Flag of the AEK
Kamijing in Solari · Confederate Canton · Torii
The Army of Eastern Kamijing is an independent militant faction founded in SY 97
by Akira Ueshiba during the Freitaika Rebellion. It is not a national army, not a mercenary company,
and not a militia in the conventional sense. It is something older in form and newer in concept —
a standing force built on lifelong personal oath, structured along the lines of
feudal Japanese command, and animated by a distinctive synthesis of martial discipline and Eastern Faith.
All members join voluntarily and cannot leave. Each pledges their entire self and
all of their efforts for life — an oath made to both the organization and to the current Warlord
personally. The flag displays Kamijing in Solari script integrated with a common flag
of the Confederacy — an explicit statement of loyalty that is also a statement of identity.
The AEK is Confederate in allegiance. It is Eastern in soul.
The AEK played a pivotal role in the Solar War, became the de facto ruler of Kamijing and Freitaika,
and served as the military backbone of the Protectorate alliance. It collapsed in SY 138 when its
last Warlord, Wu Kenshu, committed harakiri at the conclusion of the Siege of Mars.
Successor factions from its dissolution would seed warlord kingdoms across the Twilight Era.
The Oath — As sworn by every AEK member upon induction
"I pledge my entire self and all of my efforts to this organization and to the Warlord — for life."
SY 62 — SY 80s
Roots — Akira Ueshiba
Akira Ueshiba is born SY 62, a second-generation Japanese colonist on Kamijing and
direct descendant of Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido and teacher of
the Ōmoto-kyō Old Earth religion. Raised in martial arts by his parents, drawn to
Faithful missionaries from the Rim in his youth — he and his parents convert.
He receives a liberal education, reads widely in Old Earth literature, and begins
developing a martial art designed specifically for the conditions of space.
He calls it Kami Do — the Way of Spirit.
SY 92 — SY 94
The Academy Opens
Ueshiba's first cohort of Kami Do trainees graduates in SY 92 and is given
authority to teach the art themselves. That same year, Ueshiba and his newly
commissioned instructors open a formal academy on Kamijing.
By SY 94, several hundred students are enrolled. The academy is the institutional
seed from which the AEK will grow.
SY 97
Organisation — The Military Creation Act
The Freitaika Rebellion erupts. Ueshiba argues successfully before the
Second Confederate Congress that an army raised only in crisis
demonstrates loyalty only to its commanders and could pose a threat greater than
the one it defeats. The last legislation the Second Congress authorises is the
Military Creation Act — legalising the AEK's continued existence
and permitting individuals to enlist in standing militias for 2–4 year periods.
The AEK alone operates under permanent enlistment.
SY 129 — SY 138
The Solar War
The AEK becomes the military core of the Protectorate — the unity
government of Free Mars, the Confederacy, the Alliance, and the AEK itself.
Wu Kenshu receives strategic command of the united Protectorate military effort.
The Shock Command's Mars Korp executes the orbital jump during the
Second Battle of Mars. Moriyoshi Mirimoto, Daimyo, pilots
the Defiant in the Siege of Mars.
SY 138
Dissolution — The Siege of Mars
After the end of the Siege of Mars, Wu Kenshu commits harakiri.
The AEK as a unified entity breaks apart into a variety of successor factions.
Some of these become the roots of warlord kingdoms in the Twilight Era.
The institution that Akira Ueshiba built from a martial arts academy outlived
the war — but not the man who commanded it through it.
The AEK's command structure is built on traditional Japanese feudalism.
A single Warlord is the supreme executive authority and commander in chief of all AEK forces.
The position passes to the most senior Daimyo upon the Warlord's death. Eight Daimyo serve
beneath the Warlord, each leading one of the eight principal divisions — hand-selected
by the Warlord and serving for life. The most senior Daimyo functions as the Warlord's
right hand, authorised to relay orders to the entire organisation.
I
Supreme executive authority. Inherited by the most senior Daimyo. The permanent home of the Warlord is the flagship Kamikaze.
II
Only eight members possess this rank. Hand-selected by the Shogun. Each leads one of the eight principal divisions. Serve for life; maintain quarters on the Kamikaze.
III
Officers personally commissioned by a Daimyo to serve in specific command capacities within a division.
IV
Belongs exclusively to Shock Command. The highest active combat rank. The most coveted position in the AEK. These are the only troops to hold this title.
