[center]North Atlantic Union First Extrasolar Fleet [img=http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2014/250/9/3/flag_of_the_united_atlantic_states_by_daneofscandinavy-d6m4xzt.png][/center] ///////Subject: Faction /////Government: Stratocracy ////History: ///Culture: The fleet boasts a culture that had a diverse origin; while always a “navy” culture, the various original members of the fleet brought with them their cultures from the various countries that made up the NAU, although Americans and Brazilians made up the bulk of the fleet’s personnel. Over the centuries these cultures blended together into what could be considered a homogenous blob. Honor, loyalty, science, efficiency, hard work, and equal opportunity are all core values of the fleet. Honor and loyalty are especially important to members of the fleet; in the past ‘honor duels’ had to be outlawed due to the alarming number of fatal injuries they had caused.[hider=Society]Like in early American society the nuclear family is the basic and arguably most important unit in the fleet’s society. Unlike in other societies, where the family is ‘naturally’ led by a patriarch or more rarely a matriarch, the head of the family is the individual how holds the highest military rank. The crews of individual ships all relate to each other as an informal family of sorts. In this way ship crews formed something akin to small towns, where everyone seemed to know each other and helped each other out. Child raising is commonly viewed as a ship-wide effort, although the child’s parents are still the most important in the child’s development. All orphans are adopted by a crewmate of the deceased parents; in fact most members of the fleet feel that it is a great honor to raise the child of a departed member of the fleet. Like in all other societies the fleet’s society is stratified. Stratification within the fleet is mostly affected by rank, however an individual’s job in the fleet and the ship he or she is assigned to also play important roles. Typically the higher one’s rank and the larger the ship one serves on the higher one’s social class would be. For instance a captains, commanders, and lieutenants make up the middle class of the fleet; however, a captain of a battleship might be considered upper-middle, maybe even lower-upper, class while the captain of a heavy cruiser might just be considered middle class. Typically serving on a larger ship is considered more prestigious than serving on a smaller one, however serving on any auxiliary ship is considered far less prestigious than serving on any combat ship.[/hider][hider=Entertainment]Members of the fleet have found numerous ways to keep themselves entertained while traveling between the stars. Obviously things such as movies, literature, and gambling are all sources of entertainment, but are far from the primary sources of entertainment. “Video games” are one of the larger entertainment industries in the fleet; however, what the members of the fleet consider to be a video game is closer to a cleverly disguised war simulation program. Most of these “games” revolve around fleet warfare, although others include ground or aerospace combat. These games are incredibly competitive, designed to encourage fleet members to develop or retain strategies and tactics while also being entertaining. Music in the fleet is a combination of remakes of “classical” songs from the NAU, “patriotic” songs about the NAU, and instrumentals used for ceremonies and dances. Singing is something that almost all members of the fleet do to one degree or another; those who really know how to sing are cherished by their crewmembers. It is not uncommon for crewmembers to take up a simple song while at work, which commonly leads to off duty crewmembers finding an open space where they can dance. Large sections of a ship’s crew are known to, quite literally, break out into song and dance. As one might guess dancing is a major source of entertainment in the fleet. Dancing is both a social and competitive thing for the members of the fleet. Salsa, foxtrot, jazz, and samba are all common forms of dancing, although there are many other dancing styles in the fleet. Dancing serves as a form of entertainment, but it is also a very important component of health and fitness in the fleet. Dancing also serves as a source of healthy competition; being a “good” dancer is very prestigious.[/hider]//Military:[hider=The Fleet].