Confederate Navy Personnel

More Military than Civilian, “CNPs” as they call themselves are highly adept Soldiers, Engineers and Marines. Often times enlisted as teenagers, CNPs grew up either on the Frontier, a Trade Fleet, Habitation Station, or were born into a military cadre aboard a warship. Cadets are selected for their aptitude in personal combat and their ability to take raw Calorics of E5 or above to power their suit’s alternative weapons and utilities.

Those few born into a Cadre were likely conceived by their mother and father during an extended duration mission. Birth control is elective among Confederation personnel, and fertilized zygotes conceived on tour will simply be deactivated and suspended in the womb until the mother can safely be discharged to gestate and raise her child for a set period before returning to duty. Their offspring will often be raised on a Confederate Navy Outpost, many of whom become orphans as their parents die in combat or accidents in the decades they serve. Most children join the military simply because their options are limited and they know nothing else.

CNPs tend to range from 25 to 50 years of age, after which they have likely graduated to Officer and left the CNP ranks. Though in real terms, many years can pass on a tour, as ships accelerate across systems the inner decks are “frozen” in Acceleration Coma until dropping out to coast, fight, or enter orbit. As ships Slipstream across the galaxy they may spend decades out of range and far from home. By the time a terrestrially born CNP returns, nothing is ever really quite the same. Even the culture they were born into has faded out of style, leaving them feeling personally and emotionally isolated, having more in common with their fellow crew than their own family. Some never leave service at all.

CNP culture is harsh, regimented, and precise. They have no concept of what a “day” or “night” is anymore, if they ever did, and will often work for 30-60 hours before going to sleep for 5 and returning to duty after another 2 hours free. The tedium of space travel leaves a lot of time for learning new skills, but more often than not a CNP is more invested in sports or training, going obsessively over team strategy and battle plans until the overall mission objectives have become second nature.

There are 6 ranks in the CNP hierarchy, the first being Cadet (called Wets by their mates,) lasting their first 6 months aboard ship, Private (called Rocks) who may last as many as ten years until they distinguish their career stats, Technician rank I (called Techs) for Engineering crew, Technician Rank II (called Wizards) for tech elites, Marine Rank I (called Braves) for combat crew, and Marine Rank II (called Chiefs) for combat officers. Above R7 is where Bridge Officers and Administrative Officers begin.