Ascendancy of the Broken Ring/Military

This page is under construction. Author considers this article to be unfinished or in need of an update or a revamp.

 Overview History Provinces Military

> "*As we march forward upon the first steps of our sacred path, our consecrated Blade shall cut through the forces of tenebris that would dare attempt to confound our way.*"
>
> **- Ophetam I**
>
>

The armed forces of the Ascendancy, the Blade of the Ascendancy is responsible for all military action, encompassing all of its operations. As the military of the Ascendancy, its reputation is largely derived from that of the Ascendancy itself, a large, malevolent conquering force that needs to be stamped out. This reputation of danger is far from unearned, as the Blade has been the most potent tool in the Ascendancy's conquest of the Concourse region. Divided into 3 all-encompassing branches of service, the Suprema, the Classem, and the Agmenitus.

## The Suprema

Serving as the upper command and non-combatant branch of the Blade, the Suprema consists of the highest echelons of commanding officers responsible for directing and coordinating the actions of the Blade as a whole, as well as a number of miscellaneous subbranches responsible for activities such as military intelligence.

## The Classem

The astronaval branch of the Blade, the Classem consists of and operates the mighty star navy of the Ascendancy, consisting of ornate, bladed vessels that proudly carried the conquests of the Ascendancy through the void of space. Additionally, the Classem encompasses the marines permanently stationed onboard military ships and stations, acting as well-armed security.

#### Capital Warships

* Hide Entries
* Spetum-Class Battleship
* Scythe-Class Supercarrier

* 2 Triple 80-meter barrel coilgun turrets
* 12 Triple 40-meter barrel railgun turrets
* Concealed Sagitta heavy antiship smart missiles
* Energy Shielding

* Obliterate subcapital ships

## Spetum-Class Battleship

Image of a Spetum-Class taken for propaganda purposes.

## Overview

### Role

Destroying battleships, trump card against subcaptial ships

## Superstructure

### Strong Points

* Forward crescent
* Citadel
* Turrets

### Internal Reinforcement

Internal bunkers/voids redirect projectiles and shockwaves to minimize damage

## Armament

### Secondary Weapons

12 Triple 40-meter barrel railgun turrets

### Tertiary Weapons

Concealed Sagitta heavy antiship smart missiles

### Point Defense Weapons

Retractable laser turrets

**Overview**

The capital-class workhorse of the Classem, the Spetum-Class Battleship is the current and only battleship in Ascendancy service. A departure from most conventional battleship designs, the Spetum possesses a vertically-oriented design concealed behind an all-encompassing, SIM-armored sloped shield in the shape of a crescent blade. While other contemporary battleships such as the Herrath-class Battleship possess a horizontal deck layout and use a more modest, forward angled shield to protect the rest of the ship, the Spetum is built entirely around its deflective shield section, with all but the armored turrets concealed behind the crescent when viewed head-on.

**Superstructural Design**

The frontal crescent of the Spetum-Class battleship, in addition to defining its striking form, serves as its most potent defensive tool. Containing the majority of the vessel's strong interaction armor, the angled shape serves to deflect incoming fire away from the ship, or at least increase the degree of penetration required for an anti-armor round to hit the rest of the ship behind it. While many other battleships make use of a smaller frontal shield to deflect incoming fire, said armored shields do not cover the whole of the ship when viewed head-on. By contrast, the forward armor of the Spetum-Class protects the entirety of the ship from the front, with only the turreted guns of the vessel showing. These turrets themselves possess thin strong interaction armor, making them resilient, and far less vulnerable to subcapitol-grade weaponry.

**Weapons**

Running the length of the Spetum-Class, concealed by retractable SIA plates is its primary weapon system, a 600-meter long superheavy railgun. Loaded at the very rear of the vessel, near the citadel, the enormous device fires up to 15-meter wide shells designed to defeat the SIA armor of battleships at medium to short range. However, as a spinal weapon, the Spetum must point its entire self at the target in order for the railgun to function, devastating as it may be.

