I had planned on making them into a faction based around a largely populated system called Casyris - several habitable planets and moons, each with their own micro-government, all unified under a single banner and providing raw materials, labour and land to a single military company - Naysmyth Armories. They build ships for the four dominant powers in the system, each ship with its own quirks and characteristics due to the requirement and specifications put down by the different governments. I'm trying to make it feel
stolen from inspired by Okim's Ironclads mod, but more of a singular faction rather than a whole TC mod in as of itself, with each micro faction's ships available from a Shipyard Station orbiting their major manufacturing world (moon or planet), and ALL the ships available in a single, isolated Station owned exclusively by Naysmyth. The factions are as follows:
Alparuski Republic, Casyris I
Spoiler
Yeah, you already know where this is going. Soviet/Stalinist faction, blah de blah. Casyris I is a HUGE rocky planet; atmosphere long burned away, with a slow rotational cycle. It is far too close to Casyris itself to natively produce life, and the peculair orbital pattern means that the entire planet is evenly roasted by its parent star. This made it an ideal candidate for the maufacturing powerhouse that it became. The vast heat that the ground produces was harnessed by the first colonists to reach Casyris, and over time the entire surface has been converted to a continuous smelting complex. Occasional shafts pockmark the surface, where reinforced ore trains shielded Passenger shuttles, designed to weather the lethal surface conditions of "Alpha", ferry workers and raw materials to the factories on the surface and the extremely low-orbital foundries, where the products of the smelters are forged into shape. The entire population live in relative discomfort in the bowels of the planet - hemmed in by the neverending heat, both from the surface and the core, and living behind shielded doors. AR's ships are hugely armoured, and also have extremely heavy shielding. This means, however, that they are the slowest ships, and are also have the least weapons. They require loads of crew, but are very efficient supplies-wise. None of their mounts are universal, but they still have a good mix of ballistic and energy. The ships systems are generally focussed DPS output, often requiring the ship to take the brunt of an enemy attack on its armour, to guarantee a kill. AR make superlative use of large, heavy frigates, covered in oversized guns. They distinguish their ships with a pair of parralel red stripes, running diagonally across the ship, Port to Bow, with a squared ancient greek "alpha" letter.
View of Casyris from low orbit around Alpha, heavy filtering used.
(http://i.imgur.com/kKCeBn8.jpg)
AR Flag
(http://i.imgur.com/zXh9Uwt.png?1)
United Peoples of Beta, Casyris II
Spoiler
A fairly typical US of A type faction, living on an idyllic planet. Casyris II is a larger rocky planet, situated in the near side of the Habitable Zone of Casyris, and is mostly covered in water. It enjoys all the benefits that the constantly sunny and warm climate brings them. It is an almost perfect democracy (if you believe the propaganda) and was the original point of settlement for the Colonists, who quickly killed off the larger predatory creatures on land and sea (interestingly enough, they were incredibly slow-witted, not needing to evolve higher brain functions in the lazy tropical waters) They see themselves as an elightened and blessed people, and the coterie of hot, rocky moons that orbit the planet; the larger Ferrix, Carbis, and Coprik (originally thought as dwarf planets) housing the entirety of the UPB's manufacturing facilities - all manned by drones. Argis and Diaman (huge moons) have atmospheres and water of their own, and are mostly used as "cold resorts", where the citizens of the planet below go to marvel in the wonders of sub-zero temperatures at the poles and on the highlands. The other, more classically sized moons are used as communications relays and office space, and are relatively untouched, due to their primary task of keeping "Beta's" magnificent ring system in line. APB's ships are much higher tech than any other, and all are incredibly fast and well shielded. They actually have less energy mounts than may be expected, as most of their power is pumped to the shields and the engines, and compensate with a heavy reliance on drones for a myriad of purposes. These drones often replace weapons, and ships of all classes have flight decks for drone-controlled fighters. APB ships require a miniscule amount of crew, but take a lot of supplies. They are generally considered some of the better designs, as they can simply overwhelm most enemies with a screen of cheap, replacable fighters and drones bristling with weapons, and run down any foes attempting to flee. Beta specialises in Cruisers, often designed and captained by the richest families. APB ships are designated by a massive, ocean-blue, stylised Aquila on the hull of their ships, overlain with a stylised golden greek "beta".
