Cliques of the Colonial Corps

by The Clans Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:37 pm

Species Name: Yuxu
Species Adjective: Yuxun
Empire Name: Colonial Corps
Empire Adjective: Corps
Phenotype: Reptilian

Traits: Communal, Resilient, Natural Sociologists
Ethos: Militarist, Collectivist, Xenophile
Government: Military Junta
Homeworld: Yuxun
Planet Type: Tomb
Home system: Yastiq
FTL: Hyperdrive
Weapons: Kinetic

Civilization: Peaceful Expansionist

Short Description: A formerly wasteland clan and gang oriented society now in the midst of a fascist restructuring under a space governing colonial authority.

Species Description: The Yuxu are a bipedal scaled reptilian race that stands anywhere between 1 and 2 meters depending on factors such as malnutrition and malignant mutations from the residue of the planet's scarred past. Their scales are predominantly khaki in color, having been naturally selected for the dusty environment of their homeworld. More colorful variations occasionally crop up in more pacifist and successful societies, indicating a more diverse biosphere in the past. They possess sturdy claws for nails on their fingers and feet that are filed down for the sake of practicality; a common disorder exists where those with filed down claws are unable to pick up and hold anything despite claws normally getting in the way of these simple activities. They possess thick, now vestigial, tails on their backsides whose muscle structure suggests was used at one time for swimming. Though survival outside of atmospherically sealed compounds is next to impossible during chaotic dust and lightning storms, even with environmental suits, those with weak constitutions that suffered from chronic ailments of the past have long been weeded out of the gene pool.

Yuxu, being a social and communal species, are instinctually driven to assign a pecking order among their peers to minimize personal conflict. This instinct has mostly been tamed through their culture and spun into a narrative that explains the existence of the more driven and dominant specialist classes and their more listless subservients. The central idea of their spirituality is that the universe is a chaotic and indifferent place and is destined to both break the minds of those who accept that indifference and strengthen the resolve of those who seek to push against it as long as they can.

Recent History: (Context and additional background information that I didn't want to retype and repackage can be referenced here)

After the Awakened Dreaming Clans rose up into the stars they spread across several other ruined tomb worlds that reminded them of home. Their spread into the stars was carefully managed by the newly formed Colonial Corps, the upper echelons of Awakener Mysha's state schooling of orphans and clan children for the good of her regime in exchange for skilled specialists and warriors to affected clans. Through the Corps only the best and brightest of the Yuxun species were allowed to seed the cosmos who, conveniently, had been almost completely broken of their former clan loyalties.

Unfortunately for the Awakener's autocratic system of government, her heir was lacking in both the charisma and cunning necessary to keep various culturally different clans from attacking each other. Rather than let the peace that was worked so hard for by their Awakener, several warlords operating under the name of the Construction Council vowed that they would personally squash any armed conflict that threatened to destabilize their imperfect union. Though the head of state was gone the underlying government institutions of the previous regime were kept intact. Through months of careful negotiation, brush wars, and threats of orbital bombardment, the Executor of the Colonial Corps was allowed a seat at the table of the various warlord cliques.

While the government collapsed and stabilized researchers in the colony worlds discovered the ability to rewrite genetic code. It had been long known among the scientific community that the dichotomy of overachieving leaders that refused to take great personal risks and get their hands too dirty, and that of lazy forlorn commoners that had to be goaded into doing any sort of work, was rooted in at the genetic level. With their (comparatively) limited understanding of genetics this underlying decadence was removed from a few subjects genetic code. While the gene therapy did nothing to cure aloofness caused by psychological trauma, the lower ranks were found to be more easily trained without relentless drilling and cajoling. The Executor had seen this experimental treatment as a way to destabilize the clan system and to consolidate power. Using his authority over the Colonial Corps, a large number of medical specialists able to perform this therapy were sent to various smaller clans to administer the treatment to their slave populations in secret.

In the name of implementing a perfect meritocracy as envisioned by Awakener Mysha, the Executor had his fellow Construction Council members assassinated and their clans passed into sympathetic hands. Clan after clan became plagued by internal riots as formerly listless slaves rose up against their masters. The Executor, with the help of his allied clans, systematically invaded to put down insurrections, cart off agitators to training camps, and ensure that existing aeroponic farms and manufactories stayed operational.

The Yuxu clans now exist in a state of transition where clans are in the process of collapsing and being replaced by increasing government intervention while others reconcile and consolidate.

