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“Jalyrkieon” (ja-lyre-key-on) is analogous in usage to that of “Terran” to humans, deriving from an older, alternate name for Plenadi, as Terra is to Earth. While not strictly incorrect in usage as species name, non-Hierarchy Jalyrkieons sometimes find the use of the word offensive as it has also become synonymous with the Hierarchy.
In technical contexts, the species scientific name Lyrokana idotevat athox is preferred, analogous to Homo sapiens.) Other nationalities refer to themselves in nation-derived names or and as a species as Lyrokana/Lyrokanas. Plenadian, a term analogous to “human” which applies to all nationalities of the species that originate from Plenadi has fallen out of usage and only tends to appear in older and informal medical or lay scientific contexts.
Physiology
A Jalyrkieon has a body shape roughly comparable to a terrestrial equine. They stand about four feet tall at the withers[1], and weigh around 550-600lbs, being quite stockily built. They are not covered by a covering of hair, like a horse, but a thick skin, more like a hippopotamus. Hair is present in a ruff from the forehead down to the withers, and again in the tail, which, like an equines, is mostly vestigial made and composed of little else.
They can be varied in colour, from deep purple through to an ocean blue, with some ethnicities tending to green or turquoise. Eye and hair colour tends to be much more varied, though the former tends more towards “warm” shades and the latter to “cold.” Extremes like black or white hair are biologically impossible – the lack of pigmentation due to age or the equivalent of albinism tends to be towards a muted blue-grey. (Though hair dye for those colours is not unheard of, but is as unusual as a human dyeing their hair blue or green.)
The most immediate obvious difference from a terrestrial equine is in the head, however. A Jalyrkieon’s head is more foreshortened than a typical equine, and with a much larger forehead, which situates both the much larger brain and eyes. These are set in a spectroscopic formation slightly above the nose, which has a more distinctively “pinched” look.
The head is tipped with a set of four short horns. Two project slightly forward, over the eyes, leaning slightly to either side of the vertical plane, and two others point backward, just over the ears. The horns are sturdy and sharp enough to be defensive weapons in their own right. However, their primary purpose is to direct and control the Jalyrkieon’s natural telekinesis.
Another large difference becomes obvious when a Jalyrkieon opens their mouth. Unlike a terrestrial equine, a Jalyrkieon has a mouth of sharp, ripping and slashing teeth. The ancestors of the Jalyrkieon were carnivores.
The Jalyrkieon homeworld, Plenadi, is notable for being one of the most dangerous natural environments to be populated by a sentient species, full of highly dangerous predators and equally well-armed herbivores and even the plant-life tends to be hazardous and poisonous (and sometimes even predatory itself). The Jalyrkieon stock evolved from an early ungulate-type of creature on the planet’s copious plains. Limited telekinesis is a trait of the entire zoological order that the Jalyrkieon belong to, though only their family have developed to a significant level. The protoJalyrkieon stock developed increased brain-power as this telekinesis became more powerful, and in concert with the groups that they lived in, not unlike how terrestrial primates brain-size increases with social groups. One big difference is that in the split analogous to “monkeys” and “apes”, the Jalyrkieon line became predators. They evolved to exploit the vacuum left by the extinction of a larger group of animals (not unlike how Mesonychids evolved to become predators after the extinction of the dinosaurs).
As the climate changed during the Plenadi’s prehistory, a period of glacial and interglacial periods began, the protoJalyrkieons were driven ever further towards the equatorial regions, where intelligence became a survival trait in the extremely dangerous jungles and tropical floodplain-swamps.
While it is true that Jalyrkieons are carnivores, it is true in the same sense that canids are carnivores. Meat is an important part of their diet, but they are not obligate carnivores. (Their closest living relatives are scavenging specialists, best characterised as behaving like something between a chimpanzee and a hyena.)
Jalyrkieon physiology is robust. When removed from the numerous cumulative poisons, diseases and stresses of the natural world, they have an astonishing constitution, and a natural healing that is close to actual regeneration. It is estimated that their rate of recuperation is perhaps five times that of a typical hominoid. They do not sleep in long period, but in short bursts through the day cycle, with periodic intervals of actual REM sleep of a few hours per week. Their physical strength is very good for their size (even though the more physically inclined tend to rely on their telekinesis), and their endurance is prestigious. Their digestive system is able to handle a wide variety of foodstuffs, allowing them to eat a wider range of alien foods, though meat remains their favoured dietary component. This intestinal fortitude is the legacy of life in the vicious natural world of Plenadi, as meals come infrequently, and often at risk (even for herbivores), so a hearty digestive system is a must.
Their five senses are quite sharp – another necessity of life – though their vision and hearing is not quite as acute as an elf’s, their sense of smell and taste makes up for it. Their sense of touch is somewhat below average, aside from the tactile portion of their telekinesis (which is considerably higher.)
Viviparous reproduction is almost a must on Plenadi, as staying still long enough to lay eggs is a recipe for disaster unless the creature is especially well adapted. In this harsh environment, the Jalyrkieon family group develops mobility and size very fast – like terrestrial horses, a Jalyrkieon foal is capable of walking within hours of birth – though their mental and sexual development is much slower, the latter pronouncedly so. This may seem contrary to expectations, in light of the dangerous environment, but the Jalyrkieon’s order’s breeding strategy is more heavily biased towards parental investment, and indeed, this was one of the other driving factors in the Jalyrkieon’s intellectual evolution. This allowed more young to reach sexual maturity, as opposed to simply relying on minimal parental investment after birth as many of the “lower” orders of Plenadi do, and one of the reasons that the Jalyrkieon’s order currently dominates.
Jalyrkieons demonstrate some sexual dimorphism – the males tend to be slightly larger – but otherwise, the difference between the two sexes is not readily apparent. They reach adult size in what is the equivalent of only three or four years, though it takes around eighteen years to reach mental maturity and sexual maturity another four or five years. Juvenile Jalyrkieons are still distinguishable by their more muted colour-scheme (reaching sexual maturity is often referred to as the “flush” referring to the sharpening or even change in the skin-colour.)
This slow maturity rate, particularly of sexuality, is one of the reasons that the Vivrathk and the Jalyrkieons are particularly at odds. Even more than humans do (whom the Jalyrkieons had only anecdotal contact with prior to 2338), the Jalyrkieons find the Vivrathk positively pedarastic, given the latter’s very early sexual maturity and corresponding relaxed standards of societal sexual behaviour.
Jalyrkieons thus have a very strong parental urge, and when their young are endangered, they have been known to go quite berserk, with a notable considerable boost in their telekinetic powers.
Telekinesis
Jalyrkieon telekinesis is extremely powerful. It is not well understood, even by the Jalyrkieon themselves, but has both psionic and magical components, and resistant to anti-supernatural fields; while their range and power is reduced, it is very difficult to negate completely. The effect is mostly non-luminescent, though considerable effort from highly skilled individuals can cause the horns and target to dimly glow. (The colour of this glow varies, but is usually white or very pale blue.)
