Eternal Father
The Imperial Army of the Black Empire
The backbone of the Black Empire's army are conscripted and trained within the Pacanth Reach, the heartland of the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Carnifex. Youths are taken from their homes between the ages of eight and eighteen in accordance with the Cassivdeam Collection system imposed by the God-King. The youths are then forcibly converted to the Epicanthix faith (a practice generally imposed on non-Epicanthix youths) and are trained rigidly until they reach the mark of a capable soldier.Those who produce exceptional results are moved up the latter to more respectable and important ranks within the Army, those who perform adequately are taken in as grunts, and those who fall behind are used for manual labor or other less-than-desired tasks within the army.
Much like any armed forces, the Imperial Army follows a similar hierarchy:
Lord Commander Militant - Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army
Lord Commander - Commands a system army of 147,456 to 442,368 troopers (1-3 armies)
Lord General Militant - Commands an army of 131,072 to 147,456 troopers (4 corps)
General - Commands a corps of 32,768 to 36,864 troopers (4 battlegroups)
Colonel - Commands a battlegroup of 8,192 to 9,216 troopers (4 regiments)
Lieutenant Colonel - Commands a regiment of 2,048 to 2,304 troopers (4 battalions)
Major - Commands a battalion of 512 to 576 troopers (4 companies)
Captain - Commands a company of 128 to 144 troopers (4 platoons)
Lieutenant - Commands a platoon of 32 to 36 troopers (4 squads)
Sergeant - Commands a squad of 8 to 9 troopers
Corporal - Second-in-command of a Sergeant
Trooper - Rank & File Soldier
Engineering, Communications, and Medical Personnel - (All have no official rank in the Imperial Army)
The God-King is also able to bestow a special title upon one particularly skilled and tactical individual in times of war.
Warmaster - The title of Warmaster is bestowed upon an individual when the God-King calls for a Crusade against a hated enemy of the Empire.
A Crusade involves the complete and utter annihilation of not only the enemy's armed forces, but their entire civilian population and culture. When the God-King calls for a Crusade it is expected that nothing of the enemy remain once it has concluded, and every mention of them in the history books are to be omitted permanently.
