Seyek Space Forces

The Seyek Space Service is a long-existing organization, stretching back to the earliest attempts at exploration beyond the homeworld. The organization quickly militarized after encountering several hostile powers, including what are now speculated to be far-ranging Caitian or Hishmeri vessels and an attempt by Gorn to conquer the planet. The apex of the Space Service’s military might came almost a century ago during the last Fiiral-Seyek war, where they decisively crushed the Fiiral fleet at the Battle of Spirit’s Gate before laying siege to their homeworld. The fleet has contracted in overall numbers and firepower since then, as the Seyek economy crashed post-war and subsequent governments focused on civil development projects and Fiiral integration.

The Space Service has since become increasingly focused on exploratory duties rather than existing as a purely military force, similar to the Federation, but still continues research into cutting-edge technology and heavily arms their ships for war. The reasons for this are long-term awareness of the Cardassian threat and pressure from the Indorians, the latter threat effectively removed by Federation diplomacy. Their focus is on Lone Ranger-style tactics involving well-built explorers, built to tackle any problem but with a more militaristic bent than Starfleet designs.

The Space Service has worked hard to recruit Fiiral members, highly prized for their manual dexterity and natural wiring for three-dimensional thinking. However, recent tensions have seen many Fiiral stripped of their rank under intense suspicion. This has only fueled resentment amongst the Fiiral, who have begun to talk openly of forming their own fleet. In the interim, Starfleet has benefitted from a large flow of Fiiral personnel into their ranks - after requisite background checks.

Seyek military vessels are identified by the above logo, and personnel wear armbands with stripes in the above pattern. This is to distinguish them from civilian authorities, such as police and government vehicles, who use a different pattern altogether. Changes in color to the center snake device can indicate seniority, or be replaced entirely to indicate a specialization. Fiiral Personnel wear the identifier as a pattern on their collar, device centerline.

Active Ship Classes

 * Sunrise class battleship
 * Audacious class heavy cruiser
 * Constrictor class destroyer
 * Seeker class science ship

Obsolete classes

 * Peacemaker class corvette
 * Soxistin class corvette

Personnel
Unlike other species, the Seyek do not have a traditional Enlisted/Officer divide. Their organization is also extremely flat, with specializations being seen as much more important than the constellation of Enlisted and Officer ranks that the Federation has. The five ranks of the Seyek are Spacer, Sergeant, Supervisor, Overseer, and Marshal. These are further modified by technical and position ratings. One can be a Sensor Spacer, roughly equivalent to a Sensor Operator petty officer in Starfleet. While in theory there are only five ranks, the addition of a ‘senior’ prefix effectively doubles the ranks, and is often given to section heads at the lower levels. As something of a parallel, however, leadership training at Seyek space academies can lead to being commissioned at a higher rank, typically Sargeant.

The basic rank is Spacer. A standard spacer can start with a specialization if they went to a specific technical school or join the Space Service with specialized knowledge. Those that don’t are posted to a variety of departments as their skills are nurtured and developed, working menial tasks and providing whatever manual labour is needed. Some Spacers may stay at this rank their entire time in the service, showing some level of aptitude for their work but unable to demonstrate the leadership abilities to advance. Senior Spacers can be equivilent to petty officers and Ensigns.

Where one would see Lieutenants, and chief petty officers there is the Sergeant rank providing the junior leadership in the fleet. Technical Sergeant is a catch-all term for specialized Sergeants, such as Lab Sergeants, Administrative Sergeants, or Security Sergeants. They are equivalent to a whole class of Chief Petty Officers and junior officers with highly prized knowledge and education, and who also coordinate teams to carry out their work. Confusingly for outside observers, Senior Sergeants are often equivalent to senior enlisted ranks in other navies, but unmodified Sergeants are usually those with promising leadership careers, given generalist duties to prepare them for the complex world of Starship operations. This is not a hard and fast rule, however.

Those with the Supervisor rank, the equivalent of the Commander ranks in Starfleet, are often very effective coordinators who are well-versed in organizational behaviour and also highly knowledgeable in their areas of expertise. There are very few Technical Supervisors, and those who are are often not posted to ships, being in charge of research teams or large technical or defense arrays. At the Supervisor level the Senior prefix is often only required by the ship’s XO, the rest usually being department heads. There is an additional prefix - Ship Supervisor - for those Supervisors who command the smaller vessels in the Seyek fleet.

