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[S31-Zero-Order]

OOC: This is not necessarily a "story" or anything of the sort, but rather more like a dictionary for the terms I use in mine and others' work to help readers build better images and understanding of what we're talking about. If you have anything to add to this index from your stories, please let me know via PM and I will update it accordingly to include your definitions. Although I can't contribute to the RP posts as often as I'd like, I still check my mailbox on a daily basis and will assist as soon as I get the time. The Index will always be in a constant state of updates. With every story or diary that comes out, I'll add more and more things to the Index.

The APOC Codex

1. Roles and Regulations:

• APOC Ship Command
  
  • The role of the captain of an APOC ship is like that of any other: to further advance the causes of his or her crew within accordance of the will of the APOC Brotherhood. After initiation and assignment aboard a vessel, the Captain must win the respect and admiration of his crew. Their ship is held under their discretion and juresdiction, but one of their main concerns is the well being of their crew. When following their own orders, Captains must ensure that this is upheld under any and all circumstances. Should a Captain no longer uphold his responsibilities to his crew, he is expected to step down and resign command to the next highest ranking officer, usually his or her XO. Should the Captain refuse to stand down, it is under the crew's discretion as to whether or not to follow them. They are allowed to kill the Captain, should it come to that extreme. The process continues through the chain of command should the needs of the crew and obligations of command not be met with each successor. In maintaining order on their vessel, Captains serve as the judge, jury, and in some situations, executioner when settling disputes, enforcing code violations, and keeping the vessel's crew in line.
  
  
• APOC Crewmen
  
  • Crewman of any APOC vessel are expected to follow their Captain's orders without hesitation. Generally, they are completely subservient and serve to further the goals of their Captain and the APOC Brotherhood as a whole. Should a crewman disobey orders, the penalty is traditionally death, though the final decision is left up to the Captain of the ship in which the incident occured. Should there be no remaining ranking officers or crew aboard a vessel to settle a dispute, the Captain or ranking officer of an investigating vessel of the APOC Brotherhood assumes the former captain's roles.
  
  
• Right of Succession
  
  • The Right of Succession is basically a legal way to challenge the command of a vessel without the risk of being accused of disobeying orders or obligations. In a Right of Succession trial, the challenger is lower in status than the commanding officer. Within an arena or training room, the challenger and the commanding officer fight to the death. The winner gains honor amongst his or her crew and retains command of the vessel in question. This is typically seen aboard large vessels within the APOC fleet with the ability to house such trials. Should the vessel in question be unable to supply a suitable room or area for the trial, the vessel must relocate to a larger ship with the capacity to carry out such measures. The Right of Succession can only be evoked by active members of the crew and once evoked, cannot be undone. The Right of Succession cannot be evoked in such a time when it would endanger the crew and the ship. Should one combatant forfeit, they are ejected from the Brotherhood and exiled. After a victory, the winner cannot be challenged until he or she is both fully recovered from the fight and they have shown an incapacity to command and will not step down. Right of Succession trials are very rare and not often needed for settling a dispute.
  
  
• Departure of the Commanding Officer
  
  • There is no specific method of the transference for command of a vessel when the commanding officer leaves the ship, however, command of the ship is traditionally passed on to the second in command (or the XO) after departure. The transfer of command is only changed when the commanding officer specifies another method. The decision and method are changeable at any time and can be edited to support the current situation. When a commanding officer leaves his or her ship, it is still under their command, but the command is indirect. The XO must take orders from the ship's captain in order to preserve the well-being of the crew and to complete their mission.
  
  
• Missions of the Brotherhood
  
  • Soldiers, agents, commanders and all other Brothers and Sisters of the APOC all have their own personal goals to accomplish, whether it be establishing dominance in space (the most common), the removal of the "weakness" in humanity, and many, many others. Most who operate independently in the field, like APOC Agents, have their own agenda that they hope to one day fulfill as they enforce the many wills of the Brotherhood. For example, Prototype Zero, one of the best known Agents of the Brotherhood, wants nothing more than to rid Serius of the governments of the houses which he sees as "oppressive" and a "leech on society" and to return to a time where people have no choice but to rely on either themselves or one another for survival to bring out the "strong" in humanity.
  
  
• Shore Leave and R&R
  
  • All enlisted in the APOC Military are given shore leave as their commander or Captain sees fit. Due to training and physical maintenance, ground troops and boarding parties are less likely to be seen off duty and on vacation. The commanding officer organizes the time they can leave, the time in which they must to return to active duty, and dictates the place the vacation is spent.
  
  
• The Quorum
  
  • The Quorum is the governing body of the APOC. It consists of the oldest or most dedicated and experienced members of the Brotherhood. When making an important decision or decree, a vote is called and all available Brothers and Sisters who are members of the Quorum come to voice their thoughts and opinions. Ultimately, the final verdict is left up to Deathawk, the leader of the APOC. When he is unavailable, the popular vote upholds the decision voted upon until he can make his decision. When members are not currently serving on the council, they are usually out in the field on assignments, usually working as Agents looking specifically to further the cause of the Brotherhood. To join the Quorum, an enlisted member must prove themself in combat and demonstrate that they would make a fine addition to the governing body. When making the decision to allow a new member access, a list of viable candidates are selected and the best possible is chose to fill the open space. Before choosing, each candidates' accomplishments, time served in the APOC, and prestige points are taken into consideration.
  
