Mauer
Iron Warden
- Intent: Fast Skirmisher that can quickly disengage and engage enemy targets with precision attacks
- Image: Image | Source: LimonTea
- Canon Link: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Confederacy of Independent Systems
- Model: Deathstalker-class Corvette
- Affiliation: The Confederacy
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Durasteel, Glasteel
- Classification: Corvette
- Length: 64 meters
- Width: 98 meters
- Height: 24 meters
- Squadron Count: N/A
- Hangar: Average (0)
- Forward-facing Diamond Boron Missile Launchers (2)
Each torpedo launcher is able to fire a volley with a maximum of six missiles (or six volleys of one missile each, and any combination in between) before reloading. Each launcher holds 12 Diamond Boron Missile, for a total of 24 missiles.
[*]Forward-facing Turbolasers with Overcharge Mods (2)
[*]Retractable, Forward-facing R-9X Heavy Laser Cannons with Overcharge Mods (4)
- The Overcharge Mods allow for the turbolasers and heavy laser cannons to be overcharged, doubling the damage and increasing the armament rating to Average for a single volley. Overcharging causes the weapon systems to be temporarily disabled due to overheating, which must be properly vented before being fired again.
DEFENSIVE RATING: Low
- Point-Defense: Rotary, Coilgun Mass Drivers in Ball-Turrets (8)
Small mass driver point-defense cannons solely responsible for intercepting missiles. They do minimal damage to other starships, often being blocked completely by deflector shields, although they can also additionally be used against unarmored personnel to decent effect. Coilgun mass drivers were chosen due to the high energy efficiency of the weapons, only requiring enough power to keep the magnetic solenoids active and a large supply of rounds.
[*]Hull: 'Heartarmor' Plating
- The only defensive hull plating that the Corvette has is around its cockpit and its key components: its hyperdrive and main reactor.
[*]Shielding: Minimal Deflector Shielding System
- The shields solely exist to provide the starship enough shielding to enter hyperspace without any complications, as well as reducing the temperature strain caused by the starship's extreme peak velocities. Thus, a direct hit to the shields will instantly pass through and strike the hull.
[*]Electronic Counter Measures:
- While the defenses of the corvette are subpar, even inferior in some aspects, its ECM is top of the line due to the high vulnerability of the vessel to EMP-attacks and ion weaponry. The corvette comes equipped with a scrambler and a baffler, and its weapon systems, propulsion systems, and hyperdrive are covered in a conductive armorweave Faraday cage.
MANEUVERABILITY RATING: High
SPEED RATING: High
- High-Output Ion Turbine Drives (2)
- Auxiliary Ion Drives (6)
- Hyperdrive Class: 1 (Fast)
- Detachable Components:
The starship is broken down to easily exchangeable components, allowing for extremely quick and easy repairs. The pilot can also, mid-flight, choose to detach damaged or extraneous components to minimize the spread of damage or simply reduce the total mass of the starship for faster peak velocities.
[*]Survivalist Design:
- The hyperdrive and the ionization reactor are the most valuable components of the vessel, and all other parts are treated as nonessential. Thus, the starship is designed to fully function without any non-essential systems, allowing the starship to escape even with significant structural damage.
[*]Slave Circuitry
[*]Data Goggle Integration or Droidbrain Link-up
[*]Basic Life Support Systems
- Although the corvette is equipped with a basic life support system, most of the pilot and crew are either droids themselves or wear their own personal life support systems. Life support systems were of lower priority, and thus, they are often one of the first systems to be destroyed, de-powered or damaged.
[*]Standard Corvette Sensor Suite
[*]Standard Communications System
[*]Crew Complement: 1 Officer, 20 Droid Crew
- "Hyperjump"-specialized Hyperdrive and Navigation System
- Advanced Tracking/Targeting System with companion Holographic Imaging System
- Hyperjumper: The main purpose of the vessel is to quickly engage enemy vessels by hyperjumping to specific coordinates, firing a volley of rounds, and quickly hyperjumping away to a nearby, friendly gravity well. This posed as a serious design constraint, and eventually, it was decided that the corvette would maximize speed and maneuverability to allow for enough evasive maneuvers until it is able to hyperjump away successfully. The navigation system and hyperdrive are specifically designed only to handle hyperjumps, rendering any other types of hypertravel impossible (unless the pilot is suicidal and wishes to be trapped within hyperspace).
