HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To create a standardized cruiser and patrol ship for Metal Lords to serve as medium warship and bulk of their navy
- Image Source: Deviant Art, Venator-Class Star Destroyer by Bark The Polar Bear, link here
- Canon Link: Venator-class Star Destroyer
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Abregado Combat Shield
- Manufacturer: Metal Lords
- Model: Revenant-class Star Cruiser
- Affiliation: Closed-Market, Metal Lords
- Production: Minor (Any Character, Only Select Groups Of NPCs)
- Material: Quadanium Hull and Armor plates, Thick Duranium Blast Doors, Transparisteel Viewports, Electrum and Bronzium Decorations, Durasteel for everything else
- Classification: Star Cruiser
- Length: ~1000 meters
- Width: ~500 meters
- Height: ~250 meters
- Armament: Average Turbolasers, Point-Defense Laser Cannons, Heavy Proton Torpedo Rooms
- Defenses: Average Abregado Combat Shields, Quadanium Hull and Armor Plating
- Hangar: Very High: 6
- Maneuverability Rating: Low
- Speed Rating: Average
- Hyperdrive Class: Average: 2
- Tractor Beams- the Revenant-class are equipped with 6 tractor beam suites, for all tractor beam needs.
- Ionic Capability- due to often being used as border guards and patrolling civilian lanes, the turbolaser batteries of the Revenant can fire ion salvos in order to incapacitate targeted ships rather than the more lethal turbolaser shots.
- Broadside Formation- the turbolaser batteries are arranged to focus most of their power at the flanks of the Star Cruiser, making its broadside barrages the most potent, especially at long range bombardment.
- Omnidirection Anti-Starfighter Formation- the lighter turrets like point-defense laser cannons are arranged in an omnidirectional formation, ensuring they would cover most if not all sides of the Star Cruiser in order to harass enemy fighters or bombers coming close towards it at all times, however these guns are hardly effective at longer range.
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
- Abregado Combat Shield- advanced deflector shield systems that not only provide protection from enemy shots but also provide protection against ionic and electrical attacks, as well as provide limited protection against electromagnetic attacks such as EMP pulses.
Strengths:
- Expendable- due to initial utilization of old and derelict Venator-class Attack Cruisers for creation of these vessels, which later translated into utilizing large amounts of recycled durasteel, as well as lack of particularly armored hulls or large amounts of special systems, these Star Cruisers can be manufactured by Metal Lords reliably at rather large numbers, making them fairly expendable as there would always be more Star Cruisers to replace the fallen Revenant.
- Hangar Space- much like their Venator predecessors, the Revenant has quite prominent hangar space that can be accessed through the central sealed hatchway as well as side ports, as such a single Revenant is able to bring with them six squadrons of various smallcraft as well as ferry large amounts of troops and vehicles.
- Jack Of All Trades- just like the Venators, the Revenant have been designed to function as multi-roll vessels, able to function as defensive, offensive, support, or patrol vessels, with combat presence whether it is in long range anti-capital ship bombardment or providing a shorter-range anti-starfighter point defense support.
- Ionic and Electrical Protection- the Abregado Combat Shield grants these ships quite reliable protection against both ionic and electrical attacks, able to absorb them to a degree in order to fuel and empower their own systems.
- Master of None- The downside of being a craft meant for variety of tasks is lack of specialization, as such the Revenant cruisers are unable to really excel at one specific task in combat. Their turbolaser and laser cannon batteries are too few to be especially dangerous in long-range bombardment or anti-starfighter duty unless performing as part of a fleet with other ships to support it, while its armor is too thin, it lacks the significant maneuverability, and speed to function properly as a carrier or artillery ship and stay out of danger, just the same more dedicated carriers or transports would be able to ferry more cargo than the Revenant.
- Drone Crew- Reflection of their nature as mass-produced expendable ships is the fact that majority of its crew is composed of drones rather than superior organic or specialized droid crewmen, outside of perhaps the captain or the bridge crew. This means that while they can control the ship fine, they are far from being as reliable or as efficient as veteran crew would be, only able to follow specific simple directions whether from their commander or a computer or AI overseeing them. This is reflected in them being slower when it comes to aiming, distributing power, or changing speed than better crew would be.
- Limited Electromagnetic Protection- While the Abregado Shield provides protection against electrical and ionic attacks, it can take only a single EMP pulse of appropriate size before being overcharged and forced to shut down and cycle, leaving the ship exposed to attacks, this can also become troublesome when the ship strays too close to ionic or electromagnetic radiations from nebulae, as the shields cannot sustained exposure to constant electromagnetic radiation of that magnitude, causing them to be quickly shut down and leaving the drone crew aboard vulnerable.
- Drone Ionic and Electromagnetic Vulnerability- Connecting to the weakness of Drone Crew and Limited Electromagnetic Protection comes another significant weakness in that once the first Electromagnetic blast knocks out the shields, or they are otherwise shut off, the mostly mechanized crew aboard the ship would be shut down along with the vessel if hit by another Electromagnetic blast or a significant enough barrage of ionic weapons, this is different from the electrical and ionic resistance provided by the shield which can take in somewhat intense exposure over a reasonable amount of time, but electromagnetic pulses, or intense ionic blasts, are able to deactivate this ship's shield right away, leaving the drone crew vulnerable to the second wave of attacks. It should also be kept in mind that the shields can be deactivated by conventional means during combat like any other shield, after absorbing enough damage, afterwards the ship would be open to ionic and electrical attacks, making the drone crew especially vulnerable to being crippled throughout the ship during prolonged battles when having the shields shut down is more likely.
