Serendipity-Class

The Serendipity-Class is an experimental ship run by Origin industries to test the effectiveness of Aetheric weaponry, as way as a new method of distributing shield, fold, and Continuum distortion bubbles. The Serendipity-class has a limited production run, with the only two ships produced being the YSS Genesis and the OIF Atuan III.

The Serendipity-class was designed as a test bed for a specific set of weapons. Unlike other Origin ships, it has been designed from the ground up to utilize Aetheric weaponry and power sources, rather than simply being made with the ability to have variable power sources and several possible types of weaponry. It also houses a special type of Shield, Fold, and Continuum distortion bubble deflection system, allowing the ship increased capability with those systems while keeping the actual units more compact than older methods.

Unfortunately, many of the new systems on the Serendipity are prone to problems, and, being so new, generally do not have easy fixes. The Weapons load out is also somewhat heavier than the Serendipity can truly support, meaning that one or two heavy volleys from the main cannons can leave the ship out of enough power to run for minutes at a time, and the Relay system can have problems which force the shield bubble to become smaller than the ship itself, exposing portions to direct fire.

The Main weapons, while powerful, have a couple of major drawbacks, the first being the fact that they are mounted 2 to a turret, in three turrets. This limits the amount of targets the Serendipity can fire upon to three. Obviously, this causes any group of four or more to be easily able to outmaneuver and easily defeat the Serendipity, despite its theoretical firepower. The second major drawback is the weapons themselves; Aetheric weaponry creates an immense drain on the power system, the Two Aether generators having to work overtime. Built-in safeties cause the generators to shut off if power demand increases too high, to keep them from overloading and detonating. This results in a major drawback. Despite the weapons being rated to fire twice a minute, any attempts to do so will only result in the ship shutting itself off, forcing it to run on emergency power, which cannot support the weapons at all.

The second ship of the class, the OIF Atuan II, was created to test out the GIPC system, as well as to be a home base for the testing of new Mecha, armor, and Fighter designs. Unlike the Genesis, it does not require an SAoY personnel aboard to operate. because it lacks the power draw of the Aether arrays, it also is less prone to auto-shutoff, though the gauss coils can at times draw enough to cause this problem.

• Heavy Aether weaponry
• New shield deflector system
• Large hangar

The Serendipity is an experimental destroyer, packing more firepower than a ship its size should ever possess. Its primary purpose is to test Aetheric weaponry and Aether systems, as well as to help develop tactics with destroyer-type craft.

The ship is shaped like a large set of wings, with a short neck ending in a pincer-like sensor realy. On either side of the body are large thruster assemblies, which each have a turret under slung. On top of the center is a large hump which carries a third turret. The wings have pods in the middle of each side, with the outboard portion containing two deflection modules on each side.

The Atuan II looks similar to the Genesis, except each turret has 2 larger barrels instead of four medium-sized ones.

By YE 31 the Raider class had outlived its experimental phase, and Origin needed a new test bed, utilizing new technologies and techniques, in order to improve starship performance. The Serendipity is a radical design which uses previously unexplored methods for deflecting and modulating shields and other bubble-type starship field projections, such as Fold and Continuum distortion.

Due to its very nature as an Aether weapon carrier, the Serendipity class must have at least one SAoY member aboard to oversee that YSE regulations are upheld.

Class: OI-X2-1A Type: Destroyer Designers: Aerin Tatst Manufacturer: Origin Industries Production: 2 Fielded by: Origin Industries

Crew: 5 operators are recommended, 3 are required. Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 50 people. About 250 people can fit aboard in an emergency, but the ship would be extremely cramped.

Length: 200 meters Width: 187.5 meters Height: 35 meters Decks: 2 (5 meters and 12 meters)

Continuum Distortion Drive: 15,000 c Hyperspace Fold Drive: 0.7 ly/m Sublight Engines: .25 c Range: technically indefinite, usually limited to 6 months Lifespan: Indefinite Refit Cycle: every 6 months

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for an explanation of the damage system.

