Da_Humie
14th Sep 05, 3:34 PM
Greetings. This will be my first attempt at a boardwar. I will be managing this, as well as posting regularly.
The Story
In the year 3089, Humanity finally did what they had never thought possible - they broke the barrier of the speed of light. With a great effort, the first ship in Human history finally found a way past all the limitations of Einstein's physics and discovered a way to travel beyond that of the speed of light. Humanity's meager empire - one that covered the entire solar system, but not a meter farther - was finally able to travel beyond the stars, expanding upon the galaxy and introducing themselves onto the galactic scene.
Unfortunately for them, they discovered that indeed, they were not the only race to find existence. As it turned out, they were latecomer's into galactic politics - upstarts, newbloods, and also as it turned out, technologically inferior.
From the start, they were plagued by problem after problem. It was over thirty years before Humanity began to earn any kind of respect among the other galactic powers, and even then only a few of the weaker empires were the ones that gave it. Humanity struggled hard to find a place for itself, only to find that there wasn't one without a fight. Nevertheless, they certainly tried.
After one hundred years, mankinds first trial by fire came to them. Looking for an easy conquest, one of the stronger powers - the Selketh - engaged in open warfare with the Humans. In a bitter and bloody war that lasted for four years, war came to the galaxy so brutal that entire worlds were annihilated. In the end, Human resolve and an incredible instinct for survival turned the tide of the war in its third year. With only two planetary systems left in their direct control - Sol and Corinth - Humanity launched a massive counter-offensive with every ship in their fleet. They were still outnumbered 17 to 1. The only thing that evened the odds were weapons of mass destruction. Deploying nuclear and anti-matter weapons by the hundreds, entire fleets and bases were wiped out; even planets were not spared their wrath, the worst of which was the planet Junyo, which was rendered inhabitable for the next century. In the end, the Selketh surrendered to the Humans rather than die. But the war was so costly the Selketh could not recover, and even the Human empire took forty years to restore.
But this was not the end of the Human's troubles. If anything, while garnering some modest respect for at least their power, all of the other races started hating them even more. While before most civilians had just been harrased, now Humans were beaten; the women sold as slaves, the children indoctrinated as laborers, and the men killed outright. All of this occured outside of Human territory, and despite all of their efforts, they could do nothing to stop the other races aside from ban all non-military from leaving Human controlled space. Very, very few people complained about this law.
Around five hundred years after the Selketh war, the Humans earned yet more hatred against them. Until this point (about 3691) all races and empires had used the same basic form of faster-than-light travel - hyperdrive. However, the Humans had discovered how to fully immerse their ships in subspace - they were completely cloaked; they could sit in subspace as long as they wanted, and were entirely undetected, even though they could see happenings around them. They also found that in subspace they were moving over 8 times as fast as a ship using hyperdrive. The only reason other races didn't simply outright attack them was that Human merchants (who had always been fair; never overpricing and never cheating) were now the most reliable transporters and couriers in the galaxy. As much as people hated the Human race, they were willing to open trade relations simply because they were fast and fair.
Of course, such a peace as the galaxy then had is only fated to last for a short while. Not 15 years after Humans discovered full subspace travel did the Galactic Federated Council - a conglomeration of 90% of the races in the galaxy, barring Humans and a few others, whose sole purpose was to provide a place to work out their differences and inforce interstellar law - began to finally degenrate. The races began fighting for more power in the council; first it was only politically, but then finally their militaries came into question. Once that happened, things were bound to go straight down the hole.
At first, the two largest powers - the Nosferaii and the Bortras - were the only ones in conflict, but within months almost half the Council was fighting at least border skirmishes. Months after that, the entire galaxy decended into the seventh Galactic War. It might have been the first one the Humans ever saw, but it was more than enough. Amazingly, the Humans didn't even see action until almost three years after it officially became the seventh Galactic War. They immediately wished they hadn't gotten involved.
The war was easily the worst that had been. This was a war used to carry aggressions that had been building since the millenia since the last Galactic War. Entire planets were destroyed, and indeed in one case an entire solar system was wiped out - ironically, for not getting involved. The destruction of civilian targets became common practice for many navies, and it wasn't unheard for an entire species to be annihilated (though it was mercifully rare). The only reason the Humans ever survived the war at all was because of their subspace drives - they could immediately hide an entire fleet, and move fast enough to counter-attack any target. Unfortunately, several times they were forced to attack civilian targets. At one point, just to stop the attacks on a beleaguered system with almost no military presence, a lone ship was sent to their homeworld, and used its engines to ignite the planets' atmosphere.
Such attacks and attrocities were carried out for almost a century. Ninety-eight years went by before most surviving peoples were simply to strained to carry on the fighting any further. Even then, it was not an end to the war. This was a war of pure hatred. They couldn't stop just yet. Most races simply called a cease-fire, and now they are sitting there, just slowly trying to repair damage to their planets and rebuild their battered forces.
This RP begins now. It has been three years since the cease-fire was called. Three painstaking, miserable years. The aggression has been restoked, the fleets replenished, the troops raised and trained. All that now needs to happen is for the slightest incident to spark, and the war will surely resume. The remaining senior staff are few, but there are plenty of young officers out there, with no experience and plenty of ego waiting to be bolstered, or shattered...
The Situation
The current situation is this - all 6 races are in a state of turmoil. With not much military might remaining with any side, the war seems to be futile - and yet they cannot stop fighting. There is, however, one thing that may yet prove to be capable of bring down the war...
In the Sixth Galactic War, there were several races that were destroyed completely. Now they are nothing more than a memory. However one race left behind a legacy... This particular race was utterly annihilated by the N'rak, who created a genetic plague that turned their DNA into sludge. However, before they were annihilated in this manner, they were faced with being destroyed by military might. Thus, they created a last bastion of defense in the galactic core - a planetary system, somehow thriving amidst the hell fire of the dense black holes. It was a volcanic system - every planet was covered in magma and volcanoes spewing it forth. With virtually unlimited resources, the system was turned into a massive forge, complete with a cloning center to create troops to man the 7,000 ships that could be built every year. This system would have turned the tide of the war in their favor, had it not been for the N'rak.
The Selketh later went into their home system, and found rumors and half-completed documents, detailing a final redoubt in the galactic core, only mentioning that it would build hundreds of full fledged fleets in a single decade. Once rumors began to circulate, every race tried to find this system, to no avail. In the clusters of black holes, hundreds of thousands of scouts were lost. Eventually, everyone gave up, claiming it was only a rumor spread to waste resources.
But now, there is 'proof' that there is indeed a great forge located deep in the core. Now, in a great, desperate situation, almost every remaining empire is sending an expedition deep into the galactic core, while attempting to maintain a face of innocence and have all appereances say that nothing special is happening. But such a charade cannot be kept up forever, and with so many expeditions being launched, some are bound to come into conflict...
[Rules]
I have only a few rules, and i'm sure you've all heard them before. Nevertheless, here they are.
1: There is to be NO powerplaying on this boardwar. I have a two-strike rule. First time, I make you edit your post. Second time, you are done. It's that simple. I do not tolerate power playing at all.
2: Unless given permission, I would rather not have anyone being in more than one other boardwar. You can ask me, but I do have the right to refuse you. This is not to be greedy, selfish, rude, insulting, or anything else in any way. A fresh mind provides a better story. It's that simple And it reduces the chances of mixing up any names and characters.
3: No AOL speak. If you can't spell the word 'you', then don't even bother. I would also appreciate some punctuation, but if I must, then it's negotiable.
4: I don't mind if you make up a name for some other species other than the ones that I will list/have listed (and i'll make a full list here tomorrow), but do not infringe on any copyrights. That makes life a real hassle, and if you keep doing it then i'll have to axe kick your poor little head.
5: I will provide a list of accepted technology (including fleet classes, ship class names, and relative sizes). I don't want someone going off of this list and inventing a 'Nova Deathray Turboblaster' or some such other crap. You'll have a very broad range of techno crap to choose from, and i'd really appreciate you guys sticking to what is canon here. Again, if you make something up that's absolutely horrid, i'll to bust out that axe kick.
6: I will be playing as senior officers (like the overlord of the fleet or something), as well as planetary governments. This is just to make things easier on you guys, as well as giving me something to do other than be mean and do whatever else that moderators get to do. Also, to make it more realistic, rather than PM'ing me for every big plan you want to do (if it involves several players, then go ahead and PM me before you start it), you can go ahead and ask fleet command in the RP. This'll hopefully make it more interesting.
7: For now, I have no exact storyline - this means that we'll just try to introduce characters, and i'll let the players come up with some sort of action plotline for them to follow. You'll have 6 empires to choose from to play with, so you'll have plenty of chances to let out their aggression. This is just a long cease-fire - there's plenty of war still to be had.
7a: Right now this is just the point in a war where we all just fight a few skirmishes. When you start, you start as a fleet captain (individual empire rank names will be decided) in command of up to 12 ships. I'll let you know when you can increase the size of your fleet. You can also fight a ground action if you wish - though you're limited to about 50,000 men. Again, i'll let you know when you can go up a step.
7b: Any use of weapons of mass destruction (anti-matter bombs, igniting a planet's atmosphere; they'll all be listed) has to be authorized by fleet command. Even when they lit a planet's atmosphere aflame, the Humans were still using it as as last resort. I don't want you guys starting off bombing your enemies homeworld into dust.
8: As far as names go, anything will really go for Humans- i'm not restricting it to just insane, crazy names that haven't been seen since the Bible; i'll let you name people Billy. But if I see an alien with a distinctly Human name (Billy, Bob, Ed, etc etc etc) I will make you change it for the sake of realism and sanity.
9: Have fun.
The racesHumans: It took several millenia before Humanity ever had the technology to simply reach space - it was almost a century and-a-half before they started colonizing other worlds. And even then, it was still close to another thousand years before they were able to reach the speed of light. They quickly colonized several systems, but found that they were not alone. Technologically several steps behind the rest of the galaxy, they were hounded and harrassed. Virtually all of the other races in the galaxy hated them, simply because they were there. Humanity doesn't necissarily hate any other race out there, but they do fear them and their hating ways.
Their navy is a respected one, and most races will tolerate Human merchants - only because they're reliable and fair. Human women are quite valued as slaves, children were used as laborers, and men were used as target practice. In response, the Human military banned all civilian travel from their space and stepped up military production to defend their borders. As a result, even now, in their devastated state, their borders are virtually impregnable.
Two systems remain under Human control - Sol and Corinth. They are within extremely close proximity (especialyl due to subspace), which is why the two remain in relatively good condition. All of the planet's in the Corinth system are named after famous military officers. Fleet command orbits Neptune in Sol. A massive station that is 10.7 miles long, it is capable of producing any ship ever designed, the fighters to stock it's bays, and still make the transports to supply the remaining empire. It is defended by Skull wing (actually 2 wings of 144 fighters each) and 15 capital ships in addition to its own guns.
Controlled systems: Sol(9); Corinth(7).
Capital: Earth-Sol(duh- 3rd planet).
Primary industrial centers: Venus-Sol; Vargas-Corinth; Santra-Corinth.
Agricultural worlds: Earth-Sol; McKinley-Corinth.
Fleet command: Vulcan Point-Neptune-Sol.
Nosferaii: These people were easily the most powerful in the Galactic Federated Council before its downfall - the only race that could challenge them was the Bortras, and even they weren't strong enough. The Nosferaii and possibly two other, minor races (both of which have very little power) are the only ones that have genuine respect for Humans, and made a secret alliance with them about a decade before the seventh Galactic War.
The Nosferaii hail from Nosferre - a class M planet with roughly 13% greater mass than Earth. The entire planet is blanketed with radiation. It has been this way since they have been a people, and will be this way ever more. As a result of the dense radiation, they have adapted to over come - their eyes are pure black, and can see along infrared and ultraviolet spectrums in addition to the normal ranges; they have great, purple lines - almost like scars - running along their bodies that filter out excess radiation; and most other types of radiation do not harm them. However, their homeworld is the only planet in their territory with that kind of biosphere. After many generations, many Nosferaii who are born on other worlds begin to lose their scars and the straight black eyes, and as a result cannot visit Nosferre.
The Nosferaii empire has been luckier than most throughout the war - they currently retain full control 5 of their original 122 planetary systems. The others still have a Nosferaii populace for the most part, but not any military presence aside from planetary guards, and several have declared themselves independant. Part of the Nosferaii plan in this second stage of the war is to begin resecuring their lost systems. Unfortunately, given their ravaged economy, it might be some time before they can carry out these plans.
Controlled systems: Nosferre(5); Bartuk(11); Mahgee(7); Dreheil(6); Nicktris(9).
Capital: Nosferre-Nosferre(1st planet).
Primary industrial centers: Kentor-Mahgee; Siptraaa-Dreheil; Spenture-Dreheil; Crthrey-Nosferre
Agricultural worlds: The entire Bartuk system; Nosferre-Nosferre.
Fleet command: Rapier station-Nosferre-Nosferre.
Bortras: This insectoid species was the second most powerful in the Galactic Federated council. They never had the strength to challenge the Nosferaii, despite their best attempts. In the opening conflicts of the war, they were proven to be inferior, but they tended to deploy underhanded tactics to prevent them from being too overwhelmed. Shortly thereafter, several races began to attack the Nosferaii, taking enough pressure off of them that they could breathe again.
The species is insectoid, and they do have wings, but they are not capable of flight. They are far too heavy to fly, but they can make a mighty impressive noise. The more wings a Bortras has, the more he is respected. The current Grand Overlord has 15 pairs of wings, though the record stands at 35 pairs. The average creature has 2 pairs of wings. Bortraii are massive creatures; the smallest recorded being was still 2.37 meters tall, and on average they are 3.9 meters tall. Females tend to be quite slender, but are just as tall and equally strong. They are protected by an extremely strong carapace that is capable of repelling all but the most determined fire. In the few ground skirmishes they fought with Humans, only their vehicles and heavy-weapons teams ahd enough power to penetrate their shells. The race has an extremely strong predator's instincts, but they do not run around calling all their enemies 'prey', and do not go out on their hunting down anyone. They are simply extremely agressive and have a natural instinct for tracking.
They have been an extremely unlucky race in the war, being subject to planetary bombardment en masse so that others could avoid ground combat. They retain nominal control of two planetary systems, but there are only two other systems with a known Bortras populace. They have a horribly reduced population, and can only maintain a relatively modest fleet at the expense of a minimal army. Nevertheless, their fleets are still feared and respected throughout the galaxy.
