WIP Wednesday: A Minor Portfolio of Antagonists

Here is something a little different: a work in progress about some of the information and background for Empires, my science-fiction story being worked on. Let me know if this is interesting and if you'd like more of this sort of thing-- on the other hand, if you find it uninteresting and tedious, let me know as well and I will maintain these as personal notes for internal use.  

The Irrykanoi

"Ear'yih-kon-oy"

The Irrykanoi Army is doctrinally a COIN (counter-insurgency) oriented force but with the structure and organization of a standing LSCO (large-scale combat operations) force. To that end they have classical military organizations such as squads, platoons, companies, and so on however the structure of these organizations is very different from their similarly-named Central Alliance Army counterparts. 

The primary point of divergence is at the Company level, in that Irrykanoi Army "companies" more closely resemble light Battalions in the Central Alliance. The Irrykanoi adhere to an extreme interpretation of combined-arms doctrine, in that a typical Company is a heavy field tactical organization that organically contains infantry, armor, artillery (including ADA) and cavalry recon teams mixed interoperationally. This makes Irrykanoi companies (and their commanders and command staff) very flexible and agile, knowledgeable in many different disciplines of arms and adaptable to a variety of battlefield situations, however, they also end up being "jacks of all trades; masters of none" except in rare cases. 

Irrykanoi social and political structure is well studied over many years of observation and interaction. The Irrykanoi were intially classified as an "Empire" upon initial contact, approximatedly 300 years ago. They had never encountered anything as large and as capable as the Central Alliance and it caused the Irrykanoi to retreat, solidify their borders, and begin a questionaing and rapid restructuring of some established social norms. While they have since reorganized into a Republic, and some rights have been shared with the lower classes of citizenry, for all intents and purposes the bulk of Irrykanoi structure remains intact, especially at the highest levels of government.

The Irrykanoi society is primary formed by a close alliance between humans and an alien race known as the veliscii. The "empire" was/is not a traditional hereditary body of one dynastic family, but a complexe power-sharing agreement that shifts between various noble houses, evenly split between human and veliscii powerbroking dynasties. These represented families of old nobility among their societies, as well as political and business powerbrokers, and military leaders that have gained status among the noble houses. Carefully balanced and meticulous arrangements of power assure that the reins of executive authority are handed off in an agreed-upon order, based on which houses' "turn" it is to wield power. 

The Irrykanoi maintained a strong caste system, much of which was inherited from the Irry'ha, or the society of the veliscii, which ordained a pecking order among the races native to their planet. The veliscii, the an-veliscii, and the eti-veliscii were in immutable class systems 

(More to come!)

The Sheay

"Shee-yay"

Information of the Sheay is extremely limited. What little there is, is currently classified Black Ultra by Central GHQ. 

Intelligence is harvested by observation (Blue Ultra) and Signals Intercept (Red Ultra). Together, this is agglomerated as Black Ultra. Linguistics figures they have translated enough of the Sheay language to form a partial picture of their society, its organization and disposition. 

Complicating this is that a lot of Sheay communication is clearly encoded, and these codes are not fully cracked. However, observation shows that the Sheay control an area of space comparable in size of an average Sector in the Central Alliance. Their expansion appears to be careful, methodical, and meticulous, with colonial holdings carefully invested and nutured to a level of self sufficiency before devoting resources to a new colony. 

The Sheay appear to have a tightly regimented social structure based on some sort of class or possibly caste system, with social standing determined by rigid codes of honor. There appears to be some amount of mobility between these classes/castes depending on a intersection of personal achievement and achievement by wider "house standing" or "clan" (determination uncertain). There is an imperial center of some sort, and radiating out from that are houses/clans of greater nobility, mid-level nobility, lesser nobility, and then a mass of population making up the lowest class/caste/clan. 

Because of the regimented social structure, tight chain of command, personal loyalty and deeply engrained sense of duty and honor, it is theorized that the Sheay would be tenacious and highly-organized in their warfighting, with not only clear lines of command but also clear lines of succession. Expect a rigid and inlexibile adherence to doctrine. The chances that individual Sheay would surrender are very low, and the chances that an intact command of any level (tactical, operational, strategic, or ideological) would surrender is considered vanishingly unlikely. 

While the Sheay could be overwhelmed by Central Alliance force of numbers, they would put up a difficult defense that would require more resources than the typical doctrinal "three-to-one" advantages of current planning. On the other hand, their inflexible command structure and rigid planning would be seriously challenged to adapt to an insurgency-based adversary. 

It is therefore the recommendation of Central GHQ and the Intelligence community that contact be made with civilizations in the Sheay "near abroad" that can be quickly trained, organized, and armed with the tools of insurgency. This would include organization, planning, and weapons that are deniable. In this manner, Sheay expansion can be kept in check and made more difficult, limiting them to their current sphere of influence and essentially keeping them isolated. During this period, we will continue to observe Sheay reaction to threats that are known to Central Alliance planners, and further deduce our understanding of the Sheay based on their communications and reactions to these difficulties. 

More to come!