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DARK DOMINION -- 15mm Gothic/Cyberpunk Sci Fi
Earth is the headquarters of a syndicate of galactic mega-corporations, and is ruled by the Dominion, a government elected by the corporations and the citizens. Each person, as long as they earn any income or have a net value, gets a vote, or more precisely, votes, their voting power based on their income -- these are termed gov credits or "gee-cees." Corporations are persons so vote as well, their trillions of credits holding sway. As "persons," corporations can also be elected to government - and typically are.
Each megacorporation has a mandate to govern sectors of the MWG (Milky Way Galaxy) and is granted wide-ranging power. All planets within the Dominion have at least some military presence, typically provided by the Colonial Guard on all planets except Earth, but occasionally by corporate security forces. In many sectors, the corporations or the Colonial Guard ward off human insurrection or piracy, and, in some places, alien invasion. The Earth, the Moon and Mars are the garrisons of the Special Landing Legions, the elite military formation of the Dominion, made up of genetically modified super-soldiers in power armour, carrying the most advanced weaponry.
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Dominion Outlaws
Called street scum by the Dominion Authority, some of them truly are. But others -- hackers and other tech-rebels -- refuse to be mind-controlled and enslaved by galactic conglom-corps. They've learned to beat the Dominion at its own game ... and sometimes even succeed. The deadly Dominion Cyb-Ops see them as Public Enemy Number 1 -- but that's really wrong, as they're Conglomerate Enemy Number 1.
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ZOL -- the Zone of Lamentation
The ZOL is not a place or a faction -- it's a state of being, and occurrence. No one is certain why it happens, but across the surface of a planet, a bell will be heard dolefully tolling, over and over. Not long theraafter, the ZOL forces materialize from another dimension -- full combat forces including armour and infantry, attacking civilian and military without distinction. The purpose of the raids is also unknown, although they clearly take prisoners for conversion to Shriekers. They arrive, they kill, and they destroy.
Infantry are humans forever entombed in a carapace, apparently in agony, amplifiers on their backs broadcasting their wails of pain and despair. These are the Shriekers, and they are deadly opponents, used with great tactical skill and utterly fearless. When the suit is opened, the body of the Shrieker dissolves into a toxic black liquid. In command of platoons and companies are Sisters Inferior, female humanoid demons who can transform their limbs into weapons and are fearsome and terrifying opponents. Sisters Inferior appear to be clairvoyant as they can usually predict the tactics of opponents. In charge of tactical forces is the Mother Superior, levitating over the battlefield, commanding the platoons and acting herself as a deadly weapon -- her voice means death.
Shriekers and Sisters Inferior ride in anti-grav vehicles which, like their carapaces, appear to be biomechanical in design. Platoons may have an anti-grav tank attached for heavy fire support, or the tanks may be combined into larger strike forces. And appearing with a ZOL invasion force may be a Tocsin of Setibonec -- a biomechanical bell, slowly levitating across the battlefield, dragging cables, tolling the doom of the defenders, splitting human eardrums and causing despair.
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SPECIAL LANDING LEGIONS (SLL)
There are thirty Special Landing Legions, each a thousand fighting-men strong. Each legion has five Junior Cohorts and five Senior Cohorts, each of 100 men --- the Junior Cohorts are recruited from the countless trillions of the Outer Colonies, Senior Cohorts from the population of Earth, the Moon and Mars. All are removed from their families when four years old, and heavily genetically treated to reach great height and physical strength and endurance. They are also implanted with cybernetic enhancements.
Training constantly, equipped with power-assisted heavy combat armour, and armed with weapons more powerful than a 21st century tank's main armament, the SLL are the apex warriors in the galaxy. Precious few are the aliens who can approach them in combat on equal terms.
For heavy armoured support the Legions employ the brutal GOAD assault walker, sentient war robots armed with a variety of weapons options. The central body of the GOAD is referred to as the "CPU" and is essentially indestructible, surviving under the heaviest firepower, even with arms and legs shot away. It is gloss black and must be left that way, as paint will not adhere to its surface. Within the CPU is a nuclear reactor providing essentially limitless power.
