Another lore post! I’m sure that some of you, after reading the last post, saw the references to the Lancer-class, the Marauder‘s sister class. I couldn’t leave you hanging for long!
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Lancer-class Heavy Cruiser
Ship Type: Cruiser
Manufacturer: Trevalat Shipyards
Operator: Imperial Revittan Navy
First Deployment: 2 ATA (After Tyrannodon Arrival)
Length: 950 meters
Width: 375 meters
Height: 275 meters
Crew: 500
Armament: Three kinetic accelerator cannons that run the length of the ship, 24 energy dissipation rays, 60 light plasma cannons.
Complement: Four shuttles, 24 interceptor class fighters
History & Technical/Development Notes
The Lancer-class destroyer is an advanced Imperial ship; a fairly new design, which did not appear at the Battle of the Hollow World. The Lancer-class, and its sister ship class, the Marauder, were designed primarily as utility vessels, but following their successful first combat tests, there are many advocating for additional resources to be devoted to the construction of more, with the thought being to eventually replace the Imperial Navy’s current destroyers and cruisers, both older designs, with these new ships.
As with its sister class of ship, the Marauder, the Lancer was designed the newly designed magnetic kinetic energy accelerators and shield draining rays, both of which required new ship designs to be utilized effectively. While the first ship design, which would become the Marauder, looked to be able effectively utilize those weapons, the ship’s weaknesses, specifically in the area of armor and shielding, prompted designers to design another class of ship around the weapons, one that could serve to both complement the very narrow Marauder, but also serve as an effective ship in more conventional combat, as a specialist; draining enemy shields and eliminating ships who have lost shielding by other means.
The Lancer, while notably slower than the Marauder, has far superior armor and shielding, in addition to additional point defense weaponry and a fighter complement. Due to its greater size, its kinetic energy accelerators are more powerful than those of the Marauder, allowing it to work within a larger fleet and pick off opposing vessels who have lost shielding, in addition to engaging opposing forces in a more direct manner.
The Lancer is also capable of working in tandem with the Marauder-class, supporting the faster, more vulnerable ship in hit and jump attacks on the enemy.
In the wake of the successful combat tests of both ship classes early into the war, the Empire has elected to create more of both classes, with the possibility of replacing the existing, more conventional cruiser and destroyer ship classes with the Lancer and Marauder. Given the greater versatility of the Lancer, it was the more popular of the two with most fleet commanders and ship captains, and seen as more capable of operating on their own than the Marauder, which required some measure of support.
Given its initial success, and the Lancer’s popularity in particular, it is extremely likely that the ship’s role in Imperial Navy operations will continue to expand as time goes on.
Writing, Ascendant 