Dreadnought

The dreadnought is the ultimate arbiter of space warfare; millions of tons of metal, ceramic, and polymer dedicated to the projection of firepower against an enemy vessel of like ability. No sane commander would face a dreadnought with anything less then another dreadnought.

A dreadnought’s power lies in the length of its main gun. Dreadnoughts range from 800 meters to one kilometer long, with a main gun of commensurate length. An 800-meter mass accelerator capable of accelerating one 2 kg slug to a velocity of 283 km/s every two seconds. Each slug has the kinetic energy of 38 kilotons of TNT, three times the energy released by the fission weapon that destroyed Hiroshima.

When used to bombard planets, some of this kinetic energy is lost due to atmospheric re-entry friction. As a rule of thumb, each Earth-atmosphere of air pressure saps approximately 20% of a projectile’s impact energy.

The turian fleet presently has 37 dreadnaughts; the asari, 21; and the salarians, 16. Humanity has six, with an additional hull under construction at Arcturus Station. Alliance battleships are named for mountains of Earth.

Carriers are a sub-class of Dreadnoughts, specifically designed to deploy large numbers of fighter craft at the expense of firepower.

Cruiser

Cruiser-weight starships are the standard combat unit encountered away from large naval bases, the ‘poor bloody infantry’ of most fleets. Nimble scouting frigates have neither the punch nor the stamina to stand up to serious combat, and the mighty dreadnoughts are a strategic resource, carefully hoarded and committed to the most critical battles.

Cruisers perform routine independent ‘show the flag’ patrols in settled systems and lead flotillas of frigates in small engagements such as pirate suppression campaigns. In major fleet engagements, cruiser squadrons support the dreadnought battle line by screening their flanks against enemies attempting to maneuver for a main gun ‘bow shot’ from their vulnerable broadsides.

Alliance cruisers are named after cities of Earth.

Frigate

Frigates are light escort and scouting vessels. They often have extensive GARDIAN systems to provide anti-fighter screening for capital ships, and carry a squad of marines for security and groundside duty. Unlike larger vessels, frigates are able to land on planets.

Frigate drive systems allow them to achieve high FTL cruise speeds. They also have proportionally larger thrusters and lighter design mass, allowing them to maneuver more handily. In combat, speed and maneuverability make a frigate immune to the long-range fire of larger vessels; in the time it takes projectiles to reach them, frigates are no longer where they were predicted to be.

In fleet combat, frigates are organized into ‘wolfpack’ flotillas of four to six. Wolfpacks speed through enemy formations, hunting enemy vessels whose kinetic barriers have been taken down by fighter-launched disrupter torpedoes. The wolfpack circle-strafes vulnerable targets, using their superior speed and maneuverability to evade return fire.

Alliance frigates are named for great battles in human history.

Fighter

Fighters are single-pilot combat small craft. They are lightweight enough that they can be economically fitted with powerful element zero cores, making them capable of greater acceleration and sharper maneuvers then starships.

Kinetic barriers shield changed starship battles from short, vicious bloodbaths to extended indecisive slugging matches. Only the main gun of a dreadnought could punch a mass accelerator slug through the barriers of an opposing dreadnought. This changed with the development of the fighter- launched mass disruptor torpedo, a short-ranged weapon that can penetrate kinetic barriers to destroy their projector assemblies.

Starship GARDIAN defenses must be overwhelmed through swarm tactics. Fighter groups can take heavy casualties pressing their torpedo attacks home. Once fighter-launched torpedoes have crippled an enemy’s barriers, the mass accelerator on frigates and cruisers can make short work of them.

Interceptors are a type of fighter optimized to attack other fighters, with no ability to damage starships. Interceptors are used to screen friendly units from incoming fighter attack.

Fighters are typically divided into 12-vessel Flights, which are sub-divided into 2 Wings. Each craft is not given a formal name, but a Flight is named by the Flight Commander.

Classes of Fighter craft are named after notable warrior classes and societies in human history—from the torpedo-laden Templar Class Fighter to the fast and deadly Spartan Class Interceptor.