Alliance Space Vehicle - Sword-Pattern Battleship

ST/HP: 7000

Hand/SR: -4/6

HT: 13

Move: 3/90 (+9)

LWt.: 360,000

Load: 23,000

SM: +13

Occ.: 2000 ASV

DR: 5000/2500*

Range: 5 jumps

Cost: $300B

Loc.: gGs21t

Stall: 0

Total Chase Roll: +5

*The Sword-Pattern Battleship has 5000 Carbide Composite DR on the front, and 2500 DR on all other sides (double DR vs plasma attacks and shaped charge missiles). It also has a force screen with 10,000 ablative, hardened DR.

Notes

Alliance Capital Ship Equipment:

• Capital-Scale Tactical Ultra-Scanner: 4000-mile scan, 400-mile imaging/bioscan; 360°;
  
  
• Targeting Megacomputer: +5 to hit target with a scan-lock.
  
  
• Night Vision Sensors: +9 nightvision, ×8 magnification (up to +3 to aimed attacks, if the vehicle aims for three turns).
  
  
• Large Area Jammer: -4 to target with missiles for all allied ships within 25 miles.
  
  
• Distortion Scrambler: May contest Electronics Ops (Comms) rolls with Electronics Ops (EW); 25 mile range.
  
  
• Large Holographic Radio: 10,000 mile range; “conference” sized holographic projector. All communications encrypted.
  
  
• Very Large FTL Communication Array: 300-parsec range.
  
  
• Hyperdrive: Rating 2; 5 jumps.
  
  
• Fusion Reactor: 50-year lifespan.
  
  
• Security: Simple Electronic Locks and security cameras at regular intervals; complex biometric locks for secured facilities meant for the aristocrat alone; Lifepods.
  
  

Alliance Batleship Accommodation and Facilities:

• Full Life-Support: up to 2000 people
  
  
• Accommodations: 1 aristocratic luxury cabin, 200 cabins, 1800 bunks. 3 months of stored, refrigerated food.
  
  
• Facilities: 10-person strategy ops (+1 Tactics and Strategy); 10-person Akashic Shrine (Sensory Deprivation Chambers; +1 to ESP rolls); 50-person gym; 50-bed sickbay; 1 operating theater;
  
  
• Cargo: a secured arsenal capable of sufficient gear to arm 250 men; Additional cargo can carry 50 tons.
  
  

Alliance Capital ship Complement:

• Shuttles: 5 Prestige-Class (or variant) Shuttles.
  
  

Alliance Battleship Armaments

• 3 Super-heavy Turrets (Total RoF 9)
  
  
• 10 Capital Turrets (Total RoF 20);
  
  
• 8 mounted Plasma Flak Turrets;
  
  

Weapon	Dmg	Acc	Range	Ewt	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl
Super-heavy cannon	6d×120(5) burn	9	170mi/500mi	5000t	1	NA	M	-10	2
Capital-scale cannon	6d×75(5) burn	9	60mi/180mi	500t	1	NA	M	-10	2
Plasma Flak	6dx10 burn	NA	2000/6000	100t	20	NA	M	-10	1

Look and Feel

The Sword-Pattern Battleship comes from an ancient era of Maradonian warfare. They served with the Lancer-Class Assault Frigates, laying down the fire necessary to keep the enemy occupied while the lancers advanced and conquered the enemy ship. When the fleet won the battle, the Sword would turn its cannons on the planet they orbited, ready to rain fire down upon it if it did not surrender.

The Sword retains its traditional appearance. Like the Regal-Pattern heavy cruiser, the Sword is longer and taller than it is wide, though it has a far less pronounced “bridge” superstructure. The Sword bristles with firepower: a line of three, absolutely massive super-heavy turrets run along the top, and five capital-scale turrets line either side, interspersed with plasma flak cannons. Thick armor guard the vehicle, but especially the front which, like the Lancer, has a great and heavily armored prow that can, if necessary, double as a ram.

Compared to the Allegiance and the Regal, the Sword’s interior more closely resembles the older Lancer. Metal walkways clang underfoot as technicians and soldiers march through quiet carbide cathedrals of machinery. Soldiers and technicians sleep in spartan bunks and attend meals in simple mess halls. The dim glow of floating lights in recessed alcoves provide all the illumination of the ship. The bridge begins to more closely resemble modern capital ships, its harsh metal surfaces taking on familiar, art-deco curves and elegance and hanging “chandeliers” become more common, but even here, where guests can expect to stay in simple, compact cabins rather than bunks, no observation decks or entertainment establishments can be found. Instead, guests find war room, strategic ops centers, and a great Akashic shrine, more reminiscent of the Imperial dreadnoughts, which patterned some of their design elements from the fearsome Sword-Pattern battleships.

The Sword served as the centerpiece of Maradonian fleets for centuries. Today, they struggle to compete with the Allegiance carrier. They have considerable firepower, to be sure, but a squadron of raptors with isomeric torpedoes can do more damage than a single Sword and costs less. It can serve a diplomatic function, but here again, the Allegiance does it better, and the Regal does it more cheaply. The Sword, then, tends to linger in the fleets of nostalgic Houses (especially house Grimshaw), but it does serve a purpose in protecting carriers from Imperial Dreadnoughts, as it’s one of the few ships can can go toe-to-toe with one, shrugging off their hits, and having sufficient speed and maneuverability to outflank them and fire a devastating barrage with its concentrated firepower.