Grand Shepherd Burtch
Fleet Commander For The Nomadic Peoples Coalition
Ophanim Guard Class Star Destroyer
- Intent: Build a special series of Star Destroyer that is intended to spearhead the creation of the Navis Sacra Holy Fleet.
- Image Source: Adamkop commission (entirely his design this time at my request)
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions:
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer:
- Dar'Manda Industries
- Main Contractor
- Space frame
- Integrative hardware and software.
- Hiring/managing sub-contractors
- LIKON Ltd.
- Sub-contracted
- Fire control
- Weapons
- NAKAIOMA corporation
- Sub-contracted
- Avionics systems
- Defensive components
- Lucerne Labs
- Sub-contracted
- Drone systems
- Ion Engines
- Dar'Manda Industries
- Affiliation:
- Nomadic Peoples Coalition
- Navis Sacra Religion
- First Holy Fleet
- Shii-Cho —
Grand Shepherd Burtch
- Navis Sacra Religion
- Nomadic Peoples Coalition
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Ophanim Guard Star Destroyer
- Production: Semi-Unique
- The Lady Shii-Cho
- The Lady Makashi
- The Lady Soresu
- The Lady Ataru
- The Lady Djem So
- The Lady Shien
- The Lady Niman
- The Lady Jar’Kai
- The Lady Juyo
- The Lady Vapaad
- Material:
- Laminated Durasteel-plasteel hull with a laser-reflective outer plating
- Quadanium steel space-frame and “studs”
- Beskar steel hull pannels over critical sections
Classification: |
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Medium Star Destroyer |
Length: |
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1500 meters |
Width: |
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900 meters |
Height: |
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300 meters |
Armament: |
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High |
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Note: each turbolaser-section trench (TST) can converge at the forward firing arc from either port or starboard. |
x60 Double mounted L51 Trilaser Canon Turrets for point-defence: ________________________________________ | ||
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Fire Control Grid:
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Defenses: |
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High |
Barrier Defences ________________________________________ | Countermeasure Defences ________________________________________ |
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Electronic Defences ________________________________________ | Anti-boarding/interior defences ________________________________________ |
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Hangar Space: |
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Average | 8 Squadrons |
Hangar Allocations: |
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Space Superiority Combat Hangar ___________________________________ | Logistical Support Hangar ___________________________________ | Ground Vehicle Garage ___________________________________ | ||||||
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Maneuverability Rating: |
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Cruise Mode | Boost Mode |
Average | Very Low |
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Speed Rating: |
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Cruise Mode | Boost Mode |
High | Extreme |
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Hyperdrive: |
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Yes |
Main: | Backup: |
Class 1.0 | Class 5.0 |
Crew Compliment: |
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28,594+ |
Keepers (tends to the maintenance and comfort needs of the "Angel") ________________________________________ | |
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Clerics (pilots the strikecraft that are stored in the hangar) ________________________________________ | |
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STANDARD FEATURES
- Communications Systems:
- Multiple AFIRS-397 Flight Communication Modules
- Commlink boosters added
- Multiple Comm Laser Arrays
- Commlink boosters added
- Multiple AFIRS-397 Flight Communication Modules
- Life Support Systems:
- Multiple Algae Cylinders
- Multiple Climate Control Units
- Multiple Environmental Converters
- Adjustable Artificial Gravity Generators
- Rad-Dampening Shield
- Navigational Systems:
- Atmospheric Entry and Landing Systems:
- NH-7 flight control avionics package
- AN/AQ-184 Precision Landing System
- Retractable landing struts
- Escape Pods:
- Salon Pods
- Each pod has been furbished to host multiple staterooms for guests.
- The salon pods near the bridge host much loftier staterooms than anywhere else on the ship.
- Squad Pods
- Salon Pods
- Multiple Medical Bays: (X)
- Fabrication/repair shop:
- Food Court: while there are several generic mess halls throughout the ship, there is also a “luxury” food court that hosts many fast food chains. Some of these chains include:
- Drone deployment racks:
- Sensor Array Systems:
- Barracks and armoury:
- x7500 Holy Knight Infantrymen
- Armoury holds plenty of spare weapons and kit that are typically assigned to the Holy Knight Infantrymen.
- x5000 Garmr Battle Dog mk1s
- All stored and keyed to the Angel Navis Operating System of the Star Destroyer
- Stored Cupid Heavy Rocket Launchers and ammunition, as needed.
- x7500 Holy Knight Infantrymen
- Versatile Belly Hangar:
- The massive belly hangar is designed for two modes; Open mode and floor mode. In Open Mode, the sliding doors open wide up to allow large vessels to dock in the large bay that is presented there. In Floor mode, the sliding doors come together just close enough to leave a space between them. The doors then act as a hangar floor and small ships can come and go through the slit in the middle. A mag-con field is present in floor mode.
- Angel Navis Operating System (X):
- In adherence to Navis Sacra Religion practices, this ship is blessed with an Angel Navis Operating System so that it can bond with its chosen master. The Operating AI assists the captain and its crew in daily operations.
STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES
Strengths _____________________________________ | Weaknesses _____________________________________ |
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DESCRIPTION
"Everything in space wants to kill you. Your Ophanim is the literal difference between life and death. Treat her well, and you and your crew will live. Treat it poorly and you will all die.
“Your ‘Ophanim’ has been imbued with a soul and a mind of her own. But she is fragile and needs guidance. She will protect and provide for you as you give her direction and purpose, but she is not to be taken for granted. She is your ward and not your weapon or tool. Accept this communion with joy and humility.”
~ Willow & Ivy ~
“What a fething headache this has been…”
~ Dorthea Dobson ~
Long, has the Nomadic People of Damascus Station waited for this. For three years, since the completion of Damascus Station, and the budding culture on board began to take shape, the people have wanted their own defence force. Sure, they could always say that the Elysium Imperium navy was close by, and that with officers such as
Grand Shepherd Burtch
always close by, that they had sufficient protection. But as the people of Damascus began to form their own identity, and their own religion, the desire to create their own dedicated military was becoming more and more compelling. It first began with the Holy Knights, and then their transports. Then, an exclusive starfighter with exceptional capabilities. But none of that could have any substance to it without the literal and figurative weight of a genuine backbone capital ship to form a real battle line. The Ophanim Guard Star Destroyer is the first ship to ever be introduced to the Nomadic Defence Force, but it won’t be the last.The construction process took forever and the problems that plagued the production of these ships were manifold. Starting with political tensions between the Nomadic Peoples Coalition and the Elysium Imperium. Then came economical problems as some sub-contractors were simply too unreliable to keep on as suppliers and manufacturers. Finally, to top it all of, the emergence of a controversial new Religion began to make changes to the nature of the project, as such ships are considered sacred to their religious sensibilities. Each of these issues resulted in mid-process overhauls, increased scrap-rates/overhead costs, pushed-back deadlines, and finally, a severely reduced volume of completed units. While these ships were considered a massive success in terms of design capabilities, the production issues that plagued this project pretty much guaranteed that no more than ten of these ships would ever be manufactured again. If the Nomadic Peoples Fleet is to expand beyond these vessels, cheaper, more sensible projects are already in the works…
The first hurdle that needed to be tackled was due to the tensions between the Nomads and Rex Valhoun. As his political powers grew, he started to take the Nomads and their industrial capabilities for granted. He began to use invasive, offensive military means of acquiring territory, which resulted in civilian casualties, which angered the once-refugee population of Damascus on a fundamental level. The Nomadic Peoples of Damascus Station were not too thrilled about building warships for yet another territorial conquest by a galaxy-scale nation. This, especially because they themselves had come to the Elysium Nomadic fleet to escape such terrible conquests. It was then that individuals within the Damascus Management chain decided to “appropriate” some advanced space-frame designs that were already in the works. Through careful manipulation of datawork, they sequestered the already laid keels and frames of future Elysium ships, and made them “officially disappear”. These frames were to be the beginning of the new Ophanim Guard line, but working on them under the nose of Elysium auditors was a difficult, delay-prone challenge. And there wasn’t much room for error, which caused the work to be painstakingly slower still.
Then came economic problems. Particularly in the way of outside contractors. Many contractors were hired in secret, or were tricked into thinking that they were hired for the Imperium when they were in fact working for the Nomads. But, normally, the kinds of contractors that can be relied on to keep a secret (or remain in the dark), tended to come with their own list of issues to make up for it. Dorthea Dobson had been made responsible for hiring and firing third party providers on behalf of Dar'Manda Industries. She did not discriminate. Almost as many third party companies were fired as were hired before she finally settled on three good, solid names; LIKON Ltd., NAKAIOMA corporation, and Lucerne Labs. These three proved to be able to work well with Dar'Manda Industries to the point of completing a high-quality product within Dorthea’s insane standards.
Religion then came into the picture. Naturally, it didn’t make anything run any smoother. In fact, it made things much, much more complicated… Upon the arrival of the Holy Prophets Willow & Ivy to the station, the vessel which brought them was considered “saintly” or “chosen”. That vessel, being the old Makashi Class Light Cruiser, HMS Shii-Cho, Burtch’s personal flagship, had been damaged during the very deployment where she had acquired the two girls. Once word got out that Shii-Cho was a favourite of the Holy Prophets, the practitioners of the Faith basically confiscated the vessel and presumed their rightful duty in “Ascending” the vessel to a higher plane of existence. Thus, her “repairs” consisted of being dismantled, and repurposed as parts and material for the new star destroyer construction. Parts that could be reused were certainly implemented, but those that weren’t were painstakingly melted down and recast as critical components for one of the new star destroyers, which were already half-finished by that time. Since Shii-Cho was one of ten Makashi class light cruisers that had been named after the lightsaber forms of the Jedi, her “sisters” were also discreetly acquired and received the same “ascension” procedures. Each of the ten Ophanim Guard Star Destroyers is actually an “ascended” Makashi class light cruiser from the original production line of that model. But, again, the process was painstaking and expensive beyond reason…
Despite the migraines from managing this project, and the excessively inflated overhead costs that came with it, the finished ships were extremely well-built. They were well balanced with an eye towards range and speed. The weaponry provided by LIKON Ltd. had range and fire control that was superior to anything the competition could offer. While these targeting systems suffered from a sensor bleeding problem, it was easily managed with careful engineering. The turbolazers were tucked safely into side-trenches that sheltered their targeting lazers from other emplacements, and the ION Canons were carefully spaced out on the outer hull to solve the same problems. While there are drawbacks from both solutions; the ion canons being exposed while the turbolasers having restricted firing arcs, the engineers were able to get a high number of these emplacements packed into the overall design. This is further bolstered by a dense grid of point-defences where the L51 Trilaser Canon turrets are spread all over the outer hull while the Mangy Cat Defence Turrets are tucked-in and spaced-out carefully with the turbolasers in the side-trenches.
