The Fading Stars, Traveller rpg setting

"All newly assigned personnel to the 296th Imperial Fleet are required to attend this Spaceboard Operations and Procedures (SOP) course before joining the fleet as operational personnel. Many of our newest spacers are from of wide range of backgrounds and it is essential that we are all working from the same tech guide. If you are on this course, then you have been enlisted in to the 296th Imperial Fleet and only have two options. Successful completion will result in your allocation to a position with the Fleet with full pay and benefits. Failure or refusal to complete the course will result in the fine of all your personal effects and in your relocation to a local planetary ‘Displaced Persons’ Camp’. At this camp you will be the responsibility of the planetary authorities who will determine your future.

 As part of SOP you will undergo Immersed subliminal knowledge transfer, commonly known as ‘speed learn’, with all the well-known associated risks. This is a voluntary element of the course but declining to take part will result in an automatic failure with the subsequent relocation to a local planetary ‘Displaced Persons’ Camp’.  The Fleet realises that you all have a wide range of backgrounds and that not all of you are here voluntarily. As part of the Fleet you will be given structure and meaning, your health will be cared for and your basic physiological needs covered. How you got to the Fleet is no longer relevant and dwelling on such matters will only hinder you. 

The Fleet is your home, the fleet is your family, the fleet is your motherland!"                

                                 Vargas Zhunastu, Acting  Warrant  Officer (Recruiting)

296th Imperial Fleet, Domain of Sol (260- 1130 I.Y.)

Commodore Lady Niamh Langos Adair

The force is the last remnants of an Imperial Naval fleet that has fought a long and hard war against the Solomani invasion for a dozen years. Only the personal charisma and leadership of the Commodore has kept the unit intact when the vast majority of other fleets and squadrons fragmented and collapsed.

Following a recent encounter with Solomani forces, in the coreward region of the Diaspora sector, the fleet has had to tactically relocate and suffered substantial battle damage.

The 296th Fleet is now a shadow of its former self but this can also be said of the Imperial Navy after close to thirteen years of civil war and external invasions.  The fleet initially fought in the Sol Sector but was steadily forced back by overwhelming Solomani naval forces. This did not mean that the fleet did not fight but rather it constantly had to fight tenacious rear-guard actions.

For the last eight years the fleet has been involved in low intensity raids and counter strikes of the Black War; critical civilian infrastructure being frequently targeted with the predictable loss of life. For the last five years the fleet has seen drastic declines in planetary tech levels through their region of operations. The Hard Times era as economic collapse and plummeting technological levels cause further misery for the citizens of the Domain of Sol.

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