CFS Eternity

"As the flagship of the Federation, our role is to give a good first impression to any alien civilizations that we come across, and defend the Federation with everything that we have. Out of trillions of people, and out of billions of applicants, the reason that we were selected is because we were the best. We all share a duty, in spite of our home-worlds, our cultures, our species, and we put everything into the Federation. We're here because we've proven that we're the best for the role. So we have to act like it - And work like it. We represent the Federation - So let's do a good job of it."

- Exert of the inauguration speech of Captain Luna Sanderson, who took command of the star-ship in 9,990VC

The Commune Federation Star-ship (CFS) Eternity is a star-ship in service of the Stellar Fleet of the Commune Federation, within the Verpletter Dwarf Galaxy. It is the most famous star-ship in service of the Federation, and is the flagship of the Faction. It is currently under the command of Captain Luna Sanderson.

As the Flagship of the Federation, the Eternity has been present at a large number of major events throughout the history of the Commune Federation, and is one of the most well travelled ships in the fleet. It has run countless missions, both diplomatic and militaristic, and has always served with distinction.

It became the most famous ship in the fleet after a three-year event behind the borders of the Kreigsleute Faction, after being cut off from escape in a conflict. Since then, the CFS Eternity has been regarded as one of the most symbolic ships in the entire fleet.

It is considered a great honour to serve on the Eternity, as only the best of the best within the Federations service people are even considered for a space on the ship. Anyone is eligible for service on the Eternity, even new recruits whom show immense potential. All of the new crewmen are personally selected by the acting commander, who selects them using their own judgement. Commanders can also request specific individuals if they so desire.

Service History

Construction

The CFS Eternity was constructed a Barycenter Station between the planets Marx and Engles in 2887VC, and was designed to be a ship that was capable of defending itself while engaging on primarily diplomatic missions. It's purpose was to find new alien life, or Human life, that had not been brought into a Faction in Verpletter, and to establish diplomatic relations, with the end result hopefully being the newfound world becoming a member of the Federation. To this end, it was installed with the best technology and capabilities available to the Federation at the time.

The ship was christened "The Eternity" by the crew whom had worked on it, symbolizing their hope for the Federations continued success well into the future. Captain Vaddon Cadwalader was given the prestigious first command of the Eternity.

Under Vaddon Cadwalader

Captain Vaddon Cadwalader was the first Captain of the Eternity. He held the position for 13 years, and was responsible for at least 50 First contact missions, 120 diplomatic missions, 640 survey missions, and up to 400 combat scenarios. Of the 2500 solar systems that the Eternity travelled to under Cadwalader, over 1000 of them had never been visited by the Federation before. He is also credited for bringing two other Factions into the Federation thanks to the actions of himself and of his crew.

Vaddon was also the captain of the Eternity during its stint behind Kreigsleute lines, where he and his crew had to survive behind the borders of the fascistic Faction for three years, before the opportunity to make an escape presented itself, during which they were able to inflict damage to various Kreigsleute facilities, inspire various uprisings, and many independent species to join the Commune Federation to fight against the Kreigsleute.

Maiden Voyage

The first mission of the Eternity was to a star now known as Riasiys. The Commune Federation had been receiving a series of odd signals from the sector for years, but had never been able to send any ships to the region. With the commission of the Eternity, the Federation was now capable of sending a mission to investigate.

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After a two-week trip, the ship arrived at the region, to find that there were no planets, asteroids, or any other celestial bodies aside from the stars. There were almost no space debris whatsoever within the region. Upon closer inspection of the star however, they were able to find an immense number of space stations of various designs, ranging from spherical types to O'Neill Cylinders. Captain Vaddon ordered a communication signal be sent to the station, to which they received a response by a bewildered collection of Humans. Upon learning that there even were other Humans within the Verpletter galaxy, the Humans there rejoiced.

