Commonwealth Naval Command
What is a nation without a navy to protect it?
Commonwealth Naval Command (CNC), also known Officially as the Commonwealth Navy Command and colloquially as the Commonwealth Navy, is the primary spaceborne naval force within the Commonwealth. The CNC is the largest single fighting force within the Commonwealth Armed forces, having taken part in conflicts across Orion, due to the vast pool of resources at its disposal from the various states of the Commonwealth. In recent years especially, the CNC's importance to stability and security has dramatically increased; after the Frontier and Periphery rebellions, and the subsequent ceasefire that now looms over the two great powers of Orion, the CNC has grown to its largest size since its establishment, with the continued importance of the organisation into the new century impossible to underestimate.
Composition
Manpower
In total, the Naval Command Office officially employs around 600,000 people, although only around 300,000 of that number are enlisted Officers and Marine personnel serving aboard warships. Other roles performed by CNC personnel include Administrative, Consultative, Engineering, Research, Exploration, and other specialised duties, with the vast majority of people under CNC employ serving aboard military installations and bases across Orion.
Equipment
As the primary fighting force of the largest nation in Orion, the CNC has access to large numbers of advanced equipment and tools. Since its inception, the Navy Command has aided in disaster response and evacuation in many systems, and as such has a large amount of medical support equipment such as emergency hospitals and field medical supplies at its disposal.
Another important duty of the CNC is first exploration missions into new Gates and new worlds. Although exclusive planetary exploration rights have been awarded to states and corporations in the past, a caveat of these agreements is that a member of naval personnel must be present to assess the locations found. Supposedly, this is in order to prevent settlement of dangerous planets, though many have argued this is so that the CNC can have first choice in locations for new installations and facilities. Regardless of their true agenda, the CNC makes use of a vast number of planetary analysis technologies and exploration equipments.
Weaponry
Similarly to its available equipment, weaponry that the CNC has access to and has developed is some of the most advanced in Orion, with CNC railgun technology especially being famed for its potency.
Standard CNC weapon profiles follow space combat roles established during the first Frontier Rebellion over 80 years ago, generally called the Picket strategy, which has been refined in subsequent conflicts and anti-pirate campaigns;
- At long-range, usually beyond 1000km, ships engage in missile and torpedo combat. These missiles have a variety of payloads, from standard ballistic missiles to powerful nuclear warheads. The CNC especially favour nuclear deterrents, as their blast radius can make them effective even without entering PDC range. Defensive measures against these include Point Defence Cannon arrays, which screen a defending vessel from missiles with bullets, Counter-Measures such as proxies signals, and even rudimentary anti-RADAR and LIDAR shielding.
- Within 1000km, railguns become effective. Although slugs fired by railguns aren't as explosive as a missile, well-placed tungsten or depleted uranium railgun slugs can completely disable a target vessel's reactor or main drive in a single shot; an important trait if you are pursuing a target you want to capture alive. Some smaller vessels have spinal mounted railguns, whilst most larger destroyers and battleships have Rail Cannons called MAGEs (Magnetic Accelerator Gun Emplacements) mounted on turrets, providing great rail gun coverage
- Within around 10km, true Close-quarters Battle (CQB/CQC) is declared. Within this range, the use of missiles is dramatically reduced due to the danger of potentially damaging your own vessel, whilst PDCs become powerful flak guns against even hardy vessels. In recent years, through research of Arkon material sciences, many of the CNC's newest ships have been fitted with Glance armour plating - a unique composite armour plating that, at low angles of incidence, can deflect incoming PDC fire. This armour material has proven so effective in CQB that almost all boarding craft and marine skiffs are armoured with it, due to the close ranges that boarding craft can come into with enemy vessels.
Vehicles
Numerous vessels within Orion display the prefix CNS, ranging from small forward patrol and scout corvettes, to the giant gun-ridden frigates and battleships of the mightiest battlefleets, and to the vast Cone-ship carriers that ship them around the Network. For the sake of brevity, only the major types of warships will be discussed within this article, whilst more specific branches of the CNC will have dedicated explanations to the warships and support vessels under their command. Most nations within the Commonwealth only have vessels that can also be found within the CNC, but a few nations and corporations maintain their own unique spacecraft.
