The Battleship Solace
'Libertas perpetuuni'Developed by Boeing Aerospace Industries, the Earth Class battleship is one of the finest series of ships to ever be developed. The UEE's foremost defense contractor, Boeing Aerospace is well known throughout the galaxy for high quality aircraft, spaceships, and weapons. The Earth Class was developed when the Naval Procurment department called for a 'Bastion of defense, a defensible, and heavily armed ship capable of fending off considerably larger numbers of forces and single-handedly warding off another major power.' With exceptionally high development and production costs, the Earth Class is a powerful frontline ship with relatively small numbers in production. Due to its high cost and production value, production of the Earth Class battleship has largely been superseded by the Liberator class, which while slightly less effective, was considerably cheaper to produce. Due to its cost and the prevalence of Liberator battleships, only 30 Earth Class ships have ever been built. As a result, these rare ships are often used as flagships for UEE fleets. Current iterations of the Earth Class have been refitted with MAS technology to bring it up to front line standards.
Layout:
The heart of the Earth Class is its Phobos Fusion Reactor. With deuterium tankage for four months, tied to an efficient mag-grav sweep system, the Phobos can sustain The Earth class for up to 10 months of minimal activity before fuel reserves will run low. At that point, it can refuel from any planet with a hydrogen/helium rich atmosphere using the 'drag scoop' maneuver to skim the atmosphere for fuel. Aft of the reactor section and the tankage is the ships Impellor drive, rated for 2.2G of continuous acceleration, though fleet trials have pushed this to 2.5G with a low payload mass. The drive section can also deploy solar panels to provide additional power when in range of a star.
Nestled between the Impellor drive and the Reactor is the ship's Kearnsky-Fuchida Warp drive. By bridging two points in space the drive can near instantaneously move the Earch class up to 50 light years. This requires significant charging, with a jump delay of 52 hours, much slower than the fleet norm, which is currently 42 for most cruisers and battleships.
Astride the drive and engineering spaces is the Docking Collar. A pair of wings equipped to handle up to 2 destroyers each, the Docking collar allows the Earth to bring 'Tag along' ships which lack jump drives of their own. Standard UES doctrine is to pair the Earth class with an escort squadron of two Dervish Class Destroyers, a Deimos Long Range Frigate, and a Halcyon AWACS ship.
Forward of the docking collar comes the ships massive flight deck. Extending across the entire width of the ship, and accessible from both the port and starboard sides of the ship. Equipped to handle several dozen small craft, the Flight deck also houses the Marine Barracks, the crew quarters, holding bays for 20 Mobile Armour Suits, and launching platforms for 8. Finally, the CiC is located deep in the guts of the Solace, behind sheets of shielding and redundant systems, underneath its observational deck, which sticks above the fuselage.
Weapons:
A heavily armed warship capable of utterly destroying any ship of smaller size, and even taking on larger forces and come out not much worse for wear. With the advent of MAS technology, it became apparent that different weapons where needed. The weapons of the Solace provide it considerable defense against MAS strikes, though the best defense for any capital ship is its own MAS escort.
Mounted on the dorsal line and powered by its own reactor and capacitor system, in its central 'cavern', the Solace mounts a trio of Pulsed Plasma Gravity Braid Cannon. Known by the crew as the 'wave motion gun', (all attempts at coming up with a clever acronym or backronym failed), this weapon fires a plasma blast wrapped in a braid of artificial gravity, allowing it to overwhelm energy shields at incredible distances. It is limited by the need to be pointing directly at its target, which means the ship must be pointing directly at its target, and an agonizingly slow recharge time of a minute. Unlike the less expensive Liberator, which mounts a single large wave motion gun, the Solace mounts three smaller cannons, and uses artificial gravity to braid each individual blast with each other to make for a single, immensely powerful blast.
Six Armstad missile bays carry 50 anti capital missiles each, supplementing the main battery. With a secondary magazine located in the hold holding another 300, the ship has enough missiles for 10 minutes of sustained fire. These missiles are remote piloted by operators in the CiC, but can revert to on-board guiding if they are jammed. Configurable for a variety of targets, these missiles are also the primary means of attacking a surface target the Earth Class has. These missiles can also be 'passed' to MAS units, who can control them to support their own attacks.
Along the both the port and starboard lines of the ship, are 10 twin barreled turrets- for a total of 20 turrets- mounting Heavy Capital Class Laser Cannons suffice to ward off close range attackers, as well as lighter ships, though a heavier capital ship or true battleship will easily muscle through that fire. These weapons also provide port/starboard coverage against MAS attack, but can be overwhelmed or avoided by a determined or skilled attacker.
