Alliance Navy
From Second Life Wiki
The Alliance Navy is an Second Life military group that was founded in March 2005 by Mazer Ludd in the sandboxes of Cordova and Goguen as a group for ship builders. Its primary headquarters is in Dorien, with other outposts elsewhere on the grid. It has existed constantly since it formation, and it is now led by Jim Herbst. The Alliance Navy was the first self-themed military to be formed on the grid and remains a major force as of August 2008.
Contents |
[edit] History
In March 2005, Mazer Ludd, a builder in SL, formed the Alliance Navy as a ship-building group. However, the sandboxes were at this time very volatile and swarming with griefers. The builders of the AN decided soon after the formation of the group to take up arms to defend themselves and others from the sandbox griefers. The group was formed on the member base of another group that Ludd had created some weeks earlier to act as a roleplay crew for one of his ship builds, and was already growing proficient in combating the various sandbox denizens that attempted to invade their vessel.
This event marks the AN\'s transition from a builders\' group to a police or military group. The goals of the AN at this time were to defend innocent builders and other inhabitants of the sandboxes from griefers. Some viewed the group as no better than the griefers they professed to fight, leading a few, most notably ose Clanger, founder of the Alliance Navy Rebellion, to actively fight the AN.
After a few months of being a sandbox military group, the Alliance Navy decided to move on. They purchased land in a sim called Raziel Vesperia, and left the sandboxes to their own devices. This upset a faction within the Alliance Navy, led by Admiral Shadow Keegan, who was at the time second in command of the group. The faction wanted to return to the now self-sufficient sandboxes and continue to police them. This internal argument led Keegan to take his followers and break off from the AN and return to the sandboxes. He formed the Alliance Navy II with this as his goal, and at the same time became the primary enemy of the original AN.
The AN recovered in the months following this schism, and soon grew to be larger than it was before Keegan's leaving. Now led by Jim Herbst, the group moved to the sim of Enceladus purchased by Jared Zander, eventually purchasing about half the sim, and eventually expanded into Tethys, purchasing about half of that sim as well. The group resided there until January 2007, at which time the sim of The Woofer was purchased and became the primary base of the AN. It was later renamed Dorien, and remains as such now.
For the first year and a quarter of its existence, Dorien was a Martian terrain, with red soil, and craters spread throughout, varying in size. However, in May 2008, the Alliance Navy began a full rebuild of the sim. The current design has two land masses on either side of a deep valley, at the bottom of which is a river. There are a few bridges spanning the gap.
[edit] Major Combat Operations
Though the Alliance Navy finds itself under constant attack, only a handful of major combat offensives have taken place:
[edit] Operation Crucifix
Operation Crucifix, which was performed about three months after the start of the second Alliance Navy/Mercz war, often referred to as "Grid War I". The attack on the Merczateer sim, Badnarik, began early in the morning, when the Merczateer logins were low, allowing an easy foothold to be attained, which was met with heavier resistance later in the day. The assault began with Marines taking Merczateer captives, and systematically executing them on the field, as their officers and higher enlisted held the Kremlin (which more resembled the St. Basil's Cathedral), the Merczateer administrations building, and a symbol of their power, as a stronghold.
In response to this defense, the Fleet division entered Badnarik from the southern straits of Salamis, causing devastation that Merczateers still remember to this day.
The Merczateers, at this point, had commissioned their first aircraft, an experimental assault aircraft specializing in bombing. However, it was equipped with dumbfire rockets, and extremely inaccurate chain guns. This aircraft was named the "A-BATS", and has always been unique in contrast to the much more contemporary "pointy" fighters for its rounded hull, and synthetic engine roar.
The A-BATS were able to fight off the Alliance Navy Fleet ships, but were no match for the new Alliance Navy prizefighters, The ANAD "Talon" aircraft, equipped with heat seeking missiles and extremely accurate cannon fire, as well as far more devastating bombs, which tore the A-BATS along with any infantry support that the Mercz could muster to shreds.
At this point, the Merczateers were able to rally some support from Novus Ordo Imperialis veterans, but were not able to maintain the defense long enough to keep the AN at bay.
The final blow struck by the Alliance Navy was delivered when a demoralized Merczateer General, Jonathan Arna, sold the Kremlin structure to members of the Alliance Navy.
Following this, another member of the Merczateer High Command, Melly Deemster, proceeded to return all of the new owner's objects, in the process destroying the Kremlin. This concluded 39 hours of combat, and ended in a Merczateer defeat.
