6 December 1991, New York City.

The tanks of the regular US Army were rolling down the avenue, accompanied by whatever militia units the Fascists could muster, aiming straight for the Red stronghold.

Huddled in their improvised fortress, Rachel Smith and her comrades knew they were in a difficult position. Despite the string of popular uprisings across the country, the Americanists would not go down without a fight, not even in one of the hearts of this new American Revolution like New York City.

The barricades on the great avenue between them and the enemy were in ruin, the Regulars were now moving barely impeded by them as the fire coming from the Red bastion had been diminished by anti-fortification ammunitions finding their mark. Still, they had not used or lost all of their anti-tank equipment and retaliated as they could, even if it would not be sufficient.

Many were frustrated as it seemed the armies of the worldwide proletariat were still weeks away from coming to the rescue, weeks they would not have if the Remnants successfully organized themselves to counter the revolutionary wave, or worse, extinguish it. Some were clinging to whatever rumor still gave them a glimmer of hope, the latest one whispered of a large deployment of Soviet paratroopers by night and plans to land by sea the Red Army at locations varying from one version to another.

Rachel herself would not count on any rumor to assure victory, years of struggle against the Americanist dictatorship had taught her outside help could rarely be counted on, they could not bet on any miracle even when things were seemingly going so well for them. Now she felt rather vindicated, to her greatest frustration, as the Fascists were getting ever closer.

She remarked one of the militiamen trying to run for cover and fired another burst of her assault rifle. The man stumbled and violently hit the ground, dead or dying, a flash of anger ran across her face as she recognized the insignia on his military attire.

"Those bastards are Bee-Kays! No mercy for us, no mercy for them!"

The Bee-Kays, or Black Knights, left everyone who ever faced them and survived a raging feeling, a want for vengeance against their brutality that had taken so many and driven many more into open resistance every time they "intervened", no matter how pacifist they were.

Suddenly, the front of the Fascist infernal column erupted in a series of explosions hitting the tanks and reducing them to burning husks.

Flabbergasted just like her comrades, she struggled to speak while trying to understand where these missiles came from, which is when the deafening screeching of jets passing over them was heard.

"Rachel!" called out Ted, their radioman, "I’m picking panicked messages from the Fascists flooding the airwaves".

The militiamen down the street were thrown in disarray as the Regulars trying to restore discipline were immediately picked off by Red sharpshooters.

More explosions began to wreck the rest of the column and were also hitting other parts of the city all around them. As the defenders cheered before their fleeing enemy, another signal began to flood the radio waves, broadcasting a forbidden melody many among them had become familiar with, and as Ted turned up the volume, she swore she could hear it resonate throughout the city.

"White is the Army and Black the Baron"

At first all were silent as they listened.

"That wants to restore the old Tsar’s throne."

Smiles began to form as all understood what hearing this song meant.

"But from the taiga to the British seas"

They had come.

"The people’s Red Army’s at the peak of strength!"

They were here.

White stars were falling from the skies, replaced by red ones. Following them were devils falling, meteors wearing sky blue berets. From the port across the city, revolting dockworkers saw emerging from the morning smog ships in numbers never seen before.

The Union had come, and with it the red flood engulfing the world.

---

Teplis system, Omextis Sector, edge of Turian and Council space, near the Salarian border

Aboard the Turian cruiser THV Nimines most of the tension had dissipated since the end of the engagement with the alien ships, sailors lapsing back into calm as their dead husks drifted aimlessly in the void.

Telio Kyval, captain of the cruiser and second-in-command of the 23rd​ Light Flotilla, was on the bridge, listening to the communications officer giving him the status report of the flotilla’s ships.

"…the shots directed at the Nimines and most of the flotilla were absorbed by the kinetic barriers, the frigates Verrikan and Revuna received light damages but they report all their systems are functioning normally" finished communications.

Codex entry unlocked: Turian military ship & spacecraft classification

"Good, tell the flotilla to be ready to move, we will soon go hunt down the alien ships that fled, these primitives had no idea what they were messing with" replied Tail admiral Gavius Abnis from his command seat, next to Captain Kyval.