Policies

Slavery: Allowed Regulated
While it varies from clan to clan on Yuxu, near everyone within the Corps that isn't hired externally, is raised as a slave of the state. Child slaves are shifted between the different departments of the Corps for practical hands on experience to assess what their calling may be and to put them on track to becoming passionate about their work. During this period they may be awarded to Corps personnel that have expressed an interest in adoption and are subject to continuous evaluation to ensure they meet (or are exceeding) Corps standards. From the ages of 14-18, slaves are evaluated as candidates for Ascension, or to be made free with Dreamer status. During the ceremony they are given gifts by their superiors and soon-to-be equals to jump start their new life and to hasten the completion of their dream. It is at this point that they choose whether to stay within the Corps and be given a government stipend and land on a colony world to use for their own ends, or to return to Yuxun and to the clan that birthed them with their new experiences to hasten the uplifting of their people. Those who are not chosen for Ascension are then used as skilled workers and clerks within their departments, and sometimes sold to individual citizens within the colonies.

On Yuxun itself, while Outcasts are considered to be the scum of the earth, enslaved Outcasts are given the same treatment as a war rig, or any other valuable asset: to be maintained until such a time that its destruction improves the quality of or saves its owner's life. Clan Sleepers are also considered to be slaves, and make up the majority of a clan's unskilled labor and the muscle of their armies and independently operated gangs. Those born with the same clan prefix, or adopted into the clan, are given more leeway than those who were once Outcast.

Slave Procreation: Allowed
Not only allowed, but encouraged in order to feed the Corps' practical need for manpower, and its ideological purpose of eradicating nepotism.

Purge: Allowed Regulated
While it is considered illegal to kill a Dreamer except in war, and slaves are only executed in the most direst of circumstances, such as food or water shortages and not finding a buyer to take them instead, these rules do not apply to those who are Outcast. While some Outcast enclaves are tolerated, as they often contain the recently exiled members of clan enclaves that may redeem themselves, any clan who wants them gone from their territory will not shy away from executing and eliminating them.

Orbital Bombardment: Full
The sturdy defenses of clan compounds requires the full coordination of bombing efforts in order to do any damage to them. Given that the Corps is used to seizing and patching up destroyed infrastructure after bombardments, they have found no reason to consider changing this policy.

Native Interference: Passive Study
While Yuxu as a whole believe that the universe is a chaotic place and that anything and everything they can possibly do is justified, those with an actual interest in studying primitive life forms, as well as planners who realize the long-term effects of amoral actions, are not just staunchly opposed to invasions, but militantly so.

Native Enlightenment: Allowed
Just as Outcasts can be domesticated with time and patience, so too can entire planets.

Migration: Prohibited
The Corps has restricted migration from Yuxun, to only the best and brightest of the Corps, due to a wave of banditry and piracy that resulted from unrestricted travel.

Resettlement: Allowed Regulated
Only state owned slaves can be transferred, as the confiscation of Dreamer personal property would result in wide scale revolt.

Voting Rights: Elitism
In matters of state, only the heads of clans may vote.

Leadership: Primary Species Only
The Corps has no other species within it. However, or other species were to be incorporated, theoretically there would be nothing stopping them from reaching leadership positions if they were suitably driven.

Leader Enhancement: Natural Selection
The vestigial necessity to keep clan gene pools from degrading has filtered in to the modern day where inbreeding is no longer an issue.

First Contact Protocol: Peaceful
Yuxu only attack weak targets if they know where they come from and who their people are. If no information is available, they will hold back to keep diplomatic incidents with a higher power to a minimum.

Artificial Intelligence: Servitude
Robotics are mainly limited to manufacturing, however custom built drones are in the possession of talented scrapsmiths and workshops.

Military: 4
Naval:2 While countless ideas for the proper application of warships float around the admiralty of the Colonial Corps, they have found little practical need in using them for a purpose other than orbital bombardment and pirate and rebel cleanup. Their naval strategies consist of pounding enemy ships until there are enough suitable holes to ram into and board from. This changes the nature of the engagement from a naval one to a more conventional urban combat setting that risks the lives of their more expendable crew instead of their warships, which they refer to as "rigs" and "war rigs", a catch-all term for a large land combat vehicle made out of a truck.
Ground:4 The original purpose of the Colonial Corps was to churn out fresh divisions to fight in the relatively recent Unification Wars. The strategy and tactics of this chaotic time are still drilled into new conscripts.

