Imperial Royal Navy

> *"You are trespassing in Sovereign territory, 'Stand and Deliver' Xeno scum; your vessel and life are now forfeit."*
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> **-Last minute of black box recording; extracted from the debris of a merchant vessel-**
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The Eternal Empire commands great fleets of astro-vessels, located throughout the many systems of the Galactic West. Like the other nations of the galaxy the vessels can often be categorized into 3 specific classes; Screens, Supports and Capitals. Unlike the other nations the Royal Armadas retain a strictly nautical language and organisation; a spaceport is still referred to as a 'harbour' or 'shipwright' depending on the port's purpose. Yet, likewise many other nations organised within the cluster, the Royal Navy is the primary source for stellar defence within the Empire's borders.

The fleets devote themselves entirely to the protection of the Empire's borders in peace-time; whilst most nations delegate security of borders to lesser forces, such as regular police or MP's, the Empire is one of the few whose 'Navy' is the primary apparatus of security; a relic from traditions present with the original British Domains of Old Earth.

In war-time border security falls to automated listening posts, outdated Royal Navy vessels crewed by planetary defenders, or military automatons; the Royal Armadas close ranks and merge into pre-arranged compositions, awaiting detailed commands for each sections of the force. From then onwards until the end of the conflict, the fleets operate as 'Wolfpacks', as they come together and scatter seemingly at random to confuse the opposition. Very rarely does the main offensive armadas unite and strike as one, often a sign of great bloody battles to come...

## **Ships of the Line**

Whilst the Commonwealth and other Eastern nations operate with many similar types of warships, the Eternal Empire has carried with the tradition of Old Earth and expanded beyond with it. Though many ships perform similar roles as the other nations follow, the Royal Navy still presses a large number of types of vessels, being classified by role, size, speed and of course, firepower.

Along with the main battle line of the Armada and the supporting vessels that are armed to aid it, come the backbone of the fleet that is spared of combat, but performs just as an important role before and after it. **Royalty Ships**, as they have been known to Commonwealth forces, are the cargo transports that directly aid the Empire’s war forces through extensive offensive campaigns. These ships tend to vary in sizes, just as much as the main force does when narrowed down by ship types. Even so, Royalty ships focus on carrying all kinds of supplies that may aid in fleet operations, bombardment sorties or landing efforts that are key for maintaining the Armada in check after a battle is finished. Some ships carry repair equipment for the most damaged vessels and can be treated as the guardian angels that treat and tend to the fleet once the brawling has finished, one of the most important elements of the Royal Navy.

## **Hierarchy & Rank Structure**

The organisation of the 'Rank & File' within the Armada is a remodelled version of the former 'British Empire' of Earth. The present model presented here is tailored for Astro, rather than nautical, fleets; the Eternal Empire of course still uses the old structure for nautical vessels.

The following model is a shortened version of an old command structure; the shortening chain of command is believed to be acceptable in the wake of technological improvements that replace lower rank duties'.

   First, we shall address some terminology. The **Armada** is a collection of numerous fleets; a **Fleet** is a collection of numerous squadrons, **Flotillas** contain several vessels, usually above 20 and a **Squadron** is a group with less than what a Flotilla houses overall.

 **Captain:** | Commander of a single vessel; Captains have their own rank system, highest to lowest:
1. **Captain of the Craft**: The captain of a cruiser; selected for stratagem, an innovative leader.
2. **Captain of the Line**: The captain of a battleship; selected for fortitude, a respected leader.
 An assortment of lower ranks

## **Namesakes, Nicknames & Identification**

Throughout several years, decades and centuries, the naming convention present across fleets and vessels of the Royal Navy have evolved and spread, catching many “habits” and traditions that have stuck to the ranks all the way, from the habitual sailor of a Corvette to a Lord Admiral of an entire Armada.

Similarly to habits of Old Earth, it is no surprise that the commanders of respective fleets act more as lords commanding their levies than anything else, enacting with their own accords many of the tactics, actions and overall styles their very own formations are to carry out. Even so, obviously, much of the command is overwritten by the monarchs and regents whenever convenient for the action to be taken, still establishing that the vessels are overall ruled by Her or His Majesty; a fact only reinforced by the identification of each vessel carrying the HMS initials both by name and colours of their banner.

