HD-DS-5468
#7 of Fuzzy Logic
Jason's Flight
By: Beefy the Bull
A short back-story
War, Ship, Outer space, Minotaur.
Jason's Flight Description from Jason:
I admired the ships graceful but powerful shapes, His flat black, brutish hull, his graceful engine cowls, sturdy and stubby wings; he was truly handsome ship to be a part of. Not too big, but not too small, and massively powerful for his size. It was amazing that he hadn't been reclassified as a light cruiser after the retrofit, he was almost too powerful for even that classification. His weapons could rip through any armor easily.
He was nameless at the moment, between the retrofit and the Tau-Human alliance- protocols, he was simply: 'Heavy Destroyer, Deep Space, # 5468'.
'HD-DS-5468' was printed on the vertical atmospheric control surfaces and hull in a few places in both Tau and common. He had previously been known as the 'War Axe', but in Tau navy and Sky-force traditions, a ship was renamed after a major retrofit.
Ship's Name: Jason's Flight
Previous Names: Great Axe, War Axe
Ship Class: Heavy Destroyer
Ships in Class: 8
** Serial Number:** HD-DS-5468
Ship's Owner: Tau Sky-Force
Ship's Commander: Commander Tetrious, previous commander: Commander Artemus.
Armament: 6 Heavy dual rail-cannon turrets, 20 Medium dual rail-cannon turrets, 30 Single laser turrets (Close in Weapons System), 40 bow mounted tubes. 4-8 torpedo or missile rounds per tube are kept in the forward magazine. (See: Tau Culture, Tech, and Biology, Missiles and Torpedoes subsections for more information)
2-4 interceptors and one assault transport are also carried and launched from the Cargo/Landing bay.
Armor: Nanite polymer and alloy layers cast in alternating layers, Electron Shield units: highly energized paneling that vaporizes smaller impacts and micro meteors, and can destroy itself to vaporize a single larger projectile.
Hull: Alloy armor pressure hull, sphere based designs, seamless alloy construction made from solids cut with nanites. The inner layer of nanite polymer is for control, repair, and inspection. The inner polymer layer has conduits and wiring embedded in it, and trim is then fitted to the inside of that layer. The layout of the hull is in a circular pattern around the central control room, and many important systems are split up in many areas to reduce single hit damage. Redundancy is also heavily practiced, with multiples of everything, including access halls, systems, and even rooms. The Hull shape is also sufficiently aerodynamic to allow self-landing and takeoff from even the densest atmospheres.
Length: 220 meters
Over all Wingspans: 210 meters
Height: 30 meters
*Displacement: * 412,000 Cubic meters, Vacuum displaced.
Ship cost to build: (In 2011 $USD): 30,000,000,000,000.00 -only a nation with a large and powerful economy and huge industrial capability could build a ship of this class.
Drives/Propulsion: 4 main fusion reactors, powering 5 high output plasma-Ion engines, Q-rift Drive version 3.450.009, Capable of fast combat charges and slower stealth charges.
Crew: 90-120, in 3 shifts of 30, and an additional 30 for assistance and providing down time for other shifts on long tours. Space for a complement of 80 additional assault Warriors and their equipment.
Ship Facts: An older but refitted deep-space Heavy patrol-destroyer, #5468. Currently, during time of war, the ship's name would be changed to Jason's Fight. It is felt by many that all the retrofitted ships in the class should be re-classed as Cruisers. Commander Tetrious however, has continuously petitioned to keep his ship classed as a Destroyer, because he prefers the ship to be underestimated by larger foes.
The ship originally took ten years to build, and his hull was nanite cut from a single solid slug of pure and flawless alloy. The slug was forged and cut -in clean room conditions- to a flawless shape while in a space construction platform orbiting a moon of the Tau Capital world. (The construction platforms were too large and blocked out too much light to orbit the planet.)
The ship was built with two purposes in mind: Peace and War. During peacetimes, patrols of deep space where it would perform search and seizure, blockades of non-compliant worlds, monitor borders in a stealthy manner, and present a powerful deterrent through sheer capability and show of force. And in times of war, where it would escort and protect the battle fleet, perform deep solo raids on planets and stations, carry out stealthy covert operations deep in enemy-held space with special sabotage warrior units, perform crippling hit and run attacks on enemy capital ships with its torpedoes, and perform orbital bombardments with its missiles.
After launch, the ship was given the name of Great Axe. The name War Axe was the last war-name of the ship during the last border skirmishes between Tau Empire and Crilst Caliphate. The ship under the command of Warrior-Lord Tetrious saw action in several conflicts, including three vital actions: the initial border mass and show of force, the battle of P3-1102A, and the assault on the Crilst home world.
During the show of force near enemy populated planets, a group of three Destroyers and three Cruisers performed fleet maneuvers on the edge of Crilst space, first as a part of the One-Thousand Ship Fleet. Then, when tensions mounted, the six ships split off, forming what became known as 'the Fast-Six Fleet' and performed a humiliating rapid-fire tour of ten major Crilst worlds without firing a shot, and without taking any damage. Crilst military and government officials were humiliated in the eyes of the international community and their own people, when such a blatant violation of Crilst space occurred so quickly and without retaliation. Further humiliation came from the obvious fact that the whole tour was not even for combat purposes, and was simply flaunting Tau naval capabilities.
When the minor and lightly defended backwater world of P3-1102-A was attacked by a Crilst battle fleet, the Fast-Six Fleet was the first in to battle, and was able to hold off the superior battle fleet for five hours until the arrival of the local reserve fleet. Several of the six ships sustained heavy damages, but the fight continued, with one cruiser locked in an intense fight for three hours as he dueled with an enemy cruiser. The War Axe most notably destroyed two ships with its initial salvo, and crippled the flagship with a close range barrage of anti ship missiles. The War Axe then harassed the remainder of the fleet with a combination of hit and run attacks, and a notable tactic of performing what looked to the enemy as another strafing run, causing them to disperse slightly and modify the fleet pattern in order to minimize damage from such an attack. The_War Axe_ would then instead plunge in to the Fleet and strike vulnerable parts of the ships. The War Axe targeted the engines of the enemy ships in order to prevent them from giving chase without breaking the fleet (Which would be ultimately to his advantage) and would prevent the ships from fleeing when re-enforcements arrived. The tactic was a success and the enemy ships were destroyed or captured.
After the Crilst attacked Planet P3-1102-A, the go-ahead was given to the 'Fast-six Fleet' and the War Axe then led the assault and bombardment on the Crilst home world. The six ships expertly and stealthy traveled to the home world's outer moons, and launched a surprise attack on the defenders, who were weak due to the Crilst fleet massing on the borders, and the inaccurate opinion that they were safe this deep in Crilst space. The defenders were brushed aside and many new ships were destroyed or damaged as they were being constructed in orbit. Using orbital bombardment missiles, the capital city and palaces of the Caliphate were destroyed and heavy bombardment of the planet crippled its infrastructure. Millions of Crilsts were killed and the blow was hugely demoralizing. The Caliphate offered a cease-fire after that action, when combined with the approach of the One-Thousand ship Fleet, defeat seemed inevitable.