Ascendancy Military

and

* Supreme Admiral

The **Ascendancy Military**, also known as the **Chiss military,** served as the standing military of the Chiss Ascendancy and was based in the galaxy's Unknown Regions, known to the Chiss as the Chaos. It consisted of the Chiss Defense Force (CDF), charged with defending Chiss territory, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet (CEDF), charged with patrolling the Chaos, and the controversial Chiss Expansionary Defense Army (CEDA), charged with carrying out both defensive and offensive ground operations in the event of war. All three branches were bound by a set of laws restricting their authority to perform preemptive strikes.

The mission of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet was to "watch over Chiss interests in the parts of the Chaos extending beyond the Ascendancy's borders, to learn who was out there and assess their level of threat." In addition to the Ascendancy military, many Chiss families among the ruling and great families operated family fleets and household phalanxes that functioned analogously to planetary defense forces for worlds where that family had a strong presence.

## History

Centuries prior to the Vagaari Invasion, the Ascendancy relied on levies from the powerful Chiss families to make up its armed forces. A complex series of oaths and treaties between the families bound them to devote ships and troops for the defense of the Chiss people in times of war. In the wake of a series of wars, both against powerful external invaders, and civil wars between the families, the need for a strong national military body became apparent. To this end, the Ascendancy navy was formed. Two separate branches were established, the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, responsible for patrolling the chaos beyond Chiss Space, and the Chiss Defense Force, responsible for dealing with matters within Chiss space. The navy would show neither loyalty nor preferential treatment to any one Chiss family, and the leaders of the organization would give up all family ties, ranks, and privileges.

The Chiss viewed unprovoked interventions as war crimes, and strict regulations emerged to prevent the navy from engaging in first strike operations. As a result, Chiss military doctrine evolved to become almost exclusively focused on the navy, to the neglect of ground forces. In the event of war with another nation, it was the navy's job to eliminate the enemy's ability to invade Chiss space by destroying all enemy warships and shipyards. The surface of enemy worlds would be left untouched with the exception of limited strategic bombardments from orbit to destroy factories and other facilities vital to the maintenance of enemy space forces.

Infantry, therefore, was solely used in boarding actions, where the CEDF/CDF marines excelled, or in defensive actions on Chiss worlds. This latter responsibility was maintained by the families who operated household phalanxes. A more centralized organization, the Colonial Phalanxes, were eventually created, but they served primarily in a law-enforcement role.

By the time of the Vagaari Invasion, the Chiss military doctrine had been successful at deterring aggression. However, the Chiss Ascendancy was disliked by many of its neighbors due to its isolationism, economic protectionism, and general attitude of superiority. These grievances were stoked by certain leaders amongst the Vagaari pirates who gathered a large coalition of Chiss neighbors and launched a sustained invasion of Chiss Space with the ultimate goal of eliminating them. Despite holding an advantage in technology and leadership, the Chiss could not easily contend with the weight of numbers levelled against them by the Vagaari coalition. To make matters worse, family rivalries and politics led to disunity and diverted resources away from the front. The situation seemed dire, but was reversed in the Final Assault on Csilla when a young Thriv'aes'hrallae destroyed the main Vagaari Bannership, along with much of their leadership. The CEDF and CDF capitalized on the situation with a strong of victories. With the loss of much of the charismatic Vagaari leadership, their coalition began to dissolve. Shrewd diplomats of the Chaf Family helped to negotiate a separate peace with several of the enemy factions, leaving the Vagaari to fight on with dwindling support. Soon, the back of the Vagaari pirate fleets was broken and they were expelled from Chiss space altogether.

While ultimately a victory, the invasion had been traumatic for Chiss society. The next few years saw significant changes to the organization of the Ascendancy government to reduce the potential for family rivalries to ever again hinder a war effort. The CEDF and CDF underwent some changes as well, seeing a need to address failing that had been experienced during the war. In 2 ABY, a large-scale fleet modernization program occurred which introduced the powerful *Rassona*-class Man-Of-War and the *Ethssado*-class Expansionary Cruiser among other vessels. Additionally, after seeing how poorly household phalanx forces fared against enemy ground forces, the Ascendancy Military saw it necessary to create for the first time a standing army under the authority of the Defense Hierarchy Council. Initially, it was called the Chiss Defense Army (CDA) and was rigorously trained in defensive tactics. However, it was clearly stated in the CDA's founding charters that they existed for defensive purposes only and would never to be deployed onto foreign worlds.

