Feazanthia
19-09-2007, 14:27
Though their first battle in the Milky Way galaxy was ultimately a success, with only one frigate destroyed and internal damage to two carriers, further expansion into the alien galaxy proved that the Intergalactic Feazanthian Navy was woefully outmatched. The IFN had become complacent in the decades following their narrow victory over the titanic Collective, deciding to simply produce economical rebellion-era designs instead of continuing the innovation that had created them. After a series of devastating defeats at the hands of foreign superpowers, Fleet Command withdrew the IFN to its limited Milky Way holdings and began the process of "modernizing" the navy.
The majority of this process involved the "emergency refits" of hulls such as the Revelation destroyer and the Avatar battlecruiser. Though untested, simulations had both the new Arbiter and Avatar-II series showing great promise. However, several sects within Fleet Command were unconvinced that simply retrofitting previous hull designs would achieve the victory demanded upon them by Parliament. It is this line of thinking that would lead to the Marjiirian Heavy Battleship.
The Marjiirian project began almost immediately after receiving funds allocated to Nabaali Shipyards in orbit of Feazanthia Prime. Constructed completely in secret - an impressive feat considering the shipyard's proximity to the most populated world in the Dominion - the Marjiirian was designed based on an elongated Avatar hull. The sheer amount of technology pumped into the hull, however, increases its power exponentially over its smaller cousin.
The Marjiirian was built around a new philosophy of weapons loadout. While super capitals had typically focused on the long-range ion particle directed energy cannons, Nabaali Shipyards decided to focus on more recent developments in offensive technology. Chief amongst these was the Strategic Bombardment Array. The SBA is a fusion of long-range missile launcher and kinetic rail cannon; a hybrid railgun/missile array designed to deploy independent multi-warhead attack vehicles ballistically against capital ships or entire flotillas of smaller craft. The theory is to increase the accuracy and total kinetic energy of the weapon. A smaller capital ship, should it detect the incoming projectiles of a railgun or autocannon, would be able to evade the weapon at extended ranges. However, a missile tends to use most of its onboard fuel for initial velocity and suffers the same fate as the massdriver round because once it runs out of fuel it becomes a ballistic shell. Fast capital ship drives are typically more efficient, so the ship usually can feint the missile so that it makes a lot of trajectory corrections until it runs out of fuel. The solution to this issue is to accelerate a missile payload with a massdriver (using it as a first stage) so the munition can pursue the target with its entire fuel load. Missile range to enable has also been increased so that the missiles actively pursue targets closer to it so as to increase hit rate vs evasive targets, and to minimize detectability of the missile itself. The overall result is an exponential increase in lethality of the weapon. The Marjiirian sports four twelve-hundred millimeter Strategic Bombardment Arrays (SBA1200), each one consisting of three barrels.
The second of the new weapon systems aboard the Marjiirian is comprised of a series of electromagnetic plasma cannons. Developed with a mix of Feazanthian and salvaged alien technology, the plasma cannon is a scaled-up version of the plasma bomb launcher mounted by the Hammer-class bomber strike craft. The plasma cannon channels engine exhaust plasma into tightly contained magnetic spheres, which is then projected out towards the target. While the plasma bomb mounted on Feazanthian bombers suffered from low range, the plasma cannon's superior manipulation of electromagnetic fields (afforded by the salvaged technology) gives it range rivaling that of the assault ion cannon. The superheated, highly volatile plasma is extremely effective against enemy armor, penetrating bulkheads and igniting oxygen and ammunition stores. Fourteen total turrets are mounted aboard the battleship, consisting of six three-hundred millimeter (PC300) dual turrets and eight one-hundred-fifty millimeter (PC150) dual turrets.