[edit] Operation: BRB Supox
Shorter than Crucifix but almost equal in scale. On Monday April 28th the Vanguard led a large push against the Alliance Navy in Dorien, sending troops and aircraft to assault the at the time lightly defended base. To the Vanguard's shock within moments of the alert being sounded AN Marines and pilots where on the scene and quickly dispatched the attacking VG forces breaking apart their massive push, and ten minutes later the VG assault was over.
After a short meeting was held by the AN High Command it was decided that the Vanguard were to be taught a lesson. Admiral Harlequin Salome led the first wave of Marines into Supox, which was hit hard by heavy explosives fire from the Vanguard infantry (which had been ordered in a desperate attempt to stave off the AN attack by firing explosives into the hub to catch Marines before they could get a foothold on the sim). But the Marines persisted and eventually drove the Vanguard's forces back. Admiral Salome immediately began deploying additional forces after the Marines had softened up defenses enough for Fleet and Air to field equipment. Shortly after, Fleet began a massive bombardment of Vanguard's defenses by dropping FASCAMs (air-dropped mines) and gravity bombs over the sim, pummeling the now shaken defenders, even forcing some to abandon the towers which served as the Vanguard HQ.
At around 2:50pm SLT the AN called a lunch break and departed. Shortly thereafter, the 39th and forces from Sparta began there own assault and continued to blast the now severely broken defenses in Supox.
After lunch the Alliance returned to Supox. It was now supported by the 39th and, surprisingly enough, the Merczateers, regardless of the hostilities that exist between the two factions. The AN fleet continued to pound ground targets while the Merczateers infantry and Aeronautics division stormed the Vanguard's HQ, holding several key points with assistance from AN Marines.
When the dust settled Supox was under Alliance and Merczateer control, with the attackers far outnumbering the defenders by almost five to one. Soon afterwards, Christoph Naumova, leader of the Vanguard, announced over sim messages that he was closing the sim for two days to rebuild and immediately banned all non-Vanguard personnel from the sim. The victory decisively went to the AN/Mercz coalition (something unseen since 2006).
A quick and low key party was held in Dorien where stories of the battle were shared and drinks were had. Out of nowhere Fleet commander Izaea Qinan announced that the Merczateers wanted to divide the conquered sim of Supox down the middle. A quick meeting was arranged between representatives from the Merczateers and the Alliance Navy. The two groups met aboard the ANS Jericho, a carrier captained by former ANAD Wing Commander and Marine Pfc. Syxx Craig. Jokes about previous engagements flew but a good time was had by all, and after a short negotiating period it was decided that the Merczateers would get East Supox while the AN would have control of the West. Documents were signed by representatives from the Mercz Kommissariat, represented by Proteus Hand, and the AN High Command, represented by Jim Herbst.
The entire operation lasted roughly ten hours, and ended when Christoph closed the sim, and Vanguard's primary builder Grave Irata temporarily defected to the AN. He later returned to the VG after being hounded by his former comrades. The battle was thus technically a victory for the AN and Mercz by SL combat standards.
[edit] Politics and Inter-group Relations
The Alliance Navy rarely has very many allies. At the moment, its primary allies are Sparta and 39th Mobile Heavy Task Force,"Black Watch". All were previously enemies of the AN (or neutral, in the 39th's case), but later became friends and allies. In the past, the AN has been allied with the Merczateers, but that alliance went sour, as did the one with the Novus Ordo Imperialis, which collapsed shortly after.
The Merczateers were allies of the Alliance Navy for about half a year before war broke out in February 2007. However, relations had already begun to make a downturn in December 2006. At around this time, a Second Life resident by the name of Mister Rodgers offered the Merczateers the right to build on his sim, named The Woofer. The Mercz took up the offer and for a few days built a city which they intended to become their headquarters. However, for reasons that remain unclear, Mister Rodgers threw out the Mercz and returned all their work within a couple of days, and offered the sim to the Alliance Navy. The AN refused the offer, because the Mercz were allies, and they did not want to support the Mercz belief that the AN was behind their ejection. However, the Mercz still believed the AN intended to steal their sim, and gathered any military they could to rally them for war on the AN. War, however, was averted for now, and the alliance was preserved, due to the efforts of the High Command of both groups to resolve the issue bloodlessly. This event severely damaged relations, however, and by the middle of January 2007, the alliance was broken, and all that remained was an uneasy truce. But peace only lasted about a month. Amid allegations of theft and primcopying, threats, mutual dislike, and general unrest amongst the enlisted and junior officer ranks, the Alliance Navy declared war. Recently, the war died down for approximately 1 month. However, in mid August, combat operations were resumed.
