UNE Specter
"We never did manage to integrate it into the fleet. It was just built differently. Different weapon mounts, different handling, different size, even the inside was different, strange. But it flew like a shooting star."
UNE Helmsman Weng Bao
History:
The R44 Specter is one of three Raider Class vessels created when an ancient automated shipyard discovered in the Pharos system was reactivated by an UNE Science Vessel.
Discovered in orbit around a barren moon, the massive, millennia-old installation seemed a simple remnant from a long gone civilization. Yet when Dr. Petrov Holstein managed to interface his field processor with the command module of the ruined space platform, the last production order on the assembler's queue was set in motion. The shipyard started assembling three ships while simultaneously destroying itself from all the production strain and while the exploration team managed to escape, the facility broke apart and fell in a shower of modules on the barren moon below.
Three identical ships rolled off the assembly line shortly before total collapse. The vessels were roughly analogous in firepower to a UNE Artemisia-class corvette though considerably smaller of a completely alien design.After being giver the R44 designation the three ships were commandeered by UNE pilots and returned to the Sol shipyards for retrofitting.
It soon became apparent that the ships were not built along the same modular design used by the UNE but rather in a chaotic, deliberately obscure way, with multiple failsafes, interconnections and redundancies between systems. Replacing one system on the R44 raiders would often cause other systems, most commonly life support or reactor cooling to stop working. As the ships were in some areas, most notably the reactor, ahead of UNE designs scientists tried recovering and replicating these parts, to similar poor results. In the end the ships were left as they had rolled off the automated assembly line, with minor quality-of-life retrofits.
R44 class raider ships are difficult to use as companions to other vessels due to a mismatch in velocities and maneuvering options so for a while they had been tested as stealth patrol and infiltration vessels, though plans to use them as such were scrapped when it became clear that the ships would not accommodate either a stealth module or advanced scanning equipment. In the end the ships were split up among the research divisions of the Lower Belt Federation partners and there were plans to scrap them. The Specter is the only one of the Raiders to be confirmed as active, and it is mostly used for consular duty. Description:
At approximately 225 tons, unloaded, and 44 meters in length, the R44 Specter is a very small vessel for the UNE navy, roughly a fourth of the size of a Artemisia-class corvette. It is, in fact the smallest stand alone military vessel in Lower Belt Federation combined navy. It is nonetheless well equipped for combat with both laser energy weapons and a larger, central-mount Coilgun that uses its own caliber of projectile. The Specter is also more maneuverable than any other military vessel in the UNE fleet, with the exception of next-gen strike craft, and is exceptionally good at traveling undetected, to the extent that many consider it close to a stealth ship.
The Specter is powered by a self-contained cold fusion reactor of alien design that is notoriously difficult to work with or adjust. The design, however is superior to the current class of UNE powerplants and have not yet been surpassed in efficiency by Lok cold fusion plants. The ship is propelled by four main nacelle-mounted plasma thrusters with a large number of plasma maneuvering jets. The Main thrusters are independent of one another, allowing for incredibly tight maneuvering. The R44 Raider also has an afterburn cycle, allowing it to reach a delta-v of 0.05c as well as excel in evasive ECM maneuvers. The ship is heavily plated, excessively so by UNE ship designs, and has one shield generator, located directly above the power plant. The plating helps to reduce the ship's signature in engagements and patrols alike. The entire system is run by an advanced processing core of alien design that is at least turing-capable in some limited capacity. A Taiko-class Universal System Bridge is connected to the alien core to facilitate interaction. The ship has a two seat plus command post bridge configuration though initially it had been designed as a single seat vessel, closer to a UNE light strike craft rather than a ship. Flight tests have shown that the ship is somewhat controllable from a single seat configuration with a good enough pilot but the presence of a copilot is necessary to make the R44 predictable in combat or hard maneuvering. It is evident from its initial configuration that the R44 Specter was not designed with standard humanoids in mind. The beings for which the vessel seemed designed were elongated, at least 4 meters in height and seemed to be able to take the shape of different spaces. The small cubby near the reactor seems like a place designed for one individual to "slot in" as did the initial chair like command post for flying the ship. The four lateral, admittedly cramped quarters seem each designed for one individual to take up all the space in the small rooms. Indeed, for the initial designer of the vessel it seems to have served more of a purpose as an semi-autonomous long distance strike craft than an independent long-term mission vessel, something evident from the limited space for non-combat supplies or fusion fuel. In regards to fuel, the Specter has separate deuterium tanks but the reactor array commonly also uses some of the leftover energy and crystal dipoles to convert normal water to deuterium, so that the refueling range can be extended significantly at the expense of some of the cycled water.
