Space Warfare as Practiced by the Trade Federation
Table of Contents
Frames: An Introduction
What other factions call Daemons, or Mechas, the Trade Federation and her associated entities refer to as "Frames". In typical usage, "Frame" refers to Trade Federation and associated entities Mechas specifically, but in this document the term is used to refer to all Mechas.
Trade Federation Frames are often not designed to be self-sufficient on the battlefield, as the average small to medium sized Frames lack reactors completely, relying on battery power alone to function. This design philosophy comes with some advantages and loads of disadvantages:
The Frames can be designed to be more compact and have lower mass without having to sacrifice armour or firepower, giving them an advantage in maneuverability, as well as an ability to punch way above their weight, but at the cost of limiting their operational range and ability to sustain operations in a prolonged battle. This greatly affects how the Trade Federation's sub-entities deploy their Frames in battle: Always supported by naval power or pre-existing infrastructure.
Larger and more advanced Frames do have their own reactors, and thus are not as limited in operational capabilities than the frontline combatant Frames. The Frames of the Trade Federation have a vague resemblance to flowers and feathered birds. They are entirely mechanical in nature, outside a few exceptions.
Pilots & the Simulacra
Simulacrum
noun
an image or representation of someone or something.
Simulacra are a term referring to Artificial Intelligences that are by doctrine tailor-made to assist Frame Pilots in their missions. During their training, pilots undergo extensive psychological evaluation with the aim of tailoring the perfect companion AI for them personally. These AIs, the Simulacra of the pilots, accompany the pilots for the rest of their careers, not only as partners in battle, but also as their primary sources of mental support. Simulacra are not designed as copies of the pilot's characters, but as their own unique personas that are meant to complement the pilot in personality.
Simulacra are able to independently operate the Frames they occupy, but are at their best when cooperating with a pilot. Simulacra are in charge of communications with the rest of the strike group, a task that would be overwhelming for a Frame pilot especially in the midst of combat. The AIs also operate the deployable drones ("Petals" for offensive drones and "Feathers" for defensive drones) the Trade Federation Frames carry with them to the battlefield.
Simulacra routinely make backups of themselves, as they are seen near equally valuable to pilots. A pilot who loses his or her AI are often out of the fight for years.
Ship Classifications and their roles on the battlefield
The ship classifications are listed in the order of general priority in battle - the ships listed first are considered more valuable and vital to the mission when compared to the ships listed later. The dimensions given are approximate lengths of the main hull.
- Carriers - 10 000m to >100 000m
The primary purpose of Carrier spacecraft is to function as the RRR (Repair, Resupply, Rearm) hubs for Frames as well as smaller ships. They are often the flagships of Battlefleets as Carriers usually are usually built with the robust communications arrays necessary for relaying commands across a star system, or even between systems. In the fleets of the Trade Federation, Carriers are divided into three classes:- Battle Carriers - "Dominators"
Ships whose sole purpose is to carry and tend to Frame Squadrons in orbital superiority battles with enemy forces. For this purpose, Battle Carriers are equipped with robust point-defence arrays and anti-Frame countermeasures, as well as extensive pilot training facilities. Battle Carriers are the largest ships in the Trade Federation Navies, capable of launching thousands of Frames in seconds. Trade Federation strike groups are usually build around 2 to 64 Battle Carriers. - Support Carriers - "Conquerors"
Smaller Carrier ships whose intended purpose is to assist planetary or station invasion by ground forces. Instead of tens of thousands of Frames, Support Carriers carry legions of soldiers and their equipment, which they deploy on the battlefield with the assistance of dropships or by orbital drop pods. Support Carriers do carry Frame Squadrons, but they are much fewer in numbers than the ones carried on Battle Carriers, and the Frames themselves are designed for atmospheric combat within strong gravity wells. A typical Support Carrier can deploy around 800 000 frontline combat troops and their supporting forces, including artillery, armoured divisions, engineer detachments, field hospitals, logistics corps, and supporting infrastructure. Support Carriers boast notable orbital bombardment capabilities. Support Carriers are deployed as a part of an invasion force arriving behind a strike group, and as such aren't strictly under Navy jurisdiction. An average planetary invasion force includes between 200 and 3200 Support Carriers, depending on how much resistance is expected, and the invasions of highly defended systems or habitat swarms may include tens of thousands Support Carriers. - Light Carriers - "Skirmishers"
Small capital ships that are capable of deploying a few hundred Frames each, or about 32 000 frontline combat troops. Light Carriers are generalists, most often deployed as a part of merchant convoys, anti-schizoid operations, patrol, emergency first responders, station & planetary guard, and as screening ships for Battle and Support Carriers. Light Carriers are adaptable, as their hangars can easily converted to become suitable for carrying Frames, ground troops, or cargo. However, unlike Support Carriers, Light Carriers are generally ill-suited for orbital bombardment.
