KS Factions

by Unholyheaven

Imperial Dominion

Separation from the Equestrian Government.

"The Equestrian Government is millions of light years away, with no means of travel or communication. We're supposed to stay loyal to that?"

~ Governor Xander Stonehoof

Korhal was one of five "prime" worlds initially chosen by Princess Celestia for colonization. The pony in charge was the earth pony Governor Xander Stonehoof. The governor was a successful politician in Equestrain society who had a talent for running industry. Korhal, while having many old production facilities and cities, was still covered with miles and miles of desert wasteland, with strangely out of place areas of lush green forest that seems scattered through out the ruined world. It was believed the ancient terrans were in the processes of building, or perhaps rebuilding, the planets ecology, and much terraforming technology was located on Korhal, that would later be used to colonize other worlds. The most controversial colonization technology discovered was cloning technology that could be used to rapidly populate new colonies in only one or two generations.

Stonehoof had once again proven to be an effective governor, who quickly rebuilt the planets infrastructure, and put the colonist to work. Under Stonehoofs leadership, Korhal had become the strongest industrial world in the sector, and would remain so for decades after the Korhal rebellion. It would later be surpassed by Kel-Moria. When Celestia would eventually commission the construction of a Royal Navy, Korhal was called upon to build the bulk of the fleet.

Stonehoof however was an ambitious governor who believed Celestias politics were holding back progress. Celestia had been slow to fully embrace the full potential of the Terran technology, and had the notion that Equestrian society was not yet culturally prepared for such a massive technological leap. She was particularly against the use of the cloning technology. While Stonehoof never openly spoke out against Celestia for her cowardice towards the terran technology, he began to have an agenda of his own.

When world of the Korhal rebellion had broken out, the Royal Navy suffered a string of defeats as Commander Steelwing franticly mobilized the Navy for a counter attack. After the initial shock of the attack, Steelwing successfully halted the Khalai advance, and began to push them back towards Aiur. But during the Khalai's initial advance, many colonies that they had "liberated" took up arms against the Royal Guard forces that had been left stranded. This did not go unnoticed by the governor who believed there was opportunity. This opportunity would be found in the form of a Khalai ambassador.

During a secret meeting, the ambassador proposed an alliance. With so many potential decedents filling the ranks of the Royal Navy, it could be possible to initiate a mass insurrection. The governor was encouraged to gather support against Steelwings forces from within the Royal Navy, and they would work along side the Golden Armada to push back Steelwing. In exchange, Zamara would grant Stonehoof the right to study any of the technology that Celestia placed a ban on, and would grant him additional worlds as well as a seat of power within the Khala. She also insured him the support of the Golden Armada as well should Steelwing ever try to reclaim Korhal.

It was an intriguing scheme to say the least. Ordinarily Stonehoof would have brought the Khalai ambassador's head to Celestia as a show of loyalty, but times had changed since the severance. Unlike Steelwing, who was living in the past, Stonehoof realized Celestias authority no longer held any weight in the sector. It was time for the Koprulu ponies to strike out on their own, and forge their own futures. Realizing the alternative was to continue to play the role of Steelwings puppet in a government Stonehoof felt certain would turn into a military dictatorship, Stonehoof seized the moment and agreed to join in the scheme.

Using his vast wealth, he made bribes and promises of great political power to many of the lower ranking fleet commanders who join in his insurrection. Stonehoof made sure to only extend the offer to some of the more ambitious fleet commanders who he was certain would not betray him to Steelwing. After feeling confident he had gathered enough support, he was ready to begin the insurrection. The first order of business was to inform Zamara which fleets to avoid direct contact with, as they would be the insurgents. Zamara obligued, and focused her efforts against Steelwings loyal fleet commanders, doing everything in her power to wear down his forces.

Stonehoof could see that the time to strike along side the Golden Armada was now perfect. Stonehoof however did not follow the plan as intended, despite the demands of a rather infuriated Zamara. He instead waited and continued to let the Royal Navy systematically destroy the Golden Armada in battle after battle, while suffering high casualties of their own.

Finally when victory against the Khala seemed imminent, Stonehoof made his move. Throughout the Royal Navy, Stonehoofs fleet commanders attacked and destroyed several Royal Navy ships, before abandoning the campaign and returning to Korhal. Even though Stonehoof had taken a significant number of fleets with him, and even though the Royal Navy had taken many losses in the fight against the Golden Armada, the Royal Navy was still powerful enough to fight and win a two front war. Fortunately Stonehoofs insurrection had sparked paranoia and rebellion among the ranks of the Royal Navy. Many opportunistic fleet commanders and governors of small colonies believed that the Royal Navy was in a state of open rebellion, and it was every pony for himself. Mass desertions within the Royal Navy followed; many colonies took the opportunity to declare independence as well.

With so many fleet commanders lost, Stonehoofs fleet was now on par with the remnants of the Royal Navy and Golden Armada. Seeing that Steelwing was now far to busy putting down insurrections throughout the sector, Stonehoof declared himself Emperor of the sovereign world of Korhal, and began quickly expanding his seat of power.

