Loralynn Kennakris 2: The Morning Which Breaks

by Owen R. O'Neill

  Due it origins as the military are of a mercantile consortium, the CEF Navy has historically been optimized for detached independent operations by small units, or even single ships, under conditions where communications delays are several days, even weeks. Thus, the CEF Navy emphasizes initiative, flexibility and a degree of risk taking that has led to (in the view of many) a ‘privateering mentality.’ (Not surprisingly, the most prestigious operational commands in the CEF Navy are battlecruiser commands, though in recent decades, fleet carrier commands have come to be very highly regarded.) Until LH-1, the CEF rarely engaged in a large joint-force actions, though it has since made great strides in this direction.

  Because of its historical focus, the CEF Navy (and the CEF in general) emphasizes cross-training in multiple disciplines as opposed to specialized expertise (specialist fields such as engineering excepted), and rotates officers between line and staff positions. Officers also exchange between branches to a degree, although this is only common between the Navy and the SRF. Further, officers often rotate between combat and training posts; in the SRF, it is official mandatory policy that flight officers periodically return from front-line duty to serve as instructors.

  The hallmarks of the CEF Navy are thus innovation, independent action, quick slashing raids, and small unit actions. Although, it is much better adapted to combined-arms operations than formerly, there is still a greater degree of friction than in the Halith Imperial Navy, and interservice (as well intraservice) rivalries remain common and can have a deleterious effect.

  Administratively, the CEF Navy is organized into divisions, squadrons, and fleets. These are permanent formations, divisions and squadrons being of the same class of warship. Typically, two divisions form a squadron, and number of squadrons comprise a fleet. For light capital ships (destroyers and frigates), a division is nominally four ships. For major capital ships (cruisers, battleships and carriers), a division is two ships. Dreadnoughts do not form divisions. (See Strike Forces).

  CEF Navy squadrons include Battleship Squadrons (BATRONs), Cruiser Squadrons (CRURONs), Destroyer Squadrons (DESRONs), Escort Squadrons (ESRONs, made up of frigates), and Transport Squadrons (TRANSRONs). Carriers do not form squadrons, but only divisions (two, if fleet carriers; three, if light or escort carriers.)

  The CEF Navy uses the term flotilla for administrative units of auxiliaries; such as, mine layers/mine sweepers, tankers and munitions ships, stores ships, repair vessels, AGIs, etc).

  Operationally, the largest tactical formations in the CEF Navy are Strike Forces (based around two dreadnoughts) and Carrier Battle Groups (based around a fleet carrier division). Strike Forces are permanent tactical formations, similar to fleets. Carrier Battle Groups, like task forces, are formed on an ad hoc basis.

  A fleet commander has a personal command unit based around a BATRON, followed by the fleet’s name: BATRON FIVE.

  The CEF Navy forms task forces and task groups as needed. These formations (especially task groups) are also called squadrons, if sent on detached duty, but are not to be confused with the administrative units.

  As a detached force, operating independently, a squadron is based around a cruiser or battlecruiser, and might be commanded by a commodore, if the squadron is large enough. Such units are assigned a name, but use CRURON or BATCRURON, followed by their fleet’s name and a letter designator (always spelled according to the call-sign alphabet) as their unit identifier. Thus, a detached battlecruiser squadron from Third Fleet might be named Hydra Patrol Force Echo, but its identifier would be BATCRURON THREE Echo.

  The CEF Navy was originally comprised of three fleets (and supporting elements) operating under Linked Command System. Early resistance to parts of this policy led to the creation of three Strike Forces, which were placed directly under sector CinCs. After the Outworlds were settled, the Trifid Frontier Force was created to patrol the region. The TTF was not included in the Linked Command System, as not being a minor command, but reports directly to CNO.

  The issue of the two combined fleets retained by the former STO led to the relaxation of the prohibition on CEF units being based in Homeworld systems, and the incorporation of the STO Grand Fleet and Sol Fleet into the CEF.