- The smallest warship type within the CNC is the Corvette, although only two classes of vessels have ever served this role - those being the Skipper class scout, and the new Zodiac class independent patrol corvette -, the corvette type serves a very specific purpose within CNC battlefleets; to establish threats before the primary attack force engages. The Skipper class is one of the oldest ship templates still in use by the CNC, having been continually updated over the years with newer weapon systems, and has a reputation for being remarkably tough for such a small craft. The Zodiac class, on the other hand, could not be more different. Although a brand new warship type, the class has already gained renown among crewmen, both seasoned and new blood, as a so-called "punishment" vessel; those assigned to a Zodiac must endure long periods of radio silence whilst on patrol - a task made even more grueling as marines and crew rarely mess well when cooped up together - and are often the first line of defense again the deadly Wolfpacks used by the Periphery navy. As such, Zodiacs are often seen as the lowest vessel an enlisted crewman or marine can be assigned to.
- Above corvettes are Destroyers; vessels of this type range from as small - or even smaller - than Corvettes, to larger than Frigates. The main distinction that separates them is that Destroyers are designed for one major task; destruction. This is a surprisingly in-depth task, with a variety of Destroyer classes and subclasses built for different roles. For example, the Nahr-class Destroyer is one of the smallest templates within the CNC to be fitted with a spinal mounted Railgun, whilst the Olympian-class is fitted with as many missile racks as a Battleship, all in a lower range Frigate hull equivalent. These examples, and others throughout the CNC, give a good measure on the purpose of Destroyers - they are designed to punch far above their weight class, and although they may not be the most versatile vessels within Naval Command, they are easily some of the most destructive.
- Above destroyers are Frigates; a type that's both numerous and common throughout CNC fleets. Frigates tend to be anywhere between 50 and 150 metres in length (from nose to cone), and almost all Frigate designs are capable of operating independently, meaning they are some of the most common warships used in the defense of remote bases and installations throughout Orion. Many classes of Frigate exist, with many templates only constructed once for a specific purpose - for example, during the Fulcrum Expedition in the early 220s AT, the CNS Lever, the only frigate in the Lever class, was built and assigned as a long-range military exploration ship, due to alarming rumors that signs of Tarrasque activity had been observed through the Fulcrum Ring Gate. Ultimately, these rumors were unable to be confirmed, and the Lever was repurposed as a general warship in the following few years. Frigates serve as the multi-role backbone of CNC fleets, with almost all major branches of the Navy owning at least one vessel of the type.
- above Frigates are Cruisers, a rare but still essential part of the Commonwealth Navy.
- above Cruisers are Battleships, which are often considered the largest combatative vessels within the CNC. Battleships fill a truly independent role; a Battleship can be equipped with a Glide Drive to perform patrol runs in the most dangerous systems; it can easily take on hostile stations and installations; and, typically, a Battleship can carry its own micro support fleet - for example, the Mountain Class battleship can carry 4 support Corvettes or 2 Destroyers within its hangar bays. Battleships also serve as a command backbone for battlefleets; they tend to wield large amounts of PDCs and MAGEs, allowing them to screen allied vessels from both hostile missile and CQB attack. The newest ship type within the CNC - the Dreadnaught Class Battleship - is one of the most advanced vessels in active service; although only three of her kind have as of yet been built, they have already proven themselves valuable during the Dominion campaign against pirates in the Crossroads sector. The effectiveness of a battleship within astral combat cannot be understated.