Economy: 3
Industry: 4 The former clan system was only able to survive due to the necessity of civil engineering in the manufacture and maintaining of aeroponic gardens, groundwater wells, and garages to preserve and rebuild vehicles for transport and war. Practical ingenuity is a necessity to live within clan compounds that have aging equipment that perpetually break down. This strong scavenger and manufacturing culture has thrived within purpose built state manufactories.
Tertiary Goods: 2 Luxury items and finely crafted equipment have been relegated to the possession of the Yuxu elite and passed around as gifts. Only recently has a medium of exchange even been introduced to introduce the concept of trade without bartering under a Mexican Standoff. For now the currency only exists as a unit of account to shift resources between government institutions and between clans. The civilian economy will largely consist of barter until this unit of account gains the other functions of money.

Technology: 3
Research: 2 Most Yuxu who become involved in science are more likely to pursue marginal increases in existing technology than thinking outside the box and inventing whole new concepts. Spaceflight has only been achieved through the ~~forcing~~ uniting of fiercely independent rogue physicists and clan engineers in a massive government project.
Reverse Engineering: 4 Having lived in an environment where it is easier and more practical to take things apart and put them back together differently than it is to invest resources into a proper production chain, Yuxu scrapsmiths are highly adept at analyzing the purpose of already built devices and their components and adapting them to use elsewhere.

Diplomacy 3
Understanding: 3 The Yuxu, as a people, are extremely paranoid about sitting at a negotiating table with someone they do not know. When forced to trade or otherwise do business with individuals and groups a they may not know or inherently trust, it is done with both sides holding weapons to each others’ negotiators to ensure that the deal go through smoothly under the threat of mutually assured destruction. When dealing with a group on a more long term basis, diplomats will meet each other and get to know each other on a personal level and negotiate on behalf of their clan from a position of mutual trust. Foreigners willing to acquiesce to Yuxu customs will be expected to go through a long and either frustrating or relaxing series of meetings in the Yuxu’s home, or be hosted in the diplomat's home, before it is acceptable to bring up even the most simplest of agreements. Any sign of outward or passive hostility has been known to make Yuxu diplomats brutally assault their counterparts, lest their hospitality and kindness be mistaken for weakness.
Espionage: 3 Once friends are made, they are then used and leveraged to procure secrets from their clan. If a Yuxu diplomat feels that they have been slighted they will hold no qualms about holding all future negotiations and continued peace hostage until their desire for state secrets has been sated. During the friendship building process, every meeting is another opportunity to gain potential blackmail material. Even if a diplomat has no ill will toward their diplomatic equal, their attendants will attempt to freely associate with their rivals’ to gather information.

Culture: 2 Due to the recent upsets in the political and home lives of the species, their thriving culture has stagnated a little.
Internal Stability: 2 While the outer worlds under the administration of the Colonial Corps are dutifully towing the party line, Yuxun itself is suffering from a variety of internal insurrections and purges and non-warlord malcontents who, for the first time in recent memory, are willing to put their own advancement above the needs of their clan. The situation is projected to soothe once a suitable social system is devised and administered.
Marketability: 4 Buried within a maze of differing customs lies a rich storytelling tradition easily seen in Yuxu writing and films. The concept of the Hero’s Journey is almost completely foreign to them, as their stories are often as much about the supporting characters as they are the protagonist. Yuxu stories tend to involve themes of personal politics and intrigue from settings ranging from insulated clan compounds and homes to the front lines of a battle. No character is safe from the indifference of the chaotic universe, or the author’s pen. This is likely to only appeal to a bunch of nerds.

Quirk: Due to the wealth of customs and philosophies existing within the clans, and a laisez-faire approach to ethics and morality, the Yuxu are capable of researching and developing nearly any Society based technology. However the overall lack of support for Physics research and the current distrusting culture within the scientific community requires them to capture and reverse engineer any physics based tech.

Quirk: The Yuxu pool their collective road warrior traditions, relying on getting in close to enemy ships to scrape alongside enemy ships and attempt to board to sabotage and kill crew rather than to fight prolonged engagements at length.

Quirk Having spent decades without encountering other aliens, Yuxu military ships are mainly designed to police their colonies by means of quartering marines for planetside engagements and boarding, and small hangars of strike craft designed to attack similar small craft and freighters.