Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Cruisin' but not Bruisin!

Camellia looked over the paperwork in her office sadly before sighing as she picked up the various files and reports and sat down to begin sifting through the documents to determine Rendili Stardrive's next big projects and next direction. In truth it was hard to determine where to take things after the Noblesse had been developed, especially after how much of a hassle it was to get the project off the ground and then to actually get the funding for production like they had been promised ahead of time. The ships were only just now finally leaving he docks, but at the very least they were done.


The Inexpugnable class command ship being built for the Silver Jedi, dubbed the Will of the Force, was also nearing completion. Final runs and evaluations were about what was left. Along with the fine tweaking of the battle analysis computer being installed on it as well. It was undoubtedly the most powerful ship that would exist in the galaxy to date in the current era, and it certainly was going to be packed with some of the most advanced systems. When compared to that almost anything seemed like a step down in production effort and quality.

Heck even the refitting of the Hammerheads and installing Inertial Compensators in the Republic ships as per the Admiral's orders was likely a bigger project than anything they had left on the bill. So much work was done in all the contracts there didn't seem to be much left. Although there was the design and development of the new product line of which was supposed to replace the aging Dreadnought Heavy Cruisers with something better armed or faster. Looking over the files, Camellia mulled over whether this design was one they ought to incorporate into their Republic contract or maintain it as an open/private market vessel. . . .
 
Debating whether or not the design was worth it, Camellia recalled how the Republic was in need of a carrier type craft to support their larger destroyers, but this design just didn't fit it. They would have to do an immense amount of work to make the vessels rolled out in front of her capable of filling the role that the Republic would want of it. At least in so long as Rendili Stardrive would want to keep the ship capable of filling out its original role altogether as a heavy cruiser capable of challenging larger ships above its own class without faltering too quickly. Truly they wished to make it just as well armed and armored as the Dreadnought heavy cruiser class, but at the same time they wished to also imbue it with greater firepower. It was certainly doable, and wouldn't cause too much of a fuss to complete.

The problem was the Republic likely wouldn't bite for a ship that size to fill an attack role. They wanted their larger ships to fill the role of a weapons platform. What the Galactic Republic desired was warships of that size to fill the role of a carrier, something that was certainly a desirable addition to the Republic Fleet, but not something Camellia explicitly thought worked well considering how most ships gutted themselves to make the space. Not to mention once again. . . .she really didn't want to alter the design in front of her! It was such a wonderful design, it would make her sick to alter it just to fit one role. . . . .
 
So she decided as she gathered up the blueprints for the design and made the call down to the resource and financial departments to determine if they could begin a startup line for the new heavy cruiser class. Even if they couldn't sell it to the Republic, they could certainly make a profit selling them in the private market. It would certainly work depending on the marketing angle. These new ships were supposed to be the new replacement for the aging Dreadnought Heavy Cruisers. Most Rendili Stardrive designs could function in the market competitively for thousands of years, the Hammerhead Cruiser and Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser when they first came out being evidence enough of that. The Hammerhead had been in service for three thousand years! Some even serving longer as private mining companies transport ships. The Praetorian class frigate also serving even longer as those as well had shared a similar fate to the Hammerheads but had been created even longer ago.

The point was even if they couldn't sell to the Republic there was always some way they could sell the product, marketing could certainly agree to that. Especially with their name and history behind them. If the Republic didn't buy into a contract for the new ship line then they could always try and hit up the private contractors who bought into the Dreadnought Heavy Cruisers. Plenty of Outer Rim and Core worlds featured them among their planetary defense forces since the refit design went into effect. They would certainly enjoy an even better design maybe. Sure it would be a more expensive ship, but they doubted people would scrap their existing ships, more than likely they would grab at a single cruiser of the new class to supplement their already existing forces.

Maybe they wouldn't be able to sway purchases from the poorer Outer Rim, but in the Core and Mid Rim they still stood a chance at profit.
 