- Finally, the largest vessels in the CNC are Carriers, nicknamed Cone Ships for their generally distinct shape. During the first few years after the CNC's founding, almost all warships constructed from the Navy were fitted with a Glide Drive, as at the time Arkonite conservation acts weren't properly established. There's no doubt that, as the time, CNC vessels were the most independent and responsive to threats that they have ever been - however, as the no new sources of Arkonite were discovered across the Network as was hoped, multiple treaties, ratified together as the New Paris Concordance, were established to limit the overuse of Arkonite within all Commonwealth territories. As such, older spacecraft had their Glide Drives stripped and repurposed, whilst most newer vessels weren't even designed to support one. However, the CNC still needed to be able to travel across the length of the always-growing Commonwealth in a reasonable time frame - as such, multiple designs for a fleet carrying vessel were proposed. The final design chosen was the venerable Océan Class carrier, nicknamed Cone-ships; these vast vessels were scalable, with most sitting at around 500-750 metres in length, Cone-shaped to allow other vessels to fly within its Glide shadow, and almost all iterations of the Océan design were fitted with a centrifuge ring or dual habitats.
Structure
Due to the nature of the Network and the inherent lag-time involved in both communication and travel across the Commonwealth, it is standard for fleets to work independently from a primarily command chain - orders given tend to be generalized, with exact tactical decisions made during flight by necessity. This has ensured that officers within Naval Command are some of the most competently trained individuals within Orion; each Officer must be able to make tactically sound decisions in the absence of a larger command structure.
Currently, the longest lag time often experienced by members of the CNC is the Marathon-Talos connection, which incurs a lag of around 40 Standard days. With Talos being the centre of the CNC's operations across the Commonwealth-Periphery border, the installation has a high amount of independence in its running of the Armistice zones and other bases and installations through the Frontier. This example illustrates one of the Naval Command Office's primary combative measures against lag time - the CNC will claim planets in certain vital systems, establish independent Command bases on their surface and in orbit, and assign one or more fleets to that system to be commanded by the forward bases there.
Furthermore, fleets also have a high degree of autonomy by necessity. Inter-system travel via the Gates can take several days if Gates are antipodal to each other, meaning travel across the Commonwealth can take weeks or even months. As such, large flotilla, often referred to as Battlefleets, are granted much independence from the primary chain of command. Some Battlefleets answer to a Forward Command installation, often making the system in which said base is located their Home system, and where they will return often when needing repair, refit, or major resupply. However, a good number of Battlefleets fly independently, being restocked regularly by resupply fleets from Command centres. These Battlefleets, sometimes called Patrol Battlefleets, are usually the fastest response to a growing threat that the CNC has.
Due to the immense lag-times involved, the CNC may be at war for more than a month before Central Command is aware. As such, the continued independence of its forward bases cannot be overlooked.
Tactics
CNC Battlefleets make effective use of the Picket strategy, an astral combat doctrine based around tactical flexibility, and the vast distances involved in battles in the Details on the weaponry utilized to uphold this tactic are listed above).
The general rule of thumb for CNC Battlefleets is "Range is Power." Physical distance provides a number of benefits for both an attacker and a defender, such as reducing an enemy's weapon capabilities to missiles only, ensuring that you have time to prepare for those incoming missiles, and decreasing the ability of detection by the enemy; after all, its hard enough to detect a well-heatsinked spacecraft at 1000 kilometres, let alone a million, or a billion. As such, Commonwealth vessels will often maintain a large range on their targets, waiting until their numbers are superior, or the opportunity for an attack strikes.
However, this tactic has been heavily questioned in recent years as skirmishes on the border systems with the Periphery have sparked up again. Against Periphery wolfpacks, traditional CNC tactics make them easy prey - the Periphery has an abundance of small civilian craft, even without Glide Drives, that they utilise to maintain position on a moving CNC Battlefleet. Then, when that fleet is at its halfway point, Periphery wolfpacks strike these fleets, attacking when they're at their most vulnerable. This combination has forced the CNC to exercise new pathfinding tactics, leading to the creation of the Zodiac class patrol-corvette, a vessel purpose-built to weed out these civilian spies without forcing larger vessels onto more dangerous patrol runs.