[hider2=Ship Classifications]Warspite-class Battleship [img=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/057/d/6/battleship_by_ivkol-d4r4jxo.jpg] Length: 262 meters Crew: 821 Description: Designed as a “fast battleship”, the Warspite’s design emphasized speed and tactical bombardment capabilities. While not nearly as fast or agile as a battlecruiser, carrier, or heavy cruiser, the Warspite-class battleship, at the time of its development, boasted a notably superior maneuvering system to those of contemporary battleships. Additional improvements to the Warspite-class further enhanced this feature. Like all other battleships the Warspite-class was designed to take a beating and is commonly used to physically shield less durable capital or auxiliary ships in the fleet. Audacious-class Carrier [img=http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs8/i/2005/298/8/e/Landing_marker_by_OmeN2501.jpg] Length: 280 meters Crew: 340 (516 including pilots and crews) Complement: 24 Talon Fighters 16 Dauntless Fighter-Bombers Description: Commonly serving as the flagship for fleets, task forces, and smaller units of organization the Audacious-class carrier is outfitted with a large degree of sensors, communications systems, and a command-and-control system. These carriers are fast, capable of keeping up with light cruisers and destroyers, but are lightly armed and armored. Their primary means of attack and defense lie in their fighter wings. Renown-class Battlecruiser [img=http://th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2013/285/5/c/battlecruiser_by_powerpointranger-d6pu8dq.png] Length: 239 meters Crew: 678 Description: The Renown-class battlecruiser was designed to “outgun anything it couldn’t outrun and outrun anything it couldn’t outgun.” The Renown-class boasts the armaments of the Warspite-class battleship, but with the speed and armor of the Warrior-class heavy cruiser. These battlecruisers are best employed in situations where they can make the fullest extent of their firepower without having to absorb too much hostile fire. Like other classes of battlecruisers the Renown-class excels at hunting smaller cruisers and raiding convoy lines, however it’s also quite adept at maneuvering to hit an enemy formation where it’s weakest. Majestic-class Light Carrier [img=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/349/4/4/carrier_by_sttheo-d4rt0g2.jpg] Length: 200 meters Crew: 250 (378 including pilots and crews) Complement: 16 Talon Fighters 8 Dauntless Fighter-Bombers Description: Essentially a smaller, less costly, version of the Audacious-class carrier, the Majestic-class light carrier is still most certainly a force to be reckoned with in and of itself. As one would expect of a carrier the Majestic-class relies on its fighter complement to act as its armaments and defense, although it does have some built in weapons and armor. Even during the conceptualization stage of the Majestic-class’s creation its role in the fleet was a highly debated subject. Some experts argued it’d be best used as a convoy escort, others felt it was best used as little more than an aerospace force transport, yet others sought to use it as a small capital ship that would be the flagship for task forces. Because of these conflicting desires it gained the sensors it would need to be a flagship for a small formation of ships, but sacrificed armor extensively for storage space, speed, and endurance. In many cases Majestic-class light carriers were attached to formations headed by Audacious-class carriers, however it has been known to act as a flagship in formations with battleships, battlecruisers, or even light cruisers. Colossus-class Aerospace Assault Carrier [img=http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/318/4/9/carrier_by_garretaj-d5l0a7s.jpg] Warrior-class Heavy Cruiser [img=http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/096/b/b/space_ship_by_rofelrolf-d4v6gwu.jpg] Length: 200 meters Crew: 532 Description: The Warrior-class heavy cruiser is notable for its armaments that, while pale in comparison to the Warspite and Renown-class’ armaments, dwarf those of traditional screens and relatively high speed that allows it to keep up with even the fastest of fleet carriers. Like the Majestic-class light carrier, there was some debate about the Warrior-class’s role in the fleet during its production, though these debates started after construction of the ships had already begun. Some argued that it was a “fast” or “light” capital ship due to its relatively high price tag but overall high capabilities. Others argued that it was a “heavy” screen due to a price tag, armor, and armaments that were all quite low when compared to a battleship or battlecruisers. In some ways both factions won out; the Warrior-class would see widespread use as fleet carrier escorts, but would also act as “flagships” for cruiser squadrons. The Warrior-class is also often used to provide fire support for ground operations. Goddess-class Assault Cruiser [img=http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/298/6/3/chronicles_of_man_wiomarc__h_class_3d_commission_by_adamkop-d5hbnnm.jpg] Length: 200 meters Crew: 500 Description: The Goddess-class assault cruiser was one of those classes of ships that came into existence only because it was a pet project of a very important admiral. The Goddess-class was designed