Imperial Navy (FT)

The Imperial Navy (Teikoku Uchuugun), often referred to as the Imperial Navy, is the space warfare branch of the New Greater Empire. It is also known as the Imperial Spacy or Imperial Armada. The Imperial Navy is one of the largest and most capable space warfare forces in the known galaxy, and is often considered the most powerful within the Human Sphere and the galactic outer core region. It has a fleet numbering several hundred warships and 34.7 million personnel.

Formed in 150 as part of the Cultural Restoration that transformed the Eastern Federation into the Greater Empire, the Imperial Navy has its roots in the Federation Starfleet forces that remained loyal to the Eastern Federation following the Surabaya Affair and the subsequent Federation Civil War. The Imperial Navy became instrumental in policing and defending the newly-formed Greater Empire, seeing massive expansions in size and capabilities to the point that it was able to rival the naval forces of the older hyperpowers. When the Federation invaded the Empire during the Empire-Federation War, the Imperial Navy was tasked with defending the Empire against the Federation, but despite its might it was unable to stop the Federation from attacking Eienkyo and destroying the Imperial capital city, killing the Emperor and much of the government. The Imperial Navy subsequently retreated to the edges of Imperial Space along with the remnants of the military and government apparatus, continuing to act as the space warfare arm of the Imperial Remnant movements. With the splintering of the Imperial Remnant movement into various factions and warlords, the Imperial Navy also broke apart during the Period of Honourable Resistance. However, under the visionary leadership of then-Crown Prince Yoshihide and the newly-appointed Imperial Grand Marshal Kitagawa Aki, the Imperial Navy was consolidated and re-organised by 202, becoming the vanguard of the Imperial forces in the War of Imperial Reunification.

Following the victory of the Empire in the War of Reunification and the Declaration of the New Greater Empire in 206, the Imperial Navy again underwent a period of rebuilding and expansion, leading the way in the Human Sphere for the development of new technologies and space warfare doctrines. With the deployment of the Kamikokuryo-class battleships, the Imperial Navy kick-started the shift in the Human Sphere towards large-scale neo-dreadnoughts that catalysed in the Second Hyperpower War, when the Empire moved to save the Federation from a Union invasion. The Empire-Federation Coalition's victory in this war cemented the Imperial Navy's position as the most powerful space warfare force in the Human Sphere. Subsequently, the Imperial Navy was also involved in the Empire-Hierarchy War, the Empire-Union War, and the Frontier Incident between the Empire and the Chunmin Republic.

Organization
The most senior naval officer is the Grand Admiral, who leads the Imperial Navy General Staff as the Chief of Naval Operations and is immediately under and reports to the Imperial Grand Marshal for military matters. At the same time, the Imperial Navy is represented on the Imperial High Council by the Minister of the Navy, an Admiral who is selected and appointed by the Imperial Navy General Staff. The Minister of the Navy is responsible for representing the Navy's interests in the Imperial High Council, primarily through answering for and securing the Navy's operating budget. The Imperial Navy General Staff is responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Imperial Navy so that it is ready for operation under the commanders of the unified combatant commands.

The Imperial Navy has six primary operational branches, Fleet Operations Command, the Imperial Marines, the Naval Intelligence Branch, Imperial Navy Special Warfare Command, Imperial Navy Warfare Development Command, Transportation and Logistics Command, and Exploration Command.

Fleet Operations
Fleet Operations forms the bulk of the Imperial Navy's combat forces and consist of the four regional commands; the Imperial Navy Central Region Command, Imperial Navy Western Frontier Command, Imperial Navy Southern Command, and Imperial Navy Eastern Command. The Imperial Navy Eastern Frontier Command also controls the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command, which is primarily concerned with patrol operations in the Coreward Frontier.

The Imperial Navy operates 14 combat fleets, each of which are the largest type of operational unit of the Imperial Navy and are commanded by an Admiral. These are the 1st to 10th Fleets (less the 4th and 9th Fleets), the 1st to 4th Border Flotillas, the Capital Defence Fleet (previously known as the 4th Fleet), the Expeditionary Flotilla. Central Regional Command oversees the 1st, 2nd, 7th, and Capital Defence Fleets; Western Frontier Command oversees the 3rd and 6th Fleets and 3rd Border Flotilla, Southern Command oversees the 8th Fleet and the 1st Border Flotilla, and Eastern Frontier Command oversees the 5th and 10th fleets, the Expeditionary Flotilla, and the 2nd and 4th Border Flotilla.