Product notes: The first releases focus on the fighting style which type of SLL Cohort prefers -- the Senior Cohorts are equipped with long weapons for the application of overwhelming firepower, the Junior Cohorts, typically raised from fierce marauder tribes, preferring pistols and energy swords. The Junior Cohorts are marked by their barbarous plumes and skull-faced helmets, on which they paint white death masks before battle, as is the custom of the Marauder. A separate set of fusion gunners for both Junior and Senior Cohorts is also available, and legionary sets may be upgraded to have flightpacks. Each legionary figurine is two part, an upper and lower body, and this gives great posability and variation. The GOAD war robots parts are interchangeable, so the retro rockets of the insertion mode robot may be used with the fusion cannon arms and so on.
SLL legionaries are massive -- to see a comparison to unenhanced humans, click HERE
SLL GOAD War Robots are more massive still -- and solid pewter; to see a comparison to SLL Legionaries and a normal human, click HERE
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Dominion Cyb-Ops
The SLL are the most terrifying warriors in the Dominion, but arguably deadlier still are the Cyber Operatives (Cyb-Ops) Division, a shadowy organization of elite hackers-warriors working for the government. Because brain-computer interface is a part of modern life for all beings, including most SAS (sentient alien species), even one of these operatives can neutralize an entire platoon of infantry if effective counter-measures are not taken, and even if they are, the platoon's ability to exploit its own digi-war assets is severely depleted.
Thus Cyb-Ops are a force enhancer to be reckoned with on the battlefield, but their normal operations focus instead on location and eradication of so-called "Street Trash" -- anarchic hackers who pose one of the greatest threats to Dominion supremacy.
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BENTHIC COVENANT ALIENS
The Benthic Covenant is an alliance of aliens from different solar systems off the Pillars of Hercules, all having evolved from aquatic species.
Theirs is a highly theocratic alliance worshipping one religion, Whon, the Quadi having evangelized the other races. The Quadi also appear to act as the leadership caste, but it is very much an alliance and the Quadi do not dominate the Covenant.
The Lamnids have always been raiders, striking suddenly with overwhelming firepower, their highly advanced grav vehicles inserting from space directly into action. They are massive and immensely powerful beings, almost as strong without enhancement as a SLL Legionary is in his power armour. Lamnids never get sick and would live forever if they were not killed in battle, but that is a fate that inevitably catches up with all of them. As such they are extremely fatalistic about warfare. They are the Benthic race with the most individualism, the most like humans in outlook and even sense of humour. The most commonly seen of the Lamnids are the Common Lamnids -- hulking brutes -- but there are several sub-species which vary a bit in physical appearance and aptitude.
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CORE SYSTEMS GHULAMS
The Core Systems Ghulams are an artificial species created by a master race millenia ago, as a race of slave soldiers, When the Core Systems were attacked and the master race destroyed, the Ghulams fled in the warships and transports, and now travel the galaxy, serving as mercenary armies. They are often employed by Parana, the galactic mega-corporation, to "provide force application solutions," as the corporate memos put it.
The Ghulams use smaller vehicles that are often employed by other species, due to living on ships in space rather than having a planetary home base. They are tall and slender, but the small size and cramped quarters of the vehicles mean nothing to them, as they were bred to endure precisely these
conditions. Humans are typically fit snugly inside the vehicles, which are widely sold by the Ghulams as export items and are very popular as reliable, well-armed and protected.
The CSG are fully capable of supplying heavy war elements including tanks and flyers, but a very common use of their mercenary forces is pacification or domination (aka "peacekeeping"), for which operations the CSG platoons operate in "shore duty" in Scout Cars, with two ten-trooper Sections carried in four vehicles. A platoon can be built with one set of shore-duty command/weapons and two sets of shore-duty needle rifles. A Section is made up on seven needle rifles, one smart rifle for assassination, one Tech cannon for material destruction, and one Notable with a needle rifle. Core Systems HoverScouts are vastly faster vehicles but cannot carry as many passengers due to the extensive drive apparatus.
This range will be released gradually, the first model being the scout car, which is solid pewter! The second release is Shore Duty infantry not wearing helmets.
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