Starship Review The Defiance - Prototype Valfodr-class Battlecruiser

[Merryn Sellek]

The Defiance in orbit over Kesh​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To submit a commissioned command battlecruiser for Solan Charr in his role as a Fleet Admiral of the Galactic Alliance
• Image Source:
  • https://www.deviantart.com/euderion/art/Spirit-of-Fire-740851638 - The Defiance in orbit over Kesh
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions:
  • ATC Permission for Solarium Glasteel
  • First United Astral Engineering Permission for Divine Eyes Sensor and Electronics System
• Primary Source:
  • Nael-class Kinetic Star Destroyer
  • Gagazet-class Manufactory Vessel

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: Aurora Industries
• Affiliation:
  • Galactic Alliance
    • Commissioned as the command flagship for Solan Charr in his role as a Fleet Admiral for the Galactic Alliance
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model:
  • Prototype Valfodr-class Command Battlecruiser
    • The Defiance, while commissioned for the Alliance, is also being viewed by Aurora Industries as a prototype vessel for the eventual Valfodr-class Battlecruiser line of starships in development by the company.
• Production: Unique
• Material:
  • Duralloy - Outer Layer of Hull Plating
  • Hijarna Stone - Outer Layer of Hull Plating
  • Laminanium - Inner Layer of Hull Plating
  • Trimantium - Inner Layer of Hull Plating
  • Micro-scaled Low-level Deflector Shield Emitters - Middle Layer of Hull Plating
  • AR-0B Damage Reduction Armor Component - Middle Layer of Hull Plating
  • Impervium - Structural Skeleton
  • Tunqstoid - Blast Doors
  • Solarium Glasteel - Viewports
  • Starship Components and Electronics

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification:
  • The Defiance is classified as Command and Control Battlecruiser primarily, but would be also classified secondarily as a Heavy Assault Battlecruiser and tertiary as a Colony Ship.
• Length: 5,000 meters
• Width: 1,100 meters
• Height: 750 meters
• Armament: Extreme
  • Four AI-HVC1 "Odin" Hypervelocity Cannons
    • Spinal Mounted to run along the length of the ship
    • Gunnery Crew are able to switch between MHD, MAC, and Barrage Loadouts
  • Forty-Eight Octuple Barbette AI-MD4 "Ixion" Mass Driver Batteries
    • Twenty-Four Port Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • Twenty-Four Starboard Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • Gunnery Crew are able to switch between Standard Mass Driver, Rapid-Fire, MAC, and Stream Loadouts
  • Two Hundred and Eighty Quad AI-MD4 "Ixion" Mass Driver Batteries
    • Eighty Dorsal Mounted
    • Eighty Ventral Mounted
    • Sixty Port Mounted
    • Sixty Starboard Mounted
    • Gunnery Crew are able to switch between Standard Mass Driver, Rapid-Fire, MAC, and Stream Loadouts
  • Seven Hundred Dual AI-MD4 "Ixion" Mass Driver Turrets
    • Two Hundred Dorsal Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • Two Hundred Ventral Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • One Hundred and Fifty Port Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • One Hundred and Fifty Starboard Mounted, 180 Degree Rotation
    • Gunnery Crew are able to switch between Standard Mass Driver, Rapid-Fire, MAC, and Stream Loadouts
  • Two Hundred Battlecruiser-scaled Variable Flextube Launchers
    • One Hundred Port Mounted
    • One Hundred Starboard Mounted
      • Standard Ordinance are Concussion Missiles
• Defenses: Very High
  • Titan-type Advanced Hull Plating
    • Triple-layered Armored Hull Plating with integrated deflector shield
      • Outer Layer is a duralloy-hijarna stone alloy
      • Middle Layer is a layered deflector shield
      • Inner Layer is micro-layered and overlapping sheets of trimantium and laminanium interspersed with the AR-0B damage reduction armor component
  • Kirin Shielding System
    • Quad-layered shielding system with ray shields, particle shields, and molecular shielding
      • The outermost layer of the projected shield is based on Molecular Shielding, allowing the shields to absorb incoming energy weapons such as from a turbolaser or laser cannon or ion weaponry. The absorbed energy is shunted into capacitor banks that an equipped starship or vehicle can use to distribute increased power to other systems or even back into their other shielding layers.
      • The second layer is of the projected shield is a reinforcing particle shield to blunt or deflect kinetic weapons such as from a mass driver or hypervelocity cannon.
      • The third layer is of the projected shield is a reinforcing ray shield to further deflect or mitigate any energy weapons such as from a turbolaser or laser cannon or ion weaponry.
      • The fourth layer is of the projected shield is a second particle shield to further blunt or deflect kinetic weapons such as from a mass driver or hypervelocity cannon.
  • Four Hundred and Fifty Quad AI-PD4 "Leviathan" Point Defense Emplacements
    • Equally spread across the hull for wide coverage of the ship, with a slightly heavier focus on the rear sections of the ship to mitigate the chief blind spot of larger capital ships
    • Retractable Quad Turret Emplacements, Fire-Linked
• Hangar Space: Extreme
  • Fifty Squadrons
• Hangar Allocations:
  • Starfighters: 35 squadrons
    • 25 Squadrons of various Starfighters and Attack Craft
    • 10 Squadrons of various Bomber craft
  • Support Craft: 15 squadrons
    • 11 Squadrons of various Support Craft, Shuttles, and Transports
    • 2 Squadrons of Gas Skimmers
    • 2 Squadrons of Mineral Extractors
• Maneuverability Rating: Very Low
  • 20 DPF
• Speed Rating: Very Low
  • 45 MGLT - Speed within a vacuum such as space
  • 500 km/h - Atmospheric Speed
• Hyperdrive:
  • One Crucius TX-100 Etherdrive - Primary Drive System, creating Sub-Hyperspace Portals
  • Two Madeen EX-500 Shiftdrives - Secondary Hyperdrive System, Class 2.0 Hyperdrive for Starships over Cruiser classification