Supplementing the SBAs and plasma cannons is a quartet of thirty-six gigawatt assault ion cannons (AIC36), fed by four helical particle accelerators. Though secondary to the SBA and plasma cannons, the ion cannons deliver a devastating directed energy attack designed to not only slice through armor, but also disrupt electronics within the target vessel. A pair of long-range anti-capital torpedo tubes provide the "knockout punch" of two-hundred gigaton "Sledgehammer" high-velocity anti-capital ship torpedoes, or even the dreaded "Skipper" faster-than-light slipstream torpedo. The strike craft bay has been converted into a drone production and control system, pumping out swarms of three-gigaton "Hive" kamikaze drones designed to overwhelm shielding and point defense systems.
Point defense for the Marjiirian, however, is somewhat small for a vessel of its size. Four quad-barreled 100mm (AC100) multirole autocannons can hardly be considered part of the battleship's defensive armament, as they were initially placed on board to tear apart capital ships that tried to approach within the minimum range of the Strategic Bombardment Array or Sledgehammer torpedoes. However, in practice, these autocannons are employed as heavy anti-fighter and anti-ballistic weapon defense. Four one-gigawatt enhanced pulsed ion cannon (EPIC) systems, feeding off of a single helical particle accelerator, are placed on the hull almost as an afterthought to add pinpoint accuracy at close range against fighters and deployed ordinance.
Shielding is the standard SENTINEL system, handled by the warship's third-generation A.I. The SENTINEL actively tracks incoming threats and, should they get past the CIWS weapons, will activate an active forcefield in front of the target's trajectory for the scant milliseconds it takes for the object's force to be completely dissipated. In order to save power, this force field is deployed via microscopic nanobots which jettison themselves from the ship at the start of battle and are fed power directly from the ship's fusion reactor. This allows for the warship to project a forcefield only in the areas that are under threat, instead of projecting an energy-consuming field around the entire ship.
Armor systems are similar to all warships above frigate class, consisting of an undisclosed composite, titanium-A, and internal bracing. Most noteworthy of this is the internal bracing system. Captial ships use a series of internal cross bracings and honeycombs that made the ships surprisingly resistant to battle damage; ships using this system are very heavy, but are able to remain operational despite sustaining breaches to all compartments and losing 90% of their armor (according to battlefield reports, never actually tested under controlled conditions).
The ship uses a pair of trinity-based toroidal tokomak reactor systems, each consisting of two auxiliary cores which are capable of "supercharging" the main core in times of high power requirements. These reactors are cooled by a combination of a laser induced slurry of ions chilled to near absolute zero and, in extreme situations, venting excess heat to the vacuum of space.
Electronic warfare systems were considered superfluous by Nabaali Shipyards, considering the sheer size and power signature of the Marjiirian. The Marjiirian is equipped with a composite sensor array and fleet fire control tower, capable of both drawing from and uploading targeting information to the fleet tactical net. However, for maximum effectiveness, the Marjiirian requires a fully functional TacNet that can only be provided by other vessels.
Along with the Arbiter Mk.4C CFG and the Avatar-II BCV, the Marjiirian BBH is expected to prove a more than adequate opponent to enemy capital ships and lead Feazanthian fleets to victory in future Milky Way campaigns.
Marjiirian Mk.1 BBH
Length: 980m
Primary Armament:
12x 1200mm Strategic Bombardment Arrays (SBA1200) in four triple mounts (30 gigaton warhead strength)
12x 300mm Plasma Cannon (PC300) in six dual mounts
Secondary Armament:
16x 150mm Plasma Cannon (PC150) in eight dual mounts
4x 36 gigawatt Assault Ion Cannon (AIC36) in four single mounts
2x Anti-Capital Ship torpedo silo for 200 gigaton "Sledgehammer" or "Skipper" AntiCap Torpedoes
"Hive" swarmer drone system (100 drone volley)
CIWS Armament:
16x 100mm multirole autocannon (AC100) in four quadruple mounts
4x 1 gigawatt Enhanced Pulse Ion Cannon (EPIC) in four single mounts
Defense:
SENTINEL system
Avatar-series armor scheme
Close-up of SBA firing (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/SBAfiring.jpg?t=1190222406)
Marjiirian firing AIC36 with drone (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Marjiiriandrone.jpg?t=1190222469)
Marjiirian on combat exercises with 56th "Interstellar Raptors" Tactical CVBG (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Marjiirianbroadside.jpg?t=1190222518)
Note: Concept and weapons systems were done by Kenny "Tel'Quessir" Koh and the Homeworld PDS staff, used with their kind permission.
