Qae Shena
Super Shaper Puppy!
Intent: To create a home ship for the Vagrant Fleet.
Development Thread: Acquisition of stygium
Manufacturer: Iron Crown Productions
Model: Aether Dreamer
Affiliation: Vagrant Fleet/Qae Shena
Modularity: No
Production: Unique
Material: Durasteel alloy
Classification: Cruiser
Role: Transport, headquarters, luxury cruiser
Height: 77 metres
Width: 114 metres
Length: 478 metres
Power Core Generator/Reactor: Hypermatter reactor
Hyperdrive Rating: Class 1.0
Minimum Crew: 150
Optimal Crew: 820
Armaments: 12x dual heavy turbolaser, 10x dual laser cannon, 16x point-defence laser cannon, 4x tractor beam, 2x pressor beam
Hangar: 12x Cutter-class starfighter, 4x freighter/shuttle
Non-Combative Attachments: Navigation/sensor/targeting systems, advanced hypercomm/holonet command suite, stygium cloaking device, thrust trace dampers
Passenger Capacity: 800
Cargo Capacity: 5,000 metric tons
Consumables: 8 months
Sublight Speed and Maneuverability: 5
The Aether Dreamer is an adventurous design, and one of the few of its size that is not designed for a battleship role, despite its reasonable ability to handle itself. First and foremost, the Dreamer is home for hundreds - nay, thousands - of those who drift across the skies with little more than a hope and a dream. This ship is the only one of its kind, the only real ship of its size that the Vagrant Fleet could ever call home, being a bunch of hopeless wanderers. Under normal circumstances, the Fleet would not have a ship this size - however, recent measures such as Darth Moridin's attack on the Fleet proved that something with a little bit of bulk and the speed to back it up proved necessary. As such, no expenses were spared in furnishing the Vagrant Fleet with a vessel that they could finally call home.
To this end, the Aether Dreamer has one thing going for it: stealth. It is fast and stealthy, designed specifically to avoid trouble instead of fighting battles. Knowing a ship with stealth could not be much larger than this without utterly compromising the concept, the design calls for a slightly larger than standard frigate-sized ship - now within the cruiser class - with two key design features: first, the stygium cloaking device using crystals that Master-at-Arms Qae Shena acquired from Maramere through the Omega Protectorate in exchange for his assistance on the planet. Second, the commonly-applied thrust trace dampers, also known in other circles as ion wake baffles, in order to mostly mask the ship and its thrust output. This makes the Aether Dreamer exceedingly difficult to detect. As such, to counter this, the ship is lightly armed and not entirely well-defended, with only a smattering of turbolasers and a focus on point defence, as well as only having a squadron of starfighters. Its light armaments are primary due to the power draw, which would make effecting both extremely difficult. Some freighters can be carried by the ship in its hangar bay, whose entrance does not belie its true size, but these are primarily for the purposes of transport as opposed to using them for onboard defence.
For its passengers, the Dreamer is meant to be comfortable. Recreation decks, luxurious quarters for everyone from the Captain down, plenty of combat training rooms for those so inclined, recreation lounges, a swimming pool, tap cafes, movie theatres - it seems much more a mobile home for a ship its size than anything else. Indeed, it seems much more a luxury liner in execution than a warship, and that sums up its intent perfectly. Why else would a ship this size be so well designed for comfort? It is a home for the Vagrants, not a warship, where they can find some solace in comfort away from the troubles and anxieties that the Galaxy brings. The Vagrants are more than welcome to bring themselves and their families aboard, to a safe location where the ship's speed and stealth is their saving grace. The Sky Dancer II finds itself one permanent berth aboard the ship, such that others can come and go from the ship as they need to. While many of its passengers are meant to come aboard from more permanent berths such as space stations, those Vagrants who wish to make a temporary home aboard the Dreamer are more than welcome to.
Needless to say, a ship on this scale is expensive. This is, effectively, Qae's last roll of the dice, investing all of the profit he has made from both Azure Station and his ten percent stake in a multi-sector company in the form of Silk Holdings to commission this vessel - leaving him with just enough to operate the ship and little beyond that. Its expenses, in his mind, are worth every last credit; this is his home, his saving grace, the last shield he can erect to protect the people close to him. He is this ship's Captain, just as he leads the Fleet, and he would give nigh anything to make sure this venture succeeded. Needless to say, these funds had to go somewhere scrupulous, somewhere Qae knew he could trust to keep the secrets of this ship safe and secure, to keep the identity of the Vagrant Fleet hidden - as such, he went straight to Ashin Varanin and Spencer Jacobs, and had the ship built by Iron Crown Productions, where Ori'vod and Sanctuary - now under new names - could explain away the vessel, where those who knew the actual purpose of the ship already knew the secret of the Vagrants, protecting their sanctity once more.
After the dissolution of the Vagrant Fleet, most of its members went to the Rebel Alliance and the Silent Conclave, both of which organizations helped birth the Levantine Sanctum. The Aether Dreamer helps patrol the free worlds of the Sanctum.
Additional Images:
Bridge