A mildly displeased Zamara sent an ambassador to Korhal thanking him for his part, and extended the agreed upon invitation to join the Khala. Stonehoof, seeing that now his fleets were more than a match for hers, tactfully informed her that he had altered their arrangement. While upset with his deception, she made no directly aggressive moves against the Governor, and instead worked to rebuild her Fleet.

Emperor Xander Stonehoof was now the arguably disputed ruler of his own sovereign world. He knew he had much work to do and fast. It wouldn't be long before his own newly appointed Admirals gained ambitions of their own.

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Cloning and the rise of the Imperial Dominion.

Even our children can still sacrifice for the greater good of Korhal.

A key reason for Korhals separation from the Equestrian government was a ban on certain forbidden technologies. Namely neural resocialization, and cloning.

While there were literally dozens of worlds and self sufficient space platforms through out the sector, especially surrounding Korhal, there simple weren’t enough settlers to colonize said worlds. Like all factions at the time, the Korhal government granted incentives for baring as many children as possible, eventually making child birth mandatory among fertile mares of certain age groups. But no matter how much any of the factions pushed, no faction could realistically reach their desired populations goals. So the Korhal government turned to cloning.

The cloning technology only seemed to work with material extracted from the young ponies. Virtually every child was expected to give their genetic material for mass cloning. Combined with the enforced birthing policies, by the second generation since independence, Korhal had attained a higher population than Tarsonis (Commander Steelwings capital world and seat of power in the sector).

The second generation of fully grown clones were used to populate new cities through out the planet. Almost all the new cities seemed to have a cookie cutter population of one another. This created a rather unsettling feeling among the original population knowing that visiting any of the new cites meant you might run into another version of yourself. As a result, most naturally born citizens stayed around the old cities to avoid meeting their doppelgangers. Unfortunately it still wasn’t enough to reach their desired population goals. Realizing over cloning the same genetic material would only lead to problems with future generations, the Korhal government was only willing to take cloning to a certain extent. What they needed was more unique genetic material. Seeing that many of the other colonies that had declared independence weren’t nearly as well equip as they were, the Korhal government sought to annex their neighboring worlds. They weren't so much interested in capturing new land, as much as they were interested in acquiring new precious genetic material from its citizens.

Not being able to stand up to their military supremacy, many colonies quickly fell under the power of the Korhal government, and found their populations inflated with clones from Korhal. Because they now fell under Korhal's government, the colonist were forced to hand over their children's genetic material, which was also used to create the third clone generation. By conquering their neighboring independent colonies, the Korhal government had all the genetic material they needed. With all the new colonies they controlled, the Korhal government was restructured into the Imperial Dominion.

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Neural Resocialization

"This is the new marine! Neural resocialization! Cookie-cutter soldiers! Press them out of the resoc tanks like so many gingerbread men, wind 'em up and send 'em off to die!"

~Lieutenant L. Z. Breanne of the old terran Confederate Marine Corps.

The Dominion Immediately encountered two problems with all their newly acquired territory.

The first was the constant threat of rebellion. Stone Hoof remembered how easy it was for him to declare independence during a mass defection. Unlike Commander Steelwing whose remaining fleet commanders, for the most part, were still loyal to the Equestrian government, Stone Hoof realized many of his admirals might gain ambitions of their own. His fleet had grown, but Korhals Fleet logistics weren’t organized enough to coordinate the large fleet, and Stone Hoof felt his admirals had to much power. Stone Hooves popularity had also diminished. Many Imperials weren’t happy about having their individuality taken from them, and the clones especially had little love for their creator, as they were often seen as second rate citizens by the “naturals.”

The second problem was the youth of the third generation. Many of these children, who were either clones or were only birthed due to the birthing laws in effect, never grew up in a good home. As they were often thrown into a city with an unimpressive array of skills, many youth lost their way. Clones especially would often develop a deep resentment towards themselves and others, sometimes going into a violent rampage. Whether this was purely a product of bad upbringing, or a side effect of the cloning no one knew for sure. What was certain was that the Dominion had the highest crime rate in the sector, particularly with violent criminals.

To solve this problem, the Emperor turned to another piece of formally forbidden terran technology, neural resocialization. This technology was used to imprint a new set of memories, personality and unique skills onto a subject. These “resocs,” as they were called, were usually taken from dangerous criminals who were too violent to exist in normal society. They could also be recruited from decedents who would actively take arms against the government.

This was done to varying degrees. Sometimes it was only done as a form of rapid training, which did little to any existing memories. Other times it was done to completely bury old memories, resulting in the loss of all things that made someone who they were. A completely resocialized pony lost all will to disobey orders, and was essentially a mindless drone. While such a heavy form of resoc guaranteed obedience, it also resulted in the loss of individual initiative, and unique skills. It was also common for ponies to undergo voluntary lighter forms of resoc to improve the skills they needed, or to prevent mental problems that could develop as a result of long term military service.

