Editing Nobledark Imperium Notes (section)

==Imperial Navy==

The overall motif of the Imperial Navy and void life in general is Age of Sail-style Wooden Ships and Iron Men (no, not those Iron Men). Like on a ship in the Age of Sail, life on a void ship is arduous, and you have to be constantly alert (on a sailing ship to make sure the ropes are all taut and the sails in the right position, on a void ship to constantly make sure the engines are working right). Overall, it’s a lifestyle that’s hard, but not so bad that the entire crew doesn’t jump ship the first chance they get and the people who live it actually take it as a point of pride over those who don’t.  Wooden Ships and Iron Men is very nobledark because by definition it pits the wills and creations of men against the cold, uncaring forces of nature. It’s a gritty job away from civilization much of the time and at the mercy of the "elements" so to speak, where a rogue storm could wreck your ship at any time if you're not careful. That's not to say the bad parts of the Age of Sail, such as mutinies, harsh discipline, and the occasional unauthorized press-ganging don't happen though.

The Mechanicus let a little more of the basic technology out (i.e., autoloaders), at least in part because they have competition with the other semi-autonomous member states and can’t act like complete assholes or else people will go to the Tau, Demiurge, Kinebrach, squats, etc. However, autoloaders can break and the crew are all trained to readily load munitions in by hand or pulley if they have to. So it's less a thousand slaves pulling a macrocannon into place with whips and more a dozen guys hoisting the cannon into alignment with ropes and pulleys.

The Voidborn, the original source of the ships and crew of the Imperial Navy, are becoming an increasing minority in the Navy by M41. The Imperial Navy is increasingly composed of baseline humans, if for no other reason than sheer size and logistics. On the other hand, most of the venerable old Navy families are either Voidborn or have a disproportionate amount of Void Born ancestry (manifesting in being tall, or having big dark eyes, pale skin, or a receding hairline). However, all of the intermarriage between the Void Born and baseline humans has made them close enough to baseline that the Void Wolves and their successors can recruit from them (except Black Legion, who recruit exclusively from the Gate Worlds).

===Five Flagships===

*In the long run, the Five more than paid for the expense that went into them, but Oscar thought they weren't a big enough success to be worth completely refurbishing or commissioning replacement ships</br>
*Oscar didn’t freak out over the Rock and Terminus Est going off the reservation because the Dark Angels and Black Templars were basically doing what the ships had always been meant to do (patrol Obscurus and Pacificus, respectively)</br>
*Addition of ships like the ''Tomb of Horus'' to the Imperial Fleet as well as just plain old battleships meant the Five were no longer as important as during the Great Crusade.</br>
*Finally, it was becoming apparent to the heads of the Imperium just how big the galaxy was, and that the resources devoted to ship building was better spent making larger numbers of relatively smaller ships, rather than fewer, more heavily armed ships.</br>
*Left out the details of the Carcharodons' story of reclaiming the Nicor as that is better left to the Carcharodons' entry and there was some disagreement over what they are like.</br>
*I kind of liked the idea that the Terminus Est was still out there fighting the good fight as the Templar’s flagship, but people suggested otherwise.</br>