In effect, each of the four horns controls a telekinetic “limb” (though this is greatly oversimplifying), allowing them as much and more manipulatory ability than most creatures with hands and fingers. Their strength is difficult to measure precisely, but can be roughly estimated as being slightly above human average with each “limb” and considerable strength when combined.
The range of this ability is essentially divided into two parts. They can “feel” with their telekinetic powers with greatest precision close to the horn, where their fine control is greatest. Beyond about half a meter or so, this fine control drops sharply, and they are only capable of more general motions. As an analogue, the difference between the “control radius”, as it is termed, and the extent of their range (“reach radius”) is akin to the difference between hands and arms. Both radii vary by natural talent, and training – such as Jalyrkieon military forces undergo – can significantly improve both.
The “limb” analogy is not a very clear indicator, however, since Jalyrkieon telekinesis is somewhat more flexible than a corporeal limb. Each horn is capable of accomplishing very fine manipulation within the control radius somewhat finer than to what a human might manage with their fingers only in a small diameter, somewhere between six and twelve inches, depending on skill and training. They can manage to manipulate objects in greater numbers over a wider area, though not to the same extent. They could certainly hold a large number of books and flip the pages, but cannot operate more than four devices with small buttons at once. The more area they are forced to spread their telekinesis over, the less strength they can apply (meaning a Jalyrkieon lifting a heavy object will usually lift from one to four places, much as a hominoid with limbs would do.)
Jalyrkieons have very large brains in comparison to their body size, significantly more than most hominoids. Their brains are divided into four lobes, rather than two, each one having control over one horn, as hominoids have left and right hemispheres. Most of this extra brain-matter is dedicated to processing their telekinetic abilities. They are capable of multitasking to a significant degree, and essentially their “telekinetic limbs” can each be doing independent tasks, or working coherently. This ability is somewhat hampered by the fact they still have some limits on their ability to process data. They could, say, with some effort and practise, assemble four kits from components simultaneously, though they couldn’t operate something that requires non-tactile input (be it visual, cognitive or auditory) with each horn separately, e.g. they could not use four separate scanners at once.
Jalyrkieons are able to use their telekinesis very effectively as weapons. While they are not especially adept at hurling large cumbersome objects (like creatures) around, their ability to throw small blades or manipulate simple weapons is extremely high, and the simplicity of such actions means they can often use several with frightening proficiency.
They also have a series of martial arts, which extend beyond the physical to applications of telekinesis. In particular, a trained Jalyrkieon can deliver a telekinetic thrust of enormous strength, and many of these strikes are designed to concentrate as much force as possible in one area, and are thus closing to piercing strikes than bludgeoning ones. (Indeed, a master of the art can inflict wounds akin to ballistic firearms at short ranges).
More subtle and dangerous are the one which extend the control radius of the Jalyrkieon to be able to force an attack inside the body of an opponent (something that normally requires impracticable amounts of effort, concentration and time to do) and literally crush their organs or close off vital blood vessels, leading to incapacitation of death. Some of these arts use physical blows to direct the telekinesis attacks, while the highest forms are unnoticeable and purely mental.
The Jalyrkieon Hierarchy
The fight for survival in their prehistory has – not unlike the Vivrathk, as irony would have it – made the Jalyrkieons very aggressive. Their expansionist goals are characterised with a certain cold ruthlessness with regard to other races that distinguishes them from their closest neighbours. This attitude in modern Jalyrkieons was not helped along by their period as a vassal of the Strayvian Empire, until its collapse and their abrupt seizure of independence.
Despite being a space-faring race for a few hundred years, the Jalyrkieons have spent most of that time fighting amongst themselves, especially when left to their own devices. Their diplomatic record with other races is very poor, with fundamentally irreconcilable differences between them and the Vivrathk, their nearest neighbours. This has mostly kept them off the galactic stage, save for a few notable campaigns over the course of their history.
The Jalyrkieon Hierarchy is itself a long-standing institution, though, as with humans, it was not the only power to emerge from a single world, though it is by far the biggest and the one closest to other major powers. (“Hierarchy” is strictly a translation of the Hierarchy’s dominant language tevaech word “Exkrigri.” The translation was chosen to be consistently used for readability.)
The Hierarchy is a highly-stratified and complicated society defined by social status and temporal power. It is, in the modern age, possible for anyone to rise to any status, though this was not always the case as late as the Jalyrkieon’s early space-flight history. The Jalyrkieon are very conscious about their social status, and rivalries often grow over small slights, and Jalyrkieon history is very fractious (arguably even more so than humans).
The Hierarchy grew out of what amounted to an amalgamation of government and super-corporation during the early days of space-flight, and has had the technological and economical edge over the other nations ever since (though there have been times is has been a close-run thing). It is, in theory, a meritocracy, overseen by a council, but is more like an oligarchy in practise.
The fluid nature of the Hierarchy’s power structure also makes it hard to predict what the Jalyrkieons will do at any given moment, especially since military commanders are themselves part of the societal structure, and thus have considerable independent agency. It also tends to encourage upwardly mobile individuals to enter the chain of command, seeking to earn greater status – military success is considered very highly in Jalyrkieon circles. (This is an extension of the Jalyrkieon’s environment, where similar skills proved one a desirable mate, so has some sexual connections as well.) This has also had the unfortunate tendency to provide the Jalyrkieons with poor commanders, especially at higher levels. The last war against the Vivrathk was lost largely to a series of extremely poor command decisions – so many, in the end, the Vivrathk were actually able to predict them.
The quality of Jalyrkieon soldiers is thus somewhat variable. Though there is a core of professional career soldiers happy with their lot in life, there is also a large number, even the lowest ranks, who see it as step up to better things. (Even ex-soldiers are afforded higher status.)
The Jalyrkieons were defeated quite badly in their last war against the Vivrathk. The disastrous defeat, on top of general corruption and incompetence, trigged a major purge of the upper classes, and the council in particular. This new blood in the Hierarchy is the strongest it has been for nearly two hundred years (since the last purge as large as the one following the war).
Following this purge the Hierarchy underwent a lengthy period of refitting and rearming in the last couple of decades. Before the internal squabbling could settle back in, prompted both by the rumours of the re-emergence of the Strayvians and the Vivrathk’s sudden movements towards human space, in 2338 the Hierarchy began to launch offensive probes outside their space. The first was to measure the Vivrathk and the second of these lead to the official first contact (and conflict) with humans via the Saturn Syndicate Ascendancy.
One of the probing fleets ran into an Aotrs starfleet when passing too close to an Aotrs observation post. It was not the first contact between the two powers, since Halatoosan incident some ninety years. The Jalyrkieons vastly under-estimated the Aotrs starfleet, however, and the task force, led by the Midnight Dreadnought LSS Fear’s Touch handed them a crippling defeat.
This was followed by the dispatch of a major Hierarchy task force towards human space that arrived at the human Soviet space in the Tver sector – currently in the Strayvian Dominion’s invasion corridor. The Jalyrkieons became embroiled in a four-way struggle with their new enemies (the humans), their old masters (the Strayvians) and everyone’s enemies (the Cybertanks) over control of this sector which has persisted until the current time (2346 at time of writing).
