Skunk:Roving Sun Fleet

Anahi Lore Pages
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Governments and Organizations Pages		Roving Sun Fleet

The Roving Sun Fleet at an unknown location in deep space.

Overview

The Roving Sun Fleet is a nomadic collection of Anahi cruisers and colony ships, many purpose-built for the journey that have undertaken. While originally under martial law for the first few centuries of its existence, it has since transitioned to a democratic council that guides everyday life in the fleet. The Anahi homeworld of Selia was lost centuries ago when their system's binary stars collided. Forced to abandon their planet and take to the stars, the Anahi living in the Roving Sun flotilla have spent the last several generations searching for a new home where they can set down roots. Currently, the Fleet is skirting the edge between Coalition and frontier space, and is tracking to head deeper into civilized space on its set path.

General

Capital: ACV Homeward Bound, Capital Ship

Leader: Wayfinder Aerias Sor'uul

Demonym: Sunniites, Sun Chaser

Official Language(s): Anahian

Population: 11.2 million (approx.)

The Anahi originally hailed from Selia, a world that was described as beautiful and full of life. Anahi texts indicate that their homeworld was trapped in a state of everlasting twilight. This perpetual gloom was a result of a unique star system - Selia orbited red dwarf star Mirna, which itself orbited a binary white dwarf, ensuring the planet never had true darkness on the surface. Thus, their world was forever stuck on that precipice between night and day. Much of Anahi history did not survive the supernova that destroyed their homeworld, however, and the race only has fleeting descriptions of what life was like and fragmented records of their escape to remember their origins.

The Roving Sun Fleet was part of the desperate evacuation that was set into motion decades after Anahi astronomers discovered that their binary stars would soon collide. With a century to prepare but knowing they did not possess the technology and resources to save their entire race, the planet's modest industrial capability turned towards the creation of three great fleets, able to save but a fraction of their people. The first fleet to leave was the first Anahi to leave their system, and the others soon followed. The Roving Sun was the third and final fleet, and was the one that stayed behind to record the end of their home. A majority of this fleet remains today, many still operating on the original parts they left Selia with, and considered almost sacred.

Millions of eyes and hundreds of sensors turned towards their home on the day of the supernova, and to watch the recordings of that day is considered a rite of passage among the Anahi of the fleet. Records left from the days of their evacuation describe the supernova as a blinding flash that overwhelmed their strongest screens, an incomprehensible orchestra of dazzling luminescence that could be seen even from a great distance and blinded many unwilling to look away. While both of their binary stars and their homeworld were swallowed by this explosion, it is understood that the third star Mirna was destabilized from its orbit and flung into the darkness of space; thus, the Roving Sun Fleet earns its name from this event as the Anahi followed after their home star. While originally considered done for emotional reasons by the original Admiral of the fleet, in the decades after it gained a religious significance, with the belief that following its trajectory will lead the Fleet to a new home as beautiful as Selia itself. Since then, the Fleet has long since left their sun behind to search along its path.

Where other races took to the stars to expand their horizons, the Anahi were forced to do so to keep themselves alive. Thus, the nomadic Fleet scours her chosen course for a chosen world. Generations of Anahi have died without seeing the day their children could finally touch down on solid ground, and it is this motivator that keeps the Fleet going even now.

Demographics

There are no alien species as part of the Roving Sun Fleet - non-Anahi are not even privvy to its exact location. On the whole, Anahi are extremely distrustful of outsiders and harbor intense anti-xeno sentiments. While they might trade with other galactic empires, as they have no home planet and are restricted heavily by the lack of space on their vessels, no outsider has been permitted to dock with or live as part of the Fleet. The Anahi are entirely focused on finding a new world to rekindle their race, as compared to other galactic superpowers they are considered to be on the brink of extinction. While many species have offered to assist them, including the Rokhandans and the might of their technological empire, the Anahi have rebuffed every overture. They do not want the help.

The only concession the Fleet has made is the inclusion of a mobile FTL gate in the distant rear of their fleet. Guarded and restricted, it is incredibly rare for even a diplomat of the galactic powers to be allowed towards the fleet. It's near-exclusive use is to let Anahi merchants reach new worlds- and more importantly, to scout ahead of the Fleet itself. That use is limited, with the Fleet on the Coalition's border, few of the worlds along its path are accessible by FTL.

