[Starhawk]

Oh I forgot to post this like I wanted too earlier:

Nobility
"The Rank of Noble convey's no luxuries only responsibilities."
Praetor Alexander III

Ranks of Nobility and their responsibilities:

The Council:
The "Council" are the highest ranking lords in all of Icara they are the personnal advisors of a Praetor and some of the most powerful men and women in the galaxy.

Primus Lord: The Primus Lord commands no worlds, but instead he commands the entire SS force of Icara, including the "unofficial" resources at their disposal his duty is to keep the populace and other Nobles in line even if it means mass executions.

Lord Marshall: The rank of Lord Marshall has rarely been given to any man in Icaran history, and only once to a Woman, this rank is given complete and total command of every ship, trooper, and policeman that carries a weapon in Icaran space, this rank is only bestowed upon a truely superior military leader and only during extended periods of war.

Lord Fabricator: The Lord Fabricator is responsible for overseeing the construction of every ship, gun, and peice of equipment that is isued to the military of Icara, it is this lords duty to ensure that worlds meet their production quotas.

Lord Insidius: It is the task of the Lord Insidius to hunt down and eliminate spies/traitors/heretics and now mutants, the Lord Insidius commands the intelligence branch of Icara known as "The Shadow Daggers", these are a grim group of men and women who have pledged their very souls to the quelling of heretics, mutants, and spies that threaten the future of Icaran stability, a Shadow Dagger has permission to recruit or kill anyone short of noble rank that they see fit whenever they see fit.

Lord Militaire: A similar rank to that of Lord Marshall the Lord Militaire is far more common and far less prestigious, he is not the commander of the total armed forces but instead he is repsonsible for predicting the needs of the military and setting recruitment and construction quota's that will later be passed on to planetary and system lords.

The House of Nobles:

Duke/Duchess: A duke or duchess is the lowest rank of the nobility in Icaran society, they command but a single world in just one system of Icara, a duke is responsible for the upkeep of a planetary defense force and a planetary economy, any Duke/Duchess seen lacking in either area can end up face to face with a Shadowdagger with permission to execute.

Baron/Baroness: A Baron or Baroness is the second highest noble rank in the house of lords, they are the commanders of two dukes (or two worlds), it is their job to ensure that those under them meet their responsibilities, a holder of this rank is permitted to recruit ships or troops from their worlds as they see fit as long as the Lord Militaire is informed prior to this recruitment.
The Baron/baroness is also responsible for tax collection across the worlds they command if they fail to meet tax, military, or construction quota's for a long period of time a Baron may face summary execution by firing squad.

Count/Countess: The count/countess is the highest rank any "normal" noble can hold, this rank is a system commander they are responsible for the governance of an entire star system and anywhere from several hundred million to several billion citizens.
They are responsible for the defense/tax collection/resource collection/recruitment of an entire star system, thus this rank is only given to the most trustworthy of nobles.
Unlike the other two ranks mentioned above, the Count is responsible for more then just planetary defense, they are responsible for providing recruits to the Royal Military's fighting arms, sometimes this means recruitment from Planetary defense forces and sometimes it means sending press gangs into the streets to gather the personell required to meet a quota provided by the Praetor or the Council.
The Count/Countess however is generally safe from summary execution unless they are deemed a heretic, instead they are sent away in disgrace and demoted to duke, some have even been forced to join the very units they could not meet the quota for.