Black Star Army

Black Star Army Insignia (Fanmade)

Black Star Army, previously known as the Black Star Mercenary Group, is the personal interstellar influence painstakingly created by Han Xiao (Black Star). It is also one of the stronger factions in Edition 4.0 (on par to the three Universal Grade Civilizations), and has the most number of players (including players from China, Russia, Australia, and other countries).

Besides its attraction to Players (whom Han Xiao had specifically targeted during its development), Black Star Army is also a very powerful NPC faction (Army Officer, Beyond Grade A's) within the Universe of Galaxy, becoming more pronounced with his personal growth in strength (from a C-Class super in Ch 332, to a peak Beyond Grade A super by Edition 4.0). It also has the distinction of being one of the few independent organizations with more than one Beyond Grade A, and has the production and military capacity to challenge the Super Star Cluster Modo Civilization in the Flickering World.

## Overview

Beyond Grade A organization ruled by Han Xiao (Black Star), the Main Character of "The Legendary Mechanic".

It started as "Black Star Mercenary Group" and was the first stellar faction in Galaxy that players could join. It earned fame in the early stages for it's undying army, and in later stages it became the faction with the largest "Undying Army".

It's currently one of the strongest intergalactic factions, with a record-breaking membership of 11 S-grades (with most other S-Grade Factions having single S-Grade memberships, except the armies of the 3 Universal Civilizations).

## Motto

### Primary Goal:

*Anyway, there was only one service belief—Don’t ever have to worry about not being able to spend your money here! -* **Ch 410**

Black Star originally created the Black Star Mercenary Group (which became the Black Star Army), for players (especially from Planet Aquamarine) to have a faction to join. The primary goal of the Black Star Army (and the reason Black Star has dedicated a lot of effort to increase its size and power), is to act as a means for Black Star to earn experience points from players.

Therefore, a lot of its services are geared towards providing convenience and benefits to players (while the contribution mechanism indirectly prevents players from leaving).There is also the "traitor" repeatable quest, that benefits players who kill other players who leave the faction , with the rewards increasing even as the "traitor" players' level rises, creating an endless loop of rewards for players (leaving is costly to traitors, because they loose contribution benefits, and become targets for faction-member players).

Besides the indirect cost of leaving the faction, the Black Star Army consistently provides the best technology (armor, ships, devices), knowledge (of all 5 professions) and blueprints; at prices lower than the market price (but only to army members through the faction store), making it very attractive. This is because of the "experience points" mechanism, that only Black Star is able to fully take advantage of, thus the money cost of the various items in the faction store is consistently lower than the average market price (and the technology is more costly to produce at an individual level, therefore Black Star maintains a monopoly on the player market).

*Army commander is f... awesome!* - **Players**

### Secondary Goal:

The secondary goal of the Black Star Army, and the guide to its growth outside of the Editions, is the ambition of Black Star to supplement his own individual combat power by building a powerful organization to aid him increase his influence. This ambition was fully ignited in Edition 2.0 when Black Star witnessed the power of Bloodshed Land on Planet Heber. This happened during the Tyrant Gathering, and Black Star was able to personally experience the potential that a Beyond Grade A influence could hold.

The Black Star Army became a full-fledged army by Edition 2.0 thanks to the players (close to 3 million players from Planet Aquamarine), but Black Star was able to leverage this to increase its personnel count and combat power until it was able to maintain its army status after players disappeared. It was a relatively small army during the beginning of the Secret War, but grows continuously through three major events:

1. Black Star becomes Beyond Grade A seed
2. Black Star becomes Beyond Grade A
3. Crimson Dynasty opens the sale of the Evolution Totem (to non-allied parties)

## Internal Ranking System

With the base level as 1-Star, the higher one’s level, the higher one’s authority and standing. That personal level was also used as an application standard for employment missions, which served as a gauge to the difficulty they could handle. Players had to first complete enough low-difficulty tasks to raise their credibility points in order to be eligible for the more difficult tasks.

Rank is determent by three factors

1. Credit of the individual mercenary
2. Current faction relation
3. Total contribution to the mercenary group

### 1-Star

Mercenary that just joined the group starts as a 1-star mercenary.

