The Bastard MKII class of Nepleslian cruisers also known as the “Big Bastard” is an inline ship designed by NAM's Lorath born shipwright Director Ree'Lena "Adept" Occhestan as an experimental blend of Nepleslian and Lorath technology focus upon infusing the strengths of the two tech bases into a powerful and indomitable line ship for any Nepleslian or LSDF fleet. This second, heavier variant of the Bastard class of cruisers was designed after the YE 41 initial release of the original light cruiser class and fielded in YE 42 focusing on heavier armor and increased firepower.

The original Bastard class of cruiser was originally designed around Nepleslias' entry into the Kuvexian War as the first of two classes of cruisers tailored to combat more advanced ships and weapons that were fielded by the Kuvexians. The end decision was to upgrade Nepleslias' aging Aether reactor designs with help from the LSDF to make a run of ship classes that could match up to the firepower of Kuvexias' weapons and power with the added advantage of Nepleslian armor and guile.

• Hybrid ship made from Nepleslian and Lorath technologies.
• Powerful anti ship weapons.
• Unique Nepleslian Aether Ship.

• Force projection
• Anti Fleet
• Flagship

The MKII is an imposing sight from its smaller sister class. A third larger than its sister and favoring the same style of sloped and angled armor the MKII is in no way any less deadly with its weapons on full display and its armor anything but thinner than a sane Nepleslian engineer would ever tolerate in their ship design.

Designed around the same time, but fielded after the original light cruiser, the MKII was built by NAM's Aerotech and X-Tech divisions in early YE 41. Under the supervision of Director "Adept" with the cooperation of the LSDF. The original light cruiser was taken apart and upscaled into a heavier variant with additional antimatter turrets, detonators, and torpedos and an even thicker armor belt making the heavy variant overall an increase of magnitude deadlier than its sister class with only a marginal decrease in speed.

Being a more powerful version of the original class, however, posed the question of the redundancy of the original compared to a larger and more powerful variant that sacrificed little. This issue, however, was short-lived as the overall cost of production, materials, and time was almost twice that of the original. Even with the sheer industrial might of NAM and the Nepleslian government, the MKII was still a pricey ship to manufacture when the alternative was to have two of the original class; though was still widely favored by the venerable 1st and 2nd assault fleets who favored such powerful vessels in their fleets as compared to the 3rd Assault Fleet who opted to primarily utilize the light cruiser variant for its fast attack capabilities but still received many MKII variants for how well they worked in concert with the originals.

• Class:NA-C3-2L
• Type: Heavy Cruiser
• Designers: Nepleslian Arms and Munitions, Lorath Self Defense Force, Adept
• Manufacturer: Nepleslian Arms and Munitions
• Fielded by: Nepleslian Star Navy, Lorath Self Defense Force

Crew: 350 operators are recommended, 125 are required.

Maximum Capacity: There are accommodations for 375 people. About 450 people can fit aboard in an emergency, but the ship would be extremely cramped.

• Length: 369m (1210ft)
• Width: 79m (259ft)
• Height: 51m (167ft )
• Decks: 9

The MKII Heavy variant compared to the original light variant

• Continuum Distortion Drive: 18737.325c (2.13 ly/h)
• Hyperspace Fold Drive: 424,710c (0.83 ly/m)
• Sublight Engines: .370c
• Range: 130ly
• Lifespan: 10yr
• Refit Cycle: 5 years

See Damage Rating (Version 3)

DRv3 Tier: T-12 Heavy Starship.

The MKII, while composed of nine reinforced decks, utilizes most of them as compartmentalized transit between important compartments that are often sat between decks. Because of this, the ship can retain a lot of structural integrity and armor as compared to other ships that over-utilize an abundance of ship decks for much that can be protected through fewer compartmentalized decks.

A central armory is positioned in the lower decks on the ship. It contains enough firepower to arm a considerable force. It is here that Marines and sailors alike gather to maintain, service and store their weapons. Navy armorers tend to both services' needs and are assisted by junker drones. While the weaponry stocked may vary from ship to ship, depending on how each Captain chooses to equip it, there is a standard inventory available for both the marine contingent and crew.

The Armory would contain the following:

The main armory also contains the following:

In addition to the central armory, there are multiple weapons lockers located near vital locations such as the bridge, engineering, Power armor bays and weapons batteries. These simple lockers are placed to arm crewmen who aren't close to the central armory in case of a boarding action. Each locker contains the following:

When in service with the LSDF, the armories are converted to a LSDF Large Primary Armoryand tiertiary armories are relequated to LSDF Weapon Locker Room with all the standard LSDF issue weapons unless requested otherwise.

