Commonwealth Admiralty

> *"Mess with the best, die like the rest"*
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> **- Satayesh Ibrahim -**
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## Task Force Manticore

TFM performs joint-training exercises with the Entente

## The Commonwealth Navy

The Commonwealth Admiralty is the galaxies most advanced force within the galaxy; boasting the greatest technological advantage and with the skills to match.

The navy is mostly coalesced into one fleet, Task Force Manticore, but for this fleet to maintain the strategic asset of speed smaller fleets with slower vessels have also been created. These small fleets mostly complement Task Force Manticore, too small and vulnerable alone though still powerful.

The navy is the only standing military force the Commonwealth uses; ground forces being demobilised and retired in exchange for mostly constructible forces.

Almost solely constructed at the spaceports of Curacao; the vessels of the Commonwealth navy are marvels of engineering, made with self repairing metal and other special and rare resources. When accompanied with veteran mixed species crews these vessels are worth more than 3 equivalent vessels.

In peace time the fleets are usually docked or put in orbit to save maintenance costs; smaller vessels may patrol the inner systems but these are usually controlled by authorities such as the marshals. In war time Task Force Manticore often remains a single united force; holding back on engagements until the moment of greatest advantage or impact arises, though on occasion the fleet has been shoe-horned into conflicts such as The battle of Tyntragel without time for preparation.

### **Hierarchy & Rank Structure**

The organisation is extremely streamlined as a.i. has come to perform many roles once filled by others. The model allows for enough positions to house those with potential in positions suited for them and future growth but cuts out the fat; its positions have also developed their own own 'mock' names, with captains of small vessels being named 'counts' and captains of larger vessels named 'dukes'.

Also; the fleets do not at any point merge to become 'armadas', any joint fleet effort is recognised as a multiple fleet effort and not the work of one person, this means that there is no rank higher than admiral though there may be 'first among equals'

* **Admiral (Mock Name: Queen / King):** Commanding a fleet; this Admiral is the highest point of naval authority and dictates all naval stratagem and requisitions, to become first among equals is a subjective process but the admiral is usually the most experienced and veteran though when there is no truly experienced it falls to whoever seems the most capable at the time (as it did to Satayesh Ibrahim who later proved her prowess through the battles she won). The first among equals does not have command over the other admirals or their own vessels but going against the 'advice' given is frowned upon.

**Admiral (Mock Name: Lordship):** Commander of a fleet; dictates overall fleet strategy and logistics.

* **I.A.I (Innovative Artificial Intelligence):** These a.i provide synchronised holographic displays to Admirals and Captains which can be interacted with physically; this makes coordination much easier as commanders can visualise the entire battle and receive orders visually rather than through comms that can be jammed or misheard.

   What makes them truly innovative is that as technology progressed these a.i. became more intelligent and have come to manage many ship functions as well, not just the ship they are attached to but also every ship in the fleet. Assessing the tactical situation of every individual vessel they optimise power distribution to suit every situation i.e. temporary drain of weapon energy to boost engines for evading missiles or concluding that evasion is ineffective and power would better serve the shield than engines. These a.i. also now have a holographic 'body' that interacts with Captains and Admirals; though it only 'personally' interacts with the admiral, who is also the sole keeper of the I.A.I

Interestingly these I.A.I are given the ability to chose their own physique, and they seem to choose the same sex and species form as their first 'keeper' though there have only been a few so it is too soon to tell. The longest living I.A.I is 'Helana' which was given to Ibrahim 2280AD though initially, for those other than Ibrahim, under the guise as a standard a.i.

More info on the I.A.I

* **First-Rate Captain (Mock Name: Duke):** The Captain of a cruiser or battleship; these captains are often promoted from smaller vessels after they undergo a new 2 year training course (as fundamentals of cruisers and battleships differ to corvettes and destroyers) where they learn the new skills need to command and manage larger vessels. These captains also coordinate at most 3 lower captains.
* **Second-Rate Captain (Mock Name: Count):** Captains of corvettes or destroyers; these captains are the top of academic classes and seasoned veterans of void combat, the very first captains who had no combat experience were selected from maritime crews.
* **Lower Ranks:** From this point ranks are too numerous and increasingly minor to note; the further down the ranks you go the more automated they become, the lowest ranks generally being more like technicians than soldiers, with ranks becoming more and more militarised as they go up.

## Fleet Stratagems, Doctrine & Tactics

> *"Networks of defensive structures combined with the exertion of our fleets' power ensure the deterrence of most tactically sound-of-mind aggressors, this ensures defence through minimal firepower, the mere presence of our fortresses win half our battles for us"*
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> '***- Satayesh Ibrahim -'***
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Commonwealth fleets have adhered to an evasion and deterrence based strategy; despite absolute technological superiority fleet combat still often results in casualties and, since vessels of such advanced craftsmanship can only be built at Curacao, vessels take time to be replaced when lost. Due to this fact, Commonwealth fleets maintain highly defensive positions and wait for the occasion to strike hard and swift.

