Chatcaavan Navy

Pretty obviously going to need a page to describe how the Navy works, since I went into it in Only the Open (Command, Logistics, the Admiral-Offense position, etc.) Also need something about the system lord defense fleets somewhere.

Administration

The Empire is a sphere divided roughly into quadrants, and each quadrant has a Command, who sees to the fight there, and a Logistics, who makes sure Command has something to fight with.

Size

No numbers mentioned in the texts, but estimated 10-20 times as many soldiers/assets as the Alliance, given the size differential. Many ship types, in order to allow for maximum hierarchical progress.

Logistics

Coordinating the movements of those fleets was the province of the Logistics males, one of whom sat in the central office of each apex system, and Logistics-East had shouldered the greatest load of the four, thanks to the size of the Eastern base.

Quadrants

East

As the central hub for the entire eastern quadrant of the Empire—the most industrialized and developed quadrant—the Apex-East system is the home of the Navy's oldest, largest, and busiest naval installation, Naval-East. The single habitable world, while technically in the possession of a system lord, was functionally a naval stronghold after years of close relations with the base. The orbital station and moonbase there provided training and extra factory capacity, and the world itself served as an idyllic refuge for overworked officers in need of fresh food and a sky to fly in.

• Admiral-East-Prime: in charge of the sector’s fighting ships, reporting to Command-East whose responsibilities included not just the ships but the administration of the entire military presence in the Eastern quadrant.

Ships

Most Chatcaavan Navy ships are carriers for small single-person fighters. They are accompanied by supporting screens, and if necessary, a flagship. Chatcaavan ships are more automated than Alliance ones; this automation allows for smaller ship crews, which reduces the inevitable tensions created by a complement of aggressive males.

• corridors have high ceilings (and crawlspaces above them)
• bridge is at the fore, on the top deck
• power chambers (aft)
• damage control (aft also) - has drawers with shunts
• no sickbays

Carriers

Carriers are the most common flagship for the typical Chatcaavan fleet, though once the fleets grow to a certain size, dedicated command and control vessels are more likely.

The smallest Chatcaavan carriers hold eight fighter craft.

Someone larger ones will have a complement of 60 people.

Fighter Craft

Chatcaavan fighters were single-occupant craft, and on their carriers their pilots entered through a hatch in the belly. But such fighters were intended to harry their prey to the point of dropped shields, and then to commit their pilots to boarding actions staged via the single-person Pads in each vessel. The pilot capsule is home to the command frame, which uses neural connections to the pilot's body armor, allowing the pilot to directly control the craft with their bodies, as if they themselves were flying. These single-person fighters exist, not to destroy ships, but to deliver their pilots to the enemy ship so they can board them and fight there.

Use a yellow-green blinky light for emergency lighting. These are embedded at waist-height.

Personnel

Here some note about at what point in the promotion schedule do Chatcaava acquire titles. (Probably mostly related to officer duties, but also some noncoms).

Ranks

The Chatcaava make fewer distinctions between "fighters" and "staffers" that human armed forces do; their staffing elements are almost entirely concerned with logistics and paperwork. Technicians and specialists are part of the fighting force. Generally, titles are awarded to people in charge of groups or departments or important functions. "prime" is always the top of an autonomous unit, while "apex" tends to be the top of a group of autonomous units. People charged with groups of groups tend to have specific titles (like Admiral-Offense).

On Carriers:

Flight Deck

Wing Alpha - in charge of a specific carrier group; answers to the Wing Prime

Wing Prime - charged with training and commanding all the fighters in a group of carriers.

In Staffing Units:

Staff-Prime

In fleets:

Flagship Prime - the commander of the admiral's flagship

Uniforms

Normal Duty Uniform

Shipboard uniforms (for everyday use) consist of flexible tights tucked into boots, with long-sleeved tunics that seal on the side of the body, over the wings. When preparing for or anticipating action, personnel change into body armor: versions of jumpsuits appropriate to their function.