Imperial Army (Holy Empire of Man)

The army of the Holy Empire of Man is an organization of vast scale, spreading it’s power across the galaxy. Founded from rebel factions of the Planetary League armed forces, it was taken over by officers loyal to the first emperor, Potus Clarke prior to the start of the Great Reckoning. Through the long millennia of war that followed, the imperial army fought on a continuous basis until the final defeat of the empire in the War of Galactic Unification.

The salute is supposed to resemble a soaring eagle with wings spread.

Because the empire is so gigantic, there are lots of variations in exact designs, but they tend to follow this basic pattern. Enlisted troops usually wear black and white predominately, lower ranked officers tend to have more red in their color schemes, and the upper echelons typically sport at least some gold.

The Chosen, The Penitent, and the Martyrs

The massive war-machine that is Imperial Army is always recruiting fresh soldiers. The Emperor’s glory demands more and more new blood every day. Broadly, these new recruits come from three categories:

The Martyrs are volunteers who sign up to fight. Often they come from the middle echelons of imperial society, and often are trained as officers. They get a salary and some basic benefits. They are the best treated of the emperor’s recruits.

The Penitent are those who owe the empire some debt (real or imagined), and are assigned to (or volunteer for) military service instead of more conventional punishments. They receive little training, and only the necessities of life to keep them fighting, this is made up largely by the fact that they are fighting to gain release from the empire’s atrocious penal system.

The Chosen are conscripts, often chosen from the poor, and any group seen as a minority, or otherwise looked down on. The chosen are used in situations where the number of troops is more important than quality. They often suffer from poor morale, and are the most likely troops to mutiny.

The Zodiac Guard

The soldier on the right is wearing power-armor displaying the colors of House Scorpio. The soldier on the left is dressed in a uniform intended for covert operations.

The Zodiac Guard were the most elite combat forces of the Holy Empire of Man. Founded at the end of the Great Reckoning, they served the Empire throughout its history, fighting and winning many battles over the millennia.

Founding

The Holy Empire of Man cherished relentless brutality, and sought to instill it in their troops at a genetic level, so, when the empire captured Earth at the end of the Great Reckoning, a detachment from the imperial army and Cosmid inc. set about gathering DNA from the most aggressive and brutal beings in the galaxy. This initiative was known as Project Zodiac. This DNA was used to create the members of the Zodiac Guard. Immediately, the Zodiac Guard was given the task of defending Earth, and divided into twelve houses, each representing a sign of the Zodiac.

Genetic Supersoldiers

The genes gathered by Project Zodiac were from a wide variety of sources, including the most brutal and hardened criminals, and the resulting soldiers were unrecognizable as human. Averaging 8’ tall, rippling with muscle, and brimming with malevolence, the soldiers of the Zodiac Guard were some of the most feared beings in the galaxy.

The soldiers of the Zodiac Guard never took off their helmets. This served two purposes, it enforced the idea that the guard were a faceless authority without personal identity, and it concealed the wearer’s ghastly inhuman visage, brought about by the patchwork of genes used to create them.

Organization

The Zodiac Guard were organized into twelve Houses, each headed by an Imperial Vizier, a leader chosen by officials from the imperial court for exemplifying the unique traits and tendencies of each house.

Each House was headquartered in a Zodiac Fortress, an entire star system given over to military endeavors. Each of the Zodiac Fortresses was centered on one of the major stars from the zodiac constellation each house was associated with, forming a rough ring around Earth.

Each House of the Zodiac Guard also had a number of affiliate houses scattered in strategic locations around the empire. The number of these affiliates became quite large as the imperial age advanced, and over time many of these became wholly independent entities. Late in Era-2, many of these even turned on the empire that created them, hastening its eventual downfall.

The Ranks of Man

The Ranks of Man is a pivotal text in the Holy Empire of Man. Apart from the religious texts of the Church of God, it is the best selling and most read book in the Empire.

The main body of the text lists a long and detailed account of all the various types of humans, subdivided among gender, race, sex, creed, subspecies, planet of origin, etc. and ranks them into an overall imperial hierarchy. Most entries include stereotypical notes about supposed traits of the various clades of humankind. It begins with a detailed account of the Emperor Himself, and works its way on down through all walks of life.

Also included are various acts of loyalty that can raise one’s rank and a list of acts of disloyalty that can lower it. Dying in service to the empire often merits a posthumous promotion, but not always. The lower one starts in the ranks, the more difficult it is to increase in rank. In nearly any social, business, or governmental interaction the party with the higher rank gets the better part of the bargain.

Nearly every imperial official keeps a copy of this text. In the upper echelons of the imperial court and among the nobility, this takes the form of an electronic text, updated to the most current version published by the Hamsa. Among the less socially advantaged, it often takes the form of a paper book. Some version of the Ranks of Man has been produced in every language and every format known to the Empire, and it is required reading to pass any type of higher education.

