Ayden Cater
Grumpy Goat
Image Source: Here
Affiliation: Personal (Ayden Cater)
Manufacturer:
- Corellian Engineering in co-operation with Fondor Shipyards (original construction)
- Ayden Cater (Modifications)
Modularity: None
Production: Unique
Material:
- Pressed Titanium (Hull Plating)
- Tungsten (Hull Frame)
- Transparisteel (Viewports)
Minimum Crew:
- 1 w/ AI
- 12 w/o AI
- 7 w/ AI
- 45 w/o AI
Width: 147 meters
Height: 72 meters
Armament:
- Three Heavy Quad Turbolaser Cannons (Forward; one above each wing, one under the bow)
- Two Heavy Quad Ion Cannons (Forward; one under each wing)
- Two Phrenbik Beam Cannons (Forward; one under each wing) (40 capital guns apiece; 80 total)
- Twelve Concussion Missile Launchers (Ventral)
- Two Assault Concussion Missile Launchers (Ventral)
- Two Heavy Energy Torpedo Projectors (Forward)
- Twelve Heavy Autoblaster Turrets
- Twelve Quad Laser Cannon Turrets (Retractable)
- Room for either one dropship or two standard-sized fighters
- Two M47 Dropships (One per secondary hanger)
- 500-Series Hyperdrive
- Artificial Intelligence Datacore
- Extensive Automation
- Gravitic Modulator
- Internal Heat Sinks (Thirty-Six Hour Capacity)
- Personal Armory
- Photon Absorbers
- TibannaX Drive
- Tractor Shroud (x8)
- 7 while running 'hot'
- 11 while running 'cold'
- 7 while running 'hot'
- 11 while running 'cold'
Strengths:
- More Than Meets the Eye - The Starfall has firepower considerably greater than nearly any other frigate, allowing it to freely engage multiple other frigates or even cruisers and expect at least a stalemate
- Catch Me If You Can - The Stafall is exceptionally agile while running hot, capable of outperforming just about anything in its size bracket.
- Where'd You Go? - In an age where almost all targeting acquisition or scanning is done via computers, the Starfall is capable of slipping through virtually any sensor net by virtue of its various stealth systems. However the ship is still quite visible to the naked eye. While quite visible in atmosphere, or against the backdrop of a planet or local star, the ship is virtually invisible against the blackness of space. Overall, the strengths of this arrangement far outweigh its weakness, particularly in space.
- Bang - The ship-bound Phrenbik cannons have exceptional penetration power, both against standard shields and hull plating.
- Fix Bayonets! - The weapons aboard the Starfall are almost all entirely fixed, requiring the ship reorient entirely if it wants to adjust its firing lane. Thus anything to damage the ships weapons or its maneuverability drastically reduces combat effectiveness.
- Chaaaarge! - Given the arrangement of the missile launchers, the Starfall must close to exceptionally short distances in order to accurately fire the majority of its missile weapons.
- Tip Toe Now - While running cold to avoid sensor detection, the Starfall must run at significantly reduced speed owing to the use of the TibannaX drive.
- Shhhhh! - Any weapons fire, active scans or communications, or significant Force use nullifies the ship's passive stealth systems.
- Between The Ribs - While the Phrenbik cannons are quite powerful and can easily destroy vital systems with a direct hit, their design renders secondary damage a virtual impossibility. Unless a main reactor is hit, a shot for a Phrenbik cannon is virtually never lethal to the target ship, and rarely possess a larger threat to the rest of the targetted ship.
- Once More, With Feeling - like a hypervelocity cannon, the Phrenbik cannons are very susceptible to concentrated ion attacks. As the weapon utilizes sensitive electromagnetic fields to accelerate and shape the liquid metal, ion attacks force the weapon to reset its firing sequence at best or fry the weapon entirely at worst.
Description:
Originally developed by Ayden for the Protectorate as one of two prototype frigates, the ship was taken with Ayden when he went underground following the One Sith invasion, and subsequent destruction of Corellia. The ship was undoubtedly powerful, but military might was not what Ayden needed. The ship was originally designed for short-term deployment; fly out, hit a target, then fly back to the hanger and wait til another mission comes up. It simply did not have the facilities and means to support anyone long term, nor did it have the systems to facilitate deep-space travel.
While Ayden understood the needs, he consulted with Jorus (and surprisingly, Mara Merrill) for the list of alterations that would be necessary to refit the ship to suit his needs. A number of systems and items had to be taken out in order to free up space and power; excess crew and passenger quarters, heavy dropship space, half the concussion missile launchers, and a quarter of the power routed away from the weapon systems were all removed.
For the trouble, Ayden installed a number of upgrades. First, and most notable among them, was the installation of an AI datacore to house Roland, Ayden's virtual companion and technical design partner. The system is interfaced with all the ship's systems. Thus, Roland could fly the ship himself if he needed to. With Roland taking care of the necessary systems, crew requirements were slashed to almost nothing.
Next came the tech lab. Ayden is always designing new ships and technology, both for Corellian Engineering and his own needs. Holographic projectors can be found all over, allowing him to display three dimensional images and wireframes of his projects. The lab is stocked with all the necessary tools and manufacturing equipment necessary to create and maintain personal weapons, gadgets, and armor that Ayden needs. Adequate stores of raw materials are on-hand, though more extensive projects require trips for new or exotic materials.
The science lab was the next big project. Taking up most of the space freed from the removal of the two fifty-meter heavy dropships, the science lab combines a state-of-the-art facility with the wild menagerie of things that Ayden has collected over the course of his life. Small isolation chambers store hazardous materials or items, such as a Vong Shaper's Hand or the translated copy of the Taurannik Codex. Unconventional tools can be found in it as well, most notable the minor alchemic forge he assembled. While it wouldn't help him in making anything earth-shattering or innovative, it was a useful bench for research work and inspection. Two tanks are found at the far end, each housing a clone of Ayden at an earlier level of development. Mostly these clones are used for experimentation, though they are useful to have in the event that Ayden is killed.
Various quality-of-life improvements were made and installed, such as the solid fuel/ration converter, a properly stocked medical bay, an improved internal heat sink, and more spacious quarters. The targeting system was upgraded, as well as the hyperdrive. The sensitivity of the ship's myriad of systems required additional inertial compensators. This would help keep the ship in one piece if it ever ran into an interdiction field to punch through.
The Weapons
Militarily speaking only a handful of things changed, aside from the aforementioned removal. The ship's primary and secondary weapons were almost entirely removed. Two of the dual ion cannons were left in place. Some of the spare power had to be routed down to the labs, but the majority was left for two new cannons. Dubbed Phrenbik beam cannons, their design is basically the combination of an energy torpedo projector and a hypervelocity cannon. Rather than accelerating a physical round, the cannon accelerates a mass of liquid durasteel and tungsten. Initially formless, the metallic mass is shaped by the electromagnetic fields of the cannon as it fires. The resulting projectile is exceptionally sharp, capable of punching through most conventional hull plating.
However, the same process that gives it such fantastic penetration capabilities also prevents the weapon from inflicting truly devastating collateral damage. As the shaped round punches through cleanly, most of the energy travels with it rather than impacting and spreading out across the target ship. This means that damage is almost solely limited to the direct impact site, with no damage outside of a three meter radius from the edge of the impact. As the cannon requires almost ninety seconds to recharge, more than either a standard hypervelocity cannon or heavy energy torpedo projector, great care must be taken to ensure that the cannon finds a valuable subsystem to hit on the enemy ship. As well, the electromagnetic generators that create the necessary acceleration and shaping fields are very sensitive and can be overwhelmed by concentrated ion cannon fire.
The end result is a ship that retains most of its punch while offering considerably more varied and substantial capabilities to a man who has begun looking for a new path in life. In honor and memory of the flagship first made for the Protectorate and that served it faithfully for many years, Ayden christened the refitted frigate the Starfall,
- Advanced Deflector Shield Generator
- Advanced Sensor Array
- Advanced Targeting Systems
- Cap Drain Module (x8)
- Encryption Network
- Escape Pods
- Extensive Automation
- Gravitic Modulator
- Holonet Transceiver
- Internal Heat Sinks (Thirty-Six Hour Capacity)
- Long-Range Communications Array
- MedBay
- Photon Absorbers
- Research and Development Lab
- Reinforced CIC
- Science Lab
- Solid Fuel/Ration Converter
- Standard Life Support Systems
- Standard Navigational Systems
- TibannaX Drive
- Tractor Beams (x4)
- Tractor Shroud (x8)
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