Adrestian Royal Navy

The Adrestian Royal Navy is the independent arm of the Adrestian Armed Forces, and is often seen by outsiders as one and the same, due to the fact that the Adrestian Navy (to include marine and air forces) consist of over 80% of that country's military personnel and over 95% of its budget. The latter falls under the ultimate command of the Prince of Adrestia. While the Ralgon Emperor is nominally commander-in-chief of the Adrestian Armed Forces (as an extended branch of the Ralgon Armed Forces, this has been in name only since late 1685 AN. In addition to being the only major independent fighting force of the Ralgon Empire, the service also has several independent overseas commands, the most notable being the one formed to protect Ralgonese and Adrestian immigrants to the City-State of Teigang, as well as to support its parent state's alliances with other member states of the USSO.

The service is by far Adrestia's largest and best-equipped, in contrast with its small but well-equipped ground self-defense force. Were it alone, the Adrestian Royal Navy could easily win against the numerically inferior and less heavily armed (and armored) Ralgon Imperial Navy, were it not for the alliances that either side would garner during an actual war. The ARN is easily the most important contributor to Adrestia's current wealth, stability, and prosperity, due to its strong grip on piracy control and commitment to keeping international waters in the region open for all peaceful traffic.

History

Roots

The roots of the current Adrestian Navy have three different origins. Firstly, the Great White Fleet that had originally contributed to Adrestia's first waves of colonization was, itself, heavily armed and backed by the then-formidable Ralgon Navy. About a third of Ralgon's naval assets ended up stationed permanently at the rapidly growing colony, shocked at the level of economic growth the region started to generate.

Colonial Era

During the ten years that followed the colony's official foundation in 1675, the colony's own armed forces protected the region. The cost of upkeep by the Ralgon forces augmenting the colony's defense was high; but, with the trade flowing through the region, the colonists with their growing numbers (and deepening pockets) could easily afford the expense. With the Great White Fleet's decision to set its headquarters at Tranquility Base triggered an era of the organization transforming into a home-grown defense force, forming the precursor of Adrestia's own military. Meanwhile, the funds paid to the Ralgon government triggered a short golden age for the latter, and enabled it to carry expansionist campaigns in the homeland of Drag'os.

Post-Crisis

The growing power of the Adrestian Navy was further augmented with the mass defection of Ralgon captains and crews to the Adrestian side of the armed forces during and after the catastrophic series of events that lead to the Destruction of Drag'os, or the Crisis of 1685, by a previously-unheard of swarm of its most dangerous creatures driven into a rage by the already-destructive conflict between the Ralgonese forces and hostile aboriginal tribes on the west of that island. (These natives themselves used in battle many of those same dangerous fauna, a practice widely considered anathema to the Ralgonese people).

The resulting exodus of elite Ralgonese people along with the military forces they directly sponsored took place from 1684 to early 1687, and cost the homeland's Navy over half its best sailors, two-thirds of its ships, and individuals whose assets were collectively worth nearly 65% of the country's central stock exchange. Of the Ralgon domestic forces, nine out of every ten battleships and all but three capital-sized carriers transferred to the Adrestian forces, in return for Adrestian citizenship for themselves and their families. Such people received a pardon in 1687 by Emperor Shiro, despite the controversy generated over the decision, because "these people technically never left the country in the first place, but rather relocated to another province," since Adrestia never went through with a formal declaration of independence in a traditional sense.

The massive, powerful Navy has been independently responsible for maritime security in the region since 1686 AN, when it purchased the economically and strategically important colony of Alphaville from the Bassarids (at great cost), and slowly assumed control over most of the South Island Archipelago (to exclude the Arbor Islands) beginning in early 1686. However, the investment proved more than worth it; the Adrestian Crown made its investment back before the end of 1687, With the situation at home dire and with remaining Ralgon forces either helping allies close to home with the Cibolan Reconquista or the wars of reclamation going on in the homeland,

In the same year, the Adrestian Crown purchased the right to maintain a Royal Navy independently and solely for itself. It also compensated the Ralgonese government for 1.2 times the market value of ships and equivalent pay for personnel who permanently deserted to Adrestia during the Crisis, allowing the latter to launch serious efforts to reconquer the island of Drag'os from hostile native groups and subdue the island's now-enraged fauna.

