Shiny, New, and Just for You! [OS Frigate]

[Camellia Swift]

In all honesty the head of Rendili Stardrive was more or less annoyed there were whispers within the One Sith's echelon that she didn't deserve her position. "The bastards conquered the planet forever ago and I gave them my word at the time they could use whatever ships we had designed outside the Noblesse and Centurion. The blueprints aren't here anymore. Yet all the same they certainly have chosen not to use anything else. I mean god dammit the Hammerhead Cruisers are by far among the finest frigate analogs in the galaxy!" Pacing back and forth in her office, Camellia Swift knew what she had to do to put an end to the baseless rumors. It bothered her though to dedicate production facilities to a new starship line when the Sith could just make use of what she already designed.

But noooooo, they can't use anything I made for the Republic unless it was the very best of what I designed. Biting her lip, the Rendili woman sighed and sat at her desk once more. At the very least there was a warship already drawn up in case such an event occurred. A cruiser design specifically for the One Sith's usage. It was a fine design, competitive too since she wouldn't abide by Rendili Stardrive's name being besmirched by claims of low quality.

 

[Camellia Swift]

In all truthfulness though, Camellia half wondered if the One Sith would even deign to use the ship depicted in the blueprints in front of her anyway. The Hammerhead was perfectly fine, though it was a symbol of the Republic. Still, making it at the very least would show dedication to the Sith enough to continue the peaceful existence on her homeworld she had struggled to maintain so far. Besides, if they liked the unique to them design then they might consider doing more proper business with Rendili on a personal level. Regardless, that would have to come later if it did. For now the Rendili woman focused on the design in front of her as she read over its proposal.

As far as a backup design went in regards to the event the Sith wanted Rendili to show loyalty it was a fine design. It was hard to tell if it was really a frigate though or more of a light cruiser given its size. Especially given its armaments and on board systems. It wasn't designed with the experimental shield system like the Republic Class, but it was designed for planetary invasions in mind.

 

[Camellia Swift]

The RPGU-01, Rendili Prefab Garrison Unit, was a small scale modular base utterly attached to the new design for the One Sith. Set below the ventral hull, the RPGU-01 was capable of being dropped from low orbit by the light cruiser and activating attached thrusters to slow its descent, meaning the modular garrison could be deployed with its full contingent on board, rather than having to be constructed and assembled after landfall with the soldiers taking up residence afterward. Although unlike said ancient, but still incredibly well designed, Imperial modular bases, the RPGU-01 was not so heavily fortified. Rather, because it was being made small enough to fit on a light cruiser rather than a full on destroyer, the modular garrison in question sported only six repeating laser cannons and a centrally deployed heavy turbolaser in its defense compared to the three dual heavy turbolasers of the old imperial bases.

Still, in exchange for being able to be transported on a smaller ship, especially one so finely designed itself, it felt like a fair trade off. At the very least it would make a great way for whoever commanded the cruiser to establish a base of operations in hostile territory quickly if they had no other resort. It also made a readily defendable position if no other was available either. Also quickly dropping three hundred soldiers to a single location supported by the prefab garrison and its space for four small walkers or armored vehicles was nothing to snuff at really.

 

[Camellia Swift]

The only question the Rendili woman had about the cruiser's deployable prefab garrison was whether or not it ought to include a light shield generator unit. Something that certainly wouldn't last very long once under assault, but would definitely boost its defensive capabilities to something more . . . .marketable. Especially if the Sith did end up liking the Cruiser and its prefab base's design and deployed several in a single battle. A pair of these bases dropping down could secure a real foothold for the Sith or whoever operated the cruisers for an extended planetary campaign should they not be beat out in orbit. Which hopefully the cruisers carrying the RPGU-01s wouldn't be a liability for.

Just their aesthetic design fit the Sith at the very least. The schematics for the systems placement seemed sound too, although she supposed the craft was heavily slanted toward ship to ship combat as it lacked a typical hangar. Still, all the same. . . .

 

[Camellia Swift]

Sporting concealed turbolaser turrets across its hull, the ship was deceptively made to look like a bulk cruiser almost. In such a way those unfamiliar with the vessel might believe them to be a simple troop transport, which the cargo section with the prefab base tucked underneath might cause such misbelief. In reality, the light cruiser boasted a pair of long range dual barrel heavy turbolaser turrets, and a chin mounted ion cannon of the same caliber. The dorsal section of the cruiser was lined with a trail of turbolaser banks as well, six batteries capable of realigning because of a rotating base once the concealments were drawn back.

