Starship Review Utumno-Class Grand Cruiser

[Helix]

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create a command/control vessel for the Dzara
• Image Source: Link and Link
• Canon Link: N/A
• Permissions: N/A
• Primary Source: N/A

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: The Dzara
• Affiliation: The Dzara
• Market Status: Closed-Market
• Model: Utumno-Class Grand Cruiser
• Production: Semi-Unique
• Material:
  
  • General Construction: Helsteel
  • Reactive Hull: Storm Iron
  • Outer Self-Repair Layer: Blightsteel
  • Viewports/Electronics: Helglass
  • Anti-Mechu Electronics Shielding: Helixium

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Mining Barge/Battleship
• Length: 3,988 meters
• Width: 1,046 meters
• Height: 1,424 meters
• Armament: Extreme
  
  • KQ9 "Cloudburst" Electro-Flak Projectors (80)
  • BVK-091 "Nightcoil" Boarding Tendrils (80)
  • L72 "Stampede" Meson-Pulse Cannons (70)
  • HCT-440 "Chorister" Phosphor-Plasma Cannons (150)
  • RGG-901 "Echo" Tarnicite Autocannons (60)
  • KJJ-626 "Panacea" Grav-Tensor Cannons (30)
  • PRS-692 "Cavalier" Superheavy Ion-Plasma Cannons (2)
  • ZTZ-901 "Statuesque" Superheavy Gauss-Crystallizer (1)
  • DPH-771 "Dank Ferrik" Macrotorpedo Pod (1)
• Defenses: Extreme
  
  • HQT "Primacy" Repulsor-Grid Generators (6)
  • Backup ZSR-136 "Phantasm" Holoshield Arrays (5)
  • DGG-552 "Chimeric" Cybersecurity Suites (10)
  • Regenerating Blightsteel Armor
  • Helixium-based Anti-Mechu Defenses
• Hangar Space: High (28 Squadrons)
• Hangar Allocations:
  
  • Starfighters: 20 squadrons
  • Support Craft: 8 squadrons
• Maneuverability Rating: Low (Can briefly achieve Average when overclocking engines).
• Speed Rating: Low (Can briefly achieve Average when overclocking engines).
• Hyperdrive: GFG-666 "Redline" Navigation Drive (4)

STANDARD FEATURES

• Helsteel Armor Layer
• Blighsteel Self-Repair Layer
• Helglass Internal/External Viewports
• Reactive Storm Iron Outer Hull

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

• Aftershock-Integrated
• JPJ-230 "Baleful" Omni-Eye Sensor Arrays (20)
• JNF "Nocturne" Otherplasma Engines (10)
• Backup Helslug Emergency Jumper
• Internal KRW "Cornerstone" Matter Forges (Note: These cannot be used to create new starfighters quickly enough to exceed normal Hangar Space limits)
• Internal Star-Haunt Garrison/Interrogation Team
• Internal ZRB Holodroid Projectors
• Internal LUN Mite droid repair crew
• Internal Helwraith repair crew
• RZT "Jolly Roger" Macroprojector

STRENGTHS

• Citadel Of Terror: The Utumno-Class is overgunned and overprotected to fullest extent possible, rendering it capable of suffering extensive punishment and handing it back thrice over.
• Crewed By Ghosts: These vessels can be entirely crewed by their installed holodroid projectors, and can thus remain fully operational even if the entire organic crew is incapacitated.
• Dark Holds: The Utumno possesses enormous cargo holds, living areas, and various modular empty spaces.

WEAKNESSES

• Ponderous Hulk: While quicker than one might expect for a vessel of this size and ungainliness, the Utumno is still thoroughly mediocre in terms of speed and maneuverability.
• Expensive: Each Utumno represents a significant investment in time, labor, and money. Relatively few exist, and their commanders are usually loath to risk them.
• Aggressive: Most of the Utumno's nastier primary armaments are mounted on fixed, forward-facing housings. Many of its secondary armaments are also more forward-mounted, favoring an aggressive style of attack. It must be adequately escorted, or become vulnerable to flanking maneuvers.

DESCRIPTION

Commissioned by Darth Nefaron for system defense, the Utumno-Class was designed and produced by the Dzara's own Helix Privateers.

A great, unwieldy vessel, the Utumno is a thing of insectile protrusions and visually-unappealing vertices, looking almost like an opened human ribcage. This skeletal, almost decomposing aspect is designed to play on fears of ghost ships, as is the crew's interior guard.

Officially, the Utumno is designated as a mining vessel, a bit of misdirection also used by the much smaller Orthanc "patrol" vessels. To this end, it is indeed a capable resource extraction platform, utilizing enormous grav-tensors to perform large-scale orbital mining operations.