Military Technology
Jalyrkieon military technology is advanced, and being developed primarily in isolation, is mostly unique. A significant portion of which has derived from their telekinesis; a natural progression of studies of how their powers worked and how to expand or replicate it through technology has characterised their development, meaning that it forms a key component in much of their technology.
Starfleet
The Hierarchy’s military starfleet is called the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Rixjaani Obonos (lit. “vessels (i.e. fleet) of the sky-fighting”). (Strictly, Jalyrkieon Exkrigri Rixjaani Obonos in tevaech.)
The Hierarchy sublight drive system (like those of all the Jalyrkieon powers) uses a type of gravitonic propulsion that works off the underlying fabric of subspace. In concert with an effective-mass-reduction field, the same system allows them FTL transit through normal space. The technology requires a fairly small amount of mass and volume to operate, though the disadvantage is slower transits speeds (at both sublight and FTL speeds) and much higher power requirements. Like most gravity or force-field effect propulsion systems, the drives function without significant visible emissions, though the drive unit themselves are very distinctive.
The drive units, rather than a nozzle, consist of a series of stacked torus (the focussing coils), terminating in a sphere (the emission unit). A larger torus (or two, in the case of larger vessels) stands further out from the coil, connected by typically four bars at the cardinal directions, which gives the drives a look more akin to a wet-navy propeller. This outer torus provides stabilisation to the force vector emitted by the sphere. On vessels with FTL drives, the outer torus also channels and projects the primary effective-mass-reduction field. The tori are strictly speaking toroidal polyhedra, as they are not entirely circular in cross-section or revolution, instead having fourteen facets in both dimensions, due to the way in which the gravitonic fields are optimally channelled. The flat ends of the torus are located at the top and bottom relative to the ship. This orientation is convention due to the fact when used on starships, it also helps to orientate the ship’s internal gravity.
Shield technology is primarily a “solid” forcefield, which works more on cushioning attacks than deflecting and dispersing them as conventional shields do. These shields are marginally more effective against kinetic attacks that energy, though there is not a great difference between them. Power and size requirements are much the same as conventional shields, and the Jalyrkieon have much the same limitations, meaning as with many races, shields are currently not practical on most ground vehicles or infantry.
Offensively, the Hierarchy fleet has significant firepower. Their primary starship weaponry is a type of phased-plasma contained in electromagnetic shell. While not as coherent – and so not as potent – as, say, plasma-pulse weaponry, the Jalyrkieon’s superior containment technology enables them to fire at substantially greater ranges, exceeding many conventional mid-range beam weapons. Further, the weapon systems are relatively small and highly efficient in terms of power, allowing the Jalyrkieons to mount a considerable number on a starship. The accuracy of individual blasts is not great, as the containment field tends to degrade somewhat erratically. However, with a very good rate of fire, and in large batteries (or in the case of the use on ground force vehicles, multiple barrels), the amount of firepower they put out more than makes up for this shortcoming. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage is, like many blaster weapons, such as those used by the Orc Fearcrushy or the Saiyvalyss Alliance, the lack of localised penetrative power, meaning it is impossible to punch a hole through shields with concentrated fire. The discharge is typically a lilac or pink bolt.
The secondary weapons of the Jalyrkieon fleet are energy torpedoes. These weapons are not “torpedoes” in the conventional sense; they are energy weapons that use a similar technology to the phased-plasma batteries, though in this case the energies are much more unstable, and the containment is via imparted force-field, rather than electromagnetism. Energy torpedoes require a large amount of energy to charge to fire, and the containment fields give them only average range. Within that range, however, the damage they can inflict is impressive. Their rate of fire is, perforce, slow; though they can fire a lesser charge as faster speeds, the power is disproportionally weaker. Energy torpedoes emit light in the green spectra the more powerful they become, and blue-shifting as they lose power and coherence. The smaller charges thus tend to be more typically a turquoise colour on firing.
The Jalyrkieon’s longest range weapons come in the form of missiles – which, despite their idiosyncratic drives, are fairly conventional explosive or anti-matter warheads – and shrapnel cannons. The latter is a weapon which fires a munition that explodes into a cluster of very highly accelerated, superheated fragments in the proximity of enemy starships. These weapons have very good range and density of fire, in many cases better than conventional blast-warhead torpedoes.
Point-defence weaponry consists of lighter phased-plasma batteries, interspersed with graviton crushers. These function essentially like tractor beams, catching a missile or fighter, and then applying a crushing pressure via increased local gravity. This is highly effective, but the power to range ratio is poor, which is why larger versions of the weapon are so far impractical. On some vessels, these are supplemented by smaller versions of the shrapnel cannons for local defence, though this is starting to fall out of favour on starships.
Surprisingly, the Jalyrkieon’s tractor beam technology is not notably powerful – mostly due to energy constraints – though they tend to outfit more specialised cruisers than many starfleets. Teleporter technology is also slightly below average, and uses conventional methodology.
Sensor and communication technology is an area where the Jalyrkieon have something of an edge. Both technologies are solid and reliable, and above the galactic average.
Jalyrkieon medical technology is notably impressive, a by-product of their natural environment, further bolstered by their own prestigious abilities.
Current ship design doctrine means the Jalyrkieon tend to rely on smaller number of larger vessels. A fleet will consist of one or two of their very large dreadnoughts – some are enormous – with a flotilla of cruisers, and only a handful of smaller escorts, mostly specialised roles such as missile cutters or escort ships. Mobility is generally average to good – smaller ships are very agile, and though the cruisers are fairly average, the huge dreadnoughts are very manoeuvrable for their size. Shielding is generally fairly heavy, though active defences are not as extensive, aside from the dreadnoughts and escort vessels.
Ground Forces
The Hierarchy’s ground forces are the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Army. (Strictly, “Jalyrkieon Exkrigri Echev,” but this translates from tevaech directly to “Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Army”)).
The Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Army fields a variety of vehicles, of which the most common are featured here. While they do have a number of grav and hover vehicles in service the vast majority of vehicles are still tracked or even wheeled, and the Hierarchy army has almost no walkers and no combat walkers. Jalyrkieon vehicles tend towards being lighter and faster, can carrying a powerful punch. This means they tend to be more fragile than a lot of vehicles of a race of their own level of advancement, coming much closer to the galactic average. Their still use a modest number of projectile weapons, though with their advanced phased-plasma technology, this is still a major armament at both vehicle and infantry level.
All of the tracked and wheeled vehicles have a booster system. This is functionally a series of engines which allow the vehicles to jump a short distance. In motion, this allows them to more or less “bounce” over obstacles, and when in position, means they can attempt a limited from of pop-up attack, something normally confined to the purview of VTOLs and aircraft or fighters.
