When human civilization first pushed past the boundaries of the Solar System, the question
of whether or not mankind was alone in the universe had already been answered.
Ruins uncovered on Mars and the discovery of a Mass Relay orbiting Pluto left little
doubt that extraterrestrial civilizations were waiting to be discovered.
It was a matter of when and not if.
For this reason, the first tentative expeditions launched by the Systems Alliance were of a
military nature and the consequences of this decision would echo across the ensuing decades.
Even when humanity was granted a place on the Citadel Council and it became a preeminent
member of the interstellar community, its greatest impact on the galaxy was not made
by its culture, its ideologies or its sciences, but by the ships of the Systems Alliance Navy.
As the primary interstellar service branch of the Systems Alliance Armed Forces, the
Alliance Navy was one of the most important human institutions.
It was tasked with protecting Systems Alliance colonies, space stations, mass relays and
the various transit routes linking them together.
As the Navy grew in strength, it was increasingly able to project force outside Alliance territory,
engage in forward peacetime deployments and rapidly respond to regional crises.
During what would become a tumultuous time in galactic history, the Navy was a significant
element of the Systems Alliance foreign and military policy.
The structure of the Alliance Navy included numerous component services and independent
branches.
Yet its most significant operating forces were organized under the command of several
numbered fleets.
Each of these fleets consisted of various classes of corvettes, frigates, destroyers
and cruisers, responsible for escorting the far larger dreadnoughts and carriers that
formed the centerpieces of these task forces.
As a signatory of the Citadel Council and by extension, the Treaty of Farixen, the Alliance
Navy was limited in the number of dreadnoughts that could be constructed.
Peacekeeping across council space was the chief duty of the Turian Hierarchy and only
one Systems Alliance dreadnought was permitted for every five operated by the Turians.
This was later extended to a 5:3 ratio when mankind was granted a seat on the Citadel
Council.
To make up for this imbalance however, the Systems Alliance pioneered the use of Fleet
Carriers, a distinctly human design.
By replacing the mass accelerator cannons found aboard most dreadnoughts with extensive
hangers, the fleets of the Alliance Navy were able to operate many more larger ships compared
to their similarly restricted rivals.
At its height in 2186 the Systems Alliance Navy was operating 9 dreadnoughts, a mere
fraction of the number utilized by the Turian Hierarchy or Asari Republics, but many thousands
of smaller ship types.
As per Alliance doctrines, the numbered fleets were stationed at critical Mass Relays, enabling
a rapid response to any crisis.
The First, Second, Third, and Fifth Fleets were stationed in the Arcturus System, home
of the political and military headquarters of the Systems Alliance.
The Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Fleets were based at Earth, Terra Nova, Eden Prime
and Ontarom respectively, although these latter deployments could periodically change.
Each fleet was subdivided into numerous flotillas, which were periodically deployed across the
galaxy as required.
Of the many sub-branches within the Alliance Navy, the two largest and most prominent were
the Fleet Air Arm, and the Alliance Marine Corps.
Both were specialized services, responsible for operating the Navy’s fighter squadrons
and providing ground based expeditionary operations respectively.
As dictated by tradition and its distinguished role within the Alliance Navy, the Marine
Corps was granted the distinction of several unique ranks and honorifics.
As part of the Interplanetary Combatives Training or ICT program, members of the Alliance Navy,
alongside their counterparts from terrestrial Earth militaries, were eligible to undergo
specialized leadership and combat training.
Based in Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro, candidates trained in jetpack flight, combat diving,
linguistics and frontline trauma care for human and alien biology.
ICT qualification enabled a graduate to include a Vocational Code of “N” indicating expertise
in special operations, followed by a number of 1 through 7, representing their level of
proficiency.
Both the ICT program and wider Alliance Navy doctrine gained significant renown across
the other citadel races for their innovative techniques and technology.
In contrast to the other great military powers of the galaxy, namely the Krogan Clans and
Turian Hierarchy, the Systems Alliance prefers to avoid grin ding wars of attrition in favor
of a kind of leapfrogging strategy.
Enemy strongpoints are rarely assaulted directly, but instead bypassed in favor of enemy supply
lines, logistical centers and headquarters units.
Once isolated, enemy pockets can be left to “wither on the vine” or be engaged at
an opportune time.
This doctrine is a result of the Alliance’s comparatively small army with only roughly
3% of humans volunteering for military service.
To make up for this smaller manpower pool, Alliance forces utilize virtual intelligence,
drones, artillery, electronic warfare and armoured units as force multipliers.
Combined with an emphasis on mobility and individual initiative, the Alliance Navy has
often routed far larger enemy forces.
Alliance mission-type tactics and strategic doctrine were a response born from the services’
earliest major conflict; the First Contact War of 2157.
While ultimately a small scale and relatively bloodless incident resulting from mutual ignorance,
it had an enormous effect on the Alliance Navy as well as outside opinion on human civilization.
Unlikely to have been able to prevail against the Turian Hierarchy had the conflict escalated
to a full scale war, the performance of the Alliance Navy, first in its defense of the
Shanxi Colony and later in its subsequent liberation, nevertheless greatly impressed
the other civilizations of the Citadel Council.
Even the Turians regarded the Alliance’s capabilities favorably, and the mutual respect
that developed here helped ease the tensions leftover from the conflict.
The Alliance Navy remained at the forefront of humanity’s efforts to become a true interstellar
civilization.
It gained further renown in 2176 after defending the human colony of Elysium from opportunistic
pirates and mercenaries in a battle that would come to be known as the Skyllian Blitz.
Subsequent actions in Theshaca and Torfan would further cement humanity’s military
prowess.
It was during the battle of the Citadel however, that the Alliance Navy earned perhaps its
greatest victory.
An unexpected attack on the station by a fleet of Geth warships led by the Reaper dreadnought
Sovereign, nearly overwhelmed the Citadel Fleets.
However, with the intervention of Command Shepard, the first human Spectre agent, the
Alliance 5th Fleet arrived at the decisive moment, shattering the Geth formations and
Sovereign itself.
The role played by the Alliance Navy in the battle was instrumental in the decision to
grant humanity a role on the Citadel Council.
Together with the Turian Hierarchy, Alliance Fleets would be utilized by the Citadel in
a galactic peacekeeping role.
In just a few decades, the Systems Alliance had achieved a place of prominence within
Galactic Civilization that others had not accomplished in centuries or millennia.
Despite its revolutionary designs and innovative doctrine, the Alliance Navy proved no more
capable of resisting the advance of the Reapers during their full-scale invasion of 2186.
In battles fought across the Solar System and Alliance Space, every major numbered fleet
suffered significant losses, with some wiped out entirely as effective combat elements.
Under the leadership of Admiral Hackett, Alliance forces retreated to various rendezvous points
across Citadel space while Commander Shepard began marshalling galactic resources for a
counter-attack.
During a single decisive engagement, the Alliance Navy was joined by its counterparts from every
major interstellar military, fighting the Reapers in orbit of Earth.
The outcome of that apocalyptic battle has been lost in the cataclysmic events of the
era.
All that can be said with some degree of certainty is that the major fleet actions in orbit of
Earth allowed for a major landing of troops onto the surface
Humanity was seen as many things during its brief tenure on the galactic stage, a powerful
force for peace, or unrestrained, dangerous upstarts.
In many ways it was both.
Yet whatever future mankind may have won or lost for itself in orbit of Earth, it was
paid for in blood by the ships, sailors and marines of the Systems Alliance Navy.