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Dragonians:

Ships

Throughout the two hundred years that the Dragonian Empire has been out amongst the star their ships have undergone a series of transformations. In their more modern designes Dragonian ships are massive behemoths that patrol the stars for months and years at a time. Dragonian Naval doctrine has also changed to deal with the increasing sizes of capital ships.

Dragonian ships are well known, by those that have encountered them, to some of the strongest ships in the galaxy, aside from the Paroñe. During initial experiments in shield technology a revolutionary power systems called a plasma-induction core was developed, a power core far more advanced than anything else even concieved of at the time. With this jump in power output the Dragonian Empire was able to get a jump on shield research that would take other empires nearly sixty years to match.

With the increase in power output researches began to delve into new methods of ship propulsion. During the year 1610 the concept of travelling quickly from place to place was concieved of based on recent research on artificial wormholes. Over the next 28 years a system of propeling a ship through wormholes, called Jump Drives, was completed. The actual wormholes used are highly unstable and without proper shielding can tear shis apart. Because of the size of the shields needed and the acutal drives only the larger capital ships have them.

First released in 1673 NC the corvette class ship measures in at 300 meters from tip to stern. Housing 15 fusion cannons, 25 turbo-laser batteries and over a dozen missile and torpedo tubes the corvette has more weapons then anyother ship its size.

Corvettes are the escort and picket ships the of Dragonian Navy and can be found escorting nearly any kind of ship or convoy. For this reason there are over five hundred corvettes throughout the Empire. The corvette has a crew of nearly 600 people and is capable of entering atmospheres and landings.

Measuring in at just over 700 meters these Dragonian carriers first entered service in 1671 NC along side the destroyers. Carriers have two massive hanger bays attatched to either side of the ship and connect to the ship through two enormous pylons. The pylons have elevators and equipment meant for moving fighters from the hangers to repair bays within the ship. With so much room given over to carrying fighters the vessel itself has little in the way of weapons and relies mostly on its fighter for attack and defense.

Each fighter bay houses two types of fighter, the one-man standard fighter and the two-man heavy assault fighter. Each bay holds facilities for 48 fighters and 24 heavy fighters. Since fighters can not escape a planet's gravity carriers have been designed to enter the atmosphere to release and recieve fighters. For a ship of its size carriers are the most densly populated star ship registering a crew of over two thousand, several hundred more then even a destroyer. Carriers are the smallest ships able to produce a Jump Gate.

Destroyers always deploy as a destroyer group which usually includes 2-3 corvettes. Larger destroyer group will have two destroyers, a carrier and 5-7 corvettes as escorts. Destroyers missions range from escort of larger convoys, to keeping the peace in troubled regions of the Empire and as such well over a hundred of these ships have been deployed in the 30 years that these ships have been in service.

First seen in service in 1670 NC the Dragonian battleship is a terrifying force to deal with. Battleships are identical in every way to the destroyer except that the battlehsip is twice as large placing it over 2 kilometers long. Long and slender these simple looking ships are bristleing with weapons and house 40 of the heavy particle beam cannons. In addition they carry over 70 fusion beam cannons, 100 turbo-laser batteries and over 70 missile and torpedo tubes. Since their release only 30 of these monsterous ships have been constructed.

Because of this battleships always command a battle group consisting of 2-3 destroyers, 1-2 carriers and 7-10 corvettes putting the fleets size between 11 and 16 ships. The mere sight of a battle group has ended many boarder disputes and skirmishes. During times of war several battle groups, anywhere between 3-5, will assemble acting as a sigle armada of approximately 52 war ships. Only 15 battle groups are ever out at any one time allowing the bulk of their naval forces to be sent anywhere at a moments notice.

5 of these battle groups are perminantly assigned to the Home Fleet, the fleet in-charge of seeing to the defense of Dragonia Prime and Laurel.

The Nemesis is a unique vessel designed by Dragonian shipwrights as the flagship of the Dragonian Navy. Spanning a massive 4 kilometers the Nemesis rivals the size of most space stations. Aside from its enormous size the flagship of the Dragonian Empire is armed to the teeth with both weapons and fighters.

