Backstory
The USRA came to be when the garrison of the Terran colony of Aurora overthrew the corrupt, inept governor of the planet. Led by the radical socialist revolutionary Yuri Molotov, a man claiming to be descended from the same Molotov who was a foreign affairs minister of the ancient Soviet Union, the communist movement gained such unstoppable momentum that it could not fail to collapse the rotten structure of the Auroran state. Promising some of the already corrupt commanders of the Auroran garrisons a path to planetary leadership, and raising dissent amongst the then-plague-stricken and poor populace of Aurora, Molotov set into motion a socialist revolutionary movement that in twenty short years saw the inept planetary government toppled, with most of the leaders fleeing into exile or being executed. An alliance of Terran colonies that wanted to restore the status quo mobilised, only to be stopped short by the threat of captured experimental interplanetary Corrupter missiles, that would have poisoned the atmosphere of the rival planets with lethal radiation. Molotov had won a planet, and quickly liquidated the same generals he had bribed to assist his movement, in order to make his leadership undisputed. Though he is now dead, he has left a mixed, but powerful legacy. Auroran citizens enjoy healthcare and public services that are unrivaled amongst their neighbours, and the nation is an industrial juggernaut, but citizens live with limited freedoms under the spectre of the secret police. The Auroran military is powerful, with powerful and state-of-the-art warships, and a massive army. The USRA has employed this force on many occasions, seizing other planets with populaces less than pleased with their rulers and integrating them into a new interplanetary hegemony. It now spans three star systems, with six planets.
The Navy
The USRA navy favours the use of overwhelming force against their enemies, with large and powerful battleships doing the bulk of the work, while smaller vessels and strikecraft are employed in supporting roles.
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The Antonov Assault Frigate
The Antonov is a relatively speedy frigate craft, with attack-oriented weaponry that allows the ship, while diminuitive by USRA standards, to deliver a great deal of punishment, if only to a single enemy vessel at once. The ship's missile array and forward-facing dual autocannon nest give limited coverage against enemy capitals, although a pair of light kinetic repeaters give good anti-strikecraft ability. Being faster and more maneuverable than most USRA ships, the Antonov foregoes point defense weaponry in favour of extra speed. This ship is usually the first stepping stone in the fleet's chain of command - Antonov ship commanders often use bold and aggressive tactics to ensure their rapid promotion.
The Leningrad Destroyer
The Leningrad is the Auroran navy's workhorse ship, being a versatile vessel capable of dealing with most minor threats by itself and backing up as powerful support to the bigger Auroran vessels. Packing missile arrays and powerful dual autocannon turrets, as well as a robust point defense grid and antifighter array. Also of note is that this is the largest Auroran vessel capable of operating in atmosphere - a tactic that the Aurorans have used in conflicts against their neighbours. The most infamous incident involving this was the New Dresden raid on the planet Calypso, where a low-flying Leningrad destroyer exploited a distractive Red Army move that drew the New Dresden defence force away from the city, allowing the ship to encroach into the city's airspace, where a Calypsan senate meeting was being held in the city hall. Showing no mercy, the Leningrad captain demolished the building with his ship's weaponry, slaughtering the Calypsan leadership in one fell swoop. The Calypsans surrendered to Auroran hegemony the following day.
The Katyusha Fire Support destroyer.
The Katyusha derives its name from an ancient Soviet rocket artillery piece from World War 2, which was famed for delivering deluges of rockets cascading onto enemy positions. This name was chosen because it applies nicely to this ship, which fires dozens of guided missiles en masse to deliver massive damage to enemy vessels. The Katyusha's missile barrage makes it the pound-for-pound most destructive vessel in the Auroran navy, although its slow speed, light armour and lack of any defensive weapons conversely make it a soft target. The Katyusha is also an infamous piece of hardware, as it is the primary delivery system for many different kinds of deadly weapons. In addition to its missile silos, it possesses a large torpedo tube, that on the battlefield delivers powerful but conventional explosive warheads, but is also known to be capable of delivering the Corrupter radioactive planet-killer device. This ship is seen to be an icon of the sinister, deadly power Aurora holds in its grasp as well as a destructive battlefield weapon.
The Ural Battleship
The Ural is the spine of the Auroran navy, delivering resilience and firepower in a single uncompromising package. Its powerful autocannon batteries are its primary tools of destruction and are capable of flattening most opposition. the Ural continues to be a sort of luckiy talisman for Auroran forces, as the Auroran navy has yet to lose a naval engagement involving one of these ships. Many Auroran officers jokingly maintain that the ship emits an aura of good fortune that continue to see the Aurorans through battles. A more likely explantion is that these ships tend to be indomitable on the battlefield, crushing foes with its weaponry and easily absorbing the return fire. It is also one of the Auroran navy's best protected ships against not only incoming fire but attacking fighter craft, making it capable of defeating small enemy fleets all by itself.
The Gorshkov Carrier
An old, forbidding Auroran design, the Gorshkov is nonetheless a mainstay for the Auroran navy. The only carrier that remains in active service, it holds three squadrons of versatile fighter-bombers to cover the larger Auroran vessels as they fight enemy fleets. The Gorshkov doesn't solely rely on its fighter to protect itself, as it possesses modest armament and protection as well as very solid armour.
The MI-3 Uragan Fighter
(not to scale with other ships)
The Uragan is the iconic Auroran strikecraft, capable of operating in atmosphere and space equally effectively. It possesses a payload of powerful seeker missiles and a pair of light kinetic cannons with which to fight opposing strike craft. The Uragan is a powerful recruiting tool for the Auroran military, as a series of films glamourising the role of Uragan pilots has been released, the blockbusting Highest Cannon series, featuring popular actor Tomas Cruzhnev as a dashing Uragan ace, who, along with their squadron, topple a villainous counterrevolutionary movement. While the truth is less glamourous, as the Uragan is used almost solely in a screening role for capital ships, volunteers for Auroran flight schools continue to ignore the high mortality rates for Uragan pilots to sign up.
The Potemkin Command Dreadnought
The Potemkin dreadnought is the Auroran navy's crowning glory. Ultra-resilient, packing colossal firepower and dense armour, the Potemkin is nigh-invincible against the Auroran state's enemies. The Potemkin's firepower is enormous, featuring four incredibly powerful triple autocannon turrets, missile launchers, and most conspicuously and controversially, the enormously powerful Thunderbolt nuclear artillery array. Opposition to this warship has been vocal and frequent; despite the threat of being silenced by the secret police, Auroran politicians often called for construction of the vessels to cease, citing enormous costs and increasing tension with neighbouring states as a cause for the project to be called to a halt. Nonetheless, the ships were in the end constructed. The Thunderbolt is a feared and respected weapon - the weapon not only deals extreme damage in space, when used on a planet's surface the, shockwave generated would be capable of flattening an urban centre. In addition, it also carries its own squadron of Uragan fighters, allowing it to conduct campaigns all by itself.