The uniqueness of every single fleet doesn’t end there, however. Following a tradition that started to take place by old british trade disruptors of the Indian ocean, in the late 18th. Century, Admirals who have positively stood out from the rest usually receive titles awarded by the crown government, giving a certain “Nickname” both to the officer in charge and the fleet in question. These names are highly valued and usually carry several meanings both from actions of previous holders of that same title or from weight imposed by the prestige the Imperial Court often regard each of them respectively. A figure often receives such nicknames after reaching a rank of Admiral and upwards, but only if proving capable enough to bear the traditional marks of previous legacies. After retirement and once returning to civilian life, the name is passed through towards the next generation, but the now-retired individual still can choose to be referenced in such a nickname besides their usual given name. Many titles have come to rise across the history of the Royal Navy; a short list of such prestigious ranks is followed by some of these examples:

* **Vanilla** - This nickname bears origins from the first Imperial admirals adhering to such titles in Old Earth, and still remains very utilized for the most skilled in the Imperial Navy up to modern times. The first naval commander to receive the Vanilla name in space, **Lord Admiral Eleanora Gracemore**, was the most important figure in the field of Imperial colonial expansion in the initial years of stellar exploration. Since then, several other officers have earned the title for their heroic actions and academic deeds in the Homeland.
* **Chai** - Being popularly attributed towards those who present more meticulous methods towards approaching battles, such a name has only received the proper renown after the genius Lord Admiral Isla Nelson, after a bloody campaign to contain the numerous pirate and separatist uprisings in the Empire, inherited it with much-deserved credit, creating a new legacy for the name as a heavily renowned title in the reformed navy of the recovering Western nation.
* **Almond** - Much like Vanilla, the Almond was formulated long before the times of the Exodus. It is remarked by the widespread use in the early 2100s to mid-late 2200s. This nickname also became utilized by Elma Blackheart, mere months before breaking off from the Royal Navy and reforming her own rebellious piracy group in the void of space.
* **Rosehip** - Characterized for the unusual aggressiveness and ruthless style usually followed by admirals holding such name, the Rosehip title, although initially set for more feminine figures, truly consolidated with some of the most known Admirals being of the opposite gender, one great example being **Lord Admiral Seth Richardson**, commander of Imperial forces during the Miracle of New Sol. This name is still used, but after the Great Northern War, it started falling out of fashion for other more popular titles amongst the Imperial Court’s distaste of such bitter defeats in the previous years.
* **Darjeeling** - A Nickname previously utilized for Male figures before times of the Exodus, but now often remembered for its many female achievements during the space exploration age and beyond. A characteristic title for confident, bold and adaptive commanders, Ladies such as Baroness **Tiana Campbell** and Evergarden of Emala, among many others, have consolidated the legendary status of the name, making sure that, whoever is to inherit the next generation of the title, needs to accomplish an arduous path towards proving their worth in the field of battle and in the Royal Navy’s ranks with utmost excellence.

## **Defensive Measures & Fleet Colours**

As noticed by the unique way the Empire applies its forces in void warfare, the Royal Navy requires not only cunning leadership from its officers, but also a set of technological & economic advantages that allow for the stratagems, doctrines and tactics to function at a desired efficiency. It is no secret that the Eternal Empire holds one of the largest interstellar fleets throughout the Galactic cluster... But like any other nation, a multitude of vessels cannot properly fight without the necessary striking power, defence works and provisions to withstand long void campaigns.

Being something that evolved as part of the Imperial doctrine and its tactics, the main advantage upheld by the Royal Navy remains to be the shielding technology implemented by its vessels. The debate between the use of conventional armour or deflectors had been a controversial topic within the Eternal Empire's courts; As one could be penetrated and rendered useless within a few rounds of concentrated fire, whilst the other could be entirely ignored depending on the type of weaponry implemented by the enemy... It was only after the decisive defeat at Aasha when the Navy settled for a definitive choice: Shielding. Deflectors can decisively limit the amount of breaches in a vessel, coming at the cost of needing a larger amount of power to efficiently operate, meaning larger or more numerous ship reactors within a single vessel. Use of shields, although presenting their own share of problems when looked in detail, can also be more standardized at a more flexible defensive style; The power used during battle can be redirected into other ship sections during peacetime, as it can similarly be directed to engines, or to strengthen a single deflector's side of the ship entirely, presenting itself as not only more adaptable depending on the weaponry, but cheaper as a whole for fleet operations and construction. When taken into account, the likely actions the battlefleet makes usually puts itself (Such as always striving for an entanglement with the enemy) in situations when the shields are far more useful, deflecting blows instead of tanking them like a sponge, and as a result, losing sailors and diminishing the overall efficiency of the craft as the battle drags on further. With proper shielding, those issues are reduced to a significant degree.

