Traumatized Carrier-Loving Mess
Hidar-class Light Carrier/ Frigate
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a charmingly-vulnerable glass cannon capable of bolstering the capabilities of Galactic Alliance fleets.
- Image Source: James Hibbert - Artstation - Hornet
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Galactic Alliance Defense Force - Various Shipyard Facilities
- (Original Cargo Variant built by the Corellian Engineering Corporation)
- Affiliation: Galactic Alliance Defense Fleet
- Market Status: Closed Market - Restricted to Galactic Alliance
- Model: Hidar II-class Frigate
- Production: Minor
- Material:
- Durasteel Hull, very light trimantium reinforcements. Glasteel and Transparisteel where appropriate. Various other shipboard components
- Classification: Carrier-frigate
- Length: 400 meters
- Width: 190 meters (including solar collectors)
- Height: 90 meters
- Armament: (AVERAGE)
- Broadside-Mounted:
- [12] Dual Turbolaser Cannon Turrets
- [16] Dual Laser Cannon Turrets
- [20] Quad Automated Point-Defense Warhead Launchers
- Dorsal-Mounted:
- [4] Dual Laser Cannon Turrets
- Ventral-Mounted:
- [4] Dual Laser Cannon Turrets
- Bow-mounted:
- [2] Variable Warhead Launchers
- Broadside-Mounted:
- Defenses: (LOW)
- Durasteel Hull - Sparingly reinforced with trimantium beams
- Point-defense Laser Cannons and Anti-warhead Launchers
- Civilian-Grade Deflector Shielding -- Frigate-Scale
- Hangar Space: (HIGH) - 3 squadrons
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: 3 squadrons
- Single Craft Hangar: N/A
- Maneuverability Rating: AVERAGE
- Speed Rating: HIGH
- Hyperdrive: Yes
- Primary: Class 2.0
- Secondary: Class 10.0
- Crew Complement(Optimal): 200 officers and enlisted crew, Integrated Droid Brains
- Crew Complement(Skeleton): 60 officers and enlisted crew, Integrated Droid Brains
- Passengers: 50 Soldiers - Shipboard Security
- Standard Propulsion Systems -- 4 x Ion Drive Engines
- Standard Helm Systems (Avionics, Navigation, Communication, Maneuvering Jets, etc.)
- Standard Weapons Systems (Targeting)
- Life Support
- Standard Defense Systems (Deflector Shielding, Damage Control Stations, Emergency Bulkheads)
- Distress Beacons, and Recording Devices
- Standard Shipboard Facilities:
- C.I.C(Combat Information Center/ Bridge)
- Hanger Bay
- Medical Suite
- Escape Pod Bays to Accommodate all Crewmembers
- Cargo Bays
- Targeting Laser Emitters
- Consumables for at least one year on a full crew.
- Advanced Scanning Suite, linked to a wide array of sensory networks
- (Mass Shadow Sensors, Etc.)
STRENGTHS
- Carrier: The Hidar II can facilitate the maintenance and launch of 3 shipboard squadrons, making it a valuable strategic platform for its size.
- Fast: With four powerful ion drives, the frigate can be propelled at great velocities as to match the pace of its launched fighters, or to otherwise compensate for a lack of durability with sheer speed.
- Cheap: Built off an an already established cargo vessel frame, and lacking many of the advanced systems of other Alliance vessels, the Hidar II is quick to be either refitted or built within a friendly shipyard and can easily be deployed to various sectors of Alliance space.
- Scanning: One of the few advanced capabilities allocated to the Hidar II is it's immense network of scanners. For this, the Hidar II can reliably detect emerging vessels in hyperspace, and in some instances seek the mass signatures of cloaked hostiles.
- Comically Fragile Glass Cannon: Lacking in the advanced facilities and countermeasures allocated to other frigates, and skeletal when compared to more armored spaceframes, the Hidar II makes easy prey for any adversary that can land a clear shot on it.
- Exposed Bridge: Owing to a presence of civilian design influence, the frigate's bridge is placed at its very bow, absent from the protection of a sizable portion of its defense grid and placed directly in the line of enemy fire. It is recommended that fighters are used to mitigate this, but such methods cannot guarantee the safety of the vessel's command staff in combat.
- Vulnerable Ventral Surface: Staffed only with 4 dual laser cannons, and having broadside weapons cut off from accessing its surrounding space(by the nature of the vessel's sloping hull), the ventral surface of the Hidar is vulnerable to hostile fighter attack, and fire from determined hostile starships.
- Nice While it Lasted? : As newer, more reliable and durable vessels were spun into service alongside the Hidar II, the novelty of its concept began to decrease in momentum, to a point where the Alliance shipwrights considered their resources best spent on the Hidar's cousins and almost entirely cut the funding for the frigate's construction.
From the open scars of an Alliance fleet after the costly Battle of Korriban came a need to mitigate the G.A's horrific losses. Within discussions, calls were made to devise brand new ship classes packed with high-end equipment to face a lingering Brotherhood threat; other calls were made for the modification of existing civilian vessels that could quickly be procured and deployed. And among the latter, the Corellian Engineering Corporation's Hidar-class Freighter came to attention.
The 400 meter long vessel, relatively unpopular for its unattractive design and for the amount of corners cut in the creation of the series, nonetheless maintained a large cargo bay for its size, and enough of CEC's trademark modularity to facilitate a quick refit. As such, the extensive cargo bay became a hanger; overhead, the designers hollowed out an entire section of hull, and in its place they set down a lengthy retrieval platform to facilitate launched fighters' quick withdrawal from battle. Weapons, point-defense grids, and new scanning suites would cap off the refitting process, and release the first of the vessels into service.
In their new status as warships, the Hidar frigates were assigned a role as light carriers that would be placed within the rear guard of a formation; reinforcing vanguard lines with their fighters, while keeping themselves out of the primary action. In the cases where such a tactic fell apart, these carriers would be expected to rely on their speed and moderate armament to facilitate a retreat. But if caught unprepared, the odds wouldn't be left in the favor of their crews, framing the frigates as an unpopular assignment amongst naval officers and pilots, and eventually drawing their production toward a gradual halt.
THE RETRIEVAL BAY
Above the extensive hanger suite of the Hidar is a large platform, held comfortable under the vessel's bridge structure, designed to quickly withdraw all of the vessel's launched fighters without clogging up the insides of the bay. In quick retreats, starfighters are expected to land and magnetize themselves to the well-accommodating flat surface until their carrier can flee the scene. Once nestled safely away from battle, the fighters can enter the hanger bay through shielded gaps in the retrieval platform, and can then be safely directed to various sections without running the risk of collision.
Last edited:
