Index:
While the population of the main worlds, the homeworlds, the worlds of the Concordiat, and the Dominions, account for most of the total population, and the officer corps is drawn virtually entirely from those locations, the colonies are a considerable source of manpower for the enlisted ranks of the Navy and the Army; However, only Ralsiians, Humans, Elves and Wolven can serve in the Navy. The Army has segregated divisions raised from other species with commanding officers of one of the main species. Colonials who join the military can gain citizenship after six years of service, hence having the right to vote and representation in the parliment. Members of the Jarushlar-Kit and Yre'all species cannot serve.
Officers (Army and Navy):
| 35% | Ralsiian (70% female) | |
| 25% | Human (55% male) | |
| 25% | Elven (Roughly equal between genders) | |
| 15% | Wolfen (Roughly equal between genders) |
Enlisted (Navy):
| 35% | Ralsiian (60% female) | |
| 25% | Human (55% male) | |
| 25% | Elven (Roughly equal between genders) | |
| 15% | Wolfen (Roughly equal between genders) |
Enlisted (Army):
| 25% | Ralsiian | |
| 20% | Human | |
| 15% | Elven | |
| 10% | Wolfen | |
| 30% | Other |
Serving as little more than a glorified Marine Corps, the Ralsiian Imperial Army does serve in the role of Marines, and also as the defenders of planets in a limited role; Usually fast, mobile forces to defend against raiders on outlying worlds, and to man ground fortifications on such worlds. The main force, however, is a heavily armoured strike force for use in seizing other planets. Small, but incredibly professional, this purely voulunteer force includes shocktroops from numerous other species in the Empire. They train hard, and they're an all active duty force, but rarely see actual combat.
Most of the armour is hover tanks, with robots being rare, but non-flight capable power armours, sacrificing that ability for improved ground combat, are also used, along with supporting equipment for the armoured tank divisions, and flight capable Power Armours for close air support. Also, versions of trans-atmospheric ground assault and air superiourity fighters are used; They are designed for limited work in space not to fight there, but so they can use Planetary Assault Ships as bases during invasions.
The "Light" divisions are used for garrison work and defence, along with some "Strike" divisions and "Orbital Paratrooper" divisions for orbital insertion work on the initial blitzkrieg against a planet.
Also, the Ralsiian Imperial Army has an Army Star Corps which provides the pilots and controls the aircraft for Torpedo Bombers, Interceptors, and Space-capable Power Armours, along with the Landing Barges, Assault Shuttles, and other light spacecraft not used for combat purposes, but instead for landing troops or boarding actions. The RIA also provides the marines for defence of RRN starships.
Enlistment: Enlistment in the Ralsiian Imperial Army is for six years. Re-enlistment is vouluntary; But the percentage is very high; Over 60%, and over 40% of those people go for a third enlistment term. One of the reasons for people making such long term commitments to the military is because it becomes like a family, like a home for them. The Ralsiian Imperial Army is a band of brothers, so to speak, and they simply become seperated from civilian life; Some never truely leave. Veterans organizations are very common throughout the RSE. One term is enough for colonials to receive citizenship; Such persons are the ones who usually leave after one enlistment term. Enlisted may continue to reenlist unless due to problems of service (many disciplines problems for example). Officers serve until they resign their commission (and are approved), booted out due to administrative action or court marshal, or retire.
Uniforms: Uniforms of the Ralsiian Imperial Army are highly formal by any standards, but at the same time incredibly varied. Virtually every single Army Corps has it's own uniform, and there are different ones designed specifically for each race that raises a division or corps sized force. They all share the same rank insignia and markings indicating they are Ralsiian Imperial Army troops, but otherwise the uniforms vary, simply because recruiting locations vary: Troops from one area will wear "Traditional Battle Dress", ect. The exception is the colonial, Concordiat and Dominion worlds, where standard wear is a long black kilt with a khaki uniform jacket over a white undershirt and a metallic bronze sash, with accompanying "Fritz" style helmet for enlisted, and a beret + black gloves for officers. All wear knee-high boots. The uniforms for sections of the homeworlds usually are based on old, pre-unification designs, the same for subject and lesser member species. With the extensive use of personal energy shields, battle-armour is considered unnecessary.
