Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/The Katsuragi Protectorate

The Katsuragi Protectorate are one of the twenty-one core factions in Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict.

Description
The late Emperor Yoshiro was a man of honour. A strong traditionalist, he followed the code of Bushido, the way of the samurai. He knew, with dedication, endurance, a sharp mind and a honourable way of acting as well as hard training, a warrior can reach victory no matter the odds. Self-sure, he placed his ideal above everything else, and formed the military in this way. He believed in the divine destiny which meant the Protectorate with him as the leader is supposed by the Gods to rule the world. Most of his commanders were Shogun themselves, knowing the way of Bushido, and transmitted this codex down to even the most common soldiers.

Crown Prince Tatsu, the only son of the Emperor, thought in a different direction. To him, it was not the dedication of honor that mattered, but the force and number of the weapons of the warrior wielding them. This new-age thinking along with Tatsu's brilliant mind as an engineer and tactician often clashed with his father's beliefs.

The result was a combination of both traditionalism and technological advance. Weapons designed in the style of 100 years ago were combined with modern Nanotechnology, basic soldiers wielded both mid-ranged firearms and katana, Shinobi fought alongside unarmed men in white business suits and even women were seen on battlefields, or actually above them.

The military was by far and about the largest contractor and scientific drive in the Katsuragi community, which was almost completely isolated after the short appearance it made in First Katsuragi-Coalition War and later the Great Voshkod-Aquilan War's Ulthuan Front, where crude Mecha fought in a few battles alongside the Allied Nations.

In 1937 V.C., when Malekith was careless in its hour of peace, Many of Asur followers defected to Malekith's beliefs and attacked like a tsunami with a wave of vehicles by the Malekith, supported by illegally exported Voshkod and stolen vehicles and battalions of infantry already placed around Ulthuan. No one noticed, no one expected, and no one survived the first wave. Taken completely by surprise, Emperor Yoshiro himself opened the first act of the Protectorate by giving a telegraph message to Malekith.

"You will bow before us or you will cease to exist, Malekith!"

The Sundering happens right this message occured.

After Malekith and his followers fled to Naggaroth, the Protectorate was in despair. Both Emperor Yoshiro and his only child, Crown Prince Tatsu, died in their own battles in the Sundering. With no members of the Protectorate family left, a Shogun by the name of Shiro Kamina took over and became the new Emperor. Quickly lofted into the nation's hearts and minds, he was widely accepted into the position almost instantly, and things are looking on the up-and-up for the Protectorate for the first time since they entered the war.

Following the infamous Sundering in 1937 V.C. came the War Of The Beard with the Coalition soon after, thanks to Dark Elf sabotage, the Protectorate underwent a dramatic inner change through help of an Asur name Finubar, the Phoenix King of Ulthuan and an Asur friend to Yoshiro back in the day who want to combine some of Asur's best technology, thus Project Phoenix King, a secret weapons program created by Asur and the Katsuragi is born. Ever heavier militarized than the conventional and public Self-Defense Forces, even more so than say the Socialist Union, the mere bulk of willing soldiers grew every year by a large margin. The Phoenix King project's technology allowed it. Modern computer systems, utilizing a technology named Integrated Circuit, allowed computer systems to become smaller and cheaper while at the same time becoming more effective. Soon large banks of computers were installed all over the Protectorate, controlling nanobots and vehicles, production assemblies, and household goods with a high degree of accuracy and they could easily be expanded.

Radio signals in the air, decoded by military structures, contain the Project Phoenix King data for Nanotechnology to form all the assets needed on the battlefield while Protectorate men in the millions stand ready to serve and if necessary give their lives for the Emperor and Asur. Giant battleships, accompanied by small submersibles and amphibious tanks trained in the open seas around the Protectorate, while the scientific community created more and newer weapons for the warriors. Structures could be assembled in record time with Nanocores driving around in search for expansion posts, even on water. Giant artificial islands, some mobile, were built in underwater stations and outfitted with one of the most destructive Project Phoenix King technologies available, all the while remaining a secret to the conventional SDF and Gaiaterra.

Shinobi and humanoid robots spied in the leading cadres of the world, changing and deleting information about the giant storm in the east during the latter parts Cold War until 1995 V.C.

But there is a lot of damage. The Protectorate has to work hard, now more than ever, to repel its numerous enemies. Most alarmingly, the new, strange army of the Celestial Viceroyalty Of Corona seems hellbent on the Protectorate's destruction. Tensions with the Destroyers, mainly the Collective of Auring remain high, and with Katsuragi entry into the international market, it is facing stiff economic competition from the Lumeris Syndicate.