In addition to its primary weapon, the Spetum-Class possesses a large number of secondary multi-barrel gun turrets capable of dueling battleships or destroying vessels lacking SIA in seconds, themselves clad in strong interaction armor. A pair of larger turrets flank the central body of the vessel, each possessing three 80-meter long railgun barrels loaded with rounds designed primarily to combat battleships in CQB, though far more than enough to utterly decimate subcaptial warships. Additionally, 12 smaller turrets are present along the back of the armored crescent, 6 on each side. While these smaller turrets are half the size, with 40-meter long triple barrels, they likewise are fed with extremely powerful ammunition intended to penetrate SIA.

Aside from its close-range CQB weaponry, the Spetum also possesses a complement of standard Sagitta heavy antiship smart missiles. Sagitta missiles intelligently predict and evade incoming interceptive fire, splitting into 7 smaller missiles that each seek out known weak points on enemy targets. Though most missiles are shot down by point-defense systems, considering the total expected fleetwide volume of fired missiles, most of which also split into multiple final projectiles, the long-range stage of engagement is still effective at weakening the enemy's ranks.

## Overview

### Role

Capital-grade strike craft carrying capacity, can transport small warships as well

## Superstructure

### Strong Points

* Forward crescent
* Citadel

## Armament

### Point Defense Weapons

Retractable laser turrets

*Overview*
The younger sibling to the Spetum-Class Battleship, the Scythe-Class Supercarrier is an armored supercarrier based on the same frame as the aforementioned battleship. Using the same frontal crescent as the Spetum, as well as a very similar central body and engine pattern, the actual armor and armament of the Scythe is significantly different.

*Superstructure*
Though built on the same frame as the Spetum-Class, and sharing numerous identical features, the Scythe possesses fundamental differences. Most importantly, though not outwardly visible, the frontal strong interaction armor of the Scythe is notably thinner than its big brother, mostly intended to shrug off normal projectiles, not engage in vicious combat with other battleships. This, in addition to its limited cannonry, makes it ineffective in a CQB engagement with a capital-grade combatant. The primary novel aspect to the Scythe's superstructure is it's highly extensive carrier facilities above and below the central body, sections that are much smaller and largely empty on the Spetum. These facilities can store, deploy and service hundreds of small strikecraft and corvettes, allowing the Scythe to fulfill its role as an enormous platform for strikecraft.

*Weapons*

Compared to its big brother, the Scythe-Class is significantly less well-armed. With only a standard complement of Sagitta missiles, and a mere 4 of the smaller, 40-meter guns equipped on the Spetum, its armament is only suitable for obliterating subcapital warships attempting to engage the Scythe at medium to close range. Otherwise, the Scythe relies on other ships to fill the role of ship-ship combat, focusing almost entirely on safely deploying vast numbers of fightercraft and small warships. If engaged by battleships without the aid of the Spetum-Class, the odds of the Scythe are slim.

#### Subcaptial Warships

##### Carriers

* Hide Entries
* Chariot-Class Carrier

##### Cruisers

* Hide Entries
* Katana-Class Cruiser

##### Frigates

* Hide Entries
* Pugio-Class Frigate
* Rapier-Class Light Frigate

## Armament

### Point Defense Weapons

Laser turrets

The heavier of the two Ascendancy frigates in active service, the Pugio-Class Frigate is primarily used in peacetime, as a patrol, convoy, and/or anti-piracy vessel. The Pugio possesses limited amounts of strong-interaction armor and large railgun turrets to trump the worst threats that could be expected in peacetime. As a frigate, the Pugio is designed for long-term operation, with low maintenance requirements and the ability to operate across whole regions for prolonged periods. The Pugio is rarer, and used to defend more crucial peacetime concerns, such as destroying illegal spacer operations and guarding critical infrastructure, whereas the smaller, weaker Rapier is largely relegated to more mundane tasks. In a pitched, wartime battle, the limited armor and armament of the Pugio means that against any vessels in similar or greater weight classes, the design struggles, relying on numbers.

## Armament

### Point Defense Weapons

Laser turrets

The lighter of the two Ascendancy frigates in active service, the Rapier-Class Light Frigate performs the same frigate tasks as its larger cousin. A frigate, it has very low maintenance requirements, and can operate for prolonged periods of time over entire regions. Though smaller than the Pugio, the Rapier-Class is much faster, both in terms of realspace acceleration and the lower wind-up time of its quantum breach drive. While its Light Frigate classification may make it less useful for more intensive operations, its simplicity and low costs means it is excellent for mundane peacetime duties, seeing very popular use as an escort/convoy vessel.