Every imperial subject is examined at birth and assigned a rank from this book, and their rank is the first entry in their official identification. Nearly every interaction with the government is touched by its contents in some way. Tax collectors consult it when determining a subject’s bill. Judges use it when passing sentences. The police check it before conducting interrogations. The spirit and contents of this book pervade every aspect of imperial life and culture.

The Holy Empire of Man

Cultural Outline

Architecture:

Official buildings and apartment blocks tend to be in the brutalist style, designed solely for functionality.  Churches, and the homes of the nobility tend to be more ornate, and designed to glorify the Empire with elaborate sculptural details.  The poorest live in simple shacks and improvised shelters.  The larger cities are arcologies that house the elite in the lap of luxury on the upper floors, while the poor live below in a state of squalor.  

Art and Literature:

Imperial art is focused on two main themes:  war and religion.  War stories tend to focus on the deeds of war heroes, and the glory of the empire.  

Religious literature tends to focus on attaining salvation through service to the Empire. Apart from the holy texts of the Church of God, the best selling, and most widely read book in the empire is the Ranks of Man, a comprehensive guide to the structure of the imperial hierarchy.  

Music tends to be emotionally charged.  The most popular styles of music are a heavy metal/rock-like style for rallying people to fight, and a religious style that focuses on devotion to, and sacrifice for the Empire.  

Calendar

The calendar of the Holy Empire of Man begins in the year Potus Clarke was born (GSC 915).  Years counted up from this date are called Year of the Emperor (Y.E.).  Years before are Before the Emperor (B.E.).  The calendar is a traditional Earth calendar with 365 days + leap years, 12 months, and four seasons.  This goes back to the roots of the Church of God in Abrahamic religion, and centers around the dates of religious holidays.

Clothing and Fashion:

Clothing styles tend to fall into two categories.  For the lower classes, clothing tends to be simple and functional.  The poorest have little more than rags, but most wear basic garments designed for working, and usually a simple, more elegant garment for formal occasions.  For the nobility and the priesthood, clothing tends to be ornate to the point of becoming baroque.  The higher the status of the wearer, the fancier the attire, often incorporating all manner of high tech and exotic materials. 

Currency

The unit of money used in the Empire is the Imperial Credit. It is worth about a penny.  Most transactions are carried out in multiples of 100 Credits.  Most banking takes place electronically, but hard currency is still in use.  Coins come in 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100 Credit denominations.  Bills are denoted as 100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10000, 50000, and 100000 -Credits.

Emblem

The Emblem of the Holy Empire of Man (known as "the Heart of the Eagle") is based on the emblem of the Church of God.  The outer red ring represents the universe.  The inner red circle represents the empire.  The black triangle represents the triad of religious, economic, and military power that drives the empire, and the red triangle represents the Emperor/ God.

Language:  

Standard is the official language.  It is broken into three distinct dialects.  "Low Standard"  is the language of the common people.  It consists of a relatively small vocabulary of mostly simple words.  "High Standard" is the language of the aristocracy and the priesthood.  It consists of Low Standard plus an additional layer of technical language relating to technology and administration.  It also includes specialized language for propaganda.  "Imperial Standard" also includes specialized language dealing with macroeconomics and strategy on the grandest scales, as well as ornate, poetic language.  It is spoken by the Imperial Court, and high-ranking nobles.

Law and Order:

Laws are enforced by both a secular police force, and the religious police, known as the Hamsa.  Certain crime categories (disobedience or contradiction of the will of the church-state complex) are considered especially heinous.  Any subject convicted of a minor sedition or heresy offense has their name changed to Exworth.  The name Exworth is also applied to the rest of the family of the convicted as well.  Exworths are subject to extra scrutiny, harsher punishment, and general harassment by the empire and its agents.  Any subject with a more serious offense in these areas (along with their families) has their name changed to Unman, and things are quite bad for them as they are considered enemies of the state. 

Military:

War and the military is at the very heart of the Holy Empire of Man. As a conquering empire, the role of the military is central to the ethos of imperial culture. Some notable segments of the imperial military include:

The Purification Fleet: a large fleet of ships deigned to rain destruction on a planet after its defenses have been stripped away.

The Zodiac Guard are a huge force of genetically engineered super-soldiers, officially tasked with defending the Earth, but employed across the galaxy. They are the most elite soldiers in the imperial military.

Religion:

The Holy Empire of Man has only one official state religion: the Church of God.  The Church of God combines elements from the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and celebrates the "Four Patriarchs" (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed).  The Emperor officially became the Fifth Patriarch after the conclusion of the Great Reckoning, and after the War of the Empires was elevated directly to Godhood.  The Church of God is a very strict, hierarchical religion, and the values of purity and loyalty are paramount.  All other religions and philosophies are seen as heretical and are not tolerated.