Current doctrine has the standard Jalyrkieon platoon size of three vehicles, with four platoons to a company. This lends itself more towards a strategy that works on large numbers of (low-ranking) troops at the bottom strata, who are considered more disposable. Due to the stratified nature of Hierarchy society, more valuable vehicles sometimes are be assigned to vehicle commanders who have performed better and become more important. Consequently, the quality of Jalyrkieon leadership can vary wildly. However, the baseline soldiers are crews are still a professional army, especially those encountered on the front lines or outside Hierarchy space, with the worst crews being regulated to low-status defence or garrison positions.
Designations
Jalyrkieon vessel and vehicle designations use an atypical method which merits some explanation. While they have an alpha numeric code not unlike most space-faring powers, they do so in reverse practise to most others. The numerals refer to the unit’s role, and the letters in place of what elsewhere would be the model number, using the sequence of the tevaech alphabet of twenty-four characters, Romanised to RODEU YLTKA ZVSNI CHPJG XFMB. They are used in a function a little like a base-24 number sequence in this fashion.
(Strictly speaking, tevaech has no character for “q” or “w” – instead, these are considered context-based pronunciations of “ko” and “vv.” The names transliterated into English here use the Romanised characters based on how they would sound to an English speaker for simplicity.)
Fighters, small craft and ground vehicles (including VTOLs) use a five-character code for each hull design, a hull code and role code and then three-character code for the number of the vehicle in that role. This is then sometimes suffixed by an additional number for other variants of that model.
(Compare a human designation of T-72A (as an example of one of the most common tanks of the 20th and early 21st century); transliterated directly, this would become something like 31RRB-1, where 31 is the MBT hull number (3) combat role number (1), RRB is a rough approximation of 72) and -1 is the A suffix.)
For starships, rather than by hull, this system is applied as an alphanumerical tag in concert with the vessel’s name as identification. The tag is not unique to the vessel – tags are repeated in different fleets, but the particular combination of name and tag is (more akin to name and surname). Thus, a group of Venlix Torpedo Cruises might be tagged 21-RR, 21-RO and 21-RD in a given fleet. (Equivalent, very roughly, to a human naval designation of CT-01, CT-02 and CT-03 (CT being “torpedo cruiser”).)
Starship and Fighter Designations Ground Vehicle and VTOL Designations Hull Number Hull Number 1 Escort 1 Light Vehicle 2 Cruiser 2 Light Battle Tank 3 Capital 3 Main Battle Tank 4 Supercruiser 4 VTOL 5 Station 6 Smallcraft Role Number Role Number 1 Warship (General purpose) 1 Combat 2 Warship (Missile) 2 Artillery 3 Warship (Shrapnel) 3 Command 4 Defence (ECM) 4 Engineering 5 Defence (Active) 5 Anti-Aircraft 6 Reconnaissance 6 Reconnaissance 7 Transport 7 Transport 8 Troopship 8 APC 9 Carrier 0 Special Ships of the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Rixjaani Obonos
(Editor’s Note: measurements are taken from bounding box extremities. As not all small craft currently have a large scale model (the Tonuhja and the Arrifek’s large scale model is only nominal) from which to take the image and measurements, both the image and the measurements have been taken from the fleet-scale model, with the corresponding low fidelity due to printing requirements and should not be treated as gospel. (The alternative would have been to leave the image out altogether.) Adding large-scale models for all smallcraft of all fleets is a long-term goal. Ironically, the large-scale models exist for the Ikimar and nominally for the Arrifek because they were the very first test of scaling in that fashion.)
61RYE Ikimar Fighter
Length 20.17m Width 8.10m Height 4.83m The Ikimar Fighter is the replacement for the older 61RYO Zedarvoc which served up until the end of the last war against the Vivrathk. The Zedarvoc hulls had ceased production and were reaching the end of their useful life. Several prototypes were examined but only the 61RYD and the Ikimar reached as far as testing. The Ikimar out-performed the 61RYD in almost all aspects, only lagging behind in combat endurance and only by a small margin.
The Ikimar’s primary armaments are the four multibarrel heavy phased-plasma cannons. These are supplemented by two missile pods, typically armed with TRM-1 Braatpo general purpose warheads.
Defensively, the Ikimar has light armour and moderate shields. It has above average speed and manoeuvrability, which give it a strong edge in a dogfight, particular against the more heavily armed Vivrathk Fire Plague fighters. The reliance on lock-and-launch missiles as opposed to torpedoes typically means that the Ikimar is more likely to run out of munitions after a single engagement, however.
61RYU Tonuhja Bomber
Length 19m (approx) Width 8.4m (approx) Height 4.65m (approx) The Tonuhja Bomber replaced the much-maligned 61RUF Havex that performed so poorly in the last war against the Vivrathk. The Jalyrkieons have returned their more traditional bomber design, with the distinctive double-hull and side-mounted weapons systems – features which are also currently seen on the smaller 41RKR Scovocsper VTOL Attack Fighter in service with Jalyrkieon army.
The Tonuhja significantly improves on the Havex’s principle issue of speed and agility, and it comparable to many fighters. It is also considerably better shielded than its predecessor and the Havex’s notoriously poor avionics (especially the glitch sensor blind-spot) have been completely replaced.
The Tonuhja carries two torpedo tubes, each armed with eight LVP-1 Rede warheads. It carries a pair of hull-mounted multibarrel phased-plasma cannons for backup and dogfighting.
68RYR Arrifek Assault Shuttle
Length 20.17m Width 8.10m Height 4.83m The Arrifek entered service in the final phases of the last war against the Vivrathk. It saw action in numerous engagements, but was ill-served by its contemporary fighter screens. The Hierarchy had rested on its laurels with much of its technology and fighters and bombers perhaps most of all. The poor performance of the 61RUF Havex, rushed in production and chosen more for suiting the advancement of political masters than for effectiveness, meant that the Arrifek was called several times to fulfil the Havex’s role as a strike craft, a role it was not designed or well-suited for. Nevertheless, the Arrifek performed well enough it avoid the post-war cull and continues to serve.
The Arrifek is better suited to its proper role as Assault Transport. Sporting heavy shields and fair manoeuvrability – as much as the older Havex bombers, in fact – it can carry a significant quantity of assault troops. It has both port and starboard docking ports, and the ventral doors mean that it can also serve as surface transport. The interior is outfitted with heavy lifts that it can even transport a platoon of tanks.
The Arrifek is armed with phased-plasma weapons. The two primary guns are the multibarrel ball turrets mounted at the fore, but it possesses smaller defensive arrays around the hull, similar in design to those on capital starships. Also like a larger starship, the Arrifek mounts four vertical-launch missile tubes, typically outfitted with TRM-1 Braatpo general purpose warheads.
Phoze Class Missile Patrol Cutter
Length 237.5m Width 72.0m Height 81.3m The Phoze Missile Patrol Cutters are the smallest combat starships in current use. As is standard practise, they are specialist vessels, armed only with missile tubes and point-defence weapons. The missile tubes are mounted in typical Jalyrkieon fashion, with vertical launch with ventral and dorsal apertures. Usually, most often seen in groups of four to eight, they are typically accompanied by Idattri destroyers, or as part of a typical Venlix attack formation.
