Loralynn Kennakris 2: The Morning Which Breaks (65 page)

Mules are robotic vehicles that carry supplies (including ammunition), provisions, and equipment (including weapons) for a military unit. They come in various sizes and configurations, and are usually organized into
trains
(a term rooted in antiquity).

The name derives (supposedly) from MUL or MULE, for Mobile Unit, Logistics or Mobile Unit, Logistics-Extended. However, there are many names for these units, including: Mobile Logistics Unit, Mobile Supply Vehicle, Logistics Supply Vehicle, and Attached Provisioning Unit, among others. In common speech, they are most often referred to as mules, regardless of the official name, in almost all militaries.

A mule train refers to an assemblage of such units. In general, there are four basic types: 1) a Troop Train attached an individual unit, which carries its extra gear and supplies; 2) a Brigade Train which carries equipment, supplies and provisions for a large field unit; 3) an Officer’s Train transporting personal supplies and equipment for the commissioned officers; and 4) an Equipment Train for specialized heavy equipment, attached to a
brigade,
regiment
, or
division
.

Each military organizes these trains to suit its own needs. A common arrangement is to have troop trains attached at the
company
level, made up of the individual mules assigned to each
platoon
. Each platoon will usually have one mule, except heavy-weapons platoons, which may have two. On rare occasions, a
squad
may be assigned a mule. In the CEF, this commonly only happens with
CATs
, who may have to carry specialized equipment, such as air sliders or demolitions gear.

A brigade train will be attached to the major administrative and tactical unit in a given military, be it a brigade, regiment, or division. The terms
Regimental Train
and
Division Train
are often heard.

Officer’s trains usually occur only in militaries where officers retain aristocratic privilege, such as
Halith
and the
Meridies
. The CEF does not use officer’s trains. While CEF officers have special privileges on base and aboard ship, they share the condition of their troops when deployed in the field.

Equipment trains transport anything from spare parts to
IADS
to heavy construction equipment to portable maintenance or hospital facilities.

Slang for
ECM
. Chiefly military but has spread into popular culture.

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There have been three so-called Nanocyte Revolutions. The first was the advent of practical medical
nanotechnology
during the 21st Century (AD Reckoning). The third resulted in the
Third Colonization Period
with the advent of
modern terraforming
and. The second is obscure. All though referred to in historical records, no details survived. There are some indications it involved weaponized nanocytes, and this has led to speculation that the intent was to create mega-pandemics. (See
rouge nanocytes
.) There is no concrete support for this view, however. It is speculated that elements of the Second Nanocyte Revolutions played a role in the development of
immunocytes
.

Technology based on manipulating matter at the atomic or molecular scale, such as building molecule-sized devices out of single atoms. Medical or biologically active nanotech devices are often referred to as
nanocytes
; other devices as
nanobots
. Strong resistance to this technology is often cited as one cause of
the Troubles
.

The
CEF
was originally formed as a naval force (authorized by the Second Amendment of the
League
Charter), to which the
CEF Marines
and the
SRF
were supporting corps. As the result of legislation passed as part of larger CEF reform program prior to
LH-1
, the Navy is now one of three branches, co-equal with the SRF and the Marines, each with its own
general staff
. However, the fact that the CEF is under the
Secretary of the Navy
clearly shows its origins as a naval force. (The prejudice that the Marines and the SRF are essentially supporting actors is still exists, especially among
New Meridian
officers.)

Due it origins as the military are of a mercantile consortium, the CEF Navy has historically been optimized for detached independent operations by small units, or even single ships, under conditions where communications delays are several days, even weeks. Thus, the CEF Navy emphasizes initiative, flexibility and a degree of risk taking that has led to (in the view of many) a ‘
privateering mentality
.’ (Not surprisingly, the most prestigious operational commands in the CEF Navy are battlecruiser commands, though in recent decades, fleet carrier commands have come to be very highly regarded.) Until LH-1, the CEF rarely engaged in a large joint-force actions, though it has since made great strides in this direction.

Because of its historical focus, the CEF Navy (and the CEF in general) emphasizes cross-training in multiple disciplines as opposed to specialized expertise (specialist fields such as engineering excepted), and rotates officers between line and staff positions. Officers also exchange between branches to a degree, although this is only common between the Navy and the SRF. Further, officers often rotate between combat and training posts; in the SRF, it is official mandatory policy that flight officers periodically return from front-line duty to serve as instructors.

The hallmarks of the CEF Navy are thus innovation, independent action, quick slashing raids, and small unit actions. Although, it is much better adapted to combined-arms operations than formerly, there is still a greater degree of friction than in the
Halith Imperial Navy
, and interservice (as well intraservice) rivalries remain common and can have a deleterious effect.

Administratively, the CEF Navy is organized into divisions, squadrons, and fleets. These are permanent formations, divisions and squadrons being of the same class of warship. Typically, two divisions form a squadron, and number of squadrons comprise a fleet. For light capital ships (destroyers and frigates), a division is nominally four ships. For major capital ships (cruisers, battleships and carriers), a division is two ships. Dreadnoughts do not form divisions. (See
Strike Forces
).

CEF Navy squadrons include Battleship Squadrons (BATRONs), Cruiser Squadrons (CRURONs), Destroyer Squadrons (DESRONs), Escort Squadrons (ESRONs, made up of frigates), and Transport Squadrons (TRANSRONs). Carriers do not form squadrons, but only divisions (two, if fleet carriers; three, if light or escort carriers.)

The
CEF Navy
uses the term
flotilla
for administrative units of auxiliaries; such as, mine layers/mine sweepers, tankers and munitions ships, stores ships, repair vessels,
AGIs
, etc).

