Structure of the Dominion

The Quartet:
The four most powerful individuals in the Dominion. The Quartet consists of the most senior member of each branch as well as the Dominion's Leader. The three representatives of each branch make decisions pertaining to the high-level structure and goals of the Dominion. The Leader is in place to veto and break ties as necessary, their main purpose being to conserve the Dominion's values and ensure the representatives stay in line.

The Leader is very carefully chosen, and unlike the representatives, they cannot be replaced unless they choose to resign or are forced out via a specific process. They have the backing of numerous Sentinel Orders as their personal force, which they can use to keep the Dominion on track as necessary. Some may see the Leader's seat as one of needless power and tyranny, but it was calculated that a powerful but limited driving force- external to the interests of any specific part of the Dominion system was required to prevent gradual decay.

One thing to note is that the Quartet does not have direct command over the Dominion system, they can only change the high-level directives, which are implemented by those lower down in the hierarchy. This means that the power of the Dominion is not concentrated on only four individuals and the loss of the Quartet will not affect the status quo.

Meta-Logistics:
Arguably the most important part of running a multiversal system, Meta-Logistics is a labyrinthine department, managed by superintelligence consensus with human oversight. Their high place in the hierarchy, above even the Arbitration Body and Administrative Assembly, is due to the importance of their single purpose that must not be subject to any needless bureaucracy. That purpose being the oversight of all of the Dominion's logistics.

Meta-Logistics's only concern is that the high-level directives of the Dominion are implemented with sufficient efficiency and without compromise. This involves the creation and management of various lower-level logistical structures as required. Without the oversight of Meta-Logistics, it wouldn't be long before configuration drift would occur, resulting in inefficiency, internal conflicts, fracture, and even the dissolution of the Dominion system as it is known today.

Arbitration Body:
Referred to as the highest authority in the Dominion, the Arbitration Body is the final resting place of any internal disputes. The Body consists of elected members from every part of the Dominion. Any dispute brought to them will be meticulously interrogated and investigated by Internal Affairs before a Body wide decision will be made. Disputes escalated this high are usually serious and must be treated with the utmost importance by all those involved.

Once a decision is reached, Internal Affairs are given the directive to implement it.

If a decision cannot be reached, the dispute will be thrown out and the problem handed to Meta-Logistics. This is considered a last resort as Meta-Logistic possesses a heavy-handed and impartial approach.

The Body itself is watched by the Sentinels, who have the power to suspend and investigate sessions and rulings they feel are suspect.

Branch Assemblies:
Each branch of the Dominion has its own self-appointed Assembly. These Assemblies are large, redundant, and empowered to make decisions on their own. At the most basic level, a branch only needs a functional Assembly to continue operating in a centralized manner. Branch Assemblies do not concern themselves with the affairs of other branches- disputes must be discussed with Internal Affairs and elevated to the Arbitration Body as necessary.

Logistics Overseer:
Overseers hold the heavy responsibility of working directly with the Administrative Assembly to ensure the directives are being implemented effectively. Overseers possess a rather large amount of power, managing a large chunk of the Dominion's logistics each. The loss of an Overseer would force Meta-Logistics to step in and act harshly in their place, until the position is held again.

Overseers are the individuals that elect and dismiss Administrators. They tbd

Administrator:
A large bucket of Section Managers, each with different ways of doing things, would be an impossibility to manage without excessive authoritarianism, where it not for Administrators to keep them in line.

An Administrator is an individual tasked with managing the affairs and ensuring the compliance of a group of Sections. They work with Internal Affairs to make sure Sections remain compliant, effective, and safe.

Administrators are also the primary point of contact between the Administration branch and External Affairs and are a valuable logistical middleman. They have both Internal Affairs and External Affairs units at their disposal in case things go awry.

