Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a large aerial assault vehicle in Lucerne Labs product line-up
- Image Source: here and here combined and edited together by yours truly
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Closed-Market
- Model: Avril Aurek-class Aerial Cruiser
- Modularity: Weapon payloads
- Production: Mass-Produced.
- Material: Terenthium-Desh alloy hull with condensed-matter composite bracing and ferroceramic armor plating, Biolux series Organoform Circuitry, Calor series Bio Computers, Bia-series Fusion Generators, turbofans, scoops, syntherope dispensers, typical military repulsorlift craft components
- Classification: Airspeeder
- Role: Aerial Cruiser
- Size: Extremely Small
- Weight: Extremely Heavy
- Armaments: Extreme
- 1 Ventral Turreted Angon-class Hypervelocity Cannon
- 4 Forward Harpoon-class General Purpose Warhead Launchers
- 3 Ventral Turreted Dual Maelstrom-class Plasma Energy Torpedo Launchers
- 4 Lateral Turreted Hansen FeatherTouch Tractor Beam Projectors
- 2 Lateral Plumbata-class Defense Batteries
- 2 Dorsal Dual Reaper Mag Cannon Turrets
- 2 Dorsal Dual Repeating Laser Cannon Turrets
- Defenses: Extreme
- Maneuverability Rating: Low
- Speed Rating: High
- Propulsion: Repulsorlifts / 4 twin gimballed Turbofans
- Minimum Crew: 1
- Optimal Crew: 20
- Passenger Capacity: 40
- Cargo Capacity: Average
- Turbofans: While primarily a Repulsorlift craft, the Avril does have auxiliary turbofans mounted on gimball mounts which allow full 360 degree rotation. The primary purpose of these engines is to provide additional thrust to move quickly, or to act as a braking mechanism during the vessel's initial descent. The engines do run on separate hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells used by previous Lucerne Labs vehicles, which means that they are not typically affected by ion, EMP, and other like attacks. This means that they can be used to temporarily sustain the Avril in a hovering position if the repulsorlifts are somehow knocked out by such an attack.
- Gas Bladders with Scoop Converters: The Avril has a network of gas bladders located around the vessel which can be filled with Heglum and other lighter than air gases from intake scoops located around the vessel. As the Avril travels through the air, gases are filtered through the scoops, with heavier elements being discard and those providing lift siphoned to the bladders. These bladders provide the Avril with additional buoyancy to sustain flight, which was a concern given the Bryn'adul use of electrical draining technology. These are used situationally, as they can also worsen the vessel's vertical maneuverability. The bladders can off course be completely emptied, but these can take several minutes if they are especially full. These bladders are sometimes used as ballast tanks by the vessel if it is submerged.
- Ion/EMP Resistance: The Avril Aurek is designed to operate in the electrical deadzones that sometimes appear near Bryn'adul positions. Aside from relying on natural buoyancy from Heglum bladders, the Avril Aurek uses biological-based computing systems in the form of Calor-series Bio-Computers linked by Biolux organoform circuitry to better ensure consistent performance in such fields. Additionally, the Avril Aurek uses a network of Bia-series Fusion Generators to provide power for the vessel - these generators are self-restarting, and even if that fails they have manual restart options. Typically, one of these generators bring the others online, allowing the Avril Aurek to be rapidly repower itself if the vessel gets subjected to sustained technological deadzone.
- Multi-Terrain: The Avril is primarily an airborne vessel. However, its sealed nature along with its turbofans also allow it operate as a aquatic vessel, either on the water's surface or beneath it. Its undersea operation is limited by the strength of its hull to the depth of only a handful of kilometers, making it most ideal as a coastal waters vessel.
- Syntherope Dispensers: The Avril has a number of syntherope dispensers located in its passenger hold, allowing for personnel to rapidly rappel down from the vessel without needing the vessel to fully land.
- Excellent Firepower: The Avril Aurek is exceptionally well-armed, with its primary weapon being a cut-down hypervelocity cannon capable of subjecting most ground targets and many capital ships to withering fire. A variety of missile launchers and point defense weapons provide the Avril Aurek with the capability to reasonably attack most atmospheric and ground-based foes.
- Excellent Defense: The Avril Aurek has only average armor for a vehicle its size in order to cut down on weight, but it does have powerful shielding systems which allow it too withstand intense enemy fire.
- High Speed: The Avril Aurek is fairly fast for its size, largely because it can swivel its turbofans to provide extra thrust if needed rather than extra lift.
- Extreme Weight: The Avril Aurek is a rather large vessel, being almost 100 meters long and massing as much as many corvettes. This makes it rather difficult to carry and deploy on most starships. For practical purposes, the Aurek must be carried on a dedicated ground force transport vessel or a dedicated warship that is at least the size of a star destroyer. On planetside bases, its large size similarly takes up noticeably more room within the base hangars than several squadrons of starfighters or airspeeders, making it a vessel of sometimes questionable value.
- Large Target: The Avril Aurek's large size causes more than logistical issues. It's a very large target for most opponents, especially those with reasonably good anti-aircraft weapons. While shielding and some point defenses can allow Avril Aureks to withstand bursts of AA fire, massed batteries of AA weapons typically have little difficult in tracking and bringing down the craft with sustained ire.
- Poor Maneuverability: The Avril Aurek is a rather clumsy craft to pilot, especially when its heglum reservoirs are filled, as it often seems slow to the pilot to respond. Most pilots are taught to think that they're not piloting a combat craft, but to envision themselves driving a school speeder bus instead. Maneuvers often have to be planned well in advance within tight confines, and combined with the vehicle's large size, it's unlikely to be dodging any weapons fire any time soon except from the largest of weapons.