Controlled systems: Liirrrkth(8); Brrrthjg(8).
Capital: Bors-Liirrrkth (8th planet).
Primary industrial worlds: Innvvv-Liirrrkth; Grrre-Brrrthjg.
Agricultural worlds: Bllch-Liirrrkth.
Fleet command: Bors-Liirrrkth.
Selketh: This was the first race that the Humans ever fought a sustained conflict with. The results of that conflict were drastic - they went from having an empire that garnered respect from the Bortras (an amazing feat), to having a single system with a military that was so limited they could barely police themselves. All to a race that was inferior in almost every way. Worse was the Humans stole some of the Selketh's technology, and worse still was that they refined and improved it. The Selketh were humiliated.
Humanoid, the Selketh have a few distinct differences in apperance. First is that they don't have hands - they have a set of three-'fingered' claws on each arm. They also have a large ridge running from their necks down their backs. They are about twice as strong as the average Human, but prefer subtle assassination and deceit to actual warfare. This doesn't mean they are weak, but the preference to avoiding combat is reflected in their designs.
During the war, the Selketh saw very little action. Most of the time they were ignored - due in part to the fact that because they were limited to just a few ships, they built massive numbers of turrets and stationary guns to defend themselves with. When the Humans were forced to pull their ships out of the sole system in their possesion, they finally began to earnestly advance their technology and build up their fleets, while others impaled themselves upon their defenses. Only in the last few years of the war did they truely engage in combat - only to test their latest generation of ships, as the rest of the time they were trying to make up for all the technological advancements they had lost due to Human intervention.
Controlled systems: Forn(7)
Capital: Selk-Forn (2nd planet).
Primary industrial worlds: All but one planet.
Agricultural worlds: Ghore-Forn.
Fleet command: Trenj Sigma (a moon orbiting Trenj, the third planet).
Vilt: This species was known for its neutrality. They wre among the best negotiators and politicians in the entire Galactic Federated Council. Most people thought they had no military, but their strength was proven in the sixth Galactic War. They had always tried to stay neutral, but when attacked the defended themselves with such a passion that it was often described as insanity and lunacy.
The Vilt are Humanoid, and resemble what some people would call an 'angel'. Internally is where the biggest difference lies - They have four lungs (two 'regular ones, and two smaller ones), and they have two hearts; one in the chest, and another located in the hips. This second heart is small, but it does help greatly with the one external difference between the two peoples (Human and Vilt). Vilt have great, bird like wings, which they can use to fly. They often wear only robes, and all their clothes have little slits cut in them to allow the wings to come out.
In the war, they did their best to try and hold things together and to mediate between other races - but to little avail. Their biggest success was in buying time for the population of Drel'chor 6 to evacuate from a wave of Ingor ships. However, the Ingor were later to be exterminated by the Bortras - something the Vilt could not prevent. The few attacks that were made against the Vilt were swept away with such ease that many people think that they are Gods in more than just appearance; many think they are immortal and have technology that only heaven could send. This is not true, but the Vilt have not discouraged such rumors, hoping that they would help to prevent any attacks against them. Their current plan is to head out and try to bring to a halt any further conflict, and to try to restore the Galactic Federated Council. They hope to prevent any further bloodshed.
Controlled systems: Vournge(9); Linge(8) (that's all they've ever had, and ever needed)
Capital: Vournge Prime (4th planet)
Primary industrial centers: Vournge 5
Agricultural centers: Linge 3; Vournge 3; Vournge Prime; Linge 6.
Fleet command: Vournge 1.
N'rak: This race is one that has harbored such aggressions toward Humans that ever since their discovery they've operated a slave trade in their women. Easily the most hating race out there, the only race they respect is the Bortras - and that's only because they've been beaten by them in numerous wars. They still hate them, but it's still possible to hate someone and yet respect them. It's hard, but possible.
In stark contrast to the Vilt, this race appears almost demonic. They are massive, extremely well muscled, and have raging tempers - but only to other races. They are xenophobic in the extreme, but very tolerant of their own kind. Their fingers all end in talons that can rend steel like it was flesh; their teeth are all long, pointed and sharp, and are venomous; and they also have four arms. Their skin is extremely thick, and block fair-sized rounds from Human weapons, but they are no where near as solid as a Bortras carapace.
In the war, they took their time, slowly picking apart at other navies and fleets, and then launching one massive, all-out strike that would destroy an entire army in one blitzkreig campaign. They were notorious for bombarding and destroying entire planets - especially those that were under Bortras control -, and destroyed at least 3 entire species. They had wished to destroy Humans, but a lone Dreadnought slipped through subspace, past all of their defense networks, and ignited the atmosphere of their homeworld. Subsequent strikes by Nosferaii, Ingor, and half-a-dozen others whittled their territory away, and it was some time before they rallied and were able to stop the attacks. They very strongly want revenge against Humans for destroying their homeworld (a beautiful planet, if you're Gothic and/or like that sort of stuff...), and also want to destroy the Vilt, simply because they don't like their looks and their attitudes. To each his own...
Controlled systems: B'rak(6[formerly 7]); S'rek(10); C'll(5).
Capital: O'wke-C'll
Primary industrial world: The entire C'll system; L'ark-B'rak.
Agricultural centers: S'rek-S'rek; X'rot-S'rek.
Fleet Command: O'wke S'larn (A moon orbiting O'wke)-C'll.
[Tech]
Technology: I figured this might be better off first, as then thigns that you'll see in the warships section won't seem as odd. Here goes.
Structural Integrity Generators (Belongs to everyone): This is a simple one - being out in a vacuum for extended periods, hard manuvering, generating internal gravity with none outside you; all these and more have a very nasty affect on a ship's hull. Therefore, these little devices were invented to prevent the frame from wearing from the stresses of everyday activity/
Shields (Belongs to everyone): These are the epitome of defensive technology - they absorb and/or reflect incoming weapons fire so that they won't damage the hull. Shields typically work better on energy weapons than projectile weapons, but will still stop most of them before they make their mark. Shield generators project fields of energy around ten meters or so away from the hull. The generators are normally quite reliable, but depending on how well they are built, how much power they have, and how much fire they are taking depends on how long it will be before they fail. The quality of these generators varies - Humans have fairly nice shields, but the Selketh's shields are notorious for being of poor quality, normally only taking a few bursts before sputtering and failing. The Vilt have the best shields in known existence - they've been known to withstand full-yield nuclear weapons and even stave off most the blast from smaller anti-matter warheads. Theirs are only susceptible to EM pulses; most races have that technology, but given the enormous energy required before it has effect on a military vessel, they are almost never carried.
Engines (belongs to everyone): Naturally, these devices are how people move along in space. The type of engine varies greatly between each race, but the most common types are Plasma engines and Ion engines. After centuries and even millenia of space travel, these engines have developed a very high level of efficiency, and can go for many years without needing refueling. Humans have spent many centuries developing Ion engines. The problem with Ion engines is that thye have rather poor acceleration - Humans eventually developed what is known as an expansion chamber, into which the fuel is pumped and charged, even when the engines are not in use. When fired up, this 'primed' fuel has vastly superior qualities, making the ship accelerate faster and travel faster. It takes a few seconds for fuel to move between each of the six stages chamber and become 'primed', but once it gets going, it flows much smoother. No one else has this expansion chamber. The Selketh simply use a Plasma engine as a secondary in all of their ships, igniting it in time with their Ions to improve acceleration - but it isn't as good as an expansion chamber. On the plus side, it gives the Selketh greater control in confined space, such as a shipyard or asteroid field.
Disruptors (Belongs to Nosferaii): This is a most unique weapon. It operates by contracting and then expanding the target's atoms 1,000 times per second (I had an explanation for it, but now I can't remember it). The result is catastrophic damage to the target - the immediate area of impact is weakened almost immediately to the point that it will possibly collapse, and the area around the initial blast will be horribly weakened as well, letting even the weakest blast destroy with ease. A few sprays from this - in theory - will weaken a ship to the point it will collapse in on itself. The weapon is, however, flawed - the rate of fire is quite low, as it takes a long time to prepare each shot; they are absolutely worthless against shields; and the affected are is not as great as it may seem. Gunships and Frigates are almost helpless against this kind of weapon, as it only takes around two shots to cripple the hull. It takes does, however, take 35 seconds to fire two shots, and there's no garuntee that it will even hit - the pulse is dodgeable. (Class: Heavy weapon)
Rail Gun (belongs to everyone, but generally only seen on Human ships): This is the first weapon designed by Humans that was effective in space. The extremely high speeds they can achieve in an atmosphere are multiplied by a factor of twenty-fold. The impact is extremely powerful and devastating. Originally, Humans ships used a single, massive rail cannon that fired a shell weghing about 15 tons, but as engine technology progressed, and missiles proved to be dodgeable and susceptible to interference, they switched to a 16-inch quad-barreled turret as a primary weapon. It fires a 150 pound shell at a speed almost 80% that of light. Alien ships rarely use these, preffering energy weapons. (Class: Medium weapon)
Laser cannons (Belongs to everyone, though Humans don't use them much): 'Laser weapon' is a very broad term, as there are hundreds of kinds of lasers. However, the most common ones are X-Ray lasers and Carbon lasers, as they have proven to be most effective in a combat situation. These weapons are not all that powerful anymore, having been outclassed long ago by other types of weapons, but still have a place as a secondary weapon or as a weapon on defensive satellites and space stations. These are the only uses that Humans have applied to them. In this case, the weapons have much more energy to draw on, as a space station doesn't need to power any engines. An X-Ray laser does have more power than a Plasma cannon does, while a Carbon laser is about on-par with a Rail gun. (Class: Light [X-Ray] to Medium [Carbon] weapon)
Missiles (Belongs to everyone): These are lightweight weapons that travel with extreme speed and accuracy, but not a lot of power. Most races use these as a backup weapon, or on their defensive satellites. Missiles used to by the primary weapons of Humans, but they weren't very accurate back then, and were far more susceptible to interception. Nowadays, missiles are blindingly fast and accurate, but still are susceptible to jamming and still don't have a serious punch. The Vilt use them to complement their torpedoes. These are very commonly put on fighters as a way to damage larger ships, but these are even smaller and only effective against the smallest classes of ships and transports. (Class: Light weapon)
Torpedoes (Belogns to everyone): These are the most common heavy weapons in existence. Everyone has the basics - an extremely large tube with an engines, guidance system, and a very, very large warhead. Where missiles are small and used to overwhelm shields and other defenses, torpedoes are meant to annihilate. The warheads used by Humans are standard (with a yield of 10 megatons) and nuclear fusion (With a yield of 90 megatons). Most other races use a standard yield of about 15-20 megatons. There are certain specialty warheads and yields, but I haven't come up with those yet. Torpedoes are the favored weapon of the Vilt - in fact, it is their standard weapon. To avoid running out of them, the Vilt have placed manufacturing centers in all their ships to replenish torpedo and missile stocks. (Class: Heavy weapon)
Plasma Cannons (Belongs to everyone): These are very simple weapons - they use superheated plasma to do their damage. These weapons are inherently short ranged and don't do much damage. In modern times, these weapons have been relegated to defensive duty - they are normally placed around a ships engines to protect them from fighters and missiles. They run off of reactor waste normally. They can easily be placed anywhere on the ship, but the lines to feed the reactor waste can be quite complex after a distance. All military ships have these around their engines - no exceptions. Plasma grenades are simply metal sheaths containing Plasma in a magnetic shield - few ships are armed with these mortars, though they are slightly stronger than standard cannons. Plasma missile are similar, but much larger. Class: Light weapon)
Ion Cannons (Belongs to Selketh and Humans): This weapon was originally invented by the Selketh, and later stolen by Humans in their four-year war. This weapon is an evolution of Plasma weapons - the Plasma is ionized, greatly increasing the range of the weapon as well as the damage. It is increased to the point of being a heavy weapon. Because of their experince with similar technology, Humans were able to apply the expansion chamber to Ion cannons, enabling them to fire six pulses with an output increased by 30%. The rate of fire does drop off, however, as the ionized Plasma must enter the chambers to primed. Because of this drop off, larger Human ships tend to carry multiple banks of Ion cannons. The Selketh do not have an expansion chamber, but the weapon is still deadly, and they have a faster rate of fire - by about 3 seconds.
Hyperdrive (Belongs to everyone, though not used by Humans): This is the ever-classic example of faster-than-light travel. It works by forcefully immersing the ship part-way between normal space and subspace, where the ship can travel at a speed vastly greater than the speed of light. The only problem is that it uses great force, drawing a lot of power, and being pretty detectable by the great rips it leaves behind it. By the very nature of subspace, these rips are sealed, but are very evident.
Quantum drive (Belongs to Humans): This is entirely different from the regular Hyperdrive. Hyperdrive forces a ship into subspace - this is nasty business. Quantum drive, however, operates more like a transporter, stripping down a ships atoms and reorganizing them in subspace. The appereance this gives is like that of watching a ship cloak. The front part of the ship goes first, working its way down to the back. This process draws only about 10% less power than Hyperdrive (that's still a lot, for reference, but a marked improvement), but it takes only a few seconds - even a Zeus-class battleship that's 8 kilometers long takes about a mere 9 seconds to fully immerse itself in subspace. In subspace, a ship is exponentially faster than a ship in 'hyperspace'; a trip that might take 24-25 hours in hyperspace only takes about 19 minutes in full subspace. Also, a ship is completely invisible, and also doesn't have to keep moving like a ship would in hyperspace. They can just sit there, completely sheltered. They can also reorganize themselves anywhere, as was proven when they destroyed the N'rak's homeworld.
Cloak (Belongs to Bortras): This device was the epitome of stealth technology before Humanity discovered full subsapce (And how they do it is a secret guarded with their lives), but even now cloaks are still very effective. The Bortras design is easily the best - other races have tried to create one, but none have had much luck with it. The Bortras design works by refracting light, and also refracting sensor beams. The ship therefore, is invisible to both the naked eye and sensors. The device doesn't actually consume all that much power; they can still fire and use their shields through the cloak. What keeps them from putting one on everyship is the cost - these things are extremely expensive to build. Therefore, only a few ships are equipped with them. Another problem is that using beam weapons through them is rather pointless - it gives away ones position. The Bortras were forced to start installing Rail cannons and further stocks of missiles and torpedoes upon those ships that were gifted with the device.
