Database and Lore

The United Human Navy Page 2

Marine Corp “Redder than blood. Blood for life,” the final line of oath by the UHN Marines. The UHN marine corps has always been considered a subbranch of the UHN itself. While efforts were made to make it its own branch, the UWA was always afraid of overextending the military. The marine corps would essentially serve on its own but still be under the jurisdiction of the UHN command. The growing troop regiment was one that was haphazard in human history. Humanity already had some experiences fighting on Luna in the past, but most of the Martian history was that of standing guard. Their goal was only to handle outright revolts or handle any potential rebellion. Technically, the ground forces were tiny in number and had access to only a few military vehicles that could traverse the landscape of Mars. Most operations were simply that of training scenarios and being laid back. This didn’t mean that Earth still had its own defense forces as well, but it was in a degraded environment. When the UHN was established, the marine corps was established by moving the Martian troops into it. Suddenly, the troops had access to new worlds and new environments. It was the goal of the marine corps to get everything rushed into full operational status. Sadly, the ancient Earth vehicles were all but useless as the lack of maintenance and deteriorating environment made salvaging them pointless. The Martian vehicles, such as the Red Rovers, were not constructed to handle the harder gravities of other worlds. At the same time, the marines only had armed shuttles to serve as “Assault ships.” In the beginning 2280s, a UHN marine joked that “We arrived to Batrice to fall on our asses. The vehicles broke down within the first ten kilometers. Then the shuttles tried to lift us off, and there were too many of us to carry in the surprise scenario. I can only hope that next year is better…..” The UHN was fully aware of the dilemma and began an effort to build up the marines. Most solutions simply were that of time. Soldiers would adapt to operating on higher gravity, new vehicles, such as the far better M1s, would completely replace the Red Rovers. Even military aircraft were finally starting to be introduced. Sadly, even with such introductions, the funding to help the marines was appalling. When the Fu Yi class was finally introduced, the marines referred to them as “Charity from the UHN,” as they finally had a military transport that could transport vehicles instead of commandeered civilian transports. Despite the hiccups, the marines were improving. Additional funding had better equipment. Training and other vehicles such as the Batrice Kujang were incredible. Training would operate on various planets and environments to ensure that every soldier could fight effectively. By the time it hit 2305, the corps was deemed ready for full-scale operational support. The growing pains had ceased. New vehicles such as the M10s were introduced. Even Oshun was on its way to introducing recon bikes and other various equipment. Sadly, the marines would never face actual combat against the Nova pirates in the 2310s. Most of the fighting was done in space, and ground warfare was never expected to occur. One soldier complained that “I joined to fight in the UHN. I assumed marines were perfect, but the sailors get most of the action.” Despite this, the marines did get one of the most significant improvements. In the 2320s, the Phalanx carriers were introduced. To most marines, the Phalanx is synonymous with the ancient Earth amphibious carriers. These ships outright replaced the Fu Yi and had a myriad of combat capabilities. This would be followed by incredibly large construction crawlers that they deemed the “Tank Thumpers.” Even though they were meant for construction duty, the MMACCs were meant to engage in the thicket of battle. Their firepower was rather impressive, and each carrier could ferry one into battle. Many marines had expressed how fun these new vehicles were. By now, the marine forces had become a potentially powerful asset for the UHN. There is always debate on the marines. Some argue that ground forces are all but pointless when space combat could easily render them obsolete. Others say that ground troops can’t easily conquer or capture targets unless enormous amounts of resources are spent to secure them. With the UHN, these issues are genuine. Even with the marines present, there isn’t enough to successfully seize an entire world. However, the need for troops is still there. They can provide security, capture ships or vessels, and still capture small bases intact when planetary bombardment is not necessary. Instead, the marines are trained in fast assaults. Securing a location as fast as possible is a priority. Even the vehicles are designed for quick attacks and to bring troops to locations as quickly as possible. The M30 vehicles are the current vehicles used by the marines as they are designed for a myriad of roles.  