The ship contains both LSDF Standard Primary Bridge and a LSDF Standard Tactical Bridge.

The ship contains a centralized Nepleslian Starship Brig nearby the armory for convenience and features several dozen cells.

The ship has two LSDF Commander Quarters for its captain and executive officers. And two additional suites for VIPs.

There are two cargo holds bridged together in the center of the ship, each one can hold a huge standard container's worth of cargo. This space is usually given over to food and other perishable supplies. To keep food fresh, all of these cargo holds are refrigerated and kept in a vacuum until they are needed. Replacement parts and mechanical components are also stored in airtight containers.

LSDF Officer Quarters and LSDF Primary Crew Quarters are avaliable for officer and enlisted marines and crew. Likewise LSDF Reserve Crew Bunks are made available if the ship needs to take on additional staff, refugees, etc.

LSDF General Purpose Wardroom is positioned towards the central-forward portion of the ship for crew recreation.

The ship features a large engineering section made up of four parts containing a LSDF Engineering Manufacturing Compartment, LSDF Core Monitoring Station, LSDF Engineering Monitoring Station, and LSDF Engineering Utility Access and Monitoring onboard towards its engineering needs. They are located in the rear of the ship but with quick and easy access to all parts of the ship's main corridors and thoroughfares. The ship's engineers are responsible for the maintenance of the ship's mechanical and electrical systems as well as the AI. Damage control teams also congregate here for assignments during battle.

Maintenance conduits run through the ship and are only accessible through sealable bulkheads. These conduits can either be really hot and stuffy or extremely cold and possibly airless. As a result, most crewmen wear EVA suits where possible into the cold areas. However, for access into the hot and humid areas, most crewmen choose to strip down to wearing fewer layers.

The ships Nepleslian Standard Starship Medical Bay is located in the center of the ship for the convenience of the crew. It borders on the main mess-hall in case of emergencies to hold and triage wounded and use the tables for operating theaters. Adjacent to the medical bay is a cordon with two rooms, each with three Twinmaker cloning vats.

The ship features standard hallways. These can be sealed off in sections with airtight doors.

The ship contains two power armor bays having one on each side of the ship. Each power armor bay contains the following to outfit its marine security detail and any additional marines it carries:

Each power armor bay is a simple corridor-like room that contains the powered armor frames in the locked locker like hangars and borders the launch bays. In the case of LSDF the bays are easily able to house LSDF issue power armors such as the Lo-M1-3 (SDI-M3) Hunter Powered Suit, Maelstrom Armor System, And Nepleslian issued Lorath capable powered armors.

The ship's exterior is equipped with ten rapid-launch bays, which are forcefield-contained openings in the lower hull. The bays make it possible for powered armor to fly out into space at their convenience. The bays also open out which slope down and touch the ground when the ship is landed, allowing troops to disembark.

The ship contains a simple shuttle bay on its upper decks that can house a small compliment of twenty shuttles and 4 Corona Heavy Gunship

Two mess hall border a considerable galley in this ship. The first being meant for enlisted crew and can seat several hundred at a time for needs of daily meals, large briefings, and triage. Nearby but far enough so as not to get in the way of a rush of hungry enlisted is a more private and compact officers mess containing a single long hardwood table for the officer cadre to sit at and discuss. The officers' mess is segregated from the enlisted mess by a set of double doors and soundproof walls and have a private entrance from the kitchen to receive food without having to wait in lines.

Both the officer and enlisted mess halls contain several screens showing relevant data and information transmitted by the ACE AI as well as holographic projectors to manifest the ACE in holographic form when the need arises.

A sizable and impressive kitchen is present in this ship able to house individuals trained in the culinary field at numbers no more than forty. Large island tables for work surfaces, Entire walls of ovens, Steamers, Kettles, Tilt Skillets, Fryers, Stoves, and other such culinary devices are present with dishwashing and sanitary spaces enough for several dishwashers to keep up with the pace of a thousand hungry souls daily. As well as the utensils required to cook and prepare them.

Also, Several freezers and coolers are present and labeled for their purposes from deep freezing perishable rations to coolers and produce chillers to even a wine cooler for officers and enlisted alcohols.

Finally, a deep berthing space is allotted under the kitchen for emergency rations and storage and is temperature-controlled. In case of disaster or emergency, this space and those of the other temperature-controlled spaces in the galley can be used to store the dead until they can be cloned in the medical bay.

