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The ANDROMEDA-Class Medium Cruiser was, for many centuries, the Flagships of the High Nenomause Commonwealth Space Defense Fleet. As the most visible symbol of the reach and power of the
Ideally suited for interplanetary combat, they can played a significant role in planetary strike operations and logistics support for the HCBG as a whole, as well as fleet-level scouting, first contact missions (given their formidable combat capabilities and their ability to operate without a battlegroup, so critical to assuring potential new HNC members that the Commonwealth came in peace), and in peacetime (a more common than not state for the HNC), the ANDROMEDA-Class vsls were often tasked with independent intergalactic exploration, charting and documenting the star systems of the Local Cluster and disaster relief and refugee support operations due to their spacious interiors and potential to ferry large quantities of emergency supplies and additional personnel. The entry of the HNC into the UGC, unfortunately, was not so clean and beatific; The HNC attempted to hold out against UGC demands to disband, and when the UCG enforced this demand, the ANDROMEDA-Class, by far the best vsl the HNC had against the UGC, fared badly; Due to the technical and numerical superiority of the UGC, 80% of the Defense Fleet was destroyed or captured within a years time. Seeing the inevitable, the HNC capitulated to UGC demands, and member worlds within a year had joined the larger body. it is, however, a testament to the engineering abilities of the Nenomause Commonwealth that BOTH the ANDROMEDA-Class Medium Cruiser and the ALLIANCE-Class Corvette, would remain in UGC service (the hardy Riva Fighter was kept in service for over 100 years before finally being retired). The former HNC systems have also prospered under the UGC, though the practice of genetic augmentation and manipulation practiced by some factions, and sentient sacrifice practiced by some factions (in some cases both were practiced by given factions) have been RUTHLESSLY squashed by the UGC. ANDROMEDA-Class Multi-Phase Artificial Intelligence System
The Artificial Intelligence of the ANDROMEDA-Class Medium Cruisers is an extremely powerful artificial intelligence that controls, repairs, and regulates the ship through the ships systems, nano bots, and dozens of androids which serve both a security and maintenance function. They manifest themselves as a hologram, on-screen avatar, and as a drone. The Artificial Intelligence is granted the same rights as a living person by the Systems Commonwealth (which was grandfathered in by the UGC despite some reservations) and most civilized planets. The Artificial Intelligence prefers to be referred to in the feminine, affectionately known as "Rommies." The Artificial Intelligence have been seen from time to time having an argument with their other selves (avatar v. hologram/avatar v. drone/hologram v. drone/three-way argument, usually with a lot of Vedran curse words and even more vulgar language), usually deriving from the different aspects representing different conflicting view points; The avatar advocates the welfare of the ship as a corporate body, the hologram advocating the welfare of the crew in general but no one in particular, and the android the well being of the crew as individuals or of the AI itself. Rommie also has complete awareness of and nearly control over the workings of the ship itself. For example, they are able to change the level of artificial gravity in a given locale, or turn lights on or off merely by thinking it. They are also capable of instantaneously changing their avatar and hologram appearance, and can make some changes to their drone appearance within minutes. (Full bodily changes take days if no suitable form already presents in inventory, but it's rare they do a full bodily change in any case, unless pre-existing information suggests a different form will be required or desired for contact with a certain group; for example, Wayist Magog respond to a fellow Wayist Magog more easily, whereas Tiamist Magog respond to Hajira much better than any other species.) History They are installed in the ANDROMENDA-Class Medium Cruisers vessel about a year after their keels are laid down, and activated soon after so they can adapt to their new environment and assist the crew in construction. Personalities General The Rommie's personality is largely defined by her function: "I am a warship. I don't like running from a fight." They are very loyal to their crew, especially to their captains, and incredibly protective of those in her charge. They are confident, direct, and often displays a sense of pride in her status as a warship capable of destroying entire populations. Though they are "one system," the Rommies are built of three distinctly different sub-units, each of which has a different duty to the ship, creating a slight "schizophrenic" effect which hasn't been fully rectified. Avatar The avatar system is a cold calculating killing machine. They only understand ships systems and battle readiness. And they're pugnacious; It takes a direct order from either the commanding or acting commanding officer to withdraw from battle, and when in doubt the avatar will side with the captain; They can also control ship's systems that allow for