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====== The Junk Fleet ======

The **Junk Fleet**, or the **Exodus Fleet**, is the origin of the [[species:kepari|Kepari]] and one of the largest collections of space ships in the known galaxy. The fleet consists of working vessels and space hulks. Once a powerful and feared force in the Old Galaxy, the Junk Fleet is now a jungle of ship wreckage, and barely working vessels, scavenged from nations throughout the Milky Way.

===== History =====

The story of the Junk Fleet is divided by modern historians into two Eras, the **Ieptheros Era** and the **Ulatari Era**. The Ieptheros Era is defined by the foundation of the fleet at the hands of the Ieptheros Triumvirate and the racial domination of the Yuparil until their eventual decline. The Ulatari Era is named for Py'ra Ulatari, the first Kepari Admiral of the fleet, marking the Kepari's eventual rise from second-class citizenry to the majority species of the Junk Fleet.

==== Ieptheros Era ====

Prior to the fall of the Ieptheros Triumvirate, the ancient civilization of the Yuparil, the Kepari Corporate Trust organized the funding of a last-ditch effort to save their people. The result of this public and private funding was the Exodus Fleet, the single largest standing fleet of ships in the galaxy. A grouping of ships numbering over 500,000 vessels were assembled around the flagship of the Ieptheros War Fleet, the starcraft carrier //Yeko Skorzi//. The Ieptheri cracked their dying homeworld open prior to departure, stripping the planet bare of resources.

The Ieptheri would face a sharp decline in the following five hundred years, through various failed military conquests, civil mismanagement, and an epidemic which eradicated 90% of the once-dominant Yuparil population. Positions of leadership and specialization were eventually overtaken by half-Yuparil, descendants of humanoid species and the Yuparil. These half-Yuparil were treated as second-class citizens, and were often untrained an uneducated, which forced them to learn skills and craft that were forgotten with the deaths of their ancestors. As a result, a great deal of the fleets history and technical expertise was lost.

A millennium since the launch of the Exodus Fleet, the Yuparil remnant had died out, and the half-Yuparil species inherited what was left. These inheritors gave themselves the name Kepari, not out of respect of the Kepari Corporate Trust, but for the fact that the Kepari Corporation's name was on almost all the ships in the fleet. The fleet's purpose largely forgotten, the Kepari pushed the Exodus Fleet through the stars, and began a lifelong campaign of salvaging and scrapping to maintain their vessels.

The first admiral of this new era was Py'ra Ulatari, whose example as the First Admiral was so prolific, she was deeply credited for what would define the Exodus Fleet's reputation for the next millennia.

==== Ulatari Era ====

The scavenging campaign, the 'First Sweep', is what spread the name of the 'Junk Fleet' to the rest of the galaxy, a mysterious nebula of ships that would pick asteroids and battlefields clean in the stars. The denizens of this newly named fleet adopted the moniker with zest, calling themselves 'Junkers', defining their status as citizens of the fleet. The Junkers would make several, subsequent 'sweeps' throughout the galaxy, translating their massive fleets to position themselves on the edge of wars or the remains of conflict to recover what was left behind.

When the Drathonian War broke out and the Purge of Terra began, the fleet maintained a strongly isolated stance, preferring to pick apart and recover the vessels of both sides without concern of alliance. It wasn't until the Sixty-Third sweep, when a Drathonian fleet engaged the Junkers scavenging and began systematically destroying their ships. Like many nations that resisted the Drathonians, the Junkers carried out several, rapid warp translations, losing 5% of their fleet complement in the process. At the time of the attack this loss was measured at roughly 20,000 star hulks and star ships. While the Junk Fleet continued its stance of isolation, there were small groups of Junkers who left to join the war on the Terran's side.

Today, the fleet has very few serviceable vessels, compared to the hulks that float within the //Yeko Skorzi's// tractor field. Corporate entities that once served the interest of the Trust have been converted into communes and floating academies, their own specialized fleets now serving as distinct holdings within the nomad fleet. While still an independent entity, the Junk Fleet is a protectorate of the United Terran Republic, with a tacit agreement that while the Fleet is in Republic space, it does not touch anything it owns.

===== Culture =====

==== Politics and Government ====

|//"I've been in Gu'ta's wardroom for decades, suits me just fine. Who want's the stress of the Admiral's Mess, or the feeling of smallness that comes with the Captain's Mess? Down here I've got my own little armada of people and that suits me just fine."// - Yu'ka Borlati, Ship Surgeon of the Gu'ta Yuor'ta|

The governing bodies of the Junk Fleet are that of a **meritorious oligarchy**, with admirals, captains, and ship officers holding the most of the political power. While based on upon the stratified structure of a military, admirals and captains can come from ships that are primarily focused on different pursuits(science, mining, industry). As a result, political blocs and parties are often drawn between the various sub-fleets and their own pursuits. Advancement in political power is stratified in that crewmembers must be appointed as officers, officers appointed by their peers as Captains, and Admirals appointed by their fellow Captains and approved by the Admiral's mess.