Operationally, the largest tactical formations in the CEF Navy are Strike Forces (based around two dreadnoughts) and Carrier Battle Groups (based around a fleet carrier division). Strike Forces are permanent tactical formations, similar to fleets. Carrier Battle Groups, like
task forces
, are formed on an ad hoc basis.

A fleet commander has a personal command unit based around a BATRON, followed by the fleet’s name: BATRON FIVE.

The CEF Navy forms task forces and
task groups
as needed. These formations (especially task groups) are also called
squadrons
, if sent on detached duty, but are not to be confused with the administrative units.

As a detached force, operating independently, a squadron is based around a cruiser or battlecruiser, and might be commanded by a
commodore
, if the squadron is large enough. Such units are assigned a name, but use CRURON or BATCRURON, followed by their fleet’s name and a letter designator (always spelled according to the
call-sign alphabet
) as their unit identifier. Thus, a detached battlecruiser squadron from Third Fleet might be named
Hydra Patrol Force Echo
, but its identifier would be BATCRURON THREE
Echo
.

The CEF Navy was originally comprised of three fleets (and supporting elements) operating under
Linked Command System
. Early resistance to parts of this policy led to the creation of three
Strike Forces
, which were placed directly under sector
CinCs
. After the
Outworlds
were settled, the
Trifid Frontier Force
was created to patrol the region. The TTF was not included in the Linked Command System, as not being a minor command, but reports directly to
CNO
.

The issue of the two combined fleets retained by the former
STO
led to the relaxation of the prohibition on CEF units being based in Homeworld systems, and the incorporation of the STO Grand Fleet and Sol Fleet into the CEF.

Finally, another CEF fleet was created and deployed Cygnus, under its own sector, outside the Linked Command System; it also reports directly to CNO.

The current organization of the CEF is as follows:

Sol Local Group Command [
SOLCOM
]

Strike Force
Agincourt
, under CinC-SOLCOM

Grand Fleet, deployed to
Sol Local Group
& Various

Fifth Fleet, deployed at
Regulus

Sol System Command [
COM-SOLSYS
]

Sol Fleet, deployed at
Rigel Kent
, under COMSOLFLT

Meridies Sector Command [
MERSEC
]

Strike Force
Victory
, under CinC-MERSEC

First Fleet, deployed at
Eltanin

Pleiades Sector Command [
PLESEC
]

Strike Force
Ardennes
, under CinC-PLESEC

Third Fleet, deployed at
Crucis

Cygnus Sector Command* [
CYGCOM
]

Strike Force,
Thermopylae
under CinC-CYGCOM

Seventh Fleet, deployed at
Cygnus

Trifid Region Command* [
TRICOM
]

Trifid Frontier Force
, (TFF or
Tuffs
) deployed to the
Outworlds
.

TTF Command Group, under CO, Trifid Frontier Force (COMTUF)

* Reports directly to CNO. CinC-TRICOM is not assigned a strike force, unlike the other CinCs.

Note
: Sector CinC is a Full Admiral’s
billet
. Fleet
CO
is a vice admiral’s billet.
TRICOM
is also a vice admiral’s billet, and COMTUF is a rear admiral’s billet. COMSOLFLT may be a vice admiral or a full admiral (the latter usually a vice admiral promoted shortly before retirement).

The
Halith
Imperial Navy is a very large proficient professional force adapted for conquest and enforcing security among Halith’s many colonies. For these reasons, it is organized differently than the
CEF
. A full discussion is outside the scope of this document, but some keys factors can be highlighted.

Fundamentally, the Halith military is optimized for operations that involve large massed forces, ultimately focused on a terrestrial campaign in a battlespace where communications delays are short. Thus, the Halith military is more tightly integrated than the CEF and emphasizes joint-force actions with tight operational timelines. Authority is exerted directly in a top-down fashion and independent operations are relatively rare. Therefore, the Halith military has a
Supreme Staff
which commands all service branches, rather than the three nominally co-equal general staffs of the CEF.

Also because of this emphasis, the Halith military focuses on cultivating more specialized expertise and does not cross-train to the extent the CEF does; it is rare for Halith officers to embrace multiple disciplines, and the Halith military does not rotate line and staff positions as the CEF does.

The emphasis on operational speed and bringing overwhelming firepower to bear at the point of attack means the Halith military is less deliberative than the CEF, and less likely (and less able) to change plans in mid-stream. Further, Halith commanders tend to be relatively more senior than their opposite numbers in the CEF. Some commentators aver that this leads to a degree on operational rigidity.

The historical Halith emphasis on conquest has fixed in Halith strategic thinking the concept of the decisive battle. This was used against them very effectively in the latter stages of
LH-1
, where the CEF continuously lured Halith forces into one engagement after another, seeking a decisive battle, only to be worn down.

Ironically, the one success the Halith Navy had at forcing a decisive battle, where they were able to fight on their terms and bring superior force to bear, was the
Battle of Anson’s Deep
. The crushing defeat they suffered there left them unable to resume the offensive, largely due to the attritive battles they’d be duped into fighting prior to that point.

The historical emphasis on conquest also explains the why the Imperial Ground Forces are the elevated above the others, although the Imperial Navy is strategically the most important arm, and has been for some time. Again, some observers blame this for some of the failures Halith suffered in LH-1.

However, the primacy of the ground forces has been maintained: the head of the Supreme Staff is the Grand Marshal, who is always a ground-forces officer and a titled peer. The Grand Admiral of the Imperial Navy occupies the second rank, ahead of the Colonel General of the Imperial Marines (equivalent to a field marshal in the Imperial Ground Forces). While the Imperial Marines are considered a separate service for administrative purposes, operationally, they are considered part of the Navy, and do not act or deploy independently.

The head of the security forces is a mere general, not even a marshal or field marshal (the two grades in the Imperial ground forces above general). This clearly shows the disregard in which the security branch is held.