- Drone Electronic Warfare Vulnerability- The fact that the crew is mostly composed of drones, also opens up the ships to attacks by Electronic Warfare, for example slicing, such attacks by skilled enough slicers would be able to disrupt their already slow handling of the ship even further, leaving it more vulnerable during battle. Furthermore, drones could be even ordered to attack each other or the bridge crew, so while controlling them all at the same time is practically impossible, and they are usually not kept as guards on the bridge, the possibility of drone squads connected to the same master unit turning on other crewmen on the ship because of a slicer is still very much frightening.
- Lower Maneuverability- due to the ship's larger size while being equipped with less powerful, cheaper engines, the Revenant's maneuverability suffers when compared to other ships of its size, this is further made more apparent by the stupidity of the drone crew and the time between an order is issued and put into action, making this ships slower to act and change positions during battles.
Introduction: While the Metal Lords worked on standardizing their forces and creating a standing army shared by all Lords, so their efforts pushed further when it comes to navy, creating standardized ship designs as well as larger ships that could be used to support the existing Metal Lord fleets, composed mostly of smaller vessels like frigates or corvettes, but small enough to be properly crewed by Metal Lords whether they were part of the established territory or distanced from it within their nomad fleets. The first major ship to come out of this effort was the Revenant-class Star Cruiser design.
Description: The Revenants resembles a smaller version of the old Venator-class Attack Cruisers fielded first during the Clone Wars, and for a good reason, initially the predecessor to the Revenants manufactured by Metal Lords were old derelicted Venators accumulated by them or bought off of scrap merchants, hauled into the confines of their nomad fleets or the Droid Space in order to repair and refurbish them. Throughout the repairs these vessels would be shortened in order to save up on durasteel and thin the armor to make their restoration easier, this was further exaggerated for the same reasons on cutting the price for manufacturing these ships when Revenants were designed, bringing them down to 1000 meters in length overall. Fitting name considering these vessels started out as ancient corpses brought back to life in order to fight once more. While the first Revenants were often dark grey with lighter spots where recycled durasteel patches were applies, the modern Revenant Star Cruisers are all light grey in color, often with a secondary color scheme or symbols of particular Metal Lord they are assigned to displayed over their hulls.
Special Features: The special features of the Revenant Star Cruiser include 6 tractor beam suites, much like in their Venator predecessors, ionic capability within their turbolasers, allowing them to use non-lethal ion shots when targeting civilian or pirate ships when conducting hyperlane security or border patrol, their turbolasers arranged in broadside formations, making them much more potent when fired off in broadside salvos, and their smaller laser cannons arranged in omnidirectional formation, allowing them to harass enemy fighters at almost all angles should they close in on them. The Revenant is also equipped with Abregado Combat Shields, able to use them to provide improved protection against ionic and electrical attacks.
Strengths: the strengths of the Revenant Star Cruisers come from their hangar size, able to deploy 6 squadrons of smallcraft like fighters to provide support to other ships or act as a carrier, ionic and electrical protection granted to the ship from its Abregado Combat Shield, and the fact that it was designed to be useful at almost any role during combat. Whether it is long-range bombardment or anti-starfighter point defense, much like the Venator, the Revenant can make itself known and have active presence on the battlefield. Another strength comes from the fact that these vessels are made using mostly recycled durasteel reused from derelict and captured ships and containing little special features, making them much more cheaper to be made and therefore expendable.
Weaknesses: the drawbacks of the Revenant on the other hand comes from its attempt to fulfill so many roles at the same time but in the end falling short due to lack of specialization. The ship is unable to really shine in long range combat due to small number of prominent turbolaser batteries, same issue with anti-starfighter fire, and at the same time lacking prominent maneuverability, speed, or hull durability to act as a proper carrier or actively avoid combat to support other vessels from safe distance. Another weakness is that, due to being mass produced, these cruisers are mostly crewed by drones rather than specialized droids or experienced organic crewmen, making them rather inefficient at following commands from the bridge crew as they have to follow simple commands with one command at a time. They can fly the ship, but due to their low intelligence they noticeable slower at aiming the turbolaser batteries, diverting energy, or changing speed of the ship. The last weakness is the fact that Abregado Combat Shield is able to protect from only one EMP pulse of appropriate size, disabling itself after that and leaving the vessel unprotected until restarted and cycled back online. Connecting to the weakness of Drone Crew and Limited Electromagnetic Protection comes another significant weakness in that once the first Electromagnetic blast knocks out the shields, or they are otherwise shut off, the mostly mechanized crew aboard the ship would be shut down along with the vessel if hit by another Electromagnetic blast or a significant enough barrage of ionic weapons. The fact that the crew is mostly composed of drones, also opens up the ships to attacks by Electronic Warfare, for example slicing, such attacks by skilled enough slicers would be able to disrupt their already slow handling of the ship even further, leaving it more vulnerable during battle.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the Revenant-class Star Cruisers are meant to be baseline Metal Lord warship, manufactured cheaply and in larger numbers to make them expendable while being able to serve a variety or roles, such as bombardment, border patrols, carrier duty, or anti-starfighter fire, making them a good backbone for their navy. The downside, however is the fact that they do not excel at any of their duties, lacking specialization that other ships may have, and the fact that they are crewed by drones to account for how expendable they are, making them slower and less efficient than more specialized droid crew or organic crew.