"I think they had no idea what happened at all, admiral" deadpanned the captain.

The admiral gave the turian equivalent of an annoyed sigh, his need to moralize someone had been unmet with the aliens gone or dead but now had a victim, "Kyval, you were there to know there was no time to stop them by any other means than opening fire. They were on the cusp of activating a primary relay, clearly without knowing where it led, you know as well as the rest of the civilized galaxy how dangerous this behavior can be, we prevented the possibility of another Rachni War. But above all, there is no point in litigating a decision already taken."

"Yes sir" replied a resigned Kyval.

"Go to the lab to see what the science team found on the alien wrecks, I want all the intel we can get on these primitives."

Kyval saluted and left Admiral Abnis, taking the elevator down. As he waited alone, he began to ramble in his thoughts about the engagement, he wished they had hailed them instead or just sent a warning shot, to shoot at someone just like that was violating first contact and relay policing protocols, Citadel laws and common sense, but orders had to be obeyed.

The elevator stopped at one of the decks above his destination, he recognized the figure behind the sliding doors, Galena Barrian, "Yeoman Barrian" he greeted formally with a nod.

"Captain sir" replied the ship’s yeoman and psychologist as she boarded the elevator.

With the formalities out of the way, both lapsed into the casual attitude of longtime friends, "How are you Galena, no problem of supplies or among the crew?" he asked his friend as the elevator resumed its descent.

"No, Telio, everything is fine on that side. The crew and the marines are doing fine as well, there is a lot of speculation on the aliens however, Pelips and Sekius were theorizing on their appearance, the latter hoping for an attractive species while the former wanted to know what they were worth in a "real battle" he said."

"If we’re lucky we won’t have to find out firsthand, but I don’t harbor high hopes for this option. You have your own hypotheses?"

"Like you I’m pretty sure they won’t like us after that stunt, we’ll have to prepare for the worst."

"I cannot blame them, even if it means we’ll fight again. I just can’t stop replaying it in my mind, it shouldn’t have happened the way it did, and I should’ve done something, anything, to temper the zeal of the admiral."

"Don’t be so hard on yourself, it is no use, and it is not your fault, Abnis took the decision, not you. By the way, what brings you down here?"

"The admiral sent me to check on the progress of the scientists on the alien items we retrieved from the ships we destroyed, to know their level of technological advancement and prepare the flotilla accordingly."

"How convenient, I’m going there too, they’re late again on giving me an update of their inventory. I get that it must be interesting for the scientists to tinker with alien tech, but they forget there are other people around them working on important things too. We can go see them together."

"Sure, a companion is always welcomed."

The elevator’s door opened, and the pair quickly made their way into the pristine white labs where the ship’s science team focused its entire attention on the salvaged alien objects and discussing hypotheses, the scientists were almost forgetting to salute the captain as he passed by. The duo approached a turian reading a datapad they recognized as the head of the science team, Ephydis Aeton, with his assistants around him manipulating retrieved objects and parts.

Noticing the presence of the two, the scientist lifted his eyes from his datapad and gave a welcoming smile alongside his salute "Captain Kyval, Yeoman Barrian, how may I help you?"

"I am here to hear about your findings on the technology of the aliens."

"And I am here for the inventory you forgot to bring me."

"Ah my apologies, Yeoman, I’m afraid we got carried away by our work," an awkward Aeton turned to an assistant and asked him to bring back the datapad likely to be on his desk. The assistant acquiesced and left while Aeton continued "We’re still early in our research, captain, but we have already made some very interesting discoveries. Come this way I’ll show you" he explained with enthusiasm.

Kyval and Barrian were then treated to a show of the scientists’ discoveries with nothing but wonder in Aeton’s eyes and voice. He first briefly mentioned the robust but ordinary alloys of materials composing the alien ships’ hulls, with the most interesting thing about them being the symbol on them, a five-pointed red symbol with two succeeding outlines of gold and red.

