Category:Military -- Humans

From SOTS

Generally, the ship prefix for the Human military is SFS (SolForce Ship). SolForce is the name of the united Human military, formed after the devastating first contact with the Hivers. The official motto of the Space Corps is "Per Ardua Ad Astra"—"Through Hardship, the Stars". The unofficial motto of Humans in space is "Repensum est Canicula"—"Payback is a Bitch". SolForce employs a mingling of Chinese and British naval traditions in their ranking system, demonstrating how traditional geographical and personal divisions between many racial and cultural groups have been left in the past. The level of gender bias in the military seen in the 21st century is impossible in SolForce, given the circumstances. Misogyny is a relic of a day and age when humanity was ignorant, backward, and foolish—not to mention being soft and spoiled enough that it made sense to disenfranchise one half of the species as a sop to the ego insecurities of the other half.

The breakdown of officers and enlisted crew depends very much on the ship and the mission. In general, though, SolForce is not liberal with the gift of rank. Times are hard and any kind of respect or authority has to be earned—this is true of command staff and specialists alike. For example, in the second cinematic trailer, the Deep Scan Destroyer Copernicus was commanded by Lt. William Conrad Vance while Task Force Omega was led by Commander Blackwood. Blackwood's official rank in full would be "Task Force Commander". This is what you call a SolForce Commodore (abbreviated Cdre.) when he or she is actually on the line and expected to command multiple ships in battle. The actual term "Commodore" is used for brass of similar rank who are not line officers, but serve in domestic, logistical, or intelligence roles.

Many rungs of the old ranking system are obsolete in SolForce by the time of Tarka First Contact, including the old position for "Commander" and the ranks of "Captain-lieutenant" and "lieutenant commander".

And a language usage note: In SolForce terms, there is absolutely no difference between the terms "Marine" and "Soldier". The SolForce Marines are the only ground-walking forces known to the human race. If they aren't soldiers, no one is.