> *"History books tell of battles between ships; how the first great changes occurred when fleets became capable of firing over the horizon of sea to hit the enemy, in relative terms we have already crossed this precipice and we are of yet to see any other nation cross it"*
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> **- Commonwealth Naval Academy: Technological Assertion -**
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### **Stratagems**

> *"Hook, line and sinker"*
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Commonwealth stratagem revolves around hard point defences and an evasive but also mobile fleet; the fleets of the Admiralty use speed and refined navigation skills to outpace the enemies actions, waiting for the most opportune moment to strike.

#### **Stratagem – Interdict, intercept, destroy**

> *"Through subversion of enemy movement the assertion of local power is made greater; faced with these prospects the opposition is left with two options, full committal to assault or to delay indefinably, as our opposition is often the aggressor in the conflict they eventually choose the former"*
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The greatest danger to any fleet is the threat of ensnarement; caught out of position and unprepared a fleet is effectively neutralised, coordination is essential to void combat, and this is what the Commonwealth seeks to obliterate. Achieving the element of surprise in space; however, is a feat almost unheard of, space is vast and offers seldom offers a mask to cover a fleet’s approach. Radar and sights will detect incoming fleets long before they reach firing range. Again the answer lies in the great defence stations that smatter Commonwealth space; ‘interdictor’ stations are designed to detect incoming warp fleets and redirect their fleet to a destination within the system more favourable to the defenders; enemy fleets often find themselves thousands of kilometres from the intended position and rather in the crossfire of several weapon platforms.

The confusion created is seized upon; stations lower shield power in exchange for greater fire rates, maximising damage without receiving more in turn. This is just the hook though; very rarely can stationary platforms survive long against mobile vessels and the confusion soon wears off, the true ‘line and sinker’ is the sudden arrival of Task Force Manticore that had been lying in wait one or two jumps away. (2 jumps may seem too long since void travel between warp stations can take days but for military manoeuvres these warp stations are actually pushed extremely close to the destination of the first warp jump from where they are jumped within the minute to the ambush site) planning these 2 warp manoeuvres however takes a great amount of time and, done wrong, can cause vessels to warp into the relaying warp station… The Admiralty must be certain of the location the enemy will attack less the effort be wasted.

Over time the other nations have learnt of this and now prefer to avoid assailing these systems unless confident of victory or desperate, this ultimately still plays into the hand of the Commonwealth, the local dominance serve as safe zones across the entire nation.

#### **Stratagem - Complementary knowledge; Synchronised skills**

The nation is home to a large variety of species; many whose ancestors came from neighbouring countries, with such diversity of physiques and knowledge it is very advantageous to a fleet, that can accommodate the needs of such a varied crew, to have as many species on board as possible. Using the different natural strengths of every species maximises efficiency of every component i.e. the Karthemas share a humanoid form but are more resilient to hazardous substances making them great engineers (they also double up as inner security given their martial culture).

But the great strength comes from the variety of knowledge; with so many species within the ranks there is bound to be some officer who knows of a tactic or strategy employed by their species on previous occasion, this means the fleets have access to every known strategy. Using this intel; enemy tactics can be predicted and countered at a whim.

#### **Stratagem - All roads lead to Rome**

To the Commonwealth; Curacao is the source and soul of the navy, all vessels are ideally made here. The economic profits and military value of this system is reflected in the obvious infrastructural developments along the hot-lanes leading to it. This makes for an obvious target. Any aggressive or even defensive nation could see the military and even economic boons they would reap if it were destroyed; though the Commonwealth can produce vessels elsewhere, the loss of Curacao ports would be a severe morale loss and send an economic shockwave through the industrial heartlands. The protection of this asset is amongst the highest priority

The same is true for other nations though; many rely on the resources reaped from planets as unbalanced growth has transformed many planets into primary providers of a sole material or food, the simple blockade of a single planet for even a few months can cripple some nations. This is rarely employed as the civilian loses caused could be extreme.

### **Doctrines**

#### Doctrine - Combined Arms

Variety is the spice of life, so they say, the fleets of the Commonwealth as variable as they come. To be effective in warfare your forces should be as flexible as possible; old earth warfare tactics came to very much rely on it which eventually gave rise to infantry favoured armies over other primary force. Space combat has four main considerations: range, accuracy, armour & shields; most weapons suit two of these factors but none yet excel in all fields. So the fleet maintains a widely varied range of armaments, making them suited for any foe or position; missiles, lasers, plasma, bombers, point defence and others make for a well equip and flexible force.