This prompted Kyval to remark that he was much more interested in their military capabilities and that the battle had already proved their capacity to pierce their armor.

Aeton led them to another part of the labs where boxes of half-destroyed electronics and other items laid everywhere, more fitting of a garbage dump than a laboratory. The aliens are quite resourceful despite their primitive technology, he told them, in some ways it is more advanced than the equivalents from other species at the time of their own first contact thanks to the clever way they exploit it. However, their databases had been for the most part wiped, offering little insight.

Then, Aeton’s enthusiastic infodump was interrupted by the return of his assistant bringing him a datapad that he immediately handed to Barrian, who took her leave.

The now alone Kyval enquired about the alien themselves, which Aeton answered by first warning him that the sight of the dead bodies in the medical bay was not worth the nausea as some were in a worse state than the most damaged pieces of electronics they had retrieved. Nevertheless, the physical similarities with the asari remained striking, especially with the female ones, prompting the scientist to list all the hypotheses he had: parallel evolution, influence by outside forces, including protheans, and the possibility that protheans influenced both species with an agenda in mind.

Before Kyval could respond that these questions were better left for after the conflict, an alarm rang out, "Activity detected at the relay. All crew, man your stations."

"Duty calls, thank you for your time, Aeton."

"Good luck, sir. For the Cause."

"For the Cause, doctor."

Kyval quickly made his way back to the bridge, taking pride in how the whole crew moved with drilled discipline as soon as the order was spoken. Arriving on the bridge, he witnessed the arrival through relay 315, that the aliens had used to escape, of a small object cruising through the void.

"What is that object, sensors?" Kyval asked.

"It seems to be a probe, captain" the sensor officer replied.

"Sir, that probe is broadcasting data in an unknown language to our ships" warned the comms officer.

"Block it, we won’t take any risk" ordered the Admiral before opening a channel to a frigate of the squadron "Eglatius, move to seize the probe but be careful."

"Acknowledged, admiral."

The frigate approached slowly the now immobile probe but as it came closer there was an explosion so large it shook the ship. For an instant, they feared the worst.

"What happened?" demanded the captain.

"It was trapped, they must’ve rigged a bomb to its sensors, there’s nothing left of the probe" answered sensors.

"Eglatius, what’s your status? Do you copy?" asked the worried admiral.

"Yes, admiral, we’re still alive, the damage looks to be light."

"Thank the spirits, come back into formation and patch up what you can, we’ll make them pay for that."

"Yes sir" and the channel was closed. Abnis was fulminating.

"Not only do these damned primitives try to open relays leading spirits-knows-where BUT they also try to launch a cyberattack with a damned bomb-rigged probe! They lack such discipline and common sense they might not even be fit to become a protectorate." As he finished his rant the relay showed renewed activity. "What? They’re sending more?"

A flotilla of alien ships arrived by the relay and approached the turian one.

"Those ships are similar in appearance to those we destroyed earlier" signaled sensors, "They’re aligning six-teen ships designated as destroyers, eight as cruisers and four ships as super-heavy cruisers."

Encyclopedia entry unlocked: Soviet military cosmic ship & cosmicraft classification

Kyval became worried, the enemy was almost twice their own numbers of ten cruisers and five frigates. "They’re too numerous, we need reinforcements, admiral."

"Agreed, captain," he turned to the communications officer and ordered "Contact the 17th​ Patrol Fleet, posthaste!"

"The aliens are approaching, sir" alerted sensors.

"Their destroyers will likely try to overwhelm us, frigates, move in defensive position; cruisers, focus your fire on their heavy ships and release your spacecrafts when in range."

A notification appeared on the arm of his chair, he opened the transmission and the proud image of Head admiral Mantus Epirian, commander of the 17th​ Patrol Fleet, appeared.

"Abnis, report."

"Head admiral Epirian, we are under attack by an around thirty-strong group of alien warships and we request assistance."