Since jail cells were filled with violent criminals and rebels, resoc was used to a great extent. While sometimes resocs were converted into happy industrial workers, given the unique set of skills relevant to their occupation, the vast majority were used to serve in the military. These soldiers were programmed with not only the combat skills needed to serve, but were also completely obedient to the chain of command, with Emperor Stone Hoof at the top. Due to the success of resocialization, the Dominion was able to suppress/prevent any major rebellions that threatened the unity of the Dominion.

A new policy came out of resocialization allowing less than psychotic criminals the option to serve in the military for a reduced sentence. In order to encourage use of this option, incentives were put in place; such as extremely long sentences for petty crimes, and terrible prison conditions. As result of the prison conditions, petty criminals would often turn violent while in prison, thus were resocialized and conscripted anyway. This was used to great success in recruitment, and made sure that not all their military were mindless drones, but also petty thieves and drunken brawlers as well.

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The Dominion Armada

The Dominion arguably maintains the largest unified fleet in the sector, its size surpassed only by the not so unified United Fleet of the Consortium. While other factions could match Dominion industrial output, they lack the numbers necessary to man said ships. With such a massive population advantage, the Dominion has no problem maintaining crews on their ships, and troops on the ground.

Dominion officers are well trained, usually orphans raised from childhood in the art of war. Educated men and women are also accepted for officer training as well. While their life time trained officer are the best trained in the sector, their volunteer officers (while still highly trained) aren’t on par with their Confederate counter parts, due largely to the Confederacies military roots and traditions. Ship enlisted crews are heavily supplemented by resocs, who know everything they need to know to man their stations, though aren’t capable of much else. Resocs fortunately only make a little less than a third of their naval enlisted ranks, and are usually used to run the less important jobs where critical thinking is second to obedience.

Unlike the other factions, who had to build their fighter pilot training programs from the ground up, the Dominion managed to recreate the fighter pilot training program used by the old Dominion. The Dominion Armada sustains the best fighter pilot program in the sector. When the Dominion trains its officers, the best of the litter are selected to be fighter pilots squadron leaders and ship commanders. Even their basically trained volunteers pilots have been known to match skills with the best of the other factions, and occasionally become squadron leaders themselves. While the Dominion Armada has trained easily the best elite fighter squadrons in the sector, often taking on the impossible and making it look easy, they are few and far between. Most of their pilots are resocs who simply had their pilot experience downloaded into them like a computer. While highly skilled, they have a difficult time adapting to or anticipating the actions of free thinking pilots. It's been shown time and time again that resoc pilots with computer like reflexes and skills, while impressive on paper, can't seem to match the ingenuity of the "lesser" trained pilots of the other factions. Many Dominion ships have been lost to Confederate raids and even pirate raids due simply to bad fighter escort.

Even so, the Dominion Armada's ships are vast and powerful. Only the ships of the Golden Armada can go toe to toe with the DA's minotaur class battle cruisers. While other factions had to design their own ships, the Dominion was able to recreate the powerful warships of the old terran Dominion which were of a superior quality. With their highly trained officers, vast numbers, and powerful warships, the Dominion Armada remains a force to be respected and feared.

The Dominion Armada also tends to make the most liberal use of the nuclear option. While all other factions are capable of using nuclear weapons, they tend to hold back due to the long term damage they'll do the worlds they try to defend or capture. The Dominion capital world of Korhal however was already devastated by a planetary nuclear bombardment during the reign of the terrans. The world was eventually recolonized, and a massive effort went into repairing the planets ecology. The technology used to rebuild the world was left behind and recovered by the Dominion, allowing them reverse engineer it. Having access to technology able to quickly undo the damage left behind by nuclear bombardment, the Dominion Armada will often times be the first to use the final option.

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The Dominion Marine Corps.

In air, on land, through sea and space

There’s no threat we shall not face.

Through sand or snow, on grass and mud,

We'll leave behind a trial of blood.

Fear’s the shadow that we cast

Celestia trembles when we pass.

Through calm of peace, through flames of war,

We serve with honor, we are the Corps.

~Shining Armor reciting the Dominion Marine Corps creed

The Imperial Dominion Marine Corps maintains the same training and traditions of the Terran Dominion Marine Corps that came before them, which grew out of the Terran Confederate Marine Corps that came before them, which grew out of the UED Marine Corps that came before them (which was supposedly based off the United States Marine Corps according to the wiki).

Dominion Marines are highly trained, and instilled with a deep sense of Imperial pride, knowing they are usually called as the first line of defense on the ground. Despite the Confederacies proud military heritage, trained Dominion Marines have proven to be on par with Confederate Guardsmen time and time again. Unfortunately there are rarely ever enough volunteers for the job, so the majority of resocs are sent into the Marine Corps Infantry, usually to be used as meat shields for the “real marines,” aka volunteers. Volunteer Marines will usually go up in rank much more quickly than resocs, due to often having better leadership potential. It is possible for a resoc to eventually redevelop the creative thinking skills required for leadership position. But as leadership skills are usually forged through life experience, something that resocs are stripped of, it’s very uncommon.

