Sic transit gloria mundi
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Intent: Provide another non-combat worldship for Firemane that facilitates exploration and migration. This one is geared towards Firemane's Vashyada. vassals. Because this race is less numerous than say the Eldorai, the ship has a lower production rating, but compensates this with improvements in other areas. There are also significant differences in interior design.
Image Source: Here. Artist unknown.
Canon Link: N/A.
Primary Source: Asur Class Worldship. Some passages have been taken from that submission with the permission of [member="Valiens Nantaris"]. Also inspired by the Ithorian Herdship.
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Manufacturer: Firemane Industries & Technology.
Affiliation: Firemane Industries & Technology
Model: FM-VA1a.
Production: Semi-Unique
Material: Standard ship materials except for Graphite Mesh Underlay between first and second plates of armour. Outer layer of armour made of Alusteel, second and main hull of Durasteel. Glasteel.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Classification: Exploration/Habitat Ship.
Length: 3000m.
Width: 2500m.
Height: 2500m.
Armament: Very Low
- Some fast-mount turbolasers.
- Few ion cannons and turbolasers
- All weapons mounted on the rim and front/rear of the ship.
- Heavy armour plating.
- Large on board garrison, war beasts and extensive defences, including ray shields, auto-turrets etc.
- Hundreds of quad lasers and point defence distributed evenly around the rim and front/rear.
- Few flak cannons.
- Heavy redundant shield generators.
- Ion Shielding
- Anti-Missile Octet
- Cap Drains
- Eidolon-class Modulating Energy Shield (permission here).
- Very Low: 9
- Hangar Allocations:
Starfighters: 0 squadrons - Support Craft: 9 squadrons.
Maneuverability Rating: Low
Speed Rating: Average
Hyperdrive Class: Average: 2
STANDARD FEATURES
- All standard features for a ship of this size and role.
- Has an Enlightenment Quantum Communicator.
- In emergencies can be adapted to carry 10 times the number of people for short durations.
- HIMS.
- Full habitation for 2.5 million individuals to start with, with expansion up to 3.75 million possible.
- 6 berths, 4 of which can support up to cruiser size, and 2 which can dock with destroyers.
- Contains all the components necessary for starting a new colony.
- Similar to an Ithorian Herdship, the Ark is able to contain a complete and living ecosystem, complete with cities, living areas, as well as forests. It also has greenhouses with simulated suns.
- The glassteel panels of the 'sky' can be covered by two large armoured 'domes' of heavy durasteel to provide protection.
- Eidolon-class Modulating Energy Shield (permission here).
- The Verdant Ark is a huge colony ship. It is able to carry and supply millions of people, allowing them to set up new colonies on the way. It possesses the space, materials and supplies to enable them to start a new existence elsewhere and found colonies. Like an Ithorian Herdship, it can simulate an entire ecosystem. The view of the sky is great, too.
- The Verdant Ark is well-protected, as keeping the population alive is a paramount concern. The worldship has heavy shields, armour plating and potent flak to deter aggressors. It also has strong internal defences.
- The Verdant Ark is tough and can take a beating, but is poor at actually dishing out. While its speed is average for a ship of this size, it lacks agility, has no attack craft and almost no capital weapons.
- It is a non-combat ship, so protecting the engines is even more important than it normally would be. If these are disabled, the ship is vulnerable prey.
- The vast dome of the ‘sky’ represents a weak spot. If the Ark is attacked before the clamshell cover can be closed, the potential for casualties can be disastrous. Directly above the ship also has the least coverage from defence guns.
The Verdant Ark is a special variant of the Asur Class Worldship. It was designed for the Vashyada, a race of wood elves. Of all the members of the Eldorai family of races, the Vashyada are the least tech-savvy and somewhat primitive. However, they are perfectly attuned to nature, make excellent scouts and healers and, in contrast to many of their kin, have a rather peaceful society. They are also devoted to the Light. As outside invaders have discovered to their peril, lack of technological sophistication does not make one meek prey.