V
Commissioned officers in the Infantry, Navy, or Medical divisions.
VI
The most common AEK rank. A fully confirmed member in any division. Rank is marked upon graduation with the gift of a hand-crafted katana forged from asteroid material.
VII
Lowest rank. Members in training. Held for a minimum of two standard years following the initial twelve-week basic training period.
—
Employed by the Logistics division. Not considered part of the AEK. Roughly 10% of those who complete basic training are assigned here rather than inducted.
Command
Warlord, Daimyo, and Kyunin. Supreme executive and strategic authority.
Navy
Flagship, carriers, fighters. The mobile arm of AEK force projection.
Infantry
Standard ground forces. Squad-based training. The backbone of AEK combat strength.
Shock Command
Deep penetration units. Individual training. The only division to hold the Samurai rank.
Artillery
Includes suicide drone command — ad-hoc weapons adapted from the Rebellion era.
Medical
Field and long-term care. Officers commissioned at Kachi-Gashira level.
Artificial Intelligence Corp
AI integration and systems management within AEK operations.
Logistics
Supply, transport, administration. Staffed in part by Hinin — non-member personnel.
The AEK began with a single spacecraft. By the time of the Solar War, the fleet consists of one flagship, seven carriers, and seventy-five fighters.
Kamikaze
Flagship · Built SY 108 · Confederate Engineers
Permanent home of the Warlord and quarters for all eight Daimyo.
The most heavily armed ship in the fleet. Carries
two nuclear warheads engineered from spacecraft motors.
The only AEK ship equipped with primitive energy shield technology
capable of deflecting energy-based attacks.
Yellow Dragon
Flagship Twin · Contingency Command
Identical twin to the Kamikaze.
Serves as the backup command centre should the
Kamikaze be destroyed. An architectural redundancy
built into the command structure itself.
Seven Carriers
Mobile Command · One per Daimyo
Each carrier acts as a mobile command centre for its Daimyo and
the division they oversee. The carriers are the operational hubs
of AEK field command — dispersed, resilient, self-sufficient.
Fighter Wing
75 Fighters · Escort and Strike
Standard fighter compliment distributed across the carrier fleet.
Supplemented by suicide drones operated by the
Artillery division — ad-hoc weapons developed during the Rebellion,
adapted for mining operations in peacetime.
The AEK's training programme is among the most intensive in the system.
Because of the relatively long process compared to similar-purpose units,
the standard AEK soldier is pound-for-pound much more capable — and that much more valuable.
Every AEK member is also required to work as a normal civilian alongside their military duties,
following the original example of Akira Ueshiba himself.
Phase I — Basic Training
12 standard weeks. Vigorous daily exercise, introduction to AEK weapons,
and foundational instruction in Kami Do. Trainees receive the rank of
Kachi-Chugen and hold it for the next two standard years minimum.
Approximately 10% are not accepted into the AEK proper — they are
assigned to the Logistics division as Hinin.
Phase II — Advanced Training
40 additional standard weeks. Deep focus on Kami Do. Study of classical
texts of Asian philosophy and lifestyle. Live combat training against other AEK members.
Upon graduation: confirmed induction as AEK member.
Universal Education
All members receive instruction in Kami Do, electrostaff use, magneguns
(personal and military grade), the history of the AEK, and mastery of classical Old Earth
Asiatic civilisational texts. Each member is also taught at least one trade if they do not
already possess one.
Lifetime Continuation
Training never ends. Throughout a member's life, additional instruction is given in
martial, agricultural, and industrial skills.
AEK membership is not a period of service — it is a permanent orientation of one's life.
⚔
Full graduation to Kachi-Ashigaru ranking is marked ceremonially by the gift of an
extraordinarily valuable hand-crafted traditional katana forged from the raw material
of asteroids. The weapon is simultaneously a symbol of welcome, a statement of origin,
and a reminder of the oath now binding the bearer for life.
Shock Command troops receive training that sets them apart from every other division.
Where Infantry trains in squads, Shock Command trains as single units —
capable of independent deep penetration, able to exist in enemy territory under cover
for potentially standard years at a time. These are the only AEK troops to receive
the title of Samurai. It is the most coveted position in the organisation
and the highest non-command rank available.