Training
The CNC is perhaps the best-trained Navy within Orion, by necessity. Due to the independence expected of individuals within Naval Command, their officers go through a rigorous 5-year training plan during peace-time. During war-time, such as the Frontier and Periphery rebellions, new officers instead underwent an accelerated 2/3-year program, with the expectation that they would return to Naval training after their war-time tenure was complete. On top of this, enlisted personnel are given a greater amount of command freedom than traditionally expected in Navies, again due to the independence required of their fleets; they are expected to follow the immediate orders of their commanding officer first, and orders from Central command second. This is a careful balance to maintain; however, with the highly selective process involved in Officer enlistment, and the training that these Officers go through, there has only been one recorded mutiny count to date (explained below).
All Battlefleets are expected to take part in an organized training exercise at least once every two years, except when on active assignment. These exercises are often organised by military installations and stations rather than fleets themselves; these sites will make contact with one or more fleet ahead of time, and make a request for them to arrive and take part in the training exercises that the station is going to oversee. To maintain fleet independence, officers can choose to turn down these requests - as long as within the next 6 months their fleet takes part in a different training exercise. This has created a training boom, where different installations - both public and private - will vie to have the greatest and most renowned fleets take part in their training exercises. The most famous training centre for Battlefleets is the Ouroboros Asteroid Belt range in the Axia systems, which often sees anywhere from 10-15 fleets respond to their offer.
Logistics
Auxilia
The CNC has a variety of subbranches that aid in its functionality, whilst also having connections to other armed forces, militias, and private armies throughout Orion. Primarily, the Naval Command Office works in tandem with the Commonwealth Planetary Army (CPA), the Commonwealth Air Force (CAF), and the Commonwealth Ocean Navy (CON) Offices to uphold the defense and protection of Commonwealth citizens. These Offices will often work together to complete certain goals - for example, the CAF is responsible for the majority of fighter air support on planetary bodies, but aside from a few planetside defense corvettes and satellite installations, they own no warships, meaning that they require Naval assistance if transportation of their strikecraft is required.
History
Historical loyalties
The only example of a change in loyalty amongst CNC Battlefleets was during the first Frontier rebellion. As Operation Bronze Spear progressed, multiple CNC Battlefleets answered requests for aid among border systems and planets still loyal to the Commonwealth. Among these fleets was Battlefleet Sundial-2, a new reserve fleet brought into service due to the short distance between its home base, Sundial, and the frontlines. This new Battlefleet was lead by Admiral Ymir Orison, a well-respected officer of the CNC, who rejoined the Navy out of retirement as soon as the Frontier rebellion officially begun. During the campaign, Sundial-2 took part in several key battles across the Frontier, wherein their primary purpose was the transportation of marine units onto hostile worlds, the most famous of which was Esundir, a previous CNC position, which had been taken early on in the Rebellion by hostile forces. After 2 years of fighting, however, the entire Sundial-2 Battlefleet suddenly went silent. By the end of the rebellion the following year, the Sundial-2 battlefleet was declared lost with all hands - over 2000 lives - and investigations into how and why began.
The current theory as to why, and which explains why this story is relevant here, is that the Sundial-2 fleet experienced a mutiny. Admiral Orison was a respected, but incredibly harsh officer, known to shout out his captains if they majorly disagreed with his position. The theory proposed publicly by the CNC is that by a combination of the Admiral's treatment, the stress of two years of continuous conflict, and the news only a few weeks earlier that Sundial had been attacked and raided by elements of the rebellion, the morale, and willpower of his underlings collapsed quite succinctly, eventually leading them to a skirmish that scuttled all vessels involved - any that weren't utterly destroyed were in too damaged a state upon discovery, and as such there were no survivors.
Many have questioned this proposal, however. The Sundial-2 fleet was primarily a marine transport ship, and the marines attached to the vessel were not exclusively from Sundial - in fact, those from Sundial were the minority aboard these vessels. Secondly, civilian scavenging fleets found little evidence of a skirmish in the system where the proposed mutiny took place - there's no debris cloud or particularly strong radioactive presence, nor have any rogue transmissions been detected by civilians elements.
What happened to the Sundial-2 fleet indeed remains a mystery, nearly a century later.
What happened to the Sundial-2 fleet indeed remains a mystery, nearly a century later.
Ship prefix
CNS (Commonwealth Navy Ship)
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