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User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2026-03-23T06:09:24Z

Logomancer: /* The Rise of the Gaian Effort */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the latter's fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. These actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests; in the end, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, often losing power in the process.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as foolhardy; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise or resources crucial to the project's success. The oligarchs leveraged these partnerships to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many locations in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.

The floundering of Ubuntu's recovery project was not the fault of the oligarchs alone. As Ubuntu's economic network got wider and more complex, the simulations they had been using to make investments and predict future outcomes had grown increasingly erratic in their calculations. Ubuntu's first economic models had been adapted to Han-Ronald's tactical fleet simulations. and while they sufficed to make small-scale, limited forecasts, the number of inputs required to simulate a changing, complex global economy and its ever-increasing number of dynamic actors dwarfed the largest conceived fleet actions of the old GTA admiralty. After several investments in eastern Europe failed massively due to the old system, it was clear that a new model -- and new computers to run them on -- were needed.

Initially, the Steering Council started a search committee to interview candidates for the modeling project. The team was envisioned to draw from multiple disciplines -- primarily economists, but also political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and software engineers. The aim behind the simulation was primarily economic, and there was concern by some on the model's design committee over the potential for "feature creep" as the talent search continued. The Steering Council, however, countered that economics is largely determined by human behaviour, which meant that the simulation would need to model this behaviour to some degree in order to be feature-complete. Unsurprisingly, finding suitable economists proved to be the greatest hurdle for the search committee. The central economic planning of the old GTA had polarized the economics profession on Earth into two camps -- those fully invested in heavy-handed government involvement, and those advocating something similar to the so-called "anarcho-capitalism" of the oligarchs. Neither camp was suitable to the committee as they were fundamentally misaligned with Ubuntu's ideas about individual freedom and the rejection of dogma in favor of science and good data.

The biggest name attached to the project would ultimately be found not on Earth, but Mars. Roger Le was an economics professor at the University of Bologna in the late 2320s and 2330s who advocated a form of democratic economy informed by complex economic modeling, building on work pioneered by Stanford Beer in the late 20th Century and iterated upon in the succeeding decades. During his tenure, he taught many students, including a young Lin Taudigani, and his views gained a cult following in the early 24th Century. As the GTA transitioned Sol's economy to a central planning model during the 14 Years' War, some of Le's ideas were adapted to reduce the time and complexity of decision loops in the planning process. With the rise of the oligarchs, his ideas fell out of political favor, and after political pressure from the European Committee on Institutional Reintegration, he was dismissed from his teaching position. In 2341, after an invitation from the Martian Concordia to consult on economic policy, he emigrated to Utopia Planitia.

While Le was a distinguished economist, and his ideas had merit, he had never been a member of either Ubuntu or the Human Futures Project, and his current views were somewhat opaque to the search committee. But Taudigani was convinced he would be instrumental to the project's success, and personally invited him to interview for the project. The subspace teleconference took several hours, but in the end the search committee was convinced that he was the right fit to lead the project. After his recruitment, the selection of the remaining members of the design and implementation committees were relatively straightforward; Le's academic contacts as well as some of the Steering Council's colleagues (with some other notable outliers) would fill in the rest of the gaps, and the design of the model continued apace through the end of 2350. By 2351, things were falling into place.

Obtaining the infrastructure needed to run the new simulation was another challenge. Computing assets large enough to run the simulation were hard to come by, as the GTA had not invested much in Terran computing infrastructure since the 14 Years' War; most of the GTA's Great War investments had been concentrated off-planet. The oligarch class, naturally, had no need for large numbers of supercomputers. While urban and regional communications networks had received occasional upgrades over the years, in many rural areas communications infrastructure had existed in the same state they had since the end of the Unification Wars; useful for basic communication, but not for the intensive telemetry and two-way data gathering the new Ubuntu models needed.

Naturally, this needed to change. Ubuntu politicians would propose massive infrastructure projects building large new datacentres across the globe near sources of renewable energy, but the oligarchs resisted this, pointing to the enormous costs of these computing facilities and the potential drain they would have on local electricity grids. Moreover, while the scale of Ubuntu's model required vast amounts of data on human behaviour, surveillance of this type had produced considerable controversy on Earth in recent years, as the GTA and the oligarchs had used this data to identify and target "subversive elements" in their bid to retain power. Thus stymied, Ubuntu's model design committee pivoted to a distributed simulation, running multiple different local nodes in parallel using smaller computing centres in small cities across Ubuntu's region of influence, feeding data to their limited supercomputing assets. Where possible, communications links were upgraded for the first time in decades, allowing city-dwellers to enjoy high-speed datalinks to the rest of the planet.

Finally, a number of software applications were aggressively marketed to civilian populations under Ubuntu influence, giving them access to personalized advice on business, social affairs, mental and physical health, and even dating. Once the effectiveness of these applications were widely known, they spread like wildfire across the planet, proving genuine advice to millions of people -- and feeding the Ubuntu models, first on the small scale, and then larger ones.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2350; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''

= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2026-03-23T06:07:09Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the latter's fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. These actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests; in the end, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, often losing power in the process.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as foolhardy; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise or resources crucial to the project's success. The oligarchs leveraged these partnerships to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many locations in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.

The floundering of Ubuntu's recovery project was not the fault of the oligarchs alone. As Ubuntu's economic network got wider and more complex, the simulations they had been using to make investments and predict future outcomes had grown increasingly erratic in their calculations. Ubuntu's first economic models had been adapted to Han-Ronald's tactical fleet simulations. and while they sufficed to make small-scale, limited forecasts, the number of inputs required to simulate a changing, complex global economy and its ever-increasing number of dynamic actors dwarfed the largest conceived fleet actions of the old GTA admiralty. After several investments in eastern Europe failed massively due to the old system, it was clear that a new model -- and new computers to run them on -- were needed.

Initially, the Steering Council started a search committee to interview candidates for the modeling project. The team was envisioned to draw from multiple disciplines -- primarily economists, but also political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and software engineers. The aim behind the simulation was primarily economic, and there was concern by some on the model's design committee over the potential for "feature creep" as the talent search continued. The Steering Council, however, countered that economics is largely determined by human behaviour, which meant that the simulation would need to model this behaviour to some degree in order to be feature-complete. Unsurprisingly, finding suitable economists proved to be the greatest hurdle for the search committee. The central economic planning of the old GTA had polarized the economics profession on Earth into two camps -- those fully invested in heavy-handed government involvement, and those advocating something similar to the so-called "anarcho-capitalism" of the oligarchs. Neither camp was suitable to the committee as they were fundamentally misaligned with Ubuntu's ideas about individual freedom and the rejection of dogma in favor of science and good data.

The biggest name attached to the project would ultimately be found not on Earth, but Mars. Roger Le was an economics professor at the University of Bologna in the late 2320s and 2330s who advocated a form of democratic economy informed by complex economic modeling, building on work pioneered by Stanford Beer in the late 20th Century and iterated upon in the succeeding decades. During his tenure, he taught many students, including a young Lin Taudigani, and his views gained a cult following in the early 24th Century. As the GTA transitioned Sol's economy to a central planning model during the 14 Years' War, some of Le's ideas were adapted to reduce the time and complexity of decision loops in the planning process. With the rise of the oligarchs, his ideas fell out of political favor, and after political pressure from the European Committee on Institutional Reintegration, he was dismissed from his teaching position. In 2341, after an invitation from the Martian Concordia to consult on economic policy, he emigrated to Utopia Planitia.

While Le was a distinguished economist, and his ideas had merit, he had never been a member of either Ubuntu or the Human Futures Project, and his current views were somewhat opaque to the search committee. But Taudigani was convinced he would be instrumental to the project's success, and personally invited him to interview for the project. The subspace teleconference took several hours, but in the end the search committee was convinced that he was the right fit to lead the project. After his recruitment, the selection of the remaining members of the design and implementation committees were relatively straightforward; Le's academic contacts as well as some of the Steering Council's colleagues (with some other notable outliers) would fill in the rest of the gaps, and the design of the model continued apace through the end of 2350. By 2351, things were falling into place.

Obtaining the infrastructure needed to run the new simulation was another challenge. Computing assets large enough to run the simulation were hard to come by, as the GTA had not invested much in Terran computing infrastructure since the 14 Years' War; most of the GTA's Great War investments had been concentrated off-planet. The oligarch class, naturally, had no need for large numbers of supercomputers. While urban and regional communications networks had received occasional upgrades over the years, in many rural areas communications infrastructure had existed in the same state they had since the end of the Unification Wars; useful for basic communication, but not for the intensive telemetry and two-way data gathering the new Ubuntu models needed.

Naturally, this needed to change. Ubuntu politicians would propose massive infrastructure projects building large new datacentres across the globe near sources of renewable energy, but the oligarchs resisted this, pointing to the enormous costs of these computing facilities and the potential drain they would have on local electricity grids. Moreover, while the scale of Ubuntu's model required vast amounts of data on human behaviour, surveillance of this type had produced considerable controversy on Earth in recent years, as the GTA and the oligarchs had used this data to identify and target "subversive elements" in their bid to retain power. Thus stymied, Ubuntu's model design committee pivoted to a distributed simulation, running multiple different local nodes in parallel using smaller computing centres in small cities across Ubuntu's region of influence, feeding data to their limited supercomputing assets. Where possible, communications links were upgraded for the first time in decades, allowing city-dwellers to enjoy high-speed datalinks to the rest of the planet.

Finally, a number of software applications were aggressively marketed to civilian populations under Ubuntu influence, giving them access to personalized advice on business, social affairs, mental and physical health, and even dating. Once the effectiveness of these applications were widely known, they spread like wildfire across the planet, proving genuine advice to millions of people -- and feeding the Ubuntu models, first on the small scale, and then larger ones.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2026-03-23T04:17:09Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the oligarchs' fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. By and large, these actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests not seen in a decade. Ultimately, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, and often lost power in the bargain.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as fool's errands; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise, know-how, resources, or property crucial to the project's success. As such, they used their considerable influence to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many regions in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.

In truth, the floundering of Ubuntu's recovery project was not the fault of the oligarchs alone. As Ubuntu's network got wider and more complex, the simulations they had been using to make investments and predict future outcomes had grown increasingly erratic in their calculations. Ubuntu's first economic models had been adapted to Han-Ronald's tactical fleet simulations. and while they sufficed to make small-scale, limited forecasts, the number of inputs required to simulate a changing, complex global economy and its ever-increasing number of dynamic actors dwarfed the largest conceived fleet actions of the old GTA admiralty. After several investments in eastern Europe failed massively due to the old system, it was clear that a new model -- and new computers to run them on -- were needed.

Of the two intertwined problems, making a new model was the easier of them to solve, if only marginally. Initially, the Steering Council started a search committee to interview candidates for the modeling project. The team was envisioned to draw from multiple disciplines -- primarily economists, but also political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and software engineers. The aim behind the simulation was primarily economic, but as several members of the team pointed out, economics is largely determined by human behavior, which meant that the simulation would need to model this behavior to some degree in order to be feature-complete. Finding suitable economists proved to be the greatest hurdle for the search committee. The old GTA's many years of central economic planning had polarized the economics profession on Earth into two camps -- those fully invested in heavy-handed government involvement, and those advocating something similar to the so-called "anarcho-capitalism" of the oligarchs. Neither camp was suitable to the committee as they were fundamentally misaligned with Ubuntu's ideas about individual freedom and the rejection of dogma in favor of science and good data. While suitable economists were eventually found, the search and interview process was a difficult one.