Jtrixostea, the name of the 'nation', were surprised to learn about the wider existence of Humanity throughout the Verpletter galaxy, as they had not been able to leave Riasiys. They were also surprised by the existence of aliens, which they had since come to believe that alien life was a myth. This realization made many of the Jtrixosteans to have to rethink their place in the universe. However, they were very open to travel to the Federation and within several months, had already submitted an application to join the Federation, which was accepted. The first mission of the Eternity was a resounding success.

First Contact

The Eternity's First Contact with an alien species came about a week after their departure from Jtrixostea, around a pair of binary stars known as Higo-Binarus. The system was being surveyed for a Commune Federation colonization effort, and the Eternity was there to send feedback to the Federation as to what planets were there, their condition, and recommendations for proceeding with the colonization effort. As they surveyed the fourth planet (Now known as Girus-Larshe), their scanners were able to detect an incoming vessel, heading towards them from the barycenter of the two stars.

The vessel appeared to be made of diamond, and was of a configuration that no one had seen before. Upon reaching communications range, the ship identified itself as the Rikkatonagra, and warned the Eternity that it was in restricted space, as the solar system had been designated the territory of the Lizunnegnoith - A native people to the neighbouring solar system, who had selected the system as their next region of colonization. Upon learning of this plan, Captain Vaddon requested the opportunity to meet the aliens face to face - This was rejected however, as the Lizunnegnoith were not capable of breathing an oxygen atmosphere. Vaddon offered to utilize their own equipment to speak to the Lizunnegnoith on their terms. This was accepted, and environmental requirements were sent.

Upon receiving the requirements, it became apparent that the Lizunnegnoith did not evolve on a terrestrial world, but rather one of a gas giant, and that their ship had no such thing as artificial gravity. This also eliminated the possibility of utilizing any sort of jet-pack based movement, as such a device would ignite the gas within the Lizunnegnoith ship, and destroy it. Having to rely on primitive projectiles and knives for protection, and magnetic boots for gravity, Vaddon led the diplomatic mission personally, taking with him six other crews-people.

Upon arriving on the ship, they were immediately attacked by the crew of the Rikkatonagra, and had to be fought back with the weapons available to them. They were able to kill several of them, but also lost one crew-person, Simon Baghdadi. The remainder of the team were able to escape back to the Eternity, whereupon they were once more contacted by the Rikkatonagra, and informed that their presence was now in the way of the Lizunnegnoith Collective. While the ship had no weapons, it was a very sturdy ship, and attempted to ram the Eternity, leaving the crew with no choice but to open fire and destroy the ship, revealing it's previously hidden weapons and killing everyone aboard.

Within the hour, another Lizunnegnoith ship arrived in the system, the Yukkonparatsi. Instead of seeking to destroy the Eternity though once it learned of what it had done, the Yukkonparatsi instead thanked the Eternity - The Rikkatonagra was a ship of preservationists who sought to expand the Lizunnegnoith throughout the stars after observations proved the existence of alien life back on their home-world, and were fanatically opposed to interacting with it to the point of active terrorism against civilian targets. They invited the Eternity back to the home-world of Myanomoramoritar, which was accepted - After a funeral for Simon Baghdadi.

The Battle Of Uvea-Thoab

In 2894VC, Kreigsleute forces began to launch a series of attacks along the Commune-Kreigesleute border, and, thanks to a variety of listening stations, a network of spies, and observational reports from scout ships, began to amass their forces near the Uvea-Thoab system. It became very clear that the enemy Faction was planning to launch a major offensive into Federation territory, seeking to break the stalemate since the two Factions had run into one another just a century prior. Uvea-thoab was home to both a major manufacturing series of bases, and was also the entry point to an incorporated Faction into the Federation, the Hes'un Confederacy, which was dominated by alien life. Understanding that to lose the system would mean the Kreigsleute would have the ability to target dozens of inhabited systems which would have few means of defense, the Federation sent a fleet to act as protection for the system. The CFS Eternity was redirected to the region, and was assigned a combat role.

