Darth Vornskr the Second
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To submit The Sith Empire’s Super Star Dreadnought for October and to give The Sith-Imperial Ember of Vahl a flying fortress.
- Image Source: Destiny Pyramid Ships by Dorje Bellbrook on ArtStation.com. Edited by
Joycelyn Zambrano
. - Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: Permission from Fiolette Raaf
- Development Dominions:
- Primary Source:
- Manufacturer: The Sith Empire.
- Affiliation: The Sith Empire, Sith-Imperial Ember of Vahl
- Model: Cathedra-Class Super Star Dreadnought.
- Production: Unique.
- Material: Impervium hull plating, durandium, durasteel, transparisteel, viewports, turadium blastdoors, misc. starship components.
- Classification: Supercarrier Dreadnought.
- Length: 10000 meters.
- Width: 6000 meters.
- Height: 6000 meters.
- Armament: Low
- Defenses: Extreme.
- Hangar Space: Extreme 104.
- Hangar allocations:
- Starfighters: 84 Squadrons.
- Support Craft: 20 Squadrons.
- Maneuverability Rating: Low
- Speed Rating: Average.
- Hyperdrive: Yes.
- Hyperdrive Class: Average 1.
- All standard features for a dreadnought-size ship.
- SI-Suzerain Sensor Suite
- Gravimetric Sensor Net
- Tachyon Emitter
- Cronau Radiation Amplifier
- Tachyon Pulse Emitter
- SI-Vestige Communication Suite
- SI-Hunter Tracking/Targeting Suite
- Diatium Capacitance Array
- Blackgate Multicore Shield System
- Hyperspace Tracker
- AR-0B Damage Reduction Armor Component
- Short-Range Missile Deactivation Transmitters
- Sith Meditation Sphere
- Deflector Shield Projector and Deflector shield booster
- Impervium plating
- Hornet’s Nest: With its’ massive hangar bays, the Cathedra-class is a veritable hornets’ nest of fighters, bombers, interceptors, and more.
- Flying Fortress: Heavy armouring with impervium reinforcements, redundant shields, extended defence systems - To best serve as a fortress for the Sith Empire and a sanctuary for the Vahla, the engineers of the Cathedra-class spared no expense on its defenses, making this dreadnought a veritable fortress.
- Grand Aegis: Like the much smaller Athena-Class Shield Corvette, the Cathedra-class is able to project an external shield to protect either the front or rear of a larger fleet, protecting them against enemy fire.
- Defensive Benefactor: Alternatively to the Grand Aegis, the Cathedra can boost the individual shields of a handful (up to 2000 meters worth) of capital ships (Defence rating +1), at the cost of its own firepower (-1 armament to the Cathedra).
- Mother’s Mercy: The Cathedra-class is not only concerned with issuing fighters, but also keeping them in the air and pushing their performance to the limit. Therefore, it is equipped with a rapid repair bay where allied vessels may get patched up and issued back into the battle.
- Dark Core: Inspired by the Inquisition’s Belial-class, the bridge of the Cathedra-class functions as a Sith Meditation Sphere. This empowers a dark lord’s illusions and battle meditation to buff one’s allies and frighten one’s enemies.
- Low Armament: Sporting very little in terms of offensive capabilities, the Cathedra-class is almost entirely dependent on offensive support.
- Sluggish Mover: It turns like a tortoise. This may leave vulnerable areas exposed for longer and puts it at a disadvantage against quicker ships.
- Slow Flier: The Cathedra-class’ top speed and acceleration is hardly anything to brag about, and it will not be catching up to lighter crafts any time soon.
- Behind the Shield: The large shield projector of the Grand Aegis must either project the shield in front of the fleet or behind it, meaning the enemy may still flank through the unprotected side. This only affects the projected fleet shield, not the ships’ own shields.
- Limited Boon: If the Cathedra boosts the shields of individual ships, they may not raise the Grand Aegis. Additionally, due to its low armament, it can only grant a +1 defence rating to other ships. It can only boost ships between 50 and 2000 meters. The total meterage of ships given a boost cannot exceed 2000 meters. The shield boost cannot exceed a rating of Extreme.
