Taiyou-hei

***Taiyou-hei*** were the military nobility and officer caste of *Jikiri* (ancient) era, *Gaorigi* (classical) era, and *Hoshni* (modern) era of Koru history. In Gūp, they are usually referred to as ***Tauyo*** or ***Tishi*** by the Koru, or **Sun Troopers** by the Jordic State.

By the end of the *Jikiri* era, shortly before the encounter of the Jordic State and the transition into the *Hoshni* era in the 51st century caum cataclysmos, Taiyou-hei became almost entirely synonymous with Tauyo, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class. The Taiyou-hei were usually associated with a clan and their lord by their family name and servile name. Taiyou-hei are educated warriors, and were trained as officers in military tactics and grand strategy. While the Tauyo numbered less than 5% of the Koru population in 5087, their teachings can still be found in both everyday life and in modern Koru martial arts.

## Doctrine

   In the 41st century, an aide to Juni Shizumi wrote: "When one is serving officially or in the master's court, he should not think of a hundred or a thousand people, but should consider only the importance of the master."

Family loyalty and loyalty to the master went hand in hand in the doctrine of the Taiyou-hei. Most Taiyou-hei families had served in the service of their masters for generations. They would live, marry, and give birth in the service of their masters, and their children would do the same. The children of Taiyou-hei are born into service, and even in the modern era, the great descendants of Taiyou-hei who were born centuries ago still serve the State of Koru, and by extension, their greater masters; the Jordic State. To stray from this generational tradition is a grave dishonor for any Taiyou-hei, and it is believed that any Taiyou-hei warrior that would break it dishonors not only himself but every single descendant before him, and every single after.

Some of the oldest Taiyou-hei families, such as the Kai and Hoshikawa were influential in the development of warrior ethics and were widely quoted by other lords during their lifetime. The writings of Imagawa Kai were highly respected and sought out by Hikaro Iyasu as a source of *Jinhōsoku*. These writings were a required study among traditional Koru, and formed a large foundation of the daily lives and laws of much of the Koru population.

When the Jordic State first witnessed the Taiyo-hei in battle with the Ethnoid, a scout by the name of Jon Kalvin wrote

"The Tauyo are in their natural element, war, eulogizing such virtues as reckless bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man. In many ways they are not unlike us - but their chain of command is linked in centuries of blood, not in gold palettes and trinkets worn on the cuff. I have seen no graduatory diplomas from their officers, but I can see their experience in their faces."

After the battle concluded, Jon Kalvin went on to write;

"The Koru warriors look towards a good death in battle to the service of the Hikaro or their officers; but they do not throw away their lives as some would think. To consider a sacrifice for the kingdom, a warrior draws on the fame of his own life, but also that of his family and his military unit. He does not die recklessly, and to die for a great undertaking is preferable to the selfishness of holding his own life too dear to measure its worth to the greater good. Soldiers are all prepared to do so, the Tauyo foremost. First of all, a sun warrior who has a distaste for battle is viewed as half-hearted, and is never considered to be worth more than a waste. He will not be considered in courte, nor society, and those that are outcast by their masters become Tainin, master-less warriors. It is forbidden to forget the great and eternal debt of duty a warrior has to his master, and a grave sin. To do so is to make light of the very existence of the Koru Nation, and the importances of virtue and loyalty. It must be reinforced, as it is written in the very code of the Life Law of the Koru, that there are loyalties and disloyalties, and there must be rewards and punishments as such. Naturally this extends above and beyond the veil of death."

## Culture

Generation after generation, Taiyou-hei are trained to serve their masters as warriors, diplomats, philosophers, and teachers. They devote their lives to their crafts, in an attempt to perfect every aspect with the utmost discipline.

Much of the culture of Taiyou-hei, such as tea ceremony, rock gardening, ink painting, and *bonsai*, remain strong elements of the Koru arts. Many Taiyou-hei of the *Jikiri*-era were also poets and scholars, and recorded many works that make up a bulk of the classical literary arts of Koru. One Tauyo general of the *Jikiri*-era, a man by the name of Joshikage Aukuwaiji, was well known for his ornate and elaborate garden designs, which he himself maintained and cared for for up to three hours a day. Tauyo were also expected to be well educated, and to study a variety of topics, ranging from language and geography to nature and mathematics.

In addition to the arts, Taiyou-hei practiced spiritual discipline. Kanniht teachings and philosophy fostered greatly the appreciation of spiritual awakening and the development of finer arts, aside from that of warfare. The philosophies of *Jinhōsoku*, and to a lesser extent Kanniht Philosophy, influenced the culture of the Taiyo warriors greatly. Kan meditation became an important teaching due to it offering a process to calm one's mind. The concept of reincarnation and rebirth led Tauyo to abandon torture and needless killing, while some Tauyo even gave up violence altogether and became Kanniht monks after coming to believe that their killings were fruitless. Some were killed as they came to terms with these conclusions in the battlefield. The most defining role that *Jinhōsoku* played in Tauyo philosophy was to stress the importance of the lord-retainer relationship — the loyalty that a Tauyo was required to show his lord. The loyalty of a Taiyou-hei is absolute - a warrior must be prepared to fulfill his duties to his lord to the death if his lord so wishes.