"Understood, I’m moving my fleet to your position with all haste, hold until we come to relieve you."

"Acknowledged, admiral. For the Cause."

"For the Cause" and the image of Epirian disappeared.

---

Bridge of the battlecruiser SKS André Marty, Sector Guangqi Iota, galactic southwestern edge of known space**

Vice admiral Władysław Borowski was feeling his blood boiling, the first alien species to meet them did so by opening fire on unarmed science ships. After being alerted by the survivors he had prepared his Defense Flotilla to fight back. He thought, based on the information of the survivors, that he could take down the alien flotilla but he was also meant to negotiate if possible, to this end they had sent to the aliens a probe containing the basics of their language and a message demanding answers for the death and destruction they had caused, it was also equipped with an explosive synced with its sensors to not let any (more) Soviet technology fall into possibly, no, certainly, hostile hands. But it did not make him any less furious about the destruction of civilian ships at their hands for no reason.

"Deviation from our course is minimal, we arrived right in front of the aliens, comrade admiral" informed his navigator.

"Thank you, Pressly. Sensors, how is the alien fleet reacting?"

"They’re moving in a defensive formation and the weapons of their cruisers are hot- Shit! They’re opening fire, incoming!"

"Get a hold of yourself, sailor. All brace for impact!" shouted Admiral Borowski right before the *André Marty *was rocked by the enemy slugs finding their mark.

"Damage report?"

"The shields held but their mass accelerators are far more powerful than ours."

"Then we must end this quickly. Cruisers, return fire and move forward while covering the battlecruisers, we need to bring our missiles in range. Destroyers, flank their formation."

The Soviet destroyers moved forward and deployed themselves all around the enemy flotilla in an arch while it was catching fire from the Soviet cruisers. Disruptor torpedoes needed to be launched at close range to be effective and hopefully bypass the laser defense systems of the target.

However, the enemy frigates intervened to counter the destroyers, forcing the Soviet ships to deal with them first and giving the opening for the enemy cruisers on the flanks of their flotilla and their cosmicrafts to attack.

XXX​

"Several enemy ships took serious damage, one seems out of action. We’ve lost frigates *Faconis *and Parasonis, all the others took light damage and our cruisers still take heavy fire but the barriers resist, our spacecraft complement was reduced by a third by their laser defense systems."

"How?" demanded the dumbstruck admiral.

"They must have good knowledge of spacecraft warfare, yet their larger ships don’t have a spacecraft complement" proposed Captain Kyval, "Epirian’s fleet will make easy work of them, we just need to hold the line."

"Alright, tell our spacecrafts to concentrate their attacks on isolated ships, the cruisers on the flanks must keep the destroyers away while those in the center of our formation must keep firing on the approaching alien cruisers."

XXX​

Borowski grinned as the alien cosmicrafts were destroyed en masse by their destroyers’ laser defense systems, in spite of the resistance displayed by the alien ships they were closing in. With the frigates soon out of the way, their flanks would be exposed.

"1st​ and 3rd​ D Squadrons, finish the alien frigates, 2nd​ and 4th​ Ds, get in range of their cruisers and unleash your torpedoes on them, I want the wings of these bastards broken."

The squadron leaders acquiesced.

"Comrade, they’re in range of our missile batteries."

"Good, open fire."

The batteries of the battlecruisers opened and unleashed a swarm of missiles on the enemy ships, a significant part was stopped but they still overwhelmed their barriers and it was the opportunity needed for the Soviets to drown them in mass accelerator slugs.

The enemy ships were hit from almost all sides by the cannonade and their formation was starting to break.

However, activity from the edge of the system was about to snatch their victory.

XXX​

"The 17th​ Patrol Fleet just arrived on the edge of the system! They’re closing in, we’re saved!"

"Thanks to the Founder" said Tail admiral Abnis, finally relieved.

The first elements of the newly arrived fleet quickly closed the distance at the rescue of the battered patrol, forcing the Soviet flotilla to retreat rather than being overwhelmed.

