responsible for it's own affairs, and each member of the crew is responsible for their own expenses; Each crewmember bids on what they believe it would cost them to accomplish X mission (in terms of robots or power armor, missiles, etc), and what they think they can return on that "investment." High cost/benefit ratio wins. Whoa to the Sister who goes over cost or under return (or both); She will be forced to pay the difference somehow. Doubly so for the sister who costs the collective a robot or ship; She may find HERSELF now a slave. Combat losses (callously referred to as "shrinkage") are expected and acceptable; In fact any bidder who claims anything LESS than 10% shrinkage (whether it's in missiles or warriors) is viewed with a suspect eye, or watched closely for possibly greater things down the road; If her projections are met, she may even be tasked with a "Object Liberation Mission:" Stealing a UGC flagged ship, usually a commercial ship (warships are far too high risk). These are then converted to combat vsls (by adding guns, missiles, etc). This ship is then hers to command- And God/s help her if she looses her ship (unless, of course, she's part of the "shrinkage"). Most sisters would rather die than return without their r/pa's, let alone a full warship, though if they sacrificed their machine (and risked their life) holding off a larger force (and allowing the collective to escape) they may be forgiven, even REWARDED. As cold and hard as this seems, it's necessary for the survival of the collective; The Atorians no longer have the backing of a government, so they have to make ends meet on their own. Consequently, each mission has to pay for itself. The Atorian Malcontents see themselves as the legitimate government; They do NOT recognize the U.G.C. as legitimate, as it didn't form until after the Atorian Empire was founded. As such, they view their actions as legal and legitimate; They see what they are doing as fighting back against an illegal and "marginally" successful rebellion. They believe the rebellion can be crushed- Eventually. But they also recognize the fact that, for the time being, they are forced to use "guerrilla tactics" against the "usurpers." The Fehran Malconts trace their existence back to one of the original Empresses of the Atorian Empire; During the "War with the Rebellion," one of the empress saw that, due to mismanagement and poor application of the combined battle fleets, the Empire was going to lose. Therefore, she siphoned off a large part of her own fleet to a remote sector of space along with a space station. This was to be her reserve fleet, from which she could strike back. As the REF Battle Fleet closed in on Fehran, the Empress sent an encoded message to her reserve fleet instructing them to remain in hiding until she arrived, then took to a shuttle to make her escape; She arrived two days latter and began her guerilla war, which has lasted ever since. (REF Intel believes she never actually arrived, and that the "arrival" of the empress was created to legitimize the rebel's actions.) In truth, the Atorian Empire was doomed to failure against the REF from the start; However, since this flies in the face of Atorian dogma, they do not accept it, and their historians have debated what could have been done better ever since. Most attribute the defeat of the Empire to mismanagement of the battle fleets, exactly as the Empress decreed. (A few have found differing versions of how the fleet could have been deployed "better," but they're all wrong: Only a guerrilla style war could have hurt the REF, and even at that, kamikaze-style sacrifice would have been the only method that would have significantly have hurt the REF, but not appreciably reduced it's combat effectiveness; It would have DESTROYED the Atorian Battle Fleets.) The Fehran Malconts refer to themselves as the Battle Fleet of the Atorian Empire; A such, they use Atorian terms for their forces. Below is a quick reference dictionary: Assaulter: Tanks. Battle Suit: Power Armor. Robot: Destroid. Recruit Transport: A modified Police Veritech, used to transport newly acquired slaves. Recruit: New slaves. Sister: A female Recruit taken as an infant or young child, who is raised and trained to be a Fehran. They have MOST of the rights of a true Fehran, EXCEPT a say in government; They are NOT allowed to vote or hold office, to make or write speeches or laws, etc. They are, effectively, second-class citizens, but they DO have rights. They can select what crew they serve under, they can quit a crew, they get a share of profits, etc. Note: ONLY females can become Sisters, and ONLY those taken before