As of November 2007, the combined Merczateers, Ordo Imperialis, and Militant Collective have put into practice a policy of isolation of the Alliance Navy, though whether this is an attempt to sanction them for the use of gear allegedly considered unfair or an attempt to attack the AN through non-conventional means varies in the public opinion. The AN, however, has been apparently unaffected by these practices - members report a steady level of combat, continue to engage Merczateer, Ordo, and Collective troops in defense of allied bases, and even a chance to start the long-desired wargames with Bruno Ziskey's Sparta, 2142 and 39th Mobile Heavy Task Force, "Black Watch".
[edit] STABLE
The Alliance Navy, along with the rest of the Ascendant Initiative and some other groups, abide by a set of rules set forth by the STABLE treaty, successor to the widely used SLSALT. Currently, a new version of the treaty is in development, with cooperation from many groups, both those who did and did not officially abide by STABLE. Some of the participants in the talks are the Alliance Navy, Ordo Imperialis, Vanguard, Militant Collective, Sparta, and 39th Mobile Heavy Task Force, "Black Watch", among others. The goal is to provide fair and fun combat for the whole community, and rid the combat community of the animosity which has been pervasive in recent times.
[edit] Allies
The following groups are allied to the AN.
[edit] Enemies
The following groups are hostile towards the AN.
- Commando SL
- EXÉRCITO BRASILEIRO
- Merczateers
- Militant Collective
- Ordo Imperialis
- Task Force Marines
- Vanguard Armed Forces
- spanish SL Army
[edit] Organization and Structure
The Alliance Navy is divided into three primary bodies, or divisions, which perform different roles in combat: Marine Division, Air Division, and Fleet Division. In addition to this, the group also utilizes several optional branches, such as JAG, Engineers, and the various training academies. These divisions work together in joint operations to better each others roles in the battle field and to provide the best equipment possible to do this.
[edit] Ranks
There are 21 ranks in the Alliance Navy: Nine Enlisted, two Warrant Officer, six Officer, and four Admiral ranks. The names of the ranks are the same through all of the divisions, with the exception of the first three Enlisted ranks. The first three enlisted ranks have unique names for each division.
[edit] Enlisted
There are nine Enlisted ranks. The first three are considered Junior Enlisted. They answer directly to their Junior Non-commissioned Officers. The next three are considered Junior NCOs. They are directly superior to the Junior Enlisted, and report to the Senior NCOs. The final three are the Senior NCOs. They are directly superior to the Junior NCOs, and report to the division officers and warrant officers.
- E-1: Private (Marine Division); Airman (Air Division); Shipman (Fleet Division)
- E-2: Private First Class (Marine Division); Airman First Class (Air Division); Shipman First Class (Fleet Division)
- E-3: Corporal (Marine Division); Senior Airman (Air Division); Shipman Adept (Fleet Division)
- E-4: Staff Sergeant
- E-5: Talon Sergeant
- E-6: Gunnery Sergeant
- E-7: Master Gunnery Sergeant
- E-8: Chief Master Gunnery Sergeant
- E-9: First Sergeant
[edit] Warrant Officer
There are two Warrant Officer ranks. These are essentially officer ranks, but with less authority.
- W-1: Warrant Officer
- W-2: Chief Warrant Officer
[edit] Officer
There are six Officer ranks in the Alliance Navy. The Officers command divisions, and take part in deciding portions of the AN's policies and diplomatic ties. They report directly to the Admirals.
- O-1: Lieutenant Junior Grade
- O-2: First Lieutenant
- O-3: Captain
- O-4: Major
- O-5: Lieutenant Colonel
- O-6: Colonel
[edit] Admiral
There are four Admiral ranks. The Admirals make the final decisions on major issues, including diplomacy, internal and external policy, treaty negotiations, etc. The final rank, Fleet Admiral, can only be held by one person at a time. The current holder is Jim Herbst.
- A-1: Rear Admiral (Lower Half)
- A-2: Rear Admiral (Upper Half)
- A-3: Vice Admiral
- A-4: Fleet Admiral
[edit] Marine Division
The Marine Division performs ground combat operations using small arms, light artillery and some vehicles. Marines can be recognized by their red heavy combat armor. The weapons generally used by the Marines are single or burst fire, with the exception of squad support weapons.
