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Fighter Class
Corvette Class
Frigate Class
Super-Capital Class
Non-Combat & Resource Classes
Super-Capital Class
Super-Capital Class Description
These huge warships represent vast investment of resources, time and technology, and are as valuable as they are powerful. Second only to the massive Mothership in size and capability, these vessels are dreadnoughts of cutting edge-technology. They carry their own hyper drive modules and some even have on board manufacturing arrays in order to replace ordnance or construct smaller vessels. While extremely powerful and able to absorb large amounts of damage, they are still vulnerable to masses of small ships and should never be deployed without a flotilla of smaller warships.
Taiidan Destroyer - "Skaal Tel"
The Skaal is one of the most deadly predators that roam the southern wastes of Kharak, and was the greatest threat to the safety of caravans until it was deliberately hunted to the edge of extinction. The male of the species, the Skaal Tel, is a vicious clawed hunter with heavy scales and poison sacks that can blind or kill an unwary opponent at a distance. Though it masses nearly ten times that of an average Taiidani, it is still able to keep up with a warrior at full run. The Skaal Tel hunts for its mate and cubs during the breeding cycle and is capable of dragging its kill back to the den from over a hundred kloms away.
This predator is a fitting namesake for one of the deadliest vessels ever built for the Taiidani fleet. The Skaal Tel is so massive it mounts two parallel Ion cannons and backs this up with eight heavy rail guns on four modified turrets. Second only to Heavy Cruisers in terms of raw firepower, the Skaal Tel Destroyer can direct a devastating amount of destructive energy in its forward arc, and two destroyers operating in concert can vaporize an enemy frigate in a matter of seconds. Yet, despite its size and armor, it can maneuver almost as well as the much smaller Frigates.
To successfully engage a Skaal Tel, you must learn from the warriors who hunted its namesake on ancient Kharak. Attack in a group, from all sides, and use your fastest and most maneuverable assets to draw the beast's attention while you concentrate your attacks on its flanks.
Taiidan Missile Destroyer - "Skaal Fa"
The guided missile has long been a forgotten weapon in space combat. Small cheap missiles lacked the warhead strength and range to be a factor, while missiles large enough to be a threat simply could not be carried in large enough numbers on even capital ships to make it worth the time and resources. Taiidani engineers finally made a tactical breakthrough by applying the automated construction bay technologies used in the Mothership and, to a lesser extent, in Saarkin Cho Class Carriers. Skaal Fa's use the standard Destroyer hull, but replace the Ion Cannon systems with an automated assembly bay, capable of building a heavy missile armed with a fusion warhead every five seconds. A dual rail missile launcher is mounted on either side of the forward hull where the standards weapon bays used to be,
Skaal Fa's have the best stand-off range of any ship in the fleet, but are vulnerable once their initial load of 32 missiles has been launched, and their rate of fire drops to how fast they can manufacture new missiles. Skaal Fa's usually operate with one or two Skaal Tel class Destroyers, and standard procedure is for the Tel's to engage and pin a large enemy vessel, while the Missile destroyer stays back and pummels it with long range missile fire. Since the Skaal Fa carriers no turrets, it is almost always deployed with a wing of Interceptors flying close escort to ward off enemy strike craft.
On Kharak, the Skaal Fal is the female of the Skaal species, and, while smaller and somewhat more vulnerable during the breeding season than the male, she sports a tail covered with hardened spines which she can fling at an attacker with deadly force from the safety of her lair.
Kushan Heavy Cruiser - "Avatar"
If you think of Fleet Command as a god-as most pilots in the Kushan fleet jokingly do--then the Heavy Cruiser is nothing less than a projection of divine wrath onto the mortal plane. The Avatar class Heavy cruiser is the most powerful vessel constructed since the Mothership. Nearly twice the size of a Revelation class Destroyer, the Avatar can direct more firepower than any ship in the fleet, and can absorb amazing amounts of damage while still remaining combat effective.
An excellent firing arc is provided by six heavy turrets, each mounting dual rail guns, each gun almost half the size of an entire frigate. While these turrets can engage and destroy more nimble opponents, even more fear is inspired by the four twin-mounted ion cannons. Against this kind of withering fire, even Mothership class vessels cannot stand for long.
Avatars are the stars of any Kushan fleet that can afford the massive resources required to build and crew them. The ship's complement--150 engineers, gunners and command crew positions aboard a Heavy cruiser--are the choicest assignments throughout the fleet, and even more vied-for than bridge positions aboard the Mothership. If there is an Avatar in the fleet, it will always be at the center of whatever action is occurring, and ambitious personnel can find no better place to earn distinction and recognition. Of course, while the Avatar is powerful and very heavily armored, it is not invulnerable--with every enemy gun trained on it, the Avatar's tactical priority is as much to draw fire from more vulnerable ships as it is to destroy enemy vessels. As a result, the repair systems aboard a Heavy Cruiser are the most sophisticated to be found in the fleet.
Kushan Carrier - "Imperator"
The Mothership is the ultimate expression of Kushan power, but even it cannot be everywhere at once. In order to extend the power and reach of the fleet, engineers pushed the manufacturing abilities of the Mothership to their limits in order to produce a super-heavy capital ship chassis, capable of containing the equipment necessary to function as a small scale mothership.
The Imperator class Carrier requires the resources of a small asteroid belt simply to be built, and the entire Mothership manufacturing bay door must detached in order to launch this incredible starship. The Imperator has its own hyperspace jump engines and can carry a full assault wing of 50 fighters and 25 corvettes in its internal bays. It is fully capable of processing raw resources, and has a limited manufacturing ability, allowing it to construct any Frigate or Strike Craft hull. While not carrying an especially powerful offensive ability in of itself, it is protected by an array of rapid-fire point defense rail guns and heavy, layered armor.
Of the three Imperators produced so far, none have been lost in combat, though the original prototype was heavily damaged in action at Gorth's Rift, when an unknown hostile ambushed it in a quadrant barren of resources. This incident led to the strategic imperative that all Carrier groups must maintain an adequate resource reserve at all times or withdraw immediately. Current deployment doctrine for carrier groups calls for a single Imperator to be escorted by one to two Avatar class Heavy Cruisers and a pair of Destroyers. Additional craft are expected once the Imperator group has reached its destination.
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