Roughly half of the DMC infantry is composed of resocs to help supplement their numbers. The volunteer half is made up of individuals ranging from eager young stallions seeking adventure, to less than psychotic criminals who see service as a way out of prison, and everything in between. Upon completion of service, all crimes are forgiven and can never be held against the veteran in terms of employment or educational opportunities. An unwritten policy among the enlisted is that nothing in their past matters, they're all in the same outfit now.

The DMC values mobility and firepower above all else. Many of their vehicles, while less armored, have the ability to transform to fulfill different roles. DMC armor is known for being fast on the battle field, and dealing lots of damage, but rarely ever prefers a direct tank to tank engagement. The DMC instead relies on superior air power to deal with heavy enemy armor, while using superior mobility to strike from multiple angels at once. As such, the DMC maintains its own pilots and fighter squadrons for engagement in atmosphere.

The DMC most prides itself on its MSF (Marine Special Forces). Most of the non-resoc marines who serve more than one term will eventually make their way into the elite ranks, where they are trained heavily in tactical and strategic awareness, often times being able to defeat forces many times larger than their own. An order to be accepted for training, a certain number of other advance infantry training courses must be completed, or a large number of combat hours logged. These marines will usually wear lighter armor, and carry smaller rifles (which have less ammo, but inflict just as much damage), and equip their lighter armor with Jump Jets and other utility devices making them far more versatile than the infantry of other factions. When on the offensive, even against Confederate Guardsmen, MSF rarely ever know defeat.

Unfortunately MSF aren’t in enough number to play a defensive role and are only deployed where they are needed for an offensive push, forcing the DMC to rely mostly on resocs for defense. Without strong leadership micro managing at the smallest levels, DMC resocs will often lose to superior offensive tactics, which often times aren’t even that impressive begin with. Combined with the fact that while DMC armor isn’t the strongest in a direct fight, it’s not that difficult to over power defending DMC forces in a direct tank assault when air support is not available. While known for being fast and hitting hard, DMC armor is rarely cut out for defending a fixed position. Having both their elite training and retaining their critical thinking skills, Confederate guardsmen have put Dominion marines to shame on many occasions.

Even so, the Dominion Marine Corps has held the line against the Royal Guard, as well as their zerg pets, for over three hundred years.

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Dominion Intelligence

If you ever feel like you're being watched, it's probably because you are.

Dominion Intelligence is widely considered the most effective intelligence service in the entire sector. Their agent are trained in the arts of infiltration, assassination, mental manipulation, plotting, political intrigue, and all other things that no honest citizen would ever be involved with. Mares are also given specialized training in using seduction to manipulate stallions of other factions.

Agents are trained from a young age, and go through a very difficult training program up until adulthood. Recruits can be drawn from different pools. Some are children with nowhere to go who volunteer for the training, others are juvenile delinquents, some are abducted for the ghost program, and some are just pulled out of orphanages. Once started, there is no way out of the program save through death, or graduation.

All recruits regardless of race will start their prepubescent years training with one another. After years of standard training, they are divided into different courses based on their race. Unicorns who have developed a particularly strong will move onto a psychic training program where they learn to become "Ghost," agents trained to use psychic magic. Ponies with wings go through advanced flight training. Earth ponies, or unicorns who lacked strong magical potential focus more on getting the most of their limited anatomy. The majority of children eventually graduate, but some show very little initiative, or outright defiance during their training. These children are sometimes killed to be made an example of. Usually only a handful need to die to get the rest in line, as constantly killing recruits that take a life time of training is never good for the long term.

Agents are trusted with some of the most sensitive information in the Dominion, so instilled loyalty is a major focus when training agents. They are also trained in resisting forms of mental intrusion to prevent anyone with psychic abilities from simply extracting the thoughts telepathically. Once training is completed, DI agents become some of the most effective infiltrators in the sector. They are feared by both their own citizens, and the enemy alike. Any agent that completes training is immediately granted the officer rank of at least Ensign, but may be granted Lieutenant Junior grade if they perform particularly well in training.

When sent on missions, they usually work in pairs, but may be assigned command of military units as well. When this is done, an agent may be given an acting rank (temporarily granted a rank higher than usual). An agents orders are usually unquestioned by anyone of lower rank, as they are authorized to relieve other officers of command, perform executions or assign resocialization if they feel others are getting in the way of mission accomplishment. Agents are raised to put mission accomplishment first, and tend to be rather amoral.

While DI agents are very deadly soldiers when they have to be, they rarely ever engage in direct combat. Instead, they are deployed all over the sector to simply observe and rely intel. Every time a battle happens in the Koprulu sectors, Dominion Intelligence is usually watching. Every time the Dominion makes an offensive push, Dominion Intelligence is always watching. As agents usually put themselves in positions where they can see everything at once, they frequently forward information on changing battlefield conditions to commanders on the front, making sure the Dominion always knows what’s going on during an assault. To a degree, Ghost agents will use their telepathy to relieve stress, fear and doubt from the friendly soldiers on the battle field, and some of the more powerful ghost can even inspire that in the subconscious of defending enemy troops. If a battle is lost, an agent will always remain behind to continue gathering intel on the enemies next course of action.

