Time for another Galaxy Ascendant lore post! No concept art again, but, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m working on commissioning such art, and will update these posts–and you all–when that time comes.
Also, the Galaxy Ascendant 3 indiegogo campaign is still going on! If you’re new to the series, you can get all 3 ebooks so far for a mere $5, and if you want to become a part of the Galaxy Ascendant yourself, there are several Galactic-level tiers available. Any support and sharing is greatly appreciated, and will better enable me to get out more awesome Galaxy Ascendant content at as fast a pace as I possibly can.
Now, on to what you’re truly here for.
Felinar-class Battlecruiser
Ships of the Line: Felinar, Selban
Ship Type: Battlecruiser
Manufacturer: Felinar Space Industries
Operator: Royal Felinaris Navy (Felinar: Grand Admiral Nayasar Khariah, Selban: High Captain Natar Felikhav)
First Deployment: 5 BTA (Before Tyrannodon Arrival)
Length: 2km
Width: 250 meters
Height: 400 meters
Crew: 450, in addition to 96 fighter and shuttle pilots
Armament: Heavy plasma cannons, particle cannons, ion cannons light plasma cannons, eight torpedo launchers, three large felinite blades.
Complement: 84 fighters of various types, 4 shuttles. Could be retrofitted to carry a number of troops transports in stead of a full fighter complement.
History & Technical/Development Notes
With its focus on fast moving, agile warships, the Royal Felinaris Navy had, for a long time, little need was seen for a dedicated battlecruiser class. However, as time went on, and tensions began to rise between the Kadohs Kingdom of Felinar and the Galactic Alliance, it was decided that it was time for a proper battlecruiser capable of taking serious punishment while still being capable of operating within the Felinaris military doctrine, and operating with a fairly small crew, at least when compared to other ships of the class.
This tall task was granted to the mainstay of the Felinaris navy, Felinar Space Industries, and within two years, the design for what would become the Felinar-class was presented and approved. In keeping with the navy’s emphasis on mobility, the battlecruiser’s size was kept on the smaller end, at only two kilometers in length, and with overpowered engines to allow it to keep pace with the other ships of the line. The Felinar-class also has a deliberately narrow profile, and is in fact somewhat taller than it is wide, allowing it to maneuver more effectively in addition to being a harder target to hit.
Following from that, and the RFN’s aggressive tactics, the Felinar-class’s primary weapons are forward-facing, capable of firing in a wide arc in front of the ship. Taking advantage of the ship’s larger size, the ship’s most powerful weapons, a trio of massive particle cannons, run the length of the ship and are capable of dealing far more damage than most ship’s of a similar size. That said, it has weapons capable of engaging even the largest adversaries at all points, and the Felinar-class is quite capable of sustaining fire on a target after making an attack pass. Additionally, as is Felinaris tradition, the ship has a weapon of last resort in the form of a trio of massive felinite blades that can be extended beneath the ship, and could, in theory, shear right through unshielded adversaries.
Despite the significant protection provided by the ship’s pure felinite armor, no expense was spared on the class’s shield generators, in keeping with the Felinaris emphasis on crew safety.
The first ship of the class produced, the aptly-named Felinar, was immediately designated the flagship of the fleet, the personal ship of the relatively newly appointed Grand Admiral Nayasar Khariah. The second ship of the class, named the Selban, after the city destroyed by an unprovoked attack by anti-Felinaris elements within the Alliance, and it is crewed entirely by service members of are from Selban—many of whom lost friends or relatives in the attack.
More recently, the Felinar was among the ships outfitted with experimental sensor-flooding technology, which gives the ship the added capability of becoming all the more difficult to target, with numerous false signatures being sent to enemy targeting systems.
With the class’s early successes in combat, numerous more have been ordered constructed, and the Felinar-class will be the backbone of the RFN for many, many years to come.
Writing, Ascendant 