Marines generally enter combat either via direct teleportation, land marches to hostile parcels from nearby areas, or by being ferried into combat by a Fleet or Air Division dropship, or some combination of the above.
A set of specialized weapons are currently in development in order to provide a wider range of capabilities for the Marines. These weapons include main battle rifles, support machine guns, marksman rifles, anti-tank rockets, and anti-air missiles. The goal is to allow the Marines to able to tackle a wider variety of challenges without having to rely too heavily on the support of other divisions if they are otherwise engaged.
In addition to these weapons, a new set of armored vehicles are in development to complement the standard infantry role the Marines currently carry out. This new line of vehicles will include an infantry fighting vehicle, for engaging hostile soft targets, a self-propelled artillery vehicle for indirect support operations, and a main battle tank, for combating hostile armored vehicles.
The current commanders of the Marine Division are Bizcut Vanbrugh, ranked Lieutenant Colonel , and Nrom Normandy, ranked Major. There have been many commanders in the past, though they did not generally serve for very long periods of time. The longest-serving Marine Division commander so far was Mikael Khalamov, who was the commanding officer for nearly a year. As of August 2008, Khalamov instead holds the title of ANAD Commander.
[edit] Air Division
The Alliance Navy Air Division is a group of the finest pilots on the grid that fly physical aircraft, which generally are used as fighters or bombers. The aircraft are built and scripted by the personnel within the group. The aircraft currently in service are the AN-900 Talon and AN-950 Arrowhead. The Arrowhead is a minimalistic fighter vehicle centered on rendering up as little lag as possible from use while maintaining combat effectiveness. The Talon is reserved for NCOs and above, and includes much heavier weaponry than its counterpart. Pilots in training currently use a modified Arrowhead for practice.
In the battlefield Air Division's main roles are to maintain air superiority, provide close air support for the Marines fighting on the ground, and to escort and defend fleet ships from enemy air-to-air fire. Previously they took on the role of transporting Marines into combat zones as well, but lately this role has been delegated to Fleet, though new Air Division dropships are in development. Air Division aircraft are generally outfitted with lasers, cannons, bombs, and missiles.
The current commanders of the Air Division are Lieutenant Colonel (O-5) Mikael Khalamov and Major (O-4) Avena Marshall.
[edit] Flights
Air Division is divided into four Flights, each with a Flight Leader and Assistant Leader and several pilots. These are administrative bodies for the purpose of organization and communication, and are not binding in combat situations.
- First Flight - "Thresher"
- Leader: Architect Jarrico
- Assistant Leader: Rikky Tone
- Second Flight - "Ragnarok"
- Leader: Unknown
- Assistant Leader: Joshua Hoch
- Third Flight - "Hephaestus"
- Leader: Drew Dwi
- Assistant Leader: Tyrenius Munro
- Fourth Flight - "Freedom"
- Leader: Testa Boucher
- Assistant Leader: Naldo Arida
[edit] Fleet Division
The Alliance Navy Fleet Division is often argued as the oldest division (the main point being that the original projects of the aforemented ship-building group fell into the same category as the ships of today), the Alliance Navy Fleet Division pilots the larger nonphysical ships in the group possesion.
In a battlefield role, the ships perform two major significant roles:
First and foremost, ships are used for heavy bombardment of ground targets and light anti-aircraft support. The main armed ship in the Fleet, named the ANS Molay-class Frigate, is armed with a pleothera of destructive munitions, ranging from dropped ordinance such as the FASCAM airburst area-denial weapon and the Bunker-Buster to advanced missile systems capable of striking any point in a sim. All ships are equipped with several crew-manned turret points, which can be used in both anti-air gatling and anti-infantry cannon modes.
As well as providing support for the Marines below, Fleet Division is responsible for ferrying their charges to and from the battlefront. A highly dangerous task, the ships (primarily the ANS Moebius-class Gunboat/dropship) utilise andvanced technology to protect their inhabitants from all but the heaviest or most accurate incoming fire. With rapid ascent/descent possible, they are often seen only in the final moments of their approach, dropping off their payload and then rising up again to fetch another load.
After the sad departure of phoenix Behemoth from command, the division is currently headed up by Captain Izaea Qinan and First Lieutenant Rob Arten. The Fleet Division personnel continue to exceed common standard in every aspect of their duty, and constantly out-perform all comers to their glory.
The most notable fleet officer in Alliance Navy history is Cirius Montale, who almost single-handedly created the in-joke and stereotype of Fleet Division "Britishness" and tea-drinking. Black earl with lemon, please.