- Weak Spots: Despite the ship’s defenses, there are chinks in its armour. For example, the engines are exposed at the rear, and most of the ship’s weaponry and hangars are focused at the front and sides, leaving a blind spot at its’ lower rear angle. And while the hull is mostly plated with highly resistant impervium, the viewports and hangar bays are made of less sturdy stuff.
The Ember of Vahl have long been allies of the Sith, brought together by the dark side of the Force and their shared hatred of the Jedi. A nomadic people, the Vahla are very skillful spacefarers, shipbuilders, and navigators. After a string of successful conquests, Joycelyn Zambrano -A Sith with deep ties to the Ember of Vahl and the Imperial Legion- had one chance to suggest a draft for one of the Sith Empire’s new super star dreadnoughts. She drew on Vahla styles when she chose her draft and combined it with classic imperial design, resulting in a carrier-based superstructure that can field an immense fleet of smaller crafts to occupy the skies, and dropships to field troops and machinery.
With thick walls, layered shields, defensive systems, and impervium plating, the Cathedra-class is a veritable flying fortress. The thickest parts of the hull seem virtually impenetrable. However, when the multi-layered shields are surpassed, there are weak spots in the armour - places where the plate is thinner and made of less sturdy materials, such as the viewports and hangar bays. Among its defensive systems are the Diatium Capacitance Array, which absorbs the energy of energy weapons and discharges it to the ship’s system; the Blackgate Multicore Shield System which makes for layers of combat shielding; the AR-0B Damage Reduction Armor Component, which mitigates damage taken, and Short-Range Missile Deactivation Transmitters which helps protect against missile attacks. This extreme focus on defence comes at the cost of offence.
The true strength of the Cathedra-class dreadnought is its massive hangar capacity. Like a hornet’s nest, the dreadnought has a vast interior space and several hangar bays, able to field 86 squadrons of smaller crafts and swarm almost any battlefield. It also contains a number of landing crafts to field troops and equipment for planetary assault. This extensive fleeting-issuing network came at the cost of manoeuvrability, and restricts the engine space to a point where its forward thrust is mediocre at its best. Compared to smaller ships, the Cathedra-class is slow and sluggish, and it is largely dependant on escort to fight in a battle.
Due to its escort dependency, the Cathedra-class is optimised to aid its escort and keep fighters in the air. For this purpose, the dreadnought is fitted with a rapid repair bay that helps keep allied fighters in the air. Furthermore, like its’ smaller cousin the Athena-class shield frigate, the Cathedra-class is able to project a huge shield either in front or behind it to shield the fleet from harm. This shield is hemispherical and can be circumvented. Alternatively, the Cathedra can reroute power from its own armament and boost the shields of allied capital ships. It may not boost more than 2000 meters worth of ships, none of which may be smaller than 50 meters. As long as the parameters of total meterage and minimum size are met, any number or combination of ships can be boosted.
Once the ship was presented, two advanced features were suggested and implemented: One, a Hyperspace Tracker, and the other was a Sith Meditation Sphere. The hyperspace tracker speaks for itself, allowing the ship to track ships through hyperspace and cut them off. The meditation sphere has a much more grand purpose; allowing a sith sorcerer to use battle meditation to boost allies, or summon illusions so powerful they may have physical manifestations. Like in its predecessor, the Song of Truth, the Cathedra-class’ meditation sphere is located in the bridge, but also in a connected chamber below it.
Beyond being a top of the line warship for the Sith Empire, the Cathedra-class also serves as a sanctuary for the Vahla people, many of whom serve in the Imperial Armada. It even includes a cathedral to the goddess Vahl herself. The “cathedra” is the seat of high-standing persons of a church, and the house that holds it is the cathedral. The “Cathedra-class” was so called because it is the seat of Vahla power within the Sith Empire.
UPDATES: 05. Dec. 2020:
- Tidied up broken formatting and re-linked broken links.
- Updated ratings according to the current Excel tool:
- Increased armament rating from Very Low to Low.
- Increased Maneuverability rating from Very Low to Low.
- Updated numbers according to the current ratings.
- Divided hangar space between starfighters and support vehicles per current rules.
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