Beyond that the wings spreading out from towards the cruiser's stern each were home to two assault class concussion missile launchers. Each capable of supporting a dozen missiles each as the wings were fitted to house the loading system as well, to cut down on the size of the vulnerable magazines as much as possible. After all, if the ammo banks for explosive warheads was easily hit and the hull around it penetrated then it could result in severe damage. Which was also why the cruiser sported a fair number of point defense cannons, the emplacements scattered along the wings and the dorsal hull. The least defensible section of the cruiser was around the modular garrison, so point defense around it was weaker, but still present.

 

[Camellia Swift]

The hull of the cruiser was an interesting choice, though fairly standard. Quadanium was an impressively durable, if boring material to use for the armor plating of the ship. What made it interesting was the scarcity of its use among Rendili Stardrive designs, which favored heavy durasteel or desh-terenthium for the structure of a starship. Not that either weren't present on the cruiser, as the structural supports of the vessel was built from the desh alloy mix which allowed ease in construction given its flexible nature, while the framework of the ship was firmly pillared by a durasteel skeleton. The ship wasn't the most well armored in the galaxy when metals like Ultrachrome, Beskar, and Impervium existed, but it definitely had a better than average hull plate to contend with other warships at the very least.

 

[Camellia Swift]

The lack of a hangar certainly did hurt the marketable aspect of the cruiser, that much Camellia could assume. Advertising it based on its modular base deployment would certainly earn a rise in demand, but still without starfighter support of its own it would be relying on other ships within its flotilla to make up for it. Nonetheless given its other features it was a worthwhile investment and the Rendili woman hoped the One Sith at the very least found it to be a worthy offering to them. If not then it would be a lot of work wasted and if there was one thing the head of Rendili Stardrive hated it was a wasted effort.

To that end she put her best foot forward even if it was something she wasn't entirely happy with. So the new cruiser was going to be good regardless of whether or not people appreciated its use.

 

[Camellia Swift]

A new line of starship with a high expectation needed an impressive name to go along with it though. However, the list of names that were presented with the design seemed very bland, or rather they appeared to be exactly the sort of generic names one could give to a warship. It either had to fit the theme of its predecessors or have its own flare to announce itself. At least that was the Rendili woman's belief as she poured over the suggestions outlined in the document. Conqueror? No. . . . .Starhunter? Maybe, it actually varied. However with the last cruiser named the Starhammer class it might be seen as too similar. Or that might be a good thing if Rendili Stardrive tried to push the Starhammer onto the Sith as well. Although the rumors of the Kevn class now entering the Sith Navy severely pushed the Starhammer out of its role. . . .

Still, the product being made for the Sith now was the Starhunter Class. And Starhunter it would be because it appeared to be the only name on the list that stood out on its own. Plus it fit, the cruiser's role was to deploy a forward base as the Sith hunted the stars for worlds to conquer. It was fitting, hopefully the Sith thought so too. SHe'd have to have marketing make sure they had a catchy advertising plan for it.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Setting aside a quadrant of the Humbarine Yard's production to handle the new Starhunters was a chore, especially given the fact they had to involve the vehicle department to tackle the prefab garrison's design, but at the same time it wasn't as much of a dip into profits producing other designs on schedule than the head of Rendili Stardrive had initially thought. Mostly again because the One Sith hadn't been doing much business with Rendili at all until late, so there wasn't that much business to attend to that opening up construction berths for a new line would delay. Still, with the time it would take to refine and actually put the Starhunter class into production they would fall a little behind.

Nonetheless, the tribute would hopefully be well received by the Sith and they would buy it up. The RPGU-01 units were what really affected the production, but the Rendili woman believed they were the linchpin of the Starhunter line. After all, how many ships currently deployed a prefab garrison on demand. It would definitely benefit ground combat. Before she forgot though, the Rendili woman made sure to note on the transmission to the Humbarine yards to include the shield generator for the Rendili Prefab Garrison Units to keep it viable.

 

[Camellia Swift]

"Well I guess what comes next is to prepare an unveiling for the right Sith authorities. Maybe members of the council, or is there a specific Sith Lord in control of handling their military purchases?" Thinking to herself as she sat at her desk, the head of Rendili Stardrive groaned as she clutched at her forehead. She had an enormous headache from trying to keep up with everything and everyone. Not all of them pleasant to deal with, others enjoyably so. Nonetheless she was making it through the day she supposed as she went to work figuring out how to get in contact with the Sith so that she could properly begin production of the StarHunter class according to their desired numbers.

There was time at least to do so until they were able to test the prototype at the very least. Once the prototype was run through simulations and refined then they could determine just how many of the cruisers the One Sith desired to field if any at all.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Nearly a month later Camellia would find herself on a quickly constructed landing platform as she raised electrobinoculars to gaze up into the sky as she watched the figure of the Starhunter Cruiser began to breach the upper levels of the atmosphere. An enhanced and enlarged image was also on a screen nearby that the head of Rendili Stardrive kept lowering the binoculars to glance at for a better view of certain aspects of the Starhunter, such as when the light cruiser began sliding away its hull panels covering its turbolaser turrets, the concealed weapons rising from their emplacements as they began to track the target drones deployed to speed around in simulated attack patterns.