As powerful and useful as they may be, Administrators are subject to scrutiny by the Administration Assembly and Internal Affairs, always ensuring one single Administrator never gets their hands on too much responsibility. Additionally, their role isn't strictly necessary for the functioning of the Dominion, as External and Internal Affairs can collectively step in and strongarm things if an Administrator is lost or goes rogue. This isn't a preferred long term solution, as personal freedoms are lost in what is essentially martial law.

Section Manager:
Section Managers are tasked with ensuring the smooth running of a Section- the individually governed states of the Dominion. Their roles are relatively small in scope but come with a great deal of responsibility... and freedom.

Within the guidelines set by the Administrative Assembly (and enforced by Internal Affairs), Section Managers are allowed to run their Section as they see fit. This freedom is provided as one of the Dominion's basic statutes- the right to self-govern (within reason). This means a wide variety of sociopolitical systems can be found in the Dominion, although never ones too extreme. Those that dislike the policies of the Section they live in can leave for another, or go through the various processes(s) of founding their own.

However, the role of a Section Manager is one of heavy scrutiny. Internal Affairs audits, investigations, or even visits from Knights are part and parcel of daily life. Sections with policies considered Anti-Dominion, Anti-Human, or are host to various atrocities are swiftly dealt with. Likewise, Sections that try their hand at secession never last long, as the Dominion system values internal integrity above all.

Commander:
Commanders liaise between units and High Command, ensuring that directives are executed efficiently and correctly. A Commander may have many units, allowing the actions of these units to be further abstracted at a logistical level. A collective of units under competent command can act as an almost completely independent organization as necessary, greatly enhancing the resilience of the Dominion and the simplicity of war logistics.

The hierarchy of External Affairs may seem overly flat- this is by design as over specialization breeds inefficiency and corruption.

Unit (various):
Units are the lowest level of granularity considered relevant from a logistics perspective. Units do contain their own self-contained hierarchies, but these are sufficiently simple and independent to be abstracted away.

The specifics of each Unit depends on its type: External Affairs is host to a plethora of different Units. Some are naval, some are purely ground-based, some may consist of Homunculi, and others may be a universe-scale collection of fleets. Either way, each Unit is designed to be capable of acting independently or as part of a much larger entity- flexibility is the guiding principle.

Auditor:
Auditors, while technically higher in authority than arbiters, handle a different part of the IA process.

Their purpose is to perform their own private investigations of IA and Dominion conduct, compose reports from agents and arbiters and make high-level decisions based on the results of said reports. Auditors usually work closely with Meta-Logistics, implementing the rulings that come about from analysis of their reports. Though auditors frequently perform "freeform" audits, where they audit whoever, wherever, and whatever they want.

Auditors are unique in that they may employ agents, arbiters, or even non-IA personnel such as Knights to produce their reports. As long as the reports are detailed and accurate, the means matter little. What auditors don't do is directly go about gathering or resolving a report: whether it be espionage, assassination, a purge, or simply a stern talking to, the auditor must delegate the responsibility to the appropriate authority. This is unlike arbiters who are just as likely to resolve things themselves as they are to consult the appropriate authority.

Auditors usually manage arbiters, working to ensure they are used officially and correctly, and most arbiters prefer to get personalized orders from an auditor rather than consulting Meta-Logistics directly or performing freeform investigations themselves. This also offloads the responsibility of having to justify a report to the auditor as well, making life easier for the arbiter.

Auditors are considered an important part of the Dominion machine, and their reports are taken very seriously. Without them, drift and corruption would soon set in and reduce efficiency.

Arbiter:
Arbiters are some of the most feared and respected individuals in the Dominion. Unlike agents who specialize in subterfuge, arbiters rarely if ever, act without their authority. Instead, they go where they please, with a personal unit and a gaggle of agents. Arbiters are given a whole lot of freedom but are expected to act within the Internal Affairs legislature, as well as make regular and detailed reports.

Arbiters typically rely on their authority and brute-force to get results. One would be a fool to refuse an order from one, as their words are backed by not only their personal unit but any other EA units that may have been drafted into their current mission.