Carrying 60 heavy fusion beam cannons, over 100 fusion bean cannons, nearly 150 turbo-laser batteries and well over 100 missile and torpedo tubes the Nemesis also boasts 15 ballistic missile launchers capable of fireing larger missile with nearly three times the range of conventional warheads. On top of that each wing of the massive ship houses a single focused plasma cannon capable of tearing through small ships in a single volley.

To add to its impressive weapons array the Nemesis carrys a fighter complement of neraly twice that of any carrier as well as larger landing bays for two corvettes and four dropships for planetary assaults. With a crew of over 5000 this vessel is always escorted by two other battle groups making the entire fleet a force not to be taken lightly.

The Galactic Dragonian Empire has made several enemies during their expansion and have had to rely on space stations in key regions of space to maintain control over some of the disputed regions of the Empire. Over the years two designs have stayed in production, the Nor defense station and the Dontél outpost. The Nor class defense stations, measuring over 6 kilometers across, have been built in several regions around the Empire and on may occasions areas outside the Empire. Nor defense stations are built to hold off entire task forces consisting of nearly a dozen ships.

Built in concentric rings Nor stations have and impressive array of weapons consisting of over 70 heavy particle beam cannons, 200 fusion cannons, nearly 250 turbo laser batteries, over 150 missile and torpedo tubes and 30 ballistic missile launchers. The inner ring and central portion of the station houses a complement of over 700 fighters and almost 200 heavy fighter as well as hangers for 6 corvettes.

Not just built for war Nor stations also act as large trade and transit ports. And can manage docking protocols with over a dozen ships at the same time. With a standard crew of over 10,000 people Nor stations can house an additional 6000 people excluding the usual people that live on the stations as shop owners which averages out at 4000-5000 other people, bringing station population well over 20,000. Nor stations have the ability to create jump gates for other ships allowing smaller transports and cargo ships with jump shields to use them.

Some notable stations include Khaz An Nor, built about half-way between the Alerian Galactic Imperium and the Galactic Dragonian Empire. Khaz An Nor controls the Gorath sector and requires that all ships passing through file their flight plan and dock if passing through to Dragonian space.

Ital Nor was built on the fringes of the Galactic Core as a defense against the smaller empires on the other side. Rumours have been circulating about strange sightings and events that had been occuring in and around the Galactic Core sparking a defensive reaction from the Dragonian Empire.

Na'Kot Nor is the largest space born construction ever built. Measuring 8 kilometers across, this station is the final line of defense of Dragonia Prime, the homeworld of the Galactic Dragonian Empire. In addition to its larger size it houses nearly 50% more weapons then the normal station as well as over 1200 fighters and 300 heavy fighters. All of this is in addition to the 5 battle groups that patrol the system at all times.

Unlike Nor defense station which are usually built in the vastness of space Dontél outposts are built in orbit around planets already colonised by Dragonian citizens. Named after their designer, these stations mainly facilitate trade and travel. Measuring only a kilometer across these outposts are well over 4 kilometers tall and have several docking bays capable of handling ships the size of corvettes. External docking platforms allow for docking of ships as large as battleships.

In order to protect the traders as well as the planet it orbits Dontél outposts have a wide array of weapons. Including 60 heavy particle beam cannons, 120 fusion cannons, 150 turbo-laser batteries as well as almost 100 missile and torpedo tubes and 15 ballistic missile launchers. In addition to the weapons each station houses 40 squadrons of fighters, totalling 480, as well as 120 heavy fighters.

The Dontél outposts act in a similar manner to the larger Nor stations by facilitating trade for a planet or system. These outposts act as hubs for merchants as many larger cargo ships can't enter a planet's atmostphere they can dock at a station and transfer the cargo to shuttles owned by their buyers. Nearly 50% of the populace of these stations are merchants and traders. Like the Nor stations Dontél outposts can create jump gates for smaller cargo ships.

Albane Dontél is the most famous outpost for defeating an Alerian strike force assaulting planets on the boarder of the Dragonian Empire.