With their superiority of numbers and armament, it was now time for the Turians to take the fight to the enemy.

---

18th​ May 2137, Situation Room, Smolny Institute, Krasnograd, Union District of Krasnograd, Earth, USSR

Entering the most secure room in the whole Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, deep beneath the earth, the Chair of the Council of People’s Commissars Artyom Svanidze took his seat at the large table dominating the room, at his left and right were members of his government, some present only as holograms. Several other important figures were present: Quan Shuren, Chair of the Presidium of the Soviet Union, the venerable writer was anxious and visibly anticipating the worst, Aida Tamrat, President of the Executive Committee of the Socialist International, the respected leader focusing her attention on the documents before her while Bruno Asselin, General Secretary of the Socialist International, an equally respected but more feared figure, was scrutinizing everyone in the room with the gaze and profile of a bird of prey. Compared to them Svanidze looked young, and he was for the position he was holding, barely in his forties, while most of his predecessors and colleagues occupying the highest offices were in their fifties or sixties.

Svanidze broke the silence by asking "Give me the details of the situation, Marshal. Who’s attacking us?"

Field Marshal Paula Amrusha Mallqui, Chief of the General Staff, stood up, straight and solid with the barest hint of worry sweating from her brow as responsibility fell on her to put everyone on the same page, "Comrade Premier, I’m afraid it is most distressing news that calls for this meeting, earlier today one of our exploration flotillas was attacked by unknown ships at the galactic southwest of our borders, near the pioneer world of Shanxi, in the Apollo Theta Sector, the local Defense Flotilla investigated and brought back to us confirmation of what we feared, we are under attack by alien forces."

Silence fell for a few seconds as all processed the information, not everyone had been warned yet and reactions consequently ranged from widening eyes to a clear lack of response.

"Alien forces?" repeated Quan with a half-skeptical, half-dumbstruck expression.

"I’m afraid so, comrade Chairman, extraterrestrial life. I was sent these pictures," the screens integrated into the table in front of each seat displayed the images of white cosmic ships with orange stripes and swept wings, no ship like this had ever been created in the USSR, "attached to a very serious report of a significant alien fleet attacking our ships on two separate occasions and now moving towards our territory, there is no way to deny it, we are now at war."

"What are the defenses of the planet?" asked Chandrama Kumar, the People’s Commissar for Defense.

"There is the local Defense Flotilla that already fought the aliens, but it simply cannot stop their fleet because of the sheer difference in numbers, around a hundred ships according to their report, and that’s not even counting their advanced weaponry. Shanxi itself possesses a developing but still small city with some smaller settlements around it and, in its quality of border world, is garrisoned by a twelve thousand-strong division, but I’m afraid it won’t be enough if we face a full invasion. We have other units in the Military District but if we reinforce Shanxi and it falls there won’t be anything left to stop them from reaching Arcturus and the heart of Soviet space. My recommendation is for a defensive strategy in the immediate. While we prepare the counterattack, we keep the troops already present in the district where they are and have them set up defenses."

Svanidze thought about the situation for a moment, putting together a first plan to act upon immediately. Despite the unprecedented nature of the event he needed to be decisive.

"Very well, Marshal, we will move to the highest level of alert and mobilize the entirety of the armed forces, all soldiers and officers on leave will be recalled immediately, reinforcements will be brought to the positions behind Shanxi to hold the line and prepare a future counterattack. As for the rest of the Union, the CPC will immediately decree a state of emergency and call upon the Congress of Soviets to confirm the state of war, the mobilization of our armed forces and economy, and the formation of a new Revolutionary Defense Committee."

Encyclopedia entry unlocked: Revolutionary Defense Committee

"I will get all the necessary formalities for the Congress ready, with the news of an alien invasion we will have the means to defend the Union" said the Chair of the Presidium.

"And if it doesn’t, we’ll remind them that blocking efforts to protect our Motherland is not acceptable" added General Secretary Asselin with a frightening smile, even though most knew he was exaggerating it did not put the others at ease.