- Battle Carriers - "Dominators"
- Battleships - 12 000m to 40 000m
Capital ships whose purpose is to destroy enemy capital ships, especially Carriers, with long range bombardment. Battleships are equipped with the most powerful reactors, allowing them to wield equally as powerful weaponry. While most Battleships of the Trade Federation carry kinetic weapons as their main armament, the spinal mounted weapon the ships are built around are usually vitubic particle beams, also known as "Hololance(s)". These devastating weapons are capable of inflicting massive, potentially fatal, damage on even large ships with a single salvo, although due to the massive amount of energy needed to fuel such weapons, the ship firing it's hololance cannot have it's vitubic dampeners active during the process, leaving the ship vulnerable to vitubic interference from the environment as well as enemy actors. Furthermore, recharging the hololance will take from few hours to few days, depending on the power draw of the hololance pattern in question. Battleships are almost never deployed alone, they are always escorting Carriers. Average strike group contains between 64 and 2048 Battleships, depending on the intended mission of the strike group and the expected level of resistance. - Light Battleships - 6000m to 8000m
Smaller battleships whose purpose is to target enemy screening ships with long range bombardment, deny approach vectors to enemy Frames with saturation bombardment, locate enemy Frame squadrons with probing bombardment, and orbital bombardment. Light Battleships are more maneuverable than their larger counterparts, owing to their smaller inertial mass. Light Battleships wield kinetic weapons and missile batteries as their primary weapons, and energy weapons only as point-defence. The spinal mounted weapon a light battleship is built around is always a kinetic one. Light Battleships are deployed in large numbers as part of both Strike Groups and Planetary Invasions. The usual ratio of Carriers (not including Light Carriers) to Light Battleships is between 1/200 and 1/800 for Strike Groups, and 1/8 to 1/64 for Planetary Invasions. Light Battleships are the primary escort ship class for Support Carriers alongside the slightly larger Light Carriers. - Cruisers - 800m to 6000m, typically, but varies a lot
Smallest class of capital ships, and the smallest class of ships that can independently open a Catalog Gate. The Cruiser classification is used as a catch-all term, as all ships both military and civilian capable of independently opening a Catalog Gate that also isn't one of the ship classes listed above are classified as Cruisers. Cruisers are adaptable generalists whose equipment is often changed depending on the needs of the Fleet. As such, their intended role greatly depends on the mission of the fleet the Cruiser is a part of. In Strike Groups, Cruisers are equipped with small and medium calibre kinetic weapons and missile batteries, and their primary mission is to deny approach vectors to enemy Frames with saturation bombardment, locate enemy Frame squadrons with probing bombardment, protect Screens from approaching enemy Fighters, and target approaching enemy Frame Destroyers during a retreat. During planetary invasions Cruisers are equipped with medium kinetic batteries and Frame hangars, and their mission is to function as operational bases for elite Frame Squadrons on special missions, quick response orbital bombardment, quick response medical ships, and in a pinch, as meat shields for evacuating Support Carriers. For military purposes, Cruisers are deployed in the thousands. In Civilian Administration, Cruisers are most often equipped with small and medium calibre kinetic weapons and small Frame hangars, leaving space for holding cells, cargo, and/or medical facilities depending on the mission. Civilian Cruisers are often employed as the flagships of Law-Enforcement forces, mobile hospitals, and/or First Response vessels against Schizoid invasions. In Civilian use, Cruisers are often only equipped with small calibre kinetic weapons or point-defence, with the hangar space reserved solely for cargo, passenger, or laboratory use. Civilian Cruisers are often used by merchants for carrying vital or dangerous cargo, and by Universities as mobile research vessels. - Screens - 1600m to 4000m
Nimble escort vessels whose purpose is to block incoming fire from the enemy fleet, and destroy any enemy Frames that try to attack capital ships. Screens are equipped with robust armour and extensive point-defence and particle beam dispersion arrays. Particle beam dispersion arrays are intended to disperse incoming particle beams, in hopes of lessening the damage these devastating weapons deal to the Screen ships and the capital ships they are protecting. Usually these dispersion arrays work by utilizing magnetic fields to deflect charged particles, but such arrays are are often useless against neutral particle beams. For these, lasers, and other electromagnetic radiation weapons, the Screens are capable of deploying a semi-coherent cloud of reflective nanobots that scatter and absorb a large portion of the incoming beams. The downside of such equipment is that it also renders friendly energy weapons ineffective, which is why Trade