The biggest name attached to the project would ultimately be found not on Earth, but Mars. Roger Le was an economics professor at the University of Bologna in the 2330s who advocated a form of democratic economy informed by complex economic modeling. The wartime economy of the GTA and the kleptocracy of the oligarchs would not find him in political favor, and an invitation from the Martian Concordia to consult on economic policy, combined with intimidation from the oligarchs, convinced him to emigrate to Utopia Planitia in 2341. He had also taught Lin Taudigani, a member of the Steering Council, during her undergrad years at the university. While Le had been largely outside both Ubuntu and the Human Futures Project, Taudigani personally invited him to interview for the project. The subspace teleconference took several hours, but in the end the Steering Council was convinced that he was the right fit to lead the project. After his return to Earth, the project proceeded relatively smoothly, and the broad design of the model was completed in 2349.

Obtaining the infrastructure needed to run the new simulation was another challenge. Computing assets large enough to run the simulation were hard to come by, as the GTA did not invest much in computing infrastructure since the Great War; beyond some tactical simulators and specialized physics and chemistry labs on Faustus-class science vessels, there was not really a need large enough to justify the investment. The oligarch class, naturally, had no use for them either. While local and regional networks had received occasional upgrades over the years, in many rural areas communications infrastructure and computing datacentres were in much the same state they had been at the end of the Unification Wars; useful for basic communication, but not for the intensive data-gathering, telemetry, and inference the new Ubuntu models needed.

Naturally, this needed to change. Ubuntu politicians would propose massive infrastructure projects building new datacentres across the globe, but the oligarchs resisted this, pointing to the enormous costs of these computing facilities and the potential drain they would have on local electricity grids. Thus stymied, Ubuntu would come up with the notion of a distributed simulation, running multiple different local nodes in parallel using smaller computing centres in small cities across Ubuntu's region of influence. Where possible, communications links were upgraded for the first time in decades, allowing the cities' residents to enjoy high-speed datalinks to the rest of the system.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2025-12-07T05:37:25Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the oligarchs' fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. By and large, these actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests not seen in a decade. Ultimately, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, and often lost power in the bargain.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as fool's errands; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise, know-how, resources, or property crucial to the project's success. As such, they used their considerable influence to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many regions in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.

In truth, the floundering of Ubuntu's recovery project was not the fault of the oligarchs alone. As Ubuntu's network got wider and more complex, the simulations they had been using to make investments and predict future outcomes had grown increasingly erratic in their calculations. Ubuntu's first economic models had been adapted to Han-Ronald's tactical fleet simulations. and while they sufficed to make small-scale, limited forecasts, the number of inputs required to simulate a changing, complex global economy and its ever-increasing number of dynamic actors dwarfed the largest conceived fleet actions of the old GTA admiralty. After several investments in eastern Europe failed massively due to the old system, it was clear that a new model -- and new computers to run them on -- were needed.

Of the two intertwined problems, making a new model was the easier of them to solve, if only marginally. Initially, the Steering Council started a search committee to interview candidates for the modeling project. The team was envisioned to draw from multiple disciplines -- primarily economists, but also political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and software engineers. The aim behind the simulation was primarily economic, but as several members of the team pointed out, economics is largely determined by human behavior, which meant that the simulation would need to model this behavior to some degree in order to be feature-complete. Finding suitable economists proved to be the greatest hurdle for the search committee. The old GTA's many years of central economic planning had polarized the economics profession on Earth into two camps -- those fully invested in heavy-handed government involvement, and those advocating something similar to the so-called "anarcho-capitalism" of the oligarchs. Neither camp was suitable to the committee as they were fundamentally misaligned with Ubuntu's ideas about individual freedom and the rejection of dogma in favor of science and good data. While suitable economists were eventually found, the search and interview process was a difficult one.

The biggest name attached to the project would ultimately be found not on Earth, but Mars. Roger Le was an economics professor at the University of Bologna in the 2330s who advocated a form of democratic economy informed by complex economic modeling. The wartime economy of the GTA and the kleptocracy of the oligarchs would not find him in political favor, and an invitation from the Martian Concordia to consult on economic policy, combined with intimidation from the oligarchs, convinced him to emigrate to Utopia Planitia in 2341. He had also taught Lin Taudigani, a member of the Steering Council, during her undergrad years at the university. While Le had been largely outside both Ubuntu and the Human Futures Project, Taudigani personally invited him to interview for the project. The subspace teleconference took several hours, but in the end the Steering Council was convinced that he was the right fit to lead the project. After his return to Earth, the project proceeded relatively smoothly, and the broad design of the model was completed in 2349.

Obtaining the infrastructure needed to run the new simulation was another challenge. Computing assets large enough to run the simulation were hard to come by, as the GTA did not invest much in computing infrastructure since the Great War; beyond some tactical simulators and specialized physics and chemistry labs on Faustus-class science vessels, there was not really a need large enough to justify the investment. The oligarch class, naturally, had no use for them either. While local and regional networks had received occasional upgrades over the years, in many rural areas communications infrastructure and computing datacentres were in much the same state they had been at the end of the Unification Wars; useful for basic communication, but not for the intensive data-gathering, telemetry, and inference the new Ubuntu models needed.

Naturally, this needed to change. Ubuntu politicians would propose massive infrastructure projects building new datacentres across the globe, but the oligarchs resisted this, pointing to the enormous costs of these computing facilities and the potential drain they would have on local electricity grids. Thus stymied, Ubuntu would come up with the notion of a distributed simulation, running multiple different local nodes in parallel using smaller computing centres in small cities across Ubuntu's region of influence. Where possible, communications links were upgraded for the first time in decades, allowing the ctities' redidemts to enjoy high-speed datalinks to the rest of the system.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2025-12-07T05:24:35Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the oligarchs' fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. By and large, these actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests not seen in a decade. Ultimately, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, and often lost power in the bargain.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as fool's errands; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise, know-how, resources, or property crucial to the project's success. As such, they used their considerable influence to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many regions in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.

In truth, the floundering of Ubuntu's recovery project was not the fault of the oligarchs alone. As Ubuntu's network got wider and more complex, the simulations they had been using to make investments and predict future outcomes had grown increasingly erratic in their calculations. Ubuntu's first economic models had been adapted to Han-Ronald's tactical fleet simulations. and while they sufficed to make small-scale, limited forecasts, the number of inputs required to simulate a changing, complex global economy and its ever-increasing number of dynamic actors dwarfed the largest conceived fleet actions of the old GTA admiralty. After several investments in eastern Europe failed massively due to the old system, it was clear that a new model -- and new computers to run them on -- were needed.

Of the two intertwined problems, making a new model was the easier of them to solve, if only marginally. Initially, the Steering Council started a search committee to interview candidates for the modeling project. The team was envisioned to draw from multiple disciplines -- primarily economists, but also political scientists, sociologists, psychologists, data scientists, and software engineers. The aim behind the simulation was primarily economic, but as several members of the team pointed out, economics is largely determined by human behavior, which meant that the simulation would need to model this behavior to some degree in order to be feature-complete. Finding suitable economists proved to be the greatest hurdle for the search committee. The old GTA's many years of central economic planning had polarized the economics profession on Earth into two camps -- those fully invested in heavy-handed government involvement, and those advocating something similar to the so-called "anarcho-capitalism" of the oligarchs. Neither camp was suitable to the committee as they were fundamentally misaligned with Ubuntu's ideas about individual freedom and the rejection of dogma in favor of science and good data. While suitable economists were eventually found, the search and interview process was a difficult one.

The biggest name attached to the project would ultimately be found not on Earth, but Mars. Roger Le was an economics professor at the University of Bologna in the 2330s who advocated a form of democratic economy informed by complex economic modeling. The wartime economy of the GTA and the kleptocracy of the oligarchs would not find him in political favor, and an invitation from the Martian Concordia to consult on economic policy, combined with intimidation from the oligarchs, convinced him to emigrate to Utopia Planitia in 2341. He had also taught Lin Taudigani, a member of the Steering Council, during her undergrad years at the university. While Le had been largely outside both Ubuntu and the Human Futures Project, Taudigani personally invited him to interview for the project. The subspace teleconference took several hours, but in the end the Steering Council was convinced that he was the right fit to lead the project. After his return to Earth, the project proceeded relatively smoothly, and the broad design of the model was completed in 2349.

Obtaining the infrastructure needed to run the new simulation was another challenge. Computing assets large enough to run the simulation were hard to come by, as the GTA did not invest much in computing infrastructure since the Great War; beyond some tactical simulators and specialized physics and chemistry labs on Faustus-class science vessels, there was not really a need large enough to justify the investment. The oligarch class, naturally, had no use for them either. While local and regional networks had received occasional upgrades over the years, in many rural areas communications infrastructure and computing datacentres were in much the same state they had been at the end of the Unification Wars; useful for basic communication, but not for the intensive data-gathering, telemetry, and inference the new Ubuntu models needed.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2025-12-06T19:28:58Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. Ubuntu had wrested political power from the oligarchs of Earth on the planetary level, much to the oligarchs' fury, and they resolved to destroy these upstarts. A few of these princelings resorted to brute force to remove Ubuntu from power, using local police or the military to arrest Ubuntu officials on trumped-up charges. By and large, these actions backfired drastically as they resulted in vicious local protests not seen in a decade. Ultimately, the oligarchs who chose violence were forced to back down, and often lost power in the bargain.

Most oligarchs, however, recognized these attempts as fool's errands; the principles and policies of Ubuntu enjoyed wide popular support, and the people involved had considerable credibility. The obvious avenue of attack was to erode that credibility. The oligarchs still held sway in local regions, particularly in the Global North, either through being elected to local office or through their social and economic ties to business and industrial establishments. For many local projects, Ubuntu was forced to partner with the oligarchs as they contained expertise, know-how, resources, or property crucial to the project's success. As such, they used their considerable influence to slow down or render ineffective many local rebuilding projects Ubuntu counted on to foster goodwill in places not currently under their influence. Combined with a bit of judicious propaganda blaming the Ubuntu project management, this strategy proved largely successful; many regions in Russia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas were souring on Ubuntu leadership.



= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2023-01-12T00:15:49Z

Logomancer: /* A Means of Restoration */ More rewrites

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
The GTA's removal from power did not change Sol's dire situation. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and curtailed interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

Despite the system's challenges, many believed that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and a coming economic golden age for humanity. At the same time, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Futures Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after gaining power were more consistent with a disdain for it. What the ultimate goal of these actions was, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists and developers formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. The model predicted that, within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist. Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, the collective organized into the Restoration Project in April 2340, resolving to forestall the model's dark predictions.

Initially, there were two strings to the Project's bow. One was economic. During the GTA's fire sale, the Restoration Project acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and their advice was implemented in areas where the RP had gained power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses the simulators identified as having potential. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

The other string was political. Unable to stand for major offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. The combination of familiar, respected faces running for office and some of the top minds in political science running their campaigns paid off as they gained local office in many rural areas. The Project gained also began offering their services to negotiate the end to bitter conflicts that had brewed in Africa and Asia. While the resulting peace settlements didn't always last, the ones that did gave the Project considerable respect and political credibility, which they leveraged into further election wins. By 2342, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and began setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. These initial successes gave them the means to move forward with their plans to ultimately wrest the oligarchs from power.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled almost 80% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim survivalism during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of the Project's efforts toward peace and economic recovery, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. To begin with, while the oligarchs of Earth had had their power diminished by the RP in the political space, they still commanded considerable political and economic clout within their own regions of influence.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2023-01-11T23:14:16Z

Logomancer: /* The Collapse of the GTA */ Rewrite for flow and to change the end of the GTA

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to stabilize them. Second, it put these newly acquired corporations to work on Project Bifrost, a massive endeavor to reopen the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates reviewed and analyzed sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was then shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been allocated to maintain habitats throughout Sol was diverted to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, infrastructure crumbled, giving way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster. While Martian habitats were the least affected due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, sometimes sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no aid at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system.