Likewise with shielding, the Royal Navy also focuses dearly on propulsion, using this seemingly passive advantage as both a defensive trump card as well as an offensive one. The already enhanced power supply provided by the shielding demands can be transferred into overloading the thrusters, enhancing manoeuvres and, as a result, arriving much quicker at enemy lines in place for a devastating strike. Propulsion also plays a key role for smaller vessels, when evading incoming barrages is usually always more advantageous than simply tanking them and overloading one's own reactors... Overall, the priorities set on the "Three main pillars of Shipbuilding" are normally as it follows:

1. **Shielding/Deflectors:** Being cheaper to man and simple to manage during a battle, it becomes far more important to fight a battle and not receive a single scratch, at the cost of strained deflectors, rather than suffering numerous hull breaches, risking sailors and receiving potential hull damage that might affect performance of the craft in the case of using armour. This reinforces the need for Imperial ships to close quickly, brawl in a quick overwhelming engagement and annihilate foes with minimal losses before their shields are completely overloaded and rendered ineffective.
2. **Propulsion:** In the middle ground in terms of Imperial efforts, playing a key role for the entire fleet's mobility and capacity to respond to looming threats. Having quicker thrusters mean reaching into tactical positions quicker, evading incoming fire and retaining less losses in case an emergency FTL jump is needed. The Empire often utilizes the power usage to its advantage; Oftentimes seen through actions of over-confident officers, lowering their shield usage in order to boost their propulsion and reach certain locations far quicker than common vessels ever could...
3. **Armaments:** The use of advanced weapons, as seen from the tactics and doctrines used by the Empire, fall into a secondary/tertiary stance when compared to the other pillars of the Navy. As per part of the standardization of weaponry, each ship, instead of receiving an increase of the quality in their weapons, have more and bigger guns strapped onto it to suffice the disparity found with the pillars. This often means that, whilst the Empire overall mounts bigger and more weaponry on its vessels, their quality and technological advantage falters decades in comparison to Commonwealth counterparts... An edge that only began being closed after the effort to mass-implement Unbidden technology onto the Royal Navy's forces.

Additionally, it should also be mentioned the recent investments on unconventional warfare technology; An effort that is often overlooked when accounting a force as massive as the Imperial Navy. The Empire presents a series of advancements on encryption, sending their signals through ultra-secure lines that cannot be breached with conventional techniques. Such system has been branded as the Imperial "ANIGMATE" Coding System, changing its combinations every minute in a fleet-wide scale. It often is the greatest part of memory the A.I. has to accommodate, leaving less important tasks to the works of automated droids or to hands of Western Humans entirely. Not only that, but with recent works in stealth technology, the fleets are much more capable of operating quietly, in a illusive manner and unintelligible coding style, fuelling a feeling of invisibility that is so oftentimes associated with the trickster nature of the current Lord Admiral. Whilst the Commonwealth remains one of the masters at uncovering secrets and exposing the Galaxy to its people, the Empire finds itself the overlord of its own secrets, fighting until the end until the last terabyte of information can be revealed to the enemy forces...

Lastly comes one of the least impactful changes that went through in the Royal Navy's history, yet definitely one that defined its style throughout a multitude of eras in Imperial history; Fleet Colours. Initially, at the initial years of shipbuilding for void protection, stellar warships lacked any painting or clear defining pattern in terms of visual identification, apart from their hull shapes - It was part of the Royal Navy the use of the grey colour. As the years advanced, so did the standardization of painting and identification in the hull; In a period marked to have started around the 2240s, the Royal Navy enforced the use of the white colour on military vessels, those displaying military honours having different red stripes on their hulls, a tradition that only saw itself becoming outdated in the late 2310s. As such, the use of unique colours not only improved close range identification, but also raised cohesion, morale and the image of the Navy in the eyes of civilian personnel.

The sudden change of a clear white to dark grey and the occasional black came not only as a design choice, but also because of the evolution of material use in Imperial shipbuilding strategy. During the late 2310s, the Empire had declared full mobilization of its forces, outfitting its own ships in a massive effort to bring down the Commonwealth power in the East. One problem surged, however - How are we supposed to know the "Geography" of the Eastern territories? The was no clear answer, so the designers had it tasked to essentially refit the fleet with every known countermeasure possible in order to maximize its survivability ratio in case of "Anomalous conditions". The Empire had already come in contact with radical astral conditions, exemplified in the Fifth Southern Thrust Campaign, during the Battle of the Strait, at the system of St. Robin. The System's unique Nebular condition not only corroded much of the armour and external weaponry, but also proved deadly in the occasion of hull breaches, inevitably forcing both fleets to clash in between such conditions, under point-blank ranges as to not enter nebular conditions... As so, the shipyards were forced to implement material enhancements to its ships, allowing them to not only perform their roles under undesirable conditions, but also to survive long range FTL travels in the Galactic Core, something that became crucial for the invasion of the Galactic East by the Imperial Armada. The material utilized was black, varying between several shades of grey once under critical distance from hot surfaces such as stars, with an incredible incompatibility with the already void-adapted painting schemes. Like such, the Royal Navy was now outfitted with standardized black vessels, using red lighting to occasionally strike a contrasting appearance to its warships and transports; A tradition that is still kept to this day.