The primary judicial body and fleet-level legislative body is the **Admiral's Mess**, overseen by the Admiral Over All, the primary political leader of the Junk Fleet. The Admiral's Mess exists primarily as a body of the most capable and brightest the fleet can offer, to determine policy and lawmaking that best serves the purpose of the fleet. Any law or policy that is determined in the Admiralty Court must pass a two-thirds quorum of the Captain's Mess.

More divisive is the **Captain's Mess**, a league of all the star-ship captains in the fleet, which act as legislative body for the sub-fleets and approving body for fleet-level policy. Executive power in enforcing laws and policy lies with each and individual Captain and their interpretations. This leads to a wide spectrum of adherence to the law across the fleet, but with every Captain's appointment riding on the performance of their vessel and the well-being of their ship and crew, few abuse this to any extraordinary offense.

At the lowest level of representation is the **wardroom.** Each ship has a wardroom of specialist officers and bridge officers who reflect the attitudes and interest of their vessel. Most of these officers are regular crew-members who have sought a political future beyond scrapping and the pursuit of it. Becoming an officer is a stressful responsibility in the flagging Junk Fleet, but it is sometimes seen as an opportunity to rise in status, and even potentially get off the ship to Captain elsewhere in the fleet.

==== Language ====

The primary language of the fleet is **Ieptherese**, despite the decline of the Ieptheros Triumvirate, those that remain still speak the ancient tongue of the Yuparil. The spoken form is defined by strong consonants and soft vowels, with emphasis on each syllable often spaced by glottal stops. The writing consists of a runic alphabet, where consonants and vowels are clearly expressed.

Few words in Ieptherese flow from one syllable to another, especially in the Yuparil dialect, which involves more strong, fricative form in speech. Most visitors to the Junk Fleet will typically encounter common use of Ieptherese in the Kepari dialect, which has a softer inflection and resembles the trade language spoken across the stellar nations.

Most Junkers understand Ieptherese enough to speak the language fluently, but those who are born and raised on non-Ieptheros ships will often understand the primary language of the systems in their home ship. 

==== Cuisine ====

Nutrient pastes, foams, blocks, and water are the primary diet of any Junker. Most meals consist of colorless forms of supplement-enriched matter that keeps the Kepari of the fleet alive. The culinary pursuits are a little known art in the Junk Fleet. Few Junkers could properly prepare and cook meals made from natural sources like vegetables and meat. Cooks are a rare occurrence, but they are highly valued wherever they are found.

Even with proper preparation, Junker meals are very sparse and simple, and often seasoned with one of the few spices available, sodium glutamate.

===== Ships =====

Ships within the Junk Fleet come from many nations among the galaxy. While the vast majority were once vessels of the Ieptheros Triumvirate, that majority has decreased over the millennia. Most Iepthari vessels have been replaced by Terran, Altresian, Drathonian, and many other stellar empires. Historically, Junkers have not been picky with what vessels they recruit into service.

==== Yeko Skorzi ====

||//"Yeko is the only one of her twenty sisters left; it always falls on the youngest to take on the biggest responsibilities."// - Py'ra Ulatari, 1st Admiral Above All, to Oo'rik Hudora, 347th Captain of the Yeko Skorzi.||

Last of the Skorzi-Class starcraft carriers, the //Yeko Skorzi// has a service record that stretches almost a century prior to its induction into the Exodus Fleet. Measuring a length of 20km bow to stern and roughly 5km starboard to port at its widest, the vessel represents a frightening image of the scale of war in the ancient days of the Ieptheros Triumvirate. In the prime days of the ship's service, it was capable of docking smaller war-vessels, launching up to one thousand stellar fighters, and was capable of transporting a fighting force of almost 1,500,000 Iepthari Marines.

When originally conceived, the Skorzi-Class had a projected lifespan of approximately two hundred years. Historians estimate that the //Yeko Skorzi// has been in active service for almost 3,000 years. Through judicious maintenance,  the vessel has managed to stay actively running, while maintaining the tractor field that keeps all the unpowered hulks in its range in place. 

Like many other vessels of the Ieptheros Triumvirate, the //Yeko Skorzi//'s FTL capability is a bubble-shield projector that allows it to take vessels in range with it. For the Junk Fleet, this is used to translate the entire mass of vessels at once, as they make their sweeps through the galaxy. 

==== Teka Yuor'ta ====

In the Ieptheros era, the Your'ta-class vessel was built as a hardy surveyor with the worst of the galaxy in mind for the greatest exploration. The Teka Yuor'ta was a vessel with a less-than-stellar history until the Academy of Four was founded in its wardroom. Since the rise of the Academy of Four as the primary institution of learning and research. Thanks to the Your'ta's modular interior, the scientists and researchers of the vessel can assemble almost any environment to test and learn about the relics they find their fleets.
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