As conditions worsened throughout Sol, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In a predictable response, the GTA declared martial law, dispatching troops to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding operations, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations began rebelling against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet caused a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory shortcuts designed to streamline war production and the GTA's weakening enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. Many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk completely losing control in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were overthrown, and oligarch-led "governments of stability" took over.

The revolts sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the state of the economy, the military, the colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. After the votes were tallied, these new factions controlled 78% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the new Assembly moved to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the system-wide state of emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter quickly followed suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned. Many habitats beyond Jupiter, having established a loose mutual aid association in 2337, formalized and fortified this organization as the Fringe Alliance.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol as a political organization, with resources and property throughout the system; however, its greatly curtailed revenue hamstrung its ability to utilize these resources to further its own ends. Much of the GTA's time and resources in 2340 and 2341 was spent defending corruption charges pressed by populist elements of the Terran Assembly, making it difficult for the organization to pivot. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA began selling off its assets at drastically reduced prices in order to maintain operations. Many of these assets were acquired by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the money to fuel them.

Even with these heroic efforts, the GTA never managed to recover. By 2343, with much of its senior leadership in prison, its assets reduced to a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters and some plots of land in rural China and India, the GTA was virtually defunct.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. To begin with, while the oligarchs of Earth had had their power diminished by the RP in the political space, they still commanded considerable political and economic clout within their own regions of influence.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2023-01-10T16:31:22Z

Logomancer: /* The Collapse of the GTA */ editing for brevity and better flow

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to restore them to stability, if not profitability. Second, it put their newly acquired corporations to work on a massive government project -- in this case, Project Bifrost, an attempt to open the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates scrutinized sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been used to maintain habitats on Mars and the moons of Jupiter was instead being used to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, shortcuts had to be taken to keep the habitats livable. While Martian habitats were relatively well-off due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, often sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no supplies at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system. In most of Sol's non-Terran colonies, the crumbling infrastructure soon gave way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster.

As conditions worsened, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. In response, the GTA declared martial law throughout Sol, and troops were dispatched to Mars and the Jovian system to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding actions, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations rebelled against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet precipitated a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in the late 2330s. The loss of countless lives and valuable infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The labor unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory loopholes designed to streamline war production and the GTA's feeble enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. The pathogen's spread destroyed 70% of the rice crops across Asia, causing massive famine in the region. With billions facing starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. However, many local governments ignored Alliance directives, and allowed oligarchs to stockpile large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in China and India. Lacking the means to stop the oligarchs directly, the GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, protecting the oligarchs, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk an overthrow of their leadership in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were toppled, and the GTA's power base all but destroyed.

The revolts following the Rice Crisis sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the economy, the state of the military and colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. In the end, these new factions controlled roughly 80% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the first vote of the new Assembly was to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2340, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the state of planetary emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter were quick to follow suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol; however, its authority was limited to the land on Earth it owned through the companies it had nationalized. Even then, the GTA was ill-equipped to manage what it had purchased, due to its lack of political control and its evaporating finances caused by its radically shrunken tax base. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA started a re-privatization program, selling off its assets wholesale in order to continue operations. Most of these assets were bought up at drastically reduced prices by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich, and it still wasn't enough. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the funding to fuel them.

By 2343, the GTA was virtually defunct, with a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters to its name, patrolling the skies of rural China and India, lacking the authority or the means to do much of anything else.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. To begin with, while the oligarchs of Earth had had their power diminished by the RP in the political space, they still commanded considerable political and economic clout within their own regions of influence.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2022-07-25T00:07:18Z

Logomancer: /* Scaling Issues */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to restore them to stability, if not profitability. Second, it put their newly acquired corporations to work on a massive government project -- in this case, Project Bifrost, an attempt to open the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates scrutinized sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been used to maintain habitats on Mars and the moons of Jupiter was instead being used to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, shortcuts had to be taken to keep the habitats livable. While Martian habitats were relatively well-off due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, often sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no supplies at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system. In most of Sol's non-Terran colonies, the crumbling infrastructure soon gave way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster.

As conditions worsened, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. The GTA's response was predictable; martial law was declared throughout Sol, and troops were dispatched to Mars and the Jovian system to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding actions, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations rebelled against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet produced a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in 2338. The loss of countless lives and valuble infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The worker's unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory loopholes designed to streamline war production and the GTA's feeble enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. Ultimately, it made its way to China, where 70% of the rice crops were lost, causing massive famine throughout Asia. As millions faced starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. However, many local governments, ignoring Alliance directives, did very little to prevent oligarchs from hoarding large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in Asia and India. The GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, thus protecting a tiny minority at the expense of the majority, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk an overthrow of their leadership in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were toppled, and the GTA's power base all but destroyed.

The revolts following the Rice Crisis sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the economy, the state of the military and colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. In the end, this new faction controlled roughly 80% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the first vote of the new Assembly was to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2240, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the state of planetary emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter were quick to follow suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol; however, its authority was limited to the land on Earth it owned through the companies it had nationalized. Even then, the GTA was ill-equipped to manage what it had purchased, due to its lack of political control and its evaporating finances caused by its radically shrunken tax base. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA started a re-privatization program, selling off its assets wholesale in order to continue operations. Most of these assets were bought up at drastically reduced prices by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich, and it still wasn't enough. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the funding to fuel them.

By 2343, the GTA was virtually defunct, with a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters to its name, patrolling the skies of rural China and India, lacking the authority or the means to do much of anything else.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''

After declaring their intentions, the Elders continued their work to improve the planetary economy and steer Earth away from recession. In this respect, they had their work cut out for them. To begin with, while the oligarchs of Earth had had their power diminished by the RP in the political space, they still commanded considerable political and economic clout within their own regions of influence.

= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2022-07-24T23:18:45Z

Logomancer: /* The Transformation */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to restore them to stability, if not profitability. Second, it put their newly acquired corporations to work on a massive government project -- in this case, Project Bifrost, an attempt to open the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates scrutinized sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been used to maintain habitats on Mars and the moons of Jupiter was instead being used to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, shortcuts had to be taken to keep the habitats livable. While Martian habitats were relatively well-off due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, often sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no supplies at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system. In most of Sol's non-Terran colonies, the crumbling infrastructure soon gave way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster.

As conditions worsened, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. The GTA's response was predictable; martial law was declared throughout Sol, and troops were dispatched to Mars and the Jovian system to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding actions, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations rebelled against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet produced a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in 2338. The loss of countless lives and valuble infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The worker's unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory loopholes designed to streamline war production and the GTA's feeble enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. Ultimately, it made its way to China, where 70% of the rice crops were lost, causing massive famine throughout Asia. As millions faced starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. However, many local governments, ignoring Alliance directives, did very little to prevent oligarchs from hoarding large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in Asia and India. The GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, thus protecting a tiny minority at the expense of the majority, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk an overthrow of their leadership in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were toppled, and the GTA's power base all but destroyed.

The revolts following the Rice Crisis sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the economy, the state of the military and colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. In the end, this new faction controlled roughly 80% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the first vote of the new Assembly was to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2240, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the state of planetary emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter were quick to follow suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol; however, its authority was limited to the land on Earth it owned through the companies it had nationalized. Even then, the GTA was ill-equipped to manage what it had purchased, due to its lack of political control and its evaporating finances caused by its radically shrunken tax base. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA started a re-privatization program, selling off its assets wholesale in order to continue operations. Most of these assets were bought up at drastically reduced prices by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich, and it still wasn't enough. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the funding to fuel them.

By 2343, the GTA was virtually defunct, with a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters to its name, patrolling the skies of rural China and India, lacking the authority or the means to do much of anything else.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name with the new philosophy they had developed and promoted so widely. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure). In 2350, the United Earth Federation was created, subsuming the remnants of the old GTA, with Earth and Luna as its first members.

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''
= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2022-07-24T23:12:27Z

Logomancer: /* The Vision */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to restore them to stability, if not profitability. Second, it put their newly acquired corporations to work on a massive government project -- in this case, Project Bifrost, an attempt to open the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates scrutinized sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been used to maintain habitats on Mars and the moons of Jupiter was instead being used to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, shortcuts had to be taken to keep the habitats livable. While Martian habitats were relatively well-off due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, often sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no supplies at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system. In most of Sol's non-Terran colonies, the crumbling infrastructure soon gave way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster.

As conditions worsened, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. The GTA's response was predictable; martial law was declared throughout Sol, and troops were dispatched to Mars and the Jovian system to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding actions, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations rebelled against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet produced a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in 2338. The loss of countless lives and valuble infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The worker's unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory loopholes designed to streamline war production and the GTA's feeble enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. Ultimately, it made its way to China, where 70% of the rice crops were lost, causing massive famine throughout Asia. As millions faced starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. However, many local governments, ignoring Alliance directives, did very little to prevent oligarchs from hoarding large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in Asia and India. The GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, thus protecting a tiny minority at the expense of the majority, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk an overthrow of their leadership in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were toppled, and the GTA's power base all but destroyed.

The revolts following the Rice Crisis sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the economy, the state of the military and colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. In the end, this new faction controlled roughly 80% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the first vote of the new Assembly was to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2240, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the state of planetary emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter were quick to follow suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol; however, its authority was limited to the land on Earth it owned through the companies it had nationalized. Even then, the GTA was ill-equipped to manage what it had purchased, due to its lack of political control and its evaporating finances caused by its radically shrunken tax base. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA started a re-privatization program, selling off its assets wholesale in order to continue operations. Most of these assets were bought up at drastically reduced prices by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich, and it still wasn't enough. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the funding to fuel them.

By 2343, the GTA was virtually defunct, with a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters to its name, patrolling the skies of rural China and India, lacking the authority or the means to do much of anything else.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure).

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''
= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

GTT Corsair

2021-09-04T22:06:46Z

Logomancer:

{{User-made Ships|''GTT '''Corsair'''''}}

==Description:==
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:gttcorsair.jpg]]|caption=The GTT Corsair}}
===Tech Room Description===
The GTT Corsair is a heavy assault troop transport. It's based on the obsolete GTT Elysium transport design chassis.
Redesigned with much heavier armor, extra turrets, and thrusters. And with it's optimized powergrid, the GTT Corsair yields twice as much power output as the Elysium.

===Blue Planet Tech Room Description===
After decades of distinguished service, the Elysium class of transports were showing their age, and a sturdier replacement was needed. Thus the Corsair was born. While larger than the old Elysium, it is still dwarfed by the GTVA tactical transport, Argo. The Corsair is better equipped to defend itself, however. In the past 18 months, the Corsair has proved itself to be a reliable transport even in the heat of battle, conducting high-risk marine insertions. One of its most notable sorties was the ill-fated Kubara boarding.