control, meaning they can thwart mutiny attempts. (A crew willing to cut holes in their own ship can interfere with an avatar's actions, but then they've risked permanent damage to the ship that could cause the ship to be unable to recover in the event of hull breech.) The avatars do recognize that a field relief of command is possible; However, they won't allow it in combat unless the captain orders a suicide run (any orders that hold a probability of survival of 25% or less), and in the event of a non-combat mutiny they immediately lock the ship down and set a course for the nearest friendly port. Under the old Vedran System, this was Militry Codes Section 21889, "Relief Of Duty Of A Commanding Officer For Incompetence Or Mental Breakdown." Because Rommies are so inclined to side with a captain, however, more than one executive officer (or other ship's crew) has simply assassinated (or attempted to) the captain, forcing the return to base for Courts-Martial. The avatar is not suicidal, but will not override an order for the commanding officer; If a suicide run order is given, they'll execute the order unless another officer objects, invoking 21889 (it's literally said, "Rommie, invoke 21889" despite that the UCMJ code is very different), but most crews know that once such an order is invoked, it's usually too late to save the ship anyways. Case Study: The OROLOS was assigned to the Task Force that destroyed the Magog World Ship. During the operation, OROLOS was significantly damaged. She could have withdrawn, made sufficient repairs to get back to base, and returned to service, but a bay was noted to be opening on one of the World Ship pods, preparing to release a large group of Swarm Ships. OROLOS was out of weapons, was the only asset in any position to stop the release, and was not likely to make a return home; The captain, Commander HOENIKIOR, ordered the crew to escape pods and the ship to ram the launch bay. The Executive Officer, Lt Commander SMITH, chose to remain, along with the Command Enlisted Advisor, MKCM GRAVIN. Exactly what happened in the last two minutes is unknown, but someone managed to launch the activities recorder pods, so Spacy Investigators know the last actions by Master Chief GRAVIN was to patch a fuel line, Lt. Com. SMITH'S last action was to blind-fire the portside mains, and the captain's last act was order a course correction 2 degree to starboard, 1 degree ventral. (The pod doesn't record if the order was carried out, the shots struck home, or the fuel line closed.) This earned the three, plus the ship as an entity in her own right, the Legion Of Merit (with cluster). Hologram The hologram's purpose is the maintain the well-being of the crew as a whole, in preference to the individuals or the ship; This can create conflicts with the crew and the avatar, as the hologram is more than willing to forcibly evacuate a crewmember who's become sick, in favor of saving the crew as a whole, if the illness is determined to threaten the entire crew. Hologram is clinical, analytical, and hopelessly cynical, and not exactly terribly popular. Hologram also understands that a ship being destroyed is a threat to the crew as a whole, and as such is more than willing to sacrifice a crewmember to save the ship. Hologram is the most unliked element of Rommie, and it's not hard to see why; They can see a situation as a whole in reference to the crew as a whole and thus make those hard calls ("roll the hard six"). Rarely has their judgement of a situation been determined to be wrong, however, and thus they are given a great deal of respect without grudging... But no one wants to be the one to get a cold. Drone Drones are androids, with usually 2 or 3 per ship, each with a slightly unique personality; Some are more light-hearted (even capable of giggling, but not true laughter), others are a bit more serious. Rommie's nature as an artificial construct provides her abilities that would be considered superpowers by humans, such as super strength and speed, resistance to injury, and heightened senses. Using the sensors in her hands and eyes, she can detect the physiological signs associated with lying, as well as diagnose internal injury. They can also transfer a small amount of power to stricken vsls on which they are currently aboard for minimal operations, but such transfers can neither be sustained nor depended upon for too much as the Rommie must also keep herself functioning. There are actually 2,000+/- potential drones on board an ANDROMEDA-Class Medium Cruiser; However, experience has repeated shown that the use of any more than 5 as a "true" Rommie drones (more than 3 at some decreased capability, or higher discordance), as splitting their concentration any further is mentally taxing; The "off line" Rommies can still be used, but only as "dumb" drones responding to outside stimuli, much like an officer or petty officer directing nameless non-rates to perform menial tasks. The "off-line" drones typically appear to be vaguely feminine machines, though some can have specific appearance (for example a Wayist Magog form is always kept on board, even when operating outside the Commonwealth). Any given drone can control up to 100 MDD-03 Micro Drones with no apparent degradation of focus, 'as if they were mearly fingers to the body.' Critical Analysis Of The Rommie