Holographic Imaging System (Belong to Vilt): The Vilt are not known for their aggression - they have always preffered to find peaceful solutions for their problems. When they do fight, they are tenacious. But even in the most dire situation, they will not fire first. To help encourage their enemies to do the same (not fire first), they developed this imaging system. What it does is project images of other Vilt ships off the hull. These ships can be projected as far as eight hundred kilometers away from the ship. These ships appear to be real to enemy sensors - the only difference that is noticeable is that their weapons don't do any damage. However, given that any given Vilt ship can project and fully control about 20 battlecruiser sized hulls, they're intimidating enough to convince most enemies to surrnder or to retreat.
Black Cannon (Belongs to N'rak): This is yet another reason to fear the demons. The black cannon is possibly their most deadly contraption yet. It fires a wave of negative energy that will have an adverse affect on almost every system on a ship. Life support systems will suddenly suck the air out of a ship; engines pressing forward will go into reverse, lurching the ship about before the circuts are completely fired, making the victims hapless listing about all the worse. Worse is that it may possibly reverse the structural integrity generators on a starship, thus destroying the vessel entirely. It has a fe wdrawbacks, the worst of which is such a massive draw of power - it takes about 90% percent of the energy output of a ships reactor. The only ships large to mount and power such a weapon are battlecruisers and larger, making these weapons extremely rare. Lastly is the waveform itself - it finally fizzles out and dies after about one hundred kilometers. The further out travels after generation, the further it degenerates, which means less and less affect over range.
Warships: The mainstay of modern warfare, no war could be fought without these. This is kinda lousy, but i'm pressed for time, so here come the sizes of ship classes, and then i'll get to posting the stats on individual ships. Everything is different for each race. Expect this list to change a little as I refine my ideas. Speed and armor are measured as follows - very poor; poor; below average; fair; average; above average; good; very good; excellent.
Quick note: Fighters have squadrons of twelve. A half-squadron is a flight, 6 squadrons is a wave, and 12 squadrons is a wing. Bombers are in groups of 3-4 depending on how much room is left in the bay. Bombers cannot be carried on racks.
Corvette: A small ship designed to patrol the perimiter of a fleet and planets. Typically armed with a single medium weapon and numerous light ones. 75-130 meters on average.
Frigates: The smallest fleet ships in service, these are armed with a few medium weapons and a few light weapons; used to provide cover for larger ships. Very slow and not very manuverable. 130-220 meters on average.
Destroyer: A larger, more reliable type of ship than a Frigate, these ships don't have much heavier weaponry than a Frigate. They are better armored and much faster. May possibly have one or two heavy weapons. May possibly carry fighters on external racks. 220-350 meters on average.
Light Cruiser: These ships carry more heavy weapons than do Destroyers, while retaining most of their speed. Better armored as well, with more staying power. Smallest ship to carry fighters in an actual bay. 350-600 meters on average.
Heavy Cruiser: The mainstay of any fleet, these are ships that are well armored, armed, and are still fairly manuverable. Can carry fighters in a bay. Can carry a fair number of heavy weapons and medium weapons - rarely equipped with light weapons. 600-900 meters on average.
Battlecruiser: Also considered a key portion of any fleet, these are ships designed solely to fight. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay. Equipped with several banks of heavy and medium weapons. Light weapons may be carried as a supplement or to dea with small, manuverable ships. 900-1200 meters on average.
Heavy Battlecruisers: These ships carry no fighters, and carry instead further heavy weapons. Medium weapons are still a primary armament, but are reduced for further heavy weapons. Extremely rare to find light weapons on one. Increased armor but no additional upgrades in engines (from previous class) make these ship ponderous and wide-open targets. 1200-1800 meters on average.
Dreadnought: War. War. War. They live it out loud. Heavy weapons are a primary, medium and light weapons are secondary. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay. Extremely well armored, but not very fast. 1800-4000 meters on average.
Battleship: The epitome of warfare, a single one of these could bombard a planet into dust, and then ask what's for the main course. Extremely rare. Heavy weapons are commonplace, few light weapons carried. Massivly armored, and decently manuverable for a ship this big. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay and on external racks. Any size above 4000 meters.
Humans:
Human ships: Humans prefer to build an all-around good ship. They tend to be more combat oriented than say, a star-trek federation ship, but are still ships that have more purpose than straight combat. The favored weapon amongst Humans is the ever-classic rail gun. For heavy weapons, the Humans like the Ion cannon, although some ships carry torpedoes.
Human design is practical at least on the inside, while they tend to lean partially towards aesthetics externally. Their ships tend to have the bulk of their mass far forward along the hull - the idea was that the manuvering thrusters and engies would push the front where it needed to be, rather than have to slide the rear end of the ship around. The move is actually quite effective. About the only mass on the rear of the average Human ship comes from armor, the docking area, and the engines and reactors.
The current human fleet is about 4,000 ships total - a great step down from the 34,000 that they had in the beginning. They are building at their best rate possible, but they can only do so much. Thus, they are sending out several expeditions to find this great forge deep in the galactic core.
Rhapsody-class Corvette:
The only gunship the Humans ever put into service, this is a very lightly equipped vessel. It has a small crew, small engine, and not a lot of firepower. This type of ship is typically only used for planetary defense - the only military use for this ship is taken by the next class up. Very cheap and easy to mass produce, individual planets have built a few of these ships into service along with their normal fighters to deal with pirates and brigands. It's shaped a lot like a modern navy ship, except the prow angles back towards the rear, rather than forward. It's also pretty narrow. Amazingly, it's well balanced in terms of center-of-gravity.
Armament: 1 Rail gun turret; 10 plasma cannons.
Mass: 90,036 tons
Height: 34 meters.
Beam: 19 meters.
Length: 117 meters.
Armor: Very poor
Speed: Good.
Crew: 34
MacArthur-class Frigate: The smallest ship in use by the Human navy, this occupies the role the Corvette would were it used by the navy - picket ship. The MacArthur class goes about, patrolling the perimeters of fleets and defense cordons, warding off any ships that don't belong there. In a full-scale engagement, the MacArthur class sits by the larger ships, providing an anti-fighter screen. This ship is shaped like a great rectangle, with small stubby wings coming off at the front. This is a common design amongst Humans. The MacArthur class itself is old, and its replacement is currently undergoing trials.
Armament: 2 Rail gun turrets (bottom of the wings); 12 plasma cannons.
Mass: 121, 452 tons.
Height: 29 meters.
Beam: (base) 40 meters (wings) 73 meters.
Length: 163 meters.
Crew: 81.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Good.
Iwo Jima-class Destroyer:
A rather old design of destroyer that has been updated through the years, The Iwo Jima is a very popular ship. It's replacement, which just entered production four years ago, had to be based off the same hull design as this one because of extreme demand by crews. The Iwo Jima is an amazing ship - it's very comfortable, reliable, sturdy, and very fast. Shaped like a good, three-dimensional rectangle with the prow slanting back, the engines slant forward at angle, with mounts coming off the bottom of the hull for plasma cannons. The odd look is one of the reasons it was so popular - it shed conformity.
Armament: 4 Rail Gun turrets; 28 plasma cannons; forward missile rack with 20 tubes.
Fighters: 6 on external racks (in between plasma mounts aft).
Mass: 377,921 tons.
Height: 49 meters.
Beam: 80 meters.
Length: 289 meters.
Crew: 200.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Very good.
Yamato-class Destroyer:
This is the replacement for the older Iwo Jima class Destroyer. A far newer and more effecient design, the Yamato also acted as a testbed for an enhanced reactor design - which is now being installed on all ships. The Yamato itself is better armed and shielded, although it has the same armor. It doesn't carry any fighters, though it does have more plasma cannons. While the Iwo Jima had engines that slanted, the Yamato has its engines in a more normal configuration, though the topside still sticks out further than the lower. Only a few of these ships are in service.
Armament: 5 Rail gun turrets; 32 Plasma cannons; 1 Ion cannon turret; forward missile rack with 18 tubes.
Mass: 411, 957 tons.
Height: 49 meters.
Beam: 81 meters.
Length: 300 meters.
Crew: 233
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Good.
Marauder-class Light-cruiser:
This is based off an extremely old design that proved so popular that they had to keep rebuilding it with new technology. The design itself is quite effecient - the same basic look as the MacArthur, but scaled up. The ship is a very sturdy, reliable cruiser - they've been known for taking some very serious damage and still surviving. Quite well armed for a ship of this size, it also has a decent docking bay, and fair speed too. This all came, however, at a price. The ship isn't very well armored. It has good shields, and the frame itself is sturdy, holding up quite well, but the armor is thin and rather penetrable.
Armament: 10 Rail gun turrets; 12 Plasma cannon; 2 forward missile racks with twenty tubes each; 2 Ion cannon turrets (dorsal mounted).
Fighters: Twelve in a bay.
Mass: 543, 699 tons.
Height: 35 meters.
Beam: (base) 49 meters (wings) 99 meters.
Length: 456 meters.
Crew: 500
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: Good.
Sentinel-class Light-Cruiser:
A rather different cruiser from the Maraduer, the Sentinel is an extremely overgunned ship for its size. This meant sacrifice of other systems - it's a slower ship, and still has thin armor, but other ships of this general size typically don't have this level of firepower. The ship is tall and narrow, with a small prow piece sticking off the front. An ugly design, the reason it was commisioned was to increase the firepower available to smaller fleets and groups without costing as much as a Heavy-cruiser. Still a fair investment, its future is in jeapordy as construction has focused on building the Heavy-cruisers it was meant to replace - as it turns out, they do the job much better.
Armament: 3 Ion cannon turrets (Prow mounted); 16 Rail gun turrets; 2 forward torpedo racks with 2 tubes each; 10 Plasma cannon; forward missile rack with 20 tubes.
Mass: 598,000 tons.
Height: 70 meters.
Beam: 20 meters.
Length: 471 meters.
Crew: 379.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Poor.
Progidy-class Heavy-cruiser:
One of the most common heavy ships out there, production in Human ships has recently focused on larger cruisers like these to handle the war efforts. Shaped almost exactly like the MacArthur-class, it is far larger and vastly better armed. Carrying a fair number of heavy weapons, it has very few smaller ones, used solely for point defense, and is not very fast either.
Armament: 8 Ion cannons; 4 forward torpedo racks with 4 tubes each; 48 Rail gun turrets; 10 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: 12 in a bay; 3 bombers.
Mass: 1, 134, 702 tons.
Height: 44 meters.
Beam: (base) 75 meters (wings) 133 meters..
Length: 842 meters.
Crew: 2, 044
Armor: Good.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: Fair.
Nosferaii:
Nosferaii ships: The Nosferaii are much different from Humans in their ships in that they are all very sleek, smooth ships. They appear to be extremely advanced - well, they are, but they also look extremely graceful and deadly.
There isn't a really set design pattern amonst the Nosferaii - a few designs are recycled, but even these are altered as scale and size changes. However, looks are only a very small part of what a ship is - their ships are quite well shielded and very well armed. They didn't maintain the largest empire in the galaxy for nothing. Like all the other races in the galaxy (except Humans), they lack Quantum drives.
The Nosferaii fleet in its current state is not a fleet ready for all-out war - the economy of their empire is ravaged, and another war would drive them six feet under. However, should they find this forge, hidden somewhere in the galactic core, they would be able to easily support a new war - in fact, they, they might even be able to win it...
Intra (Night)-class Corvette:
An extremely small patrol ship, the Intra class Corvette is used in much the same role as everyone else's - system defense. Planetary governments love these things, as they are cheap and capable of atmospheric flight. Lightly armed, they are blindingly fast - 20% the speed of light is quite helpful when chasing down smugglers. It is shaped like a modern-day F-16; it does have an extra fin, though, on the dorsal section.
Armament: 1 X-Ray laser cannon; 8 plasma cannons.
Mass: 81, 113 Vor (tons)
Height: 17 li (meters).
Beam: (base) 9 meters (wings) 27 meters
Length: 75 meters.
Crew: 7
Armor: Very poor.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Excellent.
Nige(Song)-class Frigate:
A very new ship design, the Nige-class Frigate is a favored picket ship amongst the Nosferaii. Commisioned during the cease-fire period as part of the effort to modernize the fleet (which at the time had still been relying on effective - though generation old - ships), the Nige is being rapidly deployed throughout Nosferaii space. Shaped relatively like a diamond, it is fairly armed and armored. It is also pretty fast as well. Built to showcase Nosferaii technology, there is very little that can compare to a Nige (within this size range, that is)
Armament: 3 Carbon lasers; 20 Plasma mortars.
Mass: 145, 984 vor (tons).
Height: 10 li (meters).
Beam: 45 meters.
Length: 200 meters.
Crew: 155.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Good.
Muge(Scream)-class Frigate:
A slightly larger Frigate than the newer Nige class, the Muge is a ship from the previous generation of technology. It was unique in mounting its Carbon lasers on turrets - typically in ships of this size, the weapons are on a fixed mount to save space. Wedge shaped (an extremely common design in the Nosferaii), the ship is armed with quite a few lasers and not many Plasma cannons. The ships flaw was its speed - it didn't have much engine power.
Armament: 2 Carbon laser turrets; 8 X-Ray lasers (fixed); 4 plasma cannons.
Mass: 149, 991 vor (tons).
Height: 15 li (meters).
Beam: 29 meters at widest point, 11 at narrowest.
Length: 220 meters.
Crew: 149.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below average.
Hullse(Blood)-class Destroyer:
A newer ship, this class was commisioned about 3 years before the cease-fire. Not quite of the lastest generation, it is nevertheless an extremely powerful Destroyer. It too is wedge shaped, although it has rather wavy rims (that is, the edge of the hull has some curves and waves on it, like a body-kit), giving it a stunning appearance. Well armed, it carries a Disruptor array - very rare on a ship this small.
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; missile rack with 18 tubes; 6 Carbon lasers; 2 X-Ray lasers; 24 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 400, 677 Vor (tons).
Height:19 Li (meters).
Beam: 41 meters at widest, 14 at narrowest.
Length: 291 meters.
