The Coalition - GC Flagship
The Coalition was the last Viscount-Class Star Defender in the hands of the Coalition by the war's end - half of the others had been destroyed by war, and treaty arrangements whittled the number of these super-ships down to one.
With the New Coalition's staggering economy, disorganized military, and scattered command structure, it was a miracle on reflection that they managed to hold on to even the one, and since the end of the war had seen only one deployment - which resulted in no action, as the planet of Kiyar was already razed.
As second wave technologies began revamping the Coalition fleet to be smaller, faster, and more efficient, it eventually was suggested that the mighty flagship be retired, for it's speed was not nearly up to that required for the new tactics being formed around the new ships. Regrad, however, had other plans.
He knew, for many reasons, why the Coalition still needed a Viscount - as a symbol, a flagship, a command centre and rallying point. It would not be left behind but instead thrust forward into the new age. Unlike any one ship, however, there could be no margine for error - the whole point of a symbol is that it is irreplacable - and so Regrad decided to sideline the project for the time being until he felt more confident about the state of things.
No one is exactly sure why he chose now to bring his plan forward again for a refitted and rebuilt flagship. Some have speculated some urgent need, unfriendly time, or perhaps just impatience or optimism about the current climate. Whatever the reason, the plans are being brought back out.
The refit practically deconstructs and reconstructs the vessel from the ground up, from the safety of a hidden base in the unkown regions. There are general upgrades such as ensuring the cutting edge of armour is equipped, ensuring total weapons efficiency, and making adjustments to improve the overall performance of the vessel, but the primary upgrades lie in a few key fields that advance the ship right out of the Viscount class and into something else entirely.
The rear thrusters - and indeed, the entire engine-section - is to be completely removed and rebuilt, and in it's place a system designed by Second Wave technologies on par with it's earlier systems on the Claymore and the Longsword. This system is estimated to allow the ship to reach nearly double it's standard speed, not only thanks to the innovations of technology but also the highest quality materials from across the Coalition.
The guns have been augmented, but most notably, four entire gun-decks are to be completely removed, and in their place four Massive Particle Projector Cannons will be built. Working on the same principles of it's smaller cousins, these guns are slow to fire and do not move with all the speed of a laser - a gunner would have to be quite experienced to hit a target at range. Each shell, however, would be large enough to tear through a gunship or other very small frigate, an a broadside could crumple the hull of a Star Destroyer. The guns take time to reload, though, and so great care must be taken in any engagement - the new strategies being planned by the Coalition are of a much more hit-and-run basis, and these guns would be unlikely to get off more then one or two volleys in such a situation. Even the shells aren't that fast, and at range a competent commander should be able to dodge, if they are flying a small ship. There is no doubt, these guns are meant to do heavy damage to large, slow-moving cruisers - perhaps to soften them up before boarding.
The other great advance is in shielding. The shields are of course upgraded to be more energy efficient and so forth, but a second layer of pulse-shielding is also to be added. This layer has a limited battery life, and were someone to try and cover the whole ship in a pulse it would probably only last a few seconds - so the shield is split up into quadrents, to squeeze more life out of the batteries. Although short-lived, the pulse makes nearly all weapons useless against the hull of the ship for a short while, which just might make the difference.
Finally, for a variety of reasons, the ship's bow is also to be reshaped so as to differentiate it from others of it's original class. A more narrow point gives it a distinct profile, not only to identify it in battle but to somewhat symbolize it's recreation as a new type of ship altogether.
The plans themselves have yet to be inacted, they have simply been brought forth again - it may be some time until they are finally put into motion again, and much more time still until the modifications are complete - but this would be a chance for various technical experts to weigh the merits of such a venture.
(OOC: This is in fact just one ship, not a class of ship. No assembly line or manufacturing system would be set in place for it, as it is taking an existing ship and completely overhauling it and reconstructing it. It might come off a little too powerful, but considering it would be the most powerful ship in the Coalition fleet - and that it would weigh in at less then half the size and weapons compliment of the strongest Imperial ships - it surely wouldn't cause much imbalance in the game. Also, the four cannons could provide an interesting sort of 'pirate ship fighting' element into fleet battles. Either way, this plan would take a while, I thought I'd just put it out there for now.)
