Tokko
| Map | Basic Data | Planetary Image | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Name: | Tokko | 
|
| Segmentum: | Tempestus | ||
| Sector: | Eternum | ||
| Subsector: | Confedus | ||
| System: | Nippon | ||
| Population: | ~130,000,000,000 | ||
| Affiliation: | Imperial | ||
| Class: | Hive World | ||
| Tithe Grade: | Exactis Extremis | ||
Overview
A hive world in Confedus, Tokko possesses a unique culture amongst the hives of Eternum and is responsible for providing the vaulted Shogun Guard regiments for the Imperial Guard.
Culture and Life on Tokko
Tokko possesses a unique culture for a hive world, a result of its original settlers. Millenia later, Tokko still maintains the aesthetic and cultural characteristics of their founders, with massive cities that alternate between ancient Shinto-inspired designs and pod-habs. Even the Imperial temples of Tokko look different, with giant folding doors made of Tokken fiberparch (a reinforced parchment that serves as a thin door) topped with Aquilas, and angled roof tiles hand crafted and placed with care. The pod-habs used by the bulk of the population are little more than beds separated by sliding fiberparch, with communal facilities for each pod-block.
A deeply ingrained culture of shame and honor results in workers of all classes frequently overworking, occasionally dropping dead on the assembly line, and individuals who fail to meet quotas set by their overseers or themselves are expected to exile or kill themselves. This phenomenon stretches to the nobles of Tokko, who stride around in custom tailored segmented leather armor and wear Nihanto swords as a symbol of status - although living lives of luxury compared to the menials of the world, a noble who performs a shameful act or fails their family, world, or the Emperor, is expected to ritualistically commit suicide to atone. Not all do, but to fail in this task can greatly diminish a family's standing, with the noble who refused banished from Tokko's cities to live in the Nanbu wastes.
The Nanbu wastes are a hellish place, with all the hive cities of Tokko dumping their waste and pollution into the beleaguered grey rubble. Exiles are sent here, expected to die within days from starvation, dehydration, radiation poisoning, toxins, or Aka Mantos - believed to be ghosts of dead exiles, they are actually mutants who offer red or blue liquid to exiles, with those who choose red being flayed, and blue disemboweled. Though most exiles die quickly in Nanbu, a few manage to survive and join up in Ronin gangs, scavenging the garbage piles and occasionally raiding the closer hive city edges. These Ronin gangs are breeding grounds for heretical cults, and more than once Imperial forces have had to deploy to put down a chaos uprising. Tokko otherwise has a thriving economy, with large trade routes passing by it takes advantage of.
Tokko's tithe is mostly manpower though they contribute resources as well, all overseen by the planetary governor called the Majordomo, currently Majordomo Hiddeki Naruhito Meiji. Tokko provides many regiments that contribute to the defenses of the Aural Gate and Iron Gate, and while not particularly gifted shots or fighters, the Tokkon Shogun Guard are respected for their drilled and consistent volley fire. Each Shogun Guard regiment carry the Tokkon book of war, "Hagekari - Hidden by the Leaves, Resolute as the Root", which carries a collection of defensive military tactics and spiritual affirmations tailored for the Tokken soldier, and each soldier is as familiar with it as their copy of the Infantryman's Uplifting Primer. Tokken regiments are far better at defending than offensive actions, with the skilled Eternum commander taking advantage of their drilling to hold difficult ground. While more inexperienced or careless commanders will throw Shogun Guard at the enemy in human waves, the more elite Shogun Guard are reserved for more experienced commanders assigned to hold difficult fronts, and it is a common sight to see Tokkenese manning the most critical fortresses on the Gate worlds.