• Hull: 20
• Shields: 20 (Threshold 2)

The Origin-type Armory is rather large for such a small ship, being 8 x 10 meters.

The Serendipity sports a Deluxe Bridge, which was deemed necessary because of the experimental nature of the ship.

The Serendipity just has Origin's standard Captain's Suite

The forward fuselage, or 'boom' contains storage space for all types of perishable items, water, and equipment that cannot be manufactured on-ship. There are refrigerated sections and special filtration systems to recycle the water on board the ship. Cargo may also be stored in the hangar bay, but this reduces the space available for embarked craft.

28 Origin Crew Cabins house up to 56 crew members. They are placed in double rows on either side of the upper deck, 14 per side. At the forward end of each of the cabin rows is a bathroom-type Head which is roughly the size of a room, and a Origin Industries Laundry Room area for doing laundry.

Crew recreation is generally composed of activities performed within the hangar bay, as it is the largest open space within the ship. Granted, it's usually full of craft, but there's usually enough room to play a game such as basketball or football within the hangar. There are even fold-down basketball hoops connected to the roof of the hangar.

The lower deck also has multiple sets of workout gear, including weights and simple machines, but these are all mobile and have no specific location.

Other recreation is done within the crew cabins or in the mess hall, which have viewscreens and computer access.

Instead of a normal engineering section, the Serendipity class has a machine shop, which covers the functions of an engineering section while being capable of servicing embarked craft and powered armors, as well as machining replacement parts and custom pieces.

Standard Access Tunnels snake throughout they ship, giving access to all the systems that need maintenance.

The Serendipity has a Professional Medical bay, because of the large crew and experimental nature of the ship.

Standard Hallway Standard Elevator

The Main Hangar is a large open space, it is 30 meters wide by 100 meters long, and 12.5 meters tall, allowing for a myriad of embarked craft. The main Hangar feeds into the cargo ramp, which is retractable to close the bay. This large hangar opening allows for the rapid deployment and recovery of craft such as Fighters, Shuttles, Powered Frames, and powered armor.

A largish room adjoining the main hangar, the PA bay is 10 meters by 50 meters, and can hold up to 100 powered armor suits. the necessary storage for parts and accessories, however, reduces this number to effectively 50.

The Wardroom has an in-built Origin Industries Standard Kitchen.

The hull and frame are composed of reinforced Durandium Alloy, with an armor plating of Endurium, a new Ceramic composite armor which has the effectiveness of a much more massive metallic armor. Hull sections vary between 2 meters thick for the main body and wings, to three meters thick for the forward section.

The Serendipity class has a large cargo ramp located underneath to forward storage/sensor boom. It is the entire width of the hangar bay, and allows for rapid loading and unloading of vehicles, passengers, and cargo. The ramp also has a small airlocked door in the center, which can be used to dock with other ships, space stations, as well as allow for access to space without opening the entire cargo ramp. The opening created by the ramp has an atmospheric retention field, allowing for the entire ramp to be opened in space without the loss of atmosphere.

The Serendipity uses a Destiny AI Queen system for all its computing, communications, and sensing needs.

• Air locked bulkheads: The Serendipity has an Air locked bulkhead system, which creates airlocks between vented rooms and rooms with atmosphere. This allows EVA-suit clad crew members to move around the ship in the event of a hull breach.
• Fire Suppression system: Each room has a fire suppression system which can contain and eliminate most types of fires within seconds of detecting them. This is accomplished through the use of a sprinkler system, as well as nozzles which spray various fire retardant substances.
• Origin Standard Escape Podsx10
• Air locked Hatches: Located on the dorsal, ventral, and stern surfaces are a number of hatches which allow access to the outside of the ship. they can be used as a means of escape for normal-suit clad crew members in an emergency.