Unlike most Nepleslian ships that mix and match Durandium Alloy and Nerimium. The Bastard class of ships wears the traditional outer armor of durandium as its base with some exterior add-on armor plating over much of the vital areas with angled Duremium Alloy armor plating on its exterior over critical sections of the ship that has been treated to absorb damage from the likes of energy weapon blasts and aether alike. And bellow all that; the ship's superstructure is reinforced by a duremium framework that runs through the ship. This frame allows the ship to absorb more kinetic force and gives it more durability under fire as compared to other armor layouts and enables it to resist blunt kinetic force such as suicidal ramming charges that may otherwise tear through the ship.

A NAM Nano-Constructor System is installed in the hull and is capable of repairing or reinforcing critical areas of the ship's hull. Like any repair system, it cannot be at full capacity everywhere at once. Its most important role is to close any hull breaches created during combat.

Multiple armor sections of the ship also contain hidden pods of Junkers drones that when damaged will traverse the inner armor and exterior of the ship to provide quick and hasty repairs until the ship can be set to drydock and repair.

Unidirectional Gravity Plating plating on the roof 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.

The ship contains a very easy to produce communications systems on the back hull. While not as sophisticated as those on most military vessels, they cover the basics (subspace and radio) and provide an acceptable amount of security. In an emergency, the communications system can act as a low-resolution sensor system by using the receiver to pinpoint radio or subspace transmitters much in the same way that human ears pinpoint sounds.

The Bastard has an AI core housing a powerful Advanced Command/Combat Executive AI unit. The ACE serves to compliment the crew and conduct cyberwarfare against enemy vessels.

The ACE AI can project a physical sprite by the use of multiple holographic projectors in various parts of the ship.

Three powerful Checkmate Aether Reactor power the ship and all its systems along with its dependent weapons. When in battle or need of additional power or if the checkmate reactors are damaged A single Na-ZPER-02b Hyperspace Tap Reactor can augment or cover the needed power gap. It likewise also possesses a pair of Na-HFR-01a Heavy Fusion Reactor as secondaries and backups for emergency use or for when all other methods of power generation are damaged.

Subspace mass sensors instantly detect mass readings and movement of objects up to 10 AU (903 million miles) distant from the ship. The readings are used both for early warning and navigation when traveling at sublight speeds. The readings are not very detailed and cannot detect objects of less than 60,000 kg.

A black veil is installed on the ship to help with its electronic protection and detection from hostile ships and forces.

see Na-M/V-E4100 Black Veil Electronic Warfare Suite

A Mass Mesher Device is installed in the cruiser to help it 'blend' into nearby signals. Useful for disguising true numbers or type of spacecraft but is not true stealth.²⁾

Designed for a quick inspection of ships the multi-dimensional density scanner takes precise gravitational readings at various points in space using a combination of a gravity sensor and the ship’s hyper pulse drive. The result is a quick 3d mapping of an object or planet surface with density measurements displayed.

A Na-M/V-E3600 Brainspammer is installed in the ship.

Tachyon Scanners detect the disturbances in the gravitic characteristics of normal space caused by the passage of ships traveling through hyperspace. Tachyon scanners also reduce the effectiveness of enemy missile jamming systems.

The ship boasts a fire management system for damage control and numerous escape pods and shuttles for evacuation and/or escape.

Likewise, the ship contains a considerable amount of Na-EP-01a "Scapegoat" Escape Pod across the ship's inner hull and enough to evacuate 70% of the crew if all are undamaged.

Finally, compartmentalization throughout the ship allows the ACE or individuals to seal any compartment, hall, or otherwise location with seal-able blast doors to stop air leakage, breaching, boarding, or fire. In the case of the latter; Fire, emergency equipment is always on hand to deal with non-ammunition or plasma-based fires with the two exceptions often needing air to be vented from the compartment to staunch.

The ship can generate and recycle its air throughout the ship and can house its interchangeable atmosphere that can be changed to suit individual species depending on the compartment or room. When cutting off the ship often retains enough breathable air for 69 hours due to its sheer size and oxygen content if none is exposed to vacuum. Emergency generators, however, ensure that emergency power and air are always the first things to stay online in the case of reactor damage unless that power is otherwise required for shields, weapons, or communications.

Several powerful and varied Nepleslian built fabricators are installed around the ship and stored with appropriate materials on hand to suit their needs. Such fabricators and their uses are installed in the following and limited to:

Any other fabricators are installed on a case by case basis and their uses are situational. In the event of an emergency, engineering can unlock the restrictions on any fabricator for repairs on the ship so so long as the proper materials are on hand to draw from.

The ship has an efficient dual shielding system to guard it against all forms of known warfare. Relying on a teardrop-shaped spatial distortion to warp space around it and alter the course of laser, missiles, etc. that are headed for the ship. A second system, called “the spike” only protects the front of the ship, acting as a giant cone. It protects the ship from collisions during high-speed flight. Both of the shields can take a lot of damage but are not infallible.