Since that point, the Adrestian Navy has slowly begun expanding Adrestia's reach northwards beyond its traditional confines on South Island, with plans to annex significant portions of the island (part of which is known to locals as "Northern Avalon") to accommodate a rapidly growing national population. Additionally, under the terms of the 1687 peace that concluded the Civil War, a significant portion of the Adrestian Navy is currently pledged to support Ralgonese efforts to re-stabilize its home regions, re-claim the coastlines lost during late 1685, and encourage cooperation in an effort to bridge wounded relationships between the Adrestian and Ralgonese peoples.

Finally, a significant Adrestian force consisting of a full fleet formed around a capital-sized battleship is currently stationed in the City-State of Teigang, in an effort to boost the nation's prestige abroad, as well as showcase the semi-independent state's power to act fully at its own discretion, as well as protect its sovereignty independent of its parent state's forces.

Expansion on South Island (1690's)

Bassarid Decline

By 1690, the collapse of Bassarid authority in the Sunfire Sea (outside of minor Bassarid Periphery territories) led to a massive power vaccuum to the east of Keltia's mainland. The Imperial Trade Union consequently lost a great part of its overseas colonies in the wake of this collapse. Without any other major powers left in the region's oceans (following Storish collapse only five years before this event), the Adrestians found themselves largely alone in their small corner of the ocean. It was at this point they began a slow expansion that ultimately found the Royal Adrestian Navy becoming the only significant military force in their own region.

Operation Torchwood

Following the Second Elwynnese Civil War, the rebellious Republic of Tarrland was invaded and swiftly captured by Elwynnese forces under a UBG banner. Seeking to take stronger control of the Great Feanorian Sea, the Imperial Prince, Masamune II, secretly allowed Raspur Pact forces past the territory with additional support from the Royal Adrestian Navy. Although Adrestia only sent token forces to "assist" efforts in crushing the local rebellion, it still put Adrestia forward as a cooperative power in the region. The aftermath of the battle resulted in the creation of Station Kaamiozyr, squarely in the hands of the UGB.

Although this resulted in a foreign presence near Adrestian-controlled territory, the geopolitical situation nonetheless resulted as a net positive. The reason for this was because the Royal Navy had taken advantage of the increased military presence and the UGB's generous use of military force in the region to simultaneously crush every unflagged vessel they came across that the UGB hadn't yet touched. This series of military expeditions, collectively dubbed Operation Torchwood, along the Sunfire Sea and the Great Western Ocean gave Adrestian forces unprecedented control of the inward sides of South Island, along with valuable combat experience. This operation led to the full subjugation or outright elimination of all remaining local pirate bases along a vast natural bay, which resulted in Navy Headquarters moving north to the central, strategic location of Nobunag'an City, in the center of what is now the Province of Violight.

In the aftermath of the dual circumstances of Bassarid reduction and UGB's unwitting assistance in the removal of the region's long-standing pirate problem, the Adrestian portion of the Ralgon Empire was able to expand at an exponential pace, annexing a wide swathe of islands following further trades in territory in Al Hamra and adjacent lands in Scarterra. The move also reinforced Adrestian control over new lands that allowed for the repatriation of the people of Nixtorm to a new home on the southeastern extremities of the Keltia mainland.

Operation Divine Shield (late 1690's)

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The late 1690's AN witnessed the final collapse of non-Adrestian USSO presence in the entire region. The governments of both Palesmenia and Nova England continued a long, slow decline that placed increasing pressure on the Adrestian Royal Navy to begin expanding its fleet of ships and armament once again to levels never before seen even during the peak of the Holy Ralgon Empire in the 1660's AN. In 1698 AN, both of Adrestia's fellow states in the USSO collapsed in the middle of a major rebellion in Jingdao that left the latter unable to save these countries from their now-inevitable demise.

Already overstretched, the Royal Navy was forced to choose between defending Ralgon homelands and supporting the ongoing Ralgon Reconquista, or protecting a vast sea that was now effectively lawless outside of minor Calbain and UGB presence.