Kayle Skolaris
Lord Protector
Registered: Feb 2000
Posts: 1289
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STATS: Exploratory Cruiser
Capsule:
The Discovery-Class cruiser was the result of extreme luck. In the dying days of the Old Galactic Republic, funding for exploration was at an all time low. When the Office of Stellar Cartography and Survey petitioned the Senate for funds for a new class of ship to replace the millennia-old Wayfarer-Class explorer no one dreamed anyone would pay the slightest bit of attention to the request. Bureaucratic inertia had long-since set in with the Republic and even the most urgent of funding requests often took years to be heard by the Senate.
Luck, or the Force, was with the OSCS this time. Through a number of freak computer accidents, the OSCS request was not only approved, but given priority over hundreds of other projects from dozens of different bureaus and offices.
Having acquired funding for their new ship, the OSCS now faced the task of deciding who to award the contract to. A number of different companies were contacted and informed of the specifications required for the new vessel. After a brief, but fierce round of competition for the contract it was decided that the job would go to Republic Seinar Systems. Having won the contract, RSS set about designing what would become the last dedicated exploration cruiser to be built for nearly fifty years.
At the same time that RSS was building this ship meant to break new ground in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, they were also experimenting with applications of gravimetric technology that would one day serve to hold an entire galaxy in bondage. Years later, these experiments would result in crystal grav-field traps and gravity well projectors. At this stage in development, however, nearly every attempt at generating an artificial mass shadow resulted in an accidentally created singularity. Constant failures in this field of technology also resulted in a black hole of a different sort, one that swallowed trillions of credits in research and design funding.
Having recently destroyed yet another test ship, RSS decided to put further research in that area on hold while they set about the task of designing a new ship for the OSCS. Having one more test ship meant for the gravity well experiments available, it was decided to retrofit it rather than commission a completely new hull. Thus, the very first vessel to use the now ubiquitous Immobilizer-418 hull was not an Interdictor at all, but the ship that would come to be named Discovery.
The next few months passed smoothly, with few delays and many happy accidents resulting in advanced equipment being installed aboard the prototype Discovery. Unfortunately, just as the prototype was finished, the very same bureaucratic mistakes that led to her being designed led to her funding being cancelled. And so it was that only the prototype vessel, the Discovery herself was delivered to the OSCS.
Understandably disappointed, the OSCS made the best of things and the Discovery served with distinction for many years before the Clone Wars and the rise of Emperor Palpatine. It was only then that the OSCS was absorbed into the Imperial Scout Corp and the Discovery mothballed in an outer-rim shipyard by a new set of Imperial bureaucrats who saw no use in a unique ship that did not fit with the mass-production vision of the New Order.
As far as anyone knows, she is still there today, floating alone and neglected, an advanced one-of-a-kind cruiser designed to bring the light of discovery to a galaxy thrown into darkness. Alone, she waits...
Craft: Republic Seinar Systems Discovery-Class Prototype
Type: Exploration Cruiser
Scale: Capital
Length: 600 meters
Crew: 2,112, Gunners: 92, Skeleton: 1,701/+10
Passengers: 160
Cargo Capacity: 2,500 metric tons
Consumables: 2 years
Cost: Unique, 2.6 billion credits to build
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x3
Hyperdrive Back-Up: x8
Nav Computer: Yes
Maneuverability: 2D
Space: 7
Hull: 5D
Shields: 3D
Sensors:
Passive: 250/2D
Scan: 500/3D
Search: 750/4D
Focus: 25/5D
Weapons:
10 Twin Light Turbolasers
Fire Arc: 2 Front, 3 Left, 3 Right, 2 Back
Crew: 2
Skill: Capital Ship Gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 3-15/35/75
Atmosphere Range: 6-30/70/150km
Damage: 4D
10 Heavy Ion Cannons
Fire Arc: 2 Front, 3 Left, 3 Right, 2 Back
Crew: 2
Skill: Capital Ship Gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-10/25/50
Atmosphere Range: 2-20/50/100km
Damage: 5D
16 Quad Laser Cannons
Fire Arc: 4 Front, 4 Left, 4 Right, 4 Back
Crew: 2
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Atmosphere Range: 100-300/1.2/2.5km
Damage: 5D
8 Tractor Beam Projectors
Fire Arc: 2 Front, 2 Left, 2 Right, 2 Back
Crew: 2
Skill: Capital Ship Gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1-5/15/30
Atmosphere Range: 2-10/30/60km
Damage: 5D
2 Multi-Purpose Projectile Launchers
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 2
Skill: Capital Ship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 2-12/30/60
Atmosphere Range: 4-24/60/120km
Damage: Variable based on projectile
Ammo Type/Capacity:
Mk. 29 Anti-Ship Missile: 8D Damage, 20 missiles
Mk. 15 Anti-Fighter Missile: 9D Damage, 80 missiles
Geological Survey Probe: 4D Capital Scale Damage/Hull, 100 probes, 8D Geo-Sensor Skill
Bio-Mass Analyzation Probe: 3D Starfighter Scale Damage/Hull, 100 probes, 8D Bio-Sensor Skill
Aquatic Environment Probe: 3D Starfighter Scale Damage/Hull, 100 Probes, 8D AquaVironment Sensor Skill
Hi-Energy ScanArray Probe: 4D Capital Scale Damage/Hull, 100 Probes, 8D Electro-Spectrum Sensor Skill
Stellar Anomaly Probe: 3D Starfighter Scale Damage/Hull, 100 probes, 8D Astro-Sensor Skill
Sensor Decoy Buoys: 2D Starfighter Scale Damage/Hull, 100 Buoys, 8D False Sensor Shadow (FSS) Skill
Support Craft:
6 Shuttles
24 Short Range Fighters
Notes
1: The huge bulges that would normally be filled with gravity-well projectors are filled instead of with sensor equipment.
2: As mothballed, the Discovery is currently carrying six BR-23 Couriers (Rules of Engagement pg. 49) and 24 old T.I.E. fighters.
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