Luminarian Navy

The Luminarian Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Luminarian Rebels. As of the 2nd Battle of Norsus era, the Luminarian Navy is one of the most modern navies currently operating in the Great War. Its size is relatively small compared to other empires such as the Aeveria Confederation or Zaretian Monarchy, but is capable of projecting power on par with them.

The Luminarian Navy traces its origins to the Frontier Navy, which was established during the aftermath of the Colonial wars and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly after the commencement of the Luminarian Schism. The Luminarian Navy played a major role in the Luminarian Schism and the Zaretian Campaign and has emerged as a powerful navy in its own right, with cutting edge technology surpassing most empires currently in the Great War. The Luminarian Navy is currently being deployed in strength against the Luminarian Empire, Zaretian Monarchy and Margan Empire.

The Luminarian Navy is headed by the Admiral of the Fleet, who reports to the Defense Council.

Origins
The aftermath of the Colonial Wars had effectively destroyed the Luminarian Empire Navy. Analysts predicted that it would take effectively a decade to build back the navy to its former strength. Meanwhile, the frontier colonies were agitating for more autonomy from the empire, feeling disenfranchised during the Colonial wars where their populations were conscripted and forced to fight and die for worlds that they believed did not care for them, moreover, piracy was at an all-time high as the Navy's presence was diminished, leading to many famines amongst new frontier colonies as trade ships were ambushed.

In order to avoid a costly rebellion, then Emperor Baryoto allowed the frontier worlds to create their own independent military, leading to the creation of the Frontier Navy. The Frontier Colonies enlisted the covert assistance of the Aeveria Confederation, which sent its military advisers who helped the frontier colonies set up a defense force modeled in part after the Aeverian Military. The Frontier Navy would be mainly used as a defensive force, participating in anti-piracy operations and border engagements against hostile neighboring spacefaring empires.

Schism
4 hours after the Razing of Midale, representatives from the frontier colonies met at Mestrides. There they formed a military alliance and declared war and independence from the Luminarian Empire. As a result, the Frontier Navy would be renamed to the Luminarian Navy as a symbolic break from the empire.

From the start of the Schism, the Luminarian Navy had a numerical advantage over the Empire's Navy, due to the larger amount of space that the Frontier Navy had to cover. However, this also translated into a lack of capital warships, as the frontier worlds did not have the infrastructure unlike the Empire to maintain them. As such the main bulk of the Frontier Navy were in frigates and cruisers, leading to many losses when forced to engage heavy Empire warships.

However, the Frontier Navy was made up of experienced veterans from the wars and anti-pirate actions. They were disciplined and competent, whereas the Empire’s fleet had grown soft from minor peacekeeping operations, moreover empire morale was at an all-time low. As such, both sides’ militaries were evenly matched.

During the Schism, the Luminarian Navy spent much of its resources attempting to wrest control of key Empire logistic bases as well as support hundreds of thousands of ground forces to occupy planets. As engagements between the Luminarian Navy and the Empire Navy grew fiercer, ship construction grew at an astounding rate, Sirdariim Shipyards, Corth Fleetyards, Feris Spaceframes and Xycon Shipyards rapidly expanded operations throughout Rebel space. Senior leaders of both the Luminarian Navy and civilian government were eager for innovation and experimented with new technologies, both locally sourced and from Aeverian backers.

At the end of the Schism, with the signing of the Luminaria Armistice Agreement, the Luminarian Navy was in tatters, fighting had been the fiercest at the end of the war and many ships and personnel were expended to resolve it favorably for the Luminarian Rebels. However, thanks to the massive buildup of logistical facilities during the schism, the Luminarian Navy would be able to rebuild their fleets within 3 years.

Zaretian Campaign
The Luminarian Navy would participate alongside the Aeveria Confederation in their Zaretian Campaign. Although not back to full strength, the Luminarian Navy, under the orders of the Defense Council deployed the 2nd BattleFleet with the goal of training the then-new Admiral Aslai in Inter-System warfare as well as train the large numbers of freshly enlisted personnel.

2nd BattleFleet would acquit themselves with distinction during the campaign, participating in many significant battles such as the Battle of Rigni and Attack on Nu-Zartar. Veterans from the Zaretian Campaign would be regularly rotated out to the rear to train new personnel, build new dicta, and pass on their knowledge, leading to a general increase in naval personnel competence in the leading years.

The Luminarian Navy Doctrine had significantly shifted by the end of the Schism. Originally following old Empire Doctrine which favored concentrated groups of capital ships as their main offensive naval weapons, lessons learnt during both the Schism and the Zaretian Campaign shifted Luminarian thinking. Split into 2 main schools of thought, one school of thought believed that the pinpoint application of force would be able to limit deployment of hostile assets, allowing for greater strategic movement and application of their own units as shown by Aeverian hunter-killer teams and their shock jump tactics. The other school of thought believed that versatile, tactically mobile, and strategic endurant units would be the key to victory, exploiting enemy logistical weaknesses while limiting their own. Both schools would be adopted by the navy and ships would be designed to fit either.