### 2-Star

Faction relation [Friendly]

Contribution degree of 1000 points

## Immortal Army

The players are one of the biggest benefits of the Black Star Army. They are the best force to use in high casualty operations, and led the Black Star Mercenary Group (proto-form of the Black Star Army) to prominence, making them a very potent force in war or dangerous situations.

The players are popular and infamous for two attributes:

#### First:

They are technically "immune to death": players revive upon death (with some differences in location, and an increasing cool-down), they are virtually a limitless resource because they aren't deterred by fatal situations (including illnesses, war, scouting dangerous environments etc.)

While players themselves have a deterrent to death (experience cost, cool-down, 6 deaths/day limit), they are not limited by fatigue (in the universe of Galaxy, which is a game to them, therefore day-night time is not a limit to their productivity), and there are benefits to be gained by a fearless attitude.

In the hands of Black Star (who is able to give them correspondingly high rewards), players are willing to undertake high-risk missions that other mercenary groups would otherwise avoid (due to the cost in personnel).

#### Second:

They have a near limitless growth potential. The only limit to player growth is the Edition Level Cap, which in turn rises with each edition. (Coinciding with their "disappearance" and "reappearance" with an 'unknown period between each time: only Black Star knows the time periods between each edition, and is able to prepare for them).

With each new edition, as players grow stronger, their individual battle power and threat increases, a fact notable even to the Three Universal Civilizations and other powers. The erratic and almost illogical behavior of players (who lack any true loyalty within the universe of Galaxy, except players of Black Star Army), makes them a major factor in determining events throughout the Universe of Galaxy.

In later Editions (starting from Edition 4.0 onwards), as the majority of players rise above the average B-Grade; they become a "Calamity of the Cosmos" because they are able to influence events at a galactic scale, more so because their motivations are not controllable (they can't be killed, they can't be tied by loyalty, they can't be limited by laws; their mentality - as players and free agents - can't be directly calculated by NPCs).

#### Final Note

Black Star is the only NPC who can fully leverage the power of players, by anticipating their attitudes and desires; and with the "traitor" tag, and the Time-Space Amber Space Treasure, deter them in a way meaningful to them.

In the early parts of the Army's development, Black Star used the players to gain prominence, as the main fighting force of the Army. However, in Edition 4.0, they are overshadowed by the sheer massive scale of the NPC faction. However, they are the single biggest reason for Black Star's rapid rise in power (confused for potential by other NPCs), and so he personally organizes the Black Star Army into a beneficial faction for them (so that he can harvest the leeks in his backyard).

The pro players, and players in general, favor the arm for the ease of obtaining resources (weapons, armor, ships). This possible because Black Star himself is now a Beyond Grade A member of the Mechanic Class, and has some of the best production capacity within Galaxy (the Logistics department can rival Star Cluster Grade production capacity). This easily accommodates the expenditure of players (through combat) and the fact that Black Star Army has managed to maintain itself through 4 Editions, signifies it is worth investing in (as resources guarded by the Black Star Army will be protected during the time between editions),

It is forecasted by Black Star, that as the players, in the order of millions, step into Calamity Grade (and later S-Grade, in the editions down the line), they stand to become the biggest factor in the 'Super Power Disaster' event storyline, and the World Tree Civilization's invasion.

## NPC Members

### Grade SS Supers

1. ~~Han Xiao (Mechanic) - Chapter 948~~
2. Hila (Esper) - Chapter 1403

### Grade S+ Super

1. ~~Han Xiao (Mechanic) - Chapter 880~~
2. Feidin (Psychic) - Chapter 1403

### Grade S Supers

1. ~~Han Xiao (Mechanic) - Chapter 760~~
2. ~~Hila (Esper) - Chapter 993~~
3. Aurora (Esper) - Chapter 1249
4. Lothaire (Pugilist) - Chapter 1314
5. ~~Feidin (Psychic) - Chapter 1380~~
6. Evans (Esper) - Chapter 1392
7. Karlot (Pugilist) - Chapter 1403
8. Lagi (Mage) - Chapter 1403
9. Jotina (Puglist) - Chapter 1403
10. Nero (Mechanic) - Chapter 1403