## Women

Women within Koru society are expected to maintain a number of aspects of femininity. In addition to this, traits valued in women of the Taiyou-hei were humility, obedience, self-control, strength, and loyalty. Ideally, a Taiyou-hei wife would be skilled at managing property, keeping records, dealing with financial matters, educating the children, and caring for elderly parents or in-laws that may be living under her roof. *Jinhōsoku,* which helped define personal relationships and the code of ethics of the warrior class and much of Koru society, required that a woman show subservience to her husband, piety to her parents, and care to the children. Too much love and affection was also said to indulge and spoil the youngsters. Thus, a woman was also to exercise discipline.

Some women of the Taiyou-hei class do not accept the role of a housewife. Although women of the Taiyou-hei warrior class are expected to serve as wifes and mothers, those that are born to families without sons are bound by honor to carry the mantle of their fathers, as warriors, and become Megami-Taiyou: female warriors. Some of the greatest Tauyo are Megami-Taiyou, and they are known for being just as fierce and loyal as their male counterparts.

## Weapons and Armor

### Weaponry

* **Koru Swords** (Tauyo Swords) are the weapons that have come to be synonymous with the Taiyou-hei. Ancient Koru swords from the *Jikiri*-era featured a more curved blade, but by the *Hoshni*-era, curved Tauyo-Tachi had appeared, followed ultimately by the Taei-Katana. Smaller commonly known companion swords are the Nakizashi and the Taikatantō. Wearing a long sword together with a smaller sword such as a *Chīsana* or *Hanabira* became the symbol of the Tauyo, and this combination of swords is referred to as a *Tsuintashi*. During the *Jikiri*-era only Taiyou-hei were allowed to wear a *Tsuintashi*. Some of the most elite Taiyou-hei wield power swords - blades sheathed in a lethal corona of disruptive energy. These rare and highly lethal energy field allows the blade to carve through flesh, bone and most forms of armour plate alike. Powered Koru swords are coveted weapons, passed through the generations from warrior to warrior and wielded by only the strongest among the Koru.

* **Chainswords** are sword with powered teeth that run along a single-edged blade like that of a chainsaw. Most versions of the weapon make use of monomolecularly-edged or otherwise razor-sharp teeth. Chainswords are not subtle weapons, and wielding one is a statement in its own right: they are horrific tools of war, designed to bite, tear and eviscerate where more primitive blades merely cut and slice. Some Tauyo see them as brutal and uncivilized; others appreciate their sheer slaughtering power, and their ability to easily cut through soft armor. Not commonly a Koru weapon, they have nontheless been widely adopted by many Tauyo warriors.

* **Yari-Kasai** are energy weapons invented by the Koru. Though they share some similarity to Orion pulse weapons, they are far more powerful. Instead of firing in rapid pulses, they discharge a single powerful beam. They require a great deal of care and marksmanship to weild effectively however, as they are slow firing. These weapons are very expensive to create, but are often forged with a great deal of care and craftsmanship. As such, they are far less common than simpler projectile weapons, and are generally only weilded by the most senior warriors of a Taiyou-hei clan.

* **Danyaku** are projectile firearms utilized by Tauyo rangers, skirmishers, and warriors. They are well balanced, and rapid firing. Most Tauyo carry a firearm, either for off-hand use while wielding a sword, or as a primary weapon. In the very early periods of the Taiyou-hei, some viewed the use of firearms as dishonerable and cowardly, however the Tauyo have long since adopted such weapons as a staple of their arsenal.

* **Staff weapons** of many shapes and sizes made from oak and other hard woods were also used by the Taiyou-hei, commonly known ones include the bō, the jō, the hanbo, and the tanbo.

* **Clubs and truncheons** made of iron and/or wood, of all shapes and sizes were used by the Taiyou-hei. Some like the sekifu were one-handed weapons and others like the shōheki were large blunt-edged weapons that doubled as shields.

### Armor

As far back as the seventh century of the *Jikiri*-era warriors wore a form of rectangular scaledarmor, this armor eventually evolved into the armor worn by the Taiyou-hei. The first types of Koru armors identified as Tauyo armor were known as *Toroi*. These early Taiyou-hei armors were made from small individual scales of ceramite and steel alloys. The scales were bound together into small strips, the strips were coated with fire resistant lacquer to protect the wearer from the effects of heat and flame.

Upon the advent of stellar warfare, Toroi armor began to be layered with full-body soft armor suits, often made from vacuum-tight impact and fire-resistant materials. A series of strips of kozane were then laced together with high-tensile cables or flexible armor joints and formed into a complete chest armor.

More modern designs of armor worn by the Taiyou-hei include *Kamekai* armor shell suits, and other newer types of state manufactured power armor equipped with personal shield arrays and powered actuation systems. These types of armor are commonly used by Tauyo in the direct employment of the State as bodyguards and shock troops, or those that serve as veteren sergeants to the Koru Navy's elite marine units.