With that convincing out of the way, Camellia made her next few arrangements with calls to engineering and production. She was hoping that they would be able to begin production on the new vessel line's prototypes soon enough. With their new trio of shipyards in the Silver Jedi's space to supplement their existing yards at Rendili and Humbarine they had much greater production capabilities than they did before. So if they did go into mass production they definitely had the choice to do so. In fact the upgrade of their facilities was a real blessing considering their own projects with the Noblesse and the upgrade of the Republic fleet to include Inertial Compensators. Not to mention their enhancement and refit of the Hammerhead Cruiser line.

In truth maybe they ought to just have put the work for the new ship into further enhancing the Dreadnought Cruiser line, but in all honesty more products meant more sales options. They would likely put a price reduction on the Dreadnoughts due to the inevitable comparison to the new class's effectiveness. However, that was a justification that was worth the development of a new line of warship. The real issue that Camellia was contemplating as the CEO of the long standing shipwright was how to get the design impressive enough to warrant the Republic's attention for a contract.
 
The completion of the Noblesse for the Republic's fleet freed up a lot of the company's resources once more. And the near completion of the Will of the Force for the Silver Jedi Order also meant that a lot of time, space, and project slots had been opened up. They would certainly get this new design off the ground and they had a real chance at selling it on the market, but that wasn't good enough for Camellia. She honestly did want it to be a ship that the Republic would want to, but the battle at Manaan had made the Republic of the mind that they needed more cruiser sized carrier ships to fill out their naval roster, not a heavy hitting cruiser.

Which to a degree Camellia could agree with. After all, they already had quite the extensive roster of heavy destroyers and command ships. The Avenger, Remembrance, and Noblesse all came to mind. Along with the rather pitiful Warhammer class destroyer Rendili had churned out rather sloppily in her opinion. So considering the freed up resources and this new need for cruiser sized carriers, but her own unwillingness to alter the brilliance of the design in front of her, Rendili Stardrives CEO had another idea in mind to solve both issues while she was on the line the engineering research and development chief along with the head of production resources. They would simply make the ship even better, perhaps a bit bigger than intended, but better nonetheless.
 
It would also make the ship much more expensive too, but Camellia didn't mind that so much. At least so long as it sold and earned itself contracts, but of that she had no doubt it would. The design was far too impressive and efficient. It wouldn't quite be the same ship as it was intended to be, but hopefully it would be a considerable improvement then. The Republic Navy would hopefully get the Carrier they wanted, but at the same time Rendili Stardrive would still be producing the heavy slugger that she envisioned. They would have to sacrifice some of the weaponry in order to keep it both ways and again increase the size, but all in all as Camellia looked over the reworked design she couldn't be happier with the outcome. The new product line would hopefully be a marvel unto itself, and hopefully impress the brass as it followed on the Noblesse destroyer's heels.

The agreement of the production staff along with the engineering teams meant that they both had the resources and ability along with the enthusiasm to do it. The financial department was a bit torn on the decision, but considering the successful completion of the Noblesse and the Republic's enthusiasm for its construction lent some favor toward the new project as well. . . . .although by this stage Camellia was getting rather bothered by the designs lacking an official designation up till now. This would be the new Rendili Cruiser, project dubbed Republic Cruiser, with a classification of Impregnable Class Heavy Cruiser.
 
Yes, the Impregnable class, now that was certainly a name to go by!

Rendili Stardrives CEO couldn't help but grin throughout the day as she continued having several crew chiefs and department heads brought into her office, making holo-calls to engineering teams, and checked through the various files as she filled out paperwork, gave out the necessary orders, and organized everything in order to get this new project going. It was certainly more bothersome than she had originally thought to put in the extra effort to make the changes to the design that she had. By increasing the dimensions of the vessel they had to procure more duraplast, alusteel, glasteel, and duranium in order to actually build each unit. They also had to of course enlarge the engines as well to propel the ship as a reasonable speed, though it would be rather slow due to the design incorporating a rather bulky build. Concerns were raised that the addition of a hanger would leave the ship less well armored, but in the end they merely reorganized the internal compartment configuration in order to fit everything in by having the hanger bay sit along the ventral axis where the hull was more lightly filled originally anyway.