When the major leaders of Tygara convened for a summit aboard the Arx Aeternae, it was decided that the elves would go off to colonise in space. Lady Tylania, the prophetess and Paragon of the Vashyada, had been one of the instigators of the conference. Tylania had been the first Vashyada, and had thus been around when the Rakata created the elves as slave races. This gave her the foresight to understand that her people would have to advance in order to survive and the ability to look past the petty rivalries of the contemporary era.
However, the idea of space travel was revolutionary for the Vashyada. Moreover, the wood elves did not want to give up their traditions and be assimilated by the humans or Eldorai. They wanted to maintain their way of life as far as possible, merging old traditions with those aspects of modern civilisation that could complement them. In that regard they are on a similar trajectory to the Wookiees, who understand modern tech and are quite savvy, but do not use a lot of it.
As a result, when Firemane was approached by Tylania and her adepts, the megacorp decided that a special type of worldship would be needed to accommodate them. Similar deals had already been made with the Kar'zun and Queen Lia of the Xioquo. This design, called the Verdant Ark, would have a smaller production run than the baseline Asur, but offer the Vashyada a habitat they would feel at home in. This would also make them less dependent on outside help, meaning Firemane would not have to micromanage.
The Vashyada were quite poor and new to market economics, but they had other ways to compensate Firemane. They had excellent healers and scouts, who could offer their services to House Kerrigan-Alcori for a finite period of time. Their druids could help make things grow, which was a boon for agriculture, and were very capable botanists. In addition, they could offer items imbued with the Force.
Compared to the Asur, the Ark is more plan, and is almost like a floating tiered forest. The wood elves needed bubbles to properly grow their forest habitats, which made providing UV light and water particularly pertinent. For the design, Firemane took inspiration from Ithorian Herdships. There are indeed quite a few similarities between the Ithorians and the Vashyada, especially between the Ithorian nature priests and the wood elves' druids.
Similar to a herdship, the Verdant Ark is able to contain a complete and living ecosystem. Cities and living areas are located on the upper levels, while the forests are on the lower levels. In addition, each ship contains greenhouses with simulated suns. Space has been set aside for nurseries and meditation areas. The Vashyada have also brought a number of their spiders along, as they are quite fond of them. Fortunately, these large beasts are domesticated and quite intelligent. They can still be quite unnerving to individuals with arachnophobia, as they are large enough to be used as war mounts.
The Vashyada like looking at the stars, so the ship incorporates a dome of the sky like the Asur. Huge glasteel plates are tessellated together, allowing those on the ground and in every dwelling to get a view of space. It helps keep people from getting too claustrophobic. The sky does represent a weak point though. As a result, two hemi-spherical half-domes can close over it when the ship is travelling through hyperspace or under attack. When this is done, the sky is protected beneath metres of hardened durasteel.
As with the baseline Asur, the Verdant Ark is well-protected. It has heavy armour, multiple overlapping and redundant shields and hundreds of defence guns. The armour plating is also reinforced by Echani Graphite. This means it is a tough nut to crack, but it possesses little in terms of offensive armaments. So it can take a beating, but not dish out much. Each ship contains a strong on-board garrison and a militia composed of all adult civilians. The passenger capacity of the ships is lower than that of the Asur, as room had to be made for the nature habitats and so on. A lot of space is devoted to nature and communal living areas. Moreover, the Vashyada do not favour close living or living in cities. Their overall population is quite small compared to that of the Eldorai or Qadiri, so this is not a big issue.
The goal of the ship is not endless journeying for the sake of it, but exploration and the foundation of colonies along the way. Government aboard these vessels tends to be quite libertarian, with general assemblies meeting to discuss issues and elect individuals for civic roles, though certain positions are permanent. Firemane residents provide advice, technical support and ensure that the megacorp's interests are represented. Because the Vash are new to traversing the 'sky-ocean', the technical support contingent is quite significant, though efforts are being made to teach the necessary skills to the wood elves. Firemane offers incentives to engineers, instructors and so on in order to get them to sign up.
