Kyriaki
Dark Phoenix
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Expand on Tephrike.
Image Source: Here.
Canon Link: N/A
Permissions: N/A
Primary Source: N/A
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Tephrike
Affiliation: Tephrike
Market Status: Closed-Market
Model: Stiletto Class Fast Attack Ship
Modularity: Limited. Ordnance is variable. Lifeboats can be dispensed with. Torpedo tubes can be removed for an equivalent number of additional missile launchers.
Production: Minor
Material: Durasteel, alusteel, standard surface ship components.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Anti-Ship Missile Equipped Patrol and Coastal Combatant, Missile Boat.
Role: Anti-Surface Warfare, Coastal Patrol.
Size: Small
Weight: Average
Armaments: Very High
- 1x 30mm autocannon turret
- 2x single anti-ship missile launchers. Variable warheads.
- 2x single torpedo tubes. Variable warheads.
- Thin armour plating
Speed Rating: Very High
Propulsion: Twin propellers
Minimum Crew: 10
Optimal Crew: 25
Passenger Capacity: None
Cargo Capacity: Very Small
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Communications suite
- Mapping system
- Sonar and surface/air scanning system.
- Lifeboats for crew. Ships crewed by rebels from aquatic species such as Nautolans, Gungans, Mon Calamari etc. often dispense with those to carry more missiles or supplies.
- Diesel engines
- Features several nozzles around the decks and upper structures. These are used to clean the ship after a chemical attack or radioactive fallout, or to spray seawater on the ship for cooling.
- Basically a scaled up speedboat...with large anti-ship missile launchers strapped to its back. Capable of firing both anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. In large numbers these humble vessels can present an outsized threat to bigger and better-armed ships.
- Fast patrol craft. Can evade larger but more cumbersome ships, which facilitates rapid strikes and retreats as well as swarm tactics. The ship is very quick and nimble. With a shallow draught and excellent agility it can go deep up river or through coral banks as well as handling open sea.
- Its weapons' systems do not have good range, which means it has to get close to its target. This can become a problem.
- One-trick pony. It does one thing really well, and that's it. Once its heavy ordnance has been expended, the ship needs to turn tail and retreat swiftly.
- Poor armour. It is a scaled up speedboat with missile launchers, not a warship. Its paper-thin armour make it vulnerable to anything fitted out for combat. This is a vessel for the very daring and skilled.
Not every rebel insurgency movement receives bountiful support from capitalist industrialist conglomerates such as Incom Corporation. Not all rebels can draw upon the coffers of exiled aristos and other well-off émigres. Of course, it could be argued that the Rebel Alliance was fundamentally a conservative project headed by aristos and other representatives of the ancien régime, who made use of low-class shock troops but lacked revolutionary or even reformist aspirations.
However, this is not the time or place for that. The Republican Guard considers itself a vanguard revolutionary movement fighting for the rights of the 'mundanes' against the tyrannical rule of Force-Users on Tephrike. However, its industrial manufacturing base is limited. Its base lies in rural and aquatic areas in southern Tephrike. Certain foreign corporations such as Firemane Industries and Globex dole out support in return for mining concessions...but this comes with strings attached, is very limited and hard for the revolutionary leaders to stomach.
Necessity has made the rebels masters of improvisation. Given the dire circumstances, they lack the time and the resources to engage in questionable vanity projects such as building 'Sea Star Destroyers'. As mentioned, they draw much of their support from aquatic species. Tephrike happens to be a world covered by oceans and seas. Thus it is only natural for the Republican Guard to create jury-rigged guerilla craft to carry out raids. Essentially, the Stiletto Class Fast Attack Ship is a scaled up speed boat with some large anti-ship missile launchers strapped to the back of it. The vessel does have significant weaknesses: it does not have significant range, it is not very survivable or versatile.
However, it is very fast, and well-armed. The power to weight ratio is rather high and results in a maximum speed of about 50 knots. The small size of the ship provide it with good protection against detection by the enemy. Furthermore, exhaust gases can be directed underwater to significantly reduce its thermal signature, or up in the air to minimise sound in submarines direction. Utilising swarm attacks, these vessels can present an outsized threat to bigger, more heavily armed vessels far beyond its humble cost.
With the right tactics and some luck, a squadron can take down a substantially bigger, heavier vessel. Moreover, they are cheap and easy to make. When not in use, ships are carefully concealed, reserved and defended. Until an opportunity to deliver a quick strike presents itself. The goal is not to prevent the enemy from entering a sea area, for that is impossible. But it makes it very risky. Three vessels of this type proved crucial during Operation Blood Pisces, which targeted a Dominion port city. The assault was carried out at night-time, and inflicted serious damage on Dominion naval facilities and vessels. The Dominion lost a destroyer, a minesweeper, a cargo vessel carrying ammunition, and fuel storage tanks in the port. Another warship was disabled. Three days later, another attack damaged a fleet tanker beyond repair, and destroyed a fuel storage facility.