Phoze MPCs are sometimes used in the point-defence role when equipped with appropriate warheads, though this is typically something of a stopgap measure.
Kytiat Class Torpedo Frigate
Length 327.5m Width 108.0m Height 83.3m The Kytiat Frigates are unusual for the Jalyrkieon ship doctrine – smaller vessels whose primary job is warships, rather than specialist operations. They are often used to supplement Venlix groups, or as fast-attack elements, as their speed is considerable. They have powerful long-range phased-plasma batteries, though they are vulnerable to attack from the rear, where the drive unit precludes weapon emplacements. They have two mid-sized energy torpedo tubes, one either side of the hull, though these are much shorter ranged than those of the Venlix.
Idattri Class Light Defence Destroyer
Length 386.3m Width 120.0m Height 103.0m The Idattri Light Defence Destroyer is utilised as a cheap but effective point-defence vessel, and can be seen accompanying almost any type of formation, often supplementing the larger Grivenons. It is armed only with point-defence energy weapons. It carries approximately two hundred long-range anti-fighter and anti-missile warheads of various calibres, in the typical ventral/dorsal missile tube configuration.
Grivenon Class Defence Cruiser
Length 451.3m Width 180.0m Height 122.6m The Grivenon Defence Cruiser is one of the smaller cruisers in the fleet. Its role is to provide close defence to more valuable ships, as well as providing some anti-ship firepower of its own. It lacks any energy torpedoes, but boasts a not inconsiderable amount of phased-plasma firepower. Grivenons are typically deployed in the interior or the formations, close to their escorted vessels, while the smaller Idattris with their missiles occupy the edges.
Riftev Class Tractor Cruiser
Length 556.5m Width 171.7m Height 188.4m The Riftev Tractor Cruiser is a dedicated tractor beam specialist vessel not commonly seen in the Jalyrkieon starfleet. It is deployed during capture or salvage operations, often backed up by Arrifek Assault Shuttles from a carrier during the latter.
The Riftev’s primary operational function is achieved by the four large tractor emitters, each of which contains a dual emitter array. The compactness of Jalyrkieon phased-plasma weapons means it carries a not-inconsiderable secondary armament. The Riftev is plentifully provided with smaller phased-plasma arrays for point-defence or helping to strip a captured vessel of key systems once the shields and armour have been battered down.
Sithan Marraz Class Shrapnel Cruiser
Length 546.5m Width 209.0m Height 181.3m The Sithan Marraz Shrapnel Cruiser’s primary job is area suppression. With no less than six shrapnel cannons, to both forward and rear, they can devastate a formation of enemy vessels. The Sithan Marraz was specifically built to counter the Vivrathk, whose reliance on close-range blasterbeam point-defence places them right within the shrapnel cannon’s optimal ranges. In addition, the Sithan Marraz boasts almost as much phased-plasma firepower as the similarly-sized Venlix, plus some additional area-defence anti-fighter weaponry, rendering it quite capable of operating in small groups with minimal escort.
Venlix Class Torpedo Cruiser
Length 571.5m Width 240.0m Height 155.0m The Venlix was one of the first of the new generation of starships, to replace the heavy losses inflicted by the Vivrathk. The first entered service five years after the end of the war, and have proven to be a solid and reliable design. The Venlix forms the backbone of the fleet, and are found in most formations. Their major firepower comes from the massed phased-plasma batteries, supplemented by two forward-firing energy torpedo tubes.
Venlixes are often deployed in small group, though a formation consisting of one Venlix, a Sithan Marraz Shrapnel Cruiser, two Kytiat frigates, four Phoze MPCs plus either an Idattri or Grivenon escort ship is also common.
Shadruech Class Sensor Cruiser
Length 571.5m Width 380.0m (arrays broadside) Height 134.5m One of the specialist cruisers of the fleet, the Shadruech is immediately distinctive due to the enormous sensor dishes on the port and starboard arrays. The vessel mounts the pinnacle of Jalyrkieon sensor technology; the largest and most powerful sensor array they have ever built. The two dishes, while typically pointed out to port and starboard, can in fact be extended on telescopic poles, and then can be rotated to face any direction, to further enhance their power and resolution.
The Shadruech also is equipped with an extensive ECM array, which in concert with the sensor and communicator emitters makes it a jamming vessel par excellence.
Unlike smaller vessels in the same role, which tend to be escort ships or light cruisers, the Shadruech is large enough to mount a full array of weapons. Indeed, aside from the lack of energy torpedo tubes, the Shadruech is as heavily armed as the Venlix, and better protected to boot.
Yorifaz Class Battlecruiser
Length 780.0m Width 340.0m Height 215.1m The Yorifaz Battlecruiser is essentially a Venlix Torpedo Cruiser writ larger. It performs a similar role as a ship-of-the-line, though in smaller engagements, it is often used as the flagship. Being one of the later designs of the current generation is starships, it has benefitted from the engineering used on the Venlix, from which it takes many cues and is already considered a reliable vessel.
The Yorifaz carries much the same armament as the Venlix, but in greater quantities – more phased-plasma batteries, point-defence weaponry and four energy torpedo tubes rather than two. It supplements this armament with missile racks for long-range offense.
Aruisiki Class Battleship
Length 20.17m Width 8.10m Height 4.83m The Aruisiki Battleship is a scaled-down dreadnought. It took much of the internal design structure of the Essperila and paired it with the Venlix’s architecture. The theory was to create a blend of both highly successful designs, but in practise, subtle inconsistencies and poor optimisation have lead the Aruisiki to have a troubled design history and it is only now finally entering production in any numbers. The Aruisiki itself, some years old, has already been recalled for a serious overhaul to bring it up to the Aruisiki’s current design plan, which fixes some of the most glaring problems.
The Aruisiki is armed with a sizable number of phased-plasma batteries. A pair of small energy torpedo tubes (of the same design as the Venlix’s) are mounted on the forward hull, and it carries a number of missile racks. It has a solid network of point-defence systems – like the Essperila, the Aruisiki is expected to perform some operations without escort, though the smaller size of the vessel means these operations are not as common.
Sirifef Class Carrier
Length 1096.9m Width 420.0m Height 254.0m The Sirifef Carrier is the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Rixjaani Obonos’ principal carrier. Due to the Hierarchy’s advanced technologies, the Sirifef has high speed and armament for a carrier of its size, making it functionally more like a light battleship.
The Sirifef has two hangar bays, each capable of holding a squadron of fighters or four 68RYR Arrifek Assault Shuttles. As typical for Jalyrkieon hangars, the bays have dorsal launcher doors. The hangar bays, like much of Jalyrkieon starship unit, were designed as modules, whose design is replicated across the fleet to minimise the number of different components. The hangars were intended to allow fighters and small craft to simply take off and land vertically like an atmospheric VTOL. A series of tractor beams are emplaced to help launch and recover smallcraft.