The drawback is that this makes individual vessels widely different and large scale management of these differing vessels is a heavy task. The drawbacks however are limited by powerful a.i., and since Ibrahim's reforms, this is minimised.

#### Doctrine - Dominance through distance

The fleets preserve their numbers by avoiding full battle for as long as possible; using powerful long range weapons Task Force Manticore is able to eliminate opposing fleets before they even enter effective firing range. By the time the enemy fleet is within range the casualties are too significant to hope winning the conflict. Closing this distance is also made exceptionally hard through the use of missile fire deliberated aimed to make the shots avoidable but in doing so slow down the target, while the enemy dally through missile fire and corvette torpedo runs, long range fire from battle ships and bombers destroys them.

#### Doctrine - Eye of the beholder

Void combat is a very tech dependent event; most actions are done entirely through computers, one such action is spotting and tracking. Without targeting or the technology to spot enemy vessels (that can be over hundreds of kilometres away) weapons are useless, neutralising enemy radar is thus an extreme benefit. To gain this advantage Commonwealth corvettes are equip with screening tech; this does not hide the corvette but rather blocks any scanning behind it, thus hiding the fleet. This makes weapon lock occur much slower for the enemy, decreasing rate of fire.

To prevent the same occurring to them, Commonwealth fleets use small observation drones to track the enemy during battle, the drones are too small to track down and destroy during the middle of combat; nations have attempted to replicate this tech but whenever used against the Commonwealth it has failed... Task Force Manticore also employs drone hunting drones. These drones are very tech heavy and so for now this is a Commonwealth specialty.

### **Tactics**

There are a great many so they will only be described briefly

#### Tactic - Deep Strike

Torpedo boats are small and agile enough to dodge large ordinance fire; under the cover of escorting destroyers or corvettes, these boats get close to the enemy and lose the their torpedo. To close to dodge the enemy must use point defence or take the hit, to overwhelm point defence the attack is made from two angles or multiple shots are fired.

#### Tactic - Frontline drop-back

During combat the corvettes and destroyers act as a delaying force / screen; they do damage but the real heavy lifters are the cruisers, carriers and battleships. This is at least what the enemy think, in reality the destroyers and corvettes have a powerful second role, when the enemy draws close to the battleships the 'frontline' screen feigns a retreat or 'drop-back' to the back line... this is often considered the shift from early battle to mid-battle but this is the Commonwealth's endgame.

To close the remaining distance the enemy often break formation to dash the battleships, this hasty blow is backhanded by the sudden resurgence of corvettes and destroyers; using reserve power CSV vessels boost firepower for a short duration, aiming mostly for the strongest vessels, unprepared the enemy take a quick fall off the cliff edge; already shaken from the loses taken at range they grow disheartened by the second bout of loses before they have even reached the backline, the resolve is then broken as more CSV corvettes emerge from behind the cruisers and battleships to protect them. A this point the enemy lose all cohesion and the battle descends into a rout.

#### Tactic - Picket point defence

To maximise battleship and cruiser firepower, point defence is left to smaller vessels, who are quicker and able to dodge missiles and torpedoes anyway.

#### Tactic - Ace in the hole

The Admiralty essentially make use of fighter pilots; so small are these 'space-jets' that no weapon is able to target them - even if they did it would be a massive waste of time better spent firing at larger targets - the only thing capable of hitting them is a sort of point defence flak-gun. If the enemy use flak guns then they waste firepower, if they don't they leave themselves exposed to bombers and small fighter craft that can shoot down missiles and even destroy small corvettes (see Erika Ibrahim and Commonwealth fighter pilots)

#### Tactic - Beast of the southeast

The Commonwealth Admiralty posses in their fleet, what can only described as a space kraken (really more squid like but kraken sounds scarier), this monster is capable of great firepower and for a while that was all it did. No longer.

The kraken has been trained to use its tentacles to smash smaller vessels together; the effect is quite terrifying, to do this though it is quite exposed and so must be protected with escorts or used in ambush situations

## The Ibrahim Reforms

We will also talk briefly about the reforms carried out by Admiral Satayesh Ibrahim. They will be explained in greater detail in this article ----> I haven't made it yet :(

 The reforms did not occur on any specific date but rather over time as Satayesh Ibrahim made changes to the fleet. Overall she focused on rigorous manoeuvre refinements and better synchronising the passage of orders and information throughout the fleet; both to reduce the need the 'babysit' her officers and to make complex tactics work like clockwork

She also moved the command bridge to a more agile cruiser, this made her less of a target and could use her faster vessel to rally other ships or lead attacks.