##### Destroyers

* Hide Entries
* Dha-Class Destroyer
* Stiletto-Class Monitor

##### Corvettes

* Hide Entries
* Misericorde-Class Corvette

#### Strike Craft

* Hide Entries
* Zealot-Class Fighter

### Star Marines

* Assault Rifles
* Combat Shotguns
* Light Machine Guns
* Hardlight Arbalests
* Grenade Launcher
* Grenades
* Hardlight Blades
* Vacuum Propulsion Harness
* Energy Shields(integrated into armor)
* War Drones
* Boarding Shuttles

* Boarding Actions

## The Agmentius

The terrestrial armed forces, the Agmentius encompasses all non-naval foot-soldiers, vehicles, and interstellar transports. The most (in)famous branch of Ascendancy service, the bold, powerful armor and weaponry of its members are prevalent in Ascendancy propaganda.

### Doctrine

Read more about Aoshanti army doctrines

The Agmentius follows what has become known as an Orbitritan doctrine, with the use of common, professional soldiery, thoroughly drilled as pragmatic soldiers quite distinct from their Lessoan counterparts. Though individually less skilled than a Lessoan-style soldier who has dedicated much of their life to their practice, and with far fewer quality psions among its ranks, the Agmentius closes the gap through extensive mechanization, drones, and powerful equipment that results in an unparalleled core of highly professional medium infantry. Sophisticated body armor is extremely prevalent, with energy shielding of varying strength being universal.

### Infantry

* Limitanei
* Legionaria
* Terciarii
* Scholae Orbitritan

* Light Machine Guns
* Grenade Launcher
* Grenades
* Hardlight Blades
* Shield Harness
* Combat Engineers
* Heavy Machine Gun Platoon
* Light Combat Vehicles
* Light War Drones
* Transport Vehicles

* Reconnaissance
* Minor Security
* Auxiliary Troops

* Light Machine Guns
* RPG
* Grenade Launcher
* Grenades
* Laser Rifles
* Hardlight Arbalests
* Hardlight Blades
* Energy Shields(Integrated into armor)
* Combat Engineers
* Arbalest Platoon
* Heavy Machine Gun Platoon
* Armored Combat Vehicles
* Heavy War Drones
* Transport Vehicles
* Atmospheric Gunships

* Boarding Actions
* Capital Ship and Major Station security
* Occupation

* Light Machine Guns
* RPG
* Grenade Launcher
* Grenades
* Laser Rifles
* Hardlight Arbalests
* Hardlight Blades
* Energy Shields(Integrated into armor)
* Combat Engineers
* Arbalest Platoon
* Heavy Machine Gun Platoon
* Armored Combat Vehicles
* Heavy War Drones
* Transport Vehicles
* Atmospheric Gunships

* High-intensity Boarding Actions
* Capital Ship and Major Station security

* Light Machine Guns
* RPG
* Grenade Launcher
* Grenades
* Laser Rifles
* Hardlight Arbalests
* Hardlight Blades
* Energy Shields(Integrated into armor)
* Combat Engineers
* Arbalest Platoon
* Heavy Machine Gun Platoon
* Armored Combat Vehicles
* Heavy War Drones
* Transport Vehicles
* Atmospheric Gunships

* Security for high-value Ascendancy officials

### Armor

* Main Battle Tank Platoon
* War Drone Squad
* Ambulem

* Anti-Tank Missiles
* Auxiliary anti-infantry guns
* High-Power Energy Shielding
* Combat Engineers
* 4 Infantry Squads
* War Drones
* AA Vehicles
* Transport Vehicles

* Anti-armor
* Anti-fortification
* Occupation

* Guided anti-tank missile(s)
* Reloadable Hardlight Arbalest
* Energy Shielding
* Combat Engineers
* 3 Infantry Squads
* Transport Vehicles

* Highly mobile anti-infantry platform
* Partial anti-armor
* Occupation

* MBT Railgun Cannon(s)
* Anti-Tank Missiles
* Surface-to-Air Missiles
* Superheavy Energy Shielding
* Combat Engineers
* Multiple MBT units
* Multiple Heavy War Drone units
* AA Platoons

* Fortification destruction