STANDARD FEATURES

• Life Support Systems
• Medical Systems
  • Primary Medical Bay with Surgical & Trauma Units
  • Secondary Sickbay and Overflow Triage Ward
  • Intensive Care Unit and Isolation Chambers
  • Cryogenic Stasis and Emergency Suspension Pods
  • Biohazard Containment and Quarantine Suites
  • Automated Medical Diagnostic and Imaging Systems
  • Pharmaceutical Storage, Compounding, and Distribution Units
  • Emergency Medivac Response and Casualty Processing Center
  • Battlefield Stabilization Station for Incoming Wounded
  • Life Support Integration, Patient Monitoring, and Environmental Regulation
• Other Shielding Systems
  • Atmospheric Friction Shield
  • Rad-Dampening Shielding
  • Relativistic Shield
  • Shift Shield
• Power Generation Systems
  • Eight Starscourge Reactor Systems
    • Four dedicated to the Odin Hypervelocity cannons
    • Four dedicated to all other ship systems
• Navicomputer and Guidance Systems
  • Standard Military-Grade Navigation Systems
  • Standard Military-Grade Guidance Systems
• Targeting Systems
  • Standard Military-Grade Targeting Systems
• Security Systems
  • Tungstoid Blast Doors
  • Internal Ray Shield Emitters
  • Klaxon Alarm/Warning System
  • Other Standard Security Systems including an extensive security and sensor network
• Crew Compliment
  • Minimum Crew - 37,000 Crewmembers
    • Enlisted Crew - Twenty-Six Thousand and Two Hundred Fifty Crewmembers
    • Officers - Eight Thousand and Seven Hundred Fifty Officers of various Ranks
      • Ranking Officer - Vice Admiral or higher-ranking officer
    • Pilots and Support Staff - Two Thousand Pilots and other Support Staff such as engineers, mechanics, etc.
  • Optimal Crew - 67,000 Crewmembers
    • Enlisted Crew - Forty-Eight Thousand and Seven Hundred Fifty Crewmembers
    • Officers - Sixteen Thousand and Two Hundred Fifty Officers of various Ranks
      • Ranking Officer - Vice Admiral or higher-ranking officer
    • Pilots and Support Staff - Two Thousand Pilots and other Support Staff such as engineers, mechanics, etc.
• Cargo and Passenger Capacity Composition
  • Cargo Capacity
    • 1,000,000 metric tons for cargo and equipment
    • 600,000 metric tons for mineral and ore storage
    • 200,000 metric tons for gas storage and processing
  • Consumables
    • Five Galactic Standard Years' worth of supplies when fully provisioned
  • Passenger Capacity
    • 125,000 Passengers
      • Barracks capacity for up to 30,000 soldiers and their equipment
  • War Material Capacity
    • Sixty Heavy Vehicles
    • One Hundred and Twenty Medium Vehicles
    • One Hundred and Twenty Light Vehicles

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

• Communications Systems
  • Syldra Communications Suite
• Sensor Arrays
  • Divine Eyes Sensor and Electronics System
• Manufacturing Systems
  • Ten Molecular Furnaces
  • One Hundred Garment-Fabricators
  • One Hundred Synthicators
  • One Hundred Prototypers
  • One Hundred Duplicators
  • Six Gas-Processing Vanes
  • Six Carbon-Freezing Chamber
  • Four Self-Regulating Droidmakers
• Mining Systems
  • Two Plasma Drills
  • Ten Crystal Resonators
• Cargo Systems
  • Twelve Magnetic Hoists
  • Twelve Tractor Beam Projectors
• Propulsion Systems
  • Four Battlecruiser-scaled Garuda Variable Ion Drives - Primary Propulsion Systems
  • Eight Destroyer-scaled Garuda Variable Ion Drives - Secondary Propulsion Systems
  • Atmospheric Repulsors