===Credits===
*Model by '''Oddgrim'''

==Performance:==
===Statistics===
====Default====
{{Ship_box
|name = GTT ''Corsair''
|type = Transport
|manufacturer =
|yaw_pitch_roll = 4.5, 4.25, 4.7
|max_velocity = 45
|hitpoints = 8500
|length = 52
|turrets = 4
}}

====Blue Planet====
{{Ship_box
|name = UET ''Corsair''
|type = Transport
|manufacturer = Triton Dynamics / Akheton
|max_velocity = 40
|armor = Heavy
|hitpoints = 5000
|length = 39
|turrets = 4
}}

===Armaments===
*'''[[Technical_Terms_and_Definitions#Turrets|Turrets]]'''
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|- align="center"
| colspan=2 style="background:#351515;"| '''Default Statistics'''
| colspan=2 style="background:#191970;"| '''Blue Planet'''
|- align="center"
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
| style="width:60px" |Amount
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
| style="width:60px" |Amount
|- align="center"
| [[Subach HL-7]]
| 4
| UEF Light Turret
| 4
|}

===Veteran Comments===
{{comment|The even boxier Corsair isn't really a significant improvement over the Elysium. The increases in hull strength and number of turrets help its survivability somewhat, but are countered by its larger profile and slower velocity. To give the Corsair credit, it is at least sturdy enough to weather a dual [[GTM Cyclops|Cyclops]] hit. Under most circumstances, a Corsair will have enough firepower and hull integrity to skitter around or even through a battlefield, but in full-scale operations and assaults, it would need to travel in a convoy or require a few escorts.}}

==Download link:==
http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.204

Scimitar (Blue Planet)

2021-09-04T22:04:58Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

#Redirect [[HAF Cyclone]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UES Aranyaka

2021-09-04T22:03:50Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

{{BPArticle}}
{{User-made Ships|''{{PAGENAME}}''}}
[[Image:UES Aranyaka.jpg|thumb|right|650px|{{PAGENAME}}]]
==Description:==
===Tech Room Description===
The Aranyaka support ship is designed to get in and out of battle as quickly as possible. It is fast and quite maneuverable, allowing it to dock with fighters in a minimum amount of time. Most notable about the Aranyaka, however, is its extremely large explosion radius. The amount of warheads carried on a support ship makes it very dangerous to be close to an exploding Aranyaka.

===Credits===
*Model and textures by Axem.

===Name Origin===
The Aranyakas are part of the four Vedas of Hinduism, and discusses the proper performance of rituals that were considered dangerous -- for instance, those involving fire -- and thus had to be taught and learned in the wilderness. The term aranyaka in Sanskrit means "belonging to the wilderness".

===Designer's Comments===

==Performance:==
===Statistics===
{{Ship_box
|name = UES Aranyaka
|yaw_pitch_roll = 3 - 3 - 3
|max_velocity = 90 (100)
|hitpoints = 500
|shields = 500
|length = 19.41
|width = 12.51
|height = 8.6
}}

==Modding Resources==
:$POF File: UES_Aranyaka.pof
:Texture list: Glass;uefsupportbase;eaglelogo;FTUhlanCockpit;uefsupportdebris

==Gallery==
<gallery></gallery>

===Veteran Comments===
{{comment|Unlike other support ships, the Aranyaka is equipped with surface shields, enhancing its survivability. The Fedayeen also deploy a stealth variant to work with their [[UEF Ainsarii|Ainsarii]].
}}

==External links:==
*[https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=90802.0 RELEASE - Blue Planet | Hard-light forums]

[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

GTF Nyx

2021-09-04T22:02:19Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

#Redirect [[GTF Ezechiel]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

GTF Atalanta

2021-09-04T22:01:15Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

#Redirect [[TF Kvasir]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UEFr Demeter

2021-09-04T22:00:31Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

#Redirect [[GTFr Albanus]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UET Corsair

2021-09-04T21:59:46Z

Logomancer: Adding BPArticle tag and category

#Redirect [[GTT Corsair]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UET Upanishad

2021-09-04T21:58:40Z

Logomancer: Redirect has to be the first thing for it to work

#Redirect [[GTCv Tane]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UET Upanishad

2021-09-04T21:57:35Z

Logomancer: Added BPArticle tag and Blue Planet ships category

{{BPArticle}}
#Redirect [[GTCv Tane]]
[[Category:Blue Planet ships]]

UEFg Purusha

2020-06-22T01:28:40Z

Logomancer: Editing so that names of UEF ships will still show up in category listing (should have no impact on redirection)

#Redirect [[FTFf Impervious]]
{{BPArticle}}
[[Category: Blue Planet ships]]

UEFg Purusha

2020-06-22T01:26:27Z

Logomancer:

#Redirect [[FTFf Impervious]]
{{BPArticle}}

FTFf Impervious

2020-06-22T01:23:43Z

Logomancer:

{{BPArticle}}
{{User-made Ships}}

[[Image:FTFfImpervious.png|thumb|right|650px|{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Image:UEFg_Purusha.jpg|thumb|right|650px|The ''Purusha''-class Frigate in BP]]

==Description:==

==={{PAGENAME}} Tech Room Description===
The oldest spacefaring class of ships, commissioned in AR01, the Impervious-class frigates were the first warships equipped with the then-new intersystem Transpace jump drive. Over the course of its exceptionally long operational life, it has been retrofitted and re-classified numerous times. While technically destroyer-sized, it now serves as a fire support frigate, as its defenses are incapable of holding up under direct combat. The fact that the Commonwealth did not retire the Impervious class despite horrendous losses has lead many to joke that nothing ever leaves service in the Commonwealth, except as an expanding cloud of debris. Hundreds of Impervious vessels are still in service within the Commonwealth Navy, being surprisingly low-maintanence despite their age.

===Blue Planet Tech Room Description===
The Purusha was a frigate in service in the Federation Navy.

In 2356 the Strategic Imperative Paper was released by the military intelligence group BULWARK. This was a landmark document that had two aims: to identify areas of improvement from previous fleet doctrines and to deduce what would be required of the nascent Federation Navy. The Paper was the harbinger of a period of volatility in warship design. The defense industry had been long constrained by economic depression and military collapse - it now had the means and mandate to implement radical new doctrine. In this period several revolutionary new concepts were birthed, some more successful than others.

One such revolution was the frigate. This new line of warship was conceptualised as a strike platform to occupy a space within the yawning chasm of capability that had existed between cruisers and destroyers. Frigates would be better armed and armoured than cruisers, but cheaper to build and operate than a capital ship. These new warships would have the teeth to engage major hostile assets in battle, but not be so singularly valuable that their potential would be unrealised by skittish admirals. The incorporation of a small fighter hangar into the design was debated at great length by the Admiralty, with the decision being made not to sacrifice armour and firepower. Fighter carrying capacity would be left to the destroyer flagships as per previous doctrines.

The Purusha emerged as the first of her kind and for a time she was the pinnacle of post-GTA naval power in Sol. The first Purusha rolled out of the dockyards in 2363, and at a stroke rendered every other combat warship in Sol obsolete. She had more firepower than any cruiser that came before her, armed with mass drivers and heavy antimatter torpedoes. Utilisation of supply-hungry but energy-efficient ammunition-based armaments allowed the majority of her reactor output to be allocated to engine performance. She was twice as fast as the venerable Fenris strike cruiser despite the frigate's superior tonnage, armour and firepower.

The Purusha was extensively deployed against the Gaian Effort, suffering significant losses during Third Fleet's campaign in the system outer rim. With the introduction of the Karuna, she was reclassified as a light frigate and phased out of frontline duty. No Purushas remain in the order of battle of the Federation's three line fleets. Most hulls of the class were decommissioned and yarded in case of emergency reactivation. A few demilitarized Purushas still fly as fast couriers for private interests.

===Credits===
*Model by '''Droid803''' and '''Hades'''
*Textures by '''AndrewofDoom''' and '''Droid803''', additions by '''herkie423'''

===Developer Notes===
[http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80275.msg1593038 Development Thread] (note: OP may be slightly inebriated)

==Performance:==
===Statistics===
{{Ship_box
|name = FTFf ''Impervious''
|type = Frigate
|yaw_pitch_roll = 100.0, 100.0, 80.0
|max_velocity = 120.0
|hitpoints = 6,000
|length = 688
|width = 141
|height = 253
|turrets = 5
}}

{{Ship_box
|name = UEFg Purusha
|yaw_pitch_roll = 75 - 75 - 75
|max_velocity = 40 (50)
|hitpoints = 55000
|length = 618.97
|width = 126.61
|height = 227.85
|turrets = 12
}}

===Armaments===
*'''FTFf Impervious'''
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|- align="center"
| colspan=2 style="background:#351515;"| '''Dimensional Eclipse'''
|- align="center"
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
| style="width:60px" |Amount
|- align="center"
| FTC MD Railgun
| 1
|- align="center"
| FTC PD
| 4
|- align="center"
|}

*'''UEFg Purusha'''
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|- align="center"
| colspan=2 style="background:#351515;"| '''Default Statistics'''
|- align="center"
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
| style="width:60px" |Amount
|- align="center"
| Mass Driver#Karuna
| 2
|- align="center"
| Point Defense Turret
| 4
|- align="center"
| Burst Flak
| 4
|- align="center"
| Apocalypse#Karuna
| 2
|}

==Modding Resources==
:$POF File: UEFg_Purusha.pof
:Texture list: Imper_UV;DaMaGe;FedTurrets

===Veteran Comments===
{{comment|}}

==Download link:==
*Mediafire:
** http://www.mediafire.com/?d3da3ag1j98slch
*Dimensional Eclipse:
** http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=87664.0
*Blue Planet Complete:
**[https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=90802.0 RELEASE - Blue Planet]
*See also:
** [[ORFA Agneya]]

[[Category:Dimensional Eclipse]]

Scimitar (Blue Planet)

2020-06-22T01:23:12Z

Logomancer: Undo revision 61266 by Logomancer (talk)

#Redirect [[HAF Cyclone]]

Scimitar (Blue Planet)

2020-06-22T01:22:45Z

Logomancer: Removed redirect to HAF Cyclone

{{BPArticle}}
#Redirect [[HAF Cyclone]]

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2020-01-20T22:10:04Z

Logomancer: /* Coming Up */

'''This is based off of written works of the Blue Planet team, but has not been approved by them and is not necessarily BP canon.'''

The '''Isolation''' is the [[Sol]] system's colloquial term for the time between the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm at the end of the [[Great War]] and the arrival of the [[GTVA]] 14th Battlegroup. During this fifty-year period, Sol was cut off from the rest of the subspace gate network, effectively isolating the system from the rest of interstellar space.

= A Farewell To Arms =
At the time of the ''Lucifer'' cataclysm, the Sol system's economy was unprepared for peace. While Sol's infrastructure was bigger than the rest of the [[GTA]] combined, that infrastucture had been on a full-tilt war footing for almost 15 years. 60% of Sol's population was involved in the massive military-industrial complex that existed at the time, either enlisted in the GTA's armed forces or employed by one of Sol's many defense contractors. The biggest defense contractor, Han-Ronald, by itself employed 15% of Sol's population, either directly or through subsidiaries. Meanwhile, 30% of Sol's Gross System Product was directed toward providing the colonies with ships, power generators, shelter, consumer goods, and other supplies.