However, it was not until the designs were in manufacture that a huge error was discovered – the listed measurements that had been used, assuming the Arrifek was the largest ship that use the bays had been taken from an earlier prototype, which was only three quarters of the size of the production models. While there was just barely enough space for the Arrifek to clear the doors’ width, they were too long. A frantic search for a solution that did not require dismantling Sirifef and the even larger Qorenlu hulls began.
In the end, the most cost-effective solution was to install artificial gravity generators in the front walls of the hangars in addition to the floor, and raise the overall height by several metres. When used for the Arrifeks, the hangar’s gravity could thus be altered so that the front wall became the “floor.” The Arrifeks could then – with a complete re-design of the bay’s interior – just barely fit inside orientated to launch vertically, like a missile in its silo. While highly costly, this solution was almost half the cost and a third the time of having to re-design the entire module and all of the existing hulls.
This came with the price that the Arrifeks can only be housed in a hangar specifically configured for them and while it is possible to launch fighters from an Arrifek-configuration bay, it is significantly less efficient. So despite the attempted standardisation, there are now two types of hangar bay. To compound the problem, any new hulls built with a redesigned hangar bay would perforce have to have a third set of components (though they would certainly share elements from both of the current bays).
It also means the Arrifeks – especially when docking – are much more reliant on the hangar tractor beams to safely guide them in. Without them, or when trying to dock under fire, it means the Arrifek is much more vulnerable, especially as it has to orientate precisely to be able to lower itself into the hangar.
Typically, a Sirifef carries one squadron of 61RYE Ikimar Fighters and one squadron of 61RYU Tonuhja Bombers or four Arrifeks and one squadron of Ikimars for top cover. As the Sirifef has no dedicated troop quarters, it has only enough marines to fully load three Arrifeks, only a handful of vessel deployed specifically to Hierarchy Army transport fleets carry eight Arrifeks.
The Sirifef carries a number of phased-plasma batteries, both of anti-capital and anti-fighter sizes. It also carries numerous anti-fighter missiles for additional defence.
The Sirifef’s principal weakness it that its armour and shielding is relatively light for a vessel of its size. It is not unusual for a typical carrier to be lightly armoured, but the Sirifef’s additional armament and speed typically place it in formation with other line combat vessels, where it is more likely to attract fire.
Essperila Class Dreadnought
Length 1598.9m Width 500.0m Height 269.9m The Essperila Dreadnought is a huge vessel a mile long, and is considerably bigger than most superdreadnoughts, and even some fleet carriers. While not quite reaching the mammoth size of the Orc WarDreadnoughts, it makes up for the difference is speed, mobility and firepower. The Essperila is phenomenally fast for its size, having the same acceleration and agility as the Jalyrkieon’s cruisers. Very heavily shielded, it boasts an enormous wealth of weapons: extensive phased-plasma batteries, four shrapnel cannons to the fore and rear, missile tubes and two heavy energy torpedo tubes, as well as dozens of point-defence weapons. It further has its own local ECM protection.
The Essperila is the most common of the Jalyrkieon heavy vessels, and it is not uncommon to see more than one in a fleet group, or even operating independently – the amount of weaponry, protection and speed mean the need for escorts is much reduced.
Qorenlu Class Heavy Carrier
Length 1627.9m Width 530.0m Height 244.9m The massive Qorenlu Heavy Carrier is one of the most recent additions to the Hierarchy’s arsenal. With the first hull rolling out of the shipyards in only 2343, the Qorenlu has seen so far little conflict, as it has not been deployed to any of the Jalyrkieon’s current front lines.
Four vertical launch hangar bays each hold a squadron of fighters, usually a mix of Ikimars and Tonuhjas with a single squadron of Arrifek Assault Shuttles. While it does not carry and dedicated ground forces, the Qorenlu’s sheer size means it has ample marine teams for the Arrifeks to carry without compromising its own internal security.
The Qorenlu carries a modest number of phased-plasma batteries for anti-ship defences, with a larger number of smaller batteries for point-defence. It supplements these weapons with two vertical launch missile batteries, but for its size, the Qorenlu’s offensive capabilities are limited.
As with all the Jalyrkieon capital ships, the Qorenlu has exceptional agility for its size. This speed is its main protection, as while strong, its shields and armour are light for a vessel of its weight-class – only 50% more that of the Aruisiki Battleship half the Qorenlu’s size.
Aquja Orndoo Class Dreadnought
Length 1786.9m Width 731.4m Height 266.9m Even larger than the Essperila, the Aquja Orndoo is almost 1800 metres in length. This massive vessel boasts a vast quantity of phased-plasma batteries, twin energy torpedo tubes and twelve heavy shrapnel cannons. With dozens of point-defence weapons and extremely heavy shields and armour, the Aquja Orndoo is very difficult to kill. A task that is not made easier by its prestigious speed and manoeuvrability for a vessel of its size. Nearly a fifth of the entire vessel supports the massive engines that propel it.
The Aquja Orndoo’s less comprehensive spread of weapons typically sees it in a fleet role, providing enormous shield-and-armour stripping power for smaller vessels to take care if.
There is some suggestion there is a variant that replaces the shrapnel cannons and some of the phased-plasma batteries with additional energy torpedo tubes, but whether this is a true variant or a proposed refit of the design to a new class or even an original design prototype is unclear.
The underside of the Aquja Orndoo, illustrating the forward and rear phased plasma batteries. Each battery is spaced to avoid every other battery (and in the case of the rear batteries, the drive tori. Vehicles of the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Army
(Editor’s Note: measurements are taken from bounding box extremities. As with the small craft, the images of the infantry were taken from the 1:144th scale renders, which are by force of printability requirements (notably minimum part thickness) means the details are rather more bulky where the real would be finer, but should at least be illustrative.)
Powered Infantry
Infantry trooper with two rifles and with Bleakbane for scale. Hierarchy infantry, like almost all Lyrokana infantry, are deployed in full powered armour as a standard. Full powered armour is expensive for a standard-issue piece of equipment, but is something of a necessity, as it goes at least some way to counter-balance their higher target profile and consequent vulnerability.
Jalyrkieon soldiers are noted for being very heavily armed for infantry in comparison to hominoids. Many soldiers carry the equivalent of two or three rifles or four pistols, which they can use simultaneously (skilled individuals – the sort that would use twin pistols in a hominoid race – can use even more). This makes the amount of fire put out from a Jalyrkieon infantry squad vastly better than a typical hominoid one. Thus, even though they are typically only about half the size – four troopers in a standard Hierarchy squad – they can output the same level of firepower. This advantage is somewhat countered by their higher and less easily concealed target profile, however.
With their greater ability to carry munitions as well, due to their body shape lending itself well to portaging, they can also carry a consummate supply of power cells or ammunition. Consequently, anti-armour weapons are also seen in greater numbers in infantry units, both in terms of disposable units and heavier weapons.