The personnel of the RRN serve as crew for starships and serve on space stations as well as anti-ship planetary defence locations, and on most support vessels and Non-FTL Torpedo Boats, along with the Dominion and independant government navies that serve as part of the RRN in time of war.
Officers are assigned positions according to which technical or strategic "school" they specialized in during their courses at the prestigious Naval Academy on a massive orbital habitat in the Rals system. Enlisted personnel are given assignments based on aptitude tests and ratings in training.
Enlistment: Enlistment in the RRN is for 8 years. Enlisted may continue to reenlist unless due to problems of service (many disciplines problems for example). Officers serve until they resign their commission (and are approved), booted out due to administrative action or court marshal, or retire. The retainment rate is similiar to the army despite longer enlistment times. Morale is exceptionally high in the Navy to this day; The sheer force of tradition keeps the fleet constantly drilling and very arrogant about their skill; An arrogance they truely deserve to have, imbedded in them by the valiant history of the Kriesdalian Era, as it is referred to. The Admiral has taken on mythical proportions among RRN personnel.
Uniforms: Uniforms of the RRN are seperated into dress, off-duty, and combat uniforms. Combat uniforms are quite simply black spacesuits with rank, position, and identification markings on them. These uniforms are worn whenever Condition Two or higher is sounded. Off-duty is for standard cruising; Khaki uniform jacket and trousers, with knee-high black boots, black gloves for officers, and peaked caps, with rank and medals shown. Dress uniforms are the same, but dark blue, and have gold braid for the officers.
The last ships of the fleet building program were completed thirty standard terran years ago (The Ralsiian Star Empire did adopt the Neu Terran measurement calendar). The only ships built since then have been to replace losses and the two new Empress Saverana II class Dreadnoughts, which are still under construction, along with a heavily armed "Imperial Yacht" being constructed for her Majesty Empress Saverana II.
The Ralsiian Navy does not proscribe to the standard tactics OR designations of the other races of the Three Galaxies, and their ships are unusually large for said designations, though in many cases have inferior firepower; However, defences and speed are usually equal if not superiour.
An interesting note is that Prize Laws are still in affect for the Royal Ralsiian Navy, and if a ship is captured by an RRN vessel, the ship and it's contents (NOT including crew, which are taken as prisoners of war; The RSE does NOT condone slavery) can be sold by the Captain, acting for the crew of the capturing ship, to the highest approved bidder, with the money split; 20% goes to the Captain, 20% to the officers, 10% to the Warrant Officers, 15% to the Petty Officers, and 35% to the enlisted personnel. Hence, disabling a vessel at long range and forcing it to surrender is a popular tactic in one on one engagements, because it can make the entire crew wealthy overnight. This does not only extend to military vessels, but to civilian ships of an enemy government, and to smuggling/pirate vessels.
Royal (Her Majesty's) Special Operations Directorate:
Combining an intelligence service and special operations/commando units into one military organization, the RSOD, or, more formally, Her Majesty's Special Operations Directorate, is a feared, mythical, and in many cases, over-dramatized organization within the Ralsiian Military.
An outgrowth of a similiar organization in the Human Caesarum, the RSOD has several Sub-Directorates, include the Directorate of Counter-Espionage, the Directorate of Foreign Affairs (Espionage, Sabotage, and Seditionist/De-stabilization activities against foreign governments.), The Directorate of Internal Security (Responsible for dealing with threats to government leaders and personages and defence of military installations and vessels.), the Directorate of Counter-Terrorism (Responsible for dealing with terrorist actions inside the RSE and suspected terrorists), and the infamous Directorate of Combat Operations (DCO).
Though the Directorate of Counter-Espionage and the Directorate of Foreign Affairs operate on similiar principles to the American CIA, the Directorate of Internal Security is similiar to the American Secret Service, though broader in it's protection assignments, and doubles as a sort of special military police for the RRN and the RIA. The Directorate of Counter-Terrorism operates similiar to the American BATF, but focuses purely on terrorism-related crimes and groups.
The Directorate of Combat Operations is a unique service with could best be described as somewhat similiar to the British SAS. These soldiers, selected from the very best of training programs for the Ralsiian Imperial Army, are given the chance of voulunteering for the Directorate of Combat Operations.