The original design of the ship excluded a hanger entirely, filling out extra hull in all places of the ship focusing on defense from a rather thick hull that could only have been stronger if it had utilized metals such as Beskar or Ultrachrome. Sadly Beskar was limited to the Mandolorians and Ultrachrome was just as rare. The ship needed to be a mass produced model anyway, so using rare materials that would limit its construction posed a bit of an issue. The Impregnable class would though, utilize a Proton-8 hypermatter reactor, the Rendili specialty reactor in order to power everything. Which included a pair of redundant shield generators to match those that the Dreadnought class Heavy Cruisers themselves bore.

However, unlike the Dreadnought Class Heavy Cruisers they would be taking the role of, the Impregnable class was much better armed in addition to the hanger bay that the Dreadnought class lacked.
 
Although considering the cost of the hanger bringing the ship's expenses up, Camellia had to admit that the reworked armament configuration was a bit less to her liking, but all the same she still firmly believed in the ship's abilities. It was certainly more powerful than the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser, that much was certain. But the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser was also a hundred and forty meters shorter in length, not to mention it was a refit of the original design rather than a project level product line like the new Impregnable. And in reality the Impregnable wasn't that much more powerful, because unlike the Dreadnought class it lacked missile batteries due to the nature of its gunports using slide away panels to protect their hard points. Plus in all honesty the Dreadnought was a faster cruiser as well, though not by much, which meant that it could travel around a battlefield and evade better.

Maneuvering aside though, since both ships were quite sluggish, the Impregnable's hanger bay advantage and slight weapons edge did make it a more impressive design when one considered the ship's role. Unlike the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser that was intended to be a ship of the line to be fielded in large numbers alongside frigates, the Impregnable was meant to be a weapons platform to act as a support to larger destroyers. The design was developed around a thick hull and heavy shields to withstand bombardment while also dishing out damage, acting as barriers between Republic Destroyers and the opposing enemy force. They would take shots meant for the destroyer and if the enemy came close they would blast away at them, additionally outfitted with many anti-fighter weapons as well so that they could prevent swarming too, something the Dreadnought class was ill-designed for.
 
To be honest Camellia had been heavily tempted to simply redesign the Dreadnought Class to fit the Impregnable's role, but at the same time the Dreadnought Cruiser line was perfect as it was. It filled the perfect role of a heavy patrol vessel, and if it were fielded by itself in mass numbers alongside frigates and corvettes it would form its own very decisive and powerful fleet. It was just that for the moment the Republic and all other factions appeared to have a general preference for their big ships that the Dreadnought design had fallen off mostly to sit in planetary defense forces and private companies. The Impregnable would work much better in the current climate. And since it would include a hanger bay, it would also perform the role the Republic had been wanting since their decisive victory against the Sith fleet.

They had lost the world due to the invasion force groundside. Camellia had very much been at a loss after they destroyed the Sith's mighty Immortal Dreadnought only for the order to evacuate survivors and retreat had been sounded. It was a rather demoralizing blow, but it did leave some hope. If they could continue to trump the Sith forces in vacuum then they still had a chance at repelling their invasions or crushing the Sith's own planetary defenses. In Naval Commands eyes their weakness seemed to be starfighter superiority because of the One Sith's large vong carriers and their yammosks. . . . .speaking of which that did remind the Rendili Stardrive CEO the tweaked Impregnable design also would need to include Inertial Compensators like they had added onto the Noblesse destroyer and Hammerhead cruisers because of the Sith tactic at Manaan using Davin Basins to attempt to rip their ships apart.
 
To be honest she wasn't entirely agreeing with the Admiral's belief that the Republic needed more fighters on the field. She certainly felt they had to counteract the Sith's advantage with their Vong craft, but she hoped the new Cruisers could help with that job. In place of any missile weaponry it would have a larger array of defensive weaponry, and with the expanded hull design allowing it to carry several squadrons on board hopefully they could dissuade any Sith from trying to make bombing runs on their fleets. Perhaps the real work they ought to be doing before the next battle would be upgrading the entirety of their starfighter forces. Making their bombers faster and arming their interceptors with heavier weapons to even the playing field of them being outnumbered.