they turn 06 years old. Slaves: Anyone OTHER that a Fehran citizen or Sister. Comforters: Slaves kept simply for sexual pleasure. Often they are HORRIBLY abused, including anally and orally raped, tortured, etc. Those Fehrans who have lost their place in the Fehran society (been dishonorably discharged from the militry) are usually sold into slavery to recoup their "debt to society"; Being sold for use as a Comforter is the ULTIMATE dishonor, and unfortunately the most common fate. Sisters almost exclusively end up as Comforters, but with a twist; They are sold to fellow Sisters, who usually apply them to common slaves. Brothers: Male slaves to which a Fehran or Sister has taken a liking; They are usually treated as favored pets. Note: The gynarchristic nature of the Fehrans has NOT been whittled by the needs of the centuries of defeat at the hands of the Spacy; Indeed, it's been REINFORCED, and a woman will sell her own sons, or worse abort them, to get rid of them; Those few who DO keep her "child" is viewed with suspicion ("Where DO her loyalties lay, that she's chosen a man to her fellow women? Who does she think she is?!?! Wasting our resources on someone who SHOULD be a slave like that!") This doesn't apply to Brothers, however. The Atorians social structure is built strictly around cash; To advance to the next militry rank, you must bid against other candidates. The candidate submits a bid, based on their belief in their ability to take XYZ target, and the resources necessary to do so. The lowest consistent bidder is the one promoted. The bidding reflects the amount of resources necessary to achieve the objective and the losses occurred in the process; The Ators understand that the moment a mission begins, there will be losses, but the less resources you use, and the higher the loss/gain difference is, the higher your ranking on the advancement list. Failure is punished, and severely; The members of a mission are accountable for every PENNY of mat'eri'el under their control and command. The member's PAY is related to the amount of mat'eri'el recovered. The PRICE of replacement is taken out of their pay, and if they can't pay, in full, they have to come up with money 'some other way'- This usually means being sold, themselves, into slavery (see 'Comforters', above). 'Expected losses' are not held against the member, for example, a mission commander who already bid 17 Power Armors and only actually losses 14 would not be counted against the mission commander; Those 14 Power Armor Troopers would not, under normal circumstances, be held accountable, unless they failed in some fashion, resulting in greater losses; For example, if they were told to disable a particular power system, and didn't do so, they will be held accountable for those losses. It gets pretty ugly at times- Those who failed have a tendency to try to blame everyone else. This process is a direct reflection of the practical problems of the Ator's existence; They have limited resources, and have to maximize every one of them. A mission that doesn't produce results, is a failure. Those losses can't be replaced without ANOTHER mission, which means more mat'eri'el wasted. Occasionally an Ator faction defects to the UGC; These groups, called "Reddites" by their former allies, have (for one reason or another) had a fundamental alignment shift. (They are usually interred in some UGC prison for many years; Often their own ship is converted TO their prison.) Just before they switch sides, most such groups either sell off their slaves (get rid of the evidence) or buy many more (as a bargaining chip), depending on how well they've treated their slaves in the past. Favored Weapons platforms: Atorian manufactured versions of the Spacer 2 Space Fighter and overhauled T'sentraedi Salan Scouts as flagships. Modified versions of the T'sentraedi Shuttle Pod are favored as Cruisers and cargo ships. An Atorian-manufactured version of the Tiresian Assault Shuttle is also making a good show. Atorian Culture In the beginning, the culture of the Atorians exactly mimicked the culture from whence it came, with the slight modification that the members were all current militry, and therefore spoke and acted as such. Over time, however, it's become a quasi-religion, a cult, of a twisted militry honor; One's greatness in the society is seen in terms of the operations they've participated in, the loot taken, this measures one's place in society. The leader of the Atorians is the Supreme Chieftess, a religious, political, and militry leader nominated by the outgoing Supreme Chieftess and ratified by the Council Of Captains, a collective of the Captains