The Reunification Navy (RN) is the non-atmospheric branch of the Reunification Alliance’s armed forces, employing a largely separate command structure and very different traditions to the atmospheric Alliance Combat Forces. Throughout its existence it has sought to maintain its status as the most powerful black-water naval force in the Alliance’s sphere of influence, and holds a central and highly-romanticised place in Alliance history and folklore.
Based out of Rotterdam, the RN is directly beholden to the Alliance Astrotime Authority (AAA), though it also holds much sway within the institution, contributing most of the members of the various management committees. Like any armed service, the RN is as much a political institution as a military one, but in this case its political role makes enormous sense, for the Alliance is built on internal trade and therefore totally reliant on the RN’s protection for its continued prosperity.
With this in mind, the RN is tasked with fulfilling four major missions, listed in order of priority:
- Anti-piracy and trade protection work within Alliance space
- Maintaining a battlefleet with at least 30% greater fighting strength than its next-largest competitor
- Supporting the ACF through provision of spacelift, orbital fire support, and military intelligence
- Exploring the reaches of unknown space, including by enabling and supporting new research, survey, and colonisation efforts
In order to best fulfil these diverse operational objectives, the RN is divided into five Mission Components, all under the overall command of the First Admiral. When a ship is commissioned into the navy, Naval Command will assign it to one of these five structures, usually according to class. It is then up to the structures themselves to assign the ship as they say fit, though the First Admiral will typically take more direct control over these matters during times of war.
Of the five structures, Reunification Navy Area Command (RNAC) effectively operates as an umbrella over the top of the other four, with its officers taking command priority in the event of equal ranks and its agenda assuming the priority in the frequent event that jurisdictions overlap. There is no set hierarchy among the remaining four, though there are obviously differences in prestige. All five are briefly outlined below.
1. Reunification Navy Area Command
Area Command (RNAC) is broadly regarded as the most prestigious of the Mission Components, with its high-ranking officers assigned to oversee vast areas of space. They are responsible for ensuring that RN operational objectives are fulfilled within their assigned region.
Due to this wide-ranging remit, forces assigned to other components will regularly fall under the command of RNAC while operating within its jurisdiction. In this respect, it is intended to coordinate all RN forces within a given area, with the aim of avoiding divided command structures that might harm performance in the field. Certain activities also fall directly under RNAC, including colonial support operations and planetary defence management,
RNAC often relies extensively on the units of other Mission Components to fulfil its objectives, but does also have significant numbers of ships directly assigned. These take the form of regionally-based cruiser or Frigate squadrons, which provide multirole units capable of carrying out a wide range of duties and flexibly supporting operational objectives within their assigned area. RNAC will also typically be assigned significant numbers of non-combat ships, to enable it to flexibly respond to changing circumstances and fulfil the various small duties to which for which it is directly responsible.
2. Low Intensity Operations Force
The Low-Intensity Operations Force (LIOF) is the RN’s primary anti-piracy and trade protection arm. They primarily operate Patrol Cutters - small, cheap, high-endurance ships that have the flexibility and availability to police the vast swathes of Alliance space. In order to manage these enormous areas of responsibility, LIOF is divided into its own Area Commands, each assigned directly under the primary RNAC command structure in a region. Due to this close working relationship, LIOF patrol patterns are often supplemented by RNAC multi-roles.
The central LIOF command structure takes a more high-concept role, assuming responsibility for the logistics management, astral security, and trade infrastructure elements of the RN’s mission. In this role they work very closely with the AAA and the Independent Spacefarer’s Association.
3. Battlefleet
Battlefleet has traditionally enjoyed the most acclaim and popularity of the Mission Components. It manages the RN’s frontline combat units, overseeing their training, procurement, and mission-readiness processes, and commanding them in battle. As such, Battlefleet assigned almost all of the RN’s lineships and Destroyers, alongside a considerable number of cruisers, auxiliaries, and various other units.
Much like LIOF, Battlefleet must operate closely with its local RNAC structure, with the regionally assigned fleets ultimately under their high-level control. In this respect, then, Battlefleet is responsible for the day-to-day running, tactical, and some operational aspects of the RN’s combat arm, but the grand strategy and high-level operational elements mainly fall under RNAC’s remit and will be directed by one of their officers.
Uniquely, Battlefleet maintains a separate headquarters from the other Mission Components, with its high level command structure and largest concentration of force based at Hadley Station, an enormous mushroom-and-spire orbital circling the star Avari.
4. Exploration Board
The Exploration Board is the subject of many famous works of fiction, and while their actual role is a little less glamorous they rightly exist at the heart of the romance surrounding the RN. In brief, the Exploration Board is responsible for charting the endless black expanse of space The most famous, and exciting, means of doing so is through the formation of the great Expeditionary Fleets, large collections of ships that voyage together into the unknown, effectively mutually creating a base for the others to come back to. More regularly, though, the Board primarily uses individual survey and research missions to gradually expand the frontiers of knowledge, with only the occasional Expeditionary Fleet departing when the ships are made available.
The Exploration Board generally has to make do with fairly limited resources, and many of its vessels could scarcely be called military ships, designed for a primarily scientific role. Nonetheless, they do operate a force of multi-roles, which are not only often excellent exploration platforms in their own right, but also add some much needed firepower to the Expeditionary Fleets in the event that something goes wrong. The Board also receives large numbers of its ships on short-term temporary assignments for individual operations - when Battlefleet provides the covering force for an expedition, for example.
5. Atmospheric Operations Liaison Group
The Atmospheric Operations Liaison Group (AOLG) is the smallest branch of the RN, with their role focussed on ensuring effective cooperation between the other Mission Components and ACF. Generally they operate in an entirely advisory role, with it falling to RNAC to assign assets to the necessary operations. For all this, they are vital to ensuring that inter-service rivalry does not undermine the Alliance’s forces in the field.
Command Structure
Given the complication introduced by the Mission Components, a rough outline of the RN’s command structure is provided below.
Reunification Navy Headquarters
First Admiral, Commander-in-Chief Reunification Navy
Second Admiral, Regional Operations Director, Commander RNAC
Admiral of the Fleet, Commander of the Combined Battlefleet (Based out of Hadley Station)
Admiral, Commander LOIF
Admiral, Director of the Exploration Board
Admiral, Chief ACF Liaison Officer
RNAC Area Commands
Admiral, RNAC Area Overseer
(Vice-)Admiral, LOIF Local Commander
RN Fleet Commands
Admiral, Commander of the Fleet
RN Squadron Commands
Rear-Admiral, Commander of the Squadron
Ship Command
Captain, Master of the Ship
Ranks
See Reunification Navy Rank Structure
History
The RN was officially established on the date the Reunification Alliance Charter was signed, formed by the pooling of Terran and Centauran naval power into a single combined force. In these early days, when spacefaring was still relatively new to both races, it played an even more significant role than it does today, managing virtually all space travel. Over the following years more and more of this control would be deferred out to other branches of the Alliance Central Authority and the various private ventures that began springing up.
In some ways the Exploration Board is a holdover from those early days, though the necessity of warships means it still has an important function. And it does remain true that the RN is far more than a military force, maintaining a vast fleet of survey ships, tankers, and transports, and still servicing several commercial starline routes.