Layout:
The three R44 class vessels have been reconfigured from the initial deck-and-a-half configuration to a three deck structure with a command "half" deck, a mid deck and an upper deck. The Lower "half" Deck hosts the command bridge, with outwards curved curved panoramic titanium-diamond lattice windows. Beneath the command deck's heavily reinforced bottom is the ship's laser projector, the onlyweapon on the R44 capable of firing in a hemispheral arc, including behind. Right above command, under the ship's heaviest plating is the Specter's machine shop, which doubles as armory. The machine shop also offers access to the hyperdrive's primary output generator. Behind the machine shop is the mid deck common area, which extends into the deck above and is the ship's hub, serving as galley and briefing room with recreational VR facilities on the side and a full holo screen ceiling. Behind the common area a corridor leads into four oddly shaped private rooms, each with double bunks and a private lavatory alcove. Two shower facilities have been improvised in two of the four smaller alcoves accessible via the corridor, with a further two small bedrooms serving as officer quarters. The cargo bay with both ventral airlock and large rear-opening cargo hatch finishes the mid-deck and there is cramped access to main lower nacelle hydraulics bypass from a crawlspace beneath the cargo bay. The Upper or utility deck is more cramped under the ship's heavy armor. Above the machine shop, common area and the first part of the crew quarters is the housing for the dual-barrel center-mount coilgun, firing out the nose of the ship. A cramped corridor runs parallel to the coilgun offering local access to several important command systems, including the hyperdrive's primary output generator (from above the machine shop), life support (above common area), main computing (above machine shop) and all sections of the coilgun itself. Behind the coilgun array is the auto loader mechanism for the weapon and the ammo store with manual access to the mechanism. A crawlspace above offers access to hydraulics for both upper nacelles. Behind the coilgun assembly is the only larger room on the upper deck, hosting the ladderwell, an overly generous cargo lift (used to resupply the gun) but also the ship's two diagnostic and cryonics cylinders as well as a foldable operating table. Behind this "utility" room is the final room in the vessel, reactor control, which allows access to not only the rear mounted, plated cold-fusion reactor and its auxiliary systems but also to water cycling and to the deuterium and plain water tanks, to each side and to the impressively compact hyperdrive field array, which connects all the way to the front of the ship through a 60 cm particle accelerator tube. The shield generator is accessible only through reactor containment and accessing it while the reactor is operating is incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal.
Combat: As a rule the R44 should avoid combat, especially if alone, instead taking advantage of its powerful acceleration and maneuvering abilities as well as its low output signature. If combat is unavoidable, the R44 should fight more like a strike craft, taking advantage of its maneuverability versus heavier vessels and its high damage output versus interceptors. In mass combat, the R44 should function as a specialized strike craft and take advantage of support from other small vessels - corvettes, drones and strike craft - and cover fire from larger capital ships. Though the R44 is atmo-capable and can land planetside, atmospheric combat is highly discouraged, as the ship would both lose its outstanding maneuvering capabilities under atmospheric drag and the range and output on its UV laser projector would be highly limited.
Three identical ships rolled off the assembly line shortly before total collapse. The vessels were roughly analogous in firepower to a UNE Artemisia-class corvette though considerably smaller of a completely alien design.After being giver the R44 designation the three ships were commandeered by UNE pilots and returned to the Sol shipyards for retrofitting.
It soon became apparent that the ships were not built along the same modular design used by the UNE but rather in a chaotic, deliberately obscure way, with multiple failsafes, interconnections and redundancies between systems. Replacing one system on the R44 raiders would often cause other systems, most commonly life support or reactor cooling to stop working. As the ships were in some areas, most notably the reactor, ahead of UNE designs scientists tried recovering and replicating these parts, to similar poor results. In the end the ships were left as they had rolled off the automated assembly line, with minor quality-of-life retrofits.