Watching the proper mechanics of the concealed weapons revealing themselves was best viewed on the screen. However, watching the cruiser actually shoot drones was better to watch through the electrobinoculars in the Rendili woman's opinion as she watched the light of the turbolaser cannons lance out through the sky as the mock battle waged on, power lowered for the weapons of course so the energy dissipated before long after firing to ensure the less harm to the ozone and what not.

 

[Camellia Swift]

The targeting solutions appeared to be running fine on the cruiser as Camellia watched from afar as the turbolasers were indeed tracking the path of the drones superbly. Although the turret on the left chin of the Starhunter prototype appeared to lag behind the others in response time as she paid attention closely. Whether the flaw was owed to the gunners or to an error in the construction of that particular weapon emplacement would have to be looked into. Otherwise the ship was performing as expected, the weapon systems taking care of the half dozen drones in quick order despite their agility. Leaving molten, flaming, falling wrecks that would crash into the already cleared simulation zone.

The Starhunter's speed was actually rather admirable considering it was made of quadanium. "The yards did a good job with the prototype. I haven't seen Quadanium shine or have such a sleek sheen to it." It looked more like duranium with how polished it was. The dock chief in charge of the berths for the prototype deserved a raise for his attention to the appearance. However, it was whether or not the Cruiser could deploy the modular base that would really determine just how well built the prototype unit was.

 

[Camellia Swift]

While she kept her eyes on the sky Camellia had one of the technicians watching with her from landing platform rattle off the altitude of the cruiser as it dipped further into the planet's atmosphere. If things went as intended then the cruiser would deploy the RPGU-01 prototype from the point the Starhunter hit the mesosphere, although the crew was given permission to drop the modular garrison from the thermosphere if their readouts indicated they could do so. In personal opinion, the head of Rendili Stardrive supposed the mesosphere was the safest drop point as the thermosphere lacked enough pull to guide the prefab base accurately.

So it wasn't a surprise when the technician looking over the monitors called out an altitude just below the upper reach of the mesosphere as the drop point for the garrison. Since the garrison was going to land within the valley the landing pad was positioned they had a good view of where it would land. They also had a good view of the small base dropping, a look with the electrobinoculars showing the thrusters flaring at the correct intervals to slow descent and correct its approach angle until it reached the point for the small engines to burn continuously to settle its descent. The Rendili Prefab Garrison Unit model number one landed shortly after that, the trees of the valley billowing as its engines blew against the ground and a rumble passed through the landing pad as the mass of Quadanium touched down on the ground with a soft, for its size and descent, thud.

 

[Camellia Swift]

Now that it had touched down the full magic of the RPGU-01 came to light, the box like modular structure unfolding into a more trapezoid or pyramidal form. At the very top a tower began to rise mounted with a heavy turbolaser cannon affixed at the top, swiveling back and forth as if searching the valley for hostile presences while other panels slid open, revealing more weapons as heavy repeating blaster cannons pushed outward, covering the four cardinal directions capable of hitting both low atmospheric fighters and light vehicles. As if that weren't all, the south wall of the deployed garrison opened up a large door from which four second hand AT-PTs crawled out to show that the base could indeed pack in small vehicles.

Personally as she watched all of this unfold Camellia could only think about how badly she wished the unit was bigger so it could be deployed with a starfighter or two within it. It was certainly a possibility. . . but perhaps that was something to save for RPGU-02. The north side opening up then regained the head of Rendili Stardrive's attention as she watched a half dozen squads deploy from the prefab base, part of the contingent that could deploy with the garrison for show. However, the last was still to come as a bright blue quickly spilled over the structure, the light shield generator coming online taking from the experimental design also being put to use on the Republic Class but on a smaller level. It wouldn't withstand many hits from heavy fire, but it could regenerate quickly enough to resist small arms fire was the idea.

 

[Camellia Swift]

"That's enough, I'm pleased with the Prototype's performance. Have an inspector check on that sluggish turret on the left chin. Make sure if its a production error it's corrected and if it's the gunner's ability have them go back for retraining. Tell the teams out there to pack it in and have the cruiser come back to collect the base. I think this is something we can sell for certain." Setting down the electrobinoculars on the table of monitors and displays, Camellia turned and ran a hand through her hair as the wind picked up and set some of it astray. She hoped this was enough to appease the Sith and leave her in peace for a while. Sometimes life was too stressful to put the time into a project she didn't have her head set for.