  Finally, another CEF fleet was created and deployed Cygnus, under its own sector, outside the Linked Command System; it also reports directly to CNO.

  The current organization of the CEF is as follows:

  Sol Local Group Command [SOLCOM]

  Strike Force Agincourt, under CinC-SOLCOM

  Grand Fleet, deployed to Sol Local Group & Various

  Fifth Fleet, deployed at Regulus

  Sol System Command [COM-SOLSYS]

  Sol Fleet, deployed at Rigel Kent, under COMSOLFLT

  Meridies Sector Command [MERSEC]

  Strike Force Victory, under CinC-MERSEC

  First Fleet, deployed at Eltanin

  Pleiades Sector Command [PLESEC]

  Strike Force Ardennes, under CinC-PLESEC

  Third Fleet, deployed at Crucis

  Cygnus Sector Command* [CYGCOM]

  Strike Force, Thermopylae under CinC-CYGCOM

  Seventh Fleet, deployed at Cygnus

  Trifid Region Command* [TRICOM]

  Trifid Frontier Force, (TFF or Tuffs) deployed to the Outworlds.

  TTF Command Group, under CO, Trifid Frontier Force (COMTUF)

  * Reports directly to CNO. CinC-TRICOM is not assigned a strike force, unlike the other CinCs.

  Note: Sector CinC is a Full Admiral’s billet. Fleet CO is a vice admiral’s billet. TRICOM is also a vice admiral’s billet, and COMTUF is a rear admiral’s billet. COMSOLFLT may be a vice admiral or a full admiral (the latter usually a vice admiral promoted shortly before retirement).

  Navy, Halith Imperial:

  The Halith Imperial Navy is a very large proficient professional force adapted for conquest and enforcing security among Halith’s many colonies. For these reasons, it is organized differently than the CEF. A full discussion is outside the scope of this document, but some keys factors can be highlighted.

  Fundamentally, the Halith military is optimized for operations that involve large massed forces, ultimately focused on a terrestrial campaign in a battlespace where communications delays are short. Thus, the Halith military is more tightly integrated than the CEF and emphasizes joint-force actions with tight operational timelines. Authority is exerted directly in a top-down fashion and independent operations are relatively rare. Therefore, the Halith military has a Supreme Staff which commands all service branches, rather than the three nominally co-equal general staffs of the CEF.

  Also because of this emphasis, the Halith military focuses on cultivating more specialized expertise and does not cross-train to the extent the CEF does; it is rare for Halith officers to embrace multiple disciplines, and the Halith military does not rotate line and staff positions as the CEF does.

  The emphasis on operational speed and bringing overwhelming firepower to bear at the point of attack means the Halith military is less deliberative than the CEF, and less likely (and less able) to change plans in mid-stream. Further, Halith commanders tend to be relatively more senior than their opposite numbers in the CEF. Some commentators aver that this leads to a degree on operational rigidity.

  The historical Halith emphasis on conquest has fixed in Halith strategic thinking the concept of the decisive battle. This was used against them very effectively in the latter stages of LH-1, where the CEF continuously lured Halith forces into one engagement after another, seeking a decisive battle, only to be worn down.

  Ironically, the one success the Halith Navy had at forcing a decisive battle, where they were able to fight on their terms and bring superior force to bear, was the Battle of Anson’s Deep. The crushing defeat they suffered there left them unable to resume the offensive, largely due to the attritive battles they’d be duped into fighting prior to that point.

  The historical emphasis on conquest also explains the why the Imperial Ground
Forces are the elevated above the others, although the Imperial Navy is strategically the most important arm, and has been for some time. Again, some observers blame this for some of the failures Halith suffered in LH-1.

  However, the primacy of the ground forces has been maintained: the head of the Supreme Staff is the Grand Marshal, who is always a ground-forces officer and a titled peer. The Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy occupies the second rank, ahead of the Colonel General of the Imperial Marines (equivalent to a field marshal in the Imperial Ground Forces). While the Imperial Marines are considered a separate service for administrative purposes, operationally, they are considered part of the Navy, and do not act or deploy independently.