21RLB-6 Appila Attack Rover
Length 6.48m Width 4.44m Height 3.28m (Phased-plasma turret) 3.68m (Semi-guided rocket turret) The 21RLB Appila Attack Rover has been a staple of the Jalyrkieon military for a long time. It is essentially an upgraded modification of the earlier 21RUI Wilarit rover, a design itself nearly a hundred years old at the time of its replacement. The Appila, which has been refitted several times (the most modern generation being the 21RLB-6 version) forms the backbone of the Hierarchy army, using mobility and weight of numbers on a cheap, sturdy and easily maintained hull, rivalling the numbers of the contemporary human Soviet T-132 or its ancestor the T-72 in the 20th century.
Technically a light tank, the current Appila is modestly armoured, and fitted with one of two turrets.
The first is has twin, multibarrel phased-plasma cannons, which lie between those of the Tevqolath and the Shyroen MBTs in power. This gives it a good punch for dealing with shielded targets and excellent range, though the penetration is not spectacular.
The second turret is a series of five linked semi-guided rocket pods with 105 warheads. This gives the Appila a better anti-heavy-armour capability, at the expense of lesser range, combat endurance and anti-infantry ability. Both turrets are high-track and capable of dealing with anti-air craft or urban area operations.
The Appila also mounts a graviton crusher for additional point-defence.
16RLM Idoex Reconnaissance Buggy
Length 5.98m Width 2.94m Height 3.05m (Disintegrator turret) 3.00m (Phased-plasma turret) The 16RLM Idoex Reconnaissance Buggy epitomises Jalyrkieon battle strategy: fast, flexible and reliant on speed and manoeuvrability over armour. Its speed is helped considerably by the Jalyrkieon’s mastery of gravitic and telekinetic technology, an off-shoot of the Jalyrkieon’s own native abilities. It is equipped with boosters, which, in addition to providing a short upward lift, also locally reduce the effect of gravity on the vehicle, allowing it to “hop” a surprising distance, and even extricate itself from obstacles.
The Idoex is typically fitted with one of two turrets. The first carries an improved sensor array above a disintegrator cannon. This version is best in its scouting role; despite the disintegrator’s fair power, it lacks a significant punch.
The second variant has no additional sensors, but instead a larger phased-plasma cannon. As with the starfleet, these weapons form the mainstay of the Jalyrkieon ground force. With the improved efficiency of the Jalyrkieon’s phased-plasma technology, the weapon packs more punch, has greater range and is vastly better against shielded targets. This later version now sees more common use, despite its lesser efficiency as a scout.
Both turrets supplement the Idoex’s firepower at close range with a coaxial missile tube for the TVX-4 Rerif missile. The tube contains only a single missile, but it can be reloaded by bringing the turret to the forward position and rotating the tube fully vertical. The “blister” underneath then will open, allowing a manipulative tractor beam system to reload the launcher. The Idoex has six reloads under armour.
Both versions of the Idoex also have a graviton crusher for point defence.
38RTR-3 Okam Armour Personnel Carrier
Length 7.53m Width 4.03m Height 3.04m The 38RTR-3 Okam Armour Personnel Carrier, named after a type of aquatic predator on Plenadi, the Jalyrkieon homeworld is the standard Jalyrkieon APC. It is slightly more than a battle-taxi, but is not a full IFV. It is fast and very agile, and, in concert with its boosters, capable of driving even over water for distances of up to two miles. It is moderately armoured for a vehicle of its size, comparable with most heavier IFVs.
Due to the larger volume of the Jalyrkieon form, an Okam only carries one squad of four Jalyrkieons, and are typically found operating in groups of three.
It is armed with a shrapnel cannon, which fires a munition that explodes into a cluster of very highly accelerated, superheated fragments in the proximity of enemy targets. The weapon has an extremely good range and density of fire, though its armour penetration is only moderate. Early models also carried a coaxial light support weapon mount, either a plasmatic repeater cannon or a phased-plasma gun. However, as the main gun was generally preferable in almost all circumstances they would be used, those weapons rarely saw usage. They were later removed in later variants, and replaced with a point defence graviton crusher, to provide some improved missile defence.
41RKR Scovocsper VTOL Attack Fighter
Length 10.61m Width 7.08m Height 2.49m The 41RKR Scovocsper VTOL attack fighter is a bleeding-edge new VTOL craft, modelled directly from the fighters of the Rixjaani Obonos, and is closer to a starfighter than a more conventional VTOL. Top-of-the-line gravitonic drives combined with effective-mass reduction grids allow the Scovocsper to mount armour heavier than some MBTs, as well as considerable armament.
The Scovocsper has ventral twin multibarrel phased-plasma cannons, an upgraded and more compact version of the turret used by the 21RLB-6 Appila.
The wing struts mount TOO-1 Tonsha Missile Launchers, three each side, with three missiles each, for a total of eighteen warheads. Reloading is quick and simplified, as the missiles are mounted in magazines, and accessed through the heavily-armoured ventral hatches. At a suitable loading base, the Scovocsper simple flies to the top of the building, drops its expended magazines into a hatch, and then hovers forward to a second hatch, where pre-loaded magazines are raised up to lock in. The whole process is automated, and assisted by tractor beams on the roof of the facility, enabling the Scovocsper to reload in less than a minute; pilot endurance is the major factor to the number of sorties one can conduct. A mobile version of the quick-reload system is currently undergoing testing.
The Scovocsper also mounts a much larger phased-plasma cannon battery, in the form of the wing strut-tip cannons, giving it extremely good range and firepower, at the expense of firearc.
Finally, it has two light phased-plasma point-defence arrays, instead of the slower and more cumbersome graviton crushers.
All this power comes as an expense however. The Scovocsper is unable to mount shield generators, due to the amount of power it expends on weapons and propulsion, despite being just above the minimum size Jalyrkieon technology mandates. While this was a consideration, the Hierarchy command decided that given its sphere of operations would mostly consist of nap-of-earth combat that the emphasis should be placed on offense, and rely on terrain and manoeuvrability for defences. As a result, despite being closer to a fighter than a VTOL gunship, it is not suited to dealing with true fighters.
31RTD Shyroen Main Battle Tank
Length 10.14m Width 4.32m Height 3.67m The 31RTD Shyroen Main Battle Tank is a large and powerful vehicle. While not as fast as the Tevqolath it supplements, it is still much quicker than most non-grav MBTs. The Shyroen’s role is primarily anti-heavy armour, a purpose served by the two huge energy torpedo cannons mounted on the turret. As with the Tevqolath, the Shyroen’s two launchers are geared for asynchronous fire, circumventing somewhat the problem of low-rate of fire the energy torpedoes have due to the requirement to charge.
However, energy torpedoes perform poorly against shields, so the Shyroen also mounts two multibarrel phased-plasma cannons. These weapons, mounted on sponsons, also have a much greater elevation, and provided some much-needed shield-stripping ability. A single TVX-4 Rerif missile tube sits atop each gun, providing some short-range punch, though as these are not reloadable outside of an engineering bay, a one-shot punch. Finally, the Shyroen has a graviton crusher array for point-defence.
The vehicle also has a side-mounted improved sensor array, giving it an excellent targeting system for making the most of its weapons. Typically, they are also equipped with a mine plough, since their hull shape is the most optimal for this purpose. The lighter underside of Jalyrkieon vehicles (due to the boosters present) makes them typically more vulnerable to mines.