Along the bow of the ship, is a quartet of single barreled Mass Driver Cannons, in a 2x2 formation. These four turrets are capable of rising out of protected sections in the armor. On either side of the observational deck are a pair of twin barreled Mass Driver Cannons, and a fifth, single barreled cannon is behind the observational deck. These five cannons are also mirrored on the underside of the ship. Serving as the ship's primary anti-ship weapon, aside from its own MAS compliment. These rail based turrets launch large caliber shells of varying types and are capable of hitting large targets at great distances. These cannons can also be used for orbital bombardments, but due to their size and power, cannot be fired in-atmosphere.
Finally, the Solace mounts a staggering 240 heavy rail cannons in 60 four gun 'ball' turrets. Designed for AA work and interception, these designs provide a murderous hail of tungsten slugs designed to fill local space around the Liberator class with an expanding 'cone of death', that should shred any missile or drive off any MAS that gets under the laser cannons coverage.
Defenses:
Along with the aforementioned rail cannons, the ship mounts over a meter of Durralex Ferro-fibrious armour plate, reinforced with Adamantite kinetic/endothermic gel. Allowing it to withstand considerable amounts of damage from all sources, Adamantite Gel hardens upon impact, allowing it to stop anything short of a heavy capital class kinetic weapon. Likewise, the Adamantite gel's heat distribution capacity allows it to absorb immense amounts of heat energy, storing the energy in heat sinks stored in the aft of the ship. During space combat, these sinks can be temporarily extended into space to allow for rapid dissipation of heat. The heat can also be stored to use for the heating of appliances and water onboard the ship.
ECW defence includes several dedicated ECM defence nodes, located atop the observation deck. Finally, a powerful reflex shield allows the ship to deflect laser and and small amounts of plasma attacks.
Like all capital ships of her size and construction, the greatest threats come from bigger, meaner capital ships, concentrated attack by destroyers or close range 'skin dancing' attacks by MAS's. A MAS penetrating into the ships internal engineering spaces could destroy the Solace in one attack, which is why the ships designers have worked extra hard to prevent such a thing occurring. Both the Empire and Coalition are following a similar design ethos: Increasingly, newer ships are heavily defended and designed to support MAS operations, rather than engage in capital ship combat themselves.
Flight Deck:
The flight deck and associated hanger bays have stowage for about 100 small craft of various types. Currently, the Solace carries a squadron of 48 AS-18 Naginata Aerospace fighters, a squadron of 12 H-12 'Zero' Aerospace bombers, and 12 XXXL-12 'Albatross' orbital Gunships for marine deployment. Fighters are deployed via magnetic catapult and can be recovered using the same equipment. The ship also carries four shuttles for general shipping duties, one bulk lifter and 18 repair craft. 6 T-88 Toad class scout ships round out the ships compliment. Finally, the ship mounts 20 MAS repair and refit bays. The Solace also uses magnetic catapults to launch the its MAS compliment.
Crew Compliment:
The ships company runs to 3200 over all ranks and specializations, including a dedicated security detachment. Attached to the Solace is the 122nd Aerospace Fighter Squadron the 'Raptors', and the 132nd AF Squadron 'Waxers'. The airwing has a compliment of about 1000, and the Marine Battalion aboard numbers 800.
Other Capabilities:
The ships computer systems are managed by Eva, a gestalt LV 3 Virtual intelligence. Not true AI, she instead is an exceptionable personable interface program designed to ease crew interactions with the ships systems, function as a organizer and statistician, and provide ready advice and information for the command crew. Capable of independent management of many of the ships defensive systems and day-to-day management of the ships immediate Battlespace, she is designed to both take, interpret and redistribute orders.
The Solace is a massive ship designed to provide the fleet with the finest firepower, capable of scaring off lesser forces. As a result, it is highly durable and resilient, and offers appropriate accommodations for its crew. High end equipment and appliances are combined with advanced computer systems. Despite this, the large numbers of crew on board makes the spacious halls and rooms still feel fairly crampt.
Statistics:
Length: 1150m
Width: 330m
Depth: 400m
Mass: 196,000,000 metric tons
Crew Compliment: 5000
Jump Range: 50 light years
Jump delay: 52 hours
Endurance: 4 months
Designation: P-SOC-OBU Thunder Type 3, christened "Sovereign's Thunder", shortened to "Sovereign".
