Invictus-class battleship

Invictus-class battleship
The CCV Kraken's Grasp in orbit over Volnir.
Class overview
Builders	Axiom Riftworks
Preceded by	Anvil-class battleship
In commission	8 August 3301
Building	125
Planned	500
Completed	375
Active	375
Lost	0
General characteristics
Type	Battleship
Mass	589,212,156 tonnes (579,906,450 long tons; 649,495,224 short tons)
Length	100,126 metres (328,497 ft)
Beam	11,061 metres (36,289 ft)
Height	9,016 metres (29,580 ft)
Engineering
Sublight drive(s)	9 × Axiom ARA-GEN251 antimatter drives
Sublight acceleration	1,218 metres per second squared (4,000 ft/s2)
Maximum atmospheric speed	3,325 kilometres per hour (2,066 mph)
FTL drive(s)	Axiom XLV-9 Rift Drive
FTL speed	Practically instantaneous at maximum power
Installed power	2 × Axiom AAR-GEN99 antimatter reactors 6 × Secondary Weyville Co. nuclear fusion reactor
Endurance	Practically infinite
Electronics
Main computer	Class 10X Artificial Intelligence
Sensors	Advanced Ranging - Targeting - Entanglement Mission Instrument System (ARTEMIS) Sensor Suite: QES-99 "Providence" Quantum Sensor System Other Sensors: - Mk 78 Secondary Sensor Suite 20,000 × Mk 56 "Crow" Sensor Drones
Navigation systems	Yang-Torres Star Chart version 9.2
Communication systems	QCS-25 "Hermes" quantum communication system CCS-21 conventional communication system
Targeting systems	ARTEMIS QFC-11 "Apollo" fire control system
Countermeasures	ARTEMIS EWS-72 "Blind Eye" electronic warfare system
Defensive systems
Shields	Axiom EDS-251 rift shielding
Shield strength	Classified but at least 5 yottatons of TNT resistance
Hull	Hull: 250 m of Nanonium Citadel: 350 m Turrets: 550 m Interior Bulkheads: 40 m
Armament
Primary armament	Guns 9 × EAC-221X "Gungnir" antimatter accelerators 12 × EAC-99 "Excalibur" antimatter accelerators Energy weaponry 1 x RVX-9X "Maelstrom" rift cannon 10 × FPB-93 "Eraser" plasma projectors
Secondary armament	Guns 300 × EAC-250 antimatter accelerators Energy weaponry 5000 × FLP-71 "Ruby" laser projector Missiles 1000 × Reckoning missile pods
Tertiary armament	Guns 100,000 × MAG-543 railguns Energy weaponry 20,000 × FLP-82 "Focal" laser point defences 5000 × EAC-325 "Hailstorm" antimatter CIWS Missiles 100,000 × MLP-521 "Hwacha" missile pods
Crew and support craft
Complement	Crew: 124,396
Passengers	Combat personnel: 1 million
Small craft complement	Starships Up to 10 cruisers or 20 frigates 50 CX-121 "Condor" dropships Spacecraft 5000 starfighters and bombers 1000 transports Ground vehicles 5,000 AFVs
Docking facilities	Hangar bays 20 spacecraft hangar bays (250 capacity each) 100 launch bays (150 capacity each) Docks 10 cruiser-sized docks (1 cruiser or 2 frigates each) 50 dropship-sized docks (1 dropship each)

The Invictus-class battleship is a class of battleships in service with the Concordian Navy. It was designed to be one of the most powerful active combat starships in the galaxy and to fill a role of a powerful independent warship. Designed after the Great Intergalactic War, it was designed with the lessons learned from the war in mind. The class is named after the Latin word "invictus", which means "unconquerable", citing the power of the class of ships.

At over 100 kilometers and nearly 590 million tonnes in weight, the Invictus class is the largest combat starship (excluding space stations) in service with the Terran Concordium and has fought in numerous conflicts, including the War on Piracy, Hellgustine Empire Wars and Vortexian Civil War. Most notably, the Invictus class was used extensively during the Medusa War, where they served as frontline warships against the plague, effective at sterilising infected worlds and destroying the vast hordes of infected fleets. There are over 300 of these ships in service, with more being constructed and a plan to continue the production has been envisaged.

Development

The inception of the Invictus-class first came during the waning days of the Great Intergalactic War, where the Concordium gained a wealth of knowledge and information from experiences gained during the innumerable space engagements of the war. Primarily, the Concordium was troubled with their current battleships having poor manoeuvrability and speed when compared to other warships during an engagement. This led to several instances where battleship battlegroups were outflanked by enemy warships leading to heavy losses. Cruisers did feature the speed and flexibility needed to counter this, however they were not sufficiently formidable enough with their weaponry nor defences to sufficiently partake in long-lasting slug fights with enemy warships. Therefore, the Concordium Navy set out devising a new class of battleship that would not only maintain the heavy armament and defences of a typical battleship, but also the speed and manoeuvrability of a cruiser.