When dealing with ultra-heavy targets, such as a Cybertank Eradicator, Shyroens are often teamed with Tevqolaths, with the latter providing the fastest shield stripping, and the former providing the killing punch.
34RTD-1 Shyroen Engineering Tank
Length 10.14m (hull) 11.40 (carrying position) Width 4.32m Height 3.86m (minimum) 5.21m (carrying position) The 34RTD-1 Shyroen variant is an engineering vehicle, specialising in clearance and demolition. Essentially, it is a slightly internally modified Shyroen hull, with slighter lighter armour and a new turret. The most obvious feature is the telescopic saw-blade, which can extend a considerable distance from the vehicle. The whole saw-blade itself rotates on its crane, allowing it to cut vertically or horizontally as required. While conceivably a lethal close-range weapon in its own right, the saw-blade is in fact most often used for clearing forests or other similar obstacles quickly, so that the Jalyrkieons can maximise their speed and agility advantages.
This task is helped by the two telekinetic enhancers on either side of the saw blade. They function like tractor beams, but are in actuality a magnifier for the natural telekinetic ability of the Jalyrkieons, an analogue of a robotic arm, but with far greater precision. Though it only allows the Jalyrkieon controller two telekinetic “limbs”, there is a fairly minimal loss of control, allowing them to do a variety of engineering tasks easily and safely, without even leaving the vehicle.
33RLG-9 Swebayen Command Vehicle
Length 7.88m Width 5.47m (turrets extended) 4.78m (turrets retracted) Height 4.94m (mast retracted) 5.89m (mast extended) The 33RLG-9 Swebayen Command Vehicle is one of the older designs in the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Army, and has been refitted several times. As a designated command vehicle, it is not a main combat unit. It thus does not share the usual Jalyrkieon vehicle’s streamlining, being essentially an armoured box. But even so, it capable of making a fair turn of speed, and possesses the typical booster system of all Jalyrkieon vehicles.
The Swebayen’s primary job is local command and control, for which it is well equipped with good sensor and communications arrays, and a solid ECM suite. It has an extensible sensor mast, giving it a safe way to acquire its own sensor locks for both itself (and its primary weapons of twin TOO-1 Tonsha Missile Launchers) and its subordinate vehicles.
For secondary weapons, the Swebayen has two side-mounted, retractable phased-plasma cannons for close defence, and two phased-plasma point defence arrays for anti-missile and anti-infantry defence. Earlier versions mounted lighter weapons which could fully retract into the hull, dropping the width to only 3.86m. The -9 version’s larger weapon are too large to be pulled inside the radius of the turrets and so they can only be retracted slightly. The merits of the virtue of a heavier weapon over being able to manoeuvre through smaller gaps is hotly debated.
The Swebayen is not heavily armoured, and so generally sits in a safe location at the perimeter of an engagement location.
31RTU Tevqolath Main Battle Tank
Length 10.11m Width 4.28m Height 3.77m The 31RTU Tevqolath Main Battle Tank is fast and agile for a main battle tank, rivalling even some grav tanks in terms of mobility. The boosters on the underside, as on all Jalyrkieon tracked and wheeled vehicles, combined with Jalyrkieon telekinetic technology, allow it to “hop” obstacles and even make crude pop-up attacks. This is combined with surprisingly heavy armour than would be expected from such a vehicle.
Part of the reason is that the tank’s primary weapons are both fairly light in terms of both physical weight and energy consumption. The large and intimidating multi-barrel phased-plasma cannons draw significantly less energy, even at full output, than the two smaller energy torpedo launchers mounted between them. The phased-plasma weapons have relative poor penetration, but the high volume of fire means they are very effective at shield stripping.
The two energy torpedo launchers are designed for asynchronous fire. This gets around the typical problem of recharge times, since one will be charging while the other is firing. While this removes the potential one-shot “punch” of being able to fire both at once, in a ground-based environment, this is less important than being able to make sustained fire.
Finally, the Tevqolath has a graviton crusher array for anti-missile defence, designed to catch, re-direct and/or crush incoming missiles.
© Alex Handley, 2010-2020
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Behind the Scenes
The Jalyrkieon fleet was one of the early experiments in 2011 whose design was inspired by the kunai knife (as I watched a lot of Naruto at the time, which also influenced their model colour scheme!) At the time, they were simply designated kunai fleet. About six months, they became the Jalyrkieons as I worked on ships and the ground forces (with inspiration from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, of all things driving the thrust of the species body plan). This was only the fourth ground force, with the sci-soviets and Cybertanks simultaneously first (one used modern 144th infantry figures, the other doesn’t have infantry). The third, the Strayvians (whom we shall get to) are the first try at infantry in the form of seven-foot lava aliens (which worked) and the Jalyrkieons were the next step. (And after they worked, I did actual humanoid infantry for the Aotrs.)
As an early ground force, I was still learning, and used the Jalyrkieons to experiment a bit with designs heavily inspired by more than one disparate popular source, as you may have noticed. You will noticed that on some of the vehicles, for instance, the wheels are no textured (I simply hadn’t worked out how to do that until – due to some commissions in between – I finally worked out how.)
The Jalyrkieons also were the first prototype when called (on a commission) to do their smallcraft, as I attempted to accurately gauge scale – so that the Arrifek was actually big enough to properly fit the vehicles it was supposed to carry. I ended up having to revisit this extensively when I came to do the Aotrs early this year (2020) as I found I hadn’t got it quite right. The Arrifek was correct at 300th scale (the scale I use for fighter combat), but I had not really quite got it right at the 10000th the fleet was at, as you might have gathered! But, as I often find, it is easy enough to translate that CAD issues into real ones and it gives you something to talk about. Read any amount of real history of ships or aircraft, and you’ll find the sort of thing common. (As a pertinent example and one I had in mind, look at the French Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier that was built too short for the fighters, meaning they had to be refitted to stretched a couple of metres at enormous expense.)
The Jalyrkieons were also a first attempt at what I eventually did with the elenthnars – and alien race not intended to be a monoculture. I abandoned the idea for the Jalyrkieons, as they technology was a little bit too oddball to be able to lend itself to the sort of “variations on a theme” that I had with the various human powers. The elenthnars came from a more standardised base and so have filled the role of “like humans, but more” rather better than the Jalyrkieons could have done.
Model Availability
Models available from Aotrs Shipyards direct (contact us on Facebook (catalogue available from Aotrs Shipyards Task Force Group) or via the webshops at:
TheShop3D Look for the MG144-JA codes for the ground forces and the JAL codes for the starfleet.
Direct link using the Jalyrkieon Hierarchy Filter
As of 20/05.2021, the all the ships and vehicles save for the 1:300th versions of the Ikimar and Arrifek are available direct and TheShop3D or at the Shapeways store and all ground forces have been updated (which included one or two wheel textures I think, but mostly updating to the new v2 locking turrets).
[1] Approximately the size of a Section A Welsh Mountain Pony, around 12 hands.
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