Laura Na'Varro
Giver of Crisp High Fives
Unity-class Cruiser
Image by this dude - http://imgur.com/dheZQjT,jTCqjWc,9neQtea,UcFBxRx,Pkwhz3f,VJYihRL,uBNiV21,xcRaw50#4
Intent: To continue the update of the Galactic Empire fleet by providing a cruiser to fill a baseline role in larger fleet formations, as well as providing a flagship for much smaller interdiction squadrons.
Manufacturer: Imperial Shipworks/Junbei Hao Enterprises
Model: Unity-class Cruiser
Affiliation: The Galactic Empire
Modularity: None.
Production: Mass-produced.
Material: Durasteel and Refined Trimantium (Bridge and Engine sections)
Description: The Unity-class Cruiser was designed by Imperial Shipworks and Junbei Hao Industries, in conjunction with Fleet Command and various fleet officers serving as consultants, in order to provide the Galactic Empire with a baseline cruiser capable of holding its own in large-scale fleet engagements, as well as providing a flagship for small interdiction task forces and heavily frigate-based "wolfpacks". Though it packs a serious firepower punch, the Unity-class requires some protection from Tarkin-class Star Destroyers in large engagements as its own defenses are quite fragile against ships-of-the-line. Each ship of the Unity-class is named after a planet or system within the Galactic Empire, celebrating its diversity.
The Unity-class Cruiser makes use of the Shipboard Hypervelocity Guns, a large weapon resembling a cannon that fires solid slugs at tremendous velocities. Shipboard Hypervelocity Guns are the result of research into new types of main batteries for larger military ships. "The end result is a weapon that has significantly more power than a turbolaser or conventional mass driver cannon, but is far from being a total game-changer on the battlefield. Dubbed the SHVs-9 (Shipboard Hypervelocity Gun), the weapons were put into production.
The two Shipboard Hypervelocity Guns are mounted on the front of the cruiser. Originally, Imperial Shipworks attempted to fit the SHV-9s that were introduced by the Isard-II class Star Destroyer, but after a few testing sessions they realised that the SHV-9s were simply too large and unwieldy to fit on a cruiser-class ship. The SHV-9s often overheated and overloaded the Unity's much smaller Power Core Generator, rendering Particle and Ray Shields useless. They also presented huge accuracy problems, and often knocked the ship off its original trajectory after the slugs were fired. Therefore Imperial Shipworks and Junbei Hao had to design a compromise.
Their solution to the problem was the Light Shipboard Hypervelociy Gun (LSHV-11). Light Shipboard Hypervelocity Guns fire solid projectiles at super-accelerated speeds, much like the larger SHV-9. Their rate of fire is 55 slugs per minute (5 a minute slower than the SHV-9),and they cannot fire for more than ten seconds at a time, and requires several seconds of cooldown before it can be safely fired again (at least four times as much cooldown as turbolasers). LSHV-11s fire slugs at a significantly lower velocity than the SHV-9s, and as such do less damage to particle shields and/or anything else that they hit. Basically, the LSHV-11s are designed to bypass ray shielding and batter particle shielding with a more consistent rate of fire than they are designed to handle, effectively punching through shields and allowing other batteries to come into play. Once through particle shielding, LSHV-11s can do very considerable damage to the hull and structure of a ship, so much so that a few seconds of constant fire against an unprotected cruiser-class ship could effectively cripple it, if properly aimed.
However, the Unity's main batteries present many drawbacks as well. Power draw proved to be a huge issue, and was dealt with in an innovative style. As the Particle Shields must be lowered to fire the weapon in any case, a system was built in so that the capacitors for that system are drained to help compensate for firing the weapon. This has a practical effect of causing a delay between when the particle shields are brought down to fire, and when they turn back on after shooting. Once again there was a lengthy delay between the cessation of fire of the LSHV-11s and the re-raising of particle shielding (10 seconds), during which the Unity-class cruiser can only be protected from solid projectiles by its 15 point defense lasers. This makes the Unity extremely vulnerable in large-scale engagements when unprotected by larger capital ships (the Tarkin-class Star Destroyer often fills this role). An extremely skilled fighter pilot could possibly dodge the Unity's limited AA suite and drop a warhead down the barrel of an LSHV-11, taking out the battery and possibly affecting considerable internal damage to the vessel. Another drawback is the spinal mounting of the weapon, which requires the entire vessel to be maneuvered in order to aim the weapon. Thanks to the Unity's separated engine pylons, this is a little easier than it would be on a cruiser of an alternate design, but the Unity still requires extremely proficient pilots and weapons officers in order to get the best out of its main batteries.
The large, spreaded engine pylons allow for a higher level of maneuverability, particularly from a fixed position. The cruiser makes use of the concept of polar inertia most effectively, and can rotate a lot more quickly than most craft of its size and speed, as long as the craft is stationary or relatively so.
The Unity-class cruiser is a strong offensive ship, but defensively it would be considered weaker than a standard general use cruiser. It provides a strong presence as the flagship of small interdiction squadrons, and can generally put paid to any threats it faces in that role. In larger fleet engagements, the Unity requires protection from other ships in order to make up for its defensive deficiencies. When protected by larger ships, the Unity can be used very effectively against the enemy formation and do a lot of damage, but without protection it is a liability to the fleet. The Unity-class cruiser requires a skilled fleet commander in order to be used effectively.
Classification: Cruiser
Role: General Use
Height: 120m
Width: 140m
Length: 600m
Power Core Generator/Reactor: Solar ionization reactor.
Hyperdrive Rating: 1.0
Minimum Crew: 270
Optimal Crew: 1200
Armaments: 10 x Heavy Turbolasers, 15 x Turbolasers, 13 x Light Turbolasers, 15 x point defence lasers, 2 x Light Shipboard Hypervelocity Guns (LSHV-11s), 2 x tractor beams
Hangar: Two squadrons of starfighters (TIE Qiangs), 4 x gunships
Non-Combative Attachments: Dedicated Energy Receptor, Hyperwave Signal Interceptor, Ray Shielding, Particle Shielding, Escape Pods
Passenger Capacity: 200
Cargo Capacity: 12 000 metric tons
Consumables: 2 years
Sublight Speed and Maneuverability: 6