## **Satayesh Ibrahim's Take on the Royal Navy**

*The information below is the preliminary outline of what Satayesh Ibrahim believes to be Eternal Empire strategy; this is information is the most educated guess based on sparse reports and sensor readings from the great array, quotes from admirals and generals are sparse as they are retrieved from the minds of upper officials by psionic agents... but the Eternal Empire has long been aware of psionic abilities and so these small quotes were all that were obtained before the Empire recognized the psionic intrusion and somehow blocked further psionic access.*

Admiral of Task Force Manticore; pioneer of Commonwealth void combat tactics. After reviewing part of the mannerisms of the Empire, Satayesh Ibrahim formulated counter tactics to the Eternal Empire in response to the sudden declaration of war:

> *"Brutish and direct, the 'Sovreign Armada' is a steamrolling juggernaut; built for outright assault, it forces your hand into conflict less you be destroyed by their unending numbers... there could not be a fleet more juxtaposed to our own than this"*
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Task Force Manticoreis built to destroy the enemy primarily from range, using a variety of corvettes & destroyers to delay encroaching forces, act as picket point defence and also as lethal torpedo boats. A massive variety of weapon types are employed and doctrine dictates an evasive stance to combat. The Sovereign Armada is built to close the distance ASAP and destroy the enemy in close range combat; corvettes and destroyers neutralise the oppositions vessels built to destroy battleships, allowing battleships to... battle, without restriction. A small selection of weapons are used and doctrine dictates an assault stance to combat.

> *"To combat the lion we must fight like an eagle, flying up high and descending quickly and without warning; we descend on the cubs first, the lion is both a prideful and boastful beast. Destroying enough of the smaller fleets should draw their ire... but the cubs have claws to, they scratch and bite enough time and the lion smells blood. So we strike hard with the aid of other nations, our loses divided amongst us all will pale to the loses of the Empire"*
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The overall stratagem was to use the technological advantage to dispatch the Empire's fleet using '**Defeat in Detail**'. The Empire is unlikely to devote the entire Armada towards the Commonwealth while the Unbidden threat persists. The Empire may be an industrial powerhouse but the Commonwealth is a close competitor, the main difference really is that the Empire can produce more ships at a faster rate but both have equal resources at their disposal, yet the Commonwealth retains more technology at its disposal. The Empire couldn't possibly sustain continuous loses of entire fleets; when they see the wasted effort, they should either remain defensive from that point or commit to a full assault... which would hopefully be dashed upon the rocks of the Commonwealth defence in a one-sided confrontation, something similar to the occurrence at Aasha...

> *"We cannot hope to maintain distance between fleets in conflict; Royal ships are designed to withstand a beating on the frontal armour which is the only front they offer as they close the distance... a distance they close rapidly. So in battle we scatter our forces wide, very wide, the broadside potential of their battleships are wasted if they can only target one or two vessels; their smaller vessels are unlikely to stray far from the battleships, the battleships depend on them for point defence and their corvettes cannot hide behind the battleships if they scatter to hunt down our forces. Thus we can continue to fire upon them at range where we are most effective; we avoid the jaws of the lion and the many eagles can strike"*
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The doctrine was of ever more complex evasion tactics; while impossible to avoid pitched battle, only a small number of vessels need be exposed to the full fleet. Were the Royal fleet to spread out their forces like the commonwealth, there would be no protection of the smaller crafts which would be picked apart by their equals at range... their battleships are useless without a mass of enemies to fight and brawl into.

> *"Our enemy is not stupid; the lion has used his techniques to kill many prey, with great success I would add. Once they see the flaws they will be quick to adapt... If the history books are to be believed then this Empire is a long-standing rival of ours, they are cunning and innovative, where the sword fails the dagger will follow, where the daggers fails a silver tongue waggles; as humans they will find infiltration easier than most, do not expect military secrets to stay that way for long, keep your fleets mobile. Their tactics will quickly evolve to counter us; as our seemingly 'eternal' rivals they will be especially adept at it, so take your first victories with copious amounts of Earth Salt, less your wings get snapped in their jaws"*
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Ibrahim's assumptions would prove correct, the Eternal Empire was aware of the naval superiority the Commonwealth possessed; they would send their fleets... and learn...

> *"Their Commonwealth is founded by our cousin humans; make no mistake this is not some xeno we fight but what was once our flesh and blood, they are smart, powerful and they know who we are. Any battle they take will be on their terms... for now"*
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