  
• The Agents
  
  • APOC Agents are members of the Quorum and serve as the governing and decision-making body. They are given the power to lead in combat and have the right and ability to take command of any vessel they find themselves on, should they see it fit to do so. Agents are veterans of war, highly trained, feared, and mainly operate alone or with a small team. All records of Agents are either removed or highly classified upon entry into the Quorum to protect identity and to ensure secrecy. Only Captains and high-ranking officials know who they really are.
  
  
• Prestige Points
  
  • Prestige points are the main record-keeping measures used to dictate how well or how badly a member has performed in the APOC Brotherhood. Upon entry into the Brotherhood, a member must work their way to a score of five thousand points of more in order to leave the training vessel he or she was stationed on. Prestige points are awarded only after sanctioned and organized training simulations or field work. Points can be lost if the newly-enlisted is detrimental to the overall success of the current mission or task, which may result in demotion and loss of rights. When a point total is examined, promotions in rank can be issued and rights to use new, more advanced equipment are given. When points are given, the main average rewarded for a mission or training simulation ranges from thirty to fourty points per session. APOC enlisted must learn multiple essential skills, such as how to pilot a vessel, hand to hand combat, and many others in order to qualify to leave a training vessel. Prestige points alone will not get a new member off of a training vessel if the enlisted in question has not learned these skills to an extent specified by his ship's commanding officer.
  
  
• Honor
  
  • Honor amongst the APOC is more of a disputed term. For most, the most dishonorable thing would be to retreat from a winable fight. Should a pilot or soldier start a fight, they are expected to stay and see it through unless something occurs that makes the odds of survival overwhelmingly stack against them. A retreat is accepted when the odds of failure are far too high. It is commonly asked that, "pilots not let their pride interfere with their logic." In other words, if you can't win in any way, there's no reason to die needlessly over it.
    
  • When in a dogfight, most pilots prioritize combat vessels over civilian ones. The thrill of the challenge is what drives many to fight and attacking civilian targets out of a group gives little satisfaction. If a pilot prefers civilians over military targets, prestige points are lost. There is honor in attacking and killing a defenseless target without a purpose.

2. Equipment and Technology:

• Technology
  
  • The APOC Brotherhood's members are not as numerous as many believe. Because of this problem, current soldiers and enlisted have access to the most advanced, sophisticated, and envied weapons and armor in Serius. Factions like the Liberty Navy and the Kusari Naval Forces are simply too large to be able to adequately supply and fund their soldiers with equipment like that of the Brotherhood. Because of the smaller size of the APOC Military, the APOC are able to spend to seemingly excessive lengths to protect and support its soldiers with the most advanced ships, weapons, and equipment. Each soldier of the Brotherhood is considered a closely guarded and precious resource.
  
  
• Survival Suits
  
  • Survival suits are highly advanced and customizable suits of body armor that serve a variety of roles outside of general protection. Because of the price tag and resources required to make one, they are very rare. The Order outfitted the Prototypes Zero and Tila with their own survival suits to better enhance their abilities and performance in the field and to ensure their survival as the only two successful Prototypes in the Prototype Project.
  
  
• The Prototype Project
  
  • The Prototype Project was an expensive and experimental proceedure funded and overseen by The Order during the Nomad War. The project's goal was to create the ultimate hybrid between man and machine and to use the products of the project to defeat the Nomad threat. Prototypes were grown in tanks with the DNA taken from hundreds of donors to create the perfect soldiers and pilots. As the nervous system of an embryo grew and emerged, implants were added in to allow the Prototype to directly connect with a ship or neuro-net interface. Traditional pilots are hindered by reaction times and the disability to do only what they could with two hands and their peripheral nervous reactions. Prototypes could theoretically bypass this by directly controlling the ship or equipment with their mind. As the embryo grew to adulthood, further implants and enhancements were added in. Systems like combat suites, remote interfaces, medical maintenance upgrades, and experimental hybrid nomad-human technology were added. Because of the extensive alterations, the mortality rate was almost 100%. Only two Prototypes survived to fight in the Nomad War out of the hundreds that were attempted. Tila was the first and was a platform for testing and using the tier-one technology which allowed her to maintain, manage, and operate systems of capital ships. Zero was the second and last successful Prototype. He was built to be the perfect soldier and pilot for starcraft. He can add new implants at any time, given the correct circumstances, funds, and time to access an Order base for the upgrade. To this day, all files on the Prototype Project are highly classified.
  
  
• GAARD Armor
  
  
  • Developed on Elohim by APOC's own equipment armory, Ground Assault and Recon Dexterity armor is a special, highly maneuverable, and advance combat suit which provides the user with impressive firepower and defensive capabilities. GAARD armor uses a set of sophisticated sensors and data recievers which provide crucial tactical and technical data to the user while in combat. These suits utilize a set of maneuvering thrusters which provide exceptional maneuverability and the ability to hover in an urban or open combat zone. The shielding and armor provided protect the wearer adequately enough to allow for damage to be taken with little to no noticeable effect, however it isn't strong enough to take continuous fire due to limitations on power generated by the suit. The right arm is converted into a mounted energy rifle, while the left is kept free and open so the wearer may still perform simple tasks. Both arms have retractable 18 inch blades over the wrist that can be deployed in close-combat situations. GAARD armor is an expensive, medium-grade armor that is generally only used in raiding and urban combat zones.