Operational Record

The lead ship of the class, the CCV Invictus was commissioned on the 8th of August, 3301 at Axiom Riftyards Vulcan and was immediately assigned to the Solar Fleet of Warfleet Orion, considered the most prestigious assignment of any vessel in the Concordian Navy.

Characteristics

The Invictus-class battleship is 100,126 meters in length from bow to stern, with a height measured from the upper superstructure to dorsal superstructure at 9,016 meters and 9,082 meters when accounting for the masts of the ship. It is also 11,061 meters, which is wider than some of the largest ships in other navies. This makes the Invictus-class the largest combat starship in service with the Concordian Navy and one of the largest dedicated warships ever launched by the Terran Concordium. The Invictus-class is also one of the heaviest starships in service, at over 89,212,156 metric tons, and also hosting a crew of 124,396 personnel.

Power Generation & Propulsion

The Invictus-class battleship uses two Axiom AAR-GEN99 antimatter reactors that utilise antimatter annihilation to produce massive amounts of power for the ship. Due to the inherent risk of antimatter storage, the antimatter is stored in multi-redundant magnetic containment vessels that are surrounded by the ship's own rift shielding that provides a backup safety that prevents a containment failure from causing catastrophic damage. The entire antimatter storage system can be fully ejected from the vessel in an extreme emergency. This is also supported by six reserve Weyville Co. fusion reactors, that can supplant the primary reactors if they fail. The propulsion systems on the Invictus-class are nine Axiom ARA-GEN251 antimatter drives, along with ten Hurston-D'aarh Manoeuvring Control Systems. These systems are very powerful, propelling the Invictus at speeds comparable to cruisers, allowing them to maintain pace in sublight conditions with any fleet, whether in peacetime or combat.

For FTL propulsion, the Invictus-class features the highly advanced XLV-9 class rift drive manufactured by Axiom. The XLV-9 features significant advances to its predecessors in previous rift drive and FTL drive designs; instead of utilising the less efficient accelerator coils of previous designs to initiate an entrance into riftspace, the XLV-9 drive uses far superior quantum stabilisers to precisely create a rift vortex of exact specification. This cuts down on energy waste as well as smoothens the often turbulent transitions between realspace and the Rift. Furthermore, the XLV-9 drive allows for unprecedented micro-riftjump capabilities that enhance the vessel to perform tactical manoeuvres with pinpoint precision.

Armament

Guns

The Invictus-class features a large array of weaponry, typical of a battleship type vessel. The primary ship-to-ship weapons are a large complement of mass accelerator batteries, which are composed of railguns or coilguns that propel dense armatures of ferrous metal at high velocities. The main weaponry of the class are three, triple-gun turrets of EAC-221X Gungnir ("EAC" meaning Electromagnetic Accelerator Cannon) relitavistic accelerators, which propel ten metric tonnes of magnetically contained anti-hydrogen and hydrogen inside a multi-kiloton armature of depleted uranium at over half the speed of light. The destructive power of a single projectile, while classified, has been estimated to have a calculated energy output of at least 40000 yottajoules of energy at full power. Gungnir weaponry are frequently utilised to perform annihilation strikes against planets due to their sheer power and devastation with a full power strike. A single round striking the surface of a planet is enough to shatter the crust and the amount of kinetic energy transferred into the planet oftentimes destabilises or even shatters the core, leading to eventual planetary destruction. This makes these weapons some of the most powerful ever fitted on a warship; only being surpassed by the weaponry mounted on battlestations. Each Gungnir accelerator is placed in a triple barrelled gun turret with each one located in the centre of the vessel, placed against the central superstructure. Main firepower is further compounded by 12 of the lighter EAC-99 "Excalibur" antimatter accelerators that propel a lighter 1 ton antimatter round at over 0.5c. Estimates range from several hundred gigatons to a dozen petatons of TNT in equivalent destructive force with a maximum charged strike.

To accompany this, 300 smaller EAC-250 antimatter cannons are mounted across the dorsal and ventral sides of the vessel in double, quadruple and octuple batteries, with an approximate 25 teraton output per gun. These weapon systems are often used against lighter targets, such as cruisers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes. These quick firing weapon batteries are also often used to provide planetary bombardment and fire support duties, owing to its impressive rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute. Comparatively, the EAC-250s have the equivalent firepower of the main weapons of other capital warships. In addition the EAC-250 serves as the primary weapon of many Concordian cruisers, like the Knight-class heavy cruiser.

The EAC-325 Hailstorm in it's two modes: shielded and active.

The FLP-82 being tested on a ground-based platform.

Point defence is handled by the myriad of short range, high fire rate close in weapon systems (CIWS) on the Invictus-class, with over 25,000 point defence weaponry onboard. The primary point defence gun is the EAC-325 Hailstorm antimatter CIWS and there 5000 of these mounted on all sections of the vessel. This is a ball shaped turret equipped with 10, 9 barrelled rotary cannons each firing at approximately 10,000 rounds per minute, for a combined fire rate of 100,000 rounds per minute per CIWS. They are often used often to deal with missiles, starcraft and light vessels and can even be used to damage unshielded ships.