Infiltration is usually done in pairs, usually posing as civilians. One will gain access to a facility usually by earning employment, and using that position to gather intel. The other works behind the scenes to get that agent into a position of power so he/she can gather information more easily, as well as get any gathered intel off world back to the Dominion. Simply by being around other VIPs, ghost agents will read their thoughts and gather much precious intel, then forwarding it to their partner through telepathy.

With their superior training in infiltration, hacking technology, and psychic magic, the Dominion has created the most powerful spy network in the sector. The intel DI gathers is almost always used to plan assaults for Dominion MSF and Elite Fighter Squadrons. The elite branches of the Dominion military owe many of their victories to the intelligence gathered by DI agents working behind the scenes.

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Magic Potential and the Ghost Program

Not all ghost are make belief.

The secrets of the arcane arts were lost to the Imperial Dominion long ago. By studying the old Terran Dominions psychic technology, they learned how to train their unicorns to become powerful telepaths. Dominion Intelligence recreated the ghost program, where they would train their most powerful unicorns to master the psychic magic. In order to locate potential candidates for ghost training, all unicorn children are legally required to be tested for powerful magical potential. Failing to comply is a capital offense for the parents.

Like all DI agents, ghost are trusted with some of the most sensitive information in the Dominion, and can potentially do a lot of damage with their psychic training if they ever went rogue. In order to maintain control, every ghost is implanted with a neural inhibitor which can help to suppress free will, as well as particularly dangerous memories of their past. Fortunately since most ghost are taken as foals, they grow up in an environment that guarantees loyalty to the Dominion. Dominion Intelligence is considered the most frantically loyal of the branches. Now and then, older recruits are accepted for ghost training as well. These recruits go through a light form of neural resocialization, because a complete resoc wouldn't have the critical thinking necessary to perform intelligence gathering. Usually only their most recent memories are changed, and the neural inhibitor does the rest.

While all agents in DI go through extensive training, ghost psychic training is what has given DI a substantial advantage over the other intelligence agencies in the sector. But as Impressive as the ghost program is, it’s been met with a massive obstacle. The Dominion found to late that cloned unicorns have diminished magical potential, and can pass this weakened potential to off spring. More than likely, this is why the Old Dominion stopped using cloning as it stumped terran psychic evolution. Upon discovering this, the Dominion quickly put an end to the cloning of any unicorns. Unfortunately the damage to the magical gene pool had already been done. Very few powerful unicorn emerged in the comings generations.

Luckily it was found that genetic traits from a clone are always recessive to a natural. Over the generations, Imperial unicorns have slowly been recovering their lost magical potential. To increase the birth rate of powerful unicorns, many unicorn mares have been impregnated with the genes of stallion ghost operatives, though not always with consent. While these measures have improved the situation, the vast majority of Imperials still have some trace of bad genetics left over from the massive cloning era. Despite their high population, the Dominion maintains the lowest birth rate of unicorns with high magical potential. So while the Dominion does have an impressive training program, like much of their military, candidates are few and far between.

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The Reaper Corps

There are many paths to death. There is only one to victory.

Victory is worth any cost. The cost is always high.

Inmates must pay the price for their own survival.

Inmates must protect themselves at all times. Regard every calm moment as a battlefield, and every battlefield a calm moment.

Your enemy is your greatest teacher. Learn well.

Never allow your enemies to lull you with a false front. Look behind their deception, and the threat shall reveal itself to you.

Dictate the battle to your enemies. Leave them no option but to face you in the manner of your choosing.

Enemies must be confronted and destroyed with efficiency. Method matters not. Use the knife, or the gun, or the bomb, or the fist. Never hesitate.

There is no truth but in victory. All else is dust, easily swept away.

~Precept's of the Ice House

The Reaper Corps was made in response to the resoc program. Occasionally the Dominion will run into violent recruits who can not be successfully resocialized. Sometimes the new happy memories will stick, but the violent urges continue to resurface. Sometimes the new memories exist along side the old ones, and the subject still retains all their violent memories. And sometimes the new memories simply don’t stay at all, quickly leaving as if they were little more than a dream.

As the Dominion believes every Imperial can serve a purpose, these violent ponies are sent to a training facility known as “the Ice House.” Here these recruits will undergo the most intense physical training in the sector. The majority of them will not survive to see graduation. Because resocialization failed to work, they’re meals are instead drugged on a daily basis to make them less independent and more cooperative. By the end of their training, the surviving recruits are USUALLY very dedicated soldiers to their new corps. After they graduate, they are no longer drugged and will eventually regain the critical thinking skills needed to survive in their line of work.

Having graduated from the deadliest training regiment the Koprulu sector has to offer, they are sent on dangerous missions where the majority will be killed after their first operation. The few who survive eventually adapt, and become some of the most feared soldiers in the sector. Reapers are often deployed in the same manner as Marine Special Forces. Unlike the MSF who always have a wealth of intel backing them up, reapers are considered expendable, and are usually sent when the Dominion is lacking sufficient intel. In other words, they usually go in blind.