Crew: 499.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Kliissh(Strider)-class Light-cruiser:
The latest in Nosferaii Light-cruisers, it combines aspects from both of the previous classes of Light-cruiser. It is fairly fast, well armed, armored, and can carry a fighter squadron. The shields are considered a bit thin by Nosferaii standards, but as far as everyone else's go (except for the Vilt), the shields are fine. Taking the diamond shape, it has a 'hump' on its dorsal surface while remaining flat on the bottom (like the Voyager from Star Trek).
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; forward missile rack with 20 tubes; 18 Carbon lasers; 10 X-Ray lasers; forward torpedo rack with 3 tubes; 16 plasma cannons.
Fighter: 12 in a bay.
Mass: 577, 229 Vor (tons).
Height: 27 meters.
Beam: 100 meters.
Length: 450 meters.
Crew: 521.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Glii(Wisdom)-class Light-cruiser:
One of the previous generations of cruiser, this ship is all but gone. A brief production run, followed by a lengthy campaign nearly eliminated all of their numbers. The ship's relatively poor performance was responsible for the loss of more lives than had been estimated, and as such the plan was to scrap the remaining fifty - the need for every single ship left in service is all that saved them. Well armed, but poorly armored and with slow speed, the name of this ovoid cruiser is ironic - much wisdom came out of its errors and foul-ups.
Armament: 3 Disruptor arrays; 22 Carbon lasers; 16 X-Ray lasers; 40 Plasma cannons; forward torpedo rack with 3 tubes.
Mass: 600, 001 Vor (tons).
Height: 41 Li (meters).
Beam: 67 meters.
Length: 502 meters.
Crew: 300.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below Average.
Tetll(Harke)-class Light-cruiser:
The other old light-cruiser employed by the Nosferaii, This one proved to be more effecient than the disastrous Glii class, despite being even older. Less armed, but better armored and shielded, the Tetll is a more traditional wegde shape, with waves similar to those on the Hullse-class. This ship was supposed to be replaced by the Glii, but as problems arose in development, the production of this class was increased. After the Glii failed in a bloody campaign, this old ship was forced to serve much longer while a replacement was found.
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; 18 Carbon lasers; 44 Plasma cannon; forward missile rack with 12 tubes.
Fighters: 12 in a bay.
Mass: 599,999 Vor (tons).
Height: 39 Li (meters).
Beam: 109 meters at widest, 23 at narrowest.
Length: 489 meters.
Crew: 503.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Bortras:
Bortras favor a style of hit-and-run; they prefer to get in, hit them hard, and get back out. Their ships are very well armed, and extremely fast and manuverable, but not well shielded or armored.
Given the minimal Bortras population, the most recent designs of ships have needed only a small crew due to a massive upgrade in their computer systems. This doesn't help their thinner hulls, as now they have fewer repair crews to deal with the damage they recieve. Although this does mean that they have a lot more ammunition for their torpedoes and missiles. Bortras only build a single hull style, adjusting only for scale. It looks like an alien destroyer from Wing Commander 5, for reference. Given their large physiology, they have extreme difficulty adapting any hull smaller than 200 meters to their great size. Therefore, the smallest ships they build are Destroyers.
The biggest reason that the Bortras want to avoid a war is that they have a very small population following en masse planetary bombardments. They are so good in fighting ground conflicts - thanks to their nigh impenetrable carapace - that they were simply bombed out. They want to find this 'forge' deep in the heart of the galaxy so they can access its cloning centers - that way they can resume full fledged construction of their warships to dominate the war.
note: Any Bortras flagship may be equipped with a cloaking device. Others may not unless specified.
Piiiv(Hammer)-class Destroyer:
The smallest ship in Bortras service, it is a brand-new design only 7 years old, equipped with the latest technology and computers. Considered one of the greatest designs they have ever made, it is extremely fast and well armed, with very little armor and weak shields. They are extremely common.
Armament: 10 Carbon lasers; 10 X-ray lasers; 34 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 389, 411 Gh (Tons).
Height: 34 Kgh (Meters).
Beam: 16 Meters.
Length: 250 meters.
Crew: 122.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Excellent.
Ghhhulll(Nightlord)-class Light cruiser:
Another brand-new design, this one only 3 years old, it is a well-seen ship. Given that a Destroyer can only do so much for a fleet, production of the Piiiv has dropped off to accomodate more of these larger, more effective ships. Armed enough to rival some smaller Heavy-cruisers, this is now quickly becoming the favored ship in the Bortras fleet.
Armament: 38 Carbon lasers; 22 X-Ray lasers; 3 forward torpedo racks with 4 tubes each; 1 forward missile rack with 18 tubes; 1 forward missile rack with 10 tubes; 12 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 567, 315 Gh (tons).
Height: 45 Kgh (meters).
Beam: 19 meters.
Length: 459 meters.
Crew: 100.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Very good.
Rrrfgy(Venerable)-class Light-cruiser:
An older class of Light-cruiser, this one is less well armed, but does carry fighters. Larger, slower, and less manuverable, it's still a fairly viable ship. It also has decent shields.
Armament: 26 Carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 5 forward torpedo tubes with 3 racks each; 2 forward missile racks with 15 tubes each; 10 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: twelve in a bay.
Mass: 599, 001 Gh (tons).
Height: 44 Kgh (meters).
Beam: 21 meters.
Length: 511 meters.
Crew: 344.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Fair.
Speed: Good.
Vilt:
Vilt ships: The Vilt build some of the deadliest ships in the galaxy, and yet, they don't run around conquering every race there is. They prefer peace to war.
Vilt design styles are graceful and appealing. They tend to take after birds for the basic appereances of their ships. The Vilt have developed extremely powerful and effective shield systems; their Destroyers have been known to withstand fire from a full-fledged alpha strike from a Heavy-cruiser without starting to fail. To help end any fights quickly, the Vilt's favored weapon is the torpedo - all of their ships carry a rack or two; they build very Corvette's because they can't carry torpedoes. All of their larger ships carry production centers for replenishing their stocks after a battle - smaller ships must wait and have their supply's restored only after the larger ships have filled up their own. These systems are limited; they can only build a few (depending on the size of the facility) torpedoes in about 3 minutes, but 50 missiles (the preffered secondary weapon) can be built in that same time period. Since that is a long time in a battle, when they run out of torpedoes, they're screwed.
The reason the Vilt want to secure this forge in the core is so that no other race will use it to wage war. Very races want to actually engage a Vilt ship in combat because of all the torpedoes, so they believe that by simply holding it no one will try to take it from them.
Sevare(Joy)-class Frigate:
An uncommon ship in Vilt space, the Sevare Frigate is used solely to provide cannon fodder for enemy ships and to hound and harass pirates. This is why very few are built - they are almost never used militarily and are only built by planetary governments for dealing with brigands. A cylinder with wings, it is capable of atmospheric flight, and is occasionally used to transfer diplomats from one planet to the other or to stations further out in space.
Armament: 1 X-ray laser; 5 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 80,000 Ayr (tons).
Height: 12 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 8 meters (wings) 24 meters.
Length: 77 meters.
Crew: 12.
Armor: Very poor.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Very good.
Delovey (Everlasting)-class Frigate:
The smallest military vessel the Vilt have used in their history, the Delovey is the only ship they've ever had (for actual military purposes) that wasn't torpedo equipped. It also isn't missile equipped - to save space for the HIS (Holographic Imaging System) these were ommited. This way, a larger ship can focus more of its energy on true combat systems and a fleet can still appear to be stronger than it really is. Very similar in shape to the Sevare, the only difference is the head angling downward like a hawk's beak.
Armament: H.I.S.; 4 Carbon lasers; 2 X-Ray lasers (wingtip mounted); 18 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 125, 998 Vyr (tons).
Height: 14 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 14 meters (wings) 38 meters.
Length: 166 meters.
Crew: 99.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: good.
Ayarai(Soul)-class Destroyer:
A very old design, these ships have been updated so well through the years that the only showing of their age are a few blemishes on the hull. A long cylinder with the wings sweeping backwards, the Ayarai-class is a very common ship. Well armed, it is one of the few ships of this class (across all races, actually) that actually carries fighters on external racks.
Armament: 1 forward torpedo rack with 2 tubes; 13 carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 26 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: 6 on external racks (three on the trailing edge of each wing)
Mass: 302, 437 Ayr (tons).
Height: 20 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 19 meters (wings) 50 meters.
Length: 322 meters.
Crew: 455.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Excellent.
Speed: Good.
Selnayre(Ambassador)-class Light-cruiser:
The smallest ship to carry a production facility in it, these are actually rare ships. As the Vilt prefer large ships for the amount of torpedoes they can carry, smaller ships like these are looked down upon. Nevertheless, they know they are important ships, and so they build a few to 'fill out the ranks'. A good, sturdy ship, these have been more common than past Light-cruisers. It shares the same shape with the Ayari-class, just scaled up.
Armament: H.I.S.; 4 forward torpedo racks with 3 tubes each; 4 forward missile racks with 18 tubes each (2 per wing); 40 Plasma cannons; 5 Carbon lasers.
Mass: 400, 831 Ayr (tons)
Height: 25 Lyje (meters)
Beam: (base) 29 meters (wings) 115 meters.
Length: 499 meters.
Crew: 756.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Excellent.
Speed: Above average.
Selketh:
Selketh ships: When the Selketh build ships, they build them in a very odd manner - tall, long, and narrow. They aren't all that well equipped either.
Selketh design has always been one that favors subtlety, and cunning, and because of this, their ships appear to be almost pathetic. They aren't that well armed, and their shields have never been any good. But don't let that fool you - the Selketh have very good armor, and almost all of their ship carry Ion cannons. They're also quite fast and manuverable.
The reason the Selketh want the forge system in the center of the galaxy is so that they can take revenge on the Humans for humiliating them - with very few ships, they can't exactly afford to go running around picking fights with everyone they meet. This forge system might be able to help with all of that...
Grus(Shark)-class Corvette:
A very tiny little ship, these are very common, no thanks to the Humans, who prevented them from making anything much larger. Surprisingly well loaded for a Corvette, they can handle anything in their size and in groups will cause larger ships to sweat.
Armament: 1 Carbon laser; 3 X-ray lasers; 12 Plasma cannon.
Mass: 100,001 F'del (tons)
Height: 35 Klen (meters)
Beam: 12 meters.
Length: 150 meters.
Crew: 20.
Armor: Fair.
Shields: Very poor.
Speed: Very good.
Harlide (Cannon)-class Frigate:
Also fairly common, also thanks to the Humans, these are more to the Selketh style. Not much better armed than the Grus, these are used in the numbers they are because their only Destroyer class is still undergoing trials.
Armament: 3 Carbon lasers; 2 X-ray lasers; 14 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 199, 955 F'del (tons)
Height: 39 Klen (meters)
Beam: 18 meters.
Length: 220 meters.
Crew: 133.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Very poor.
Speed: Good.
Klift (Claw)-class Light-cruiser:
This is where the Selketh start packing their Ion cannons. It has a rather modest armament aside from the Ions, but it is armored in line with the next class up in starship, and still pretty quick.
Armament: 4 Ion cannons; 14 Carbon lasers; 40 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 411; 546 F'del (tons)
Height: 52 Klen (meters).
Beam: 22 meters.
Length: 399 meters.
Crew: 299.
Armor: Good.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Good.
N'rak:
N'rak ships: The N'rak have a reputation for being demons - they design their society and building to fit this image.
Very bizzare and alien (think Shivans from Freespace), these ships are extremely hard to stop. Between the thick armor and great firepower, Most people prefer to shy away from these ships. Their shields are on par with the Humans, and their engines are only slightly behind them. They are very balanced ships.
The N'rak want this forge-system for the 'ultimate mission', as their emperor calls it - they want to destroy and/or enslave all other races in the galaxy. That's it.
Gelmuur (Blood-axe)-class Frigate:
As the N'rak have no Corvette's, they simply build up these. Very nice ships, they look a lot like a modern day navy ship - except for the back-slanting prow and the three rings that run through and around the hull. Very dangerous within this size class, they normally are seen in groups of three, where they generally are capable of bring down light-cruisers.
Armament: 8 Carbon lasers; 3 X-ray lasers; 24 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 222, 656 Aor (tons).
Height: (base) 15 J'int (meters) (rings) 39 J'int (meters)
Beam: (base) 13 meters (rings) 24 meters
Length: 210 meters.
Crew: 113.
Armor: Fair.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Above average.
Nish'kar (Star-Sword)-class Destroyer:
One of the better smaller ships in N'rak possession, this one has unfortunately weak engines. Well armed for this particular class of ship, it is a fairly common one as well, due in part to its age. It looks rather boxy, with spikes and rods coming off it in random and peculiar directions.
Armament: 14 Carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 1 forward missile rack with 25 tubes; 22 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 370,547 Aor (tons).
Height: 19 J'int (meters).
Beam: 24 meters.
Length: 347 meters.
Crew: 396.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below average.
L'flthot (Maul)-class Destroyer:
A newer class of Destroyer, it has only been in production for three years; thus, there aren't that many of them as larger ships are being built. It is still a superior ship to the Nish'kar. Shaped much more rectangular, it still has the spikes, fins, and rods coming off it in all directions. It has much better engines than the Nish'kar, with slightly superior weapons.
Armament: 16 Carbon lasers; 13 X-ray lasers; 2 forward mssile racks with 18 tubes each; 28 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 379, 356 Aor (tons).
Height: 14 J'int (meters)
Beam: 36 meters.
Length: 350 meters.
Crew: 411.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Average.
Hishh'ga (Fiend)-class Light-cruiser:
Another old design, the replacement for this one is just now undergoing trials. It's still a decent design, but by modern standards its engines and shields are weak. Not a very common ship, it still marches onward, doing whatever task it is given. The ship is just plain ugly - think 'Taiidan Destroyer' and you'll start to get the idea of what it looks like.
Armament: 3 Forward torpedo racks with 2 tubes each; 24 Carbon lasers; 16 X-ray lasers; 1 Forward missile rack with 25 tubes; 50 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 593, 968 Aor (tons)
Height: 45 J'int (meters).
Beam: 36 meters
Length: 531 meters.
Crew: 700.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Fair.
Agh - I think I need to start adding some ships in. Here goes...
