Designed by the I'ee as a replacement and spiritual successor of sorts to the outdated and inferior Patrol Craft, the Cog fills a variety of roles both civilian and military.

Like its colonial predecessor, the Cog is designed as a front-line combat and cargo transport vessel. With heavier and more plentiful weaponry, stronger armour and faster engines, it supersedes the Patrol Craft in all of its intended roles. The only potential step backward taken by the Cog is a lack of any hangar bays.

• Patrol duty
• Front-line combat

The main hull of the Cog bears strong resemblance to that of a boat, fittingly enough, with a curved underside designed to deflect projectiles. Upon the flat-topped dorsal side of the ship are its weapon's control center, defense turrets and sensor arrays. On the port and starboard sides of the vessel are the primary broadside arrays, numbering six weapon mounts in total. At the front of the ship, protruding from the main hull, is the command bridge, with an aesthetic prong extending from its nose. The aft end of the vessel houses the engines; a pair of heavy Particle Drives.

Despite the Ee'ith family's almost childishly optimistic approach to diplomacy, their progenitors, the Oo'tut family, thought differently. With a more clinical, scientific point of view, and the support of the warrior family, Thi-thi, they approached the Ith'ee and petitioned for a new front-line vessel to replace the Patrol Craft.

The Ith'ee, eager to apply more of what they had learnt from alien vessels in a practical fashion, set aside their research into strike craft and began the arduous task of designing a newer, larger ship. Roughly twenty years later, the Cog had been pushed into service.

With no home left in the larger, modernised I'ee families, its predecessor was handed down en-masse to the younger families as gifts and officially retired from military service.

• Class: N/A
• Type: Cruiser
• Designers: Ith'ee
• Manufacturer: Ith'ee
• Fielded by: Ith'ee, Thi-thi, Ee'thie, Oo'tut and Ith'it families.

Crew: 24 optimal crew at command bridge, 60 in secondary weapons control.

Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 500 I'ee workers, but due to how the I'ee rotate duties, the ship can support up to 1000 crew. Two workers can each share a space, with one sleeping while the other is working.

• Length: 520 meters (1706 feet)
• Width: 350 meters (1148 feet)
• Height: 320 meters (1050 feet)

• Alcubierre Drive: From 3 to 30 times c.
• Sublight Engines: 6200 km/h at full speed.
• Range: N/A
• Lifespan: One decade.
• Refit Cycle: 6 Earth years.

• Hull: 25 SP
• Shields: N/A

Depicted above is a simple diagram depicting the ship's interior. Red denotes command and control structures, Green distinguishes crew quarters and access, Yellow shows maintenance compartments and Blue depicts storage spaces of varying function.

A large, rectangular room with a central, raised dais upon which the primary command staff are situated. Surrounding this platform, facing outwards, are the varying command consoles for communications, flight and other tasks.

The majority of the weapons control is viewing space, providing an ample vantage point during combat. It controls all of the weapons located upon the Cog through a variety of independent control consoles.

A yawning, cavernous space located beneath the Crew Nests. It can carry a vast amount of materials within its depths, and is well protected by armour plating. In turn, it also provides protection for the crew who live just above it. The aft and front ends of the cargo hold can be accessed from the outside by means of large doors.

As with the Patrol Craft that it replaces, the Cog has a large crew, and with it a large living space. Its sheer size almost rivals that of the cargo bays below, and is composed of a honeycombed maze of living quarters, food storage and waste disposal systems. Generally, two crew members will share a room, taking shifts so that one is always sleeping when the other is awake.

• Tyranitum - An alloy made of titanium and other metals.

• I'ee Particle Drive
• Alcubierre Drive

• Broadside 'Venom' Cannons: 12 (Six each on port and starboard sides), Tier 8
• Twin-Linked Coil-gun turrets: 2, Tier 5
• Rotatory Coil-gun turret: 1, Tier 5

Littlewasp created this article on 2016/03/27 00:39.