Airforce Onboard the carriers, the planetary VTOL fighter craft is also designed to support and fight other possible planetary aircraft that enemy bases may hold. These aircraft are not starfighters and can only operate inside an atmosphere. The phalanx carrier is the only vessel in the known UHN inventory that can fly into an atmosphere and launch aircraft into the fray. The top portion of the carrier includes a landing strip and retractable elevators to secure, rearm, repair, and refuel the aircraft for further sorties. Aircraft can be designed to fly directly or be operated as drones from the ship. However, tested scenarios do indicate that it is possible to disrupt the signals and render pilotless drones useless if the opponent has the right equipment. Currently, as of 2349, the UHN uses several aircraft from ground bases, such as the older F-167 Hawk and newer F- 175 Eagle. Carriers operate the F-170 Falcon, and both bases and carriers use the larger flying wing B-110 Stingray gunship bombers. The Falcon has proven to be adequate as they were used to help design the F-175, but many bases are slow at replacing their venerable old Hawks. There have been complaints that there are too few Stingrays to properly support troops as well.      *Spoilers if you haven’t read past Gabatrix: Minerva arc* The first year of the Human Itrean Conflict was one that constantly bested humanity. One hundred fifty warships may sound like a sizeable number, but analysts knew that a space-faring empire might have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of warships at their disposal. This was assuming that they were at the same level of technological progress as humanity had achieved. The Itreans proved to be just that. Their resources were utterly enormous as one of their clans (assuming that they were a faction) had successfully kidnapped the colonists of Eutera. The small defense fleet of battleships was easily outmatched and disabled as their assault ship closed in. A few months later, the Cipra siege had begun as another clan had launched attack after attack. The UHN were losing many vessels as the Itreans had been slowly advancing upon the colony. Arguments raged between both sides that the UHN needed to save another colony from being taken over. Every asset was to be diverted as Mars, Batrice, Gillan, and Cebravis were put on high alert. Civilians and military personnel would watch as warship after warship was getting obliterated. What further inflamed issues was the fact that New Olympia refused to send their ships elsewhere when asked, but fleet commanders honestly wondered if the super-sized were truly effective in combat, however. The Siege of Cipra was never really criticized in its actions. Many felt that the UHN was doing everything that they could but were simply being overwhelmed. The Itrean forces simply just kept coming in as damaged ships would withdraw. The UHN tried to do the same, but this started to put enormous pressure on the shipyards. Suddenly, with a growing demand to build several new ships, these facilities were getting hit with backorders to repair currently damaged ships. It proved to be a logistical nightmare. Early evacuations were being made on Cipra, but the Itreans were destroying the escaping ships. Oddly, they left the gate array intact almost as a way to help encourage and watch as the vessels were making valiant attempts to escape. Finally, in October of 2349, the situation became critical. The Itreans had wiped out up to 20% of the fleet. Command announced that Cipra could no longer be held and that the Itrean fleets were endless. By order of the UWA leadership, the fleets were to withdraw and return to reinforce the other colony worlds. Cipra was an absolute disaster for the UHN. The UWA and UHN would both agree that Cebravis, Mars, and Batrice were the most valuable locations. All fleet assets would be used to protect these locations, but the other colonies were left with just a tiny defense fleet. No reinforcements would be dispatched to these worlds if they were attacked. Systems like Aphadus and Oshun were little more than sitting ducks. The following month did see a series of marginal victories, however. Among one of these was that over the colony of Oshun. In early November, Itrean ships painted in purple launched a small fleet of ships to destroy the defense fleet in place over the African colony. The UHN forces there called for reinforcements but got none of it. The fleet was on its own. It was a hard-pressed attack as the defense fleet got wiped down to two ships but managed to destroy the Itrean invasion. While it was a well-celebrated victory and overhyped in the media, the UHN knew this to be a horrific accomplishment. A further two victories were reported but unconfirmed in New Olympia. Up to 30% of the UHN fleet was now gone, or in the yards as scouting fleets were damaging and wiping out the outer system fleets in the Cebravin system. The UHN had called the meetings and secretly declared that a countdown had begun. It was called the “Six Month Scenario.” If the Itreans continued to attack UWA worlds at their current rate, then the war would be over in six months, and the UHN would be completely decimated. Various scenarios even called the UWA leadership to even look into the idea of possibly surrendering if the Itreans even acknowledged the concept. There were still some hopeful outcomes in November. Various ideas were being spun that a wide mass evacuation might be possible, although a vast amount of the population wanted none of it. Sociologists had described that “The evacuation of Earth had left a lingering impact on the population. Once they found Cebravis, they never wanted to leave again.” According to reports, many in the UHN were willing to make their final stands over Cebravis, Batrice, and Mars, even it would lead to their deaths. If one of these planets fell, then it was over for the human race. Mars served as a shipyard and capital planet. Cebravis was the main hub of the population and food basket, and Batrice was a major shipyard. Thankfully, Batrice was in better shape. Fort Batrice was extremely close to completion. At 95% operational capability, the staff present were more than sure that this station could hold its own in battle. They purposely made sure that the UHN had its fleet assets allocated to Mars and Cebravis. Meanwhile, enormous projects were completed to begin rapidly expanding the orbital shipyards of Batrice and Gillan. There is no doubt that the UHN had its back to the wall in the end.     *Spoilers if you haven’t read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* The impact of having the alliance with the Itrean T’rintar clan was one of question in the UHN. Many felt that something needed to be done soon. There was no denying this, but others didn’t see too holistically of a straight partnership either. Regardless, the beginning months of the alliance were ultimately seen as a massive reprieve. It would have direct impacts on the military and ultimately saved the fleets from being wiped out. Under the protection of the Itrean clan, the T’rintar gave much on their databases and information. Old warships that they could no longer operate on were handed over to the UHN to use. Meanwhile, future large-scale offenses that the other clans launched would be dealt with by the T’rintar. Within the announcement of the alliance, the other clan attacks had stopped entirely. The human race had been saved, and the military was suddenly seeing a shocking era of absolute silence. The UHN didn’t hesitate in using every ounce of time at its disposal. Every ship that needed to be repaired was fixed as the shipyards continued to be expanded. By now, the UHN had received the highest amount of funding ever as they were at war with the Aksren and Shal’rein clan. Even with the T’rintar helping, full-scale invasions were maybe looming around the corner. Command staff and politicians wanted to assure the people that just because they were getting old warships from the Itreans, it wouldn’t mean that new UHN warships wouldn’t be built. Construction projects immediately began on a new series of warships that wouldn’t be slated to completion until 2350. Ships like the Czar class Battleship, a replacement to the Nelson, were being built at Deimos. Batrice and Gillan would introduce the Emerald class Dreadnoughts, and current construction projects on other new vessels were being accelerated. This would assure that the UHN had the appropriate warships that could go against the Itreans in the future. This still left many of the older UHN battleships to fend and protect against small-scale assaults and go on possible dangerous patrols. Fort Batrice was finally completed in 2350. Morale had jumped dramatically as the majority of the UHN realized that the T’rintar meant business. Their combat capability was incredible, even if they were generally weaker than the other clans. Efforts were being made to have Itrean staff help out UHN staff in training or preparing for large-scale conflict. UHN staff, on the other hand, would venture to the Itrean worlds to further serve in possible commando operations, logistical, or simple exchanges. Compared to the end of 2349, one sailor accounted in saying, “A month ago, I had nightmares. I worried that my family was going to die before I did. A month later, I was drinking beers and singing songs about how great life was with this alliance. I would buy every one of the alien women a drink as my thanks.” Historians would refer to the next six months as a time of rebuilding rather than defeat. The “Six-Month Scenario” had turned into six months of reorganizing and future planning. The UHN vowed to be ready for any future attacks. *Spoilers if you haven’t read past Gabatrix: The Violet Wave arc* Sadly, even with such preparations, the UHN was not fully ready to face another rather well- planned attack by the Shal’rein clan. In fact, many could claim that even with the best preparations, a cleverly designed plan could easily warrant a victory for the opposing forces. This was what happened when a Shal’rein clan fleet was amassing near Aphadus. When the UHN defense fleets went to engage them, they were leaving the planet further and further behind. Despite efforts to call the fleet back, the planet had been left utterly vulnerable as a small Shal’rein strike group had surprised and quickly assaulted the planetary defenses. On the ground, they launched a small army contingent that wiped the defenses rather quickly. Before reinforcements had arrived, the Shal’rein had managed to quickly overwhelm and capture a single human being before they made a daring escape. It is later revealed that the goal was much like the Aksren clan in their possession. The Shal’rein were in desire of having a constructed disease that can be deployed onto UWA worlds. The plan would later backfire when one of the best of Shal’rein command leadership, Shira, would defect and return back to the UWA. It is believed that Shira had provided valuable intel that would expose Shal’rein assets to the T’rintar and UHN. Further improvements were being introduced to help increase defenses for further assaults. Unfortunately, the earlier assault on the colony would usher in a new age of attacks by both the Shal’rein and Aksren clans on the UWA. It would mark the end of the six-month reprieve.