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Published: 2017-09-22 20:11:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 4837; Favourites: 94; Downloads: 118
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Description
Thresher Class Heavy CruiserLength – 767 Meters
Displacement – 760,000 tons
Crew Complement – 343
Designed during the reign of Gregory Amaris, all-be-it in secret, the design was meant to equal any Hegemony cruiser in existence and during that period, it meant the Aegis class cruiser as well as the common and popular Dart class light cruiser. But to appear compliant with the Star League’s wishes and not wanting to provoke them during the aftermath of the Reunification War the cruiser was never laid down and instead the design languished until Stefan Amaris came to power.
Laid down in the yards that had once produced the Pinto class corvette the Thresher design was altered quite radically. In addition to Mech scale weapons being added for anti-fighter defences, the Cruisers armament was completely revised. Unlike the Republic during the period leading up to the Reunification War, the Rim Worlds Republic now lacked the capacity to build the large number of focusing arrays and lenses needed for the original planned armament of large numbers of naval lasers. Instead these were replaced with a greater number of hard hitting naval autocannons. Cheaper to produce and easier to maintain, the autocannons were a natural fit.
Long range firepower was provided by sixteen Killer Whale missiles, eight on each broadside and these missiles were often armed with nuclear warheads, making a barrage from a Thresher a threat to any vessel or station.
The Olympus MG-2000 engines were bulky but powerful units, and could propel the Thresher in short sprints of up to 2.5g making them faster than the Aegis the ship was meant to equal. Unfortunately, these engines were also exceptionally maintenance intensive and consumed fuel at a far higher rate than was expected. The fuel tanks for the Thresher were also poorly placed making refuelling them a slow and drawn out process.
Like the Aegis class the Thresher had four dropship collars and berths for eighteen fighters as well as half a dozen small craft.
The hangers were placed well towards the stern of the ship, adjoining the engine section but this also made the Threshers exceptionally difficult to land fighters on. Standard procedure was to bring the cruiser to a complete stop and let craft coming in to land come in backwards onto their waiting launch racks.
This was far from ideal and could not be done in combat and incidences of aerospace fighters crashing or suffering damage on landing were uncommonly high on the Thresher class. The Threshers usually carried a full group of Vulcan fighters and this had its own problems. The large amount of ammunition needed to ‘bomb up’ the Vulcan’s was stored in an armoured magazine near the hangar decks, which in turn was adjacent to one of the poorly placed fuel tanks for the thirsty engines and the area around the hangar magazines became a primary target and weak-point for the class.
Over a thousand tons of Ferro-Carbide armour gave the Threshers a sturdy hide equal to many SLDF Battlecruiser designs whilst heavy structural bracing made the hull capable of taking heavy damage, but also limited the grav-decks size and cargo capacity. But this was not seen as a negative. The Thresher was ostensibly designed to patrol and protect the Rim Worlds Republic and there was no need for a large cargo capacity for long range missions. With the growing friendship between Stefan Amaris and First Lord Richard Cameron expanded and the ‘country bumpkin’ from the Periphery got more power and influence within the Terran Hegemony, Amaris used this to allow for a sub-class of the Thresher to be constructed.
With access to the vast industrial strength of the Hegemony and Corporate and Political leaders despairing of the mismanagement by Lord Richard, Amaris called in favours with Krupp’s to allow the purchase, at cost, of enough lasers to arm six Thresher class ships under construction with enough lasers to complete the class as was originally designed. Labelled the Tiger Shark class Battlecruiser they were seen as command ships and until the completion of the first Stefan Amaris class battleships, these ships were the pride and joy of the Rim Worlds Navy, acting as flagships despite the addition of several old Monsoon class ships from the Hegemony reserves, courtesy of the First Lord.
Twenty Threshers and four Tiger Sharks were complete by the start of the coup, the two part finished Tiger Shark’s formed part of the orbital defences around Apollo whilst the Threshers helped secure the Hegemony during the coup. The battles for the Sol System were hard on the class, and four Threshers and one Tiger Shark were destroyed in the space battles for the Hegemony.
One ship the RWS Perdition’s Flame was captured by the SLDF during the drive on Terra and the ship was repaired and took part in the final battles for the Hegemony, being lost to a nuclear missile over New Earth. The last ship of the class the Tiger Shark RWS Stefan’s Audacity was in orbit over Terra herself and was thought to be a possible evacuation craft for ‘Emperor’ Amaris, her engines crippled the ship fell into the atmosphere and partially burned up, the ruined hulk splashing down in the Indian Ocean.
Drawn by the amazing - mattplog.deviantart.com/ fluff by me, she's a non-canon design.
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Comments: 4
thormemeson [2017-09-23 00:06:46 +0000 UTC]
Speaking of Stefan was he really all that much worse than fucking Richard Cameron II?
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sharlin In reply to thormemeson [2017-09-23 02:34:43 +0000 UTC]
Richard II was made that way due to Stefan's influence. Whilst it seems that Lord Richard was probably a wee bit crazy, he was basically a spoiled, petulant child who NEVER grew up. He never had anyone there to say "Richard, no." Instead he always had Stefan there going "Richard...yes.." and encouraging him on, as well as isolating him from any influence outside his own. He never grew up, never learned how to lead or rule. Also there where checks and balances to the First Lords position and other Lords could and did ignore what he said or did, whilst the Hegemony government had to put up with a spoiled brat.
Stefan Amaris ruled through fear and the threat of force (as well as force itself), if you displeased Stefan then he had no hesitation to have you, and your family tortured and killed. He had a unit called the Greenhaven Gestapo and his IntSec (Internal Security) was a cross between military Commissars, the Gestapo and the SS. Whilst Stefan Amaris wasn't quite a Hitler (although apparently towards the end he was doing crazed rants a-la Adolf), he was more a Saddam Hussein.
Basically the difference between the two is this
Upset Lord Richard Cameron II - He gets shitty with you, probably says something mean in a public setting and embarasses you and/or denies you the job you want or the funding/contract ect.
Upset Lord Stefan Amaris - You get fed to sharks, only after you watch your wife, child and mother get fed to them first.
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thormemeson In reply to sharlin [2017-09-24 01:21:43 +0000 UTC]
Richard the second died at 22 so he wasn't much of an adult in age really. Although he made executive order 156 all by himself and when it didn't get passed he abolished the entire checks and balance systems by throwing out the high council. He then taxed the periphery into open fucking revolt starting a conflict not seen since the Star League decided to invade the Periphery in the first place. Still what good was the Star League without the Cameron line it wasn't worth shit, and Kerensky well he bolted. I mean really fuck him and his son Nick's clans. I mean Kerensky doomed the inner Sphere to the succession wars don't you think the fuck House Lords were just hoping he would leave with the strongest military ever so they could start shooting? I mean Kerensky was no saint when people want to leave him they all got executed. Sorry but I am not the type of Spheroid who would be kissing Kerensky's ass or house Cameron's.
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