Role: Long Range Artillery Support, Weapons Platform, Missile-Denial
Chassis: Heavy
Engine: Improved Hexa-Core Engine 35 PWR
Operating Time: 8 Hours
Description: The prototype MAS Type 3 is a recent refit to the Type 2, which in turn was a refit of the Type one, with emphasis on long range combat, firepower, and durability. With all the systems and weaponry onboard the MAS, it is a miracle that it has a running time of eight hours, something that has disputed the request for the mini-nuke experimental reactor to be built into it. The Type 3 was meant to be an extensive upgrade to the PTX-088 Centurion, although so far, only one prototype has been built. Currently still under testing phase.
Systems:
Calamity 150mm Autoloaded Artillery System. 3 WT 2 PWR. - A massive cannon built into the back of the Sovereign, this artillery piece was designed as an upgrade to the Warhammer Artillery System, although many have said that it is a variant instead of an upgrade, as only the loader has changed, the cannon stayed the same. The Calamity features an Autoloader, with the cannon capable of firing a 'clip' of three rounds in under two seconds. While the burst fire rate is high, the time it takes to reload the clip is five times longer than the Warhammer. Carries the same amount as the Warhammer, hence 50 150mm shells.
AIO Saviors 30mm Auto-Flak 5 WT 2 PWR - The Saviors is a multi-purpose direct fire cannon, capable of firing different rounds suitable for different situations, ranging from HEAT to APCR to even Flak. However, to switch rounds, you need someone outside to externally load them, or be loaded in a carrier(which means someone loading them manually anyways). Carries 200 rounds.
FB Trinity Laser Cannon 2 WT 4 PWR - A versatile laser cannon, designed for moderate ranged combat. Generally used only when the Saviors aren't an option.
(2x)LC Aegis Heavy Machinegun (2x)1 WT 0 PWR - Anti-personnel and the anti-missile defense once the Hellfire missiles have been depleted. Holds 500 rounds, fires at 2 rounds a second, somewhat on the slow side for a MG.
Hellfire Swarm Missile System 3 WT 2 PWR - Instead of the usual missile systems designed for a sure-kill attack, the Hellfire Swarm Missiles are meant to take down other missiles. Extremely small(think water bottle size), and jammed with explosives, the missiles are fired, and destroys large, singular missiles with direct impact, or multiple small missiles with a proximity detonation. These missile can be used for bombardment on unarmored targets, with the small and nimble size making it difficult to knock down. However, due to their original purpose, the missile is rather fragile, and will be destroyed from concentrated point-defense, while armor basically shrugs off these small missiles(although unarmored weak spots are a different story). Built into both shoulders, each side can fire sixteen(4x4), totaling at thirty-two missiles.
Class 4 Energy Shield 5 WT 10 PWR - Having lower maneuverability than lighter MAS, the Sovereign was built with an Energy Shield designed to take hits.
Large Alloy Shield 4 WT 0 PWR - In addition to the energy shield, the Sovereign also wields a large alloy shield in the off-hand, capable of covering two thirds of the MAS from the front.
Heavy Alloy Plating 7 WT 0 PWR - As if the alloy and energy shield weren't enough, there is also the external plating that adds protection onto the Sovereign.
Sonar Stakes 1 WT 2 PWR - A system with more than one use, this has seen a lot more use on the Sovereign than any other system asides from the Calamity Artillery. On the ground, the Sonar Stakes allows the MAS to lock itself on the ground, while providing detection capabilities against ground units. Most importantly, this lowers the movement of the MAS from the recoil of the 150mm cannon when anchored.
Smart Target AI 0 WT 3 PWR - By allowing the Sovereign to track up to 40 targets instead of the usual 5, the Hellfire Swarm Missiles are now capable of being a formidable anti-missile system, in conjuction with the Aegis MG.
Enhanced Internal Radar Suite 0 WT 3 PWR - A very useful system, especially for a MAS with the range capability such as the Sovereign, the radar system is a powerful tool to locate possible targets from long range.
Advanced Internal Targeting Suite 0 WT 3 PWR - Yet another powerful tool, this system is almost mandatory for utilizing the Calamity Artillery, most prominently in-atmosphere.
Improved Reactor Output 3 WT +5 PWR - A high end customization used by pilots. Using efficient parts and techniques, this upgrade allows MAS's to add an additional +5 PWR to their generator output.
31/35PWR, 35/35WT