and other commanding officers that convenes solely for the purpose of ratifying and removing the Supreme Chieftess. This is a once in a decade or so event, and thus reduces the Council's exposure. The Supreme Chieftess sets general policy and objectives, such as the punishment for a Sister caught sleeping on watch or treatment of prisoners and the number of prisoners to be taken in a given year; They then leave the Captains to execute the objectives in the manner they best see fit. "Governance" Governance in the Atorian fleet is highly limited; The Fleet overall is governed by the Supreme Chieftess, who is ensconced at an unknown and remote site. She sets policy and objectives on a year by year basis, allocating objectives by fleet (First Fleet's objective might be 10,000 slaves and 200 robots, for example). The fleets can exceed this goal, with half the loot going to the Supreme Chieftess for re-allocation, but they must meet this goal, or the Fleet Commanders may be replaced. Each fleet is commanded by its own Chieftess. Each ship and other command has its Captain. A Chieftess or Captain can be removed by their higher authority, but the Council Of Captains can countermand the removal by simple majority; They can also relieve the Supreme Chieftess of her duties, but on a 2/3 majority. Captains are relieved on a somewhat regular basis, often to be re-instated later on. Chieftesses are relieved rarely (about one a year is a significant spike). Only three Supreme Chieftesses have been relieved; One returned to her previous fleet as Chieftess, one was later reappointed to Supreme Chieftess, and one was condemned to the slave pits (she'd rather have been executed). Relations To Other Factions The Atorians have good relations with most of the other non-UGC allied factions. They serve as mercanaries to almost all factions, with the exception of the Systems Lords (officially, at least; Amaterasu, Hathor, Morigan, and Kali, collectively known as "Ba'al Bitches," have clandestinely engaged their services in various attempts to undermine both Ba'al and their fellow concubines), and the Wraith (which are practically extinct anyways). Manpower And Equipment The manpower of the Atorians is declining, and it's strongly suspected to be tied to a decreasing birthrate, though how is not yet understood. The Atorians have between 1/2 and 3 million members fit for combat operations, and around 50% more members not fit for operations (too young, untrained, etc.) An estimated 10 million slaves are also part of the Atorian quasi-state. With these numbers, if the Atorian bases could be found even a light expedition, or perhaps a heavy task force, could dispatch them entirely. Unfortunately, the Atorians are now masters of the mining industry AND understand how to build skyhooks in a way that the REF simply can't track; They've dug into asteroids and planetoids, and there's very little that can be done about it. Another significant factor is defections by Atorians, in one case a full Fleet, to other factions. 27ᵀᴴ Fleet defected in full to the T'sentraedi Clan Kurita, which soon after defected to the UGC. However, whether this is a phase, trend, or ruse has yet to be determined, as defectors are not unknown to return to the fold later on... The Atorian fleet isn't in much better shape; The newest ships are at least a decade old, the oldest is suspected to be the Slave Master-Class Ship Queen Diviesh, which was scheduled to be decommissioned after a century of service on the day of the IPA's attack. (There may in fact be an older ship, but this is not entirely clear.) The Atorians have recently begun construction of Atorian-Class DropShip and the Atorian Type 5 "Galvatron" Battle Robot, signaling that they 'may' have developed a whole new construction capability; The Atorian-Class appears to be a bit out of their intrinsic capabilities to produce, but with their well-known connections to Tiresian, T'sentraedi, and Invidia Malcontents, it's highly unlikely they can't find some such support; They've also been found serving as mercenaries for other actions (well before defections; see "Current Decline"). Technical And Industrial Capacity The Atorians have demonstrated an increasing industrial capacity in recent decades; While the Atorian-Class DropShip is still probably beyond their ability to fabricate themselves in any significant numbers, the Type 5 Combat robot clearly is not, and there are indications of ties to other factions that could be mass producing any number of machines to their use. The Orguss Fighter is one such example. They have also brought technical expertise to other groups; Again, the Orguss