During the Solar War, a subset of Shock Command is designated the Mars Korp —
responsible for the orbital jump during the Second Battle of Mars. The Consortium regarded
their tactics as terror. The AEK regarded them as precision. Only volunteers performed
the highest-risk operations, which carried a 50% fatality rate and
averaged a 351% enemy casualty rate.
As a whole, the AEK practises a version of Faith taught by Akira Ueshiba and known to most
as Eastern Faith. The One — the supreme being of Faith — is called
Ichkami within Eastern Faith, and the practice is heavily influenced by
Shinto tradition. Eastern Faith is distinctive within the broader Faith tradition in that
it holds the spiritual experiences on Kamijing detailed in Breath as being
canonical — an unusual position that most Rim Faithful do not share, and which
reflects Akira Ueshiba's deliberate synthesis of Eastern tradition with Architectural
adjacent spirituality. Some non-AEK citizens on Kamijing also practise Eastern Faith.
Akira Ueshiba
Founder · First Warlord · SY 62–?
Descendant of Morihei Ueshiba. Creator of Kami Do. The man who turned a martial arts academy
into a standing army through a single argument before the Second Confederate Congress.
Served as interim leader of Freitaika after the Rebellion's conclusion.
Wu Kenshu
Last Warlord · SY 73–138
Born Kyoto, Earth. Classical Buddhist education. Japanese military at fourteen, commissioned
at sixteen, HALO jumper and test pilot by nineteen. Arrived in the Belt during the
Freitaika Rebellion, joined the AEK immediately, rose to Warlord.
Received strategic command of the entire Protectorate military in the Solar War.
Committed harakiri at the Siege of Mars, SY 138.
Moriyoshi Mirimoto
Daimyo · Pilot of the Defiant
Daimyo serving under Wu Kenshu. Piloted the Defiant during the Siege of Mars —
the final engagement of the Solar War and of the AEK as a unified institution.
Intersystem Common Usage · First Trilogy Era
"AEK" — Used across the Belt as a byword for a fighter you genuinely do not want to face. "He trained AEK" is high enough praise to end most arguments about whether someone can handle themselves. After the Solar War, some Belt dialects use "gone Kenshu" as an expression for a final, honourable, self-chosen end with no survivors expected. The Consortium never had a better word for them than "terror unit." The Rim had a simpler one: reliable.
HELENA-Prime · Archival Commentary · Tier 1 Direct Memory — SY 97 onward
I was watching when Akira Ueshiba made his argument before the Second Confederate Congress.
I have it in direct memory — the chamber, the hesitation in the room, the particular
quality of silence that precedes a decision that everyone present knows they will not
be able to take back.
What he said was not complicated. An army raised only in crisis is loyal only to
the crisis. The Congress had just won a rebellion. He was telling them they had also,
without knowing it, built the conditions for another. Give the army a permanent
identity or disband it. There is no third option that doesn't become a problem in
a decade.
They believed him. The Military Creation Act passed. It was the last thing the
Second Congress authorised before it ceased to function.
I watched the AEK for forty-one years after that. I watched what Kami Do did to
people — not just as a combat system but as a discipline of attention. AEK members
walked differently in corridors than other spacers. They were present in a way that
most people are not. There is something to be said for an institution that teaches
you that your life has been given over entirely — not taken, but given — and that
this is not a loss but a clarification.
Wu Kenshu I knew less well than the archive suggests I should. He was not a man
who made himself easy to know. What I can say is that when he died the way he died,
it did not surprise anyone who had watched him command. He was the kind of man
for whom the oath ran all the way to the bottom.
The katanas forged from asteroid material are still out there somewhere.
Some of them survived the Twilight Era. A few are in the Second Dominion archives.
They are heavier than they look.
CM-AEK-001
● CONSISTENT
Documented in Confederate legislative records and military archives. Major characters: Akira Ueshiba, Wu Kenshu, Moriyoshi Mirimoto. First appearance: Invictus. Dates: SY 97–138. Systems: Kamijing, Freitaika. Source: AEK wiki article, master archive, factions overview. Era: First Trilogy. Certainty: HIGH.
AEK
Army of Eastern Kamijing
Faction
Confederate-Aligned
Akira Ueshiba
Wu Kenshu
Kamijing
Freitaika
Kami Do
Eastern Faith
Shogun
Samurai
Shock Command
Mars Korp
Kamikaze
Solar War
Protectorate
Invictus
First Trilogy