Federation ships carry kinetic weapons as their primary armament. Against kinetic bombardment, the Screens rely on their thick armour to block and deflect incoming shots. Since Screens are essentially designed to be sacrificed in battle, they have very small crews and are designed in a way that allows the crew to easily abandon ship in the eventuality that it is destroyed. Owing to their lack of weaponry, Screens are essentially helpless in battle against other ships, which has led to Screen Captains relying on ramming into enemy vessels they know they cannot take out in a firefight. In a retreat, Screens are by doctrine the last ships permitted to leave the battlefield. These factors have given Screen Captains an arguably undeserved reputation as borderline suicidal, aggressive, hotheads. Screens are almost exclusively used by the military and they are deployed by the thousands. - Frame Destroyers - 800m to 1600m
Frame escort ships equipped with emergency repair facilities, point-defence arrays, communication relays, Frame hangars, and flak cannons. Frame Destroyers accompany Frame squadrons during attacks, behind the battlespace. The purpose of Frame Destroyers is to give friendly Frames a battlefield advantage during an engagement by providing suppressive fire to retreating units, providing anti-missile & anti-drone cover, providing battlefield repairs, and allowing friendly Frames to recharge their energy weapons, rearm their missile arrays, and recharge their batteries on the battlefield. Frame Destroyers are capable of carrying a single squadron of medium sized frames to battle. Frame Destroyers are designed to carry weapons capable of saturation bombarding close-range space, making them extremely dangerous targets for enemy Frames especially when defended by friendly Frames, but leaving them extremely vulnerable against other ships. The ratio of deployed Frames to deployed Frame Destroyers is usually between 80/1 and 400/1 for military fleets. - Fighters - 400m to 800m
Small and fast attack ships whose purpose is to assist Frame squadrons during a battle by pre-emptively destroying enemy Frame Destroyers and Screens. Fighters are equipped with energy weapons much more powerful than what the reactors they are equipped with can power, meaning that Fighters have to rely on batteries to supply their weapons with power. This leads to Fighters having a disproportionally high damage output, but absolutely no staying power on the battlefield, as often a Fighter can fire it's main weapon only a handful of times before running out of charge. Fighters are equipped with some point-defence, which makes them risky targets for Frames, but by no means too much so. A well organized Frame squadron is more than capable of taking down a fighter, assuming that they can catch the ship; While not even near as agile as Frames, Fighters are much faster, capable of outrunning all but the most powerful Frames in almost any situation. Fighters rely on speed for defence, meaning that their engines are their lifelines. A fighter with engine problems is a sitting duck, unable to defend itself against most foes. A typical engagement will see Fighters deployed in the tens of thousands. - Orbital Patrol - 80m to 320m
Small generalist ships equipped with small kinetic and energy weapons, and designed to operate both within zero G vacuum and atmospheres of gravity wells. The role of Orbital Patrol ships depends on the institution using them. In Military, Orbital Patrol ships are used as transports for troops and equipment and CAS (Close Air Support) during a planetary or station invasion, and as transport shuttles for Strike Groups, especially for carrying wounded pilots and damaged Frames from the battlespace back to their assigned Carriers. For Civilian Administration, Orbital Patrol ships form the bulk of Law-Enforcement forces. These vessels are often equipped with holding cells and medical facilities, and are much less armoured than the ones used by the Military. Law-Enforcement Orbital Patrol vessels also often carry between 2 and 16 smaller vacuum-atmospheric craft that can be used to deploy small teams of armed police or special forces into areas where proper ships cannot enter. This hangar space can also be used to carry between 1 to 8 Frames. Since Orbital Patrol vessels are entirely incapable of launching Frames owing to them completely lacking deployment rails, the Frames carried on Orbital Patrol vessels have to rely on their own ability to travel into the deployment zone. Civilian Orbital Patrol vessels are often used as transports or freighters for carrying people and goods between habitat stations and planetary cities, and occasionally as atmospheric cruise ships over picturesque planets. These vessels are almost never armed, especially when operating in peaceful areas.
Vessels smaller than 80m or larger unarmed vessels that are incapable of operating in atmosphere while also being unable to independently open Catalog Gates are not classified as proper ships, and are instead classified as small spacecraft, small atmospheric craft, or mobile stations.
Doctrine
Pre-Emptive Strike
"The Frames are cheap, Pilots are irreplaceable."
Since Frames are at their most vulnerable when preparing to launch or while resupplying,