The Story
In the year 3089, Humanity finally did what they had never thought possible - they broke the barrier of the speed of light. With a great effort, the first ship in Human history finally found a way past all the limitations of Einstein's physics and discovered a way to travel beyond that of the speed of light. Humanity's meager empire - one that covered the entire solar system, but not a meter farther - was finally able to travel beyond the stars, expanding upon the galaxy and introducing themselves onto the galactic scene.
Unfortunately for them, they discovered that indeed, they were not the only race to find existence. As it turned out, they were latecomer's into galactic politics - upstarts, newbloods, and also as it turned out, technologically inferior.
From the start, they were plagued by problem after problem. It was over thirty years before Humanity began to earn any kind of respect among the other galactic powers, and even then only a few of the weaker empires were the ones that gave it. Humanity struggled hard to find a place for itself, only to find that there wasn't one without a fight. Nevertheless, they certainly tried.
After one hundred years, mankinds first trial by fire came to them. Looking for an easy conquest, one of the stronger powers - the Selketh - engaged in open warfare with the Humans. In a bitter and bloody war that lasted for four years, war came to the galaxy so brutal that entire worlds were annihilated. In the end, Human resolve and an incredible instinct for survival turned the tide of the war in its third year. With only two planetary systems left in their direct control - Sol and Corinth - Humanity launched a massive counter-offensive with every ship in their fleet. They were still outnumbered 17 to 1. The only thing that evened the odds were weapons of mass destruction. Deploying nuclear and anti-matter weapons by the hundreds, entire fleets and bases were wiped out; even planets were not spared their wrath, the worst of which was the planet Junyo, which was rendered inhabitable for the next century. In the end, the Selketh surrendered to the Humans rather than die. But the war was so costly the Selketh could not recover, and even the Human empire took forty years to restore.
But this was not the end of the Human's troubles. If anything, while garnering some modest respect for at least their power, all of the other races started hating them even more. While before most civilians had just been harrased, now Humans were beaten; the women sold as slaves, the children indoctrinated as laborers, and the men killed outright. All of this occured outside of Human territory, and despite all of their efforts, they could do nothing to stop the other races aside from ban all non-military from leaving Human controlled space. Very, very few people complained about this law.
Around five hundred years after the Selketh war, the Humans earned yet more hatred against them. Until this point (about 3691) all races and empires had used the same basic form of faster-than-light travel - hyperdrive. However, the Humans had discovered how to fully immerse their ships in subspace - they were completely cloaked; they could sit in subspace as long as they wanted, and were entirely undetected, even though they could see happenings around them. They also found that in subspace they were moving over 8 times as fast as a ship using hyperdrive. The only reason other races didn't simply outright attack them was that Human merchants (who had always been fair; never overpricing and never cheating) were now the most reliable transporters and couriers in the galaxy. As much as people hated the Human race, they were willing to open trade relations simply because they were fast and fair.
Of course, such a peace as the galaxy then had is only fated to last for a short while. Not 15 years after Humans discovered full subspace travel did the Galactic Federated Council - a conglomeration of 90% of the races in the galaxy, barring Humans and a few others, whose sole purpose was to provide a place to work out their differences and inforce interstellar law - began to finally degenrate. The races began fighting for more power in the council; first it was only politically, but then finally their militaries came into question. Once that happened, things were bound to go straight down the hole.
At first, the two largest powers - the Nosferaii and the Bortras - were the only ones in conflict, but within months almost half the Council was fighting at least border skirmishes. Months after that, the entire galaxy decended into the seventh Galactic War. It might have been the first one the Humans ever saw, but it was more than enough. Amazingly, the Humans didn't even see action until almost three years after it officially became the seventh Galactic War. They immediately wished they hadn't gotten involved.
The war was easily the worst that had been. This was a war used to carry aggressions that had been building since the millenia since the last Galactic War. Entire planets were destroyed, and indeed in one case an entire solar system was wiped out - ironically, for not getting involved. The destruction of civilian targets became common practice for many navies, and it wasn't unheard for an entire species to be annihilated (though it was mercifully rare). The only reason the Humans ever survived the war at all was because of their subspace drives - they could immediately hide an entire fleet, and move fast enough to counter-attack any target. Unfortunately, several times they were forced to attack civilian targets. At one point, just to stop the attacks on a beleaguered system with almost no military presence, a lone ship was sent to their homeworld, and used its engines to ignite the planets' atmosphere.
Such attacks and attrocities were carried out for almost a century. Ninety-eight years went by before most surviving peoples were simply to strained to carry on the fighting any further. Even then, it was not an end to the war. This was a war of pure hatred. They couldn't stop just yet. Most races simply called a cease-fire, and now they are sitting there, just slowly trying to repair damage to their planets and rebuild their battered forces.
This RP begins now. It has been three years since the cease-fire was called. Three painstaking, miserable years. The aggression has been restoked, the fleets replenished, the troops raised and trained. All that now needs to happen is for the slightest incident to spark, and the war will surely resume. The remaining senior staff are few, but there are plenty of young officers out there, with no experience and plenty of ego waiting to be bolstered, or shattered...
The Situation
The current situation is this - all 6 races are in a state of turmoil. With not much military might remaining with any side, the war seems to be futile - and yet they cannot stop fighting. There is, however, one thing that may yet prove to be capable of bring down the war...
In the Sixth Galactic War, there were several races that were destroyed completely. Now they are nothing more than a memory. However one race left behind a legacy... This particular race was utterly annihilated by the N'rak, who created a genetic plague that turned their DNA into sludge. However, before they were annihilated in this manner, they were faced with being destroyed by military might. Thus, they created a last bastion of defense in the galactic core - a planetary system, somehow thriving amidst the hell fire of the dense black holes. It was a volcanic system - every planet was covered in magma and volcanoes spewing it forth. With virtually unlimited resources, the system was turned into a massive forge, complete with a cloning center to create troops to man the 7,000 ships that could be built every year. This system would have turned the tide of the war in their favor, had it not been for the N'rak.
The Selketh later went into their home system, and found rumors and half-completed documents, detailing a final redoubt in the galactic core, only mentioning that it would build hundreds of full fledged fleets in a single decade. Once rumors began to circulate, every race tried to find this system, to no avail. In the clusters of black holes, hundreds of thousands of scouts were lost. Eventually, everyone gave up, claiming it was only a rumor spread to waste resources.
But now, there is 'proof' that there is indeed a great forge located deep in the core. Now, in a great, desperate situation, almost every remaining empire is sending an expedition deep into the galactic core, while attempting to maintain a face of innocence and have all appereances say that nothing special is happening. But such a charade cannot be kept up forever, and with so many expeditions being launched, some are bound to come into conflict...
[Rules]
I have only a few rules, and i'm sure you've all heard them before. Nevertheless, here they are.
1: There is to be NO powerplaying on this boardwar. I have a two-strike rule. First time, I make you edit your post. Second time, you are done. It's that simple. I do not tolerate power playing at all.
2: Unless given permission, I would rather not have anyone being in more than one other boardwar. You can ask me, but I do have the right to refuse you. This is not to be greedy, selfish, rude, insulting, or anything else in any way. A fresh mind provides a better story. It's that simple And it reduces the chances of mixing up any names and characters.
3: No AOL speak. If you can't spell the word 'you', then don't even bother. I would also appreciate some punctuation, but if I must, then it's negotiable.
4: I don't mind if you make up a name for some other species other than the ones that I will list/have listed (and i'll make a full list here tomorrow), but do not infringe on any copyrights. That makes life a real hassle, and if you keep doing it then i'll have to axe kick your poor little head.
5: I will provide a list of accepted technology (including fleet classes, ship class names, and relative sizes). I don't want someone going off of this list and inventing a 'Nova Deathray Turboblaster' or some such other crap. You'll have a very broad range of techno crap to choose from, and i'd really appreciate you guys sticking to what is canon here. Again, if you make something up that's absolutely horrid, i'll to bust out that axe kick.
6: I will be playing as senior officers (like the overlord of the fleet or something), as well as planetary governments. This is just to make things easier on you guys, as well as giving me something to do other than be mean and do whatever else that moderators get to do. Also, to make it more realistic, rather than PM'ing me for every big plan you want to do (if it involves several players, then go ahead and PM me before you start it), you can go ahead and ask fleet command in the RP. This'll hopefully make it more interesting.
7: For now, I have no exact storyline - this means that we'll just try to introduce characters, and i'll let the players come up with some sort of action plotline for them to follow. You'll have 6 empires to choose from to play with, so you'll have plenty of chances to let out their aggression. This is just a long cease-fire - there's plenty of war still to be had.
7a: Right now this is just the point in a war where we all just fight a few skirmishes. When you start, you start as a fleet captain (individual empire rank names will be decided) in command of up to 12 ships. I'll let you know when you can increase the size of your fleet. You can also fight a ground action if you wish - though you're limited to about 50,000 men. Again, i'll let you know when you can go up a step.
7b: Any use of weapons of mass destruction (anti-matter bombs, igniting a planet's atmosphere; they'll all be listed) has to be authorized by fleet command. Even when they lit a planet's atmosphere aflame, the Humans were still using it as as last resort. I don't want you guys starting off bombing your enemies homeworld into dust.
8: As far as names go, anything will really go for Humans- i'm not restricting it to just insane, crazy names that haven't been seen since the Bible; i'll let you name people Billy. But if I see an alien with a distinctly Human name (Billy, Bob, Ed, etc etc etc) I will make you change it for the sake of realism and sanity.
9: Have fun.
The racesHumans: It took several millenia before Humanity ever had the technology to simply reach space - it was almost a century and-a-half before they started colonizing other worlds. And even then, it was still close to another thousand years before they were able to reach the speed of light. They quickly colonized several systems, but found that they were not alone. Technologically several steps behind the rest of the galaxy, they were hounded and harrassed. Virtually all of the other races in the galaxy hated them, simply because they were there. Humanity doesn't necissarily hate any other race out there, but they do fear them and their hating ways.
Their navy is a respected one, and most races will tolerate Human merchants - only because they're reliable and fair. Human women are quite valued as slaves, children were used as laborers, and men were used as target practice. In response, the Human military banned all civilian travel from their space and stepped up military production to defend their borders. As a result, even now, in their devastated state, their borders are virtually impregnable.
Two systems remain under Human control - Sol and Corinth. They are within extremely close proximity (especialyl due to subspace), which is why the two remain in relatively good condition. All of the planet's in the Corinth system are named after famous military officers. Fleet command orbits Neptune in Sol. A massive station that is 10.7 miles long, it is capable of producing any ship ever designed, the fighters to stock it's bays, and still make the transports to supply the remaining empire. It is defended by Skull wing (actually 2 wings of 144 fighters each) and 15 capital ships in addition to its own guns.
Controlled systems: Sol(9); Corinth(7).
Capital: Earth-Sol(duh- 3rd planet).
Primary industrial centers: Venus-Sol; Vargas-Corinth; Santra-Corinth.
Agricultural worlds: Earth-Sol; McKinley-Corinth.
Fleet command: Vulcan Point-Neptune-Sol.
Nosferaii: These people were easily the most powerful in the Galactic Federated Council before its downfall - the only race that could challenge them was the Bortras, and even they weren't strong enough. The Nosferaii and possibly two other, minor races (both of which have very little power) are the only ones that have genuine respect for Humans, and made a secret alliance with them about a decade before the seventh Galactic War.
The Nosferaii hail from Nosferre - a class M planet with roughly 13% greater mass than Earth. The entire planet is blanketed with radiation. It has been this way since they have been a people, and will be this way ever more. As a result of the dense radiation, they have adapted to over come - their eyes are pure black, and can see along infrared and ultraviolet spectrums in addition to the normal ranges; they have great, purple lines - almost like scars - running along their bodies that filter out excess radiation; and most other types of radiation do not harm them. However, their homeworld is the only planet in their territory with that kind of biosphere. After many generations, many Nosferaii who are born on other worlds begin to lose their scars and the straight black eyes, and as a result cannot visit Nosferre.
The Nosferaii empire has been luckier than most throughout the war - they currently retain full control 5 of their original 122 planetary systems. The others still have a Nosferaii populace for the most part, but not any military presence aside from planetary guards, and several have declared themselves independant. Part of the Nosferaii plan in this second stage of the war is to begin resecuring their lost systems. Unfortunately, given their ravaged economy, it might be some time before they can carry out these plans.
Controlled systems: Nosferre(5); Bartuk(11); Mahgee(7); Dreheil(6); Nicktris(9).
Capital: Nosferre-Nosferre(1st planet).
Primary industrial centers: Kentor-Mahgee; Siptraaa-Dreheil; Spenture-Dreheil; Crthrey-Nosferre
Agricultural worlds: The entire Bartuk system; Nosferre-Nosferre.
Fleet command: Rapier station-Nosferre-Nosferre.
Bortras: This insectoid species was the second most powerful in the Galactic Federated council. They never had the strength to challenge the Nosferaii, despite their best attempts. In the opening conflicts of the war, they were proven to be inferior, but they tended to deploy underhanded tactics to prevent them from being too overwhelmed. Shortly thereafter, several races began to attack the Nosferaii, taking enough pressure off of them that they could breathe again.
The species is insectoid, and they do have wings, but they are not capable of flight. They are far too heavy to fly, but they can make a mighty impressive noise. The more wings a Bortras has, the more he is respected. The current Grand Overlord has 15 pairs of wings, though the record stands at 35 pairs. The average creature has 2 pairs of wings. Bortraii are massive creatures; the smallest recorded being was still 2.37 meters tall, and on average they are 3.9 meters tall. Females tend to be quite slender, but are just as tall and equally strong. They are protected by an extremely strong carapace that is capable of repelling all but the most determined fire. In the few ground skirmishes they fought with Humans, only their vehicles and heavy-weapons teams ahd enough power to penetrate their shells. The race has an extremely strong predator's instincts, but they do not run around calling all their enemies 'prey', and do not go out on their hunting down anyone. They are simply extremely agressive and have a natural instinct for tracking.
They have been an extremely unlucky race in the war, being subject to planetary bombardment en masse so that others could avoid ground combat. They retain nominal control of two planetary systems, but there are only two other systems with a known Bortras populace. They have a horribly reduced population, and can only maintain a relatively modest fleet at the expense of a minimal army. Nevertheless, their fleets are still feared and respected throughout the galaxy.
Controlled systems: Liirrrkth(8); Brrrthjg(8).
Capital: Bors-Liirrrkth (8th planet).