The Directorate of Combat Operations is expected to have a hand in virtually any commando-style operation; From dealing with terrorist compounds that the Directorate of Counter-Terrorism doesn't have the firepower to take out, to landing on a planet before an initial invasion and destroying vital defence centers, to acting as elite scouting forces for the RIA, to assasinations of enemy officials and officers, and even special search and destroy missions deep behind enemy lines, most of what the DCO does falls under the classification of "Suicide Missions". They are quite simply the best, elite soldiers with fanatical loyalty to the Empire (Effectively impossible to bribe) and the abilities of professional killers and demolition experts. Uniforms are black jumpsuits or, on a combat operation, whatever is deemed required.
Most of the missions the DCO undertakes are permanently classified, and a large number of the deaths in the DCO are also listed as "Training Accidents" when they are anything but.
However, though being a professional commando force, they're just that; In Ralsiian popular media, members of the DCO are often protrayed in fictional movies taking on entire armies single-handedly, etc, though this is far from the truth. They rarely operate in squads smaller than eight, and certainly can't take on entire armies one on one, though there is documentation during one of the Ralsiian Star Empire's wars of conquest to suggest that a DCO Company held off an entire enemy power armour and robot Brigade for four hours, albeit it in good defensive terrain.
On the other hand, sending in one or two operatives to retrieve agents, no matter if they are Ralsiian or agents recruited by other Sub-Directorates who need to be extracted from enemy territory, is a standard part of the DCO's operations, and many of these missions have been expanded into the popular legends.
An interesting vehicle possessed by the DCO, and kept a major secret, is a derivative of the famous VF-1 Veritech Valkyrie of the old RDF; Apparently one was found drifting, without pilot or sign of one, in a Ralsiian star system with heavy rift activity, some twenty five standard years ago. The Ralsiians reverse-engineered the design but have no actual idea of how it is powered.
With the fusion powerplants utilized by the Ralsiians, they cannot build a variant with their own power sources, and so simply have the drained original and the single copy, which is essentially the same, but likewise protoculture empty. The Ralsiians are very curious as to discover the means by which these craft are powered and obtain examples of whatever form of 'reactor' it might be.
Like the entirety of the RSOD, the DCO and it's actions are largely cloaked in mystery, and the mystique remains to this day. With the full establishment of contact with the Three Galaxies, funding for the RSOD has increased dramatically, and it already had after the Kreeghor incident for the DCO. A fair number of DCO companies have recently been off on "training maneuvers" in distant systems where they take casualties.. At the same time vital installations in the TGE's Thundercloud galaxy holdings are blown up or important TGE political figures are assasinated or turn up dead. There is no proof, but a fair amount of circumstancial evidence, that a sort of "Assasin War" has been waged against the TGE for the past three years with unknown success.
Many persons in the intelligence business for other powers dispute that it could be happening, as the result with the Kreeghor likely countermanding with their own assasinations and other sabotage against the RSE is almost certain, and yet that is not happen. The more paranoid suggest that the reason it has not happened is the "Assasin War" is targeting the necessary personal for the TGE to make such counter-attacks.
However, because of the very nature of the attacks and the general hesitancy of the Ralsiians to instigate full scale warfare against the TGE, knowing the position they are in, it seems highly unlikely that the "Assasin War" is being run by the DCO, and is instead the result of Free Worlds Council and independent revolutionary forces. One interesting possibility that has been raised is that the forces being used, though coming from the FWC or other independent revolutionary forces, are being trained by DCO operatives.
The Ralsiian Star Empire does not employ mercenaries. However, private armies among the nobility are not unheard of. These groups do not have more than converted freighters at this time, though, in terms of naval power, and usually minor land armies only.. And are not truely mercenaries, as they are under the nobility, not simply for hire. In time of war, however, Privateering is an accepted and popular profession, and Letters of Marque will be issued with reckless abandon by the Ralsiian government. It's tradition, after all.