When the Sol-Delta Serpentis node collapsed, Sol lost both means of sustaining her economic expansion, and the demand shock that followed was devastating. Dependent on massive levels of government funding to remain solvent, the defense industry imploded as contractors laid off millions of workers to keep afloat. Within a year, with the war economy in a shambles and cut off from colonial trade, most major corporations were in a tailspin to bankruptcy. As they fell, they took with them their subsidiaries, smaller partners, and suppliers. By the end of 2336, billions of people among the GTA's three remaining planetary members -- Earth, Mars, and Jupiter -- were unemployed, and became restless as their plight worsened.

Fifteen years of full-scale war had taken their toll on the civilian populace. To better direct the production of goods for the military, the GTA had established an authoritarian command economy during the middle years of the Terran-Vasudan War. The GTA enacted strict controls on wages and prices, a low cap on the production of "luxury items", and a rationing of staple resources not seen by humans since Earth's Second World War. As long as the GTA provided its citizens with what it needed to survive, it was able to stem the unrest caused by such policies. In the face of total economic collapse, these policies would prove to be the GTA's undoing.

= The Collapse of the GTA =
The GTA's response to the floundering of its biggest civilian partners was twofold. First, it bailed out or nationalized the failing corporations and tried to restore them to stability, if not profitability. Second, it put their newly acquired corporations to work on a massive government project -- in this case, Project Bifrost, an attempt to open the Sol-Delta Serpentis subspace node. For months, subspace physicists from the GTA's nationalized conglomerates scrutinized sensor logs of the ''Lucifer'''s destruction and the subsequent node collapse, looking for ways to restore the system's connection to subspace. In the spring of 2338, the GTA's experts concluded that reopening the node was not possible with Sol's current technology. Project Bifrost was shuttered, and the GTA redoubled their bailout efforts, nationalizing entire sectors of the economy.

The GTA's focus on Project Bifrost had dire consequences for its off-Earth holdings. Money that had been used to maintain habitats on Mars and the moons of Jupiter was instead being used to fund the project or bail out Earth-based corporations. As maintenance budgets were slashed, shortcuts had to be taken to keep the habitats livable. While Martian habitats were relatively well-off due to their partially terraformed home planet and culture of self-sufficiency, Jovian habitats lived on a razor's edge, often sacrificing citizens to maintain the integrity of the habitat for the rest of the populace. The hardest hit were the habitats beyond Jupiter, which often received no supplies at all, causing a permanent humanitarian crisis at the edge of the solar system. In most of Sol's non-Terran colonies, the crumbling infrastructure soon gave way to famine, disease, and environmental disaster.

As conditions worsened, tensions erupted into strikes, riots, and other forms of civil unrest. The GTA's response was predictable; martial law was declared throughout Sol, and troops were dispatched to Mars and the Jovian system to restore order. But it swiftly became evident that the GTA military, after 15 years of ship-to-ship combat and naval boarding actions, was ill-prepared for the massive groundside police actions required to keep the peace. The marine detachments of the 1st Fleet were overwhelmed as entire nations rebelled against GTA rule, and funding for additional troops dried up in favor of attempts to stabilize the economy.

The failure of Project Bifrost, the ongoing economic catastrophe, and the peacekeeping misadventures of the 1st Fleet produced a sea change in the perception of the GTA by its citizens. Less than five years before, the GTA was seen as the force that united humanity across the universe; now, it was seen as the chains dragging it down to the abyss, and this was reflected in the movements that sprung up in 2338. The loss of countless lives and valuble infrastructure in the Jovian system was blamed on the GTA's overregulation, and citizens agitated to break with the GTA and establish an autonomous free-trade zone. The worker's unions of Mars felt helpless in the face of the planet's decaying ecosystem, a process that they felt the GTA's incompetence accelerated. Their movement, branded "eco-Marxism", aimed to seize the means of production from the GTA and put it in the hands of local worker's councils, whose guiding philosophy would be to provide for the people and the environment.

Ultimately, the death blow to the GTA would come from Earth herself, where there emerged a class of oligarchs not seen since the early 21st century -- the product of both the GTA's bailout program and massive profiteering. By exploiting regulatory loopholes designed to streamline war production and the GTA's feeble enforcement power, the oligarchs and their corporate empires grew explosively in resources, and gained influence at every level of government at the expense of the Alliance. In 2339, they would seize control outright.

That summer, a previously unknown species of rice pathogen was discovered in Cambodia. Ultimately, it made its way to China, where 70% of the rice crops were lost, causing massive famine throughout Asia. As millions faced starvation, the GTA ordered a planetwide rationing of food while it scrambled to divert food to the affected regions. However, many local governments, ignoring Alliance directives, did very little to prevent oligarchs from hoarding large amounts of food -- either to sell at grossly inflated prices or for use themselves. This led to widespread and vicious food riots in Asia and India. The GTA was trapped -- either they spent valuable resources to put down the food riots, thus protecting a tiny minority at the expense of the majority, or they let the riots burn themselves out, and risk an overthrow of their leadership in the region. While considering these options, they ran out of time; the oligarchs in the region declared that the GTA's lack of effective response to the "Rice Crisis", as it became known, was the final proof of its total incompetence to govern, and urged the people to join them in revolt. National governments throughout Asia were toppled, and the GTA's power base all but destroyed.

The revolts following the Rice Crisis sealed the Alliance's fate in the 2339 elections for the Galactic Terran Assembly. Pro-GTA factions, bearing the blame for the economy, the state of the military and colonies, and the Rice Crisis, suffered devastating defeats at the hands of oligarch-aligned parties and populist movements. In the end, this new faction controlled roughly 80% of the seats in the Assembly, and the GTA had almost no support at all. With the change of power came a mandate for Earth to take control of her own affairs away from the corrupt Alliance it was shackled to, and the first vote of the new Assembly was to do exactly that.

On March 29th, 2240, the fifth anniversary of the destruction of the ''Lucifer'', Earth declared her withdrawal from the Titan Accords, her secession from the GTA, and an end to the state of planetary emergency enacted twenty years before. Mars and Jupiter were quick to follow suit, reinstating the Martian Concordia and the Jovian Systems Republic largely along the lines they had envisioned.

After the abandonment of the Titan Accords, the GTA still existed in Sol; however, its authority was limited to the land on Earth it owned through the companies it had nationalized. Even then, the GTA was ill-equipped to manage what it had purchased, due to its lack of political control and its evaporating finances caused by its radically shrunken tax base. Faced with insolvency and eager to cut expenses, the GTA started a re-privatization program, selling off its assets wholesale in order to continue operations. Most of these assets were bought up at drastically reduced prices by the oligarchs the GTA had previously made rich, and it still wasn't enough. In the winter of 2342, the GTD ''Washington'', once the flagship of the GTA 1st Fleet, was sold to a Jovian scrap dealer; the rest of 1st Fleet had been disposed of earlier in the year, as the GTA lacked the funding to fuel them.

By 2343, the GTA was virtually defunct, with a few squadrons of Valkyrie fighters to its name, patrolling the skies of rural China and India, lacking the authority or the means to do much of anything else.

= A Means of Restoration =
As the GTA faded into irrelevance, Sol was in dire straits. Six weeks after the Terran Assembly -- now only representing Earth and Luna -- declared an end to the wartime state of emergency imposed by the GTA, it declared a peacetime emergency due to its continuing economic crisis. Earth's national governments struggled to provide for their large populations after years of the GTA's mismanagement, and deprioritized interplanetary trade. This, in turn, impoverished the Jovians, who were dependent on trade with Earth. Meanwhile, the Martians were critically short of experts to maintain their fragile ecosystem. Sol was in the midst of economic congestive failure.

The new political landscape following the elections of 2339 had caused a buzz of discussion about the future of Earth. Many concluded that the end of GTA rule signified a rebirth of democracy and an economic golden age for humanity. However, a loose collective of philosophers, historians, educators, scientists, and spiritual leaders voiced their concern about the new political order. These people were alumni of the GTA's Human Future Project. Established in 2330 to "foster the next wave of human leadership and innovation", the Human Future Project was part symposium and part think tank. It pushed the envelope of human research on many levels with breakthroughs in linguistics, scientific modeling, psychosociology, logistical distribution, and many other fields. While most of these innovations were directed to serve the war effort, some had large impacts on civilian life as well.

This collective recognized that while the oligarchs who had taken control in the wake of the revolts professed a love of freedom and democracy, their actions after the uprising and after the election were more consistent with a disdain for it. What else would be born from this disdain, however, was less clear. Recruiting computer scientists formerly employed by Han-Ronald's simulations division, they constructed a predictive model of the sociopolitical situation in Sol.

The results, delivered two months later, were frightening. Within a decade, the oligarchs would have complete control over the Terran Assembly and the national governments of Earth and Luna. Most of the programs in place to restore Earth's infrastructure would be curtailed, as would most regular spaceflights to Mars and the Jovian system, to enrich the oligarchs further. As Earth's infrastructure broke down from lack of maintenance, billions of people would die, decimating the labor force and skill sets available and making any hope of recovery impossible. On Earth, human civilization would backslide and enter a Dark Age; in the rest of the system, it would simply cease to exist.

Galvanized by the report's bleak outlook, these Human Future alumni formed the Restoration Project in 2340, and set to work to prevent the coming darkness. Unable to stand for important offices due to a lack of corporate sponsorship, the Project went grassroots, recruiting humanitarians, aid workers, and spiritual leaders to its cause, and running for local offices, which were not highly contested. By 2341, the RP had gained a foothold in some of the most strife-ridden areas on Earth, and started setting up homeless shelters, food kitchens, and trade schools, most of them converted from abandoned munitions plants or GTA barracks. During the GTA's fire sale, they acquired, for a very low price, most of Han-Ronald's computer archives, including its cutting-edge tactical simulators and the computers to run them. These simulators were soon adapted to make models of social and economic growth, and they were deployed in areas where the RP had power. In areas where they didn't, they made microinvestments to local businesses with potential based on advice from the simulators. In many areas, the simulation program was successful; where it wasn't, the data was shared and the model refined.

== The Outcomes Doctrine ==
In May 2343, the Restoration Project began its next phase. Members of the Project met in Hong Kong to produce a statement of their principles and ultimate goals. The document produced was called the Outcomes Doctrine, and its summary was the following:

<blockquote>
* '''Above All Else:''' It is our solemn belief that no human shall be unable to achieve her full potential, and it is toward this end we pledge ourselves.
* '''Politically:''' We strive to maximize free speech, minimize government power, and work behind the scenes through the gradual adjustment of social and economic trends. In the long run, we seek to unite mankind, end armed conflict, and develop new technologies that will allow a return to the stars.
* '''Economically:''' We intend to use sophisticated models to regulate and maximize the output of the free market, through subtle controls rather than by regulation or intervention.
* '''Socially:''' We wish to promote understanding, open-mindedness, and peace; to eliminate physical and mental illness through scientific treatment; and to establish the equality of all human beings. Finally, we stand to promote individual moral autonomy and freedom.
* '''Philosphically:''' We seek to move mankind towards a state of enlightenment, where human beings will function as a coordinated, competitive/cooperative system in which each individual human is actualized to maximize his or her own output. We believe that every person should have the means, the drive, and the hope to make him or herself better.
* '''Spiritually:''' We believe that all faiths should be allowed to coexist peacefully.
</blockquote>

It was a very idealistic document, especially during a time when megacorporations controlled 90% of the Terran Assembly. Most oligarchs dismissed it as nonsense. But to many in the underclasses, it was a refreshing viewpoint compared to the GTA's grim predictions during the Great War and the contempt of the oligarchs after the collapse. Coupled with the success of their modeling efforts, it was enough to give people a sense of hope they had not had in years. By November, the Restoration Project had gathered enough petitions to be recognized as a political party in the Assembly.