- Elite Skirmisher: In order to maximize the short combat operation time of the Deathstalker-class Corvette, the corvette was equipped with an advanced targeting system that allowed for more precise volleys to destroy vital hardpoints and weaknesses before fleeing. The high maneuverability of the corvette allows it to easily pivot and change its orientation for optimal firing, as well as complex evasive maneuvers to dodge anti-capital ship weaponry.
- Glass Acrobat: In order to reduce the total weight of the starship as well as the obscene costs of affordable, lightweight and durable armor necessary, the starship is structurally sound but has blatant defensive issues. The starship will crumble to direct hits, with most, if not all, combat systems being reduced after a few direct hits. The survivalist design of the starship, however, allows the starship to be able to continue fleeing despite losing combative function.
- Reduced Weaponry: Due to the intense power requirements of the engine systems, the weapon system had to be partially compromised and the final number of armaments were reduced. While this is partially compensated by the Overcharge Mods added to the turbolasers and heavy laser cannons, the corvette, at best, has moderate firepower.
- Carrier Dependency: The fragile nature of the Deathstalker-class Corvette makes it a vulnerable individual asset and it must be supported with carriers or a naval base in order for it to be effectively utilized. The corvette relies on being able to hyperjump between the battlefield and a carrier or naval base, and without a safe place to resupply and be repaired, the corvette only possible ends are to be eventually destroyed due to its fragile nature, run out of fuel and be stranded, or suicided into an enemy starship before the prior two options occur.
- Limited Deployment: The specialized hypertravel navigation system and high fuel-requirements of the corvette's systems limit the operational range of the Deathstalker-class Corvette to only a system. Long-distance travel with the Deathstalker-class Corvette is impossible, and thus, usage of the corvette is limited to naval stations, planetary bases, and large carriers.
During the Confederacy of Independent System's invasion of the Devil's Lair, it became clear for the need for a dedicated, precision-strike vessel that would be able to quickly destroy key assets and hardpoints, greatly increasing the efficacy of subsequent engagements with larger capital ships. Thus, Mauer teamed with Tithon Designs, a small, yet brilliant Harch think-tank, to design a fast skirmisher corvette to fulfill this niche role.
While there were intense internal debates between whether the niche role would be best suited for a starfighter or a corvette, the corvette design, with the internal designation 'Deathstalker', eventually won due to its cheap, highly efficient and mass-produceable design. While the weaknesses of the design were glaring, as sacrifices to weaponry and defenses proved to be necessary to the intense power requirements of its high-output ion engines, the corvette performed exceptionally during field tests. The initial concerns about its reduced weaponry and near non-existent defensive measures were further resolved through innovative design: its designed carrier dependency allowed for the corvettes to be rapidly redeployed, using detachable and interchangeable standard components to significantly reduce the time it took to repair or even construct a corvette. The standardization of components also made mass-production of the Deathstalker-class Corvette simple, efficient, and easily parallelizable with multiple different factories.
The Deathstalker-class Corvette relied on hyperjumps to fulfill its role as a skirmisher, which effectively reduced the amount of time receiving enemy fire and maximizing the combat operation time. Although hyperjumps usually require expert piloting skill and ample experience with hyperdrives, the navigation computer is specifically programmed to handle the extremely computationally difficult problem of calculating hyperjumps. The hyperdrive was specifically designed, as well, to reduce spooling time and is limited specifically to short-range hyperjumps.
All in all, despite the large number of shortcomings of the Deathstalker-class Corvette, it fulfill its niche role as an effective skirmisher and short-range rapid response vessel.