Conversely, however, while the Fleet has a very small population of just over ten million, there is an equal amount of Anahi spread throughout the galaxy. They have a tenuous relationship with their ship-bound brethren; some view them as traitors or people who have abandoned the cause, others welcome them with open arms. Most of these Anahi are individuals or entire sects who rejected the dogmatic quest for their new home and believe giving up the path of Mirna would be better, or simply those grew tired of the conditions in the Fleet and returned to galactic space to integrate with other societies. The White Belt Administration and the Rokhandian Directorate are especially welcoming of Anahi immigrants, but their low numbers make them a rarity still.

Even more of a rarity are Anahi still aligned with the fleet, whether merchants or explorers, or those on less-diplomatic missions.

Politics

Due to the slower-than-light nature of the fleet, very few threats are external. While their military has grown since first contact with the Coalition some 200 years ago, it is still relatively small and mostly focused on internal security. These military officers are also in charge of navigation and handle the day to day tedium of everyday spaceflight. When it comes to complex decisions, however, a council of crewmen is convened to address these problems. This council is made up of high ranking officials from the flotilla's largest ships - chief engineers, chief medical officers, vessel captains - because they typically have the most experience when compared to other Anahi.

This decentralized government has served them well so far. These positions are inherited; a chief engineer may take a few apprentices and teach them how to run the ship, repair it, show them the ins and outs of its ancient architecture - and then choose the most worthy candidate to replace them, and thus they are by position made part of the council of crewmen. The authority of the council is only kept in check by the captain of the ACV Homeward Bound, a position irrevocably entwined with the title of Pathfinder. This lone Anahi dictates the worlds that are worthy being checked by the explorators, and worthy of being a potential new home. While calls have been made over the centuries to settle on likely worlds, none have ever questioned the Pathfinder when they declared the search to continue. Promises were made to return to the democracy that once ruled the Anahi homeworld, but until such a time as they find a new planet to claim as their own, this council of crewmen has become the new norm.

Military

Every single ship in the Fleet has a position in the order of battle, even vessels that are unarmed or defenseless. The Fleet's overall number of ships was even beyond the size of the Coalition's navy in its prime, however it has never actually been tested in active combat and as a result Anahi military maneuvers are entirely theoretical on paper. It is not a solely military fleet, and was never designed to be one.

Every single ship, no matter how small, has an onboard contingent of military personnel to both serve as defense in the case of an attack or boarding attempt, as well as to act as a local security force. Many ships in the fleet are old and antiquated, running nothing more than a wing and a prayer. Even military personnel are trained to perform basic engineering when necessary to help repair their vessel as need be.

Economy

While the fleets heavily mine the resources of planetary systems as they are passed, it does not slow down for anything less than their new home- thus any explorator fleet has a harsh time limit lest they be left behind. Before contact with other species this was the fleet's only method of resupply, but since then, the Fleet has begun to rely on trade during the long stretch between stars.

Much of the specifics of the Fleet are unknown to outsiders; it is rumored that some terrarium vessels keep a small population of plants and animals that were once native to Selia, and these creatures are cared for not to eat or use for raw materials but to conserve them. As such, the Fleet has to deal with alien empires to resupply and regularly sends mercantile vessels through its FTL gate back into civilized space to trade with certain governments, like the Onk Conglomerate or the Coalition. What the Anahi have to offer as compensation is less monetary and more strange finds that they bring back from the unknown regions. These types of scientific discoveries are obviously of high value to many governments, and the Rokhandans are consequently one of the largest trade partners for the Anahi.

Ore, minerals, rocks, food, and other materials are necessary for the upkeep of the Fleet and its vessels. While their supply ships are suspected to have a stockpile of treasures carried from their doomed world, the Anahi would sooner die than trade away these priceless relics, opting instead to barter with the weird and strange things they dig up from unexplored, uncharted planets. Luckily, most of their vessels are powered via solar panel, leaving fuel the only necessity they trade for. Some strange luxury items for Anahi may be things like air canisters since the ships use recycled oxygen that has grown stale over centuries. They are willing to pay a high price for these seemingly normal objects.

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