As resocs have their memories wiped away, their criminal records are also cleaned. Because reapers retain their memories, they must still repay their debt to society. Every time a reaper successfully completes a mission, years of services are deducted from his/her sentence. Due to the dangerous nature of their missions, very few reapers ever live to see the end of their service.

Perhaps the largest drawback to the reapers is that they still retain their old habits. Reapers are feared not just because of their combat prowess, but also for their often sadistic love of violence. They rarely take prisoners, and often take joy in making their enemies deaths as slow and painful as possible. Other times, they still retain their selfish greedy desires that may have caused them to turn violent in the first place. Many reapers have been suspected, and some even convicted, of conducting illegal activities on the side. It is for this reason that the reaper core is usually sent on missions not vital to the overall goals of the Dominion.

In order to maintain a short leash on reapers, their armor is always equipped with a kill switch. If it is ever believed that a reaper has gone rogue, their commander is authorized, and often encouraged, to hit the kill switch. The kill switch is also activated in the event the reaper tries to remove his armor without authorization. Because operational effectiveness is more important, the kill switch will deactivate if the suit is damaged in a certain way. This is done in order to prevent the kill switch auto activating simply because it mistook battlefield damage to the suit as an attempt at removal. It is difficult, but possible, for a reaper to cut himself out of his suit.

There have been cases of reapers successfully going rogue. While usually they just sell off their talents to the highest bidder, they have occasionally been known to go on a homicidal rampage of personal revenge against their former officers.

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Colonial Militias

Virtually every colony maintains its own colonial militia. The level of armaments and training can be very diverse. Most small colonies rely heavily on Dominion for protection and largely maintain only infantry volunteers. In these cases, the militia acts as a sort of peace keeper force to help suppress civil unrest.

Colonies that have many cities across their world will maintain massive colonial militias that are stand alone armies in their own right. In addition to infantry, they often times employ heavy armor and several fighter squadrons to protect their skies should they feel the Dominion presence is insufficient.

Almost every colony maintains at least a Colonial Marine Corps of sorts. Whether small backwaters or massive metropolises, colonial marines will usually be the first line of the defense on the ground.

About the only thing a colony can not maintain is a fleet. While some of the more powerful militias do maintain enough fighters to hold their own against an invading fleet, without the necessary FTL logistics they are unable to launch invasions on other worlds, and that is how the Dominion would prefer to keep things.

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Emperors

There are three levels of government that are universal to the Imperial Dominion. The Emperor, the Admiralty, and the Magistrate. The balance of power goes in a loop, with the Emperor selecting his Admirals, the Admirals selecting the Magistrate, and the Magistrates voting on an Emperor.

The selection of an Emperor is the most complicated of the three. When an Emperor reaches an age of fifty-five, or a decline in health (physical or mental) is noticed, an election is held between members of the Stone Hoof family. The Magistrates of the Dominion will vote for which ever successor they feel is most competent.

Successors are not limited to sons, but can also be brothers, cousins and nephews as well. If the minimum of five successors is not meant, female members may be potential successors as well. While there has been the occasional female candidate, there has never been a female Emperor. Successors must also be below the age of thirty-five, but above the age of twenty, though exceptions have been made.

Many successors are usually selected from birth, and undergo a life time of preparation. They will usually try to prove their worth by working through the ranks as a military officer, getting involved in politics below the level of a magistrate, or running a business to prove they have the leadership skills required. Naturally some will also spend much of their young lives trying to win the favor of magistrates, though due to the sometimes short lived careers of magistrates, individual merit can often overcome favoritism. Despite their status as a successor, they rarely live pampered lives. Those of the Stone Hoof family who do show such a display of greed, heathenism and incompetence usually earn the disapproval of their potential backers.

In the event of an Emperors sudden death, the first born son is placed in charge as temporary holder to the throne until an election can occur. When this happens, the next in line Emperor uses his time to prove his competence, and is usually left on the throne after election.

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Admirals

The position of Lord Admiral is the highest position one can gain within the military. While the military chooses all ranks below an Lord Admiral, the rank of a Lord Admiral is granted specifically by the Emperor himself.

Lord Admirals are tasked with not only defending, but also operating a specific portion of the Dominion, including all colonies both terrestrial, or space born. Lord Admirals must give a report every eight years on both the industrial and military output of their section. If satisfactory numbers aren’t maintained, the Emperor may choose to relive the Lord Admiral of his station. If an Emperor notices that a Lord Admirals sector is suffering, he may choose to relieve him early.

When a Lord Admiral is retired, relived, or killed, all Admirals from his Fleet are potential candidates for the Admiralty. The Emperor must choose from a potential Admirals to run and protect that section of the Dominion. This is probably the most important decision Emperors will make, as Emperors have little direct involvement on worlds outside the capital.

While Lord Admirals are tasked with both the economic and military success of their territory, most prefer to work more on defending their colonies rather than they running them. Though every Admiral has shown a level of military competence to make it as far as he has in his career, economic competence isn’t something that’s usually emphasized in the military. As such, they assign Magistrates to run individual colonies.