Quality over quantity was what she believed in.

It felt like her disorganized ramblings had been going on for a while now, talking about nuances and occasionally poorly phrasing very distinct and minute details so that they sounded like similar topics over and over. Camellia would hardly have realized it had been several days since she had first looked at the project design on her desk. The shipyards that had handled the Noblesse already completing the smaller ship's prototype and were calling her down to the construction berths to check on the first Impregnable class cruiser to come off the line. It left Camellia blinking in surprise as she stepped up from her desk to head to the docks where the ship was exiting the berths from. She felt like she had been sitting around in a drowsy daze for a long time focusing on just this one project.
 
Four heavy long range forward facing quad turbolaser cannons along the prow, plus ten turbolaser batteries set on both the port and starboard sides of the ship for a total of twenty batteries, along with forty flak cannons, one hundred laser cannons, and sixty point defense emplacements, were what filled out the guns that sat on the Impregnable Class Heavy Cruiser's hull. A hull that consisted of several thick layers of durasteel and alusteel beneath a first layer of hefty and heavy duraplast coated with duranium to provide better heat resistance to sustained fire. Propelled by no less than five Rendili Ion Engines to move its bulk and massive weight, which was powered by, along with its many guns, a Rendili Proton-8 Reactor, a hypermatter reactor that could provide the same amount of energy that a Kuat I-a2b Solar Ionization Reactor could, which in itself was a reactor that powered the sixteen hundred meter long Imperial Star Destroyers of old, however, the Proton-8 Reactor could do so and was only one fourth of the size, and thus could be placed on a smaller cruiser class ship to provide it with a destroyer's level of power even though it was smaller. This reactor also powering a redundant class shield generator for the ship as well, hence the design's purpose to be as its name was slated as: Impregnable

And to top it all off, courtesy of the Republic's desire to fill out their roster with better cruiser sized carriers, the Impregnable class had been enlarged from its original design length of six hundred meters to sit at around seven hundred and forty meters so that the internal compartments could be stripped and reorganized for a ventral sitting hanger bay. A hanger bay that was able to be packed with four squadrons worth of fighter craft and bombers. However, the ship itself only boasted two shuttles for onloading and offloading of passengers, utilizing docking clamps similar to the Dreadnought Cruiser class to bring crew on board while at the yards.
 
It was amazing.

Camellia couldn't have been more awestruck than if someone had just told her she won the jackpot. The only things that had brought more excitement and giddiness to her were the final moments before the Noblesse class heavy destroyers left the dock and when she had gotten the contract from the Silver Jedi to build an Inexpugnable class command ship for them for their Will of the Force project. Even then though those were moments she had shared in the excitement with others. Ayumi had been by her side for most of the work that Rendili had performed on the components and systems of the large command vessel. And during the work for the Noblesse there had been an entire gathering of staff and CEOs and senators and military officials with which the Rendili woman could bask in the glory of their work with.

However, for the Impregnable class cruisers though? Camellia had the moment all to herself as she sat and looked out over the ship rising from the docks. The very first of its class, the prototype to be, it certainly had her riveted. It may not have had the unique weapon system of the Noblesse that was its Linear Accelerator Cannon or its even more impressive defensive system that was the aegis class anti-concussion field generator, but to the Rendili Stardrive CEO it was just as amazing. It was simply a ship, a slow weapons platform of all things, but it had Camellia starstruck all the same. It was just using standard materials in excess and packed to the brim with weapons and power generators to be a brute. It made her feel just like a little girl.
 
So when the time came for her to take a shuttle on board she couldn't help but squeal as the small dropship she road in came up to the ventral hanger bay beneath the ship's vertical access and the hull panels slid away to reveal the hanger's atmospheric shield to allow them entrance. Within the bay was currently empty, but when the ships rolled out in mass production for the Republic fleet they would filled with Rendili Starfighters as a standard practice with a single squadron of galaxy guard class bombers to finish them off. The shuttle type that would also be available for the two that could fit on board would be determined later, likely simple Conveyor class for the sake of cutting costs after the rest of the ship's expenses.