Imperial Marines
The Imperial Marines are the primary space-to-surface force of the Imperial Navy. They are responsible for carrying out expeditionary and space-to-surface warfare to seize landing sites and beachheads for the Imperial Army, and include their own infantry, armour, and special operations forces. The Imperial Marines are not intended to partake in sustained ground campaigns. In addition, the Imperial Marines are also trained to board enemy ships, space stations, and the like, as required for modern space warfare. Imperial Marines are also used for shipboard security and for guarding Imperial Navy planetary installations on the land.

The Imperial Marines originate from the Federation Starfleet's Security Branch troops. Following the Second Federation Civil War in 147, the Starfleet Security Branch troops that remained loyal to the Eastern Federation were reorganised into the Imperial Marines as part of the transformation of the Eastern Federation into the Greater Empire, remaining under the control of the new Imperial Navy.

Support Formations
Besides Fleet Operations and the Imperial Marines, the Naval Intelligence Branch, Imperial Navy Special Warfare Command, Imperial Navy Warfare Development Command, Transportation and Logistics Command, and Exploration Command are all regarded as support formations. Three fleets are commanded by support formations, the Logistics Flotilla, the Transportation Flotilla, and the Exploration Flotilla, though these are highly decentralised and are largely administrative in nature.

Headquartered on Onogoro, the Imperial Navy Warfare Development Command is the main research and development branch of the Navy. It is divided into the Tactical Warfare Development Centre, which oversees development of new warships, weapons, and small craft, the Strategic Warfare Development Centre, which oversees logistics and long-term strategic planning, and the Terrestrial Warfare Development Centre, which oversees development for the Marines.

The largest single formation within the entire Navy, the Transportation and Logistics Command oversees a massive array of support functions ranging from providing equipment maintenance, maintaining fuel, food, and other supplies and storehouses, operating the fleet resupply vessels of the Logistics Flotilla, as well as overseeing and operating the Transportation Flotilla, which includes all transport vessels operated by the Navy. The resources and sub-units of the Transportation and Logistics Command are highly decentralised, and are distributed and attached to the various combat fleets and other formations as required.

Imperial Navy Exploration Command oversees the Exploration Flotilla, which is comprised of seven squadrons tasked with exploring beyond Imperial Space.

Personnel
The Imperial Navy has approximately 34.7 million personnel, one of the largest in the Human Sphere. Of those on active duty, roughly 60 percent are enlisted naval crew, 10 percent are commissioned naval officers, 25 percent are Imperial Marines of both officer and enlisted ranks, and 5 percent are cadets of the Imperial Naval Training Centres, officer candidate ensigns from the Imperial Navy Academy on Eienkyo or the Imperial Naval Warfare School on Ishigaki, and pilot cadets at the Onogoro Imperial Aerospace Pilots Academy.

Pilot Corps
There is a fierce rivalry between the spaceborne-only pilots and aerospace-capable pilots. Spaceborne pilots pride themselves on riding Imperial deathtraps through the hostile environment of space and the skill required to operate in zero-G all the time. Aerospace pilots pride themselves on the skill needed to operate in-atmosphere and to know how to fight in both space and the atmosphere. Spaceborne pilots slam their aerospace counterparts as only running strike missions for the Army, while aerospace pilots slam their spaceborne counterparts as nothing more than drones relying on computers to do the flying for them (due to the greater AI assistance and hard-limitations in place during spaceborne flight to prevent pilots from killing themselves with over-G).

Facilities
The Imperial Navy operates facilities in every star system under the Empire's control. These fall into three broad categories, Naval Stations, Naval Bases, and Naval Terrestrial Installations.

Naval Terrestrial Installations
The Imperial Navy also operates some facilities located on the surface of planets and moons. These are typically headquarters and administrative facilities, development centres, schools, medical facilities, storehouses, and other such support structures. The bulk of the Navy's terrestrial installations are operated by the Imperial Navy Marines, which maintain several training facilities, bases, and support complexes on all of the Imperial planets.