STRENGTHS

• The Defiance is equipped with plentiful and devastating kinetic-based firepower between the three different firing modes of its Odin Hypervelocity Cannons and the four different firing modes of its Ixion Mass Drivers. In addition to these, it has a massive capacity for ordinance such as capital-scale concussion missiles and torpedoes.
• Making use of the Titan armor plating and the Kirin shielding system, the Defiance has an excessive amount of defensive armor and shielding along with the large number of point defense emplacements to protect the ship from enemy fire and starfighters.
• Due to the sheer scale of its hangar bays, the Defiance can field entire wings of starfighters and bombers, along with a plentiful number of support craft such as shuttles and transports.
• The Defiance is equipped with a Syldra Communications Suite to give the ship a secure form of telepathic communication that is exceedingly difficult to eavesdrop on and the ability to communicate through highly secure traditional communications technology.
• Making use of the latest and proprietary technology, the Defiance can utilize a Crucius Etherdrive to create portals through sub-hyperspace, utilizing quintessence and dark energy, to allow it to connect two points of realspace together temporarily until it passes through the portal.
• The Defiance, much like a Gagazet-class Manufactory Vessel, is outfitted with extensive mining and manufacturing capabilities, with massive cargo and material storage, with multiple molecular furnaces and fabrication equipment for anything from clothing, weapons, equipment, and droids. Plasma drills and gas processing vanes allow the ships to extract the materials they need on their own, whether it be minerals or gases, and the ship has multiple tractor beams and magnetic cargo cranes to load and unload materials, equipment, and even vehicles.

WEAKNESSES

• As the Defiance relies solely upon kinetic weapons and ordinance launchers for its offensive weaponry, in prolonged engagements, it can run the risk of depleting its ammunition stores. It is highly recommended that commanders and gunnery crews ensure they are aware at all times the level of their ammunition stores.
• If the weapon's ammunition core chamber is sabotaged in some way for both the Odin Hypervelocity Cannons or the Ixion Mass Drivers, the core will like smash through the bottom of the weapon due to its density and will render the weapon inoperable until it can be repaired. Likewise, if the Starscourge powering the Odin is damaged or becomes sabotaged, it won't be able to fire until the damage is repaired.
• While damage to the hull can be repaired on its due to its design, the sensors and other electronics for the Divine Eyes sensor system are embedded in the hull. Destroyed parts of the hull could create blind spots in the ship's sensor networks. Additionally, while the laminanium present can repair the inner layer of the plating system, it cannot repair the outer layer if it is damaged or destroyed, requiring drydock time to fix the vessel. In addition, while it can repair minor damages fairly quickly, major damage can take hours if not days to repair itself and could still require drydock time for the ship to reach full operability.
• If a sufficient number of the phantom energy emitter arrays on the ship's hull become damaged, any sub-hyperspace portal created by the system risks becoming unstable and collapsing on the ship attempting to pass through it, likely severing it into two pieces or outright disintegrating the ship.
• While the system is engaged, to ensure a stable portal creation, an equipped starship's shields must be lowered to prevent any sort of interference with the phantom energy emitter array across the hull. This could be potentially problematic in a combat situation as it would leave a vessel susceptible to enemy attacks and potentially damage the arrays until the shield can be re-engaged.

DESCRIPTION

Building upon the Nael-class Kinetic Star Destroyer produced by the company in its Highwind Program, Aurora Industries had begun construction of a much larger vessel to serve as the first of its offerings of battlecruiser-scale starships. The prototype under construction would essentially serve as an upscaled Nael-class with vastly more kinetic weaponry, including four Odin Hypervelocity Cannons, and slightly improved defensive systems. Aurora Industries engineers were beginning to test various improved armor and shielding systems, designed to be even heavier variations of the Titan and Kirin, when a request was made of the company by Fleet Admiral Solan Charr of the Galactic Alliance.

The Admiral, a longtime friend of Aurora Industries' CEO and a shareholder himself within the company, desired a command ship he could use as the Galactic Alliance fought against a resurgent Galactic Empire within the Core and had convinced the Senate to commission the company for the ship. With that in mind, the prototype Valfodr was moved to the shipyards above Kesh for continued work and modification for Admiral Charr's use, although the commission did mean the more advanced systems the company was hoping to install and test on the Valfodr would not be ready in time and current system were installed instead. Admiral Charr had also made certain requests for the vessel, foreseeing a need for it to be able to operate with its attendant fleet in detached operations from Alliance command and support. To facilitate those requests, many of the systems within Aurora's Gagazet-class ships were installed onto the prototype battlecruiser to give it manufacturing capabilities and further support capabilities for Solan's fleet. At the insistence of the company's CEO, a Crucius TX-100 Etherdrive was installed onto the vessel to give it flexibility in operations, allowing it and its attendant fleet to utilize sub-hyperspace portals to move around the galaxy.

At the request of the Admiral, near his quarters, an entire section was devoted to a greenhouse or internal garden for his own personal use. While the area was contained within the ship, to avoid any sort of structural integrity issues, the garden makes use of advanced technologies to simulate the climate and natural light of the region on Kesh that borders the capital city and is also outfitted with various paths and patio areas for the Admiral to entertain guests.

When the vessel was completed over Kesh, following the fall of Coruscant to the Galactic Empire, the Admiral christened it the Defiance and the new battlecruiser was brought into the Core for operations and continued observation by assigned Aurora personnel to both facilitate the Crucius drive's function and data for continued development of the Valfodr line.