Much of the following year was spent organizing local party structures, refining and evangelizing their predictive models, and making inroads in other regions. Sub-Saharan and southern Africa were the next regions to see the RP's presence; some local groups used the name "Ubuntu Party", after an African political party organized along similar lines. Central and southeast Asia were soon to follow. In the elections of 2344, to the surprise of everyone, the RP gained 68% of the seats in the Assembly. The vision of hope that the Restoration Project had given a crushed generation had given them the means to put that vision into practice.

= The Rise of Ubuntu =
In the months following the RP's political victory, the tempo of their exploits increased significantly. Their supermajority in the Terran Assembly gave them the opportunity to implement global policies that would speed recovery along. While implementation dragged in some areas -- the oligarchs held fast to their fiefdoms -- they further accelerated the recovery in areas where the RP had greater influence. Investment in clean energy, mass transportation projects, and just-in-time manufacturing facilities for consumer goods increased mobility and demand. Asian countries were experiencing a new economic Golden Age, and Africa was well on its way. Meanwhile, projects in Australia and the Americas began to pay dividends.

In the midst of all this came a revelation that would reshape the Restoration Project's mission and, with it, the future of Sol.

== The Vision ==
Martin Mandho was a Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Lagos. An alumnus of the Human Future Project and a former high-ranking analyst for Galactic Terran Intelligence, he had kept informed about the development of the Restoration Project. In 2342, he allowed himself to be drafted as an RP Assemblyman for the Federation of African States after a paper he published on neo-consensus decision making went viral on local email lists. His star in the RP rose quickly, becoming their Shadow Secretary for Home Affairs in 2343. The RP's success in the 2344 elections cemented his position in the Cabinet of the Earth government.

Just before taking office as Home Secretary, he had a very intense dream. At first, he dismissed it, but the dream persisted, night after night. Medical help proved fruitless; there seemed to be no physical or mental cause of the recurring dreams, and no similar condition was on record. Scouring the planetary network was equally fruitless. Finally, in January 2345, he sought advice from a fellow Cabinet member who was also a priest, and found out that she had the same dream. Galvanized by progress, in February he went into closed retreat outside Kolkata with some of the RP's top-ranking spiritual leaders. What he found out there pushed him to seek an unlikely group of people.

Of the sixteen fighters sent to destroy the SD ''Lucifer'', only a handful survived -- all of the Vasudan Epsilon Wing (called the "Epsilon Four" in modern parlance), and the GTA's Beta Two, Alpha Three, and Alpha One. All surviving pilots were thoroughly debriefed on their arrival to Earth. The reports were presumed lost in the wake of the GTA's collapse; however, Mandho found copies in databases the RP acquired from the GTA. The reports claimed that Alpha One and the Epsilon Four had reported visions similar to his dreams. Mandho resolved to find them, but this would prove difficult; Alpha 1 resigned his commission not long after returning to Earth, and the Vasudans declined to enter GTA service. In light of the economic crisis gripping Sol, the GTA considered tracking the whereabouts of five ex-fighter pilots less important. Nor could Mandho find them through their Terran comrades; Beta Two and Alpha Three were killed in 2338 on a peacekeeping mission over Europa.

Eventually, through his intelligence contacts and a bit of guesswork, Mandho found the Epsilon Four in an enclave in the deserts of Egypt. An email with a description of his experiences piqued the Vasudans' interest, and they agreed to a meeting, to which Alpha One would also be invited. In April 2345, Alpha One and Mandho arrived at the Epsilon Four's residence, and they discussed the visions they had received. In addition, Mandho relayed the accounts he heard from others. Mandho put all of the pieces together, and saw what was to come. And the human race needed to be ready.

== The Transformation ==
Two days after the conclusion of his visit with the Lucifer Five, Mandho returned to Kolkata, to report his discoveries to his confederates in the RP leadership. From there, all of the pieces were revealed -- the patterns underlying their shared visions, the storm that loomed on the horizon, and how to navigate the human race through it. Meeting in secret over the next three months, the group that was to become the Council of Elders formulated a plan to shepherd the RP and the rest of Sol toward a new way of life -- a philosophy free of suffering and oppression; a data-driven market economy without the human exploitation practiced on Earth since the concept of an economy took root; and the means to ensure the survival of humanity in the face of the Shivans through a new investment in science and research.

Over the next 18 months, the Elders set to work. Spiritual leaders met with their congregations, politicians met with RP leaders, and experts and technocrats started making the case for the Elders' proposals to the public. As it happened, many in the RP's sphere of influence were highly receptive to the proposals. For the Restoration Project, it represented the natural extension of their work to date in restoring Earth to prosperity and freedom, and their impressive victory in a few short years made it very open to trying a new and sustainable way forward for all of Sol. Scientists and engineers as well as the working class found the logical basis of the Elders' proposals intriguing; after the ideology-based "science" of the oligarchs made a complete mess of things, an evidence-based approach to conducting the economy and new investment in R&D was very welcome indeed. For others of a more spiritual bent, the philosophies behind the Elders' proposal were both familiar -- they were loosely based on a combination of Buddhist, Hindu, and various Afro-Asian animist philosophies -- and novel in being a promotion of the individual, rejecting dogmatism and hierarchical thinking.

Decades later, social scientists hypothesized another reason the Elders were so successful in converting the RP to its way of thinking. The people of Earth had faced 25 years of war and hardship, being threatened first with destruction -- or at least subjugation -- at the hands of the Vasudans, then utter destruction at the hands of the Shivans, then the collapse of modern civilization and subjugation at the hands of the oligarchs. Three times they had looked oblivion in the eye, and this caused a profound change in the Terrans' collective psyche. Many of these experts, including those in the GTVA, likened it to a collective near-death experience, after which the people of Earth, much like the individual who experiences one, became happier, kinder, more spiritual, and more charitable. They argue that these changes were evident in the wide unpopularity of the oligarchs in the wake of the Rice Revolt, though the need to survive overrode the desire to act on them.

Nevertheless, by 2347, the Elders had succeeded in their goal. The previous December, they called for a referendum on enacting their plan to transform the RP along the lines they had envisioned. That referendum passed the following March. The Restoration Project was renamed the Ubuntu Party (after some of their regional parties), the Elders thinking that a "more fitting" name. The Party was reorganized to align with the Elders' goals, the Elders themselves forming a Council to act as a long-term steering committee. Finally, the Ubuntu Party declared its intention to reestablish a system-wide government on a more federal structure (as opposed to the GTA's parliamentary structure).

= Scaling Issues =
''Here, the Ubuntu Party has to deal with a few challenges -- the recalcitrance of the remaining oligarchs in Europe, Russia, and North America; the rise of piracy in Sol after the reignition of intra-system trade; and the ongoing teething issues of Ubuntu's economic algorithms, which were never designed to scale to the size of managing an entire planet's economy.''
= The Rise of the Gaian Effort =
''This part will talk about how the Gaian Effort came to be -- Ian MacDuff's beginnings as a neo-Druid in the Scottish countryside (heavily fracked by the oligarchs); the Europan eco-disaster; MacDuff's emigration to Mars to agitate for a cometary lifestyle; the Socialist Campaign for a Green Mars election scandal in 2050; MacDuff's followers forming the Gaian Effort and migrating to the Kuiper Belt; the assimilation of the Fringe Alliance and the tensions that poses; and MacDuff's war on the Feds.''
= The Fall of Strife =
''Goes into the Jovian-Gef Conflict of 2376. It starts with the Gefs' destruction of Clarke Station over Europa and the simultaneous surprise attack on several other stations (Simak, Kornbluth, Campbell, Heinlein?). Things get dicey for the Jovians as their ships (mostly ''Sanctus'' cruisers and ''Purusha'' frigates) are considerably underpowered against the Gefs' attack-heavy gunboats and massive Rim Defense fortifications, but the strikecraft balance is considerably more tilted in the Jovians' favor, destroying Gef supply convoys and Fringe Alliance factories before hitting Eris Base, the main Gef stronghold. MacDuff and many of his followers escape to the outer fringes of the system, but the war is effectively over, with tens of thousands of Gefs killed in the fighting or imprisoned for war crimes.''
''After this disaster, MacDuff finally loses control of the Gaian Effort, and the leadership fractures. Several cells will eventually emerge after a few years, with MacDuff's Kostadin Cell being the most hardline and also the most adherent to the old Gef philosophy.''

Scimitar (Blue Planet)

2019-11-19T18:37:24Z

Logomancer: Updated with image of new model

{{BPArticle}}

:''For the original ship, see [[GTF Leto]]. For other (unrelated) ships with the same name, see [[Scimitar]].''

In the [[Blue Planet]] continuity, the '''''Scimitar''''' is the main fighter of the [[Gaian Effort]], a radical ecoterrorist faction. Although technologically outdated, the Scimitar is highly versatile, being compatible with a vast array of modern weapon systems, allowing it to achieve near parity with [[United Earth Federation]] forces. They are often deployed in large numbers and employ irregular shock tactics in order to compensate for their shortcomings.

==Description:==
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:scimitar_new.png|540x360px]]|caption=The Scimitar fighter}}
===Blue Planet: War in Heaven Tech Description===
The Scimitar was a reliable and versatile fighter popular with private military forces and militia. The decline of these groups during the Isolation saw reduced usage of the fighter in core space, but the Scimitar remains in production in the Kuiper Belt workshops of the Gaian Effort. Kostadin Cell in particular favors the Scimitar as a strike fighter due to its ability to carry a wide range of munitions.

===Developer Notes===
N/A

===Name Origin===
''Scimitar'' is a generic term used to refer to several kinds of curved swords originating from the Middle East. The term ''scimitar'' has disputed origins, ranging from the Middle French ''cimeterre'' to the Persian ''shim-'' or ''shamshir'', which in turn is derived from the Middle Persian ''shafshēr''.