View of Beta from orbit around Ferris
(http://i.imgur.com/LknT6hs.jpg)
UPB flag
(http://i.imgur.com/R5LSi6k.png?1)
GD(Gamma, Delta) Union, Casyris III and IV
Spoiler
Seriously, kudos go to Okim for the idea of an EU style faction. I, however, am putting a little spin on it. Gamma, the most earth-like planet of the system, was the second to be colonised. It is a medium-sized planet and has a pair of polar ice caps and is covered by a range of mostly temperate forests. The settlers found the local fauna extremely evolved and contact was hesitantly made. The natives were friendly enough until a slave trade started mid-way through Gamma's history. An uprising, supported by wholly a third of the planet created a tri-partite civil war that rocked the planet for several decades. Now, the natives are a part of society, and are equal citizens. A constitutionally defunct monarch, elected after the death of the last, now presides over the dark blue and green planet, as well as its three moons and an invisibly thin asteroid ring. Rex is the largest of the three, an equal, if not larger than Ferrix of neighboring Beta and has been terraformed to support more living space for the populace. Regent is a military outpost, bristling with sensors and shielding. Reina is a jewel untouched, strangely for a moon, but because of its composition. Its smooth, pale, pearl-like outer appearance belies its dual purpose use of power generation and strategic asset. It has a ferromagnetic core that spins inside the molten mantle of the moon, constantly renewing both the insanely powerful magnetic field, and the lethal radioactive crust Theta has always used it as a source of unending electrical power generation, and ship survivability testing. The Kaspiarn belt, named after the last king with power on Gamma, is used for raw materials and ship construction, a particular pride of Theta's populace. Delta, larger and further out than Theta, was the third to be colonized, and has much larger ice caps, with a temperate band around the equator. The native fauna there were less evolved, but more hostile, and Delta's history is one of frontiersman against massive saber-toothed lizard-like mammalian beasts and packs of cunning feathered reptiles. Even now the world is divided between the taiga forests where the descendants of those creatures hunt, and the deforested plains of the human walled cities. The two moons, Canis (large) and Felis (medium), are where the majority of Delta's population lives and works. Atmosphered, green and well divided between urban and rural zones, they are ruled by governors reporting to a central government on Delta itself. The diplomatic and political union of Gamma and Delta was a pracctical one. Delta had resources, but little workforce, Gamma had manpower, but few resources. The practical and hardy nature of the two people meant that, aside from good-natured steryotypes, the two states aligned themselves under a single flag and the preside from the largest city on Delta, Pracitix. The Ships designed by the DGU are meant to endure long, hostile, exploratory or combat missions in carefully structured fleets. They do not require many crew, but can hold a lot if necessary. They are efficient with supplies, but nevertheless have large cargo bays. This is consistent throughout the classes, barring carriers. They are incredibly focused ships, with hardly any PD or weapons of their own. They rely entirely on escorts for defense, and their shields are weaker than other GDU ships. They have better armour, though, and are faster, and many a bold admiral uses them as spears to deliver a horde of fighter wings, corvettes, and bombers to the heart of an enemy attack fleet. Gamma and Delta both make the best destroyers in the system, each ship capable of a number of roles, and able to hold its own against a number of larger ships. GDU designate their designs with two overlapping grey circles, the middle being deep blue with a bright green "gamma" and a white "delta".
View of Gamma from high orbit
(http://i.imgur.com/fuqKoTR.jpg)
view of sunrise over Delta
(http://i.imgur.com/Xucvo7G.png)
DGU Flag
(http://i.imgur.com/NeegOHZ.png)
Spoiler
Hooray, finally something original! :P The KOG is, differing from many systems in this respect, very much a contender in the political games of the System. They have by far the most resources and manufacturing capability of any political group, having 4 whole gas giants and all of their moons to rule, and occupy the largest territory - more or less everywhere outside the habitable zone. Epsilon, a good match in size for Sol's Jupiter, is often considered by the inhabitants of GDU to be too close for comfort. Visible with the naked eye as a bright green star from Gamma, and as a large green pearl from Delta, it dominates the skyscapes of its 12 inhabited moons. It is comprised mostly of Methane and Hydrogen, with decent amounts of noble gases such as Argon. Its moons were the first to be fully colonised through HabShield tech, the prototypes being developed on Alpha, and are luxurious by comparison. The moons themselves are named after origins of the 12 months of the terran year - Janus, Februa, Mars, Aphrodite, Maia, Juno, Julius, Augustus, Septa, Octa, Nona, Deca. The inhabitants of these all work on the orbital refinery platforms skimming the highest reaches of Epsilon's atmosphere and the multiple dense asteroid rings on the equatorial plane. The hundreds of smaller moons were originally delegated to food prouction for Epsilon's workers alone, and this was a pattern repeated on each planet consecutively colonised. Epsilon is more or less a manufactorum for the KOG, and as such has very little representation in the Senate, the main ruling body of the power. It does hold democratic elections for the title of Representrative nevertheless, and