Photos Empire

PLASMA LANCES:
Plasma Lances are a high-power weapon used by the Photos as an anti-armour weapon. They are typically mounted on tanks or on Waratica war machines. They fire a high intensity lance beam of plasma at the target, punching through armor and dealing respectable damage to the equipment behind. On tanks, they are commonly used as a main gun, their power requirement meaning they can only be used as a single gun or, in the case of larger tanks, in a pair. Superheavy tanks typically don't mount lances, favoring either Plasma Projectors or in the case of a few rare tanks, such as the Thanatos, autocannons. Plasma Lances are not man portable.

Now, responses.
1. That's kinda the movement's point. The scale of the movement is rather large, though most are kept in through fear rather than willingness. Overall, they're just a nasty bunch of folks.
2. The Photos do not have a military dictatorship: the High Council that governs their empire is elected: I've gone over it before, but it's been forgotten, so I'll go over it again.
The High Council is an elected board of five Photos; four of them make up the regular members while the fifth is the leader of the bunch. The five of them function as a set of checks and balances, as there has never been five Council members that all run the same political views, and this is done intentionally as a further set of checks and balances. This ensures there are five different views of the issue, and the best idea will be selected. Of course, you get a few hotshots who will push their idea, and they are usually ousted by the rest of the Council. The High Council overlooks all of the aspects of the Empire, be it the military, economic issues, or the latest news on expansions.

When it comes to destroying planets, the Photos use a fairly effective approach: the start is to bombard a small area of surface with their plasma weapons, breaking through the crust to the mantle. They then switch to their antimatter weapons and fire on the mantle and through the core. This does a fairly good job at wrecking the planet, though it's a slow process in order to make sure it's through.