  The head of the security forces is a mere general, not even a marshal or field marshal (the two grades in the Imperial ground forces above general). This clearly shows the disregard in which the security branch is held.

  The Halith Navy does not consider the fighters, which they call Light Strike Groups (LSGs) a separate branch of the Service. Instead, LSGs are organic naval units attached to a specific carrier, just as the rest of the crew, forming their own department. LSGs do not transfer between carriers the way SRF units are accustomed to doing. Again, this shows the strong Halith concern with closely coordinated operations conducted at a very high op-tempo, which they believe can only be achieved with units that have worked together for a long time. Here again is shown the Halith preference for speed and offensive striking power over flexibility.

  (Note: This probably explains another Halith tendency: the practice of not rotating active flight officers, or other officers, into training billets. The CEF does this regularly to allow officers to pass along their experience, while Halith relies on a cadre of professional instructors. Thus, Halith flight officers are usually more experienced than their CEF counterparts. This led to high a casualty rate among CEF flight officers early in LH-1. However, the CEF’s more rapid training cycle, and attrition among Halith’s most experienced pilots, redressed the balance by the end of the war.)

  Administratively, and operationally, the Imperial Navy is follows a model that is similar to their ground forces in organization. The smallest fleet units are squadrons, which are the same class of warship. Two or three squadrons compose a division, and several divisions combine to make a fleet.

  Divisions are permanent tactical formations and are not homogenous, being assembled of different squadrons types to make an organic tactical unit. The largest such formations in the Halith Navy are carrier divisions (CARDIVs) and Center Forces (CENFORs). A Center Force is superficially similar to a CEF Navy Strike Force, but is not an independent unit and never deploys by itself. Instead, it forms the core of a fleet, consisting of a dreadnought with two (sometimes three) battleship divisions (BATDIVs).

  In the Halith Navy, flotilla is the term for in-system naval units, usually lead by a frigate supported by LMACs and patrol vessels. It is both tactical and administrative unit.

  The Halith Imperial Navy comprises six main fleets, along with numerous smaller detachments and support units. In order of precedence, the six fleets are: Haslar, Prince Vorland, Duke Albrecht, VanNeimen, Ilion, and Kerberos. Each of these fleets in commanded by a full admiral, except the Haslar Fleet, which the Grand Admiral’s personal command. (In the CEF, these would be vice admiral’s billets.)

  Unlike the CEF, these fleets do not have territorial associations, except for the Haslar Fleet, which acts as the combined home fleet for Halith Evandor (the prime world), Haslar, and Vehren. This fleet does not sortie outside of these three systems. (In practice, it leaves Haslar to go to Halith Evandor for state occasions, and rarely visits Vehren.) Syrdar, Pindarus, and Zhian do not have home fleets. Instead their systems are heavily fortified and patrolled by non-hypercapable system defense forces that are not attached to the Imperial Navy. (They are supported by Halith Navy flotillas that are permanently assigned to the system)

  NBPS

  Nedaeman Bureau of Public Safety. Nedaema’s planetary police force and investigative organization.

  NCA:

  National Command Authority. The person or organization that exerts executive control over the military in a national government.

  NCO:

  Noncommissioned officers. Petty officers and chief petty officers in navies, and in the SRF. Corporals and sergeants in the marines and ground forces. The most senior NCO ranks in the CEF are master chief petty officer and sergeant major.

  NDIA:

  Nedaeman Directorate of Intelligence & Analysis. Its civil intelligence agency.

  Nedaema:

  The League’s richest Homeworld outside Sol, Nedaema is a water planet in the Pleiades. Its large economy is based on knowledge work, development of medical technology, and its rich colonies. Hyper-egalitarian with pacifist tendencies, it is legally a vegetarian society. The capital and principal city is Nemeton.

