Defence Forces of the Commonwealth

The Defence Forces of the Commonwealth (Slavonic: Odbranidelni Sily na Komonveltot, German: Verteidigungskräfte der Eidgenossenschaft) more commonly known as the Theban Defence Forces, or by the acronym DFC, are the unified armed forces of the Theban Commonwealth. As a fledgling, but capable, professional military, the Defence Forces serve as the Commonwealth's primary means of self-defence and power projection. As of 2558, it is one of the few fighting forces capable of waging conventional warfare. 
==Roles==
===National Defence===
The primary and original mission of the Defence Forces. Throughout its decades-long history, its primary and expected opponent has been the , but has also faced the threat of the , from whom Thebes was successfully defended in 2551. 
===Foreign Aid===
The Defence Forces are also tasked, especially in recent years, with providing military and logisitical support to the Commonwealth's foreign allies. During the height of the , Theban forces saw deployments onto planets like , , and Kropotkin. In recent years, much of the Defence Forces' military efforts have been focused around the civil war on the planet Kadanga. 
===Anti-Piracy===
The Naval Service especially is tasked with anti-piracy duties, which consist of most of its operations. Initially, these operations were only directed against human piracy, but has recently included operations against and pirates.
==Command==
Overall direct command of the Defence Forces is shared, but held primarily by a military officer appointed by the Assembly and granted the rank of General. The General of the Defence Forces since 2542 has been Elias Tomilin. The General shares authority over the Defence Forces with a civilian official, granted the title of Boeotarch, who is appointed by the Executive Council to serve as the direct liaison between the Council and the Defence Forces, and to act on behalf of the Council whenever they are out of contact, compromised, or otherwise indisposed. The Boeotarch since 2553 has been Arash Pakdel. 
==Branches==
===Territorial Defence Service===
The primary and largest component of the Defence Forces, the Territorial Defence Service (Slavonic: Territorialna Sluzba za Oradna, German: Territorialheer) is roughly equivalent to the UNSC Army and Air Force in its function, providing the bulk of the DFC's infantry, armoured, and atmospheric aerial assets, and making up the overall majority of the DFC's total personnel and assets. It was first established on the creation of the Defence Forces in 2496.
Its personnel are largely conscripts, provided by the mandatory two-year military service (or three-year civil service) for all Theban citizens, regardless of sex. Upon completion of military service, all former personnel of the TDS, regardless of conscript status, are placed into its reserve system and required to attend biannual training events until age 55. Despite the bulk of its numbers being made up on conscripts, some of its personnel are professional volunteers, who largely form the officer corps and most of the service's non-commissioned officers. Many of its volunteer personnel also form the TDS's limited special purpose forces, including counterterrorist, force reconnaissance, and combat diver units. 
The TDS rarely undertakes foreign deployments. On the rare occasions that it does, such as in the case of the Kadangan War, it forms an ad hoc Expeditionary Force, exclusively made up of personnel who volunteer for the assignment. Aside from the aforementioned Kadanga deployment, the service's primary and most famous combat action was the Battle of Thebes, where it combatted assaulting Covenant forces all across Thebes itself and on its moon, Leuctra, to varying degrees of success.
As of 2556, the Territorial Defence Service's combat elements were organised under the following structure:
*Joint Operations Command
**Land Force
***Region Northwest
****Strategic Group Alpha
****Strategic Group Beta
****Strategic Group Gamma
***Region Southwest
****Strategic Group Delta
****Strategic Group Epsilon
****Strategic Group Zeta
***Region Northeast
****Strategic Group Eta
****Strategic Group Theta
****Strategic Group Iota
***Region Southeast
****Strategic Group Kappa
****Strategic Group Lambda
****Strategic Group Mu
**Air Force
***Strategic Air Wing Jest
***Strategic Air Wing Dzelo
***Strategic Air Wing Izhe
***Strategic Air Wing Kako
**Maritime Force
***Maritime Infantry Brigade
****26th Maritime Infantry Regiment
****39th Maritime Infantry Regiment
**6th Expeditionary Force (1,800 personnel; deployed on Kadanga)
===Naval Service===
The second-largest and fastest-growing branch of the Defence Forces, the Naval Service (Slavonic: Vomorska Sluzba, German: Marine) provides the Commonwealth's spaceborne military assets and acts as its primary expeditionary force. It operates all of the Defence Forces' warships, as well as the majority of its exoatmospheric-capable vessels. It was officially established in 2500, with the handful of warships operated by the Commonwealth being transferred to its authority from the TDS. 