Unlike Yoshiro, Emperor Kamina tried to form a steady peace with the Guardians instead of only a cease-fire, which most of the Guardians thankfully accepted, though the Empire and Cantha still hold a justifiable grudge for their actions done to them in the past, especially since the Protectorate pretends it never happened or heavily downplayed it. Since then, many changes have occurred in the Protectorate, as the insular island nation has opened up to foreign influences and has also begun to make its presence felt on the world market. This does not mean that the Protectorate has become pacifist, or given up on its dreams of a world-spanning Katsuragi Protectorate; the truth is quite different.

Emperor Kamina simply divided both of the Protectorate militaries, with the standard military of the Katsuragi Self-Defense Forces and the armed forces that are based on Project Phoenix King, so that instead of acquiring more land the military defends the Protectorate with its life. With the advice of Shogun Shinzo and under the leadership of young Kamina, the Protectorate will head into a new era of prosperity.

With the Guardians of the Tacitus on their side, a heavy exchange of culture and goods has begun. Household goods have become less expensive, television becomes more widespread, and western exotic clothes are becoming more common in the Protectorate. On the other hand, the Guardians become ever more heavily technologized, with the modern computer systems from the Protectorate, nanomachines reconstructing destroyed cities such as Ironforge, Fereldan and Orlais, and the overall way of Katsuragi life becoming increasingly famous in the western countries.

Only the stars know how the development of the world will continue on with this new relationship.

Lore Articles

 * Ulthuan, the homeworld of the Protectorate
 * The Katsuragi History
 * The Katsuragi's Involvment in the Great Voshkod-Aquilan Conflict
 * Katsuragi Protectorate Self-Defense Forces
 * Project Phoenix King, an Katsuragi-Asur weapons program
 * The Weapons of Project Phoenix King
 * Nanotechnology
 * The Katsuragi People
 * The High Elves of Asur
 * The Erunes
 * Wave-Force Weaponry
 * Kinetic-Burst Weaponry
 * The Mecha of the Katsuragi
 * Protectorate small arms and equipment
 * Floating Fortresses of the Katsuragi
 * Protectorate Characters

Tactics
* TBA*

General

 * Elsword Empire: Hostile
 * Community Of Cantha: Hostile

Before 2015 V.C.

 * Federation of Aquila: Friendly
 * Alliance of Hawke: Friendly
 * Andoran Republic: Neutral
 * Socialist Union of Voshkod: Hostile
 * Collective of Auring: Hostile
 * Great Horde: Hostile
 * Aristocracy of Encantadia: Hostile

Legendary Generals

 * Ilsa: General of the Erune Command
 * Prince Tyrion: General of the Asur Command
 * Rackam: General of the Exo-Command
 * Lucy & Nyu: General of the Psionic Command

Notable characters

 * Teclis: Protectorate EVA
 * Sterkenburg Cranach
 * Prince Eltharion the Grim
 * Alith Anar
 * Djeeta
 * Gran
 * Caeldor
 * Rorolina "Rorona" Frixell
 * William G. Maryblood
 * Mako Mori
 * Norio Tomokawa
 * Professor Minamoto

Commandos

 * Eustace: Erune Command Commando
 * Alarielle the Radiant: Asur Command Commando
 * Motoko Kusanagi: Exo-Command Commando
 * Yuriko Omega: Psionic Command Commando

Sub-factions

 * Erune Command
 * Asur Command
 * Exo-Command
 * Psionic Command

Arsenal
Main Article: Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Protectorate Arsenal

Nanocores
Instead of a construction yard or a standard builder unit to build structures, the Protectorate utilizes Nanocores, which can be constructed at the Construction Yard at any time as long as funds are available. Of course, the higher cores become available with the help of other structures.

Tiering Up
Most factions tier up by buying an alert level or build a tier-access structure such as the Battle Lab, the Protectorate is different, tiering up is done by through purchasing their Tier up access from their production structures.

Martial Prowess
Protectorate forces excel as warriors, having trained in martial disciplines for the equivalent of many men's lifetimes.

When their unit's health is more than 50%, or for infantry in squad size at 4 or above more than half, they gain a buff to their stats. But when their health is at 25% or below they will suffer major debuffs.

Tech Tree
There are two tech trees that you can go through, and both can, and is encouraged, to be used simultaneously, these are


 * Katsuragi Self-Defense Forces: Allows access to the standard SDF forces like the Type 40 Yonmaru. Cheap and tough, but rather lacking in power and versatility
 * Project Phoenix King: Allows access to some of the Protectorate's advanced weaponry and mecha such as the King Oni. Powerful and almost universally amphibious, but extremely expensive and rather fragile in the beginning

Structures
Basic Structures Defense and Support structures