With the New Coalition's staggering economy, disorganized military, and scattered command structure, it was a miracle on reflection that they managed to hold on to even the one, and since the end of the war had seen only one deployment - which resulted in no action, as the planet of Kiyar was already razed.
As second wave technologies began revamping the Coalition fleet to be smaller, faster, and more efficient, it eventually was suggested that the mighty flagship be retired, for it's speed was not nearly up to that required for the new tactics being formed around the new ships. Regrad, however, had other plans.
He knew, for many reasons, why the Coalition still needed a Viscount - as a symbol, a flagship, a command centre and rallying point. It would not be left behind but instead thrust forward into the new age. Unlike any one ship, however, there could be no margine for error - the whole point of a symbol is that it is irreplacable - and so Regrad decided to sideline the project for the time being until he felt more confident about the state of things.
No one is exactly sure why he chose now to bring his plan forward again for a refitted and rebuilt flagship. Some have speculated some urgent need, unfriendly time, or perhaps just impatience or optimism about the current climate. Whatever the reason, the plans are being brought back out.
The refit practically deconstructs and reconstructs the vessel from the ground up, from the safety of a hidden base in the unkown regions. There are general upgrades such as ensuring the cutting edge of armour is equipped, ensuring total weapons efficiency, and making adjustments to improve the overall performance of the vessel, but the primary upgrades lie in a few key fields that advance the ship right out of the Viscount class and into something else entirely.
The rear thrusters - and indeed, the entire engine-section - is to be completely removed and rebuilt, and in it's place a system designed by Second Wave technologies on par with it's earlier systems on the Claymore and the Longsword. This system is estimated to allow the ship to reach nearly double it's standard speed, not only thanks to the innovations of technology but also the highest quality materials from across the Coalition.
The guns have been augmented, but most notably, four entire gun-decks are to be completely removed, and in their place four Massive Particle Projector Cannons will be built. Working on the same principles of it's smaller cousins, these guns are slow to fire and do not move with all the speed of a laser - a gunner would have to be quite experienced to hit a target at range. Each shell, however, would be large enough to tear through a gunship or other very small frigate, an a broadside could crumple the hull of a Star Destroyer. The guns take time to reload, though, and so great care must be taken in any engagement - the new strategies being planned by the Coalition are of a much more hit-and-run basis, and these guns would be unlikely to get off more then one or two volleys in such a situation. Even the shells aren't that fast, and at range a competent commander should be able to dodge, if they are flying a small ship. There is no doubt, these guns are meant to do heavy damage to large, slow-moving cruisers - perhaps to soften them up before boarding.
The other great advance is in shielding. The shields are of course upgraded to be more energy efficient and so forth, but a second layer of pulse-shielding is also to be added. This layer has a limited battery life, and were someone to try and cover the whole ship in a pulse it would probably only last a few seconds - so the shield is split up into quadrents, to squeeze more life out of the batteries. Although short-lived, the pulse makes nearly all weapons useless against the hull of the ship for a short while, which just might make the difference.
Finally, for a variety of reasons, the ship's bow is also to be reshaped so as to differentiate it from others of it's original class. A more narrow point gives it a distinct profile, not only to identify it in battle but to somewhat symbolize it's recreation as a new type of ship altogether.
The plans themselves have yet to be inacted, they have simply been brought forth again - it may be some time until they are finally put into motion again, and much more time still until the modifications are complete - but this would be a chance for various technical experts to weigh the merits of such a venture.
(OOC: This is in fact just one ship, not a class of ship. No assembly line or manufacturing system would be set in place for it, as it is taking an existing ship and completely overhauling it and reconstructing it. It might come off a little too powerful, but considering it would be the most powerful ship in the Coalition fleet - and that it would weigh in at less then half the size and weapons compliment of the strongest Imperial ships - it surely wouldn't cause much imbalance in the game. Also, the four cannons could provide an interesting sort of 'pirate ship fighting' element into fleet battles. Either way, this plan would take a while, I thought I'd just put it out there for now.)