Military Ranks:
Officers: A senior enlisted person can become an officer by exemplary duty and service or by battlefield promotion. Such officers will start at Lieutenant or its equivalent in the other branches but normally cannot get above Captain Junior Grade or its equivalent.
| Army: | Navy: |
| Field Marshall | Admiral of the Fleet |
| General | Admiral |
| Lieutenant General | Vice Admiral |
| Major General | Rear Admiral |
| Brigadier | Commodore |
| Colonel | Captain First Rank. |
| Lieutenant Colonel | Captain Second Rank. |
| Major | Corvette Captain |
| Captain | Senior Lieutenant |
| Lieutenant First Class | Lieutenant |
| Lieutenant Second Class | Lieutenant Junior Grade. |
| Cadet (Training Rank.) | Midshipman (Training Rank.) |
Enlisted / Warrant Officers:
| Army: | Navy: |
| Chief Warrant Officer | Chief Warrant Officer |
| Warrant Officer | Warrant Officer |
| Sergeant Major | Master Chief Petty Officer |
| Master Sergeant | Senior Chief Petty Officer |
| Chief Sergeant | Chief Petty Officer |
| Senior Sergeant | Senior Petty Officer |
| Sergeant | Petty Officer |
| Corporal | Able Starman |
| Private First Class | Senior Rating |
| Private Second Class | Rating |
| Private Third Class | Junior Rating |
| Enlistee (Training Rank.) | Enlistee (Training Rank.) |
Military Law:
Military law is very diverse, with Navy Captains effectively serving as the only authority, period, onboard their ship. Punishment can be meted out as the Captain of a RRN ship chooses, and, all punishments short of execution are permissable. Cases where execution is warranted (Treason, murder, rape, disobidience of a direct order by a superiour officer in person), are sent to the nearest starbase, all of which maintain active judicial courts made up of three captains of the first rank. Captains of the First Rank must be tried by a panel of three Commodores or those higher in rank for any crime they are accused off, as are the captains of independant vessels, even if lower in rank. Admirals will be tried by the Admiralty Board it's self.
The Army has boards of Brigadiers from the JAG (Judge Advocate General) corp who serve as traveling juries to try all offenses by officers. Punishment to enlisted personnel is meted out as necessary by their commanding officers; Same rules apply as in the navy.
Military Protocol: Officers are adressed as Sir or Ma'am based on protocol; Largely a comprimise. In the matriarchal Ralsiian species, Ma'am was used for ALL officers, while the opposite was true of the Elven and Human militaries, hence the balance. Since officers cannot be drawn from other species, mistakes are rare, the three species sharing all the same basic traits. Nobility exists among all three of the major species, and hence noble rank is added during formal adress and as necessary, "Lord, Lady, Sir," (In reference to a knighted individual.), ect. Rank will come before noble title.
Religion: There are no laws restricting religions in either the army or the navy as long as they do not incur the spilling of sentient blood (IE, killing, injuring, etc.) in any rituals.
Sexual Contact: Sexual contact is banned except between those with a formal marriage/bonding or when between two personnel of equal rank; Seniority is not a factor. The exception is in relationships between a member of the navy and one of the army, at which time there are no regulations for such cross-service relationships at all.
Mages & Psionics in the Military: Psychics and Mages can join, but there are no special organizations for them at this time. Such special organizations are being considered as a counter against other magic and psionic wielding forces in the Three Galaxies, but none have been formed yet.
The full naval forces, both reserve and active, of the Royal Ralsiian Navy. This does not include all the non-FTL capable Torpedo Boats of the Imparatristic class, which are operated by the RRN or the Dominions, Imarna class Interceptors, and Kleebaun class Torpedo Bombers, along with standard multi-purpose shuttles and assault transports and landing barges, which are operated by the RIA's Star Corps, and non-FTL capable minelayers/minesweepers converted from civilian ships that are sometimes used in system forces of the Dominions and independant powers.
All Ralsiian vessels in the Royal Ralsiian Navy that have FTL drives are named "Empress". They are all also named after real Empresses, but since there have been only five Empresses of the full Ralsiian Star Empire over it's comparatively brief history, Queens of All the Ralsiians, and other monarchs from ancient history, and even the history and current times of planets within the Empire, and in some cases, mythological Empresses, serve as a name pool for the FTL warships. Empresses/Queens (Both of which are referred to as Empress by the Ralsiians) from subjagated worlds are also so honoured, but "only with destroyers" as one noble from such a subjagated world once wryly commented.
The Dominions and Independant powers can name their vessels as they wish, and many RRN ships transferred to them are renamed to free up names for other vessels in the RRN proper.