being chosen as one amongst billions is an honour not unrecognised within Epsilon's territory. The next giant along, Zeta, is a Red, angry one, plentiful in liquid Infernium and Neon, and is largly uninhabited. The moons that it had were plentiful and large, many had atmospheres and native life. It quickly became the powerhouse of the outer planets, and as such, gained significant political power over them. It was always a powder keg of the area, with far too many natural resources and manpower in comparison to its neighbours. The First Interworld War was brutal, and Zeta utterly routed the forces of Epsilon, Eta and Theta. The four planets were aligned under the black flag of Zeta and were only halted by the combined efforts of the three inner worlds at a decisive fleet action above Reina, in which the entirety of the combined Gamman and Alphan fleet - regarded since as one of the most heavily armoured and shielded was sacrificed. A second fleet of mainly Betan capital ships engaged the remaining forces, while a Deltan vanguard destroyed the reserves of the Zetan conquest fleet. Soon after, however, A Second Interworld War broke out, and the full horror of the Zetan Dictatorial regime was unmasked. They had been killing the native species to the largest Zetan moons, Sturm and Drang - each moon the equivalent of Beta or Delta - by forcing them to create weapons of mass destruction. countless smaller moons, ranging from mere kilometers long, to some nearing the size of Gamma, were hollowed out and filled with active nuclear material. The insane warlord of Zeta had planned to crash these into the four allied inner planets and end the war once and for all, with any survivors forced to live under his regime. Needless to say, he failed as spectacularly as the last Zetan "Emperor", but the quickly fragmenting Alliance of the Inner Planets chose a more permanent end to Zetan warmongering. The combined capital ships of each fleet bombarded every single rocky body in Zetan orbit, and pounded them into dust. To this day, an entire cloud layer of particles ranging from microscopic dust to fist-sized rocks, blankets the upper atmosphere of Zeta, and is patrolled by KOG ore ships, sifting through the massive cloud for particles of raw materials to be added to the ever-hungry forges of KOGs manufactories. Eta is the next planet along, almost a twin to Zeta in size, but where Zeta is red and angry, Eta is blue and calm. An atmosphere of nearly pure methane, it houses vast refineries in the upper atmosphere, but its moons are what distinguish it from its neighbours. One solitary body dominates the family of satellites - a moon the size of Alpha, and a planet by any other name, it is Atlas. After being extensively HabShielded, it became a forest moon, with an evolved native population of herbivores and a temperate climate due to the heavy atmosphere and its orbiting harem of hot, volcanically active moons - Electra, Maia, Taygete, Alcyone, Merope, Celaeno, and Sterope, acting as a sort of shield from the lethal radiation of Zeta and Eta. The current capital of KOG is stationed there, in the shining city of Kronos. Eta's history has always been peaceful, opting for neutrality over conflict, lest Atlas be besieged. It is not undefended, however, as the innumerable minor moons that form far reaching orbits have each been a self contained military installation, fully stocked at all times, for the vast majority of Etan history. Other important moons, Gaia - a shielded farm moon the size of Gamma, Hyperion - the industrial moon, almost as large, and Prometheus - a furnace on which raw materials from the ever expanding defence network of hollowed-out moons is melted down, skirt around Eta in Atlas's shadow. The Final Giant, Theta, is deeply purple, but large concentrations of Argon, Xenon, and other noble gases, makes it the prime candidate for the research and production of KOG's incredibly powerful lasers. The only major moons are Firefly, a forge moon used for manufacturing, Serenity - a frozen world where the constant subzero temperatures make for excellent natural cooling for the foundries, and the soot-stained snow is visible from high orbit; and Miranda - the Scientists' home, where the latest model HabShields were tested and put to use. Both are small in comparison to Atlas, Janus and destroyed Sturm, but high ranking officials still often live on Miranda, both to keep an eye on any personal projects, and for the more luxurious accommodations that the HabShields provide. The many smaller moons that orbit the main planet and her two moons are used as platforms for testing, shipbuilding, ore mining and refining the raw matter of Theta. KOG ships are always large for their class, and have the peculiarity of slow speeds, but lacklustre armour. They prefer a well rounded and advanced form of combat, fought over extreme range with plenty of beam weapons, missiles and far flung screens of superiority interceptors. The KOG specialise in commerce and building, and you will not find more survivable cargo and fuel haulers anywhere else. Due to the vast amounts of resources that KOG have at their disposal, all of their ships can be bought for much lower rates, if you are willing to part with their patented LRLB YPen, affectionately named the Golden Lancer by the captains of the now defunct KOG navy. The KOG use a deep blue stripe across the bow of their ships to mark them as their own, with white-outlined symbols for each planet in order: a green "epsilon", a red "zeta", a light blue "eta", and a purple "theta".
View of Epsilon from Janus
(http://i.imgur.com/bkBdE0k.jpg)
View of sunrise over Zeta
(http://i.imgur.com/mvGOvn6.jpg)
View of Eta and Atlas
(http://i.imgur.com/Sp7jt6y.jpg)
Firefly, Serenity and Theta
(http://i.imgur.com/S3sUY0b.jpg)
KOG Flag
(http://i.imgur.com/1TBLMAu.png)