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Magistrate

Each Lord Admiral is assigned to protect a number of colonies, and each magistrate is assigned to run one of his colony. Some magistrates only run a specific space station, as well as all mining and trade in the surrounding area. Others run worlds with a single settlement, and others run massively populated worlds. In either case, their combined economic performance is what ultimately determines the success of the Lord Admiral above them. Without the support of a colonies industry, an Admirals fleet can not be maintained.

There is no official set of rules on how magistrates are selected, and it goes on a case by case basis with each Lord Admiral. Some hold a selection every three years between their current magistrate and other potential candidates. Most only expect a report, and if all seems well, they don’t bother at looking at new candidates. But the presence of a competent Magistrate is important, because a failure on the part of a magistrate could result in a Lord Admiral being relieved. A good Magistrate reflects a good Admiral in the eyes of most Emperors. Usually as long as a magistrate can maintain good economic and industrial numbers, there is little need to for elections

Candidates for magistrates also vary form Admiral to Admiral. Some value education, others proven business leaders, some political experience. Theoretically anyone can become a magistrate. Cases vary greatly from mayors of massive cities, to tiny successful business owners and everything in between. It all depends mainly on the Admiral doing the selection process.

Governments below the magistrate level vary from colony to colony. In some smaller colonies, magistrates run it like a mayor runs a small town. In larger colonies, more democratic approaches have been taken, with multiple leaders controlling different sections of the colony. The governments of individual colonies below the magistrate level are as diverse as the colonies themselves.

One of the most important moments of any Magistrate career is an Imperial Election. During an election, Admiral and Magistrate positions are locked in place. This is done to prevent Admirals and Emperors from relieving someone who they feel might not vote for their choice of successor. The process can take anywhere from a month to over a year, depending on how many successors are being screened.

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Judiciars

Admirals often times prefer to keep their minds focused on the military aspect of their jobs. Since they tend to view the micromanaging of individual magistrates as a distraction from their military duties, they often times assign a Judiciar to manage the civilian end of things.

An unofficial position, Judiciars are specifically in charge of assigning and keeping on eye out for incompetent Magistrates. For most Lord Admirals, selecting their Judiciar is the most important decision they will make, and often times the only decision as far as the civilian end of things goes. Usually Judiciars are chosen from already proven competent magistrates.

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Business Owners

Magistrates are allowed to, and often encouraged too, legally acquire any businesses they feel is “vital” to their colonies continued prosperity. Should a business ever become so powerful it becomes the corner stone of a citiy or colonies industry, the business owners will quickly find themselves under a Magistrate’s watchful eye. Because the Magistrate’s continued employment will largely depend on how well his economy runs, he/she may choose to relieve current business owners of their position and place someone in charge who they feel is more competent.

Naturally some favoritism falls in place with this practice, though Magistrates who choose incompetent friends over competent strangers tend to quickly find themselves out of a job as well.

This practice for the longest time was a major source of rebellion in the early days of the Dominion. Fortunately sincee the days of neural resocialization, the Dominion has the numbers to keep such rebellions down.

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Culture

More than any other faction, Imperials love ancient terran culture. The Dominion is also the largest provider of only two factions that continue to make cinema, which is often enjoyed by members of the other factions as well. While Ponies of the other factions enjoy Imperial films, it seems only Imperials as a people ever developed a love of the old terran era movies. Due to their love of terran culture, Imperials don’t speak with the “equestrian” accent. You’ll almost never hear an Imperial use the words “every pony,” and will instead speak the same way terrans have. The exception to this are certain ghost operatives. Many of them are required to spend months or years spying on enemy factions, and as a result have once again adopted their old equestrian accents.

It is because of their love of terran culture that Imperials are viewed as highly eccentric by the other factions. While its not universal, most Imperials do wear clothing, the exception being some of the smaller colonies. Imperial dialogue can often make references to ancient terran movies, books and games, that the ponies of other factions never seem to understand. For example, every Confederate knows that Imperials children are afraid of Slender man, but no Confederate knows exactly who or what Slender man is.

There is very little pedigree in the Dominion. Just as the government positions can change hands very quickly at the first signs of incompetence, so can businesses. Nothing in the Dominion is truly ones own outside of minor material possessions, and there is no guarantee the son will inherit the fruits of the father’s labor.

The Dominion maintains the largest population in the sector due to cloning. They also have the highest rate of citizens leaving the Dominion to seek citizenship among the other factions, usually with relative ease. The main cause for many is believed to be a lack in identity. While almost every Imperial is a descendent of a clone, “fresh clones” are usually treated as an expendable resource more so than a citizen. It’s not uncommon for them to abandon the Dominion to find a higher purpose.

While cloning has been greatly scaled back, and stopped completely among unicorns, the Dominion is always looking to increase its numbers. Homeless children are usually offered a military education (eventually becoming naval officers) in exchange for their genetic material. Struggling house holds can also offer their children’s genetic material as well in exchange for compensation.

