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H.A.T

Hegemony of Ancient Thaumaturgists.

A faction that handles the military and security aspects of the Cities and is dependent on the Nobles. H.A.T agents rely on the use of Artifact Armaments for combat mostly. A few them are even said to use some of the  fabled absolute armament weapons. They are lead by twelve Generals each in charge of one of the twelve branches of H.A.T, out of which only six are known to the public.

One of the generals also leads the organization as a whole, although their identity is not known to the public at large. (It's Ophis. This isn't a big spoiler. You may start with this knowledge).

1. Research and Development. The headquarters to this are situated, or rumored to be situated in Marvolia City (it's the flying one). Their leadership is a mystery too (nonetheless, rumor has it it is someone close to the nobles), but their progress and methods are weekly posted on various official newspapers. They are responsible for most technical developments and technology within cities, such as flying vessels, new Artifact Armaments and the like. They have offices over every City, ready to take suggestions, as well as serve as some sort of assistance for problems concerning major technological issues, in businesses or public buildings mostly. They are the ones who invented the shields and walls that keep the Cities protected.

2. Wall Defense. This is a very simple one, the soldiers that stand in the walls, maintain the wall shields (wherever they are located.) as well as keep watch over the area. They jump in action whenever the need calls for it. Wall defense has no headquarters, but it does have a leadership. General Alus is in charge of this branch. As said they have  no HQ, but the biggest walls are on Goract City and this, the city has a special connection to them.

3. Explorers. The Explorers are a branch of H.A.T which has the function of going through the wilderness and finding new things, discovering new daemons and surviving such encounters, as well as updating on areas unknown up to that point. Sometimes, some areas are unable to be reached by H.A.T as well, and in these occasions they send the Explorers to find it. They are the most physically trained and best equipped. Explorers have the least survivability rate of all other branches. It is lead by General Nero. Headquarters are on Tzari City.

4. Settlement Defense. A branch that is tasked with defending settlements outside the Cities, under H.A.T protection. As well as ones that are under the lands of allied factions like the Slayers or Keepers. This involves protecting these settlements from invading daemons as well as potential other issues, overseeing their economy and life, making sure that these places prosper, help in times of natural disasters or disease etc. Leader of this branch is General Kyros. Headquarters are on Malish City.

5. Law Enforcement and Intelligence Services. These are the ones that act within Cities. Serving to enforce law as well as gather information on varying subjects, dispatch difficult objectives etc. This Division has its headquarters on Arkwell City. Their presence is great, and they are known for  using rare and powerful Armaments the most commonly. This division is assumed to be one of the ones closest to the Nobles. These also serve as the ones who keep prisoners ...in their prisons. Head is General Ophis. HQ is on Arkwell City.

6. Noble Defense. Information on this Division is scarce. Their name has only been mentioned a few time. Not even one of them has been seen around, but they supposedly, guard the nobles. They are a mystery all in all!

7. Transport. Transport division carries out a number of duties. before dwelling in them, one must state that a lot of the transit around Corius is handed either by train, or by airship, because as these mediums are quite large, it means a large number of people or gems can be transported with them. As a matter of fact, almost all trains have a set minimum for the number of Transport Branch H.A.T agents they nay take under any circumstances. They also use a lot of Utility Gems, for helping with the maintenance of the transport vehicles, and Spellcrafters too, if the need arises. Their leader is General Lina. HQ is on Arkania City.

8. Nautical Branch. The coast guard, navy and generally anything to do with water and the sea (even the fishermen, yes) make it here. They spend most of their time in the waters around and inside Corius, and thus, don't get much attention. Their training involved both, lessons in handling water daemons and human enemies, for they served to fight the nautical battles back back when the war against the rebels was on. Sometimes they do this with the rebels nowadays too. Their leader is General Neiss. HQ is on Leuras City, in Bered.

9. Aeronautical Branch. The one dealing in flight and control of the airspace, of all sorts. Also, allegedly, the ones who deal in putting satellites out there, and bombing places! They're a dangerous bunch, all considered, but get to do very little nowadays, other than clean crowds of wild aerial daemons or handle out escort jobs for important airship-traveling people or carriages. Their leader is General Octavian. HA is on Selecin City, once again, in Bered.

10. Artillery Branch. The ones who are in charge of the massive guns, usually, and the people who get some of the least work around there nowadays since rarely anything ever requires that amount of firepower anymore. Occasionally they obliterate rebel bases from afar but that is about it. Their leader is General Jade. Their HQ is on Ravan City.

