Unreviewed Utumno-Class Heavy 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 Heavy 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: 4,572 meters
• Width: 1,146 meters
• Height: 1,424 meters
• Armament: Extreme
  • KQ9 "Cloudburst" Electro-Flak Projectors (80)
  • RKV "Firewisp" Heavy Phosphor Projectors (80)
  • L72 "Stampede" Meson-Pulse Cannons (100)
  • LZK "Maneater" Autocannons (150)
  • KQQ "Grond" Electrolaser Cannons (100)
  • LPW "Cnidaria" Boarding Tendrils (100)
  • LKF "Flicker" Plasma Torpedo Launchers (50)
• Defenses: Extreme
  • HQT "Primacy" Repulsor-Grid Generators (20)
  • HB2 Holoshielding Array (5)
• Hangar Space: High (32 Squadrons)
• Hangar Allocations:
  • Starfighters: 24 squadrons
  • Support Craft: 8 squadrons
• Maneuverability Rating: Average
• Speed Rating: Average
• Hyperdrive: Yes

STANDARD FEATURES

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

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

• Aftershock-Integrated
• JJF-262 "Horizon" Netherdrive (2)
• JNF "Nocturne" Otherplasma Engines (10)
• Backup Helslug Emergency Jumper
• Internal KRW "Cornerstone" Matter Forges
• Internal KJZ-599 "Lifeblood" Creation Pods
• Internal Star-Haunt Garrison/Interrogation Team
• Internal ZRB Holodroid garrison/crewmen
• 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 thoroughly mediocre in terms of speed and maneuverability.
• Teleporter Mishap: Most of the ship's propulsion systems rely on bio-engineered monsters. Should these be dispatched or incapacitated, the ship can easily find itself stranded.

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 Cnidaria tendrils 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. Most of these armaments are cleverly concealed within the vessel's many sharp angles, popping out from concealed hatches when the vessel 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.

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 Cnidaria cables used to haul up 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...