==Performance:==
===Statistics===
{{Ship_box
|name = ''Scimitar''
|type = Patrol / Civilian
|manufacturer = Han-Ronald Corporation
|maneuverability = Average
|yaw_pitch_roll = 4.5, 4.75, 4.0
|max_velocity = 65 - 75
|max_ab_velocity = 140
|max_ab_duration = 16.67
|armor = Average
|hitpoints = 280
|shields = 280
|length = 20
|gun_bank_1 = 2
|gun_bank_2 = 2
|missile_bank_1 = 40
|missile_bank_2 = 40
|countermeasures = 15
}}

===Armaments===
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:Scimitar.jpg]]|caption=The Scimitar as it appeared in earlier versions of Blue Planet}}
*'''[[Technical_Terms_and_Definitions#Gun Mounts|Gun Mounts]]'''
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|- align="center"
| colspan=3 style="background:#351515;"| '''Default Statistics'''
|- align="center"
| style="width:40px" |Bank
| style="width:60px" |Guns
| style="width:160px" |Standard Loadout
|- align="center"
| 1st
| 2
| [[Vulcan]]
|- align="center"
| 2nd
| 2
| [[Vulcan]]
|- align="center"
| colspan=3| Compatible Primaries
|-
| colspan=1 align="center"| 1st
| colspan=2| [[Maul]], [[Vulcan]], [[Scalpel]]
|-
| colspan=1 align="center"| 2nd
| colspan=2| [[Maul]], [[Vulcan]], [[Scalpel]]
|}

*'''[[Technical_Terms_and_Definitions#Missile Banks|Missile Banks]]'''
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
|- align="center"
| colspan=3 style="background:#351515;"| '''Default Statistics'''
|- align="center"
| style="width:40px" |Bank
| style="width:60px" |Capacity
| style="width:160px" |Standard Loadout
|- align="center"
| 1st
| 40
| [[Hellfire Missile|Hellfire]]
|- align="center"
| 2nd
| 40
| [[Javelin]]
|- align="center"
| colspan=3| Compatible Secondaries
|-
| colspan=1 align="center"| 1st
| colspan=2| [[Dirk]], [[Dart]], [[Hellfire Missile|Hellfire]], Warhammer
|-
| colspan=1 align="center"| 2nd
| colspan=2| [[Dirk]], [[Dart]], [[Hellfire Missile|Hellfire]], [[Javelin]], [[Slammer]], [[Paveway]], [[Grimler]], Shrike, Jackhammer, Warhammer
|}
==Veteran Comments==
{{Comment|''The Scimitar's stats may look like rubbish compared to even the entry-level [[UEF Uhlan]], but don't get cocky. These fighters can carry the standard UEF primaries, including the anti-subsystem Scalpel, as well as torpedoes; the lower bank, in particular, can mount nearly every single UEF missile available to the player. Furthermore, the Scimitar has an incredibly long afterburn duration—16.6 seconds—and it takes only ten seconds for the ship to fully recharge afterburner fuel from nought. In large numbers and in the right hands, the Scimitar can and will give even the most formidable battlegroups something to worry about. The Gaian Effort loves to attack targets simply by overwhelming them with a ludicrous number of these ships, and although this tactic works less effectively against military targets, it will at least inflict nosebleed even to a [[GVD Hatshepsut|Hatshepsut destroyer]] or vessels escorted by the [[Knights of the White Brotherhood]].

''Fight it was you would a [[GTF Ulysses]]. This fighter lacks armor and any type of endurance, but they can still hurt. They will usually try to swarm you, and never when you're carrying something useful like a [[Slammer]]. Also note that their pilots don't fly well when in shock.''}}

[[Category: User-made Ships]]
[[Category: Blue Planet]]
[[Category: Blue Planet ships]]

File:Scimitar new.png

2019-11-19T18:31:10Z

Logomancer: New Scimitar model (from lab view)

New Scimitar model (from lab view)

One Future

2019-03-18T00:00:26Z

Logomancer: /* Walkthrough */ Added bit about selecting crew

{{BPArticle}}

{{Mission|previous=Everything is Permitted|next=Her Finest Hour|campaign=Blue Planet: War in Heaven Campaign Walkthrough}}

'''MISSION 20''' 
'''ACT 3, MISSION 04'''

'''Fighter squadron:''' Falcata Wing, Fedayeen

'''Description:''' Laporte must take an experimental cruiser on a mission to save Earth from the Kostadin Cell's final act of desperation.
----
==Background==
The countdown to Steele's invasion is 15 days, plus or minus 4; however, that may as well be one day. The [[Gaian Effort]] has been systematically fractured; [[Special Operations Command|SOC]] units have launched attacks on Kostadin Cell in reprisal for their "complicity" in the Bellwether incident. Between more moderate cells breaking ties and SOC's extermination campaign, Kostadin Cell and its leader, Reverend Iain MacDuff, have their backs against the wall.

As such, MacDuff has activated his cell's final mission, a way to force humanity to become Cometary Man. He has set the Kostadin Cell's asteroid habitat on a collision course with Earth; within hours, it will jump to a prearranged location in Earth orbit and smash into the planet, causing an extinction-level event.

While a fleet action to stop this menace would be ideal, the asteroid's distance from any large gravity wells makes plotting safe subspace routes difficult and time-consuming, and the Gefs have activated gravity generators to confound attempts to do so. Instead, Laporte will take a [[UEC Custos-X|modified ''Custos''-class cruiser]], the UEC ''Vindicator'', to the asteroid to clear the way for the UET ''Andex'' to board the habitat and abort the jump sequence. If that way proves too difficult, flying into the asteroid may reveal an alternative way of stopping the jump, but no intelligence exists on the habitat's interior.

Either way, when she arrives, she has 10 minutes to stop the jump from happening, or Earth will be transformed into a cinder.

==Controls==
The controls for the ''Vindicator'' are much the same as the controls for the ''Katana'' in [[The Blade Itself#About the controls|The Blade Itself]]. There are a few differences, however.

First, the missile launchers on ''Vindicator'' can fire either [[Warhammer]] torpedoes for anti-capital work or [[Dart]] missiles for anti-fighter cover. Pressing '''Alt/Option-X''' will switch what kind of missile is loaded in the tubes.

Second, you can designate targets for the [[Point Defense Turret]]s, which works like designating targets for the missiles.

Third, you have direct control over the spinal mount [[Arquebus|gauss cannon]] and the other weapon you mounted (either the [[UX Accelerator]] or the [[Gattler]]). Using these weapons is exactly like using the primary weapons on a fighter.

Finally, your special abilites are somewhat different:
* The '''Shield Booster''' will provide a large boost to shields every second for a short period of time.
* '''Damage Control''' works much like on the ''Katana'', except the charge time is ''30 seconds'' and the healing time is ''15 seconds''.
* The '''CM Swarm''' will launch a barrage of countermeasures to distract enemy torpedoes and missiles. This lasts for ''10 seconds''.
* The '''MHD Overdrive''' will maxmize your afterburner ("MHD") meter once per second for ''20 seconds''. After this, there will be a cooldown of ''5 seconds''.

==Walkthrough==

First, you will need to pick your crew:

# Selecting '''Falcata Wing''' will increase your turrets' rate of fire.
# Selecting the '''''Vindicator'' crew''' will increase the recharge rate of your weapons, shields, and afterburners.
# The other two options don't really do anything.

After some dialogue, you will jump to the asteroid. There you will find the Reverend's destroyer, the [[Morena MacDuff|''Morena MacDuff'']], and several [[GTSG Alastor|sentry]] [[GTSG Cerberus|guns]] on the approaches to the habitat. If you saved the Gef pilots in [[Nothing Is True]], there will also be 2 [[GEC Ancamna|''Ancamna''-class cruisers]] waiting for you.

There are two options for completing the mission successfully:

# Clear the way for the ''Andex'' to board the habitat by destroying all of the Gef ships and turrets orbiting the asteroid, or
# Enter and destroy the asteroid.

===Capture Option===
The clock is ticking, so start moving toward your targets; an MHD boost right at the start should get you close enough to start sniping at the destroyer's weapons with your gauss cannon. Eventually, the destroyer will open up with her [[Ouster]] torpedoes; wait for them to close to about 2000m, then deploy flares. If you have a rapid-fire secondary equipped like the [[Gattler]] or [[Firestorm]], you can also take out the torpedoes yourself; try to hit them before they close to 250 meters so their warheads don't arm.

After the destroyer's first salvo, a wing of [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]] fighters (Aquarius), led by Ivan Gwilym, will converge on you. Let your Point Defense Turrets do the work and switch to Darts in the missile launcher. When the fighters are destroyed, switch back to your Warhammers and concentrate fire on the destroyer and the two cruisers. Try not to get too close to the cruisers, if they're around; their turrets will eat you for breakfast.

The destroyer is heavily armored, and will not take much damage; after you hit it enough, your tactical officer finds that the overworked [[GTD Orion|Orion]] reactor at the heart of the destroyer has a quick-release system that has much less armor on it. Target the reactor casings with your subsystem targeting and start pounding away. When the reactor is sufficiently exposed, hit it with your gauss cannon a few times and watch MacDuff go boom (from a safe distance). You may have to reposition in order to hit it effectively.

At some point after you kill Aquarius wing, Sergei Gwilym will show up in his [[GTF Ulysses|Ulysses]] with a wing of [[GTB Medusa|Medusa]] bombers (Leo). Do what you did before; switch the missile launcher to Darts, get some distance, and launch countermeasures. Eventually, Sergei will die, sputtering and flaming as his ship blows up. Ah, fun times.

The ideal conditions for deploying the ''Andex'' are when you have destroyed all of the Gef capships and fighters, with at least two minutes remaining on the clock; they take at least that long to land and breach the colony. While they're on approach, take out the sentry guns surrounding the colony towers. As they get closer, safe your missile launchers and PDTs so you don't accidentally engage the ''Andex'' and destroy her.

After the sentry guns are down, stand by and let your Marines dock and they will do the rest of the work. If you managed to capture the station without killing all of the Gef leaders (''Morena MacDuff'', ''Aquarius 1'' and Sergei Gwilym's Ulysses), [[Special Operations Command|SOC]] [[GTF Pegasus|stealth fighters]] will arrive to clean house. Thankfully, they're not there for you, so you can go about your business.

===Destruction Option===
Not long after you enter the asteroid system, a [[UENB Alexandria|nav buoy]] will be added to your escort list marking the entry point into the asteroid. Aim for it and pour on the speed; don't worry about engaging the capital ships. When you get inside, you find a subspace gate built right into the asteroid, the reactor for the subspace gate, and an [[UEA Oculus|''Oculus''-class AWACS]] as lookout (and boy, one can wonder how they got their hands on one of those).

Your target is the reactor. Use your missile and gauss cannons to destroy it while your PDTs handle the [[Spacesuit]]s that will get launched at you in a desperate move to stop you. Eventually you will get an exit point nav buoy added to your escort list; start moving toward that while you attack the reactor.

Once you kill the reactor -- which starts happening around 10% or less -- '''run'''. You need to get at least 5000 meters away from the asteroid before it detonates completely. Use your MHD Overdrive and put the hammer down on the afterburner key to clear the area. Once you do so, you can watch the fireworks. Be aware of the ''Morena MacDuff'', however; she will stay behind to kill you while the cruisers jump out (if they were around). You can take her out (see the capture option for how) or jump out, your call. Either way, the asteroid is now a mass grave, full of the charred and irradiated corpses of women and children. Congratulations, you saved humanity!

==Notes==
* This plan probably explains why Kostadin Cell [[For the Wrong Reasons|attacked the UEFr ''Nauticus'']], as she was carrying n-space oscillators needed to make subspace drives.
* If you don't kill the ''Morena MacDuff'' in the course of a successful mission, the debrief reveals that the SOC killed the Reverend 30 minutes after you left.
* If you don't end up killing Sergei Gwilym, and your mission is a success, the debrief reveals that he will probably never have a power base again because of his extremist views.
* It can be speculated that the reactor inside the ''Morena MacDuff'' was taken from one of the (presumably sold-off) [[GTD Orion|''Orion''-class destroyers]] of the [[GTA]] 1st Fleet, possibly the GTD ''Washington''.