Secondary point defence is handled by the 20,000 FLP-82 Focal laser point defence systems. The FLP-82 is equipped with a 5 terajoule sustained fire laser that is designed to destroy incoming missiles or other projectiles. This laser system is also effective at engaging starcraft, light vessels and unshielded vessels, although the laser dissipates at a shorter range than the maximum effective combat distance of the EAC-325 Hailstorm, relegating it to a last resort screen against projectiles that get through the antimatter point defence grid.

Defences

Schematic diagram of the defensive structures of the hull of the Invictus-class.

The Invictus-class is protected with the latest shielding technology developed by the Concordium, featuring the Axiom EDS-251 rift shielding system, which was designed to surpass all other shielding systems of contemporary vessels. Developed from the experimental rift systems of the CCV Resolute, the Invictus-class shield system draws on the localised space-time distortions of riftspace to negate incoming damage. This provides a far stronger and more effective protection system than traditional energy shields that formed pure energy barriers between the vessel and incoming fire. The EDS-251 was required to be resistant to multiple hits from the primary weapons of the Invictus-class and feature a rapid recharge time. The energy used to supply the immense shielding consumes around 39% of all the power generated from the two antimatter reactors that power the vessel. The shielding is the main line of defence against incoming projectiles and is designed to bear the brunt of an attack on the vessel as the battleship cannot adequately perform evasive manoeuvres due to its sheer size. The shielding is projected by several shielding projectors located in equi-distant lengths all across the ship, equally distributing the protection of the shields. As with all other Concordian vessels, the shields can be focused to a particular section of the vessel if needed; a common example of this is when engaging an enemy warship head on, the shield strength would be focused upon the bow of the ship.

The Invictus-class also features durable nanonium armour in various thicknesses around the ship. Nanonium is the most common shipbuilding material in the Concordian and consists of a very durable carbon-metallic matrix that involves carbon alloying with high-strength metals like titanium, depleted uranium, titanium and vanadium. The material is treated with the injection of nanites that manipulate the very atoms themselves, granting the ability to self-repair itself upon damage. The hull of the Invictus is constructed almost entirely out of this metal alloy and thus provides excellent structural integrity to the vessel. Durable plates of nanocarbon composite is also used to armour the vessel conventionally and this follows an all-or nothing armour scheme that is designed to protect the most vital areas of the ship, such as the CIC, bridge, engineering and weapon ammunition storage. Since the vessel would have to have sustained extremely heavy damage to be at a point where the shields are depleted and the armour was the only defence left protecting the vessel, the only practical application of the very heavy armour plating would be at key vital points. The armour ranges between 550 to 40 meters in thickness depending on the location within the vessel. The armour is constructed of a two-piece design that is separated. The outer piece is designed to bear the brunt of the attack and if it does become perforated or destroyed, the projectile should have been disrupted enough to pose little threat for the internal armour plating. This also maintains pressurisation in case of outer hull failure. If parts of the outer hull plating are destroyed, the ship's automatic repair function immediately engages emergency repairs at a rate that is dictated by energy output from the reactor directed to the repair function. At maximum energy input, the repair function can repair plating as fast as it is getting destroyed.

The general hull is armoured with 250 meters of plating, with the internal citadel and bridge featuring upwards of 350 meters of armour. The interior bulkheads, designed to seal off in case of hull breech have 40 meters worth of plating while the gun turrets, ammunition stores and missile and torpedo arrays have up to 550 meters of armour, making it nigh impossible to breach these areas with conventional weaponry.

Complement

The Invictus-class features a large complement of troops, vehicles and spacecraft that allow the vessel to support large assault actions and ground campaign in similar scope to assault carriers. The Invictus-class can support up to 1 million marines, with a dedicated barracks section of the ship to provide a garrison for combat personnel. Multiple armouries are located around the vessel, providing all necessary weaponry and equipment for sustained ground combat operations. Five thousand armoured fighting vehicles are located in hangar bay vehicle depots.

Notable Ships

Name	Date of Launch	Status	Reason for notability
CCV Invictus	11 February 3301	Active	Lead ship of the class
CCV Unfailing	15 March 3301	Active	First of the class to score an kill on an enemy starship, during the War on Piracy
CCV Say My Name	14 December 3301	Active	Hosts the Chancellor's mobile command centre in times of crisis or war
CCV Happy Go Lucky Me	29 January 3301	Active	Plunged into a star's core to avoid an entire fleet of warships and survived to destroy the same fleet in a surprise attack
CCV Nuclear Boom Boom	12 March 3301	Active	Withstood an attack by an entire planet's arsenal of nuclear weaponry after insurrectionists seized control.
CCV Julan's Revenge	4 April 3301	Active	Evacuated a corporate-enslaved planet's entire population after the corporation was defeated by a rebellion.