Standard procedure calls for the Utumno to identify subsurface ore deposits before carving the entire area from the planet's crust. Afterwards, the resultant kilometers-wide chunk of earth and rock is lifted into orbit, then mined clean by droids (or more likely, slaves).

A single Utumno can strip a small planet entirely of resources within months, after which a given world comes to resemble a honeycombed shell rather than anything once inhabitable.

Designed as it was for primarily-organic crewmembers, the vessel possesses sizeable barracks and living quarters in the aft sections. More importantly, this area also houses sprawling ore refineries and laboratories, though the exact configuration of these latter can vary greatly from vessel to vessel.

Unofficially, the Utumno is also extremely heavily armed and armored, revealing its true purpose as a dedicated war vessel and the pride of the Dzara's navy. Most of these armaments are cleverly concealed within the vessel's many sharp angles, popping out from concealed hatches when the Utumno is engaged in combat.

Many a would-be pillager has received an ugly surprise upon learning that the Utumno's spindly, inelegant frame is a ruse. The cruiser is more than capable of defending itself against far greater numbers, possessing an ample array of advanced and terrifying weapons. Some of these are gigantic cruiser-crackers, capable of threatening even much larger vessels, and the Utumno is primarily built around such systems.

These stately void-giants, when not mining, are used by the Dzara's upper crust as flagships and personal command vessels. As such, they are frequently customized to the user's taste internally and externally.

Being Dzara-created vessels, the ships' spacious interiors are normally used to hold slaves, of whom they can easily pack thousands upon thousands. This is the true purpose of the supposed "mining" vessel, as the chambers supposedly used to store ore can just as easily be stuffed with terrified victims. Likewise, the same Nightcoil cables used to help secure ore deposits can be (and often are) used to root around inside the guts of crippled vessels, hunting for souls and meat.

In most cases, to board an Utumno without authorization is to descend into nightmare. Terrifying creatures of all sorts stalk the hallways, ever thirsty for the blood of intruders. The corridors echo with faint, distant screams and oddly-modulated howls, and the vessel's ghostly wardens could always be watching...

 

[Ronhar Tane]

Hello there! Trainee judge Ronhar Tane on the scene!

Really nice submission here Helix , I have no doubt you'll get some good use outta these guys! That being said, I just have one concern I'd like you to address. Your KRW "Cornerstone" Matter Forges state that they are capable of " assembling nearly any droid, weapon, or object in Helix's arsenal." Does that include the ability to create droid starfighters? If it does, I'd like you to add a small a small addendum stating that they can't or would take too long, because the ability to construct droid starfighters would exceed your squadron count, if that makes sense. Once you've addressed, please tag me so we can continue to move forward!

 

[Helix]

Ronhar Tane

I put an addendum in that section of the Advanced Systems bit as requested. Also reduced the total number of squadrons, as I realized they were too high for a ship this size. Let me know if there's anything else that needs to be done.

 

[Ronhar Tane]

Helix think that should do it. Approved pending secondary John Locke Valiens Nantaris

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Under review.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Helix

Nice ship! Reading through I have come concerns about the weaknesses not being actionable enough.



First one is speed, which is fine, that's fair. Though if it's just average speed it's not exactly 'thoroughly mediocre'. I would suggest dropping speed or manoeuvrability to low.
The second weakness is not really a weakness since it's included in the production scale. It's Semi-Unique, so this is implied already. You can keep it, but we need something a bit meatier.
The third weakness is good, but only applies to 3 weapon systems. And those those are big weapons, it still leaves a lot of other guns facing all other directions.

My suggestion would be to make more of the guns facing forward. This reinforces the fact that it's a heavy slugger built for head on engagements, but an opponent outside of that arc has a better chance.

Please edit and let me know when done.

 

[Helix]

Valiens Nantaris

I did sort of want this thing to be capable of some fatally-surprising bursts of speed at times, but fair points. I've bumped both speed and maneuverability down to Low, with mention made that they can manage Average for brief periods due to the properties of their engines.

I've also edited the third weakness as suggested to make it apply to most of the vessel's weapons systems, rather than just the primaries.

Please let me know if this is sufficient, or if any other stuff needs to change.

 

[Valiens Nantaris]

Helix

Those are much better now.

The only thing I wanted to discuss was a more, I guess, overall question about the sub. Since this is a ship which also does mining, including on the planet's surface and tearing up great slabs of it...does that fit with the massive weaponry and hangers you have listed?

So I put it to you that a ship like this which is a hybrid should drop weaponry or hangar space because of the massive cargo space, forges and passenger capacity.
Thoughts?