(Questions? Comments?)
The majority of this process involved the "emergency refits" of hulls such as the Revelation destroyer and the Avatar battlecruiser. Though untested, simulations had both the new Arbiter and Avatar-II series showing great promise. However, several sects within Fleet Command were unconvinced that simply retrofitting previous hull designs would achieve the victory demanded upon them by Parliament. It is this line of thinking that would lead to the Marjiirian Heavy Battleship.
The Marjiirian project began almost immediately after receiving funds allocated to Nabaali Shipyards in orbit of Feazanthia Prime. Constructed completely in secret - an impressive feat considering the shipyard's proximity to the most populated world in the Dominion - the Marjiirian was designed based on an elongated Avatar hull. The sheer amount of technology pumped into the hull, however, increases its power exponentially over its smaller cousin.
The Marjiirian was built around a new philosophy of weapons loadout. While super capitals had typically focused on the long-range ion particle directed energy cannons, Nabaali Shipyards decided to focus on more recent developments in offensive technology. Chief amongst these was the Strategic Bombardment Array. The SBA is a fusion of long-range missile launcher and kinetic rail cannon; a hybrid railgun/missile array designed to deploy independent multi-warhead attack vehicles ballistically against capital ships or entire flotillas of smaller craft. The theory is to increase the accuracy and total kinetic energy of the weapon. A smaller capital ship, should it detect the incoming projectiles of a railgun or autocannon, would be able to evade the weapon at extended ranges. However, a missile tends to use most of its onboard fuel for initial velocity and suffers the same fate as the massdriver round because once it runs out of fuel it becomes a ballistic shell. Fast capital ship drives are typically more efficient, so the ship usually can feint the missile so that it makes a lot of trajectory corrections until it runs out of fuel. The solution to this issue is to accelerate a missile payload with a massdriver (using it as a first stage) so the munition can pursue the target with its entire fuel load. Missile range to enable has also been increased so that the missiles actively pursue targets closer to it so as to increase hit rate vs evasive targets, and to minimize detectability of the missile itself. The overall result is an exponential increase in lethality of the weapon. The Marjiirian sports four twelve-hundred millimeter Strategic Bombardment Arrays (SBA1200), each one consisting of three barrels.
The second of the new weapon systems aboard the Marjiirian is comprised of a series of electromagnetic plasma cannons. Developed with a mix of Feazanthian and salvaged alien technology, the plasma cannon is a scaled-up version of the plasma bomb launcher mounted by the Hammer-class bomber strike craft. The plasma cannon channels engine exhaust plasma into tightly contained magnetic spheres, which is then projected out towards the target. While the plasma bomb mounted on Feazanthian bombers suffered from low range, the plasma cannon's superior manipulation of electromagnetic fields (afforded by the salvaged technology) gives it range rivaling that of the assault ion cannon. The superheated, highly volatile plasma is extremely effective against enemy armor, penetrating bulkheads and igniting oxygen and ammunition stores. Fourteen total turrets are mounted aboard the battleship, consisting of six three-hundred millimeter (PC300) dual turrets and eight one-hundred-fifty millimeter (PC150) dual turrets.
Supplementing the SBAs and plasma cannons is a quartet of thirty-six gigawatt assault ion cannons (AIC36), fed by four helical particle accelerators. Though secondary to the SBA and plasma cannons, the ion cannons deliver a devastating directed energy attack designed to not only slice through armor, but also disrupt electronics within the target vessel. A pair of long-range anti-capital torpedo tubes provide the "knockout punch" of two-hundred gigaton "Sledgehammer" high-velocity anti-capital ship torpedoes, or even the dreaded "Skipper" faster-than-light slipstream torpedo. The strike craft bay has been converted into a drone production and control system, pumping out swarms of three-gigaton "Hive" kamikaze drones designed to overwhelm shielding and point defense systems.