The Serendipity class has four large, heavy duty landing struts which project from the bottom of the hull, allowing the ship to land on hard, flat surfaces. The struts also have electromagnetic clamps on the footpads, allowing it to attach to the hull of larger craft securely. The strut assemblies are dual purpose, both acting to cushion the ship's landing, as well as to hold up the weight of the ship and keep it from damage.

• Environmental recycling system: the ERS is just a simple yet effective filtration system, which filters water and air, purifying it so it may be reused. Filters must be replaced after 10 months of continuous operation.
• AC system: A simple climate control system, it allows for rooms to be kept at a specific temperature. Controls are located in each room.
• Unidirectional Gravitational Plating: the Serendipity contains plating on the roof which emits a pseudo-gravitational field that is attracted to the plates on the floor, pushing everything on the ship 'down'. This creates the false sense of gravity that permeates the ship.

FTL Propulsion: Continuum Distortion Drive Hyperspace Fold Drive: This ship has a basic Fold Drive, for use in Inter-stellar travel. The fold bubble is capable of towing an equal-sized ship along with the Serendipity, due to the relay deflector system STL Propulsion: The Serendipity uses IAPD's which are capable of providing thrust in even heavy Aether cancellation, because they do not rely solely on the Aether system, but also have a backup fuel tank which allows for half an hour of full power operations, including providing power to every part of the ship besides the Aetheric Beam Cannon Arrays.

• Extra Fuel:The Serendipity has two huge backup fuel tanks which allow the IAPDs to run for 30 minutes of full power, or two hours of basic power. Under non-Aether cancelling conditions, the extra fuel can be fed into the IAPD's, acting as a booster and increasing the ship's speed to .30c for up to a minute at a time, with a cool down time of a minute, as any longer will damage the engines.
• Maneuvering Thrusters: There are a number of thrusters placed around the hull, allowing it for faster movement in all directions.

The Serendipity has the Experimental Relay Deflector system, which boosts the signal of devices such as Shields, Fold systems, and Continuum distortion drives, allowing smaller units to be mounted on a ship, saving power, mass, and space.

For maximum defense, the Serendipity runs three kinds of shielding. Each shield is generated from its own pod on either side of the ship, aside from the navigational shielding, which is contained in both pods. The two shield systems in the pods work in tandem, allowing the ship to survive many types of weapons. These systems are augmented by the Relay Deflector system the ship sports.

Electromagnetic shields are housed in the Port shielding pod. The shield creates a bubble which encompasses the entire ship. Combined threshold 4

Gravitic shielding is used on the starboard side. This generator pod creates a shield bubble that encompasses the entire ship. Combined threshold 4

Both Pods on the Serendipity project simple Navigational shielding, which allows the ship to run with a smaller sensor signature. This shielding system, however, does not help much against weapons. Threshold 1 (non-stacking)

• Aetheric Beam Cannon Array: 6, Tiers 13 (3 turrets of two linked arrays)
  • The Genesis can fire no more than three shots (out of a theoretical 12) a minute without having power problems. 4-6 shots affects shielding efficiency and auxiliary propulsion. More than 6 attempted shots a minute can shut the craft down completely in an effort to keep the generators from overloading.
• OI-Z3C Space Missiles: 560, Tier 7, Light Anti-Mecha * up to 56 a minute.
• Origin Heavy Laser Turret 5, Tier 11, Medium Anti-Starship
  • Mobile

• 500mm Gauss Impelled Positron Cannon: 6, Tiers 14 (3 turrets of two linked barrels)
  • The Atuan II has a total of 600 rounds on board, 100 for each barrel. Up to 6 rounds a minute per unit. attempting to fire to the weapon's standard ROF will cause Shielding and auxiliary propulsion problems.
• OI-Z3C Space Missiles: 560, Tier 7 Light Anti-Mecha
  • Up to 56 a minute
• Origin Heavy Laser Turret 5, Tier 11, Medium Anti-Starship
  • Mobile

See the YSS Genesis and OIF Atuan II pages.