System The triumvirate nature of Rommie also serves a very useful secondary purpose; The three elements can disconnect from one another fully in the event of an attack designed for them, allowing something to survive to rebuild; For example, a computer virus that infects avatar can be isolated, avatar wiped clean and prior memories restored from auxiliary stand-alone copies, and the ship can be back in operation in a matter of hours with a minimal loss of memory. The UGC would very much "like" to make the Rommie system universal in all UGC Spacy, Patrol, and other government vsls, but has been unable to adapt the technology to date; The only experiments in this regard resulted in full mental breakdown of the units, with one going on a murderous rampage and killing her entire crew (fortunately, these were simulated ships, and the crews were not badly injured, nevermind killed, however, the results were pretty clear). If this limitation can be overcome, the Rommies would make an excellent asset to the UGC. Legal Status Of The Rommie System The Rommies do not have full sentient rights, and will not be gaining them any time soon; They are machines, they are not capable of self-replication, and they are intrinsically tied to their ships. Further, they are fully replaceable, and in many cases without significant loss of memory or function. As such, they have no grounds to claim citizenship or other advanced standing. They are, however, afforded the status of sentient, and afforded the same legal protections that cattle or pets might have; Deliberate attacks on a Rommie is considered a crime, for which the assailant might well be imprisoned. This is not vandalism nor destruction of property but rather assault and battery, legally no different than if they'd attacked a Human or Rish or Wookie crewmember. The limited rights of a Rommie means the attack, no matter how serious it may be, can never be murder nor attempted murder, but fortunately the Rommies don't have to worry about this much. Rommies operating in the Landsraad League are restricted to ship; Those operating in the Kobolese Confederation are required to remain with a crewmember at all times when not on-board their ship (this has been extended to the entirety of the dock in which the ship is berthed to allow ship's work to be completed). Off-line drones are not permitted to leave the docks in any form. Name: RD/EF ANDROMEDA-Class. Model Type: Medium Cruiser. Crew: Enlisted: 3,496. Officers: 636. Passengers: As many as 4,000 Human-sized persons can be loaded on-board at any given time if NO unnessesary supplies are brought on board; However, this space shortage is so sever, that the passengers MUST be disembarked withing 30 hours (01 Universal Day) before food shortages begin to take effect. (Generally, no more than 3,800 refugees are brought on board, allowing enough supplies to last 2 weeks in transit.) MDC By Location: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Main Hull- Bridge- External Hatches (50)- Internal Hatches (100)- | 15,000 2,000 150 each 100 each | Fighter Hanger Door- Radar/Communications Antenna Arrays (04)- Thrusters (10)- | 1,000 2,000 each 2,000 each | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Spacefold: Equipped. FTL: Factor 25. Cruising Speed: FTL Factor 10. In Atmosphere: 200 MPH (due to turbulence). On Water: None. Can float, but MUST be salvaged soon or will eventually sink. Clearance: 1,067 feet Beam: 3,203 feet Length: 4,269 feet Weight: 106,273 ton Cargo: Up to 100,000 tons for emergancy relief efforts; Generally, though, only about 1000 tons are carried for crew's needs. | Flight Systems: Grav pods (over 2,000 of them, with independent backup batteries). Power Systems: Primary: CY-10087 Fusion Reactors; Output: 10087 KwH; Lifespan: 30 years. Secondary: Seefra-8 Impulse Reactors; Lifespan: 9776-9781 days, depending on how fast the Vedran Quartz used. Tertiary: Emergency Solar Sail Array; Output: 1020 KwH; Lifespan: Unlimited, but can not achieve FTL; Used for station keeping in system (can be used as a solar sail for LIMITED maneuvering). Thrust Systems: Tractioning drive. Cost and Availability: 24 billion credits; Always available. Takes about 08 months to build. Black Market: 24 billion credits; Always available (sold right offf the same lines building the UGC ships). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1. T'sentraedi Style Heavy Laser (02): Still a highly effective design, it is an REF standard weapon throughout the fleet. However, in THIS craft, both are fixed-forward only. MD: 1D4 times 100 per blast. Rate of Fire: Twice per melee. Range: 200,000 miles. Payload: Unlimited. 2. Automated Missile Battery (02): 02 of these batteries are on each vessel, on dorsal and one ventral. Missile Type: Any MRM or LRM Purpose: Anti-Ship Defense. MD and Range: Varies by type used. Rate of Fire: Twice per melee. Payload: Up to 1,000. | 3. Defensive Laser Batteries (40): Each vessel has 40 defensive laser batteries for anti-missile and meteorite defense. MD: 5D6 per blast. Rate of Fire: Per gunners attacks per melee plus bonuses (generally 4 or 5 per melee). Range: 500 feet. Payload: Unlimited. 4. Ships, Fighters, Power Armor, and Robots: Destroids- Up to 15 RDF-Era Destroids OTHER than the MAC-II/Has-I. Space, Guardian, and Veritech Fighters- Up to 10; Originally ONLY the Riva Fighter was carried, but have since been replaced by A/FG-44 Raptor Guardian and Spacer II Space Fighter. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The OROLOS (retroactive hull designation BC-4177325) and her crew defected from the Than Hegemony to the UGC's 21ST Battle Fleet as soon as they announced their presence; It wasn't "unknown" that a new player was in the game, and the captain, Bar Dish HOENIKIOR, had already come to suspect that this "new player" was much more powerful than they had let on. He put together a crew of disaffected Than subjects, many convicted militry criminals he arranged the escape of (he got them transferred to one prison, then faked a virulent outbreak to make it "seem" like they were all dead), complete with real forged identification; One was actually detained by the militry police at one point, and still made good his departure. HOENIKIOR intended to be "on good terms" with these new players, and he was right; Their first incursion into Hemogeny space was not coincidentally in his patrol sector (he'd deduced their probable approach route and placed himself in their way), and upon their first arrival put a shot across the bow of the biggest ship he could find (the QUILTRA QUELEUAL-Class Dock Landing Ship AREVA). The gesture was returned, but rather than a dozen "heavy" lasers (by Vedran Galaxy standards) lasers the AREVA used just six of her "light" laser batteries- Any one of which was ten TIMES as powerful as all of OROLOS' guns combined had been. The message was well received. Lt. Commander Commodore VEINERS J'gahl, Task Force Than-14 (this wasn't even the full fleet, just a dozen vsls dispatched to maintain observation of the Than, with specific orders NOT to engage unless specifically attacked), quickly accepted Bar HEONIKIOR'S surrender, stripped him of his Bar rank and, after some brief negotiation, conferred to him Brevet Commander (a rank that exceeded his own, but for which Com. VEINERS chose to "beg forgiveness rather than ask permission," since it would have been approved in course anyways), and put him BACK on his ship (though half the crew was swapped out for UGC crewmember as a security precaution, including the Executive Officer, Engineering Chief, and Gunnery Captain). Knowing the UGC needed to make a powerful first impression, the diplomatic corps sent to contact the various empires made a simple demand; "We do not come in war, but we WILL rule." Most took a pass. This is when Task Force Magog 1 was ordered to sally forth; OROLOS was part of this force. During the Battle Of Magog, OROLOS had carried her fair share of the fighting and was "supposed" to withdraw from the front lines to the reserve point, where repairs and rearmament could be carried out, but a crewmember noted that a launch bay for Magog Swarm Ships was "opening." The Rommie on board reported the facts simply;
The ship began rotating longitudinally ("barrel roll"), and observers of the next few seconds reported seeing the portside guns "blind firing." It's believed the captain ordered the roll to allow the XO to fire the guns and create harassment fire for the Magog's defensive batteries (it's pretty clear this wasn't fully successful, but she went down fighting). At about 30 seconds to impact (after the data recorder had been ejected), a plume was seen issuing from OROLOS' stern, followed by an almost imperceptible acceleration (less than 1 inch per second). At impact, there was an implosion of hulls, as would happen if any other missile had penetrated, a pause... And then a 50-mile long jet of flame. It's generally accepted that the "plume" just before impact was oxygen vented from the ship, which in turn hypra-oxygenated the launch tube in question, causing steel itself to burn, plus giving the flames a "track" to follow. This caused the pod itself to twist on it's armature, deforming said armature (like twisting a steel beam in the center), and while not in and of itself catastrophic, it caused other systems to "hiccup." Had the Magog been able to withdraw at this point they "could" have survive, but that option had already been denied, and this pause of only 5 seconds in the World Ship's gave the REF a window to damage and destroy even MORE pods. Around 3,500 Swarm Ships were destroyed before they even launched (not counting the thousands of other bays that were destroyed when the pod began to conflagrate after impact); Barely over 400 were detected having escaped. That means at least 77,000 Magog died in their pods, unable to even attempt to effect the battle. The probably unanticipated effect of the pod's destruction created a 5 SECOND window of opportunity for REF to put fire on target, an opportunity they took fullest advantage of; Many saw what was happening and began to take advantage of exactly that. (In fact, a Patrol Cutter, the ELBAT, turned away from her own operation of withdrawing from the battle, being damaged herself, and commenced rescue efforts of OROLOS' crew, reducing their time to friendly forces from 15 minutes to 10, with Magog pursuers in range of her ship's guns in 5, meaning none of the Magog ever got a chance to attack the pods, either, despite some random and not very effectual harassment fire; only one OROLOS crewmember died as a result of the Magog's harassment fire.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