Primary industrial worlds: Innvvv-Liirrrkth; Grrre-Brrrthjg.
Agricultural worlds: Bllch-Liirrrkth.
Fleet command: Bors-Liirrrkth.
Selketh: This was the first race that the Humans ever fought a sustained conflict with. The results of that conflict were drastic - they went from having an empire that garnered respect from the Bortras (an amazing feat), to having a single system with a military that was so limited they could barely police themselves. All to a race that was inferior in almost every way. Worse was the Humans stole some of the Selketh's technology, and worse still was that they refined and improved it. The Selketh were humiliated.
Humanoid, the Selketh have a few distinct differences in apperance. First is that they don't have hands - they have a set of three-'fingered' claws on each arm. They also have a large ridge running from their necks down their backs. They are about twice as strong as the average Human, but prefer subtle assassination and deceit to actual warfare. This doesn't mean they are weak, but the preference to avoiding combat is reflected in their designs.
During the war, the Selketh saw very little action. Most of the time they were ignored - due in part to the fact that because they were limited to just a few ships, they built massive numbers of turrets and stationary guns to defend themselves with. When the Humans were forced to pull their ships out of the sole system in their possesion, they finally began to earnestly advance their technology and build up their fleets, while others impaled themselves upon their defenses. Only in the last few years of the war did they truely engage in combat - only to test their latest generation of ships, as the rest of the time they were trying to make up for all the technological advancements they had lost due to Human intervention.
Controlled systems: Forn(7)
Capital: Selk-Forn (2nd planet).
Primary industrial worlds: All but one planet.
Agricultural worlds: Ghore-Forn.
Fleet command: Trenj Sigma (a moon orbiting Trenj, the third planet).
Vilt: This species was known for its neutrality. They wre among the best negotiators and politicians in the entire Galactic Federated Council. Most people thought they had no military, but their strength was proven in the sixth Galactic War. They had always tried to stay neutral, but when attacked the defended themselves with such a passion that it was often described as insanity and lunacy.
The Vilt are Humanoid, and resemble what some people would call an 'angel'. Internally is where the biggest difference lies - They have four lungs (two 'regular ones, and two smaller ones), and they have two hearts; one in the chest, and another located in the hips. This second heart is small, but it does help greatly with the one external difference between the two peoples (Human and Vilt). Vilt have great, bird like wings, which they can use to fly. They often wear only robes, and all their clothes have little slits cut in them to allow the wings to come out.
In the war, they did their best to try and hold things together and to mediate between other races - but to little avail. Their biggest success was in buying time for the population of Drel'chor 6 to evacuate from a wave of Ingor ships. However, the Ingor were later to be exterminated by the Bortras - something the Vilt could not prevent. The few attacks that were made against the Vilt were swept away with such ease that many people think that they are Gods in more than just appearance; many think they are immortal and have technology that only heaven could send. This is not true, but the Vilt have not discouraged such rumors, hoping that they would help to prevent any attacks against them. Their current plan is to head out and try to bring to a halt any further conflict, and to try to restore the Galactic Federated Council. They hope to prevent any further bloodshed.
Controlled systems: Vournge(9); Linge(8) (that's all they've ever had, and ever needed)
Capital: Vournge Prime (4th planet)
Primary industrial centers: Vournge 5
Agricultural centers: Linge 3; Vournge 3; Vournge Prime; Linge 6.
Fleet command: Vournge 1.
N'rak: This race is one that has harbored such aggressions toward Humans that ever since their discovery they've operated a slave trade in their women. Easily the most hating race out there, the only race they respect is the Bortras - and that's only because they've been beaten by them in numerous wars. They still hate them, but it's still possible to hate someone and yet respect them. It's hard, but possible.
In stark contrast to the Vilt, this race appears almost demonic. They are massive, extremely well muscled, and have raging tempers - but only to other races. They are xenophobic in the extreme, but very tolerant of their own kind. Their fingers all end in talons that can rend steel like it was flesh; their teeth are all long, pointed and sharp, and are venomous; and they also have four arms. Their skin is extremely thick, and block fair-sized rounds from Human weapons, but they are no where near as solid as a Bortras carapace.
In the war, they took their time, slowly picking apart at other navies and fleets, and then launching one massive, all-out strike that would destroy an entire army in one blitzkreig campaign. They were notorious for bombarding and destroying entire planets - especially those that were under Bortras control -, and destroyed at least 3 entire species. They had wished to destroy Humans, but a lone Dreadnought slipped through subspace, past all of their defense networks, and ignited the atmosphere of their homeworld. Subsequent strikes by Nosferaii, Ingor, and half-a-dozen others whittled their territory away, and it was some time before they rallied and were able to stop the attacks. They very strongly want revenge against Humans for destroying their homeworld (a beautiful planet, if you're Gothic and/or like that sort of stuff...), and also want to destroy the Vilt, simply because they don't like their looks and their attitudes. To each his own...
Controlled systems: B'rak(6[formerly 7]); S'rek(10); C'll(5).
Capital: O'wke-C'll
Primary industrial world: The entire C'll system; L'ark-B'rak.
Agricultural centers: S'rek-S'rek; X'rot-S'rek.
Fleet Command: O'wke S'larn (A moon orbiting O'wke)-C'll.
[Tech]
Technology: I figured this might be better off first, as then thigns that you'll see in the warships section won't seem as odd. Here goes.
Structural Integrity Generators (Belongs to everyone): This is a simple one - being out in a vacuum for extended periods, hard manuvering, generating internal gravity with none outside you; all these and more have a very nasty affect on a ship's hull. Therefore, these little devices were invented to prevent the frame from wearing from the stresses of everyday activity/
Shields (Belongs to everyone): These are the epitome of defensive technology - they absorb and/or reflect incoming weapons fire so that they won't damage the hull. Shields typically work better on energy weapons than projectile weapons, but will still stop most of them before they make their mark. Shield generators project fields of energy around ten meters or so away from the hull. The generators are normally quite reliable, but depending on how well they are built, how much power they have, and how much fire they are taking depends on how long it will be before they fail. The quality of these generators varies - Humans have fairly nice shields, but the Selketh's shields are notorious for being of poor quality, normally only taking a few bursts before sputtering and failing. The Vilt have the best shields in known existence - they've been known to withstand full-yield nuclear weapons and even stave off most the blast from smaller anti-matter warheads. Theirs are only susceptible to EM pulses; most races have that technology, but given the enormous energy required before it has effect on a military vessel, they are almost never carried.
Engines (belongs to everyone): Naturally, these devices are how people move along in space. The type of engine varies greatly between each race, but the most common types are Plasma engines and Ion engines. After centuries and even millenia of space travel, these engines have developed a very high level of efficiency, and can go for many years without needing refueling. Humans have spent many centuries developing Ion engines. The problem with Ion engines is that thye have rather poor acceleration - Humans eventually developed what is known as an expansion chamber, into which the fuel is pumped and charged, even when the engines are not in use. When fired up, this 'primed' fuel has vastly superior qualities, making the ship accelerate faster and travel faster. It takes a few seconds for fuel to move between each of the six stages chamber and become 'primed', but once it gets going, it flows much smoother. No one else has this expansion chamber. The Selketh simply use a Plasma engine as a secondary in all of their ships, igniting it in time with their Ions to improve acceleration - but it isn't as good as an expansion chamber. On the plus side, it gives the Selketh greater control in confined space, such as a shipyard or asteroid field.
Disruptors (Belongs to Nosferaii): This is a most unique weapon. It operates by contracting and then expanding the target's atoms 1,000 times per second (I had an explanation for it, but now I can't remember it). The result is catastrophic damage to the target - the immediate area of impact is weakened almost immediately to the point that it will possibly collapse, and the area around the initial blast will be horribly weakened as well, letting even the weakest blast destroy with ease. A few sprays from this - in theory - will weaken a ship to the point it will collapse in on itself. The weapon is, however, flawed - the rate of fire is quite low, as it takes a long time to prepare each shot; they are absolutely worthless against shields; and the affected are is not as great as it may seem. Gunships and Frigates are almost helpless against this kind of weapon, as it only takes around two shots to cripple the hull. It takes does, however, take 35 seconds to fire two shots, and there's no garuntee that it will even hit - the pulse is dodgeable. (Class: Heavy weapon)
Rail Gun (belongs to everyone, but generally only seen on Human ships): This is the first weapon designed by Humans that was effective in space. The extremely high speeds they can achieve in an atmosphere are multiplied by a factor of twenty-fold. The impact is extremely powerful and devastating. Originally, Humans ships used a single, massive rail cannon that fired a shell weghing about 15 tons, but as engine technology progressed, and missiles proved to be dodgeable and susceptible to interference, they switched to a 16-inch quad-barreled turret as a primary weapon. It fires a 150 pound shell at a speed almost 80% that of light. Alien ships rarely use these, preffering energy weapons. (Class: Medium weapon)
Laser cannons (Belongs to everyone, though Humans don't use them much): 'Laser weapon' is a very broad term, as there are hundreds of kinds of lasers. However, the most common ones are X-Ray lasers and Carbon lasers, as they have proven to be most effective in a combat situation. These weapons are not all that powerful anymore, having been outclassed long ago by other types of weapons, but still have a place as a secondary weapon or as a weapon on defensive satellites and space stations. These are the only uses that Humans have applied to them. In this case, the weapons have much more energy to draw on, as a space station doesn't need to power any engines. An X-Ray laser does have more power than a Plasma cannon does, while a Carbon laser is about on-par with a Rail gun. (Class: Light [X-Ray] to Medium [Carbon] weapon)
Missiles (Belongs to everyone): These are lightweight weapons that travel with extreme speed and accuracy, but not a lot of power. Most races use these as a backup weapon, or on their defensive satellites. Missiles used to by the primary weapons of Humans, but they weren't very accurate back then, and were far more susceptible to interception. Nowadays, missiles are blindingly fast and accurate, but still are susceptible to jamming and still don't have a serious punch. The Vilt use them to complement their torpedoes. These are very commonly put on fighters as a way to damage larger ships, but these are even smaller and only effective against the smallest classes of ships and transports. (Class: Light weapon)
Torpedoes (Belogns to everyone): These are the most common heavy weapons in existence. Everyone has the basics - an extremely large tube with an engines, guidance system, and a very, very large warhead. Where missiles are small and used to overwhelm shields and other defenses, torpedoes are meant to annihilate. The warheads used by Humans are standard (with a yield of 10 megatons) and nuclear fusion (With a yield of 90 megatons). Most other races use a standard yield of about 15-20 megatons. There are certain specialty warheads and yields, but I haven't come up with those yet. Torpedoes are the favored weapon of the Vilt - in fact, it is their standard weapon. To avoid running out of them, the Vilt have placed manufacturing centers in all their ships to replenish torpedo and missile stocks. (Class: Heavy weapon)
Plasma Cannons (Belongs to everyone): These are very simple weapons - they use superheated plasma to do their damage. These weapons are inherently short ranged and don't do much damage. In modern times, these weapons have been relegated to defensive duty - they are normally placed around a ships engines to protect them from fighters and missiles. They run off of reactor waste normally. They can easily be placed anywhere on the ship, but the lines to feed the reactor waste can be quite complex after a distance. All military ships have these around their engines - no exceptions. Plasma grenades are simply metal sheaths containing Plasma in a magnetic shield - few ships are armed with these mortars, though they are slightly stronger than standard cannons. Plasma missile are similar, but much larger. Class: Light weapon)
Ion Cannons (Belongs to Selketh and Humans): This weapon was originally invented by the Selketh, and later stolen by Humans in their four-year war. This weapon is an evolution of Plasma weapons - the Plasma is ionized, greatly increasing the range of the weapon as well as the damage. It is increased to the point of being a heavy weapon. Because of their experince with similar technology, Humans were able to apply the expansion chamber to Ion cannons, enabling them to fire six pulses with an output increased by 30%. The rate of fire does drop off, however, as the ionized Plasma must enter the chambers to primed. Because of this drop off, larger Human ships tend to carry multiple banks of Ion cannons. The Selketh do not have an expansion chamber, but the weapon is still deadly, and they have a faster rate of fire - by about 3 seconds.
Hyperdrive (Belongs to everyone, though not used by Humans): This is the ever-classic example of faster-than-light travel. It works by forcefully immersing the ship part-way between normal space and subspace, where the ship can travel at a speed vastly greater than the speed of light. The only problem is that it uses great force, drawing a lot of power, and being pretty detectable by the great rips it leaves behind it. By the very nature of subspace, these rips are sealed, but are very evident.
Quantum drive (Belongs to Humans): This is entirely different from the regular Hyperdrive. Hyperdrive forces a ship into subspace - this is nasty business. Quantum drive, however, operates more like a transporter, stripping down a ships atoms and reorganizing them in subspace. The appereance this gives is like that of watching a ship cloak. The front part of the ship goes first, working its way down to the back. This process draws only about 10% less power than Hyperdrive (that's still a lot, for reference, but a marked improvement), but it takes only a few seconds - even a Zeus-class battleship that's 8 kilometers long takes about a mere 9 seconds to fully immerse itself in subspace. In subspace, a ship is exponentially faster than a ship in 'hyperspace'; a trip that might take 24-25 hours in hyperspace only takes about 19 minutes in full subspace. Also, a ship is completely invisible, and also doesn't have to keep moving like a ship would in hyperspace. They can just sit there, completely sheltered. They can also reorganize themselves anywhere, as was proven when they destroyed the N'rak's homeworld.
Cloak (Belongs to Bortras): This device was the epitome of stealth technology before Humanity discovered full subsapce (And how they do it is a secret guarded with their lives), but even now cloaks are still very effective. The Bortras design is easily the best - other races have tried to create one, but none have had much luck with it. The Bortras design works by refracting light, and also refracting sensor beams. The ship therefore, is invisible to both the naked eye and sensors. The device doesn't actually consume all that much power; they can still fire and use their shields through the cloak. What keeps them from putting one on everyship is the cost - these things are extremely expensive to build. Therefore, only a few ships are equipped with them. Another problem is that using beam weapons through them is rather pointless - it gives away ones position. The Bortras were forced to start installing Rail cannons and further stocks of missiles and torpedoes upon those ships that were gifted with the device.