### Grade A+ Supers

1. ~~Han Xiao (Mechanic) - Chapter 675~~
2. Hadavy (Esper) - Chapter 769
3. ~~Lagi~~ ~~(Mage) - Chapter 993~~

### Grade A Supers

1. ~~Han Xiao (Mechanic) - Chapter 578~~
2. ~~Lagi (Mage) - Chapter 643~~
3. Reynold (Mechanic) - Chapter 653
4. Karmbe (Pugilist) - Chapter 689
5. Marian (Mechanic) - Chapter 689
6. Misecech (Esper) - Chapter 689
7. Sylvia (Mechanic) - Chapter 716
8. Herlous (Pugilist) - Chapter 716
9. Aroshia (Esper) - Chapter 716
10. Ginette Colin (Mechanic) - Chapter 716
11. Harmon (Esper) - Chapter 716
12. ~~Hila (Esper) - Chapter 731~~
13. Shazik - Chapter 900
14. ~~Lothaire (Pugilist) - Chapter 900~~
15. Mia Moretto (Pugilist) - Chapter 993
16. ~~Aurora (Esper)- Chapter 1025~~
17. ~~Jotina (Pugilist) - Chapter 1064~~
18. ~~Karlot (Pugilist) - Chapter 1268~~
19. ~~Evans (Esper) - Chapter 1272~~

### Grade B+ Supers

1. ~~Reynold (Mechanic) - Chapter 602~~
2. ~~Herlous (Pugilist) - Chapter 695~~

### Grade B Supers

1. ~~Herlous (Pugilist) - Chapter 577~~
2. Aroshia (Esper) - Chapter 577
3. Sehrinde (Pugilist) - Chapter 577
4. Ginette Colin (Mechanic) - Chapter 577
5. Harmon (Esper) - Chapter 577
6. ~~Sylvia (Mechanic) - Chapter 687~~
7. ~~Aurora (Esper)- Chapter 731~~

### Grade C+ Supers

* ~~Sylvia (Mechanic) - Chapter 630~~
* ~~Nero (Mechanic) - Chapter 965~~

### Grade C Supers

1. Eldest Volga Brother (Psychic) - Chapter 577
2. Second Volga Brother (Psychic) - Chapter 577
3. Youngest Volga Brother (Mage) - Chapter 577
4. ~~Feidin (Psychic) - Chapter 577~~

## History

The Black Star Army begun as the Black Star Mercenary Group, and was founded by Han Xiao as a faction for players to join. (in Edition 1.0 in preparation for Edition 2.0). When he left Aquamarine, he brought with him over fifty plus players who would form the base of the group. Han Xiao would proceed to raise the credibility for the group, making a name for themselves and recruiting both players and NPCs to eventually form the army.

Their first mission was on Planet Sunil and it was to protect the main city from the Catastrophe, waves of beasts that were provoked with mental waves generated by the Phophecy Stones deep underground. The group volunteered to take on the tougher recon missions and were able to gain fame as the Immortal Army capable of revival.

In between the first and second mission, Han Xiao received a recruitment call from Sky Ring Army, which he rejected but offered to have a partnership for future missions in case the former required the assistance. This allowed the group to get involved in their second mission to save some Silvers from slavers, so the group tagged along with mercenaries from the Sky Ring Army, the Purple Gold Army and Blades Army. During the mission, things went south and Ames, the leader of the Floating Dragon Island, came out and captured all of them. Han Xiao was able to get a way out from the knowledge from his previous life, and the entire group was assimilated into the island's operations. Han Xiao joined the logistics team, while the rest of the players joined the Dragon Guards and formed their own squad. After proving themselves, Dragon Emperor Ames accepted Han Xiao's request to be a field team outside the island and gave him a mission to find out news on her teacher.

Over ten years of development saw Black Star Mercenary Group grow from about 10,000 members to over 1 million in the prelude to the secret war. It further expanded when Black Star, the leader, became Beyond Grade A seed, and eventually became an independent organization when Black Star achieved Beyond Grade A step.

## References

1. ↑ (Chap 1268)
2. ↑ Chapter 591
3. ↑ Chapter 373
4. ↑ Chapter 387