Intrepid

Overview

Class Intrepid
Command: Shadowstalker
Classification: Mobile weapon laboratory
Length: 720 meters

Description

The Intrepid class consists of only one ship that persisted through the entire war. Under Shadowstalker's command, this ship specialized in developing weapons to counter Hycyanth weapons, and it is home to the first massive gravitic cannon in the fleet. The ship was alos the birthplace of the Valkyrie class fighters that would later become the staple of Gravedancer class combatants.

Ship Development

The original Intrepid was a vastly overgrown version of the Vengeance 2A in that it consisted almost entirely of experimental engines and support systems to keep the ship from tearing itself apart. The advanced stability units and higher performance inertial compensation units would later become standards in most capital class vessels.

After the second strike by the Hycyanth against the fleet's nursery ships, it became apparent that this was the beginning of a war, and the escaped weapon systems that had hoped to leave such behind were forced to take up arms again. This included Shadowstalker who then began shifting from engine to weapon development. As the needs for more technology of both offensive and defensive modes grew, so too did the Intrepid.

In her most constant configuration, she was almost a kilometer long and consisted of six massive capital class engines of which only four were used for flight. The remaining, larger, engines fueled the powerful prototype weapons including the dreaded UT-GM gravity weapons. Unlike most Tak'nhetian vessels, the Intrepid often contained technology from other worlds that were not readily reproduced including but not limited to the incredibly strong exterior armor plates which were generally only open around weapon ports and engines.

The only way to really test a new weapon was to use it on the enemy, and this meant that the Intrepid appeared in an disproportionately large number of sorties, and it quickly became one of the most hated vehicles in the war. Intrepid's shields and armor were usually enough to defend her in head to head battle with a capital ship, but even she still needed a fighter screen for smaller craft. In the end, she normally carried a dozen Valkyrie class fighters to cover her weaker positions.

Weapons

PPC Phased Particle Cannon

8 turreted quad cannon units mounted broadside upper and lower hull fore and aft. PPC weapons started out weak in the earlier stages of the war due to the incredible efficiency of Hycyanth shields against anti-matter weaponry. Later PPC weapons incorporated a timed decay matter pulse that would reach the anitmatter charge at a specified distance. The resulting high energy detonations became far more useful in combat as capital weapons and flask systems.

HYPB High Yield Particle Beam

4 forward fixed mount 10 TW beams and 4 broadside turret mounted 2 TW cannons.

Somewhat of a combination of high energy assault and using a constant stream of relativistic rocks, Intrpid has the largest beam weapons of any vessel her size. Because most others vessels were made to keep a crew safe and transport civilians as well, the dangerous primary power core needed to fuel the forward array was not inorported in other ships. Only the 'smaller' units were generally found on other capital ships. Except for the Vengeance 2a, no small craft was capable of mounting these weapons. As the primary weapons, they were effective. However, the massive forward awway was rarely used in close combat but was insteads used as long range sniper like attacks or to take out a ship during pursuit

ATH AAA 2 x Auto-track High-Speed anti-aircraft Array

top center and bottom center mounted units provice coverage around most of the ship. A smaller micro array was positioned between the engines later to protect them.

UT-GM Unified Theory Gravitic Manipulator

Intrpid's most dangerous and most power hungry monster, this weapon had two modes of operation. The first was directly on enemy ships where massive increases of gravity on the engines could often cripple or destroy a vessel. The charging and cooling needs of the system, however, oftem meant it could only be fired once or maybe twice during an encounter. It's second firing mode was less demanding and useful when fighting near planets or stars. By making a massive, momentary gravity well between a target and a celestial body, ships of all sized could be forced into a collision course. This was also used at times to make capital ships collide with each other.

Shields and Armor

Tri-layer poly-phasic energy shields.

Relatively standard sheilds but done in multiple layers of non-identical frequencies to prevent them form being easily compromised. excellent against collission and matter damage. Weak against high energy and psionic weapons

Heavy enchanted ablative plating

Thick, heavy, solid. Enchanted plating was not available for the whole fleet, but it was possible to fit one ship with it. As the primary harasser of the enemy fleet, Intrepid got it. Solid armor against most energy weapons and even some psionic based systems.