Research Division
“Understanding is the difference between a discovery and a disaster.”
The Research Division is the primary scientific and technological research organization of the Hell Hosts.
Responsible for the study, development, testing, and evaluation of advanced technologies and anomalous phenomena, the division has contributed to many of the Hell Hosts’ most significant scientific and military developments.
Its work ranges from conventional weapons engineering and materials science to considerably more dangerous fields involving Element 95, Axionium, ancient technology, anomalous artifacts, and Ascension Events.
The Research Division maintains laboratories, testing facilities, containment sites, prototype workshops, and specialist research teams across Hell Host territory.
Some projects are widely known throughout the faction.
Others are accessible only to a handful of authorized personnel.
Responsibilities
The Research Division is responsible for numerous fields of scientific development, including:
- Element 95 research
- Axionium technology
- Experimental weapon development
- Reverse engineering
- Materials science
- Medical research
- Ascension studies
- Prototype equipment
- Anomalous artifact analysis
- Advanced energy research
- Artificial materials
- Defensive technology
- Experimental propulsion
- Ancient technology analysis
- Containment research
- Battlefield technology evaluation
The division also provides scientific support to other Hell Host branches when an operation encounters technology, materials, organisms, or phenomena that cannot be immediately identified.
Organization
The Research Division is not a single laboratory or scientific discipline.
It is a large network of research facilities and specialist teams spread throughout Hell Host territory.
Personnel include:
- Scientists
- Engineers
- Medical researchers
- Physicists
- Chemists
- Biologists
- Materials specialists
- Weapons developers
- Anomaly researchers
- Archaeotechnology specialists
- Containment personnel
- Prototype technicians
- Artificial intelligence researchers
Different facilities specialize in different fields.
A laboratory studying Axionium propulsion technology may have almost nothing in common with a containment facility examining an unknown organism recovered from the Farlands.
Both nevertheless operate under the Research Division.
Conventional Research
Despite its reputation for unusual projects, much of the Research Division’s work is conventional.
Researchers routinely develop improvements to:
- Weapons
- Armor
- Vehicles
- Sensors
- Communications
- Medical equipment
- Power systems
- Propulsion
- Manufacturing
- Robotics
- Defensive systems
Many technologies eventually considered ordinary Hell Host equipment began as Research Division prototypes.
The majority of research projects never involve anomalous materials at all.
These conventional programs remain essential to maintaining the Hell Hosts’ technological capabilities.
Element 95 Research
Element 95 represents one of the Research Division’s most important and dangerous fields of study.
The material possesses extraordinary properties but is strongly associated with corruption, biological alteration, environmental contamination, and anomalous phenomena throughout regions such as the Farlands, Voidlands, and The Veil.
Research Division personnel study Element 95 in an attempt to understand:
- Its physical properties
- Energy interactions
- Biological effects
- Corruption mechanisms
- Environmental contamination
- Potential technological applications
- Detection methods
- Containment methods
- Treatment of exposed personnel
- Relationships with anomalous phenomena
Element 95 research is conducted under strict containment protocols.
Samples are generally isolated from ordinary research facilities, and personnel working directly with significant quantities require specialist equipment and monitoring.
The Hell Hosts recognize the potential value of Element 95.
They also possess extensive evidence of what happens when it is underestimated.
Axionium Research
Axionium represents another major field of Research Division activity.
Unlike Element 95, Axionium is primarily treated as an advanced technological and materials resource rather than an inherently corruptive substance.
Research involving Axionium has contributed to experimental systems across multiple Hell Host branches.
Its unusual properties make it particularly valuable for technologies where conventional materials or power systems become limiting factors.
Research Division teams continue investigating new applications while monitoring the consequences of placing increasingly powerful technologies into active service.
Experimental Weapons
The Research Division develops and evaluates experimental weapons before they are approved for wider military deployment.
Prototype weapons may explore:
- New ammunition
- Directed-energy systems
- Electromagnetic acceleration
- Advanced targeting systems
- Unusual materials
- High-energy projectiles
- Adaptive weapon systems
- Experimental explosives
- Anti-anomaly technology
Not every prototype becomes a service weapon.
Many are rejected because they are unreliable, excessively expensive, difficult to manufacture, dangerous to operators, or simply provide too little advantage over existing equipment.