11. Infantry Branch. They are the soldier force, basically. The Infantry get armor and weapons but they don't use them much except against human enemies. Of course these generally amount to rebels, if a war or so breaks out, but that has not happened in a long time. Nevertheless, Branches 10-12 are generally considered a good reason to fear H.A.T... So...   Lead by General Telos. HQ is on Red City.

12. Cavalry Branch. The people who ride stuff into battle. Generally, mech-size Armaments, or summons, and even then their own firepower is amazing. They are split in heavy and light cavalries, but each is a pretty fearsome branch on it's own. Like the above two examples, rarely get ant work but are pretty fearsome either way. Their leader is unknown. HQ is in Draco City.

The main H.A.T base is on Voltarre City. It is unaffiliated with any branch but it does connect to them through it's organizational privileges and authority. Ophis leads this base of course, considering he is the Director.

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Ranks!

Trainee: Everyone is a Trainee, the moment they are accepted into H.A.T, and are enlisted in one of the Branch Academies. The training for every branch differs, bar a few standard courses, of course, but all trainees, are treated equally. Despite these, not all receive the same intensity or quality of training. Explorers for example have a much longer, much more difficult training period than most other branch trainees.

"Soldier":  A H.A.T Soldier, is not actually a rank proper. The official  term is "unranked" and describes people fresh out of training who fill out base duties, and are the most numerous. Explorers and don't have this "rank" at all, whereas R&D uses "assistant".

Agent: The first proper rank, where someone is given some customized duties, and jobs, as well as allowed to command a number of subordinates of the immediately lower rank. H.A.T Agents, usually get to wear a fancier uniform, as well as, are allowed some non-standard gems or equipment.

Official: The Official can often be used to represent a higher authority. A H.A.T official rarely enters combat, and is considered more of a diplomatic, or leadership role. Officials can take several times the number of H.A.T soldiers an Agent can, and are allowed certain other rights. Most of their non-standard equipment is defensive, or evasive, in case shit goes down the wrong way.

Squire-Agent: An Agent favored by a Knight, is named a Squire-Agent. Squires, are expected to be made into Knights soon, and thus, train closely with the Knight, learning of their incoming responsibilities and getting used to their future role. They have little freedom, as they must prepare for the transition to Knight, and are under direct orders of their teacher. Often called "Pagents".

Knight: The elites. These people are guaranteed to have some form of respectable customized equipment, in the form of an Armament. Otherwise, expect them to have a number of nice, shiny gems. Knights get a surprisingly high pay, and command Agents directly, but have little business with Officials. They can take an escort of Soldiers, but if they want numbers they can just tell their attending Agents, to bring as many Soldiers as they can, each.

Knights have considerable leadership duties, and thus, they organize in groups, or orders. Orders transcend Branches and a knight can join any order depending on several factors such as ideology, history or even outright preference.

Chief-Official. Chief-Official is once more, an irregular rank, found only within certain divisions, such as the Settlement Defense, Transport, or Nautical one. It denotes the leader of an establishment or structure that is under the control of H.A.T. Whether they are a ship captain, or an airship captain, or are the ones left in charge of a fortress or base, the Chief Official commands all units underneath the area they are in charge of, and exert authority higher than the Knight, and sometimes, debatably, more so than a Commander.

This rank is not permanent, and is awarded to either a Knight or a Commander, at a moment where there MUST be someone in charge of this area. Otherwise, the control of it is left to a gathering of Knights that are stationed there.

Commander. Each Branch only has four commanders, who are close to the central organizational structure of H.A.T itself. Commanders handle appointments, promotions, demotions, as well as a large number of bureaucratic matters, but they also act as field leaders, when the need arises. Commanders are second only to the general of the Branch, in fighting skill, and are figures of considerable renown on their own.

General. The leader of a Branch. The General handles the heavier decisions and is an incredibly powerful fighter. They select Commanders, and technically have full control over a large number of Branch functions. Generals get to carry around the strongest types of Armaments, and a number of them even have Absolute Armaments as their weapons!

Director: The Director is the big guy, the leader of the whole organization, the man in charge...etc, etc. The Director often works as a general as well, although few know this as, for as far as most can recall there has only really been one person in this role. Then again, the archives concerning the position of Director are not allowed to be examined, as the current Director is ALSO head of the Intelligence Branch. Anyone finding out more about him would be disastrous to the organization. It would be as if they were decapitated!

H.A.T has an unusual number of secrets. Most of the info related to them is best found irp, even if they should logically have the longest paste of all factions.... It is isn't it