The one drawback to the damage-dealing arsenal of these ships is missilery. While these guns have the range to dominate in a long range firefight, they lack some of the other advantages that are presented with guided ordnance. Instead of sacrificing guns for missile emplacements, the engineers opted for adding anti-missile countermeasures. This is done to prevent enemy long-range missile ships from attempting to cancel out the gunnery range advantage that the Ophanim Guards are designed for. The effective accuracy of the Ophanim Guard’s guns is then enhanced with an intricate fire control grid and T.E.C.M.I.S. software which is all used to drastically increase the chances of hitting a difficult target at extreme ranges. In conclusion, the Ophanim Guards are built to be the kings of long range combat.
In addition to advanced capital ship combat, the Ophanim Guards are considered impressive pack-banthas. Their hangars are rather average for a ship their size, but what they lack in volume, they make up for in versatility and layout.
The space superiority hangar is state of the art. Set inside the amidships engorged structure, this hangar uses catch-cranes and rails to move fighters from the entrance on one side of the ship, and launch them out of the other side. While the fighters/bombers are being shunted through the tramways, automated systems have a chance to refuel, re-arm, and repair simple systems before they are released back into active combat. This process takes mere seconds and is extremely refined and efficient, giving the resident fighter pilots a significant logistical advantage on the battlefield.
The Logistics Hangar is not a new concept, but a good one all the same. A belly-pit is situated just behind the engorged amidships fighter hangar, and is large enough to support up to 200 meters of ship, tucked right up in there. When there isn’t a large ship in the belly hangar, two massive doors close over the opening, leaving a small gap between them, and a mag-con field is created to contain the atmosphere. These doors then act as a hangar deck which support craft can land on, be stored, or receive general maintenance. The resulting hangar floor-space is large enough to support two full squadrons of Gospel Class Dropships.
In the ceiling above the belly hangar is a garage for ground vehicles. They are stored on racks that are similar to the rail-crane system in the fighter bay, but these ones can be lowered to the support craft bay or on the planet’s surface if the star destroyer is planetside. Ground vehicles can also be loaded onto large craft if one is docked in the belly hangar in the open configuration.
It is also extremely difficult to hide from these ships. NAKAIOMA corporation provided some highly advance sensor systems which serve quite efficiently in most general combat scenarios, but to combat stealth technology, these ships also utilize an old fashioned Crystal Gravfield Trap. This tech can detect the location and size of an item, but fails to ascertain more vivid details on the item in question. This problem is solved by an array of six Searchlight Sensor Suites, which use extremely intensified and focused sensor scans to literally smash through cloaking technology with brute force, once a stealth object is discovered. As for objects that are hiding behind mass shadows, Lucerne Labs provides these ships with an array of L1 Rimor-class Recon Probes which can be used to peek around an obstruction and see what’s behind. Theoretically, the best chance that an opponent has of remaining hidden from this star destroyer is to hide behind a mass shadow with cloaking active, and to not move from that spot until the coast is clear.
One big flaw this ship has is recoil. The maneuvering thrusters can compensate for half-salvos or independent fire, but when a situation calls for the destructive force of a full salvo, these ships will kick hard. Inertial compensators keep the crew from getting tossed around inside, but in a situation where maintaining formation is a factor, other ships in the line need to account for recoil kicks so that a friendly collision doesn’t happen. Luckily, in forward fire, Lucerne Labs own Nimble-5 Ion Engines can resist the recoil in boost mode, but this mode only lasts for a few minutes before needing to cool down. Otherwise, full-forward salvos when advancing in cruise mode will slow this ship down tremendously.
Lastly, these ships are called “Angels” by rule of the Navis Sacra classification system, and they are referred to as “Ophanims”, not Star Destroyers. This particular model of Angel is referred to as the “Ophanim Guard” and is called a star destroyer strictly for the sake of non-practitioners who don’t understand the faith. They are controlled by an Angel Navis Operating System, which completes the bond between a captain and their ship through the Force, and also aids the crew in daily operations. Because of the AI, the ship is sentient and is considered alive and holy in the eyes of the Navis Sacra Religion. It has a living soul, which has been enteched, and deserves all the respect of a living being. The Angel is always loyal to the crew, the captain, and the Holy Prophets Willow & Ivy, but the crew and captain are required to be equally as loyal back.
Or, as the Twins always say, “The Navis Protects!”
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