Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a modern, elite star destroyer for the Directorate
- Image Source: Personal photo of Spartan Game's Eliminator-class Battleship
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: Guardian-class Star Destroyer
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
- Affiliation: Directorate
- Model: Guardian II-class Star Destroyer
- Production: Limited
- Material: Mirrsteel-iridium-condensed matter composite frame as per Ossis starship frame, Argentum-series Matrix Armor, ceraglass, typical starship components
- Classification: Assault Star Destroyer
- Length: 1500 meters
- Width: 600 meters
- Height: 400 meters
- Armament: Very High
- 2 Onager-class Plasma Rail Cannons
- 2 Cascade-class Proton Beam Cannons
- 2 Aura-class Tractor/Pressor Beam Projectors
- 25 Corona-class Long-Range Turbolaser Batteries
- 12 Iris-class Turbolaser Batteries
- 25 Maelstrom-class Plasma Energy Torpedo Launcher Batteries
- 20 Minelayers
- 40 Sentinel-class Point Defense Emplacements
- 40 Plumbata-class Defensive Missile Batteries
- Defenses: Very High
- Hangar Space: Low: 6
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: 3 squadrons
- Support Craft: 3 squadrons
- Maneuverability Rating: Average (High with Gulfstream Maneuvering System engaged)
- Speed Rating: Low (Very Low with Gulfstream Maneuvering System engaged)
- Hyperdrive Class: Average: x1
- STANDARD FEATURES
- Encryption Network
- Escape Pods
- Electronic Security Systems (Pyrowalls, Rapid Repetition Defense Measure programming, EI-9 network security droids)
- Internal Security Systems (Embedded Mantraps, Automated Stormfire Repeater Emplacements, Internal Force Field Generators)
- Oracle-class Communications Package (x1)
- Ossis Starship Frame
- Standard Detention Cells
- Standard Ion Engines (secondary sublight drives)
- Standard Navigational Systems
- Metis Sensor Array
- Tractor Beam Projectors (x12)
- Vitae-class Life Support System
- ADVANCED SYSTEMS
- Biolux Organoform Circuitry
- Calor series Bio-computers
- Gulfstream-class Maneuvering System
- Lucerne Helical Engines (primary sublight drives)
- STRENGTHS
- Resilient: The Guardian II is an exceptionally durable vessel. Layered shielding systems and a thick layer of Argentum-series matrix armor supported by an Ossis starship frame protect the warship from heavy and sustained firepower, making it a rival to classic Mon Calamari cruisers in its ability to soak up enemy firepower.
- Heavy Firepower: The Guardian II packs a heavy punch, with most of its firepower concentrated in four fore fixed weapons designed to knock star destroyers and other large warships in several salvos. Fire-linked batteries of turbolasers and plasma energy torpedoes provide supplemental firepower to these weapons and help protect the Guardian II against smaller warships.
- Littoral Combatant: Like its base design, the Guardian II sports exceptionally powerful and responsive repulsorlifts and its shielding, making it almost a high performance craft in the atmosphere of most worlds. Additionally, the Guardian can land on worlds, allowing it to directly pick up and drop off personnel, vehicles, and other cargoes.
- WEAKNESSES
- Low Speed: The Guardian II is not a nimble warship compared even to many of its counterparts, mostly because of its thick hull plating and the Ossis Starship Frame that it rests on.
- Small Starfighter Hangar: The Guardian has a relatively small hangar for its size, which limits its versatility in many fleet operations and its ability to project strategic firepower.
- Fixed Fore Firepower: The Guardian II's most powerful weapons, its Onager-class Plasma Rail Cannons and its proton beam cannons, are both fixed fore weapons. This necessitates maneuvering the entire ship to roughly aim these weapons, making them difficult to use against small, faster targets.
The revitalization of the company's Gyndine-based shipyards due to galactic politics led to the company revising some of its older ships and updating them with new technology. One of these designs was the Guardian-class Star Destroyer. As with the original, the Guardian II fulfills an assault star destroyer role with an emphasis on breaking through enemy defenses to support extensive atmospheric and ground troops operations. To that end, the Guardian uses a quartet of massive fixed fore weapons to batter back or destroy enemy ships and infrastructure while holding its own weight through multi-layered shielding and thick armor plating. While excellent in slugging matches, the Guardian II suffers somewhat in deep space combat because of its small starfighter squadron count and low speed. With these limitations in mind, the Directorate frequently fields Guardian II-class Star Destroyers alongside Union II-class Assault Carriers, providing a powerful and flexible core to any invasion force.
Crew & Automation: The Guardian II uses a similar layout to the other recent Lucerne Labs warships, with most of the crew housed and working on the ship's core functions in a central, spherical section, which notably includes the ship's Command Information Center style bridge. The rest of the ship's infrastructure branches out of this sphere and intertwines with the rest of the ship's frame. Each of these sections uses modular compartmentalization based on technology derived from the Carrack-class Light Cruiser alongside a Vitae Life Support System to minimize crew casualties even when the ship is suffering through great damage. Like many of the company's newer ships, much of the ship runs on Calor Series BioComputers connected by Lucerne Labs Biolux series Organoform circuitry. These systems can run most of the ship's systems in an emergency without a crew at a reduced performance. Additionally, these high-powered computer systems are capable of hosting multiple artificial intelligences.
