the Stellar Fleets

(Emblems to come)

     The Coalition has a centralised stellar fleet (in addition to the smaller fleets maintained by the member worlds), employed mainly in research and trade but also in keeping the peace. The fleet as a whole is known by various monikers, but “Vista” (a corruption from the original “ISTDA”, the Interplanetary Space Travel and Development Agency) is the commonest.
     Anyone may become a member of the fleet, and there are a lot of civilian roles – especially in the science fleet – but everyone is required to have a basic training as would befit a junior officer in any military operation. This primarily includes basic military training and flight-school – the latter since all officers are required to be able to pilot a vessel in an extreme situation, and since most vessels are highly computer-controlled this is less challenging than one may think. All officers require a basic military training because there is currently no fleet dedicated to solely military activities; see Pandion, below.

     Most members of Vista are from Coalition member species; as the founding species, Vuls and Ondrai are naturally commonest, but there are an increasing number of Zaar, DuSkai and Xniki, and even the stay-home Unser and le’Trai are growing in numbers. (Most le’Trai are employed as doctors, whereas the Unser like research or botanical roles.) The Yil (who prefer to remain in their family groups rather than mingle with other species), Nyen (who prefer to operate outside the law rather than as part of it) and Usurians are heavily under-represented – those Usurians you may see elected mostly to join the police fleets.

     Vista usually operates in tandem with local fleets – the Cethys Supersystem has its own stellar fleet, for instance, based on Ixis, and in spite of their Coalition membership the Unser patrol their own little patch of space and like to keep 90% of uninvited visitors out. The Vul homeworld still has its own small stellar fleet, but since Vista itself is primarily based around the Vulpeculan system, with the main headquarters and associated university/flight school on Vulpecula Prime and the primary shipyards on Vul Beta, there is little need for a large-scale operation.

     Vista operations are mainly reserved for operations within Coalition territory; non-member species do not usually benefit from their protection, and Vista does not engage in disputes outside Coalition jurisdiction.

     The livery of each ship mimics the plumage of its namesake – thus, Ardea is a mixture of grey and white, and Halcyon (the flagship for the Halcyon arm of the fleet) is a mixture of orange and blue. The crew uniforms are similarly coloured – this is partly so one can identify the crew of a given ship at a distance, rather than need to outright ask them.

The Fleets:

     There are four sectors/arms to Vista, each of which has a different specialist function but will take on other work if needed – for instance, Aramus is a trade fleet but will research phenomena if they are near it and Halcyon cannot attend, and Halcyon vessels will carry materials to far-flung research colonies if Aramus has no ships to spare.

     The emblems of the respective fleets are found both on the vessels themselves, and on the uniforms of the crew. All are designed to be reminiscent of aviforms.

Halcyon
Coalition Science and Research
     Halcyon is the primary research fleet, which makes it a fairly smallish sector, and consists of reasonably small ships. Most ships are named after small birds.

Aramus
Coalition Mercantile
     Aramus is by far the largest arm in Vista; the bulk of interplanetary trade operates via Aramus ships, and there are well-defined and well-maintained major trade routes going from all member systems to all other member systems.
     Most ships are named after types of water birds; examples include Avocet and Ardea (heron).

Coracina
ICP (Interstellar Coalition Police)
     The police fleet is a reasonably large fleet consisting of small vessels, and concerned solely with maintaining law and order; by merit of this Coracina is not particularly popular, especially out around marginal or Outer Rim worlds. They have a fairly heavy presence in worlds bordering the Unclaimed Zone, and are often quite thin on the ground on the Outer Rim, at the very limits of Coalition territory, but interior worlds are usually fairly ordered and peaceful and a large presence is not required.
     Most ships in Coracina are named after predatory birds or “crow-types” (for want of a better term); it is usually the covert frigates that are named after corvids.

Pandion
Coalition Military
     The only ships officially a permanent part of Pandion are the massive Destroyers and heavy frigates, and all are currently said to be in “active mothballs”. They are maintained in pristine condition and crewed by small, efficient teams of tactical maintainers, and can be called into active duty at any time, but are all housed in massive stellar “garages” on and around Vulpecula Trieni, Vulpecula Prime’s actual Moon (Vul Beta is more of a “sister planet”). Pandion is the one fleet that breaks the general naming convention in Vista; no ships are named after aves but rather have “traditional, military” names such as Armistice and Paladin.

     There reason for the lack of any formal military arm to the Coalition stellar fleet is that (for now) it is unneeded – although there are usually “rumblings” going on in one planetary system or another, the ICP can deal with most things, and the Kiravai (the major enemy of the Coalition) are fairly happy staying their side of the unofficial border.
     Secondary to the aforementioned, however, almost all ships in all arms of the fleet have been secondarily outfitted, and should the worst-case-scenario occur and war break out, ships can be easily reassigned to military roles; this is the primary reason all civilians entering the fleet require military training. The smaller ships are equipped as medical or covert surveillance frigates, and the larger vessels take on the role of gunships.