The majority of its personnel are volunteers, though a few conscripts opt in to becoming crewmen. As such, it is generally considered the more "professional" of the two primary branches, and many personnel turn the Naval Service into their long-term careers. Most Naval Service personnel are tasked with crewing warships, transports, and the service's various facilities and installations around the territory of the Commonwealth. Many of these installations include early warning listening posts, customs facilities, drydocks, and the shipyards the surround Thebes itself. A comparable handful of the service's personnel form the Naval Infantry Brigade, who provide the service's primary infantry component. However, a number of lesser-trained and lesser-equipped security units have been created to guard and defend minor installations, as well as provide day-to-day security aboard vessels. 
As the Defence Forces' primary expeditionary force, the Naval Service has handled the great majority of its foreign deployments. Naval Service personnel have served across several planets and theatres, including Eridanus II, Gao, and, more recently, Kadanga. The service also served with distinction during the defence of Thebes from Covenant invasion in 2551, where it successfully disabled and destroyed several Covenant warships, with the aid of ground-operated MAC cannons.
As of 2556, the Naval Service was organised under the following structure:
*Naval Service Headquarters
**Fleet Command
***Naval Intelligence Group
***Flag Fleet
***2nd Fleet
**Air Systems Command
**Logistics Command
**Naval Infantry Brigade
====Naval Infantry Brigade====
The Naval Infantry Brigade (Slavonic: Brigada Vomorska Infanteri, German: Marine Infanterie Brigade) is the primary infantry component of the Naval Service, serving as the equivalent of the Marine Corps, providing the Defence Forces' chief expeditionary infantry component, while also guarding the vessels, stations, and other installations operated by the Naval Service. It was officially established in 2501, a year after the Naval Service's creation. 
An all-volunteer force, the Brigade is composed of only a fraction of the Naval Service's total personnel. However, they are, arguably, the best-equipped, most well-trained, and experienced infantry force that the Commonwealth has to offer, capable of rivalling some UNSC special units man-for-man. Larger than a typical Theban brigade, the Naval Infantry Brigade aims to maintain between 40,000 and 45,000 active-duty personnel. These personnel are drawn from both the regular Naval Service as well as the Territorial Defence Service. Any TDS personnel who pass selection are subsequently incorporated into the Brigade under the Naval Service's command structure. 
Out of all of the personnel of the Defence Forces, those of the Naval Infantry Brigade have seen the most foreign deployments by far, deploying across several worlds during the height of the Insurrection as both fighters and advisors, and also bearing the brunt of the fighting done by Theban personnel recently on Kadanga. Naval Infantrymen are, generally, proud of this tradition, and view themselves as the spearhead of the Commonwealth's extrasolar operations. 
As of 2558, they were under the command of Rear Admiral Vincent Liu, formerly of the CMA Marine Corps, who fled to Thebes following the 2530 mutiny. His leadership led to significant restructuring in how the Brigade was trained and organised, modeled somewhat after both the CMA and UNSC Marine Corps.
As of 2556, the Naval Infantry Brigade was organised under the following structure:
*1st Regiment of Naval Infantry
**1st Reconnaissance Battalion
**7th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**12th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**21st Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**8th Combat Engineer Battalion
**5th Artillery Company
**3rd Logistics and Support Company
*4th Regiment of Naval Infantry
**5th Special Reconnaissance Battalion
**19th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**22nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**30th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**13th Combat Engineer Battalion
**7th Artillery Company
**11th Logistics and Support Company
*5th Regiment of Naval Infantry
**17th Special Reconnaissance Battalion
**3rd Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**15th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**28th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**18th Combat Engineer Battalion
**14th Artillery Company
**23rd Logistics and Support Company
*7th Regiment of Naval Infantry
**31st Reconnaissance Battalion
**37th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**42nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**43rd Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**27th Combat Engineer Battalion
**25th Artillery Company
**26th Logistics and Support Company
*11th Regiment of Naval Infantry
**32nd Reconnaissance Battalion
**35th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**41st Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**47th Mechanised Infantry Battalion
**38th Combat Engineer Battalion
**35th Artillery Company
**16th Logistics and Support Company
===Intelligence Service===
The Intelligence Service (Slavonic: Razvedka Sluzba, German: Geheimdienst) is the most recently established of the branches of the Defence Forces, and also the smallest. Similarly to its counterparts within the UNSC, the Intelligence Service is tasked with a number of intelligence gathering and handling duties, and also coordinates the smaller intelligence forces from the other two branches. It was officially created in 2506.