Point defense for the Marjiirian, however, is somewhat small for a vessel of its size. Four quad-barreled 100mm (AC100) multirole autocannons can hardly be considered part of the battleship's defensive armament, as they were initially placed on board to tear apart capital ships that tried to approach within the minimum range of the Strategic Bombardment Array or Sledgehammer torpedoes. However, in practice, these autocannons are employed as heavy anti-fighter and anti-ballistic weapon defense. Four one-gigawatt enhanced pulsed ion cannon (EPIC) systems, feeding off of a single helical particle accelerator, are placed on the hull almost as an afterthought to add pinpoint accuracy at close range against fighters and deployed ordinance.
Shielding is the standard SENTINEL system, handled by the warship's third-generation A.I. The SENTINEL actively tracks incoming threats and, should they get past the CIWS weapons, will activate an active forcefield in front of the target's trajectory for the scant milliseconds it takes for the object's force to be completely dissipated. In order to save power, this force field is deployed via microscopic nanobots which jettison themselves from the ship at the start of battle and are fed power directly from the ship's fusion reactor. This allows for the warship to project a forcefield only in the areas that are under threat, instead of projecting an energy-consuming field around the entire ship.
Armor systems are similar to all warships above frigate class, consisting of an undisclosed composite, titanium-A, and internal bracing. Most noteworthy of this is the internal bracing system. Captial ships use a series of internal cross bracings and honeycombs that made the ships surprisingly resistant to battle damage; ships using this system are very heavy, but are able to remain operational despite sustaining breaches to all compartments and losing 90% of their armor (according to battlefield reports, never actually tested under controlled conditions).
The ship uses a pair of trinity-based toroidal tokomak reactor systems, each consisting of two auxiliary cores which are capable of "supercharging" the main core in times of high power requirements. These reactors are cooled by a combination of a laser induced slurry of ions chilled to near absolute zero and, in extreme situations, venting excess heat to the vacuum of space.
Electronic warfare systems were considered superfluous by Nabaali Shipyards, considering the sheer size and power signature of the Marjiirian. The Marjiirian is equipped with a composite sensor array and fleet fire control tower, capable of both drawing from and uploading targeting information to the fleet tactical net. However, for maximum effectiveness, the Marjiirian requires a fully functional TacNet that can only be provided by other vessels.
Along with the Arbiter Mk.4C CFG and the Avatar-II BCV, the Marjiirian BBH is expected to prove a more than adequate opponent to enemy capital ships and lead Feazanthian fleets to victory in future Milky Way campaigns.
Marjiirian Mk.1 BBH
Length: 980m
Primary Armament:
12x 1200mm Strategic Bombardment Arrays (SBA1200) in four triple mounts (30 gigaton warhead strength)
12x 300mm Plasma Cannon (PC300) in six dual mounts
Secondary Armament:
16x 150mm Plasma Cannon (PC150) in eight dual mounts
4x 36 gigawatt Assault Ion Cannon (AIC36) in four single mounts
2x Anti-Capital Ship torpedo silo for 200 gigaton "Sledgehammer" or "Skipper" AntiCap Torpedoes
"Hive" swarmer drone system (100 drone volley)
CIWS Armament:
16x 100mm multirole autocannon (AC100) in four quadruple mounts
4x 1 gigawatt Enhanced Pulse Ion Cannon (EPIC) in four single mounts
Defense:
SENTINEL system
Avatar-series armor scheme
Close-up of SBA firing (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/SBAfiring.jpg?t=1190222406)
Marjiirian firing AIC36 with drone (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Marjiiriandrone.jpg?t=1190222469)
Marjiirian on combat exercises with 56th "Interstellar Raptors" Tactical CVBG (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/dafeaz/Marjiirianbroadside.jpg?t=1190222518)
Note: Concept and weapons systems were done by Kenny "Tel'Quessir" Koh and the Homeworld PDS staff, used with their kind permission.
(Questions? Comments?)