is an example, as the Flight Dynamic Control Systems (electronics, flight controls, etc.) are clearly Atorian, and modern at that, and other groups have cloned the Atorian-Class in some numbers. This is worrisome for the UGC, as hidden manufacturies can indicate a much larger powerbase than is indicated by topical observation. Exterior View, Jelneck Mine #3. Interior View, Jelneck Mine #3. A Mining Operations Support Center. This appears to be for staff. A prime example of Atorian Mining Operations on a habitable body, this one Jelneck IV. 20 such mining operations were identified, each of about 5-10 mines, surrounding a support facility (in this case, like most of the rest, a small tent city). Slaves would go into the mines, locked in with guards and mining specialists changing three times a day; The slaves themselves would work and live the mines. Extensive indications of caves ins and a piles of humanoid bones serve as mute testament to the Hell that this place must have been. Alloys. Metal Components. Gold. Uranimu Resource Development The Atorians are aggressively developing new resources, especially mineral and energy resources; They have managed to poach hundreds of times at various sites, even to the brazen audacity to develop a mining site right under the UGC's nose on Jelneck. Most of their operations appear to be conducted with legitimate licenses obtained illegitimately; By posing as a mining corporation, they can develop a site on a license, violate the license in many ways (pollution, environmental damage, etc.), and be long before they're discovered be gone. However, unlicensed sites seem to be preferred, and such sites appear to be developing a good return on the Atorians investments. Such sites are dug until either exhausted or no longer defensible, then the slaves, if any are still alive, are transported off-world. Energy development seems to be a priority as well; Several hundred oil drilling sites have been found abandoned, with no particular attention given to environmental regulations that did not effect profit margins. Coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium are exported with minimal refinement, while biofuels, mostly wood when available, are used for on-site energy production. Another 'resource' the Atorians have developed in the past is of course "sentient resources," meaning slaves. The last major slaving base was hit pretty hard about 150 years ago. Since then slaving raids have dropped precipitously, as defections have increased... Current Decline The Atorian Movement is in a steep decline as membership slides substantially; Birth rates are down drastically, to the point that males who have served in the Atorian forces are even granted some rights (though not many), and many Atorians are defecting to other factions; About 3 out of every 4 or 5 are joining one T'sentraedi Clan or another, about half that number a Tireseian Faction, others many different groups. There have even been Atorians positively identified amongst the Mandalorians, and some indication of voluntary defection to the Beorge; Syhith Legionaries have been captured that were later identified as Atorians; There have even been about 2,000 Atorians applied to La L'egion 'Etrange're, who refused hem entry until the Council passed a special provision for Fehrans, T'sentraedi, and other species of the UGC who can not demonstrate ancestry on a case by case basis. (It should be noted that some, though not all nor even most, of the Atorians positively identified in the Mandalorians and Syhith had applied to La L'egion before and been refused; as such, the Council relaxed the rules.) It is estimated that at the current rate of decline, the Atorians as a faction unto themselves will cease to exist in about 100 years; However, the threat will not have gone away, as they will simply have merged with other factions. Size and Orientation: Large Company (200); Each ship counts as a separate "corporation" under the new Atorian model.
Features:
A: Sponsorship: Government. However, the government that sponsored them has not existed in over 400 years, and they are now effectively "none."		B: Outfits: Utility Outfits (5); They are lucky they can even do that, and are often lesser quality.
C: Equipment: Cheap Gear (2); Medical Clinic (20); The Atorians do treat injured sisters as best as they can, and to some degree this is excellent care.		D: Vehicles: Basic Transportation (3); The 'can' provide transport, but only when they have to and on Atroian business ONLY. They just can't afford to hand out vehicles (even cars) to anyone who wants it. Besides, they get by by stealing from their enemies.