Its original and primary duty is to gather information on foreign military assets, projects, and movements. To this end, most of its personnel are agents either actively deployed undercover to gather intelligence directly, or cyberwarfare operatives dedicated towards the same goal. However, the primary reason that the service exists as its own branch is in order to guard against enemy infiltration, and as such the Intelligence Service also handles internal security for the Defence Forces. The Intelligence Service is also security and study of classified extraterrestrial anomalies, such as Covenant technology early during the Human-Covenant War, and, in more recent years, items of origin.
Due to its small personnel size (a feature intended to deter foreign infiltration), the Intelligence Service often relies on the other two branches to accomplish its other tasks, particularly the Naval Service. It most frequently requisitions personnel from the Naval Infantry Brigade in order to conduct asset retrieval, target elimination, and force reconnaissance operations. One such example was the assassination of Felix Costel, carried out by Theban Naval Infantry under operational control of the Intelligence Service. The Intelligence Service does maintain a handful of well-equipped combat teams of its own, but rarely deploys them in the field and prefers to utilise them for internal security operations. Field deployments are, however, not unheard of, and Intelligence Service personnel have occasionally seen combat on Kadanga and elsewhere.
==Equipment==
Most of the Defence Forces' military equipment is old CMA stock, along with a number of more recently acquired UNSC hardware and homegrown equipment. 
===Vehicles===
Name	Type 	Photo	Notes
 	Scout ATV 	 	Operated by all branches
 	Multipurpose vehicle 	 	Operated by all branches
 	Armoured personnel carrier 	 	Operated by Territorial Defence Service and in small numbers by Naval Infantry Brigade
 	Mobile artillery platform 	 	Operated by Territorial Defence Service
 	Main battle tank 	 	Operated by Territorial Defence Service and in small numbers by Naval Infantry Brigade
 	Main battle tank 	 	Main battle tank of Territorial Defence Service; used in small numbers by Naval Infantry Brigade
 	Atmospheric gunship and troop transport	 	Operated by Territorial Defence Service and Naval Infantry Brigade
 	Exoatmospheric gunship and transport 	 	Operated primarily by Naval Service, in small numbers by Territorial Defence Service
==Uniforms==
===Territorial Defence Service===
File:Tdf2.png|thumb|450px|Battle dress uniform employed by the Territorial Defence Service from the time its foundation until 2541. It includes plain olive-green fatigues, a simple black kevlar plate carrier, 3D-printed kevlar ballistic helmet, boots, backpack, and frequently issued balaclavas as well. This equipment has been entirely phased out of service by the Territorial Defence Forces but continues to see use among Theban allies gifted the gear, such as the Mamore Free Army, or by Theban reserve groups, like the Theban Rifleman's Union.
File:Tdf1.png|thumb|450px|Battle dress uniform currently employed by the Territorial Defence Service. It is aesthetically similar to the original, including similar olive-green fatigues (now cut-proof), black ballistic plate carrier, rucksack, and an olive-green green derivative of the UNSC's ballistic helmet. However, it now also includes shooting glasses with a heads-up-display, as well as a holster for the now-standard issue sidearms across the entirety of the Defence Forces, reflecting the Commonwealth's economic self-reliance and advancement.
File:Tdf3.png|thumb|450px|Battle dress uniform employed by Expedtionary Forces, as well as by many special reconnaissance and special operations units within the Territorial Defence Service. It is almost identical to the standard BDU but features camouflaged fatigues and an attached boom-mounted heads-up-display. Shemaghs are frequently worn, but not issued.