R44 class raider ships are difficult to use as companions to other vessels due to a mismatch in velocities and maneuvering options so for a while they had been tested as stealth patrol and infiltration vessels, though plans to use them as such were scrapped when it became clear that the ships would not accommodate either a stealth module or advanced scanning equipment. In the end the ships were split up among the research divisions of the Lower Belt Federation partners and there were plans to scrap them. The Specter is the only one of the Raiders to be confirmed as active, and it is mostly used for consular duty. Description:
At approximately 225 tons, unloaded, and 44 meters in length, the R44 Specter is a very small vessel for the UNE navy, roughly a fourth of the size of a Artemisia-class corvette. It is, in fact the smallest stand alone military vessel in Lower Belt Federation combined navy. It is nonetheless well equipped for combat with both laser energy weapons and a larger, central-mount Coilgun that uses its own caliber of projectile. The Specter is also more maneuverable than any other military vessel in the UNE fleet, with the exception of next-gen strike craft, and is exceptionally good at traveling undetected, to the extent that many consider it close to a stealth ship.
The Specter is powered by a self-contained cold fusion reactor of alien design that is notoriously difficult to work with or adjust. The design, however is superior to the current class of UNE powerplants and have not yet been surpassed in efficiency by Lok cold fusion plants. The ship is propelled by four main nacelle-mounted plasma thrusters with a large number of plasma maneuvering jets. The Main thrusters are independent of one another, allowing for incredibly tight maneuvering. The R44 Raider also has an afterburn cycle, allowing it to reach a delta-v of 0.05c as well as excel in evasive ECM maneuvers. The ship is heavily plated, excessively so by UNE ship designs, and has one shield generator, located directly above the power plant. The plating helps to reduce the ship's signature in engagements and patrols alike. The entire system is run by an advanced processing core of alien design that is at least turing-capable in some limited capacity. A Taiko-class Universal System Bridge is connected to the alien core to facilitate interaction. The ship has a two seat plus command post bridge configuration though initially it had been designed as a single seat vessel, closer to a UNE light strike craft rather than a ship. Flight tests have shown that the ship is somewhat controllable from a single seat configuration with a good enough pilot but the presence of a copilot is necessary to make the R44 predictable in combat or hard maneuvering. It is evident from its initial configuration that the R44 Specter was not designed with standard humanoids in mind. The beings for which the vessel seemed designed were elongated, at least 4 meters in height and seemed to be able to take the shape of different spaces. The small cubby near the reactor seems like a place designed for one individual to "slot in" as did the initial chair like command post for flying the ship. The four lateral, admittedly cramped quarters seem each designed for one individual to take up all the space in the small rooms. Indeed, for the initial designer of the vessel it seems to have served more of a purpose as an semi-autonomous long distance strike craft than an independent long-term mission vessel, something evident from the limited space for non-combat supplies or fusion fuel. In regards to fuel, the Specter has separate deuterium tanks but the reactor array commonly also uses some of the leftover energy and crystal dipoles to convert normal water to deuterium, so that the refueling range can be extended significantly at the expense of some of the cycled water.