Imperials usually start with very little when they leave the nest, and are expected to “earn their place” among Dominion society. While often viewed as a last resort, most stallions will find themselves in one branch of the military or another for at least one term of service in order to help get on their feet. A military career in the Dominion Marine Corps infantry specifically is usually viewed as a final option. Mares of the pegusi and earth pony variant are usually in the same boat, but are mostly sent into the Armada. The majority of Armada enlisted is female. Service in the DMC medical corps for a mare, is seen as the equivalent as service in the DMC infantry for a stallion; a last resort.

Unicorn mares are an exception to the rule. Due to the Dominions aggressive acquisition of powerful unicorns, mares are given the same benefits as a military serviceman, in exchange for allowing Dominion Intelligence to use her as a surrogate mother. The donor is always a ghost stallion of proven magical potential; many stallions in the ghost program have fathered dozens of foals they'll never meet. The foal is tested shortly after birth, and if it comes up positive for powerful magical potential, the mother is given a bonus, and can expect even greater compensation for any future children she agrees to bare. The child is then adopted by the ghost academy and will spend their childhood being honed into a weapon. If it is found to be of low magical potential (usually the case), the mother may opt to have the child adopted by the Naval Officer Training School, and will spend their youth mastering the art of war. To this regard, the mother doesn’t have to worry about her child going hungry at least.

Unfortunately, because the Dominion is always on the look out for powerful unicorn children, unicorns in the Dominion often times avoid paring up for fear that their child may be taken away if it turns out to be a unicorn of powerful magical potential. To compensate, some incentives are given to unicorn married couples. Even among mix species marriages, the unicorn wife might still be required to act as surrogate for at least one child.

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Relationship with the other factions.

The Dominion is often times at ends with the Confederacy, and the two factions are known for exchanging blows frequently.

No side is able to push deep into the other side’s territory, but both sides are known for consistently launching raids against one another. Because the Dominion spends much more time gathering intel, and tends to attack using highly specialized commando units and fighter squadrons, Dominion raids are much less common, but usually more devastating. The Confederacy uses zerg to supplement their forces, and tends to launch raids with more regularity, if with mixed success.

To both sides credit, they don’t target civilians. Confederate raids over Dominion skies are so common; they’re practically a social event on some of the frontier worlds. Colonial Militia is rarely involved in the fighting as long as the Confederates keep the violence limited to military targets. It’s believed this is a factor as to why Confederates don’t target civilians.

The Dominion has expressed interest in a cease fire with the Confederacy. Due to internal problems with their own military, the Confederacy is unable to end hostilities, even if it wanted to.

Despite sharing borders, the Dominion has very little contact with their Khalai neighbors. Due to the proud warrior nature of the Khalai Templar warriors, there is the occasionally skirmish every few months. These fights are never massive, and usually only end with ships being disabled rather than destroyed. The real battle takes place behind the scenes between the known ghost operatives of the Dominion, and the Dark Templar of the Khalai. The two are always locked in a silent war of espionage.

The Dominion is the only faction that's government doesn't trade heavily with the Kel Morian Consortium. But since the Consortium is the center of commerce in the sector, many independent merchants do involve themselves in trade. While most factions in the Koprulu sector use the Consortium bit as their main form of currency, the Dominion maintained is own currency, which has hindered trade in the long run.

The Dominion and the Consortium have a bad history with one another. The Kel Morian Consortium was formed as a result of the Dominions aggressive expansion. Kel Moria offered military aid to any world that felt threatened by Dominion expansion. Due to the growing fear of Dominion invasion, many independent colonies flocked to the protection of the Kel Morian Consortium, which unlike the Dominion, allowed for a great deal of autonomy among their colonies. While the Dominon and Consortium have never been in a state of war with one another, Imperials are still viewed as oppressors and conquerors by the Kel Morian people.

The Dominions biggest issue with the Consortium is the fact its a haven for Pirates, Rebels and other criminals. While the Consortium doesn't actively offer refugee for these groups, the United Fleet isn't large enough to route out these internal threats. Many of these groups will often cross borders into Dominion space to conduct raids on Dominion supply ships. The Dominion Armada has raised tensions with the Consortium now and then by illegally sending warships across the border in hopes of dealing with these threats. They are rarely ever successful in finding their hidden bases, and are sometimes even attacked by United Fleet forces. The Dominion never declared open war with the Consortium in spite of these attacks. Partially because they were on Consortium space, largely because they don't wish to open up a second battle front.

The Imperial Dominion is greatly despised by the Umojan Vatican. Korhals desertion from Commander Steelwings campaign was the spark that ignited a mass desertion from many of the other smaller colonies. The Vatican blames the Dominion for what they consider Steelwings defeat, even though it was technically a cease fire. Despite their deep resentment towards the Dominion, the fact they share no borders has kept the Vatican from show any acts of aggression. Because the Vatican are currently in a "Holy War" against the Khalai heretics who do border the Dominion, some with in the Dominion military believe that should the Vatican ever defeat the Khalai ponies, the Dominion would be their next target.