After the Bryn'adul invasion of Yurb, Admiral Quee tasked Lucerne Labs with developing a large weapons platform that would be better suited to engaging the Bryn'adul hordes, especially the monstrous servitors. To meet his requirements, Lucerne Labs took inspiration from the adumarian Meteor-class Aerial Fort and Calian Aerial Battleship, making a corvette-sized airspeeder studded with numerous guns and missile launchers. The largest of these is a cut-down hypervelocity cannon with enough power and rapidity of fire that it theoretically should make quick work of larger Bryn'adul beasts and constructs. Extensive shielding systems and a trio of active defense turrets allow the Avril Aurek to weather and survive many enemy attacks while its careful choice of subcomponents allows it operate in technological dead zones often found by Bryn'adul base camps with reduced efficiency. Despite its clear advantages and uses, the Avril Aurek is handicapped by its large size and poor maneuverability. However, it seems likely to be a solid centerpiece for forces fighting against the Bryn'adul threat for some time to come.
Technical Explanations
Crew & Internal Layout: The Avril can be driven by one person in an emergency, but it is usually operated by a crew of twenty, most of whom are gunners for the vessel's many weapons. The Avril has as bridge near the front which houses the pilot, commander, sensor operator, communications gunner, and several of the vessel's gunners who operate the vessel's missile launchers. Most of the vessels gunners however have stations directly at their weapons, allowing them to troubleshoot the weapons as needed and use iron sights if the vessel's electronics are somehow shut down. The Avril is typically entirely environmentally sealed and pressurized, allowing it to operate in thin upper atmospheres, toxic atmospheres, and even underwater if need be. The vessel does have a central passenger and cargo hold, where both can be loaded and unloaded by a handful of retractable ramps. This area does have several syntherope dispensers as well, which allow passengers to quickly rappel down onto the ground without the Avril needing to fully land.
Drive & Power Systems: The Avril mostly moves on a collection of high-powered repulsorlifts that can propel the craft at reasonable speeds from the watery depths of the coastal shelves to the highest reaches of most atmospheres. It also has a quartet of gimball-mounted dual turbofans, which can be used to improve the vessel's speed or help it hover in place in case of repulsorlift failure. These turbofans run on hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, meaning that their motors themselves are not typically affected by energy draining attacks, ion attacks, or EMP attacks. Lastly, the Avril has internal gas bladders, which are typically used to help the vessel float (especially in the electronic dead zones often produced by Bryn'adul technology). They can also be used as ballast tanks though when traveling underwater.
Defensive Systems: The Avril's most basic defense is its hull. While most of the hull is made out of a reasonably durable lightweight alloy, important sections of the vessel are covered in ferroceramic plating. These areas include the bridge, engine systems, and the weapons emplacements. More impressively, the Avril sports two entirely separate Phalanx Shield System networks. These typically provide the Avril with a durable, regenerating defense against most common threats such as blaster weapons, energy cannons, and ordnance. However, they have a secondary role of being able to project to and encapsulate up to eight small areas of up to 50 meters in radius with combined ray and particle shielding. This allows the Avril to protect accompanying craft or static locations on the ground. More innovative commanders can also use it to isolate and contain enemies as well. Unfortunately, projecting a shield strips the Avril of that protection as well, making its use situational. Since the primary enemy envisioned for the Avril's design was the Bryn'adul, who seem to favor projectile weaponry, the Avril is also equipped with an Aegis II Anticoncussion Field Generator, which provides additional protection from kinetic threats such as a shells, missiles, and other projectiles. Lastly, the Avril has a trio of modular auxiliary systems turrets, one underneath the bridge section and one on either side of the main repulsorlift engine pods. All turrets are ventral mounted. Typically these turrets are fitted with sensor jammers to provide the Avril and its accompaniments with increased protection from anti-aircraft threats, though the projected particle shield and tractor beam options are also quite popular with certain users.
Offensive Systems: The Avril's primary weapon is a cut-down hypervelocity cannon, which is primarily intended to be used against large ground targets such as heavy walkers, tanks, fortified positions, and the large ground beasts sometimes employed by the Bryn'adul and Sith. Most hypervelocity cannons used in this role use solid shot against more heavily defended targets or in areas with a greater possibility of collateral damage, whereas high explosive proton shells are preferred for general bombardment against area targets such as enemy formations and bases. The next largest weapons on the Avril are a quartet of general purpose warhead launchers, which can fire a wide variety of capital ship grade warheads, such as heavy concussion missiles or Tidefall-class Brilliant Torpedoes. A trio of Maelstrom plasma energy torpedo launcher turrets on the outer ventral side of the vessel provide the next greatest source of firepower, and typically are used against enemy ground vehicles and positions because they are unguided weapons. However, the plasma energy torpedoes are exceptionally fast and long-ranged, which can make them useful bombardment weapons. Using the Maelstrom's alternate fire mode allows them to be used as plasma energy cannons, which can be effectively more rapidly at closer ranges, making it useful as a direct fire support weapon against nearby armored vehicles and beasts, or nearby aircraft. More dedicated anti-aircraft and missile defense, however, is provided by a pair of Plumbata defensive batteries, typically loaded with fast Starbolt and Coldbolt light missiles. A pair of reaper mag cannon turrets and another pair of repeating laser cannons on the topside of the Avril provide further protection against airborne threats. Lastly, the Avril has a quartet of small, precise FeatherTouch tractor beam projectors. These are typically used to snag and slow down enemy aircraft to make them easier targets, or to retrieve personnel and cargo from the ground.
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