I'krl Theocracy

I'krl Theocracy

the I'kryl Theocracy has a mere 121 systems (I added the "mere"). Now, obviously, they like the significance of the number "121" (being the number of hours you are stuck in drivespace) but seriously — if this were true, PL8 or no, the Stellar Ring is many, many times larger. Now, true, this is "systems" and not "planets" but we all know from the rough estimates that Neil Spicer did in Action Check that the Stellar Ring has a lot more than 121 systems.

externals

It does, admittedly, depend on how you view these "systems." Are they major systems, each one akin to an Earth, Thulda Prime or Catalog? If so, then yes, that's pretty darn scary, and you can presume there are many other satellite colonies of each major system. However, I don't know if we can say that's the case here.

My next piece of evidence is on page 48 of the Externals ESD. This page contains a military organization chart. What we see is that there are three main fleets plus the Exeat. The three main fleets each contain 6 fortress ships and attendant armadas and the Exeat controls 4 more fortress ships plus that huge cathedral ship. We can surmise that Ython Kadar's is not the only Cathedral ship…perhaps there are a dozen total (or maybe only 6…hard to tell, I'm just guessing). Either way, if you consider a Cathedral ship to be worth approximately 1.5 fortress ships and assume the Theocracy has about 8 of them, that's only 12 additional fortress ship equivalents added to the 22 fortress ships previously accounted for. So that's only 34 fortress ships or equivalents for the entire Theocracy. The Thuldan Empire, by itself has about 20 fortress ships. The Concord another 20. (Actual numbers may be more like 16 and 18…I don't have my books with me.) Start adding in the fleets of Austrin-Ontis, the Orion League, and the Union of Sol (not to mention Starmech, Rigunmor and others) and you have some MASSIVE military power in the Stellar Ring.

If I had my books, I could have a straight answer, but I believe the number is probably close to 100 fortress ships (and attendant armadas) in the Stellar Ring. Suddenly, even PL8 fortress ships (and in only some tech categories!) don't seem that scary. In short, can anybody dispute that the Stellar Ring would kick the holy living hell out of the Theocracy if push came to shove?

And you'll note I left out Voidcorp, which is like another 15 or so fortress ships. Even if they defect to the Theocracy (which they may not do, if they believe humanity can win), it still leaves the stellar ring with almost double the number of fortress ships.

what is up with the numbers of systems and habitable planets in the Perseus Arm? Does it just suck compared to our own Orion Arm? Check out the numbers given for the Evrem Federation, Gardh Technarchy and League of Nine—-

Evrem Federation: 125 worlds colonized, 5,000 light year span

Gardh Technarchy: 6,000 light years, 300 systems, 24 Class 1 worlds

League of Nine: 23 systems

Medurr: 3,000 light years, 120 life-bearing systems.

How are they a threat- they have an ally much older and knowledgeble than humanity. How did they glue the tachyon cannon to their fortress ship? The I'kryl told them how to do it. How did they find the Verge. Same thing. And with both, they may get their allies free which makes them the superpower.

Perhaps the I'krl Theocracy really is wussy, but can give the appearance of strength because they are catching the humans off guard and have infiltrated relatively deeply into human society.

Here's a thought: What is the history of the member races of the I'krl Theocracy like compared to the history of Earth and humanity. What if the most warlike species after the Weren in the galaxy were Humans. Would that cause humanity to place an emphasis on weapons for defense and offense? Would you spend more time honing your combat skills and physical strength if you knew that every couple of days you would be in a fist fight?

Now, let's consider also the relative ease with which the two powers have to carve out their place in the galaxy. If I know I'm the strongest kid on the block, I don't spend much time improving myself. I just make sure I'm stronger than everyone else and then take their lunch money. If, however, I have to fight other guys who are equal in strength as me, I have to improve myself in order to ensure I don't get pummeled everyday. Reasonably, I can assume that the guys beating me up are doing the same so that the bar is constantly being raised. Eventually, the bully from the next block over decides that he's bored with his current territory and wants to expand. He comes into the block where there is no clear top dog and attempts to establish himself only to find out that while he was growing fat and lazy, everyone in this block is capable of giving him a run for his money if not out right beat him up when they unite.

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