Holographic Imaging System (Belong to Vilt): The Vilt are not known for their aggression - they have always preffered to find peaceful solutions for their problems. When they do fight, they are tenacious. But even in the most dire situation, they will not fire first. To help encourage their enemies to do the same (not fire first), they developed this imaging system. What it does is project images of other Vilt ships off the hull. These ships can be projected as far as eight hundred kilometers away from the ship. These ships appear to be real to enemy sensors - the only difference that is noticeable is that their weapons don't do any damage. However, given that any given Vilt ship can project and fully control about 20 battlecruiser sized hulls, they're intimidating enough to convince most enemies to surrnder or to retreat.
Black Cannon (Belongs to N'rak): This is yet another reason to fear the demons. The black cannon is possibly their most deadly contraption yet. It fires a wave of negative energy that will have an adverse affect on almost every system on a ship. Life support systems will suddenly suck the air out of a ship; engines pressing forward will go into reverse, lurching the ship about before the circuts are completely fired, making the victims hapless listing about all the worse. Worse is that it may possibly reverse the structural integrity generators on a starship, thus destroying the vessel entirely. It has a fe wdrawbacks, the worst of which is such a massive draw of power - it takes about 90% percent of the energy output of a ships reactor. The only ships large to mount and power such a weapon are battlecruisers and larger, making these weapons extremely rare. Lastly is the waveform itself - it finally fizzles out and dies after about one hundred kilometers. The further out travels after generation, the further it degenerates, which means less and less affect over range.
Warships: The mainstay of modern warfare, no war could be fought without these. This is kinda lousy, but i'm pressed for time, so here come the sizes of ship classes, and then i'll get to posting the stats on individual ships. Everything is different for each race. Expect this list to change a little as I refine my ideas. Speed and armor are measured as follows - very poor; poor; below average; fair; average; above average; good; very good; excellent.
Quick note: Fighters have squadrons of twelve. A half-squadron is a flight, 6 squadrons is a wave, and 12 squadrons is a wing. Bombers are in groups of 3-4 depending on how much room is left in the bay. Bombers cannot be carried on racks.
Corvette: A small ship designed to patrol the perimiter of a fleet and planets. Typically armed with a single medium weapon and numerous light ones. 75-130 meters on average.
Frigates: The smallest fleet ships in service, these are armed with a few medium weapons and a few light weapons; used to provide cover for larger ships. Very slow and not very manuverable. 130-220 meters on average.
Destroyer: A larger, more reliable type of ship than a Frigate, these ships don't have much heavier weaponry than a Frigate. They are better armored and much faster. May possibly have one or two heavy weapons. May possibly carry fighters on external racks. 220-350 meters on average.
Light Cruiser: These ships carry more heavy weapons than do Destroyers, while retaining most of their speed. Better armored as well, with more staying power. Smallest ship to carry fighters in an actual bay. 350-600 meters on average.
Heavy Cruiser: The mainstay of any fleet, these are ships that are well armored, armed, and are still fairly manuverable. Can carry fighters in a bay. Can carry a fair number of heavy weapons and medium weapons - rarely equipped with light weapons. 600-900 meters on average.
Battlecruiser: Also considered a key portion of any fleet, these are ships designed solely to fight. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay. Equipped with several banks of heavy and medium weapons. Light weapons may be carried as a supplement or to dea with small, manuverable ships. 900-1200 meters on average.
Heavy Battlecruisers: These ships carry no fighters, and carry instead further heavy weapons. Medium weapons are still a primary armament, but are reduced for further heavy weapons. Extremely rare to find light weapons on one. Increased armor but no additional upgrades in engines (from previous class) make these ship ponderous and wide-open targets. 1200-1800 meters on average.
Dreadnought: War. War. War. They live it out loud. Heavy weapons are a primary, medium and light weapons are secondary. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay. Extremely well armored, but not very fast. 1800-4000 meters on average.
Battleship: The epitome of warfare, a single one of these could bombard a planet into dust, and then ask what's for the main course. Extremely rare. Heavy weapons are commonplace, few light weapons carried. Massivly armored, and decently manuverable for a ship this big. Can carry fighters and bombers in a bay and on external racks. Any size above 4000 meters.
Humans:
Human ships: Humans prefer to build an all-around good ship. They tend to be more combat oriented than say, a star-trek federation ship, but are still ships that have more purpose than straight combat. The favored weapon amongst Humans is the ever-classic rail gun. For heavy weapons, the Humans like the Ion cannon, although some ships carry torpedoes.
Human design is practical at least on the inside, while they tend to lean partially towards aesthetics externally. Their ships tend to have the bulk of their mass far forward along the hull - the idea was that the manuvering thrusters and engies would push the front where it needed to be, rather than have to slide the rear end of the ship around. The move is actually quite effective. About the only mass on the rear of the average Human ship comes from armor, the docking area, and the engines and reactors.
The current human fleet is about 4,000 ships total - a great step down from the 34,000 that they had in the beginning. They are building at their best rate possible, but they can only do so much. Thus, they are sending out several expeditions to find this great forge deep in the galactic core.
Rhapsody-class Corvette:
The only gunship the Humans ever put into service, this is a very lightly equipped vessel. It has a small crew, small engine, and not a lot of firepower. This type of ship is typically only used for planetary defense - the only military use for this ship is taken by the next class up. Very cheap and easy to mass produce, individual planets have built a few of these ships into service along with their normal fighters to deal with pirates and brigands. It's shaped a lot like a modern navy ship, except the prow angles back towards the rear, rather than forward. It's also pretty narrow. Amazingly, it's well balanced in terms of center-of-gravity.
Armament: 1 Rail gun turret; 10 plasma cannons.
Mass: 90,036 tons
Height: 34 meters.
Beam: 19 meters.
Length: 117 meters.
Armor: Very poor
Speed: Good.
Crew: 34
MacArthur-class Frigate: The smallest ship in use by the Human navy, this occupies the role the Corvette would were it used by the navy - picket ship. The MacArthur class goes about, patrolling the perimeters of fleets and defense cordons, warding off any ships that don't belong there. In a full-scale engagement, the MacArthur class sits by the larger ships, providing an anti-fighter screen. This ship is shaped like a great rectangle, with small stubby wings coming off at the front. This is a common design amongst Humans. The MacArthur class itself is old, and its replacement is currently undergoing trials.
Armament: 2 Rail gun turrets (bottom of the wings); 12 plasma cannons.
Mass: 121, 452 tons.
Height: 29 meters.
Beam: (base) 40 meters (wings) 73 meters.
Length: 163 meters.
Crew: 81.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Good.
Iwo Jima-class Destroyer:
A rather old design of destroyer that has been updated through the years, The Iwo Jima is a very popular ship. It's replacement, which just entered production four years ago, had to be based off the same hull design as this one because of extreme demand by crews. The Iwo Jima is an amazing ship - it's very comfortable, reliable, sturdy, and very fast. Shaped like a good, three-dimensional rectangle with the prow slanting back, the engines slant forward at angle, with mounts coming off the bottom of the hull for plasma cannons. The odd look is one of the reasons it was so popular - it shed conformity.
Armament: 4 Rail Gun turrets; 28 plasma cannons; forward missile rack with 20 tubes.
Fighters: 6 on external racks (in between plasma mounts aft).
Mass: 377,921 tons.
Height: 49 meters.
Beam: 80 meters.
Length: 289 meters.
Crew: 200.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Very good.
Yamato-class Destroyer:
This is the replacement for the older Iwo Jima class Destroyer. A far newer and more effecient design, the Yamato also acted as a testbed for an enhanced reactor design - which is now being installed on all ships. The Yamato itself is better armed and shielded, although it has the same armor. It doesn't carry any fighters, though it does have more plasma cannons. While the Iwo Jima had engines that slanted, the Yamato has its engines in a more normal configuration, though the topside still sticks out further than the lower. Only a few of these ships are in service.
Armament: 5 Rail gun turrets; 32 Plasma cannons; 1 Ion cannon turret; forward missile rack with 18 tubes.
Mass: 411, 957 tons.
Height: 49 meters.
Beam: 81 meters.
Length: 300 meters.
Crew: 233
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Good.
Marauder-class Light-cruiser:
This is based off an extremely old design that proved so popular that they had to keep rebuilding it with new technology. The design itself is quite effecient - the same basic look as the MacArthur, but scaled up. The ship is a very sturdy, reliable cruiser - they've been known for taking some very serious damage and still surviving. Quite well armed for a ship of this size, it also has a decent docking bay, and fair speed too. This all came, however, at a price. The ship isn't very well armored. It has good shields, and the frame itself is sturdy, holding up quite well, but the armor is thin and rather penetrable.
Armament: 10 Rail gun turrets; 12 Plasma cannon; 2 forward missile racks with twenty tubes each; 2 Ion cannon turrets (dorsal mounted).
Fighters: Twelve in a bay.
Mass: 543, 699 tons.
Height: 35 meters.
Beam: (base) 49 meters (wings) 99 meters.
Length: 456 meters.
Crew: 500
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: Good.
Sentinel-class Light-Cruiser:
A rather different cruiser from the Maraduer, the Sentinel is an extremely overgunned ship for its size. This meant sacrifice of other systems - it's a slower ship, and still has thin armor, but other ships of this general size typically don't have this level of firepower. The ship is tall and narrow, with a small prow piece sticking off the front. An ugly design, the reason it was commisioned was to increase the firepower available to smaller fleets and groups without costing as much as a Heavy-cruiser. Still a fair investment, its future is in jeapordy as construction has focused on building the Heavy-cruisers it was meant to replace - as it turns out, they do the job much better.
Armament: 3 Ion cannon turrets (Prow mounted); 16 Rail gun turrets; 2 forward torpedo racks with 2 tubes each; 10 Plasma cannon; forward missile rack with 20 tubes.
Mass: 598,000 tons.
Height: 70 meters.
Beam: 20 meters.
Length: 471 meters.
Crew: 379.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Poor.
Progidy-class Heavy-cruiser:
One of the most common heavy ships out there, production in Human ships has recently focused on larger cruisers like these to handle the war efforts. Shaped almost exactly like the MacArthur-class, it is far larger and vastly better armed. Carrying a fair number of heavy weapons, it has very few smaller ones, used solely for point defense, and is not very fast either.
Armament: 8 Ion cannons; 4 forward torpedo racks with 4 tubes each; 48 Rail gun turrets; 10 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: 12 in a bay; 3 bombers.
Mass: 1, 134, 702 tons.
Height: 44 meters.
Beam: (base) 75 meters (wings) 133 meters..
Length: 842 meters.
Crew: 2, 044
Armor: Good.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: Fair.
Nosferaii:
Nosferaii ships: The Nosferaii are much different from Humans in their ships in that they are all very sleek, smooth ships. They appear to be extremely advanced - well, they are, but they also look extremely graceful and deadly.
There isn't a really set design pattern amonst the Nosferaii - a few designs are recycled, but even these are altered as scale and size changes. However, looks are only a very small part of what a ship is - their ships are quite well shielded and very well armed. They didn't maintain the largest empire in the galaxy for nothing. Like all the other races in the galaxy (except Humans), they lack Quantum drives.
The Nosferaii fleet in its current state is not a fleet ready for all-out war - the economy of their empire is ravaged, and another war would drive them six feet under. However, should they find this forge, hidden somewhere in the galactic core, they would be able to easily support a new war - in fact, they, they might even be able to win it...
Intra (Night)-class Corvette:
An extremely small patrol ship, the Intra class Corvette is used in much the same role as everyone else's - system defense. Planetary governments love these things, as they are cheap and capable of atmospheric flight. Lightly armed, they are blindingly fast - 20% the speed of light is quite helpful when chasing down smugglers. It is shaped like a modern-day F-16; it does have an extra fin, though, on the dorsal section.
Armament: 1 X-Ray laser cannon; 8 plasma cannons.
Mass: 81, 113 Vor (tons)
Height: 17 li (meters).
Beam: (base) 9 meters (wings) 27 meters
Length: 75 meters.
Crew: 7
Armor: Very poor.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Excellent.
Nige(Song)-class Frigate:
A very new ship design, the Nige-class Frigate is a favored picket ship amongst the Nosferaii. Commisioned during the cease-fire period as part of the effort to modernize the fleet (which at the time had still been relying on effective - though generation old - ships), the Nige is being rapidly deployed throughout Nosferaii space. Shaped relatively like a diamond, it is fairly armed and armored. It is also pretty fast as well. Built to showcase Nosferaii technology, there is very little that can compare to a Nige (within this size range, that is)
Armament: 3 Carbon lasers; 20 Plasma mortars.
Mass: 145, 984 vor (tons).
Height: 10 li (meters).
Beam: 45 meters.
Length: 200 meters.
Crew: 155.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Good.
Muge(Scream)-class Frigate:
A slightly larger Frigate than the newer Nige class, the Muge is a ship from the previous generation of technology. It was unique in mounting its Carbon lasers on turrets - typically in ships of this size, the weapons are on a fixed mount to save space. Wedge shaped (an extremely common design in the Nosferaii), the ship is armed with quite a few lasers and not many Plasma cannons. The ships flaw was its speed - it didn't have much engine power.
Armament: 2 Carbon laser turrets; 8 X-Ray lasers (fixed); 4 plasma cannons.
Mass: 149, 991 vor (tons).
Height: 15 li (meters).
Beam: 29 meters at widest point, 11 at narrowest.
Length: 220 meters.
Crew: 149.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below average.
Hullse(Blood)-class Destroyer:
A newer ship, this class was commisioned about 3 years before the cease-fire. Not quite of the lastest generation, it is nevertheless an extremely powerful Destroyer. It too is wedge shaped, although it has rather wavy rims (that is, the edge of the hull has some curves and waves on it, like a body-kit), giving it a stunning appearance. Well armed, it carries a Disruptor array - very rare on a ship this small.
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; missile rack with 18 tubes; 6 Carbon lasers; 2 X-Ray lasers; 24 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 400, 677 Vor (tons).
Height:19 Li (meters).
Beam: 41 meters at widest, 14 at narrowest.
Length: 291 meters.
Crew: 499.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Kliissh(Strider)-class Light-cruiser:
The latest in Nosferaii Light-cruisers, it combines aspects from both of the previous classes of Light-cruiser. It is fairly fast, well armed, armored, and can carry a fighter squadron. The shields are considered a bit thin by Nosferaii standards, but as far as everyone else's go (except for the Vilt), the shields are fine. Taking the diamond shape, it has a 'hump' on its dorsal surface while remaining flat on the bottom (like the Voyager from Star Trek).