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The battle of Uvea-Thoab - Kreigsleute forces attack the Federation ship construction fleets with immense vigor, seeking to cripple ship construction within the Hes'un Confederacy.

The resulting battle would become known as The Battle of Uvea-Thoab, and would be the precursor to a conflict that would be known as the Hes'un Defensive War. 4000 Kreigsleute ships invaded the system, seeking to first, eliminate the construction yards for the Hes'un Sector, and then turn it's efforts towards the destruction of the fleets there. In ensuring that the Federation would not be able to create new ships in the region even if they lost, the Kreigsleute would significantly weaken the Commune Federation's presence there, and would be able to send a secondary invasion fleet.

As the Federation engaged in this fight however, another 2000 Kreigsleute ships appeared - On the flanks of the invasion forces. They were then hit from behind, and the Federation forces within the region were heavily battered. During this fight, the engines for the CFS Eternity was damaged and broken, leaving the ship adrift, and with various amounts of hull damage scattered all over the ship, and a damaged power supply. The Federation indeed lost the battle, and the Kreigesleute began to invade nearby systems.

However, the CFS Eternity was not detected due to it's lack of power. It would remain in the graveyard for another week, as it attempted to restore power to the ship. during this time they were able to rescue some survivors from other ships, but for many, had no alternative but to watch as the Kreigesleute hunted down and executed any survivors they found on ships with power signatures.

Design and Capabilities

The Eternity is a large yet fast spaceship, and is capable of holding up to ten-thousand crew members on board comfortably, with their own quarters. In times of needing to transport a large number of people, the ship is capable of transporting over fifty-thousand people. It is also very capable of moving several thousand tons of cargo when the need arises.

It is equipped with ion drives, high calibre weapons, state of the art science labs, recreational centres, and everything else that the Stellar Fleet equips it's star-ships with. The size of the ship is however, paralleled with it's speed. It is capable of using Warp speed, and even at sub-light, it is very capable of moving incredibly quickly. It undergone hundreds of major retrofits and upgrades, and has taken part in countless diplomatic missions and conflict scenarios.

Command Headquarters

The Command Headquarters is located within the center of the Eternity - This is to reduce the risk of any vital personnel, including the Commander of the ship, being lost in combat, by shielding it with the other decks. From here, the commanding officers are able to view the outside via a series of cameras and transmitted images that are sent to their room, and allow them to make informed choices as so how to proceed. The Command Headquarters is where many key personnel can be found. Aside from the ships commander, the Strategic Officer can be found here in times of conflict. Navigation Officers can also be found here.

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Observation Bridges

Observation Bridges are sections of the ship that is designed to look like a traditional bridge, but has the purpose of being a pure observation post in the event of a combat scenario, and all other lines of visual feedback have been cut to the Command Headquarters. They are often mistaken for a bridge by enemy combatants, and as such often is targeted first. This allows them to double as a point of distraction, allowing the ship to trick it's enemies into thinking they have destroyed a vital command structure. Because this was an unintentional effect of the Observation Bridge, thy are now considered a design flaw of the original design of the Eternity. However, they have been kept, as various Captains have found them useful in niche situations. The current model of the Eternity is one which can be retracted and folded back into the rest of the ship to avoid damage when needed. There are several Observation Bridges on the Eternity, which is vital when visual feedback to the Command Headquarters is down. It is considered a very dangerous job to do Observation Duty, though on the Eternity, there is no shortage of volunteers.

Ship Deck

The CFS Eternity has a deck for smaller ships that it carries along with it - Such as shuttles, fighters, and other such star-ships. It can hold up to twenty minor ships, and three Mid-Class ships, including the Destiny, the Fate, and the Chimera. When launching, the Deck opens up to allow the ships stored within to leave and enter the vacuum of space. While doing this, the Ship Deck is left fairly exposed and can easily be struck by enemy fire if not done carefully.