E: Weapons: Basic Weaponry (5); Each Sister is issued an energy-based long and side arm and basic body armor. They bid on robots (declaring that if given X robot/Power Armor they can get X+Ycredit loot back); Otherwise they have to capture one in the field.		F: Communications: Basic Service (2); The various Ator ships can talk to each other and to their own forces on the ground, and those ground forces can talk to each other, but it's far from "secured" service. Often, when one Ator faction wants to communicate with another, they use commercial service; The UGC rarely monitors these unless they know of a SPECIFIC communiqu'e of interest (a rare event).
G: Internal Security: Lax (2). It rarely matter how much the crews talk, since they're restricted to ship anyways. However, occasionally an errant message (or UGC spy) alerts the UGC to Ator intentions.		H: Permanent Bases: None (0) (secretly, they have Partial Headquarters; 2). Ussually just small villages in out-of-the-way systems where a ship can be landed and the crew allowed to stretch their legs. Hostages (slaves) are usually put to work as soon as they are properly tagged.
I: Intelligence Resources: Scout Detachment (5). Usually posing as businesswomen, tourists, even in one particularly daring event as REF Spacy Academy cadets from Terra. These teams analyze the target and try to predict where the defenses are positioned, where the best picking might be, and the best approach and escape routes should be. When required, these advanced parties also soften up the targets, usually by bombing the closets defenders using various improvised weapons.		J: Special Budget: Nickels and Dimes (5). It's not your mother's Atorian Empire, each mission must pay for it's own existence; Even purely militry targets have to be taken out in a cost-effective way. More than once a planet has been raided purely for the profit margin; Militry targets were avoided altogether (Terra is one example).
K: General Alignment: Miscreant and Diabolic (0). Ators are fundamentally twisted by generations of living on the run. They hate the UGC and all it stands for.		L: Criminal Activity: Because each ship is an independent corporation, it has to have its own people. Con Man (many): They have to get fuel, spare parts, etc somehow. Cyber-Doc (many): Usually 2 or 3 per ship (sometimes these are slaves). Gangs of Robbers (many): They ARE a "gang of robbers," after all. Smugglers and Sellers of Contraband (many); They have to get fuel, parts, etc somehow, don't they. Expert Assassin (many): Skilled in many ways of killing, including guns, knives, bombs, artillery, poisons/drugs, and hand-to-hand techniques. Special Forces (many): May be assigned special duties (such as scouting).
M: Reputation/Credentials: Hunted (0). In fact they're wanted throughout the UGC. Dead, alive, or otherwise.		N: Salary: Freelance (2). They're paid a percentage of the profits.
Total Used: 124 (special conditional rules).
Personnel:
Flag Officers: Mostly a retiree role, Flag Officers facilitate trade within and ensure that missions abroad don't conflict. Corporate Officers: Each ship is a semi-autonomous entity. The captain is the owner of her ship, and therefore responsible to ensure her crew has what they need.		Field Officers: Most crews have a few specialist for field operations; They usually pose as businesswomen, tourists, etc. May also be saboteurs and assassins. Line Officers: A mission's team (robot, PA, or fighter) commander is referred to as a Jrueplidair (plus their rank).
Weapons, Equipment, and Resources:
The Atorians have a few weapons and vehicles worthy of note: They are:
Atorian SLAVE MASTER-Class Pirate Ship FEHRAN MALCONTENT-Class Warship Fehran Attack Shuttle Fehran Aero-Space Fighter Fehran Revenge Craft		Atorian Combat Robot Type 5 Combat Robot Atorian Power Armor Atorian-Class DropShip
However, the Fehrans generally use these as building blocks (see "Fehran Malcontent Society") until they can either capture or buy on the black market REF hardware. They are also known to modify the mat'eri'el, for example the Police Veritech A Variant; The REF occasionally copies them, in a back-and-forth exchange of technological advancement.
Breakaway Factions. The Fessors. Posing as Atorian malcontents, the Fessors secretly serve the UGC. (Coming soon.)