The Royal Ralsiian Navy is divided into five fleets; The First or "Home" fleet stationed over the Worlds of the Concordiat and tasked with defending the central worlds, and the second, third, fourth, and fifth fleets, which patrol the outer worlds, traveling from base to base, and sometimes remaining at one fleet base and sector for years, at other times making whirlwind tours of the Empire, performing war games, etc. Each fleet includes 4 Empress Nivarna II class Battleships, 2 Empress Mikela IV class Battlecruisers, 2 Empress Intalasha III class Fleet carriers, 2 squadrons of Heavy Cruisers (A total of eight), and four Destroyer Squadrons. A destroyer squadron has a Light Cruiser as a flagship and 20 destroyers split into four divisions of five ships each, so each fleet also has four Light Cruisers and Eighty (80) destroyers.
The rest of the ships of the Royal Ralsiian Navy are, in the case of Expeditionary Cruisers, operating in pairs, or singlely for training cruisers, or the remaining Heavy Cruisers, Light Cruisers, and Destroyers; There are eight "Forces", usually named after the system in which they are based, each of which has one Heavy Cruiser squadron and one Destroyer Squadron with a Light Cruiser as the flagship of the Destroyer Squadron, for 4 Heavy Cruisers, one Light Cruiser, and twenty Destroyers. Finally, there are thirty four Destroyer Squadrons, each with a Light Cruiser as flag and the standard number of destroyers, that patrol all around the Ralsiian Star Empire. The fast contra-gravity drives of the ships and the compact nature of the RSE allow for a small force of ships to cover a large number of planets, unlike the other spread-out powers.
There is considerable debate as to the question of, when the two Empress Saverana II class Dreadnoughts are completed, if they should be added to the Home Fleet alone with another two Destroyer Squadrons and possibly two more Heavy Cruiser squadrons taken from the Forces, to turn the Home Fleet into a massive concentration of ships without equal in the Three Galaxies, or if a force of that size or smaller should be formed into a new Sixth Fleet. Considering the tendency of the other powers of the Three Galaxies to build large numbers of smaller ships, most Admirals are in favour of a Sixth Fleet to increase reaction times against possible multiple incursions by groups of smaller vessels that could not be countered by the more concentrated force of the Royal Ralsiian Navy. Such a sixth fleet would probably only consist of four Destroyer Squadrons and the two Dreadnoughts, leaving all eight "Forces" intact as well as thirty Destroyer Squadrons for patrol duties.
Unlike other navies, the Royal Ralsiian Navy does NOT have a mothball fleet of normal ships. Admiral Jeryllyn I. Lictor, the Countess of Kriesdale, decried the practice of mothballing ships for times of need as "Absolute foolishness! Pure madness! Ships must be ready to go to war at ten minutes notice or they might as well be scrapped!" It was firey speeches like this and a policy to back it up that led to the eventually sending of the Invernally class Light Battleships (Originally Battleships) to the four major navies inside the RSE, and the other ships to the Dominion Navies, etc, and the retaining of the very old combat vessels, including Jeryllyn's flagship, in near-perfect condition with constant upgrades and maintaince. Though not part of the RRN, and supported by each individual government, these ships are "Always ready for war", as the Countess had demanded, and would operate as part of the RRN in wartime.
Another reason for this is quite simply because the fleet is overstretched; With the rapid growth of the Ralsiian Star Empire, deployments are constant and long term, and there simply aren't enough ships to cover the territory of the RSE effectively and still have space for a reserve fleet. This is another arguement in favour of more destroyers and light cruisers of advanced type. Others have suggested dispersing the big fleets, but this has met with much opposition, as it goes against Ralsiian strategic doctrine.
Refits and overhauls are often conducted while the ship is in service; The massive modular resupply ships of the Empress Tisara II class can do servicing on most ships even while they are underway, except the engines, of course. Likewise, the ships are often constantly in a large variety of asteroid deepdocks scattered through the Empire in which constant maintaince takes place in a manner so that, if the fleet needs to sortie, the ship can sortie in time with it. Some weapons systems might be down, or some engines non-operational, but since the fleet would rarely immedietly engage in combat or travel at flank speed, the engineers, who are expected to stay onboard, would continue emergency jury-rigging to bring the systems back on. The entire RRN is geared like that; To keep as many of the ships on the line, ready to fight, at all times, no matter what.