A staff officer came behind the field marshal and gave her a notice to read.

Svanidze continued "Kumar, your Defense PC must begin drafting the plan for economic mobilization with the Economy PC, the Red Armed Forces, and the Council of Economic Coordination-"

Field Marshal Mallqui cut in, "I am sorry to interrupt you, but I just received news the aliens took the Shoujing system, the flotilla was forced to retreat, Shanxi is under siege."

**

Codex: Turian military ship & spacecraft classification

**

Patrol ship (FCW era: Iqulan-class, 50 meters-long ship): Ten-men small ship intended for patrol around space stations, they also participate in survey and minor escort missions.

Frigate (FCW era: Tiradus-class, about 300 meters-long ship): Operating in flocks of five ships during combat, their main mission is reconnaissance and screening for the bigger cruisers and battleships against spacecrafts and torpedoes, they surround them in spheres of scouting frigates scanning for enemy ships and transmitting warnings to the main body.

Destroyer (FCW era: Mexta-class, about 400 meters-long ship): Torpedo ships of the Hierarchy Navy, they harass slower ships and those with their kinetic barriers down, evading pursuers before striking again.

Cruiser (FCW era: Vahrdona-class, about 500 meters-long ship, carries 40 spacecrafts): Forming the backbone of the Hierarchy Navy, the cruiser is the standard combat ship. Cruisers perform routine independent "show the flag" patrols in settled systems and lead flotillas of frigates in small engagements, such as pirate suppression campaigns. In major fleet engagements, cruiser squadrons support the battleship battle line by screening their flanks against enemies attempting to maneuver for a main gun "bow shot" from their vulnerable broadsides.

Battleship (FCW era: Defender-class, 892 meters-long ship, carries 100 spacecrafts): Pillar of any fleet, it leads them into battle in the biggest actions of the Hierarchy Navy and is the terror of the pirate fleets.

Super-battleship (FCW era: Annihilator-class, about 1.1-kilometer-long ship, carries 130 spacecrafts): A rare sight outside Turian space, they are the most terrifying capital ships of the galaxy since the end of the Krogan Rebellion, capable of destroying any other ship and even some small space stations and asteroids.

With the lack of carriers in the space navy, the spacecraft arsenal was only composed of 2 types prior to the introduction of spacecraft carriers: interceptor and attack spacecrafts.

Interceptor spacecraft: (FCW era: A30 Storm) The interceptor is designed to fight other spacecrafts, defending ships against torpedo-carrying crafts or their own attack crafts against the enemy’s interceptors.

Attack spacecraft: (FCW era: A26 Talon) Capable of transporting missiles, bombs or torpedoes, it is however considered secondary to ships in space combat and strategic bombing, being mostly used for close support of ground forces.

**

Encyclopedia: Soviet Encyclopedia

**

The Soviet Encyclopedia is a free encyclopedia first published in 1926 as the first socialist general-purpose encyclopedia. It started as a systematic summary of knowledge in social and economic studies with an emphasis on applied sciences but was expanded with the advent of global computer networks into the largest and most-read reference work in human and Soviet history, with articles on as many subjects as possible available freely online alongside summarized versions.

**

Encyclopedia: Soviet military cosmic ship & cosmicraft classification

**

Patrol ship (FCW era: About 30 meters-long ship): Small ship primarily used in light patrol around space stations and inhabited planets in controlled space. They are named using a number after a P.

Frigate (FCW era: Channel-class, about 200 meters-long ship): It mostly operates in groups known as packs of four to six ships and uses its high speed, superior maneuverability, and an extensive array of laser defense systems to accomplish its objectives: scouting, patrol, anti-spacecraft and anti-torpedo screening. They are usually named after a military operation or a battle, mostly naval ones.

Destroyer (FCW era: Union-class, about 350 meters-long ship): Having anti-spacecraft and anti-torpedo capabilities like that of a frigate, a destroyer is usually tasked with protecting larger vessels from them and patrolling, but it also serves as a torpedo boat targeting bigger ships before evading any counterattack. They are usually named after an adjective.

