The Order of the Fallen Lady

The Order of the Fallen Lady is an all-female religious order that is devoted to the concept of social mobility through warfare, as well as the promotion of freedom and justice. As a result, its teachings revolve around making its adherents into the finest warrior-soldiers as possible, granting them a well paying vocation that is not only always in demand, but fundamental to imposing order.

The Order was founded in early 3018 GSC on Planet Piyapon, with The Church of War being its headquarters. Though the very beginnings are murky, the origins of the church can be traced back to the insurrection lead by The Black Army, a male dominated and chauvinistic force lead by The Black King, a lone member of a plague species capable of reproducing with most species and creating monstrous offspring. Its figure of worship is valeriane, a pygmy who fought against them, having gone from being a slave, to waitress, squire and then the knightly second in command of Lorani Province's main military force, the Azalea Free Company. However, as Valériane was struck down by The Black King before reaching her prime as Knight Commander, she is considered a tragically martyred saint. Even though her forces met a crushing defeat in the ensuing battle, her sacrifice galvanized resistance and united people against The Black Army, leading to the church itself adopting a more somber and mournful, yet vindictive demeanor.

Though the most zealous adherents themselves, commonly known as Sisters of War, protect the weak and promote the many good virtues that Valériane stood for, the bitterness of their patron saint's tragic death lingers. Though she herself held no ill will towards men or aliens in life, the fact that her body was spirited away by The Black Army and never found only fuels this, leading to a resentment towards men, and a deep rooted suspicion of all non-humanoid xenos among her most devout.

The formation of the order was fraught with doctrinal, practical, logistical, and procedural disagreements. To illustrate, during the first few months of the order's life, a body height standard was required to be met or surpassed by new recruits. However, this was completely dropped after a small controversy surrounding Valériane's height, during which it was revealed that the lady-saint stood at an extremely modest four feet. In spite of disagreements and conflicts like these, the order remained a coherent whole, but to this day, these arguments cast a conflicted shadow over the order's internal workings.

Even then however, Valériane's most devout pray for her return.

The most noteworthy service that the order is known for, is the consistently excellent training regimen that it provides. For orphans adopted by the order and adult female recruits, this training comes for free as a part of their sisterhood. However, adult women who seek training but not membership must make the appropriate donations. Its training is fully comprehensive, including the usage of both melee and ranged weapons, with the inclusion of survival and infiltration tactics in addition to teamwork and leadership. The order works closely with the Azalea Free Company, providing voluntary spiritual guidance, training, and close association for female recruits, with the opportunity to be christened as full members of the order after an abbreviated evaluation period. Full members of the order receive a comprehensive salary and benefits package, along with access to the order's designated armories, facilities, and barracks.

Though members enjoy a large amount of benefits, they are expected to give back to the order in turn, primarily in the form of their military service. For this reason, the order itself is very similar to a military free company, offering the use of its highly trained and well equipped women-at-arms for a premium. Despite this, its services specifically complement Azalea and do not directly compete with their patron saint's home-company. Instead, its services focus more on providing elite shock troopers and special forces rather than front-line heavy infantry or cavalry.

Though less famous, the order's foray into producing associated orphanages and homes for the poor or displaced is growing rapidly. Its leadership views this as key for supplying a continuous supply of recruits, as well as obtaining various tax-deductions and cuts from the government.

• Provides military training and expertise to women
• Offers shock troopers and special forces for hire
• Provides housing for female orphans, and poor or displaced women

The religious habit worn by the sisters is modeled after that of Roman Catholic nuns, however, it has been modernized to a considerable degree. Rather than expressly being made to hide the wearer's physical form, the habit of the order is instead made to subtly and tastefully draw attention to it, being form fitting in the right areas, and loose in others to maximize both appearance and practicality. These uniforms tastefully emphasize the womanly nature of their wearers while remaining modest, flame retardant and anti-stab. The form concealing formal layer worn over the standard informal serves to provide additional protection from the sun and environment, as well as to provide sufficient concealment for weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and tools. Additionally, a specialized black veil to indicate mourning for the patron saint can be energized by a small battery to actively repel both rain and dust to provide maximum visibility.

Unlike other organizations however, their habit is not fully standardized. Though they all must meet certain fire, stab and fragmentation criteria, the cut and fit of the habits may vary from sister to sister based on their own personal tastes. For this reason, there is sometimes conflict between the older, more reserved sisters, and their younger, often unfettered juniors.

Its military equipment follows a similar aesthetic as well. Learning from Valériane's own story, the most well equipped faithful wear a collection of military technology to even the playing field and give them the best edge possible. The most capable Sisters of War are either issued or purchase a space sealed and temperature regulated body glove to serve as their under layer. Over this, an ultra-light weight, form fitting and high speed exoskeleton is worn to augment their strength and agility. Next, the Sisters don their hard plates, custom tailored to emphasize their feminine forms without compromising protection or ergonomics, and their battle dress. The two layers intertwine with each other. While the bust of the dress is under the curiass, its slit skirt flows over the thigh protecting cuisses, providing additional fragmentation protection, and multiple attachment points for pouches and the like.

Though their weapons are eclectic, reflecting the personal tastes of the sister in question, two specific weapons remain a constant in their religious symbology; the dual chakrams of Valériane, and the javelin that killed her. Their flag or motif is two chakrams with a javelin thrust through their centers. For this reason, it is not uncommon for sisters to use smart chakrams or collapsing javelins in combat. Their ceremonial guard in specific is well known for having javelins at their side despite carrying pistols or sub-machine guns in the other.

As a paramilitary religious order, The Order of the Fallen Lady has a highly formalized and explicitly organized ranking structure and hierarchy. All new recruits to the order begin at the rank of Maiden in Waiting, a provisional rank where they are partnered with a senior and act as both trainee and companion with the intent of the two aiding each other. Upon completion of training, they are promoted, at which point they are considered to be full-fledged members of the order. Ranks are rewarded chiefly to recognize skill, accomplishment, and proficiency in execution of designated duties. Members receiving the title of Lady are considered the peers of knights in skill and ability, but also in leadership as well. Therefore, for members who seek to receive the title of Lady, it is of paramount importance that they demonstrate a strong capacity for leadership.

• Dearest Mother
• Mother
• Dearest Lady
• Beloved Lady
• Precious Lady
• Lady
• Beloved Maiden
• Precious Maiden
• Maiden
• Maiden in Waiting