Successful designs may eventually enter the Hell Host Arsenal.
Others remain specialist equipment produced only in limited numbers.
Some are permanently locked away.
Usually for good reason.
Reverse Engineering
The Omicron Galaxy contains technologies developed by countless civilizations across enormous periods of history.
The Hell Hosts frequently recover equipment they did not create and do not fully understand.
The Research Division is responsible for studying such technology.
Sources may include:
- Enemy factions
- Ancient civilizations
- Abandoned installations
- Archaeological discoveries
- Derelict spacecraft
- Anomalous structures
- Recovered artifacts
- Unknown manufacturers
Reverse engineering does not necessarily mean directly copying a recovered device.
In many cases, Hell Host researchers instead attempt to understand the scientific principles behind it and reproduce those principles using technologies they can manufacture safely.
This distinction becomes particularly important when dealing with ancient systems whose original materials or construction methods are unavailable.
Ancient Technology
Some of the division’s most difficult projects involve technology recovered from civilizations substantially older than the Hell Hosts.
Elysarian technology is of particular scientific interest due to the civilization’s age and advanced understanding of fields modern societies are still investigating.
Ancient technology is approached cautiously.
A device being technologically advanced does not mean researchers understand what it was designed to do.
Activating an unknown machine simply to determine its function is strongly discouraged.
This policy exists because previous researchers have, on occasion, activated unknown machines simply to determine their function.
The policy became considerably easier to justify afterward.
Ascension Studies
The Research Division maintains specialist teams dedicated to studying Ascension Events.
Ascension remains one of the least understood phenomena encountered by the Hell Hosts.
Known events suggest that Ascension can fundamentally alter:
- Biology
- Consciousness
- Energy interaction
- Perception
- Physical capabilities
- Connection to anomalous phenomena
- Potentially the relationship between an individual and conventional physical reality
Researchers study known Ascended individuals, historical records, anomalous sites, and ancient technologies associated with controlled or attempted Ascension.
Elysarian Ascension Chambers are of particular interest.
The division does not possess a complete theory explaining Ascension.
It also does not consider every anomalously powerful individual Ascended.
Classification requires evidence.
Medical Research
The Research Division conducts advanced medical research alongside the Medical Corps.
The two organizations have overlapping but distinct responsibilities.
The Medical Corps primarily focuses on treating people.
The Research Division primarily focuses on understanding and developing the science behind new treatments and technologies.
Joint projects may include:
- Regenerative medicine
- Prosthetics
- Trauma treatment
- Radiation exposure
- Anomalous injuries
- Alien biology
- Disease research
- Cybernetic integration
- Element 95 exposure
- Experimental pharmaceuticals
Once a treatment becomes sufficiently reliable for normal clinical use, responsibility generally shifts toward the Medical Corps.
Experimental treatments remain under much tighter supervision.
Prototype Development
Research Division facilities produce prototypes for evaluation before mass production or operational adoption.
These may include:
- Weapons
- Armor
- Medical devices
- Sensors
- Robotics
- Vehicle systems
- Power systems
- Environmental equipment
- Communications technology
- Specialized containment equipment
Testing progresses through controlled stages whenever possible.
Laboratory testing comes first.
Controlled field trials follow.
Limited operational deployment may then occur.
Only after sufficient evaluation is a system considered for widespread adoption.
The words “whenever possible” have unfortunately become important throughout the division’s history.
Wars do not always wait for laboratory testing to finish.
Field Research Teams
Not all Research Division personnel remain inside laboratories.
Specialist field teams accompany military and exploration units when direct scientific expertise is required.
These teams may investigate:
- Newly discovered ruins
- Unknown materials
- Anomalous environments
- Alien technology
- Unidentified organisms
- Ancient machinery
- Contaminated regions
- Unusual energy signatures
Field researchers are usually supported by armed personnel from other Hell Host formations.
Scientists are trained to survive dangerous environments.
They are not expected to replace soldiers.
Exploration Command
The Research Division works closely with Exploration Command.
Exploration teams are often responsible for discovering something.
Research Division personnel are responsible for figuring out what the hell they discovered.