The Overseer class is equivalent to ship Captains, Directors, or junior admiralty. Standard overseers are ship captains or installation commanders. A research director would be a Technical Overseer. A Overseer who commanded multiple vessels would be a Fleet Overseer. The Senior prefix is only used on an ad-hoc basis for formations of vessels commanded by Overseers, equivalent to the obsolete Federation Fleet Captain position.

Finally, the Marshal rank covers the senior-most leadership of the Seyek. A Senior Marshal is equivalent to a Vice-Admiral, and the High Marshal is the Commander of the Space Service. There is a Strategic Marshal rank that is only used in time of emergency, but has been floated as a special rank if the upper ranks of the Space Service ever expanded.

Space Schools
Unlike Starfleet, the Seyek will often commission individuals at the Technical Sergeant rank if they passed leadership courses while obtaining a STEM at civilian institutes of higher learning, and will occasionally commission flat Sergeants from other bachelor-equivalent programs if they acquired specialized training or show leadership in other areas of their life. For those Seyek or Fiiral hoping to have the best chance at being commissioned at a higher rank and also seeing their careers blossom, an education at the Hassonus Space School is seen as a major asset. Other reputable academies include the Royal Spire Military College on Fiiral and the Zencien Space School. Highly-reputable civilian institutions that the Space Service recruits from include the Masscenchenxinet Institute of Science, the Tiqesset Campus, and Prixseton School.

Sky Shrikes
The Seyek orbit-to-ground service, equivalent to the Orion Aerocommandos, is the Special Assault Service, or colloquially, the Sky Shrikes. Most Seyek ships have a small Shrike detachment onboard for assistance in specialized tactical situations, similar to United Earth MACOs. Larger Shrike formations are held in reserve for wartime operations, designed to be transported to the front by the Seyek Cruisers and Explorers. Their specialized insertion shuttles are often flown by hand-picked Fiiral pilots. The most storied shuttle unit is the infamous 203rd Special Aviation Wing, known as the Night Kings. Fiiral also serve, in smaller numbers, in the Shrike infantry units. While it is a widespread idea that the Seyek are fearsome close-in fighters and the Fiiral are easily-crushed weaklings, this is something of an incorrect meme that speaks more to the overwhelming physical strength of Seyek than the weakness of Fiiral. A Fiiral Shrike can, and will, easily kick you to death - or into the coils of a Seyek that will then proceed to crush you to death.

Typical Rank Prefixes

 * Administrative - Roughly equivalent to the Yeoman and Ops positions in Starfleet, depending on rank. Administrative Spacers fill yeoman and personal assistant roles, while Sergeant and above handles more large-scale organization.
 * Biological/Chemical/Physical - Standard prefix for personnel with specialized skills in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, respectively.
 * Engineering - Same connotations as in Starfleet.
 * Intelligence - Same general duties as Intelligence officers or enlisted in Starfleet.
 * Medical - Same duties as Starfleet medical officers. Often confusingly for outsiders, the best doctors in the fleet tend to have spent long careers at the Spacer and Sergeant rank, while Supervisors and Overseers are more competent in handling medical administrative duties. Senior Medical Spacers are often the closest Doctor analogue, with normal medical spacers being more akin to nurses.
 * Security - Roughly equivalent to security personnel in Starfleet. A Security Spacer is a typical combatant, with Security Sergeants and Senior Security Sergeants providing the junior leadership.
 * Sensor - In charge of sensor operation and maintenance. At higher rankings it implies sub-department heads who oversee all sensor usage on a ship.
 * Tactical - Typically reserved for Supervisor and higher ranks, Tactical has the same connotations as in Starfleet. They are responsible for deploying ship weapons systems in engagements, developing plans, and evaluating regional threats to the ship. They work closely with Intelligence section to effectively prepare the ship for possible dangers.
 * Weapons - in charge of shipborne weapons operations, roughly equivalent to certain aspects of the Tactical role, but usually limited to Technical Sergeants and occasionally Supervisors who directly oversee the physical systems.