Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To update the Devastator to Starship 5.0 standards
- Image Source: Concept art of Terran Alliance gunship by Spartan Games modified by yours truly.
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: Devastator-class Gunship
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Model: Devastator II-class Gunship
- Affiliation: Directorate, Galactic Alliance, Silver Jedi
- Production: Minor
- Material: Ferrocarbon frame, Chimera Composite Armor Plating, Ceraglass canopy, typical starship components
- Classification: Gunship
- Length: 16 meters
- Width: 12 meters
- Height: 4 meters
- Armament: Extreme
2 Incinerator-class Plasma Railgun - 1 Light Quad Laser Cannon Turret
- 2 Pod-mounted MM-s3 Grenade Launchers (50 grenades each)
- 2 LLT-7 General Purpose Warhead Launchers
[*]Defenses: High
[*]Squadron Count: Low: 8
[*]Maneuverability Rating: Very Low
[*]Speed Rating: Very Low
[*]Hyperdrive Class: Average: 2
STANDARD FEATURES
- Standard Communications Array
- Standard Deflector Shield Generator
- Standard Hyperdrive
- Standard Ion Engines
- Standard Life Support Systems
- Standard Navigational Systems
- Standard Repulsorlift Engines
- Standard Sensor Array
- Standard Targeting Systems
- Can Enter Atmosphere and Land
- Phantom 4-x Sensor Jammer
- Chimera Composite Armor Plating
- Compartmentalized Subsystems
Ground Pounder: Devastator IIs sport a large number of guns and munitions dedicated to attacking ground targets, making them highly dangerous to infantry and armored vehicles alike.
Thick Defenses: Devastators boast thick and advanced hull plating, along with redundant subsystems, and a sensor jammer, making them resilient in the face of enemy fire.
Weaknesses:
Low Agility: Devastators are exceedingly slow with sluggish maneuverability for their size, which means that almost any other starship its size can catch up to them and then outmaneuver them.
Low Squadron Size: Devastators are somewhat larger than the average starfighter, which means that fewer of them can be carried in a typical hangar.
Description: The Devastator II is a natural evolution of the original Devastator-class Gunship. While it has fewer weapons than the original, several of the weapons, armor plating, and the sensor jammer have been upgraded in order to keep it competitive against more modern offerings. The Devastator II continues its predecessor's legacy as excellent close support craft, capable of ripping through infantry, armored vehicles, and static positions with equal ability.
Like its predecessor, the Devastator II is built off a sturdy ferrocarbon frame but instead uses Lucerne Lab's advanced Chimera Composite plating. Its internal components continue to be common, existing off the shell commercial parts used for orbital shuttles and launches, but unlike civilian craft, these components are segregated from each other in their own armored bulkheads. This makes maintenance a hassle, but also increases protection to individual subsystem. In some instances, there are redundant parts to ensure that even if they are hit, the Devastator II can limp back to home base. Part of this compartmentalization concept encloses the tandem-seat cockpit, ensuring that a hit to one part of the canopy and its crewmember does not affect the other crewmember by decompression or other affects. This also means that the crewmembers cannot touch or hear each other except through their headsets, which are linked to their helmet along with their HUD visor. Both the pilot and the gunner station can access each other's controls in case one of them is incapacitated, though this dramatically cuts down on the ship's performance. In event that the ship is going to go down, the Devastator's flight crew can use ejector seats to escape their doomed craft.
The Devastator II sports two sets of weaponry: one focused for destroying vehicles and static defenses, and another focused on destroying infantry and battle droids. The primary weapon of the Devastator are a pair of wing-mounted Incinerator-class Plasma Railguns, typically used to attack vehicles like tanks or walkers, though they can also be used in a pinch to attack other aircraft. These weapons are typically controlled by the pilot, as they point to wherever the craft is pointing. The pilot also controls the other anti-vehicle weaponry, which are a pair of general purpose warhead launchers based in the ship's wings. Whenever the missiles are ready to be fired, a miniaturized blast door opens to reveal the waiting missile. Otherwise, the missiles remain covered to prevent them from hit by enemy fire or other objects. These missiles are typically used against tougher objects that the light laser cannons can't chew through, or against targets that are moving too quickly to track, such as interceptors. The gunner primarily controls a quad light laser cannon turret mounted underneath the ship's nose. The weapon can rotate a full 180 degrees from side to side, and roughly 270 degrees up and down. This weapon is used to put out a rapid, but relatively weak, stream of fire to strafe enemy troops, destroy light ground vehicles like speeder bikes, or intercept oncoming missiles, ordinance, or other flying objects. His second set of weaponry are a pair of Merr-Sonn MM-s3 Grenade Launchers mounted in pods with limited transverse from side to side, and up and down. Each pod carries 50 grenades of only one variety. Typically the Devastator II employs impact-fused concussion grenades (for use against infantry and other light targets) or timed proton grenades (for vehicles and buildings). However, it is not uncommon to see this grenade launcher uses to fire other types of small ordinance.
Survivability was of key importance to the design, just like the original. This is especially true when initially entering the battlefield, when enemy strikecraft and air defense can pounce on the gunship. Because of that, Lucerne Labs upgraded the ship's sensor jammer to a slightly more powerful Miradyne Phantom 4-x Sensor Jammer. While reasonably effective against the tracking software and sensors of many anti-aircraft missiles, the jammer does nothing from preventing classic line of sight fire that nearly every infantryman relies upon in the heat of battle.