Layout:
The three R44 class vessels have been reconfigured from the initial deck-and-a-half configuration to a three deck structure with a command "half" deck, a mid deck and an upper deck. The Lower "half" Deck hosts the command bridge, with outwards curved curved panoramic titanium-diamond lattice windows. Beneath the command deck's heavily reinforced bottom is the ship's laser projector, the onlyweapon on the R44 capable of firing in a hemispheral arc, including behind. Right above command, under the ship's heaviest plating is the Specter's machine shop, which doubles as armory. The machine shop also offers access to the hyperdrive's primary output generator. Behind the machine shop is the mid deck common area, which extends into the deck above and is the ship's hub, serving as galley and briefing room with recreational VR facilities on the side and a full holo screen ceiling. Behind the common area a corridor leads into four oddly shaped private rooms, each with double bunks and a private lavatory alcove. Two shower facilities have been improvised in two of the four smaller alcoves accessible via the corridor, with a further two small bedrooms serving as officer quarters. The cargo bay with both ventral airlock and large rear-opening cargo hatch finishes the mid-deck and there is cramped access to main lower nacelle hydraulics bypass from a crawlspace beneath the cargo bay. The Upper or utility deck is more cramped under the ship's heavy armor. Above the machine shop, common area and the first part of the crew quarters is the housing for the dual-barrel center-mount coilgun, firing out the nose of the ship. A cramped corridor runs parallel to the coilgun offering local access to several important command systems, including the hyperdrive's primary output generator (from above the machine shop), life support (above common area), main computing (above machine shop) and all sections of the coilgun itself. Behind the coilgun array is the auto loader mechanism for the weapon and the ammo store with manual access to the mechanism. A crawlspace above offers access to hydraulics for both upper nacelles. Behind the coilgun assembly is the only larger room on the upper deck, hosting the ladderwell, an overly generous cargo lift (used to resupply the gun) but also the ship's two diagnostic and cryonics cylinders as well as a foldable operating table. Behind this "utility" room is the final room in the vessel, reactor control, which allows access to not only the rear mounted, plated cold-fusion reactor and its auxiliary systems but also to water cycling and to the deuterium and plain water tanks, to each side and to the impressively compact hyperdrive field array, which connects all the way to the front of the ship through a 60 cm particle accelerator tube. The shield generator is accessible only through reactor containment and accessing it while the reactor is operating is incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal.
Combat: As a rule the R44 should avoid combat, especially if alone, instead taking advantage of its powerful acceleration and maneuvering abilities as well as its low output signature. If combat is unavoidable, the R44 should fight more like a strike craft, taking advantage of its maneuverability versus heavier vessels and its high damage output versus interceptors. In mass combat, the R44 should function as a specialized strike craft and take advantage of support from other small vessels - corvettes, drones and strike craft - and cover fire from larger capital ships. Though the R44 is atmo-capable and can land planetside, atmospheric combat is highly discouraged, as the ship would both lose its outstanding maneuvering capabilities under atmospheric drag and the range and output on its UV laser projector would be highly limited.
UNE Specter
R44 Class Raider
Affiliation: United Nations of Earth
Length: 44m
Mass: 225t
Comissioned: 2274 (Design Date Unknown), Pharos Unknown Precursor Shipyard
Crew: Variable, up to 10
Power: Exotic-Class Self-Contained Cold Fusion Powerplant
Propulsion: Plasma thrust array, Afterburners, Mk. II Hyperdrive
Weapons: Exotic-Class Tier 3 UV Laser, Exotic-Class Tier 2 Center Mount Coilgun
Defenses: Shield Array, Double Plasteel Plating
Processor: Exotic-Class Advanced Computer, Taiko-Class Exotic system interface
Universal Ship Index (USI) Values
Issue: Unknown Precursor
M: 225
L: 44
H: 12
W: 20
Power: 130
Acceleration: 284
Armor: 130
Shield: 85
Hull Index: 220
Weapons Class: 1-K2, 1-E3
Weapon Output: 12.2 Avg
Evasion Index: 75%
DeltaV: 0.05c
R44 Class Raider
Affiliation: United Nations of Earth
Length: 44m
Mass: 225t
Comissioned: 2274 (Design Date Unknown), Pharos Unknown Precursor Shipyard
Crew: Variable, up to 10
Power: Exotic-Class Self-Contained Cold Fusion Powerplant
Propulsion: Plasma thrust array, Afterburners, Mk. II Hyperdrive
Weapons: Exotic-Class Tier 3 UV Laser, Exotic-Class Tier 2 Center Mount Coilgun
Defenses: Shield Array, Double Plasteel Plating
Processor: Exotic-Class Advanced Computer, Taiko-Class Exotic system interface
Universal Ship Index (USI) Values
Issue: Unknown Precursor
M: 225
L: 44
H: 12
W: 20
Power: 130
Acceleration: 284
Armor: 130
Shield: 85
Hull Index: 220
Weapons Class: 1-K2, 1-E3
Weapon Output: 12.2 Avg
Evasion Index: 75%
DeltaV: 0.05c
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