The cruiser is equipped with a Mercurite shielding system, which is capable of blocking most forms of electromagnetic radiation. This is useful for blocking electromagnetic pulse-type weapons.

A by-product of antigravity (repulsion) technology, the damper shield has been heralded as the best defense against scalar electro gravitational pulse weaponry, which is notorious for their ability to destroy ammunition, electronics, and organic life forms. While scalar EM waves penetrate conventional shielding because they can travel wherever gravity can go, the damper field uses a low-power antigravity field that negates the force of gravity and consequently provides an effective shielding system against scalar EM weapons systems.

The Bastard' weapon compliment are developed in a way to complement its role as a destroyer leader but in no way hinder its ability to hold its own against ships its class or even higher with the addition of a powerful aether detonator that allows the ship to attack ships from a relative distance with powerful first strike capabilities while its torpedo and antimatter weaponry offers the ability to deal considerable damage from close or even moderate distances against hostile vessels. Due to the manner of most of its weaponry, the MKII is ill-suited to planetary engagements.

see Aether Hellscream

Two Hellscream detonator is installed on the front of the ship behind a shielded armor slant that work as an incredibly powerful and devastating first-strike weapon wielded exclusively by the bastard class of cruiser. Creating and then self-detonating an aether tap in a location within a 45-degree cone in front of the ship. Due to the complexity of calculating the range, speed, and predicted location of the ship upon detonation makes the pairing of an Advanced Command/Combat Executive AI mandatory to safely operate the weapon. When used successfully an aether tap detonation can cripple if not outright destroy multiple ships if caught unawares with detonations reaching up to 5kt in yield and covering close to 15 kilometers in the area of effect from the epicenter to the furthest point.

A combination of two of these weapons on the heavy cruiser allows the MKII to hypothetically obliterate entire thousands of kilometers of space and those ships unlucky enough to be caught in the initial salvo. Due to being mounted on the front of the ship the detonator has a 45-degree firing arc.

see Nepleslian Antimatter Blaster The antimatter blaster is a powerful ship weapon on 8 separate turrets of the ship. Each one sends devastating antimatter packets downrange from almost 360 degrees at the angle of fire from the ship allowing to fight either head-on or broadside for tactical diversity. Each antimatter packet is unguided and ill-suited for planetary bombardment but excels against other starships when in range.

see Lorath Missiles and Torpedoes

Two LSDF large-sized torpedo tubes are installed on the front of the ship. Each one has a considerable amount of payloads and utility and can be threatening from entire astronomical units away if used effectively or used in more personal ranges.

The ship contains an impressive compliment of NAM-SW-E230-X 'Sand Lane' Semi-Autonomous Disposable Lasing Node and NAM-SW-E227-X 'Sand Lane, M' Semi-Autonomous Disposable Lasing Node, Miniature in it for anti-ship minefield deployment to deny enemy ships ease of acess through systems or to prevent ships from FTL travel through blockaded space.

Several OI-V9-W3600 Heavy Pulse Laser Vulcan: are positioned strategically across the ship for point defence and anti-fighter needs.

On the back and spine of the ship, several countermeasure dispensers are present in the case of missile or guidance based attacks threaten the ship. Each belonging to the Na-V6-M3700 "AEGIS" Active Missile Guardian/Interception Suite. The bastard uses the Hyperspace fuel tap flare and Anti-radar chaff systems from the Aegis countermeasure suite.

The ship contained twenty Na-S/Sh-01 Zachitnik-class Shuttle and four Corona Heavy Gunship for its various needs.

While not a carrier, the bastard cruiser is capable of storing fighters in its shuttle bay and launching them if desired but is not a safe or recommended practice as receiving them in the short shuttle bay can be disastrous if not done carefully. The ship also does not have adequate munitions bunkers for fighter ammunition or weapons meaning it is ill-suited to do more than transport fighter or bomber craft if no other option is present.

Charmaylarg created this article on 2019/10/14 16:14.

Creators Note:

These ships are made for both Nepleslia and the Lorath Self Defence Force due to their close relationship and the (at the time) status of the Lorath being a protectorate of Nepleslia.

If ever there is a falling out between these factions IC the LSDF has no obligation to return any of this ship class to the nepleslian government but is required to remove sensitive Nepleslian equipment (Brainspammer, Mass mesher, Black veil, and the ACE AI) and can replace them with their own equivalent to the point where the consent for even a new ship class article made around or with this one as the base but detailing LSDF specific changes is fine with me (Char). I also give permission to Lorath FMs to edit this article with future upgraded and relevant technologies and links as they are clearly more well versed in the technologies and equipment of their factions than I am.

-Charmaylarg

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