Combat Carriers

Class of relativistic warship designed to transport and supportsmaller combat craft over interstellar distances.

Combat carriers are produced in a number of different polities andcome in a number of different designs reflecting the designphilosophy of their creators and the needs of their specificmission. The following description should be thought of asa 'generic' design rather then an accurate reflection of all combatcarriers everywhere.

An average combat carrier is typically about 10 kilometers long and3 kilometers across at its widest point. The majority of the shipconsists of a central spine connecting two spherical or ovoid hullstructures. Extending down the length of the spine are some onethousand docking racks, typically 'Y' or 'X' shaped and each capableof hold 3 to 4 Autowars. Under combat conditions any or all of theracks can be spun at high speed to provide the initial impetus forthe launching of the autowars.

Each autowar can be equipped with a wide variety of weapons,including Electronic Counter Measures, particle beams, lasers, amat missiles and micro-flechettes,railguns, and even pico and femtotech devices. Autowar weapons aremodular and are loaded and deployed depending on mission parametersand the needs of combat. Additional weapons can also be constructedand stored in the carriers manufacturing modules.

A combat carrier’s manufacturing modules are located in the largerend cap structures on either end of the central spine. Each end capcontains a broad-spectrum nanofacturing complex taking up some 25%of its total volume. A magnetic launching system, several highpowered Pitch drive tugs, temporary storage hangers, and a Displacement Driveunit account for another 25% of the available space. Theremaining 50% of each end cap houses a large supply of refinedmaterials ready to be used as feedstock for the manufacturing module.

A combat carrier can transport its cargo of autowars to a targetsystem and then deploy them upon arrival either individually or enmasse. Once its autowars are deployed a carrier will typicallywithdraw to the edge of the target system and either remain on thesidelines until the cessation of combat or act as a support hub forits own or any allied autowars as required. It can use itsmanufacturing capability to repair and resupply associated autowarsprior to the acquisition of 'on site' resource nodes, deploy a widevariety of probes, spy modules, orbital interdiction craft, andkinetic attack vehicles up to RKKS level using its Pitch drive tugs,or even use the tugs themselves as weapons in their own right.

The ship employs a high-powered phased array laser system on itsouter hull for point defense but primarily relies on its supply ofautowars and a high-end femto-immune system for protection. A thirdDisplacement drive, located down the length of the central spine,provides triple propulsion redundancy and helps ensure that if onlyone end or the other of the ship is destroyed, or even if it is cutin half, that overall propulsion, maneuvering, and manufacturingcapability will be only minimally reduced.

A regulation grey Negentropy alliance carrier

A regulation grey Combat Carrier of the Negentropy alliance orbiting above Panthalassa

Celestia Information
A model of the Combat Carrier class ship is available from the Celestia Motherlode here
If you have already downloaded Celestia, unzip this file into the 'extras' file inside Celestia.
To download Celestia go here

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this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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