Cruiser (FCW era: Kronstadt-class, 600 meters-long ship): They form the balanced brunt of the cosmic navy and as such are found in the greatest number, they are found either in cruiser squadrons or leading flotillas, both in patrol groups and war fleets. They are usually named after a city, mostly historically important ones and capitals.

Battlecruiser (FCW era: Frunze-class, 800 meters-long ship): Effectively a smaller battleship, it follows the principle of "speed is armor". It is mainly armed with a large array of guided missiles designed to overwhelm the laser defense systems and the kinetic shields of an enemy ship and open a window in them for mass accelerator and torpedo fire, it is also used to hunt any ship outgunned by its own armament. They are usually named after a deceased military leader, mostly naval ones.

Battleship (FCW era: Luxemburg-class, 900 meters-long ship, carries 90 cosmicrafts): Since the Soviet Union was at first unable to miniaturize missiles and torpedoes to transport them on spacecraft to use against spaceships it was decided to form the first cosmic navy on the model of the pre-carrier naval doctrine, relying on big guns to lead the fleet into battle. Even after the success of the first carriers shortly before the FCW the battleships remained in use as they proved to be still effective in space contrary to their sea-bound ancestors. They are usually named after a deceased political leader, usually a revolutionary figure.

Orbital assault ship (FCW era: Green Corn-class, 600 meters-long ship, carries 120 cosmicrafts): Employed to host, land and support ground forces on enemy territory by orbital assault using shuttles. It also possesses spacecraft facilities with the primary role of hosting crafts to support land forces ashore, protecting them from air attack and destroying ground targets designated by them. They are usually named using a number after an A.

Cosmicraft carrier (FCW era: October-class, 900 meters-long ship, carries 200 cosmicrafts): After succeeding in miniaturizing disruptor torpedoes and anti-starship missiles for spacecraft, the carrier-based doctrine developed by humanity was transposed to the stars and carriers were made the spearhead of the Soviet fleets. They are usually named after a revolution or a rebellion.

Multirole combat cosmicraft (FCW era: C-124): Two pilots. Spacecraft designed to face both other spacecrafts, starships, and land targets.

Interceptor cosmicraft (FCW era: I-117): Single pilot. Interceptors are optimized to attack other spacecrafts, with very limited ability to damage starships. Interceptors are used to screen friendly units from incoming spacecraft attacks.

Attack cosmicraft (FCW era: A-99): Single pilot. Spacecraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily as air support for ground units.

Bomber cosmicraft (FCW era: B-224): Two pilots. Spacecraft designed for tactical and strategic bombing, targeting enemy infrastructure, installations and larger unit formations.

Encyclopedia: Revolutionary Defense Committee

Extraordinary organ of power, the Revolutionary Defense Committee is activated in times of military emergency at the discretion of the Council of People’s Commissars but sanctioned by the Congress of Soviets. It is composed of the most important civilian and military leaders of the Soviet Union and are responsible for commanding the armed forces and managing the war economy, particularly the production of military equipment. The Chair of the Committee ex officio is the Chair of the Council of People’s Commissars, the same goes for the Deputy Chair.

The committee is composed of the chairs of: the CPC and their deputy, the PC for Internal Affairs, the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, the Committee for Counter Intelligence, the Committee for the Affairs of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and the Liquidation of Natural Disasters, the Committee for Economic Coordination, the PC for Defense, and the Chief of General Staff of the Red Armed Forces.

Other individuals are always present at the meetings based on their position or knowledge.

The RDC was based on the Russian SFSR’s Council of Workers’ and Peasants’ Defense formed during the Russian Civil War, and its successor the Council of Labor and Defense formed during the wider Eurasian Soviet Revolutionary Wars.

Prior to the First Contact War, the RDC was only activated twice, at its creation during the Great Anti-Fascist War and during the Second Vanguardist Thermidor.