File:Tdf4.png|thumb|450px|Battle dress uniform utilised by the Territorial Defence Service's airborne infantry elements. These include traditional airborne paratroopers, as well as pararescue units. It is, similarly, near identical to the standard BDU, but features a thicker, warmer field jacket.
===Naval Service===
File:Ns1.png|thumb|450px|Service uniform employed by enlisted sailors. It sports a navy-blue jacket and trousers, field belt with holster, shooting glasses with heads-up-display, and ear protection. Service headgear such as beanies and caps are common, but not standard issue.
===Intelligence Service===
File:Is1.png|thumb|450px|Battle dress uniform employed by the few field operatives of the Intelligence Service. It is near identical to the Territorial Defence Service BDU, but coloured black and does not include a standard issue helmet but does include ear protection.
==Ranks and Insignia==
===Territorial Defence Service===
Enlisted Rank	Official English translation	Typical command appointment 	Insignia
Radnik 	Private 	No command 	
2. Radnik 	2. Private 	No command 	
1. Radnik 	1. Private 	No command 	
Evretor 	Corporal 	Fireteam leader 	
Serzent 	Sergeant 	Squad leader 	
1. Serzent 	1. Sergeant 	Squad leader/assistant platoon leader 	
Glavi Serzent	Chief Sergeant 	Squad leader/assistant platoon leader 	
Staršin 	N/A 	Platoon leader/assistant platoon leader	
1. Staršin 	N/A 	Platoon leader/assistant platoon leader	
Glavi Staršin	N/A 	Platoon leader/assistant platoon leader	
Officer Rank 	Official English translation	Typical command appointment 	Insignia
Kanditat 	Officer Candidate 	No command 	
Litenent 	Lieutenant 	Platoon leader 	
Glavi Litenent 	Chief Lieutenant 	Platoon Leader 	
Kapiten 	Captain 	Company commander 	
Glavi Kapiten 	Chief Captain 	Company commander/battalion commander/staff officer 	
Podpulkovnik 	Lieutenant Colonel 	Battalion commander 	
Pulkovnik 	Colonel 	Regiment commander 	
Brigaden-General	Brigadier General 	Brigade commander 	
Litenent-General	Lieutenant General 	Commander-in-chief of the Territorial Defence Service	
===Naval Service===
Enlisted Rank	Official English translation	Insignia
Matros 	Sailor 	
2. Matros 	2. Sailor 	
1. Matros 	1. Sailor 	
Glavi Matros 	Chief Sailor 	
Serzent 	Sergeant 	
1. Serzent 	1. Sergeant 	
Glavi Serzent	Chief Sergeant 	
Staršin 	N/A 	
1. Staršin 	N/A 	
Glavi Staršin	N/A 	
Officer Rank 	Official English Translation	Insignia
Kanditat 	Officer Candidate 	No insignia
Litenent 	Lieutenant 	
Glavi Litenent	Chief Lieutenant 	
Kapiten 	Captain 	
Glavi Kapiten 	Chief Captain 	
Kommodor 	Commodore 	
Kontra-Admiral	Rear Admiral 	
Admiral 	Admiral 	
===Intelligence Service===
The Intelligence Service's rank structure is irregular. Very few of the personnel part of our attached to the service are enlisted, and those who are enlisted are typically borrowed from the other two services, and usually maintain whatever rank they originally held in those services. Rather, most of the Intelligence Service's personnel are commissioned officers, or are issued their ranks in a system very similar to that of the UNSC's Warrant Officer system. The Intelligence Service's commisioned officer rank structure, however, closely follows that of the Territorial Defence Service's.
Officer Rank 	Official English translation	Insignia
Litenent 	Lieutenant 	
Glavi Litenent 	Chief Lieutenant 	
Kapiten 	Captain 	
Glavi Kapiten 	Chief Captain 	
Podpulkovnik 	Lieutenant Colonel 	
Pulkovnik 	Colonel 	
Brigaden-General	Brigadier General 	
Litenent-General	Lieutenant General 	
==Notable Personnel==
*Aleksandyr Novak
==Notable Engagements==
*Battle of Thebes
==Notes==