  Nereidian League:

  A powerful star civilization consisting of 13 Homeworlds and numerous colonies. Having the largest economy in existence, it is dominated by Sol, and especially by Terra. The name derives from the capital located at Nereus, on Mars. Often referred to simply as the League.

  The League was originally established, by charter, as a mercantile consortium between the Solar Treaty Organization and the various governments of the Pleiades and the Meridies Cluster, all of which had already founded a substantial number of colonies, and all of which controlled important transit nodes: the Merope Junction in the Pleiades, which also controlled Crucis; Anson’s Deep in Eltanin, which had been heavily settled from the Meridies; and Regulus which was in the STO’s sphere. The original governing body was the Board of Control, appointed by the Board of Electors, who represented the charter worlds.

  This agreement between three relatively powerful, well-armed, and not entirely trustful interstellar societies explains much of the League structure and its peculiar traditions, especially in the CEF, which were aimed at preventing any one partner from dominating the others. These measures did not succeed, as Sol’s economic output and military might gradually overcame the others.

  Both the Pleiades and the Meridies do retain considerable influence and have the ability to thwart Sol if they act in concert. However, cultural tensions between Nedaema and the Meridies have led to the Pleiades becoming more closely aligned with Sol (especially with Terra), so this rarely happens.

  The League Charter, which originally served only to safeguard rights and define the obligations of the charter worlds, and stipulate how disputes between them would be arbitrated, has evolved into a de facto constitution but it is still called the Charter. It has been amended a number of times since the League’s inception, the first seven of which are the most important.

  The First Amendment accomplished three acts: 1) established the Grand Senate as a legislative body along with its membership and rules, out of the Board of Electors; 2) created the Plenary Council, chaired by the Speaker, out of the Board of Control and its President; 3) set up the principle ministries. This is the only amendment that was adopted by the Board of Control, which then dissolved itself to take up offices as the principle ministers.

  The Second Amendment, and the first passed by the Grand Senate, authorized the creation of the CEF.

  The Third Amendment defined the League’s relationship with the home fleets of the charter worlds (now Homeworlds), and where and how these could act beyond their home systems.

  The Fourth Amendment guaranteed extraterritoriality for the Homeworlds.

  The Fifth Amendment established the limits of League authority in the colonies.

  The Six Amendment established the right of colonial representation in the Grand Senate, and set the requirements for this.

  The Seventh Amendment allowed certain colonies to charter their own colonies.

  Neutronium:

  Neutron-degenerate matter. It is not known to exist in nature (neutron stars are composed of more complex material), but has been created in gra
vitic ovens. Its density is 4×1017 kg/m3 or ~0.5 kg per cubic micron. Compare strange matter.

  New California:

  One of the League’s oldest and richest Homeworlds, located in Procyon; the richest single planet outside Sol. Noted for its technologically advanced, sybaritic culture. It is a common joke that New Californians are ‘gadget addled’. Ascalon is the capital.

  New Madras:

  An uninhabited system on the border between Crucis Sector and the Hydra. The CEF maintains a major forward base there in order to patrol the Hydra, protect Crucis Sector from Bannerman incursions and support Wogan’s Reef. Elements of the CEF Seventh Fleet are based there. Compare Epona and Outbound Station.

  New Meridies:

  A powerful League Homeworld in the Meridies Cluster, along with Messier and Hesperia. A traditional monarchy with a very strong naval tradition.

  New UK, the:

  The New United Kingdom of Friesia & New Caledonia, located between the Cepheus Region and Cygnus. Actually very old, and prior to the Formation Wars, much more powerful. An important League ally, it is particularly close to the Homeworlds of the Meridies Cluster, with whom it shares many traits. Especially noted for its mercenary units, and the Royal Navy, a rather antiquated but still powerful force.

  Nexus:

  A major transit node or ‘jump node’. There is no firm distinction between a nexus and node, and the terms are used rather loosely. In general, a nexus can connect a large number of transit routes (e.g. the Kepler Junction), or it can be a node that is critical even though it has more limited connectively (e.g. Hissarlik, the main Halith nexus).