Maginot Armada

From FABT

Maginot Armada
GalacticDominion.png
MaginotArmada.jpgA portion of the Maginot Armada.

Active:

2 June 2216 CE - 17 April 2253 CE

Organization:

Maginot Line - Armada Command

Affiliation:

GalacticDominion.png
Galactic Dominion (2216 CE - 2253 CE)


DDF.jpg
Dominion Dissident Front (2253 CE)

Type:

Armada

Role:

Defense of the Maginot Line

Size:

610 ships
60 space stations

Part of:

GalacticDominion.png
Armed Forces of the Galactic Dominion

Headquarters:

Orbit, Parnitha

Motto:

None shall pass whilst we stand. (English translation)

Engagements:

Battle honors):

Naval Medal of Heroism

Commanders:

Imperial Admiral Xerxes

 
"Nemo transiet dum stamus."
— Maginot Armada motto.

The Maginot Armada, formally known as the Combined Fleet of the Maginot Line and becoming simply known as Xerxes' fleet post-Battle of the Maginot Line, was a fleet in the Galactic Dominion Navy. Command of the armada fell to an Imperial Admiral, with the geth Xerxes commanding the Maginot Armada for the entirety of its history. The armada's express purpose and objective was to defend the Maginot Line, making up the Dominion Navy's contribution to the Line's defenses, which included engaging in offensive operations from the Line and defending it from Covenant attack over the course of Operation Silent Zealot, which in the armada would be heavily involved as the primary Dominion assets participating. The fleet was comprised of naval assets from the Systems Coalition Navy, Rannoch Republican Navy and Tuchankan Confederate Navy, ranging from warships to space stations, as well as personnel and resources from all three navies. The armada was the single largest concentration of Dominion ships in the entire galaxy, with no less than 610 vessels and 60 space stations, which not only included warships and battle stations, but also support craft, refit stations, hospital ships and numerous other non-combat assets. Formally formed in mid 2216 CE per recommendation from Fleet Admiral Awarnach Stanford, the Maginot Armada gathered supplies and funding over time that allowed it to grow in size, initially beginning as the Dominion Eleventh Fleet under Stanford before ships were pulled from the Coalition Third Fleet, Rannochian Fifth Fleet and Tuchankan Fourth Fleet to officially form the new armada, with Imperial Admiral Xerxes placed as its commanding officer. Overtime the armada continued to grow in size, including the introduction of several new warships, most notable the Transcendence-class dreadnought-carrier Deep Savannah in 2238 CE and two Pandorica-class superdreadnoughts, the Pegasus and Griffin, in 2231 CE, along with a third in 2252 CE as Dominion High Command made preparations for a military escalation along the Maginot Line.

Between 2220 CE and 2250 CE, the Maginot Armada would engage in both defensive and offensive actions with the Covenant Navy as they made constant probing attacks against the Line, with varying Covenant escalations ranging from full-scale offensives to minor raids: some would successfully break through but, as was the case with the Battle of Feros in 2251 CE, these were very quickly dealt with. However during this time the Armada launched just as many counteroffensives of their own, maintaining the constant deadlock of no-progress that both sides were subjected to. Despite this, the Armada would maintain and successfully achieve its primary objective of protecting the Line for 36 years. When the Dominion Civil War broke out in late 2252 CE, Stanford immediately ordered Xerxes to mobilize the Armada and split his command into six fleets as specified per the Castle Protocol, leaving one fleet to defend the Line while the other five were immediately dispatched to five designated assembly points throughout Dominion space to begin anti-insurgency operations and crush the DDF before the rebellion grew out of control. However, Xerxes famously refused this order, ordering the entire Armada to hold position and defend the Line: unable to spare the assets to have Xerxes relieved of his command and not wanting to risk pushing Xerxes to join the DDF, taking with him a 600-strong Dominion fleet, Stanford rescinded his orders and revised his planned counter-insurgency operation to omit usage of the Armada, but promised to punish Xerxes later. The Maginot Armada would maintain these positions, not participating in the civil war, until the Battle of the Maginot Line, where DDF naval forces temporarily joined forces with the Armada to hold back a massive Covenant offensive. While the Armada managed to smash the Covenant offensive, winning a decisive victory that obliterated the Covenant Navy once and for all, Dominion loyalists with the Citadel-Ark later arrived and managed a breakthrough of the Line where it had been weakened during the Covenant attack. With the Covenant threat neutralized, the remnants of the Armada, then just called "Xerxes' fleet", regrouped under Xerxes' order and finally declared for the DDF, and would join as DDF reinforcements during the Battle of the Citadel-Ark, appearing late in the battle. After the civil war and dissolution of the Galactic Dominion, the Maginot Armada was formally deactivated and its remaining assets dispersed back to its owners or incorporated into the new Unified Galactic Navy.

Operational History[edit | edit source]