with the same philosophy of the Renown-class: it could “outgun anything it couldn’t outrun and outrun anything it couldn’t outgun.” The Goddess-class was designed to pack the firepower, sensors, and endurance of the Warrior-class while retaining the high speed of the Pelorus-class, in fact it turned out to be the fastest ship in the fleet due to significantly larger engines in comparison to its relatively lower mass. While a Goddess-class won’t pose too much of a threat to a heavy cruiser, these ships are quite dangerous to anything smaller, can even one on one they can do significant damage to a heavy cruiser. These “cruiser hunters” are best used attacking damaged or fleeing ships, raiding auxiliary ships, or attacking screen flotillas. Like the Warrior-class the Goddess-class possess a kind of duel identity as a “fast” capital ship or “heavy” screen, although most people agree that it falls far more easily into the screen identity than that of the capital ship. Pelorus-class Light Cruiser [img=http://th03.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2013/283/1/d/multirole_frigate_by_powerpointranger-d6i4fqt.png ] Length: 169 meters Crew: 336 Description: The Pelorus-class light cruiser was a medium-sized warship officially designed to serve as escorts for carriers or act in independent formations to perform a variety of goals. Towards this end the Pelorus-class has more speed and endurance than smaller screening ships. Its armor and weaponry also tend to rate higher than those found on destroyers or corvettes. Daring-class Destroyer [img=http://th03.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2010/286/f/d/eve_online___blade_destroyer_by_kianchai-d30pq7m.jpg] Length: 120 meters Crew: 297 Description: The largest destroyer made by the NAU up until that time, the Daring-class was initially built to replace the Weapon-class, which at the time was perceived to be aging rapidly. While the Daring-class was superior to the Weapon-class in almost every way it was quite expensive to produce, almost as expensive as a Pelorus-class cruiser, and upgrades to many of the Weapon-class made the Daring-class relatively redundant. Despite this fact the Daring-class did still possess much heavier armor than the Weapon-class, almost as much armor as the Pelorus-class, thus earned itself a temporary role as a “defender destroyer.” Weapon-class Destroyer [img=http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/197/d/4/hunter_frigate_by_kwibl-d7qwo2c.png] Length: 100 meters Crew: 234 Description: The Weapon-class destroyer was a small multipurpose ship: it could screen capital ships, act as scouts, transport troops for boarding other ships, and provide support to ground troops. At one time the Weapon-class was thought to be almost obsolete, construction of the more expensive Daring-class was started to replace it, but later on it was found to be easier and less expensive to simply upgrade many of the Weapon-class’s systems. Even so its armor at the time was nearly a “subpar” level even as its weapons systems were noted as being marginally “above par.” Freedom-class Corvette [img=http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2014/080/d/8/arion_frigate_commission_by_adamkop-d7b0uvn.jpg] Length: 80 meters Crew: 60 Description: Before the fleet left Sol, the Freedom-class was considered to be bleeding-edge. It was designed to be highly modular and easily upgraded as needed. Its modular design allowed it to be adapted to whatever mission it was being sent on. While certainly not designed to perform a general combat role in space battles, the Freedom-class could still act as a heavy fighter or light destroyer of sorts. Where it really shined, however, was special operations. The Freedom-class was especially useful in supporting ground forces or boarding operations. Talon Fighter [img=http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2014/197/b/b/arrow_fighter_by_kwibl-d7qwo1w.png] Dauntless Fighter/Bomber [img=http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/197/f/e/dagger_fighter_by_kwibl-d7qwo25.png][/hider2][/hider][hider=Ground Forces]Fury Fighter [img=http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2014/091/d/6/guardians_by_kwibl-d7cifqd.png] Auxiliary Ships The auxiliary ships that are attached to the fleet range from industrial barges to the FAL carrier [i]Godspeed[/i], thus defy any attempts to classify them as a single class of ship. Even so all the auxiliaries share the task of supporting the warships in the fleet, ensuring that they in good condition.[/hider][hider=Aerospace Forces]Warhawk Fighter [img=http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2012/293/a/5/starship_____instructor_____3d_commission_by_adamkop-d5i8v91.jpg] Tigershark Multirole Fighter [img=http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/285/b/a/ba42a7a60d12b0492fcdb6b2ec32df03-d30na2c.jpg][/hider] /Technology: Other: