Directorate Officer
Image Source: Spartan Game's Integration Assault Carrier, background originally by MacRebisz found here
Affiliation: Lucerne Labs
Manufacturer: Lucerne Labs
Model: Union-class Colony/Assault Carrier Ocean Tide
Modularity: AIs, hangar and passenger complements, cargo
Production: Unique
Material: Chimera Composite plating with Condensed matter composite backing, Tekonite reinforcement, Trimantium plating, mirrsteel-iridium-condensed matter composite frame as per Ossis starship frame, Madilon-based hyperdrive, various starship components
Classification: Assault Carrier / Colonization Vessel
Length: 1300 meters
Height: 290 meters
Width: 570 meters
Armament: 14
2 spinal-mounted Cascade-class Proton Beam Cannons
8 Octuple Heavy Turbolaser Turrets
4 Trident-class Autocannons
30 Firestorm-class Plasma Turbolaser Batteries
15 Class III Deimos series Positron Cannon Batteries
10 Ion Cannon Batteries
20 Triumph-class Light Quad Turbolaser Batteries
10 Revirement-class Missile Launchers
2 Erebus-class jamming arrays
10 Rainburst-class Flak Cannon Batteries
40 Trudo Point Defense Turrets
10 AG-2G Quad Laser Cannon Batteries
40 Double PLX-2M Missile Launcher Turrets
10 Sentinel-class Point Defense Emplacement Batteries
Defenses:18
Hangar: 10 squadrons
Typical Planetary Assault / Colonization Loadout:
-3 squadrons of starfighters/starbombers
-1 squadron of gunships
-6 squadrons of transport craft
Typical Deep Space Superiority Loadout:
-10 mixed squadrons of interceptors/starfighters/starbombers/
Special Features:
Aegis-class Anti-Concussion Field Generator
Assault tubes equipped with Plasma Cut Boarding Devices
Auxiliary Back-up Bridge
Biolux Organoform Circuitry
BRT Supercomputer
Calor series Bio-computers
Catapult Pressors (12)
Comm Lasers
Comscans
CS-Mark 10 Command Combat Simulators (2)
Encryption Network
Escape Pods
Frequency Jammer
Gyrocomputer (1)
Holo-tanks
MC1005 Dolfin-class Communication's Array
Nav Computer Bypass
Ossis starship frame
Phalanx-class Shield System
Standard Detention Cells
Standard Life Support Systems
Standard Navigational Systems
Standard Sensor Array
Standard Targeting Systems
Hansen FeatherTouch Tractor Beam Projectors (x12)
Can Enter Atmosphere and Land
Cargo Capacity: 28,500 metric tons
Passenger Count: ~30,000
Manoeuvrability Rating: 18
Speed Rating: 17
Hyperdrive Class: 1
Strengths:
Improved Defenses: While the Union's shields are only about average for a warship of its size, its hull exceptionally durable from its use of Ossis starship frame construction covered in alternating layers of thick Chimera Composite plating and thin Condensed matter composite backing, and with additional tekonite reinforcement in the bow of the ship.
Improved Armament: The Union sports more weapons than many carrier ships of its size.
Enhancer: The Union sports specialized systems, from shield projectors that can encompass small groups of friendly ships to communications jammers, that can enhance the performance of its hosted units.
Weaknesses:
Low Speed and Maneuverability: The exceptionally thick and dense materials that make up the ship make it slower and noticeably less maneuverable than many ships that are larger than it.
No Long Range Weapons: The Union does not have any long-range weapons, which combined with its low speed and maneuverability, can lead to it being "kited" by faster ships with long-range weapons.
Fixed fore weapons: A significant portion of the Union's firepower is tied up in its proton beam cannons, which have an exceptionally narrow field of fire. Combined with its low maneuverability, Unions sometimes have issues bringing these weapons to bear on opponents.
Description: The Union-class Colony/Assault Carrier is the centerpiece product of Lucerne Labs's Vanguard Project, which aims to provide advanced colonization starships to allow settlers to push deep into unknown and potentially hostile space. To this end, it is an exceptionally durable vessel carrying a host of small craft, thousands of passengers, and an almost uncountable amount of cargo and supplies. The Union might have remained as a simple civilian craft if the company's president, Gir Quee, had not observed the new Kandosii Type 2.5 during the Omega Event. Armed with the knowledge of its existence, Gir lead the team in revamping the ship's design to act as a well armed and armored planetary assault carrier. Some aspects of this conversion process were relatively simple: the passenger cabins designed colonists were easily converted into troop barracks. But others were more complex, leading Lucerne Labs to miniaturize many of the components as possible in order to include enough weaponry and other military systems to act as a dedicated warship if necessary. The resulting vessel is capable of hosting and coordinating large groups of small craft and thousands of peoples and droids in the harshest environmental circumstances or the most trying battles. Most militaries use Unions as planetary assault transports and carriers in the vein of the ancient Acclamator or Venator-class Star Destroyers, using the ship's durability and exceptional weaponry to push through hardened defenses to deploy legions of troops and dozens of starfighters. Despite the ship's redesign, many civilian organizations also purchase the craft for its original intended use as a colony ship. These ships almost always do not carry the full weaponry of the military version in order to cut down on cost and to stay within civilian armament limits set by most galactic governments. The most notable ship of its class, and its lead vessel, the Ocean Tide, serves as the flagship of Lucerne Labs's Corporate Security Fleet.
(Note: Stats shown here depict the Union at its highest, military grade level when it is marketed as a warship. Unions purchased for civilian colonization efforts generally have much weaker armaments in order to save on costs and to stay within civilian armament limits).
Technical Descriptions:
Barracks: As a dedicated transport, the Union devotes a large amount of its internal space to passenger compartments which are mostly concentrated in the upper bow of the ship. However, there are smaller numbers of cabins located throughout the vessel where units could be crammed into space between systems that otherwise wasn't being used. In order to maximize carrying capacity, these quarters use a variety of space-saving techniques, ranging from built-in lofted furniture to use of built-in flatscreens and specialized flatscreens to reduce the idea of claustrophobia among their occupants. Cargo holds are similiarly concentrated around the ship.This effectively allows the Union to carry around 30,000 personnel and their equipment. Colonization efforts usually use this space to carry enough settlers for a small city or two, along with some of the necessary equipment to start them off. Most militaries use the same space to carry the equivalent of two Imperial battlegroups, making it one of the few modern troop transports capable of hosting and supporting large scale ground operations. While these peoples and materials can be moved from the vessel through the ship's small craft, the Union can also land and deploy them through ramps. The ship has especially large ramps used to offload heavy vehicles and large formations of troops on the lowermost section of its bow and at its stern between the two engine nacelles.
Boarding Systems: Because of its ability to house many troops, many Unions in use by militaries come from the Labs shipyards equipped with dozens of assault tubes equipped with plasma Cut Boarding Devices that line the ships equatorial trench. If a Union can pull alongside a target, or drag it to the trench with its tractor beam projectors, these assault tubes can eventually batter or cut their way into a target to deploy troops. Because of the Union's low speed, this typically is used to assault stationary targets such as space stations. Most civilian users of the Union opt for their airlocks not to be equipped with this system to save on costs.
Command and Control: One of the Union's key roles is to act as a command and control station for both military and civilian uses. As a civilian craft, the Union typically serves as the flagship of a colonization fleet. While the ship's BRT supercomputer can capably coordinate the planning and utilization of the colony itself, there is no off the shelf product that help coordinate the sometimes complicated process of coordinating supply ships, scout craft, defense craft, mining ships, and science starships to make a budding colony successful. Likewise, while the BRT is highly capable of handling and growing additional infrastructure, it isn't optimized for the establishing that infrastructure from the get-go. This often requires an organic touch that is informed by technology, which the Union-class readily provides. While the ship's amphitheater-like bridge can handle many of the initial demands, even a little growth can rapidly overwhelm these limited abilities, which lead the design team to include specialized ground and space control facilities, known as the Planetary Operations Center(POC) and Space Operations Center(SOC) respectively.
The SOC, also known as the “wishing well”, is a tactical command post loosely based on the bridge of the old Inexpungnable-class. It is circular room with two levels, with the inner level being substantially lower than the outer ring. The outer ring holds typical computer consoles, comscans, and a handful of small scale holo-tanks. But the central portion is created with a transparisteel deck and walls through which embedded holo-projectors could recreate the space around them and the objects, both artificial and natural, on a large scale that is not only detailed and immersive, but also in real-time. Such a presentation affords the crew manning it perhaps the easiest method to observe and interpret on a large scale while avoiding being sucked into observing the battle through a handful of 'keyholes' viewpoints, such as the bridge viewport or an several electro-photoreceptors. Colony expeditions frequently use the SOC to explore avenues of approach through difficult terrains and to coordinate initial orbital traffic over a newly colonized world. Military forces often use it to help coordinate groups of ships, particularly starfighter squadrons.
The Planetary Operations Center is located a short distance away from both the main bridge and the SOC. This is a rectangular room whose walls are mostly covered in LCD screens which frequently display live feeds from cameras and other visual sensors found on personal armors, droids, vehicles, and other like devices. Most of the room is occupied with neat rows of computer consoles and holographic tactical battlefield displays needed to interpret the vast amount of data flows through the center and coordinate the units present on the ground. Many of these consoles are equipped with CL-3 headsets to help control and coordinate droids and other automated units. This room also contains a CS-Mark 12 Holo-projector, used to plan large-scale movements, and a pair of CS-Mark 10 Command Combat Simulators, which are used to analyze terrain and simulate battle plans. Civilian colonization efforts typically use the POC to plan and coordinate the initial colony itself. It's also not uncommon for this facility to be used to plan and control the large-scale harvest of natural resources, whether it is foodstuffs of deep-core mining. Military forces typically use the POC as a mobile command post for a large variety of units and missions, from monitoring strike teams through helmet cams to directing armies thousands of individuals strong into battle.
Communications: The Union's core starship communications package is a
MC1005 Dolfin-class Communication's Array augmented with several dozen additional Comm Lasers. However, as a command and control vessel, Lucerne Labs decided additional communication systems were vital to Union, whether as the lead colony vessel or as a mobile military command post. To that end, the Union has a host of short-ranged comlinks networked into a central communications computer that allows it to support hundreds of different simultaneous data streams. In colonization efforts, this allows the Union to act as the local communication's hub for a new colony until dedicated comm satellites and networks can be established. These same units can be used by military forces through the POC to coordinate movements of peoples, vehicles, droids, and other units as necessary for large-scale operations. The Union's communication array is linked to a large frequency jammer optimized to disrupt large numbers of low-powered personal comlinks and small starship subspace transceivers. Units working in sync with a Union will typically use channel-hopping algorithms to link their communication's efforts, which allows the Union to selectively jam frequencies to deny their use to the enemy while allowing their own communications to continue unhindered.
Computer systems: The Union-class makes extensive use of Lucerne Labs propietary Calor series Bio-computers and Biolux Organoform Circuitry to form large, adaptable networks that service individual departments, such as Medical, and systems, such as Propulsion, of the ship. Typically, these local networks are not linked together, using compartmentalization in order to promote cyber security. The systems of the bridges are an exception, however, most of those consoles only have read-only access, and cannot input commands into those networks. However, each Union is equipped with a single BRT Supercomputer that can act as a central hub for all of the networks. This computer can be used as a host for up to two artificial intelligences. Colonization efforts typically use the computer's default programming to help control planetary infrastructure during the initial construction efforts. It also can play host to Lucerne Lab's experimental Compass Navigator AI, which is used to help navigate through exceptionally dense or difficult areas of space, such as the Deep Core and some areas of the Unknown Regions. Militaries use computer to augment the processing of their networks and to host artificial intelligence units typically engaged in battlefield coordination or electronic warfare. Because of the risk of this computer being infected, it is installed with manual disconnects in case the computer being occupied by a rogue AI or a network-wide virus disruption.
Ground Support Role: Like the Acclamator-class Assault Ship, much of the ship's weaponry can be used in support of ground operations. While the ship can use its capital-scale weaponry like other warships to conduct orbital bombardments, the Union is somewhat unique in that it designed to particularly use its defensive weaponry to provide coordinated and precise tactical fire to support ground combat operations. The ship's Sentinel-class point defense emplacements are typically used to suppress enemy infantry and other small targets while the ship's quad laser cannons and other heavier point defense weaponry can be employed against select enemy vehicles and positions. Perhaps the most versatile of these weaponsa re the PLX-2M missile launchers, which cannot only fire traditional warheads, but can also be used to fire bunker-busters and deploy chemical agents. While the Sentinels almost always work in automated network against their foes, the rest of these defensive weapons are usually manually manned, which has led to their operators frequently being given instruction about ground operations and their potential targets.
Hangar: As a carrier, the Union has extensive hangar facilities compared to many warships, though its flight support systems do pale in comparison to some dedicated fleet carriers. The Union has roughly three hangar areas, which are all linked internally through a system of automated supply shuttle carts and a quartet of starship elevators that lead to the inner deep maintenance facilities. The largest hangar facility on the Union is on its lowest deck, where a group of three squadron-sized hangars lay connected on either side of a central commons area, which is buffered by a briefing room for each squadron hangar. Each of these hangars is equipped with a guidance tractor beam projector to help land damaged starships, automated fire suppression, and gravitational field disruptors. This last item can be used to help secure a starship in the cases of hurried landings, or be used to lighten the starship to help the maintenance crews repair or service the carried vessels. The ships second hangar deck is located just above the first, though it is substantially narrower and opens up to the front, rather than the sides, of the vessel. This hangar holds two squadrons and is equipped with a dozen catapult pressors which allows of the ship's squadrons to rapidly launch. The last hangar facility is located just aft of the main hangar, but it extends up vertically to the top of the ship. Two dozen individual craft hangars ring this vertical shaft, which allows craft to pull out into the central shaft before hovering up and out of the ship just in front of the vessel's cylindrical bridge tower. Because this is a relatively slow way to launch craft compared to even normal hangars, this hangar facility typically hosts small craft that do not work in large groups, such as dropships and personal transports. All hangar entries and exits to the outside world can be secured with thick, duranium blast doors.
Hull: The Union uses a Ossis series starship frame as the structural framework for this design. Like other member ships of the Vanguard Project, the Union's bow has an redundant structural framing in the bow of the vessel to better protect it against physical impacts. While this feature was originally designed to make the Union more resilient in crossing through various navigational hazards like asteroid belts, it also provides additional resistance to kinetic attacks in that section of the ship as well. In order to speed up production, the ship's power systems and internal pathways of main corridors and turbolifts were then mol-welded to this frame. Taking a cue from the Strike Cruiser, the rest of the ship's internal architecture is modular, and is actually manufactured separately in modules that are then attached to the framework and/or other modules. This modular nature gives individual Union-class carriers some flexibility in arrangement for custom orders of the craft. Key modules are also mol-welded, but the expense and time consumption of that technique means that many modules are attached using more typical welding and attachment methods. The interior of this ship is then covered in a moderately thin skin of trimantium, whose tensile strength helps to further strengthen the connection of the modules to the frame itself. The forward quarter of the vessel is then covered in slats of tekonite to better absorb physical impacts. The entirely of the ship is then covered in alternating layers of Chimera Composite separated by thin layers of condensed matter composite, much like the armor of the Tercel-class heavy cruiser.
Hyperdrive: Lucerne Labs moved away from the design family of the Zephyr series of hyperdrives to a new model designed to economically move the Union over vast distances in uncivilized space. Like much of the Union-class, a heavy focus was placed on miniaturization, leading to the entire use of Lucerne Lab's small stockpile of madilon throughout the systems. The units hyperdrive motivator is exceptionally sensitive in analyzing sensor and navigation data, which allows it to precisely calculate the exact amount of thrust needed to make the most use of the Union's fuel supply. This motivator is linked to two devices: The first is a basic HIMS device, which was included in order to prevent the colony ship from being intercepted by pirates and other hostile powers. The second device is a Nav Computer Bypass, which allows the Union to efficiently alter its course while in hyperspace in conjunction with the ship's navigation computer.
Medical Facilities/Laboratories: The ship has four utilitarian facilities within the ship that can be outfitted as either sickbays or laboratories. Each facility consist of an large portion of one of the Union's deck which can be partitioned by the use of duraplast wall socket system to form, normal-sized rooms as needed. Each of these rooms is then outfitted with the necessary equipment for its purpose. On stock Union-class Carriers, two of the rooms come prefitted with as sickbays, with dozen bacta immersion tanks, one hundred beds, three trauma rooms, an operating room, and the necessary medical equipment to care for both short-term and long-term patients for a variety of maladies. One of the other facilities comes storage lockers, lag stations, computer systems, and other specialized equipment to conduct science experiments, whether it is understanding the flora and fauna of a newly colonized world or developing artificial limbs and experimental cybernetics. Most owners typically modify these rooms as their needs dictate, and its not uncommon for military Unions to have all of their spare rooms outfitted to act as a combat support hospital for the battlegroups that the ship is hosting.
Power Systems: Rather than relying on a single, massive reactor like the classical Imperator-class Star Destroyer, the Union uses a network of high-output hypermatter reactors scattered throughout the central regions of the ship, with each reactor being charged with providing power to a localized area. Each reactor makes extensive use of Ardanium II to increase shielding abilities, which has allowed a high degree of miniaturization, allowing the designers a large degree of flexibility in architecture leading to less dead space. Each reactor is lined into two different power conduit networks. The first power conduit series is the main circuit and is fairly typical in design to most power systems chain. The second feeds emergency and reserve cryogenic power cells and also feeds into a series of microfusion piles. This network can jumpstart the reactors if needed, provide emergency power, or act as alternative power conduit as circumstances dictate. As a result, this design redundancy makes the Union unlikely to suffer from catastrophic power failure even when entire sections of the ship's hull are destroyed.
Security: The Union makes extensive use of code cylinders to control sensitive access to the ship and its systems. Tripping or attempting to force one's way into the system can not only trigger silent alarms that inform the ship's security team, but also trigger any number of automated traps. Forced access to most restricted rooms triggers man traps concealed underneath the deck's plate in an attempt to immobilize the intruder. Key rooms, corridors, and junction points are further guarded by Class VI automated laser projectors and force-field generators.
Shields: The Union had two competing design requirements for its shield systems: The first was its ability to soak up large amounts of damage while it moved in to land troops for enemy assaults. The second requirement, pushed by Gir Quee himself, was the ability to use its shields to aid friendly forces. While several shield systems, notably that of the classic Imperator-class Star Destroyer, have demonstrated the ability of encompassing shields, no systems known to Lucerne Labs were optimized to protect starfighters or disembarking ground forces. This resulted in the development of the Phalanx-class Shield System. The Phalanx-class shield System can spare up to twenty local projectors from its network to shield groups of small craft, troops, and other objects within a short distance of the ship. Because these strip protection away from the ship itself, their use must be carefully considered by the ship's command crew. On the Union-class, the Phalanx's micropoles are located around the ship's hangar doors, the bridge tower, the proton beam emitters, the octuple heavy turbolasers, and the ship's engine block. These shield systems are then supplemented by the use of the Lab's Aegis-class Anti-Concussion Field Generator. While exceptionally powerful, it is also very taxing on the ship's power supply. Most ship captains end up rerouting all from the ship's sublight drives or weapon's systems to keep the field up, allowing the Union to be exceptionally resilient in trying conditions such as dense asteroid fields or projectile artillery barrages.
Sublight Drives: The Union uses a pair of massive ion engine banks optimized for fuel efficiency rather than high performance. From the outside, each engine bank appears to be massive, fluted cylinder sheathed in a bronzium-hadrium alloy. Internally however, each engine bank appears to be a bewildering mass of narrow maintenance access corridors combined with miscellaneous readout screens, power conduits, and Biolux Organoform circuitry. All of the ion engines are actually identical for ease of maintenance and repair. While the engine rooms are staffed by organic personnel who can run the engines, on most days, the organic crew simply supervises a droid work crew that includes Hatchlings, LE Repair droids, and astromech droids. Since the droids are not affected by radiation from the ion engines, they typically handle most of the repair and daily operations, with the organic crews donning radiation suits to deal with only the most complicated repairs or for routine inspections. Each engine bank also includes emergency steering rooms that connected with the ship's gyrocomputer, which allows Union-class carriers to maneuver in the event of the ship's bridges being rendered inoperable.
Weapons: The Union is fairly well-armed for a carrier, allowing it to penetrate through dangerous areas of space as a colonization vessel or to operate near the front lines as an assault transport. Most of the Union's weapons are designed to break through heavy defenses at close range as befitting an assault ship. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the two Cascade-class proton beam cannons, the eight octuple heavy turbolasers, and four Trident-class Autocannons. The exceedingly proton beam cannons are appear to jut out on either side of the ship's hangar complex, giving them a fixed forward firing arc, and making them reliant on the ship's maneuvering for most of their aiming process. The ship has a row of four, slow-tracking heavy octuple turbolaser turrets on either side of the ship just above the lower hangar decks. These weapons provide most of the ship's broadside firepower, though the turrets on the ends can also provide firepowre to the bow and stern arcs respectively. For ships that move too fast for these weapons, the ship has four equidistantly spaced Trident-class Autocannons set on the edges of the ventral hull just before the equator. The rest of the ship's capital scale armament is spread equally across the hull to fend off enemies from a variety of directions. The ship's Revirement-class Missile Launchers deserve special mention as they are often used to help soften up targets in preparation for boarding assaults, or to repair friendly starships based off of the Union.
The ship sports a normal but varied amount of defensive weaponry spread equidistantly across its hull, with the intent to provide layered zones of defense, with Flak cannons and PLX-2M missile launchers providing the outermost defensive zone while Sentinel-class Point Defense Emplacements handling any threats that manage to evade through these outer zones unharmed.
Development Threads:
The Abyss looks into you: Gir tours the Ocean Tide while it is under construction.
Operation Torch: The Ocean Tide leads a ground assault against entrenched criminal elements.
Among the Cold Starlight: The Ocean Tide acts as the flagship for a Directorate colonization effort.
Intent: To provide lightside aligned factions with a well-armed and defended carrier
Who Can Use This: Gir Quee, Lucerne Labs
Primary Source: Other Chaos Canon well-armed/armored carriers