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; forward missile rack with 20 tubes; 18 Carbon lasers; 10 X-Ray lasers; forward torpedo rack with 3 tubes; 16 plasma cannons.
Fighter: 12 in a bay.
Mass: 577, 229 Vor (tons).
Height: 27 meters.
Beam: 100 meters.
Length: 450 meters.
Crew: 521.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Glii(Wisdom)-class Light-cruiser:
One of the previous generations of cruiser, this ship is all but gone. A brief production run, followed by a lengthy campaign nearly eliminated all of their numbers. The ship's relatively poor performance was responsible for the loss of more lives than had been estimated, and as such the plan was to scrap the remaining fifty - the need for every single ship left in service is all that saved them. Well armed, but poorly armored and with slow speed, the name of this ovoid cruiser is ironic - much wisdom came out of its errors and foul-ups.
Armament: 3 Disruptor arrays; 22 Carbon lasers; 16 X-Ray lasers; 40 Plasma cannons; forward torpedo rack with 3 tubes.
Mass: 600, 001 Vor (tons).
Height: 41 Li (meters).
Beam: 67 meters.
Length: 502 meters.
Crew: 300.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below Average.
Tetll(Harke)-class Light-cruiser:
The other old light-cruiser employed by the Nosferaii, This one proved to be more effecient than the disastrous Glii class, despite being even older. Less armed, but better armored and shielded, the Tetll is a more traditional wegde shape, with waves similar to those on the Hullse-class. This ship was supposed to be replaced by the Glii, but as problems arose in development, the production of this class was increased. After the Glii failed in a bloody campaign, this old ship was forced to serve much longer while a replacement was found.
Armament: 1 Disruptor array; 18 Carbon lasers; 44 Plasma cannon; forward missile rack with 12 tubes.
Fighters: 12 in a bay.
Mass: 599,999 Vor (tons).
Height: 39 Li (meters).
Beam: 109 meters at widest, 23 at narrowest.
Length: 489 meters.
Crew: 503.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Good.
Speed: Above average.
Bortras:
Bortras favor a style of hit-and-run; they prefer to get in, hit them hard, and get back out. Their ships are very well armed, and extremely fast and manuverable, but not well shielded or armored.
Given the minimal Bortras population, the most recent designs of ships have needed only a small crew due to a massive upgrade in their computer systems. This doesn't help their thinner hulls, as now they have fewer repair crews to deal with the damage they recieve. Although this does mean that they have a lot more ammunition for their torpedoes and missiles. Bortras only build a single hull style, adjusting only for scale. It looks like an alien destroyer from Wing Commander 5, for reference. Given their large physiology, they have extreme difficulty adapting any hull smaller than 200 meters to their great size. Therefore, the smallest ships they build are Destroyers.
The biggest reason that the Bortras want to avoid a war is that they have a very small population following en masse planetary bombardments. They are so good in fighting ground conflicts - thanks to their nigh impenetrable carapace - that they were simply bombed out. They want to find this 'forge' deep in the heart of the galaxy so they can access its cloning centers - that way they can resume full fledged construction of their warships to dominate the war.
note: Any Bortras flagship may be equipped with a cloaking device. Others may not unless specified.
Piiiv(Hammer)-class Destroyer:
The smallest ship in Bortras service, it is a brand-new design only 7 years old, equipped with the latest technology and computers. Considered one of the greatest designs they have ever made, it is extremely fast and well armed, with very little armor and weak shields. They are extremely common.
Armament: 10 Carbon lasers; 10 X-ray lasers; 34 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 389, 411 Gh (Tons).
Height: 34 Kgh (Meters).
Beam: 16 Meters.
Length: 250 meters.
Crew: 122.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Excellent.
Ghhhulll(Nightlord)-class Light cruiser:
Another brand-new design, this one only 3 years old, it is a well-seen ship. Given that a Destroyer can only do so much for a fleet, production of the Piiiv has dropped off to accomodate more of these larger, more effective ships. Armed enough to rival some smaller Heavy-cruisers, this is now quickly becoming the favored ship in the Bortras fleet.
Armament: 38 Carbon lasers; 22 X-Ray lasers; 3 forward torpedo racks with 4 tubes each; 1 forward missile rack with 18 tubes; 1 forward missile rack with 10 tubes; 12 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 567, 315 Gh (tons).
Height: 45 Kgh (meters).
Beam: 19 meters.
Length: 459 meters.
Crew: 100.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Below average.
Speed: Very good.
Rrrfgy(Venerable)-class Light-cruiser:
An older class of Light-cruiser, this one is less well armed, but does carry fighters. Larger, slower, and less manuverable, it's still a fairly viable ship. It also has decent shields.
Armament: 26 Carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 5 forward torpedo tubes with 3 racks each; 2 forward missile racks with 15 tubes each; 10 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: twelve in a bay.
Mass: 599, 001 Gh (tons).
Height: 44 Kgh (meters).
Beam: 21 meters.
Length: 511 meters.
Crew: 344.
Armor: Poor.
Shields: Fair.
Speed: Good.
Vilt:
Vilt ships: The Vilt build some of the deadliest ships in the galaxy, and yet, they don't run around conquering every race there is. They prefer peace to war.
Vilt design styles are graceful and appealing. They tend to take after birds for the basic appereances of their ships. The Vilt have developed extremely powerful and effective shield systems; their Destroyers have been known to withstand fire from a full-fledged alpha strike from a Heavy-cruiser without starting to fail. To help end any fights quickly, the Vilt's favored weapon is the torpedo - all of their ships carry a rack or two; they build very Corvette's because they can't carry torpedoes. All of their larger ships carry production centers for replenishing their stocks after a battle - smaller ships must wait and have their supply's restored only after the larger ships have filled up their own. These systems are limited; they can only build a few (depending on the size of the facility) torpedoes in about 3 minutes, but 50 missiles (the preffered secondary weapon) can be built in that same time period. Since that is a long time in a battle, when they run out of torpedoes, they're screwed.
The reason the Vilt want to secure this forge in the core is so that no other race will use it to wage war. Very races want to actually engage a Vilt ship in combat because of all the torpedoes, so they believe that by simply holding it no one will try to take it from them.
Sevare(Joy)-class Frigate:
An uncommon ship in Vilt space, the Sevare Frigate is used solely to provide cannon fodder for enemy ships and to hound and harass pirates. This is why very few are built - they are almost never used militarily and are only built by planetary governments for dealing with brigands. A cylinder with wings, it is capable of atmospheric flight, and is occasionally used to transfer diplomats from one planet to the other or to stations further out in space.
Armament: 1 X-ray laser; 5 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 80,000 Ayr (tons).
Height: 12 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 8 meters (wings) 24 meters.
Length: 77 meters.
Crew: 12.
Armor: Very poor.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Very good.
Delovey (Everlasting)-class Frigate:
The smallest military vessel the Vilt have used in their history, the Delovey is the only ship they've ever had (for actual military purposes) that wasn't torpedo equipped. It also isn't missile equipped - to save space for the HIS (Holographic Imaging System) these were ommited. This way, a larger ship can focus more of its energy on true combat systems and a fleet can still appear to be stronger than it really is. Very similar in shape to the Sevare, the only difference is the head angling downward like a hawk's beak.
Armament: H.I.S.; 4 Carbon lasers; 2 X-Ray lasers (wingtip mounted); 18 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 125, 998 Vyr (tons).
Height: 14 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 14 meters (wings) 38 meters.
Length: 166 meters.
Crew: 99.
Armor: Below average.
Shields: Very good.
Speed: good.
Ayarai(Soul)-class Destroyer:
A very old design, these ships have been updated so well through the years that the only showing of their age are a few blemishes on the hull. A long cylinder with the wings sweeping backwards, the Ayarai-class is a very common ship. Well armed, it is one of the few ships of this class (across all races, actually) that actually carries fighters on external racks.
Armament: 1 forward torpedo rack with 2 tubes; 13 carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 26 Plasma cannons.
Fighters: 6 on external racks (three on the trailing edge of each wing)
Mass: 302, 437 Ayr (tons).
Height: 20 Lyje (meters).
Beam: (base) 19 meters (wings) 50 meters.
Length: 322 meters.
Crew: 455.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Excellent.
Speed: Good.
Selnayre(Ambassador)-class Light-cruiser:
The smallest ship to carry a production facility in it, these are actually rare ships. As the Vilt prefer large ships for the amount of torpedoes they can carry, smaller ships like these are looked down upon. Nevertheless, they know they are important ships, and so they build a few to 'fill out the ranks'. A good, sturdy ship, these have been more common than past Light-cruisers. It shares the same shape with the Ayari-class, just scaled up.
Armament: H.I.S.; 4 forward torpedo racks with 3 tubes each; 4 forward missile racks with 18 tubes each (2 per wing); 40 Plasma cannons; 5 Carbon lasers.
Mass: 400, 831 Ayr (tons)
Height: 25 Lyje (meters)
Beam: (base) 29 meters (wings) 115 meters.
Length: 499 meters.
Crew: 756.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Excellent.
Speed: Above average.
Selketh:
Selketh ships: When the Selketh build ships, they build them in a very odd manner - tall, long, and narrow. They aren't all that well equipped either.
Selketh design has always been one that favors subtlety, and cunning, and because of this, their ships appear to be almost pathetic. They aren't that well armed, and their shields have never been any good. But don't let that fool you - the Selketh have very good armor, and almost all of their ship carry Ion cannons. They're also quite fast and manuverable.
The reason the Selketh want the forge system in the center of the galaxy is so that they can take revenge on the Humans for humiliating them - with very few ships, they can't exactly afford to go running around picking fights with everyone they meet. This forge system might be able to help with all of that...
Grus(Shark)-class Corvette:
A very tiny little ship, these are very common, no thanks to the Humans, who prevented them from making anything much larger. Surprisingly well loaded for a Corvette, they can handle anything in their size and in groups will cause larger ships to sweat.
Armament: 1 Carbon laser; 3 X-ray lasers; 12 Plasma cannon.
Mass: 100,001 F'del (tons)
Height: 35 Klen (meters)
Beam: 12 meters.
Length: 150 meters.
Crew: 20.
Armor: Fair.
Shields: Very poor.
Speed: Very good.
Harlide (Cannon)-class Frigate:
Also fairly common, also thanks to the Humans, these are more to the Selketh style. Not much better armed than the Grus, these are used in the numbers they are because their only Destroyer class is still undergoing trials.
Armament: 3 Carbon lasers; 2 X-ray lasers; 14 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 199, 955 F'del (tons)
Height: 39 Klen (meters)
Beam: 18 meters.
Length: 220 meters.
Crew: 133.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Very poor.
Speed: Good.
Klift (Claw)-class Light-cruiser:
This is where the Selketh start packing their Ion cannons. It has a rather modest armament aside from the Ions, but it is armored in line with the next class up in starship, and still pretty quick.
Armament: 4 Ion cannons; 14 Carbon lasers; 40 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 411; 546 F'del (tons)
Height: 52 Klen (meters).
Beam: 22 meters.
Length: 399 meters.
Crew: 299.
Armor: Good.
Shields: Poor.
Speed: Good.
N'rak:
N'rak ships: The N'rak have a reputation for being demons - they design their society and building to fit this image.
Very bizzare and alien (think Shivans from Freespace), these ships are extremely hard to stop. Between the thick armor and great firepower, Most people prefer to shy away from these ships. Their shields are on par with the Humans, and their engines are only slightly behind them. They are very balanced ships.
The N'rak want this forge-system for the 'ultimate mission', as their emperor calls it - they want to destroy and/or enslave all other races in the galaxy. That's it.
Gelmuur (Blood-axe)-class Frigate:
As the N'rak have no Corvette's, they simply build up these. Very nice ships, they look a lot like a modern day navy ship - except for the back-slanting prow and the three rings that run through and around the hull. Very dangerous within this size class, they normally are seen in groups of three, where they generally are capable of bring down light-cruisers.
Armament: 8 Carbon lasers; 3 X-ray lasers; 24 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 222, 656 Aor (tons).
Height: (base) 15 J'int (meters) (rings) 39 J'int (meters)
Beam: (base) 13 meters (rings) 24 meters
Length: 210 meters.
Crew: 113.
Armor: Fair.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Above average.
Nish'kar (Star-Sword)-class Destroyer:
One of the better smaller ships in N'rak possession, this one has unfortunately weak engines. Well armed for this particular class of ship, it is a fairly common one as well, due in part to its age. It looks rather boxy, with spikes and rods coming off it in random and peculiar directions.
Armament: 14 Carbon lasers; 12 X-ray lasers; 1 forward missile rack with 25 tubes; 22 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 370,547 Aor (tons).
Height: 19 J'int (meters).
Beam: 24 meters.
Length: 347 meters.
Crew: 396.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Below average.
L'flthot (Maul)-class Destroyer:
A newer class of Destroyer, it has only been in production for three years; thus, there aren't that many of them as larger ships are being built. It is still a superior ship to the Nish'kar. Shaped much more rectangular, it still has the spikes, fins, and rods coming off it in all directions. It has much better engines than the Nish'kar, with slightly superior weapons.
Armament: 16 Carbon lasers; 13 X-ray lasers; 2 forward mssile racks with 18 tubes each; 28 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 379, 356 Aor (tons).
Height: 14 J'int (meters)
Beam: 36 meters.
Length: 350 meters.
Crew: 411.
Armor: Average.
Shields: Above average.
Speed: Average.
Hishh'ga (Fiend)-class Light-cruiser:
Another old design, the replacement for this one is just now undergoing trials. It's still a decent design, but by modern standards its engines and shields are weak. Not a very common ship, it still marches onward, doing whatever task it is given. The ship is just plain ugly - think 'Taiidan Destroyer' and you'll start to get the idea of what it looks like.
Armament: 3 Forward torpedo racks with 2 tubes each; 24 Carbon lasers; 16 X-ray lasers; 1 Forward missile rack with 25 tubes; 50 Plasma cannons.
Mass: 593, 968 Aor (tons)
Height: 45 J'int (meters).
Beam: 36 meters
Length: 531 meters.
Crew: 700.
Armor: Above average.
Shields: Average.
Speed: Fair.
Agh - I think I need to start adding some ships in. Here goes...