Walking down the halls that would eventually be filled with crew moving about, Camellia reflected on the rather large amount of crewing the ship actually required. Twelve thousand did seem like a lot for a minimum crew, and eighteen thousand optimally definitely seemed a bit much. Taking into account though that the ship had to drop into atmosphere to deploy a landing ramp similar in effect to how the Acclamator cruisers of the Clone War, the ship was very reminiscent of that older class of warship that required an excessive crew. However, even if it shared similar philosophies to the aforementioned Acclamator, it did not have the massive army on board awaiting deployment. Where similarly sized ships could carry near ten thousand in ground support and on board security, the Impregnable bears home to space and barracks for only two thousand troops for groundside deployment and to repel enemy boarding parties.
 
Reaching the bridge Camellia returned salutes given to her by the on duty officers who rose from their stations, giving them leave to be at ease soon after. As they returned to their tasks of running the ship the Republic Commodore and Shipwright CEO would walk over to the command console as she ran her hand over its surface. The bridge positioned on top of the ship, a bit exposed but it gave such a wonderful view of the stars, at least those were the thoughts Camellia had as she looked out the viewports, made from the much sturdier Glasteel that could withstand a much harsher beating than its more shameful relative transparisteel, and gazed at the vastness of empty space before.

The Impregnable prototype had already moved beyond the station by the time her shuttle landed and she walked to the bridge, but at its slow crawl it hadn't reached the test zone yet. The Rendili Stardrive owner wasn't complaining though as she watched the stars shimmer out in space. Part of her wanted to turn the ship around just to get a view of Rendili itself, and Stardrive's shipyards in orbit above it, with the local traffic as the core world experienced tourism and market hub advantages because of its history and location. Her homeworld in a thriving state made the young woman grin even more as she reflected on how safe it seemed despite the war.
 
And it would continue to stay safe so long as she had anything to say about it. Which was exactly why the Impregnable class was so important to have produced and approved. It would be another weapon in the arsenal against the One Sith's war machine. And it would be a powerful one. That she was determined to make sure of. So to that end she had a similar test set up for the Impregnable class just like she had the Noblesse Heavy Destroyer when she had made the presentation for it in front of all the gathered representatives she had to convince of its worthiness. Unlike that display though there was no one to convince but herself and her own company's board before the design went up to the Republic.

Also unlike the Noblesse's test there would be no asteroid to blow through or accelerated physical debris to have the bare hull withstand. No, instead she was going to pit the ship in a live exercise against two of the Dreadnought class heavy cruisers that the Impregnable was destined to fill the role of from now on. If this ship could withstand the pounding of two of its counterparts and give out in the same measure, than she was more than ready to mass produce this vessel. Especially with the use of the resources and production capabilities freed up with the Noblesse and Will of the Force finally finished and no longer tying things up.
 
After all with the companies expanded production facilities in the Silver Jedi's territory on the planets of Voss, Shri-Tal, and. . . .she honestly forgot the name of the third planet, in addition to the existing shipyards at Rendili and Humbarine, they had more than enough locations to handle the production. Not to mention that without tying up funds in the development of other projects like the Noblesse and the Will of the Force since their completion there was plenty to go around, considerably more so considering the profit on the size of both those projects. Not to mention as well the fact they were still making profits on their other designs and products. They had had several orders down for the Jedi and made plenty of private contracts as well too.

So in all honesty and truth it all came down to whether or not the ship design held up or not that it would be mass produced. With that in mind Camellia couldn't help but feel a bit of agitation and anxiousness as the Impregnable Cruiser came into view of two Dreadnought Cruisers moving to settle into position on either side of the warship. Camellia moved to the holo-tactical board sitting in the midst of the bridge, a nice addition that she herself had requested to be added to the ship's design. Using the ship's somewhat enhanced sensors a visual representation of the battlefield that could be detected appeared over the table in the midst of the bridge before the Captain's chair, showing the Impregnable at the center with the Dreadnought Cruisers on either side, and at the edge of the display at the rear the faintest glimpse of the traffic around Rendili Stardrive's shipyard could be seen.
 
