Church of the Trinity (FT)

The Church of the Trinity is a religious organisation that oversees the Trinitism faith, a polytheistic faith that arose in the neo-colonial era. The leader of the Church of the Trinity is known as the Grand Prophet, who is appointed by election and acts as the representative of the religion and leader of rituals.

Trinitists believe in the Eternal Trinity, the Pure, Impure, and the Balance, which are governed by three deities respectively, the Kiri, the Kanan, and the Zandaka. A fourth element also exists in opposition to the Balance, a priordial Chaos, which exerts a corrupting force on this plane of existence and must constantly be combated through religious rituals and the spread of Trinitism to more believers. To this end, Trinitists often go on proselyting missions throughout the Human Sphere in groups of three, sponsored by their local Temples.

Trinitism is one of the largest organised religions in the Human Sphere, and Trinitists can be found throughout the various nations of the Human Sphere, though some states view them with great suspicion. One of the largest and most influential religious organisations in the Human Sphere, the Church of the Trinity is known to have vast financial reserves and wields considerable influence in the cultural, political, and economic spheres. The Church also has substantial paramilitary forces under its command. Trinitism is banned in the Interstellar Union and the Chunmin Republic, though there do exist small communities of Trinitists in these nations.

Hierarchy
The leader of the Church of the Trinity is the Grand Prophet, currently Grand Prophet Yuna III. The Grand Prophet directly oversees the Higher Conclave, which is comprised of Lesser Prophets who oversee the efforts of the Church on the various planets of the Human Sphere. Beneath the Lesser Prophets are the Lower Conclaves, made up of Grand Priests that oversee the regions on that particular planet. Grand Priests head the Grand Temples that act as the primary hub of Trinitism in planetary regions and are usually located in major cities. Beneath Grand Priests are High Priests and Priests, who occupy lower administrative and leadership roles within the Grand Temples and other satellite sub-temples that serve the various communities within the region.

Military Orders
""Karera est nostrum contego quod tutela""

- "They are our shield and protection" - Motto of the Order of the Interstellar Crusade

The Church of the Trinity includes three military orders, the Order of the Interstellar Crusade, the Order of the Sacred Mission, and the Neo-Order of the Eternal Temple. Each of the Orders are led by a Grandmaster, who is considered the same rank as a Grand Priest and reports directly to the Higher Conclave. In addition, the Order of the Hospital is a humanitarian organisation that is officially considered one of the military orders, though their vow prevents them from taking up arms.

Order of the Interstellar Crusade
The Order of the Interstellar Crusade, often referred to as the Crusaders, is the largest of the military orders and is headquartered at the holy city of San Pietro, on New Mansan. Numbering some 12,000 personnel, the Crusaders exist to protect all Trinitians, the properties of the Church, and the very Church itself. The Grandmaster of the Interstellar Crusade is considered one of the most powerful Grand Priests within the Higher Conclave. The current Grandmaster is Johanna von Adler. As part of the San Pietro Declaration of 197, the Crusaders are considered a sanctioned paramilitary force by the government of the Federation, and the Crusaders agree to assist the Federation Defence Force in combat upon request.

Steeped in martial tradition, the Crusaders pride themselves on merging ancient warrior traditions with their religious faith and high technology. Crusader equipment is invariably master-crafted by their own armourers, with new generations of cutting-edge powered armour and other equipment developed in-house by their own research labs and Order-affiliated technology companies. The bulk of the Crusaders' vast wealth originates from their ownership of the Krestonosets Group of Corporations, which is also in the private medical, manufacturing, and scientific research industries. In the past, the Crusaders were funded entirely by donations, but everything changed after the Krestonosets Group was founded in the 100s by a group of ex-Crusaders.

Volunteers for the Crusaders come from all walks of life, ranging from military veterans thankful for a divine spark that saved their lives, the young faithful seeking to make something of their lives, new converts seeking to repay the Church, and many more. Some recruits are also seeking for a path of repentance, and may include Crusaders who have carried out a sin in the line of duty and have voluntarily chosen to start their path afresh. The recruits are given brutal training in monastic training camps which tests not only their strength but also their dedication to the faith, with the option to quit at any time open to all. Those that pass the training are given the rank of Initiate and receive their own custom-made set of powered armour, before shipping out to join Crusader combat maniples across the Federation, carrying out tasks ranging from guarding Church facilities or even fighting in combat zones.

All Crusader veterans are well cared for by the Order, even after they have left the Order due to retirement or injury, and enjoy heavily subsidised medical care in Krestonosets Group private clinics, free prosthetics, post-Crusader job opportunities in Order-affiliated companies, and many more. However, if the Crusader in question was expelled from the Order, or renounced his faith for whatever reason, these benefits are obviously not available to them.

On the battlefield, Crusaders are best described as elite heavy infantry or special operations heavy infantry, and they are often inserted directly on the front lines to lead assaults or behind enemy lines to disrupt enemy operations. Every Crusader is a heavy infantry soldier by default due to their iconic heavy powered armour, and the Crusaders do not operate light infantry and combat vehicles, with all vehicles operated by the Crusaders being transport vehicles and aerospacecraft. Crusaders often rely on Federation Defence Force units to assist them with strategic transportation. Crusaders enjoy a high level of popularity in the Federation, as they are well-respected by fellow Trinitists as warriors of the faith. They are also often held in high regard by non-Trinitist allied troops due to their high-tech equipment and legendary fighting skills, though some Federation ground commanders are known to dislike how the Crusaders operate outside of their chain of command.

Neo-Order of the Eternal Temple
The Neo-Order of the Eternal Temple is the second iteration of the Order of the Eternal Temple, based in the Fortress-Temple of Moreno in Kishimoto Province, Kanagawa. The Order of the Eternal Temple was initially dedicated solely to the protection and preservation of the secluded Fortress-Temple of Moreno, a major holy site of Trinitism as the site of the Prophet Moreno's enlightenment. Over the centuries, the Order of the Eternal Temple became one of the most insular and fundamentalist organisations of the Church. Their location in the Empire also meant they often faced suspicion from the Imperial government.

Around 220, the Order of the Eternal Temple suffered from an internal schism that culminated in certain members of the Order attempting to assassinate the Imperial Monarch, unsanctioned by the Higher Conclave. Declared a terrorist organisation by the Empire, the Fortress-Temple of Moreno was attacked by the Imperial Army and leading to Trinitism facing increased suspicion in the Empire. Less than fifteen members of the Order survived the attack.

Over forty years later, the three remaining members of the Order still alive came before the Higher Conclave. All three had received a identical vision from the Trinity commanding them to re-found the Order of the Eternal Temple and rebuild the Fortress-Temple of Moreno as penance for their crime, due to a renewed assault from chaos that was to come soon. Shortly after, the outbreak of the Empire-Hierarchy War was believed to be the rise of chaos as outlined in the prophecy, and the Grand Prophet approved the refounding of the Order. The Neo-Order of the Eternal Temple was founded in 278, and the members began working on restoring the long-neglected Fortress-Temple using only traditional building methods. By the present day, the Neo-Order of the Eternal Temple is still the smallest of the military orders, numbering only around 200 members.