With the rise of Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Empire of the Hand, the Chiss military was exposed for the first time to technologies, tactics, and developments from Lesser Space. Though officially unaffiliated with the Hand, many Ascendancy engineers and military officials travelled to Nirauan to both learn from and to teach their Imperial counterparts. A number of new warship and ground vehicle designs were developed jointly, modified versions of which would eventually make their way into Chiss military service.

The next most significant changes occurred after the rise to power of Thriv'aes'hrallae (Vaes) in 29 ABY. As he consolidated power over the course of the next several years, it soon became that Vaes, whose painful memories of the Vagaari Invasion remained vividly clear, took a more liberal attitude to the doctrine of non-intervention. While never openly condemning it, Vaes and his allies took steps to prepare for a potential offensive war. The most blatant step taken was the sweeping reform to the CDA. In 31 ABY, Vaes's Irizi ally, aristocra Irizi'ud'nagathor, having significant authority over the Ascendancy military, rebranded the CDA as the Chiss Expansionary Defense Army (CEDA), changing their charter to allow for the possibility of foreign deployments if necessary to preserve Chiss security. Alongside this, the *Inrossa*-class Army Assault Lander was introduced, a massive vessel designed to transport an entire Chiss army between worlds. The number of armies was also expanded from five to nine. New military hardware was imported from the Empire of the Hand, as well as new organization based in part upon the Imperial Army. Finally, Vaes brought in Imperials and Mandalorians from Clan Karbeumaryn as military advisors and trainers.

Changes to the CEDA were viewed suspiciously by some members of the other branches, especially those who highly regarded the doctrine of non-intervention. The most upsetting change was the increase of the number of army generals who were a part of the Defense Hierarchy Council.

## Organization

The Ascendancy military was lead by a staff known as the Defense Hierarchy Council. The Aristocra for the Irizi, functioned as *de facto* commander-in-chief jointly with either the Supreme Admiral, the leader of the Defense Hierarchy Council. Military contracts for new vessels were controlled by the Aristocra of the Mitth, and new ships and equipment were constructed at the Copero shipyards by Mitth Defense Systems.

Members of the Chiss military wore all black uniforms representing a unity of all family colors. This signified that they served no one family, but all Chiss. However, they did wear colored patches with family insignia to show what family they had come from. Officers of Flag Rank (Commodore and above for the CEDF and CDF, and Brigadier and above for the CEDA) wore white uniforms. This signified an absence of family allegiance, as these officers gave up their family names, ranks, and privileges.

## Defense Hierarchy

Prior to the Vagaari Invasion, the Defense Hierarchy Council consisted of ten admirals, five representing each naval branch. Following the creation of the Chiss Defense Army, five generals joined the council. After Vaes's expansion of the army into the CEDA, the Defense Hierarchy consisted of ten admirals and ten generals. Each admiral was placed in charge of one of the ten Chiss fleets. Nine of the ten generals are in command of the nine CEDA Armies. One admiral and one general became Supreme Admiral and Supreme General, and were the heads of the hierarchy, with the Supreme Admiral the more senior of the two.

## Ranks

The ranks of the Ascendancy military were translated into basic by Mitth'raw'nuruodo who attempted to find equivalents in the Imperial military.

## Military Culture

The military emphasized conformity and procedure in every aspect of their military. In theory, family politics would not come into effect within the military. In practice, however, that doesn't always prove to be the case. Due to oversight from the Irizi and the close link with the Mitth, it is impossible for the military to extricate themselves from family politics atlogether.

Despite the emphasis on conformity and non-familial ties, some members of the Defense Hierarchy Council, take interest in other approaches to military strategy. One such case is Dasklo'aell'athindo, the commander known for breaking protocols at many turns in her career, and yet succeeding. While being resented by some members of the Defense Hierarchy, Kloaella was protected by her Admiral, Iru'thaw, who taught her at the CEDF academy on Naporar, and was intrigued by her approach to leadership.

## Political Power

The Defense Hierarchy Council can break a deadlock of the Aristocra in regards to military matters.