However, in the cases of specialized vessels which are only needed in the time of a long, protracted war, these are stored in a massive hollowed out asteroid coverted for the purpose in the System of the Concordiat. These include Destroyer Escorts, Planetary Assault Ships, and FTL-capable Minelayers and Minesweepers, along with the infamous "Torpedo Cruisers" which can be assigned to a fleet as necessary in time of war (Probably one per fleet if there is a sixth fleet completed.) The planetary assault ships can be activated for the conquest of planets not during a major war, and all are kept in excellent condition; However, this reserve fleet was established only after the Countess of Kriesdale had died, and hence her opposition to any sort of fleet not made up ships instantly ready to fight. Crews for these ships live as reservists in the habitat area of the hollowed asteroid, another concession to memory and the few midshipmen and other junior officers from the war with the Quadruple Entente who are still alive (And usually in the Admiralty) and whom follow the "Teachings of the Countess" as closely as possible.
Assuming that budgets are not cut for the Royal Ralsiian Navy, there is an emergency plan being pushed by the Admirals to fund the construction of 120 destroyers of a new class to help meet the threat of the Kreeghor and other enemies in the Three Galaxies; This was near passing, but stalled when full details on the Rifts process were obtained from the United Worlds Warlock. These destroyers would incorporate the very latest of Ralsiian technology, and, with the Torpedo Cruisers (Brought up to active duty use instead of staying in the reserves) used as their squadron flagships, would be used to augment patrols and four of the squadrons could provide the light ships for the new Sixth fleet, bringing the total number of independent squadrons up to thirty six, two more than are currently on patrol in the colonies regions, and thereby reducing response times to crisis, while still having enough squadrons for four to escort the two Dreadnoughts of the new sixth fleet.
Though it would be a real strain on the RSE, it's very likely that the 120 "Advanced Model" destroyers will end up being built, while at the same time funding for the army is also increased, in terms of how to deal with rift-type invasions of planets. It is even possible that "Advanced Model" Light Cruisers will be built as flagships for these squadrons.
It is hoped that recruiting magically abled individuals as they re-learn lost arts, members of the K'Taaran species who have been invited to settle on Ralsiian worlds, and possibly cybernetic super-soldiers if the technology is acquired, can allow for adequet army forces while still allowing the additional funding to be split between the Ralsiian Imperial Army and the Royal Ralsiian Navy, so the navy can get their 120 new destroyers, and the Army will get the force requirements that it says it needs, except by "unusual means".
However, there are problems with this, both financially and in terms of finding enough K'Taaran willing to join the Ralsiian Star Empire to form such units. There aren't many left, and the idea has detractors among the RSE, anyway, as being ineffective long-term. For the financial problem, it's the rather infamous deal of expanding to find new resources to support a larger navy.. And then needed more resources to support an even larger navy to protect the regions expanded into for their mineral wealth! This never-ending cycle is one of the things that has helped the Ralsiians expand so quickly.
It should be noted that Ralsiian tactical doctrine, though dictating long range engagement, favours long range Energy Weapon engagements; Their abilities with missiles and long range missile exchanges are limited, the primary exception being the use of Heavy Torpedoes, which are a relatively recent innovation. Though hanging off at the extreme edge of their energy weaponry range, which is almost always beyond the range of comparable energy weaponry in the Three Galaxies, is expected, likewise, a Ralsiian commander will always try to bring a force of Ralsiian ships into energy weapons range quickly; Most missiles are also launched at this range. The Ralsiians try to avoid exclusive missile combat, as it leaves them at a disadvantage.
Her Majesty's Royal Yachts:
2 Ralsiia class Royal Yachts, designed as formal strategic fleet flagships
in time of war, and as vessels for the transport of members of the Royal
Family in time of peace. They are capable of defending themselves against
attack by most forces without an escort. (1,530m); 18 million gross tons.