Arbiters are given even greater authority than agents and because they are not undercover, are allowed to use it whenever they require. Typically only the consensus of several overseers, IA units, or orders from Meta-Logistics can directly countermand an arbiter. Typically disputes in arbiter rulings that aren't borne from misconduct are resolved by the Arbitration Body.

Some checks are in place as always; arbiters are not allowed to detach from their unit, nor are they allowed to choose it. Their unit will always contain a smattering of agents that don't work under said arbiter, constantly monitoring them. Arbiters are also forbidden from working together- if two were to be given the same mission, they would act competitively rather than cooperatively.

This means that despite the immense power and freedom afforded to an arbiter, they will be swiftly taken down if they act out of turn.

Agent:
Agents are the main force of Internal Affairs and are extremely flexible in terms of role. From deep-cover infiltration to espionage, manipulation of leaders, simple observation, direct threats, and even assassination and brute force enforcement, the role of an agent is determined by context.

Because of this, IA agents must be very heavily trained and possess a certain set of personality traits. Sociopathy is preferred.

Agents typically work alone or in small groups, "ordering" other units to work with them as necessary. To allow for this, IA agents have near unlimited power relative to their field of investigation, able to bypass the authority of Commanders, Administrators, and the legislature of the relevant Branch Assembly as required. Of course, agents can be found investigating each other almost as often as they investigate other parts of the Dominion, meaning that any abuse or frivolous use of these powers is not going to go unpunished for long.

In fact, it is preferred in all but exceptional circumstances that IA agents work alone and compete against each other to reduce the possibility and scope of any backstabbing and corruption. When no agent trusts another, scrutiny is ensured.

Order:
The varied sub-divisions of the Sentinel Orders. Each Order actually has a unique name and internal structure, one such example being the Order of Avengers, a highly militaristic group that seeks to brutally retaliate against any who would see a victory against the Dominion.

Technically, Orders only answer to their own leadership, but much like Internal Affairs, Orders tend to watch each other rather closely, only further reinforced by their individual differences.

Additionally, while their influence is more limited, and in some cases, they may need to tread very carefully, Internal Affairs are free to investigate Orders as they please. Furthermore, some members may even be agents themselves, pre-approved by the Order's leadership. An Order that doesn't manage a quota of agents will find itself under increased scrutiny.

Aside from maintaining the high-level standards and objectives of the Quartet, Orders are free to self-govern and do what they wish. The independence of such Orders is important to allow for a more resilient and diverse failsafe for the Dominion and to make them independent and impartial observers of the rest of the system, enabling them to make their own external evaluations of performance.

Knight:
Regardless of internal or specific designation, "knight" is a generic term for any member of an Order. Handpicked Homonculi with access to special DKI equipment as well as their own Order's prototypes, typically old, experienced and veterans of numerous conflicts and personally answering to the enigmatic Leader as necessary, knights are well renowned and respected across all branches of the Dominion.

Unlike even Internal Affairs, knights are not subject to the whims of a branch assembly or Meta-Logistics and can act as their Order pleases. Unless blatantly abusing their power to break the ethical and pragmatic standards of the Dominion, a knight cannot be obstructed or detained without the approval of their own Order, two or more other Orders, or a directive from High Command. While this may seem overly tyrannical, there's a reason that knights are mostly veterans from the Pre-Dominion era- they are the immune system of the Dominion, ensuring it doesn't stray from its original purpose and that this purpose may not be diluted or altered by the entropic forces of leadership changes and restructuring, to maintain this lofty goal, sometimes going against the system is required.

This is the main difference between Internal Affairs and an Order- IA works within the system and maintains it to the standards of their branch and meta-logistics; Orders exist outside of the system and do not have their goals redefined by it, breaking and remolding it as necessary to mitigate the effects of change.

In practice- this means the most wide-reaching and unexpected purges and restructuring efforts are performed by knights, making them the natural foil to any corrupt parts of IA.