Imperial Tekkelien Military

The Imperial Tekkelien Military is the overarching authority of the Holy Tekkelien Empire's armed forces. With over two billion servicemen and an additional billion in contractors and private military companies, it is one of the single largest and most formidable human organizations in the *Empire in Peril* universe. Overseen by the Ministry of Defense, its branches are divided into the Imperial Ground Forces, Imperial Navy, Civil Police and Governance. Technically, all functions of the central government fall under the Governance branch, as the Empire's government is a *stratocracy,* but they function basically independent like a regular civilian government would. The Premier General and all Members of Parliament are commissioned officers.

The highest-ranking leaders of each branch and major sub-branches form the Empire Defense Council, who advise the Premier General directly on major security issues and military actions.

## Budget

The total budget of the Tekkelien Military's combat branches (excluding civilian governmental functions) before the Human-Dominion War was approximately 106 billion guild, or 1.6 trillion USD. Its relatively low budget is the result of a combination of legitimately efficient operations and questionable shortcuts. At the outbreak of the War, many units were not combat-ready, or were seriously under-equipped. Much of the armed forces were geared towards low-level counterinsurgencies or peacekeeping duties--relatively resource-light operations. In the field, many units are given less than they need due to limited supply lines, and are expected to at least partially "live off the land" via hunting, scavenging and commandeering supplies.

Additionally, the Empire keeps a large number of unmaintained ships and vehicles in "reserve" even when they are in poor condition or nearly unusable. This is done both to artificially improve their numbers in the eyes of the world, and serve as a last resort in a war of attrition. When both sides' modern equipment has been completely destroyed, those obsolete vehicles are seen as better than nothing.

## Doctrine

The Empire approaches warfighting primarily from the doctrine of naval supremacy, where securing the ability to use naval artillery strikes anywhere on the battlefield is the priority. A capital ship hovering above a city can bring total destruction in a matter of days, but is vulnerable in-atmosphere and inaccurate from orbit. Additionally, almost no planets are entirely self-sustaining given their population, making them dependent during peacetime on space trade, and on military supply lines in wartime, both of which are easily disrupted by the side with the naval advantage. The Navy is typically the first level of escalation, as well as the first response at the outbreak of war.

A subset of space supremacy is small craft superiority. By keeping a radius around the fleet secure against enemy fighter and bomber craft, it not only allows the fleet to operate with one less threat, but enables much smaller, more precise air support missions to operate freely. Due to the use of so much heavy ordnance, vehicles and equipment are built extremely rugged and redundant.

At the highest level, the philosophy of Imperial war doctrine is to cause as many enemy losses as possible through out-maneuvering and aggressive offense, winning by massively higher levels of enemy attrition. The military's heavy reliance on vehicles and naval artillery allow for a rather numerically small number of personnel compared to its country's population and scope of mission. However, compared to other nations in gross terms, it is still one of the largest.

## Society and Culture

The military is seen as a highly-skilled, professional force. The "warrior culture" is engrained in the national psyche, even among civilians, many of whom participate in militias that are aided or even partially organized by the military. Prior service is viewed extremely positively, and many technical labor positions exclusively hire veterans due to the military's very high training standards for trade skills.

Women are allowed in any role in the military, subject to identical standards to men. They live in the same quarters and, in due to strict size constraints of Navy ships, use the same restrooms and showers while underway. In times of emergency, both genders are subject to military conscription with equal probability. Far fewer women volunteer, so in national crises the services see a noticeable jump in female percentage.

Drinking, smoking and gambling are commonplace. The Navy's tradition of drinking overproof rum straight runs particularly strong. Even on starships, there are designated smoking lounges where the air is filtered in a separate cycle. Durak is a popular card game for Marines and Sailors to gamble on.

The Ministry of Defense runs a youth program called the Decembrists, a group whose roots go back to the 19th century pro-democracy movements. Participation is voluntary and seen as highly academically prestigious. Young Decembrists are educated in the very specifics of republicanism and government administration, while also partaking in physical training and drill. The best of the best are inducted into the Decembrist Life Guard and assigned to protect the Premier General and other essential government officials.