Engine Systems: The Guardian II is one of the company's first ships to use its new Lucerne Helical Engines, which provide the Guardian with sublight drives that are significantly harder to damage or detect. However, the company did retain several of the original Guardian's ion engines because of the unproven nature of the new drives. Unfortunately, the combined power of these sublight drives can only propel the Guardian II at low speeds due to the ship's thick frame and armor. Still, the Guardian II has much less of a drive signature for its size than most of its counterparts. Guardian II also utilizes a Gulfstream maneuvering system, which can enhance the ship's maneuverability at the cost of speed. This system is key in enabling the Guardian II to bring its massive fixed fore guns to bear on targets. As with the original Guardian, the ship does have extensive banks of repulsorlifts, which combined with the ship's layered shielding grant it exceptional atmospheric performance.
Shielding systems: The Guardian II is protected by a pair of nearly identical Aspis Shield Systems, which much like the classic Mon Calamari cruisers, provides the Guardian II with layered shielding. Not only does layered shielding makes it more difficult for weapons to penetrate, but it also allows local shield projectors and generators to be briefly taken offline for repair while still maintaining some shielding in the affected area. These shield systems are also networked to work with the ship's repulsorlifts in order to better absorb heat and withstand other atmospheric disturbances, making the craft exceptionally capable of navigating through the skies of even the harshest worlds. The Guardian II also an Aegis II Anticoncussion Field Generator with its own dedicated power source, which makes it reasonable resilient against kinetic threats such as slugs and warheads.
Hull: The Guardian II was designed from the ground up with the Ossis series starship framework, making it exceptionally durable and resilient to variety of potential dangers. The front of the vessel is exceptionally reinforced with additional framework in order to better withstand the opening salvos that start many engagements. This sturdy framework is then covered in a thick layer of Argentum-series Matrix Armor. Underneath this thick carapace are distinct compartments with sturdy bulwarks based off of those of the old Carrack-class Cruiser. Each compartment is fed by its local node of the ship's Vitae-class Life Support System. Given the ship's role as a warship, most of the life support tanks are filled with nitrogen-carbon dioxide mixture to act as a fire suppressant. The deep ventral holds from the late bow to the stern are notable in that they are internally modular, which allow them to be reconfigured to transport different types and combinations of passengers and cargo as the mission profile dictates.
Weapon Systems: The Guardian II is built around a quartet of fixed, massive guns which are clearly visible from the vessel's bow. The lower two weapons are monstrously large Onager-class Plasma Rail Cannons, originally designed to be used as the primary battery on battlecruisers and super star destroyers. Each of these weapons contains almost as much firepower as a typical cruiser and can hurl massive bolts of superheated plasma or solid slugs across the battlefield. For closer work, the Guardian II has a pair of Cascade-class Proton Beam Cannons mounted above the plasma rail cannons. While exceptionally powerful and capable of flooding an area with lethal radiation, these particle beam weapons are somewhat limited by their relatively fixed firing arc and short range. A pair of Aura-class Tractor/Pressor beams mounted on each side of the vessel amidships provides the Guardian II with exceptional tractor/pressor beams which typically are used to move targets into the deadly fire arcs of the Guardian II's heavy guns, but they can also be utilized as direct-fire gravity weapons. Supporting these massive emplacements are an assortment of turbolasers and plasma energy torpedo launchers which are grouped into fire-linked batteries that are spaced equidistantly across the ship's hull, ensuring that there are no significant blind spots that can be exploited by enemies. There is a slightly greater concentration of these weapons on the ship's ventral side in order to better support ground operations in keeping with the ship's littoral role. Nearly twenty minelayers are located in the ship's stern, which allow the Guardian II to deploy mines and static drones like Stoic Missile Sentries or E-45 interdictor sentries. Lastly, the Guardian II has a mixture of defensive missile batteries and quad auto-blaster emplacements scattered equidistantly across its hull in order to beat back enemy strikecraft attacks and intercept missile salvos.
Carrying Capacity: Like the original design, the Guardian II only carries a single wing of starfighters, which are often interceptors in order to help the star destroyer fend off enemy strikecraft. A stern hangar on the ventral half of the ship carries support craft squadrons which handle the basic logistics as well provides transport for the star destroyer's embarked troops. Just underneath this hangar starts the massive internal and modular holds for the ship's passengers and cargo. Based on consulting with various army officers, Lucerne Labs designed these holds to specifically hold up to a pair of regiments and their equipment based on the old Imperial Order of Battle. While not as impressive as some of its older counterparts, notably the Imperial Star Destroyer, this number of troops along with its atmospheric ability makes Guardian IIs particularly suited to defending or taking worlds.