(Under construction)
Carriers:
| 10 | Empress Intalasha III class Fleet Carriers (1,560 m); 20 million tons. |
| 2 | Empress Saverana II class Dreadnoughts (2,560 m); 80 million gross tons (Under Const.) | |
| 20 | Empress Nivarna II class Battleships (1,150 m); 14.5 million gross tons. | |
| 10 |
Empress Mikela IV class Battlecruisers (1,180 m); 15.5 million gross tons. |
| 32 | Empress Narvinia II class Expeditionary Cruisers (710 m); 7 million gross tons. | |
| Notes: Designed more for exploration than combat. | ||
| 72 | Empress Sikala class Heavy Cruisers (640 m); 5 million gross tons. | |
| 42 | Empress Jinarsha II class Training Cruisers (530 m); 2 million Gross Tons. | |
| Notes: Serve as flagships to Destroyer Escorts in wartime covering convoys. | ||
| 6 | Empress Vinara IV class Torpedo Cruisers (405 m); 800,000 Gross Tons. | |
| Notes: Kept in reserve fleet except in time of war. | ||
| 62 | Empress Tilashi IV class Light Cruiser (350 m); 500,000 Gross Tons. |
| 1,240 | Empress Kishala class Destroyer (135 m); 30,000 gross tons. | |
| 840 | Empress Cithala class Destroyer Escorts (105 m); 20,000 gross tons. | |
| Notes: Kept in reserve fleet except in time of war |
| 64 | Empress Kinara II class Minelayers (205 meters); 180,000 gross tons. | |
| 64 | Empress Kliara class Minesweepers (153 meters); 90,000 gross tons. |
| 16 | Empress Anhilara II class Planetary Assault Ships (1,853 m); 50 million gross tons. |
| 320 | Empress Tisara II class Armed Heavy Resupply Ships (1,100 m); 10 million gross tons. | |
| 320 | Empress Likerla class Tenders (315 m); 200,000 gross tons. |
Small Star Nation Government And Dominion Forces:
These are the ships owned by the Ralsiian, Elven, Human, and Wolven governments, along with the governments of the Dominions. Ships classified by race are still under the direct control of that government, while the ones that are not are more likely to be under the control of one of the Dominions; The Concordiat does not have a military. However, the Invernaly class Light Battleships are divided up among the four major races that have the population to support them. Non-FTL Torpedo Boats, Fighter-Bombers, and Interceptors are not counted here. Most of the Dominions have comparatively small militaries to the militaries of worlds with similiar populations in the CCW; 66 Dominion worlds have 2 Empress Nishala class 1st Rate Cruisers and 2 Empress Silashka III class TBDs, 46 have 2 Empress Nishala class 1st Rate Cruisers and 1 Empress Silashka III class TBD, while 6 worlds have one of each.
These ships were not sold to the Dominion Navies but rather assigned after decommissioning, based on the population and importance of the Dominion World in question. Non-FTL capable Torpedo Boats, and fighter sized Torpedo Bombers and Interceptors, along with assault shuttles and standard shuttles for in-system resupply, etc, can all be purchased, and the number varies wildly from Dominion to Dominion. Likewise, most of the Dominions have minesweepers and minelayers, both Non-FTL and FTL capable, converted from merchant vessels. Some even have converted merchant vessels serving as the troop transports of RIA forces raised from their worlds, but this is rare. Fleet resupply vessels that are decommissioned usually end up in private hands.
Note that some captured Pirate, Smuggler, Splugorth, and possibly TGE ships are also sold by the captain and crew of the vessel that successfully captured them to the highest bidder among the Independant or Dominion navies for service in said navies. Numbers and types of such vessels are unknown.
Carriers:
| 2 | Old Wolven Carriers in the service of the Wolven Navy. (880 m); 8 million gross tons. |
| 20 | Empress Invernaly class Light Battleships (995m); 12 million gross tons. | |
| (6 Ralsiian Self-Defense Force, 6 Wolfen Navy, 4 Neu Terran Navy, 4 Royal Elven Navy) | ||
| 6 | Old Ralsiian Battleships (755 m) | |
| 4 | Old Elven Battleships (750 m) | |
| 4 | Old Human Battleships (735 m) | |
| 2 | Old Wolven Battleships (810 m) |
| 230 | Empress Nishala class First Rate Cruisers (590m); 2 million | |
| (Spread among the Dominion navies.) | ||
| 4 | Captured Quadruple Entente Cruisers (600 m) | |
| (Use Kittani technology; 2 RSDF, 1 each NTN and REN; Sort of monuments to their grand | ||
| victory, though they do serve as effective defensive vessels.) | ||
| 18 | Ralsiian Second Rate Cruisers (500 m) | |
| 20 | Elven Third Rate Cruisers (400 m) | |
| 24 | Human Third Rate Cruisers (375 m) |
| 184 | Empress Silashka III class Torpedo Boat Destroyers (115 m); 15,000 gross tons. | |
| (Spread among the Dominion Navies) | ||
| 16 | Quadruple Entente Torpedo Boat Destroyers (95 m) | |
| (Use Kittani technology; 5 NTN, 5 REN, 6 RSDF; Sort of monuments to their grand victory, | ||
| though they do serve as effective defensive vessels.) | ||
| 34 | Ralsiian Large Torpedo Boats (80 m) | |
| 20 | Elven Large Torpedo Boats (80 m) | |
| 16 | Human Large Torpedo Boats (85 m) | |
| 40 | Wolven Large Torpedo Boats (90 m) |
| None; | Most ships are limited to a few systems close by and resupply from orbital bases. |
Most of the military technology of the Ralsiian Star Empire is relatively recently developed, by the standards of the Three Galaxies, but also quite advanced by the terms of the three galaxies. However, it could be considered old by most Ralsiians, who despite their long lifespans have shorter outlooks than most people of the Three Galaxies; Their civilization is not as old when it comes to spacefairing.