"Everyone to their battle stations. Captain order all gunners to their posts, this test is to be a straight slug fest. Have everyone buckle down for a bumpy ride." There was no need to test everything else in a combat scenario. They had already run evaluations on the engine's speed and the stability of the reactor. The Impregnable was slow and unwieldy, but it was heavily armed and armored and it was everyone's hope that it would make up for it through those features. So it was those features that needed to be tested here and now. And what better way to test the staples of this new cruiser than by pitting it directly under the fire of the ship that was supposed to have been its equivalent.

Well, what better way was there that was also more fun? Well Camellia didn't know any, so while she waited for the crew of the Impregnable to prepare themselves for their mock battle test and for the crews of the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser duo to do the same the young Rendili woman traced her finger over the holo-board and watched the efficiency of the bridge officers as they went about their jobs relaying orders and checking the status readings across the board to ensure perfection. All up until the final clears were called out that everything was ready and they had nothing more than wait for the word to begin.

Which she was more than happy to give.

"Give orders for all guns to open fire!"
 
No sooner than she spoke but a few seconds later shots were exchanged across all sides as the Impregnable's hull panels over its turbolaser batteries slid aside and a full salvo was unleashed on either side of the Heavy Cruiser and the Dreadnought Cruiser's own broadsides responded in kind. Aboard the Impregnable Camellia and the crew kept their eyes on the bright red bursts of energy crossing through space between the vessels, no tremors breaking through to anyone just yet while the shields were still up. The real question was would when those would go down, and how the ships would fare once they did.

After all, based on simple math the Impregnable had twenty batteries total to either one Dreadnought's twelve. However, the ships could only face a single side at each other at once. This meant the Impregnable had ten turbolaser batteries firing on a single Dreadnought Cruiser target, while they could only fire six back. On the other hand though, the Dreadnoughts were working together to combine their fire at the same time on the Impregnable, so while ten batteries hit either of the Dreadnoughts, twelve at once were hitting the Impregnable. The actual question came down to then would the four extra batteries hitting each Dreadnought take them down before the combined fire from both brought down the Impregnable.
 
Time wore on as the fire was exchanged between ships, tension rose among the bridge crew as they watched the displays and energy readings travel further and further down towards the red line to where they would no longer have the protection of their shields. However, they were also excited and rather triumphment under the circumstances as well. Because while they watched for their own shields to go down they listened victoriously as the Dreadnought Cruisers they were going up against in the mock battle declare that their shields had gone down first, a solid few minutes before their own did in the end.

From there they continued waiting anxiously as subtle tremors ran through the ship where impacts ran across the ship, hit counters rising towards where the ship would actually be destroyed. They would only reach forty percent hull damage though before they registered enough damage to the Dreadnought Cruisers to claim victory in the mock battle. A passing grade and just above expectations. The Impregnable in terms of firepower and defense were just about half again more effective than the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser. It was a boring test and just a slugfest, but there were gleeful laughs and well deserved grins all around as everyone was in motion to return the Impregnable to the docks.
 
Days later though, sitting at her desk, Camellia looked gleefully at the reports on her desk regarding the progress of production on the new Impregnable line. Their advertisement tactics based off the Dreadnought Heavy Cruiser's popularity among the Outer and Inner Rim had certainly worked. Most of their projected private contracts with planetary defense fleets were in the Mid Rim within Republic territory, but they did seem to have some further out in the Outer Rim in a few hold outs, places that had bought Dreadnought Cruisers before and apparently wanted in on the new upgrade. It was a wonderful start to the Impregnable's beginning, but in the end it would be its service in the Republic that mattered most to the Rendili woman.

Considering how the war had been going lately they definitely needed every advantage on their side to prevent the Sith from breaking the Republic. Considering the state and shape of things Rendili was on the verge of being abandoned should the Republic be forced to retreat anymore than it already has. And if that happened who would come to their aid should the Sith attempt to take control? Rendili's defense fleet and the shipyards own private force would not be enough to repel the Sith forces forever. Perhaps she ought to talk the Arch-Provost into securing several of the Impregnable's among other designs should in the end. . . . the Republic prove less durable than the ship she just made for it.
 

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