Exploration Command may secure an anomalous site, recover samples, document ruins, or establish an expeditionary base.
Research teams then perform detailed analysis.
For particularly important discoveries, scientists may accompany the expedition from its beginning.
This cooperation is especially common during missions into poorly understood regions of the Omicron Galaxy.
Advanced Warfare Group
The Research Division also maintains a close relationship with the Advanced Warfare Group.
The distinction between them is primarily one of purpose.
The Research Division asks:
What is this, and what can it do?
The Advanced Warfare Group asks:
Can we use it in combat?
Research Division personnel may develop or discover a technology before transferring an operational prototype for military evaluation.
Projects considered too unstable, dangerous, or poorly understood may be denied transfer entirely.
This has occasionally produced disagreements.
Containment
Scientific curiosity does not override containment requirements.
Research involving dangerous materials, organisms, artifacts, or technologies is conducted according to threat-specific security protocols.
Depending upon the project, facilities may include:
- Reinforced laboratories
- Remote testing chambers
- Automated isolation systems
- Independent power supplies
- Decontamination areas
- Robotic handling equipment
- Emergency sterilization systems
- Physical separation from populated areas
Extremely dangerous projects may be conducted on isolated stations, remote moons, or specialized research installations.
The most important rule is simple:
A discovery that cannot be controlled should not be placed somewhere it can become everybody else’s problem.
Research Ethics
The Hell Hosts are a military organization, and the Research Division exists partly to provide technologies capable of winning wars.
This creates constant tension between scientific advancement, military necessity, and ethical limitations.
Human and sapient experimentation is regulated.
Testing experimental technology on personnel requires authorization and appropriate oversight.
Research involving artificial intelligence, biological modification, anomalous materials, or consciousness receives additional scrutiny.
These systems are not infallible.
The Hell Hosts possess enough historical experience with failed experiments to understand why oversight exists.
Some of the division’s strictest modern regulations were written because somebody previously demonstrated exactly why they were necessary.
Security and Classification
Research Division projects use multiple levels of classification.
Most scientific work is relatively accessible to authorized Hell Host personnel.
More sensitive programs may restrict information according to:
- Research specialization
- Facility
- Operational need
- Security clearance
- Command authorization
Compartmentalization is especially common for anomalous research.
A scientist working on one component of a project may deliberately lack access to unrelated systems.
This reduces the consequences of espionage, infiltration, compromised artificial intelligence, or personnel corruption.
Some projects are known only by designation outside their immediate research teams.
Failed Projects
Failure is an unavoidable part of research.
The Research Division does not consider a prototype unsuccessful merely because it never enters service.
A failed experiment can still reveal valuable information.
However, the division distinguishes ordinary scientific failure from containment failure.
A weapon that performs poorly is a failed prototype.
A weapon that destroys its testing chamber is a serious incident.
A weapon that destroys its testing facility is an investigation.
A weapon that continues doing things after being destroyed becomes somebody else’s department as well.
Relationship with the Wider Hell Hosts
Nearly every major Hell Host branch interacts with the Research Division.
The Doom Corps tests battlefield equipment.
The Fleet Guard protects sensitive researchers and technologies.
The Medical Corps cooperates on medical development.
Exploration Command provides discoveries and samples.
The Advanced Warfare Group evaluates experimental military applications.
The Smart AI Initiative and Tactical AI Initiative contribute specialized artificial intelligence research.
Research therefore acts as one of the technological foundations supporting the wider faction.
The Hell Hosts fight wars using weapons and technologies developed across centuries of scientific advancement.
The Research Division exists to make sure that advancement continues.
Reputation
The Research Division has a mixed reputation among ordinary Hell Host personnel.
Its researchers are responsible for technologies that have saved enormous numbers of lives.
They have developed better armor, weapons, medicine, sensors, vehicles, and defensive systems.
They are also responsible for phrases such as:
“experimental deployment.”
Soldiers have learned to treat those words with appropriate suspicion.
Nevertheless, the division remains fundamental to the Hell Hosts’ technological strength.
The Omicron Galaxy contains civilizations, materials, and phenomena capable of challenging conventional scientific understanding.
Ignoring them would be dangerous.
Understanding them is difficult.
Using them responsibly is harder still.
That is the Research Division’s job.