Military developement hit a peak roughly 30 years ago when the last of the Empress Narvinia II class Cruisers were finished. The two ships of the Empress Saverana II class are simply combinations of all the elements of the technological advance of three decades prior; The heavy torpedoes and long-range guns were the developement of Ralsiian tactical thought that stretches well into the time of the Countess of Kriesdale, and, atleast in her head, before her famous victories in the war with the Quadruple Entente.
Despite winning the most famous of her victories at a range at which Admiral Jellicoe of Earth's First World War would have been comfortable, she was always a proponent of long range combat, right up until her death, little more than fifty years ago (The average lifespan of a Ralsiian is 550+ years, though the recorded cases of Ralsiians living to 600+ are very, very rare.. Less than ten thousand, even with advanced medical technology. It's said the Countess of Kriesdale lived as long as she did by sheer force of will.) at the age of 583.
The only new developement in recent years is the Tachyon sensor array and Tachyon Communications systems, which have been added to older warships in addition to being incorporated in the Empress Saverana II class.
Tachyon communications travel at a speed of 1,000 lightyears per hour, ten times faster than Contra-Gravity and Phase Communications. They feature options including audio, visual, and full holographic representation, and within a one-second time delay range (Roughly 0.3 lightyears), they can provide instant, real-time communications. Beyond this distance, there is a delay, but between nearby solar systems, it is not considerable, and communications are fast, similiar to wirelass transmissions around the time of the early twentieth century on Earth. Indeed, within an 85 lightyear radius, most such communications arrive in five minutes or so after being sent; Roughly the same amount of time for a wirelass transmission in that era to be send and received.
Tachyon Communications systems were introduced only 25 years ago; Before that, news in the Empire traveled only by courier. Developements in Contra-gravity technology have largely focused on FTL drives and enhancements to sublight drives, and the possibility of Contra-gravity communications was not seriously considered; The drive in that direction, and for sensors, was through Tachyons, which eventually proved successful. Research for Contra-Gravity communications has now commenced since examples of such devices have been acquired, however, for now, backup communications, Ralsiian ships still rely on sublight communications systems.
Two areas in both civilian and military technology that the Ralsiian Star Empire considerably lags in compared with the three galaxies are Cybernetics and Computer systems; A combination of a concentration of science on larger war machines, shielding technology, and other advances, along with, in medical fields, more biological methods of healing, not to mention the few remaining elven mages who practice such healing arts, made advanced cybernetics a field of little interest, one that the RSE now regrets ignoring. As for computers, the exact reason for the lack of progression is unknown, but the results are clear in the comparable huge crews that Ralsiian ships have when compared with their counterparts in the Three Galaxies; The crews are, on average, ten times larger.
Note that though the Ralsiians use fusion reactors for all their ships, they do have Matter/Anti-Matter warheads for their missile weaponry; They simply consider Anti-Matter to volitile for reactors. However, for missiles, it's fine, as there are far smaller amounts; It also explains why the Ralsiians go for external missile launchers on their smaller ships, and the internal ones on the larger ships are incredibly armoured into the hull, and hence have small numbers of missiles per launcher; They take every safety precaution possible when dealing with Anti-Matter.
Though experiments are under way for more advanced drives the Ralsiians consider "safe", for the moment they simply use highly advanced and overpowered fusion engines; Reliable, but a brute force approach that requires a large number of engines and takes up space.
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]
Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).
Reformatting by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).
Copyright © 2001, Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.