Imperial Navy
By far the largest branch of the Colonial Earth Empire 's military, the Imperial Navy is at the forefront of force projection. The Navy of the Colonial Earth Empire is by far the most funded and most known branch within the armed forces. The Imperial Navy exerts its power all throughout the galaxy using flotillas of battleships and escort ships. Each fleet operates as a self-sufficient force, with a detachment of Imperial Shock Trooper Corps and support in tow. Admirals each control their own fleets and are given particular sectors to patrol and keep order within, and often times find themselves at odds with the other admiralty within the Navy.
The Navy is much more loyal to the Imperial Federal Government, specifically the Imperial Senate. They most often work alongside the Service. The Army on the other hand, is more likely to side with their regional governors or the Imperial Nobility. However, they usually are cowed when Imperial Battleships show up, armed to the teeth with elite shock troopers. To keep this loyalty, those of the Navy are said to be the most ideologically dedicated to the cause of the Emprie, it also does not hurt to regularly reward the Naval Officer Corps with territory and capital upon their conquests.
Structure
The Structure of the Imperial Navy technically operates under the Imperial Court, and unlike the Imperial Army, which mostly operate under the influence of one House or another, the Imperial Navy is a faction within the imperial hierarchy within its own right. It is sprawling in size, and maintains political control within the Court that could rival the emperor. However, if the noble were houses to unite, they could swat away the imperial navy easily. Thus, there is a tense political relationship maintained.
At the top of the hierarchy lies the Lord Solar, who answers only to the Emperor. He is selected by a council of his peers, amongst the Lord Admirals. These Lord Admirals each command their own Royal Fleet, each with command over millions of souls. Each fleet is fine tuned to the region and mission they are assigned to. Two fleets are purely dedicated to maintaining the recruitment and training of the Imperial Navy.
Each Lord Admiral has access to Shock Trooper Legions, various armadas of imperial ships, intelligence networks, logistical forces, and even special operation forces. Some will even form councils with Imperial Army commanders in their local region to coordinate their forces. Underneath the Lord Admiral makes up a complex web of senior officers that make up the administrative flag officers, managing the behemoth of forces and logistics that is required to run an imperial fleet.
Lord Commanders are just below the Lord Admirals. The Lord Commanders oversee individual systems. They can have dozens of capital ships under their command. Shock trooper legions also fall under the command of a Lord Commander, who must attach themselves to a fleet. The fact that in a planetary invasion there might be two Lord Admirals is intentional. They are both subservient to their Lord Admiral, and the Admiral can use this contentious relationship to keep the two in line.
Admirals below the Lord Commander can command their own smaller armadas, usually indepedent patrols of force. Admirals also command larger Strike Groups, in march larger fleet formations. Commadants form up the backbone of the Imperial Navy, commanding the bulk of the standing Carrier Strike Groups. These flexible forces patrol Imperial space as independent forces. Some might contain a regiment of Shock Troopers, a wing of starfighters or even an Imperial Secret Service or Judicar attache. They can operate in specific areas, but they are mostly self-sufficient.
Below the Commandants lie the line officers. These officers each command their own ships, or as detachment commanders on the truly large installations and dreadnoughts. Imperial line officers handle the day-to-day administration of the empire. Majors command flight wings, while lieutenants work as communication officers aboard carriers. The officer corps of the empire is truly something to behold, a truly well-oiled machine.
The Non-Commisioned officers make up the bulk of the Starfighter Corps' pilots, and the backbone of the shock trooper legions. They fly Chimera gunships, work as engineer team leaders and lead infantry squads on the ground.
Culture
Why Join the Navy?
The empire is vast and numbers in the tens of trillions of souls. The reasons for joining are as different as the people. For many, the Empire pays twice the national average income. For a select few Ignoble officers, it is a potential shot at gaining nobility. The Navy is the most well trained and well armed fighting force within the empire. It pays so well because it wants to recruit the best and brightest the empire has to offer. It also is a pathways to future oppurtunity after service. There are those on feudal worlds that see the service as a means to start a new life among the stars. Something only a fantasy for 99% of those living on the poorest worlds of the empire. Test high enough, and a rural farm boy might even get fast tracked for the Imperial Starfighter Corps, along with an Imperial Pilot certification. Some volunteer in order to avoid conscription into their local Imperial Army regiment. Tymorrans in the working class strive to join the Navy to avoid being tithed into service into one of the Imperial Tymorran Army Regiments. Compared to these regiments, the brutal life of a shock trooper has a much higher survival rate and pays ten times as much. Imperial Nobility joins the Navy in lesser numbers, even if they are garunteed an officer position. In many cases, being nobility means very little in the grand scheme of the navy organization. Often times an Imperial armada officer staff can be made up of a handful of houses and even more officers that have no ties to imperial nobility at all. Imperial nobility is more likely to join up with their local Imperial House Guard, where their title can buy them rank and influence. Sometimes, petit nobility will join up with the Navy as a means of sling shotting their career into a higher echeleon of nobility. They realize that their influence can open the right doors for them to garner power. The Federal Sand Defensive Corps has a habit of poaching officers from the Navy once they have several years of service under their belt. They bring that combat experience back to Fasaryr Prime, where the House of Sand is happy to grant them a petit noble title and a plot of land in return for more service to a relatively stable military force. Harrison Armory also is known to pay even better than the Navy for their colonial legions. Whether for the pay, the status, the influence or the training, the Imperial Navy is flush with potential recruits. They spend ample time preparing their officers at the various naval war colleges, where over half of the cadets washout before they make it to their first posting. The Starfighter academies pump out skilled NCO pilots. There are even those who join up out of some sense of patriotic duty. They see the empire as a means of serving the glory of the imperium, in some sense of anthrochauvinistic sense of service. They think they are protecting the glory of the empire.Assets
The Imperial Navy is the most well-funded branch of the military. There are hundreds of millions of personnel that make up its forces, and they are armed with tens of thousands of starships. While the Imperial Army is mostly outfitted, trained, and deployed at the whims of the local commanders, the Navy is firmly under the control of the Imperial Court and federal government. The greatest ship the Emprie has are their super-carriers, which contain enough manpower and material to launch a full-scale invasion at a moment's notice. Swarms of snub-ships and dropfighters that deploy from the carrier are protected by smaller frigates and destroyers that have more specialized roles within the fleet.
Type
Military, Navy
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Controlled Territories
46th Imperial Cossacks clear the rubble of an active sector on Nimbam.
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