Himiko was originally a Kyoto-class Carrier named GSS Explorer, an expeditionary fleet vessel lost in the Second Draconic War with all hands. At some point, the Senti flotilla Shurista found the ship's wreckage and began repairs.

The YSS Explorer was launched during the first batch of Kyoto class carriers during the end of the Fourth Elysian War, and was assigned to the 2nd Expiditionary fleet until it was lost, presumed destroyed, with all hands in late YE 25 less than a year after her launch and maiden voyage. Whether this loss of a ship and her crew was to a particularly powerful macrometeorite storm or an organized attack on an underequipped and not yet fully combat ready vessel is unclear.

In Senti tradition, the first name of the last member of the previous crew to die becomes the name of the ship. Thusly, the SDC Himiko is named for a young woman named Taii Himiko Yamamoto, who died at her post at the helm and was one of the only identifiable bodies found.

Many Yamataian systems were destroyed in whatever event rendered the Explorer a rotting hull, and the computers self terminated when the Senti managed to restore power, meaning even they are unsure of what happened, and would be extremely interested in an official report on their home's history.

Original launch photo of GSS Explorer, CA YE24

Unlike other Kyoto class carriers, the Himiko's loss before any upgrades had been made meant that many of the upgraded systems of the 1a or 1b model Kyoto class were not implemented.

In this case, weapons fire damage is evident, with thirty holes clear through the hull and a gash along one side that peeled the armor back in a crude and brutish fashion. It does not appear that this damage was done with Senti mining equipment. All holes have since been repaired with Burial Steel patches welded directly across the remaining portions of the original hull. Much of the original paint is still intact, thought the Star Army glyphs and the original vessel's name are now barely legible.

Originally, this vessel utilized over five thousand individual. However, the senti family currently crewing this vessel are a mere eight hundred in number, and live in relative comfort as a healthy population.

Currently, there are accomodations for a large, approximately seven hundred person xenopolicy delegation, including experts in xenoanthropology, xenoquisine, xenolinguistics, and xenopolitics.

• Government: Council of Shurista
• Organization: Independant
• Ship Class: Kyoto/Capital Ki-L3-1a (modified)
• Designer: Ketsurui Fleet Yards
• Manufacturer: Ketsurui Fleet Yards, Tabidatsu, refit by Sketras Forge, Shurista
• Length: 1,905 meters (6250 feet)
• Width: 914.4 meters (3000 feet)
• Height: 1,097.28 meter (3600 feet)
• Decks: 200 @ 4.57 meters (15 feet) each
• Weight: about 20.4 million metric tons (22.5 million tons)

Crew: 853 (not counting delegates or passengers.)

• Continuum Distortion Drive: 18,750c (~2.14 ly/h)
• Hyperspace Fold Drive: 394,470c (45 ly/h)
• Sublight Engines: .375c (~112,422 kilometers per second)
• Range: Indefinite
• Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited
• Lifespan: Unknown
• Refit Cycle: Unknown

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for a guide to damage ratings to include. The SDC Himiko was, at one point, a Yamataian heavy carrier, but now is a sparsely populated family ship. It is unlikely that, despite the loss of most of her armor, a shot from even planetary defense stations will

DRv3 Tier: T13

Many of the systems unique to Yamataian ships were rendered inoperable during the destruction of the Explorer, and were replaced by Senti systems to attempt to restore functionality. Unless notated here,

Graviton Beam Projector (6): This device creates a stream of gravitons which can be used to tow other spacecraft. The projector is ineffective against ships using gravitonic shielding. Of the ten the ship was originally equipped with, six were in repairable condition, and relocated around the hull, primarily used as docking webs.

Hydrogen Collection Matrix: The HCM located on each rotary continuum distortion nacelle allows the ship to collect hydrogen molecules as it travels through space, which can be used to provide fuel for the continuum distortion drive's quantum power core. While not fully functional, this device can still be refuelled by solar mass ejections or by close flight to a solar atmosphere.

• Main Power System: 4 KiP-sh2441q Superheavy Quantum Generator
• Aux Power System: 8 KiP-sh2435zp Superheavy aetheric Generators
• Propulsion: KiE-sh2442cq Combined Distortion Drive (SDD,CDD,QSD)
• Anti-Gravity System, Internal: 1 KiFRS-sh2443ag Inertial Redirection System
• Cooling System: KiC-sh2440 Energy Displacement System

As with all Senti vessels, the Himiko is equipped with a full aquaponics, hydroponics, and biological life support system, capable of producing food, filtering water, and recycling oxygen for the crew indefinitely. Though stopovers for some things are appreciated, the vessel produces its own meat, vegetables, fruits, and other delicacies common to Senti society.

• Sublight: Four plasma rotor engines based on Yamataian design. It is not currently known if these were originally part of the ship, or are cluster engines built from parts found on other derelicts.
• CDD drive: KiE-sh2442cq Combined Distortion Drive
• Hyperspace Fold Drive: Unknown.

The has a fine combined defense shielding system, relying on an teardrop-shaped combined spatial and electrogravitational distortion field network to warp space around it and alter the course of lasers, missiles, etc. that are headed for the ship using both dimensional warping and scalar EM interferometry. None of the ship's shield systems are affected by nebulae or electromagnetic interference.

The first and primary shield system is the elliptical dimensional distortion. This system folds space using electrogravitational fields, wrapping it around the ship, to render the craft in its own bubble. Objects inside the bubble are protected from both solid and beam weaponry, because the projectiles or beams pass through the curved space and around the ship. The EDD can protect against up to 2.75 YottaWatts worth of damage ¹⁾ per five-foot area in either kinetic or energy form. This system has been maintained to facilitate mining, search and rescue, and other high risk operations.

A second system, officially the FDS (forward deflector shield), but more often called “the spike,” only protects the front of the ship, acting as a giant cone. It protects the ship from collisions during high-speed space flight. The spike adds to the already deadly blade nature of the ship and can be used to facilitate ramming other vessels. As the ship's primary defense against high-speed impacts such as meteors in space, and debris from destroyed starships, the spike is extremely powerful. For this reason, when possible, the ship combines the spike with the EDD shield, providing enough protection to withstand heavy particle cannons and the like (the FDS alone can take hits equivalent of thousand petaton-sized blasts). The FDS is almost always on, unless the ship is trying to be particularly stealthy. “Spiking” is using quick extensions and retractions of the FDS to 'punch' a nearby ship, beating in its hull.

None of note.

Himiko is equipped with one mid-short range yacht, built from cobbled together and burial steel patched remains of what appeared to be a Kitty Aeroshuttle, or several of them, with avionics and flight control systems ripped out of the remains of an Uriko bomber. All weaponry appears to have been removed, and most of the armor is missing. It is worth noting that the cargo bay has been modified to comfortably seat two tricentennial Senti.

🚧 This article is a work in progress; It is currently not approved as canon.

~~WATCHCYCLE:wes:365~~