==Total number of forces==
{{total_numbers_3
|belligerent_1 =[[United Earth Federation|UEF]]
|belligerent_2 =[[Gaian Effort]]
|belligerent_3 =[[GTVA]]
|ship_1 =
* 1 [[UEC Custos-X|UEC ''Custos-X'']]
** ''Vindicator''
* 1 [[UET Corsair|UET ''Corsair'']]
** ''Andex'' (&)

|ship_2 =
* [[Morena MacDuff|''Morena MacDuff'']]
* 2 [[GEC Ancamna|GEC ''Ancamna'']]
** ''Ancamna'' (2) (*)
* 1 [[UEA Oculus|UEA ''Oculus'']]
** ''Gaian Effort Oculus''
* 1 [[GTSG Cerberus|GTSG ''Cerberus'']]
** Sentry Gun
* 4 [[GTSG Alastor|GTSG ''Alastor'']]
** Sentry Gun (4)

|ship_3 =

|strikecraft_1 =

|strikecraft_2 =
* 3 [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|''Scimitar'']]
** ''Aquarius 1''
*** Ivan Gwilym
** ''Aquarius 2''
** ''Aquarius 3''
* 3 [[GTB Medusa|GTB ''Medusa'']]
** ''Leo'' (3) (&)
* 1 [[GTF Ulysses|GTF ''Ulysses'']]
** Sergei Gwilym (&)
* 3 [[Spacesuit]]
** GEF Suit (3)

|strikecraft_3 =
* 9 [[GTF Pegasus|GTF ''Pegasus'']]
** ''Auriga'' (4) (&)
** ''Borealis'' (4) (&)
** ''Sagittarius 1'' (&)

|casualties_1 =
* 0-1 [[UET Corsair|UET ''Corsair'']]
** ''Andex'' (&)

|casualties_2 =
* [[Morena MacDuff|''Morena MacDuff'']] (#)
* 0-2 [[GEC Ancamna|GEC ''Ancamna'']]
** ''Ancamna'' (2) (*)
* 0-3 [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|''Scimitar'']]
** ''Aquarius 1''
*** Ivan Gwilym
** ''Aquarius 2''
** ''Aquarius 3''
* 0-3 [[GTB Medusa|GTB ''Medusa'']]
** ''Leo'' (3) (&)
* 0-1 [[GTF Ulysses|GTF ''Ulysses'']]
** Sergei Gwilym (&)

|casualties_3 =
* 0-9 [[GTF Pegasus|GTF ''Pegasus'']]
** ''Auriga'' (4) (&)
** ''Borealis'' (4) (&)
** ''Sagittarius 1'' (&)
}}

'''(*) Appears only if you let the Gef pilots go free in [[Nothing Is True]]''' 
'''(&) Appearance dependent on mission conditions''' 
'''(#) May be killed off screen'''

User:Logomancer/Isolation (BP)

2018-08-06T07:11:59Z

Logomancer:

Darkest Hour

2016-10-21T22:49:42Z

Logomancer: /* Walkthrough */

{{BPArticle}}

{{Mission|previous=For the Wrong Reasons|next=My Brother, My Enemy|campaign=Blue Planet: War in Heaven Campaign Walkthrough}}

'''MISSION 06''' 
'''ACT 1, MISSION 06'''

'''Fighter squadron:''' 170th Fighting Navajas

'''Description:''' The Navajas are scrambled to defend Earth-orbit Rheza Station from fighters and warships from the GTD ''Imperieuse'' battlegroup.

----
==Background==
Shortly before this mission begins, Enabran Kassim, unable to cope with the massive loss of life involved in the war, suffers a nervous breakdown. In an alcohol-fueled episode, he "goes off like a magazine breach" and is subsequently removed from active flight status.

Later, Admiral Byrne reports to the crew of the ''Solaris'' that the GTVA, in the personage of the battlegroup of the GTD ''Imperieuse'', has launched a major assault on Earth's orbital installations. The Navajas are scrambled to assist in defending Rheza Station, which is under attack by the GTCv ''Redoubtable'' and several fighter and bomber wings. While Athens Station and Malta Station share an orbital slot with Rheza, their contributions to the war effort are not as important as Rheza's; as a result, they are given a lower priority for defense.

==Walkthrough==
As usual, you start in an [[UEF Uhlan|Uhlan]]. For loadout, I would suggest loading a [[Vulcan]] or a [[Scalpel]] in the first primary slot, and a [[Maul]] in the second; the Scalpel will make it easier to de-beam the corvettes you'll be facing. The default secondary loadout is one bank each of [[Javelin]]s, [[Dirk]]s, and [[Hellfire]]s. I'd recommend replacing the Hellfires with either Javelins or Dirks.

This mission is the first time you are given wing command. While Brie is still in command of Alpha wing, you will be leading Beta wing, along with Gamma and Delta when Rheza Station launches them.

As soon as you start, you see Rheza Station is under attack by the ''Redoubtable'', a [[GTCv Deimos|''Deimos''-class corvette]] and some strikecraft consisting of [[GTB Artemis|Artemis]] bombers with [[GTF Myrmidon|Myrmidon]] escorts, with the ''Vatican'', a [[UEC Sanctus|''Sanctus''-class cruiser]] defending it. If you want the ''Vatican'' to survive -- and you probably do, as it will make things easier later -- destroying the beams on the ''Redoubtable'' is your first priority. You only need to destroy the two front beams and the rear left beam. Destroy the left beams first, as they're already in firing range. You can see the enemy cruisers ''Novikov'' and ''Courageous'' in the distance, but they are very far away and not a concern.

Once you've disarmed the ''Redoubtable'', you can ignore it and start focusing on the strikecraft attacking the station. As usual, prioritize the bombers. A wing of [[UEF Uriel|Uriel]]s (Omega) will arrive to run off the ''Redoubtable''. After the ''Redoubtable'' leaves, you get a short break, but probably not enough to rearm yourself. If you want your wingmen to survive, it is a good idea to order them to cover you. Soon, a wing of [[GTB Boanerges|Boanerges]] and [[GTB Artemis|Artemis]] bombers will arrive, along with their Myrmidon and [[GTF Kulas|Kulas]] escorts. If the ''Vatican'' is still around, the Artemis will attack her. If you want the ''Vatican'' to live, you'll probably need to send your wingmates to protect her while you focus on the Boanerges and their escorts, which will head straight for Rheza Station.

Once the bombers are destroyed, more wings will jump in and harrass your charges. Eventually, two wings of [[GTB Rhea|Rhea]]s will jump in from opposite directions to launch a volley of [[Trebuchet]]s at you. Evade the Trebs; you can destroy the Rheas if you want, but this is optional. They'll jump out shortly after launch.

After the Treb strike, two wings of Boanerges bombers will jump in to pincer Rheza. Meanwhile, 3 [[GTA Charybdis|Charybdis-class AWACS ships]], the ''Sagacious'', ''Acuity'', and ''Killian Bard'', will arrive and start setting up SSM strikes. Assign one wing to each of the bomber wings, and one wing to the AWACS. If the ''Vatican'' survives to this point, they will begin attacking the AWACS.

After the bombers and AWACS are off the field, the [[GTCv Diomedes|''Diomedes''-class corvette]] ''Valerie'' will jump in close to the station. It will launch a wing of Artemis bombers from its hangar (with some fighter escort on higher difficulties). Intercept the bombers if you can, but stay out of the ''Valerie'''s firing solution. Soon, the [[UEFg Indus|''Indus'']] will jump in and attack the ''Valerie''. After killing the bombers, you will probably need to de-beam the corvette in order to take some pressure off. After the ''Valerie'' is destroyed, the [[GTD Atreus|''Atreus'']] will come and attempt to attack the station, but will be driven off by the arrival of a pair of [[UEFg Narayana|''Narayana''-class frigates]]. After this, you can jump out or stay a little longer for the dialogue.

==Notes==
* You will fail the mission if the ''Indus'' is destroyed.
* Keeping at least one wingman in Beta alive is a bonus objective. You also get dialogue if all of them stay alive (but you do not get an additional bonus). If you wish, you can tell any one of Beta to depart at any time, especially if you believe they won't last against the ''Valerie''.

==Total number of forces==
{{total_numbers_2
|belligerent_1 =[[United Earth Federation|UEF]]
|belligerent_2 =[[Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance|GTVA]]
|ship_1 =
* 1 [[UEFr Demeter|UEFr ''Demeter'']]
** ''Bandersnatch''
* 1 [[UEC Sanctus|UEC ''Sanctus'']]
** ''Vatican''
* 1 [[UEFg Karuna|UEFg ''Karuna'']]
** [[UEFg Indus|''Indus'']]
* 2 [[UEFg Narayana|UEFg ''Narayana'']]
** ''Vikrant''
** ''Toreador''

|ship_2 =
* 1 [[GTCv Deimos|GTCv ''Deimos'']]
** ''Redoubtable''
* 2 [[GTC Hyperion|GTC ''Hyperion'']]
** ''Courage''
** ''Novikov''
* 3 [[GTA Charybdis|GTA ''Charybdis'']]
** ''Sagacious''
** ''Acuity''
** ''Killian Bard''
* 1 [[GTCv Diomedes|GTCv ''Diomedes'']]
** ''Valerie''
* 1 [[GTD Raynor|GTD ''Raynor'']]
** [[GTD Atreus|''Atreus'']]

|strikecraft_1 =

|strikecraft_2 =

|casualties_1 =

|casualties_2 =

}}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-08-04T01:40:50Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan Comm Node */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:Sfrasmodeus-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
 
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:Sfrdis-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:Sfrmephisto-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:Stazrael-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:Ssgrahu-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:Ssgtrident-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:Ssgbelial-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>
 

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-08-04T01:40:30Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan support ships */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

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===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

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==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:Sfrasmodeus-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
 
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:Sfrdis-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:Sfrmephisto-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:Stazrael-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:Ssgrahu-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:Ssgtrident-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:Ssgbelial-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>
 

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-08-04T01:39:19Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan support ships */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
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===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
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===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
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===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:Sfrasmodeus-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:Sfrdis-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:Sfrmephisto-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:Stazrael-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
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===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:Ssgrahu-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:Ssgtrident-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:Ssgbelial-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
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===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:39:40Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan Comm Node */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
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===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
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===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
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===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:39:24Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan Comm Node */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:39:06Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan Comm Node */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
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==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
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===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
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===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
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===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
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===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
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===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
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===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
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===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
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===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
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=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:Shivancommnode-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:38:22Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan capital ships */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

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===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

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===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

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===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

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===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

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===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

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==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

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===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
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==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
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===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
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===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
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===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
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===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:Sddemon-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:HTLRavana640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:RScreen0023.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:Sjsathanas.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
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===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
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===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
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===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
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===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:35:15Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan warships */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

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===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

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===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
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==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
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===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
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===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
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===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
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===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
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===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
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===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:Sccain.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:Sclilith.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:Scrakshasa.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:Moloch480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>

==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 
==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:32:48Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan ships */ Fixed another oops

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

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===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

{{comment|}}

 

=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
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==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
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===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
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===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
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===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
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===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
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===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
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===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
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===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
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===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
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=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>
==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 
==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;
white-space: -moz-pre-wrap;
white-space: -pre-wrap;
white-space: -o-pre-wrap;
word-wrap: break-word;">
NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T23:31:56Z

Logomancer: /* Shivan ships */ Fixed oops

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

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===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

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===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

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==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

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===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
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===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
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===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
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==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
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===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
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==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
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===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
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===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
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===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
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===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
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===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
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===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
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===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
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===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
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=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>
==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 
==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
===[[SB Nahema]]===
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>
==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>

==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
</pre>

=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

{{comment| }}

Blue Planet ships data

2016-07-18T04:04:53Z

Logomancer: /* SB Seraphim */

{{BPArticle}}

This page aims to be a one-stop shop for tech room entries and veteran comments relating to BP ships.

Back to [[Blue Planet Tech Room data]].

=GTVA Terran ships=
==GTVA Terran fighters==
===[[GTF Ulysses]]===
[[Image:Gtfulysses.jpg|left|240px]]
A product of joint Terran-Vasudan design, the Ulysses is a Great War-era light space superiority fighter renowned for its maneuverability and slim target profile. It saw limited action during the Second Shivan Incursion, serving on front-line units with the Neo-Terran Front and as a combat evaluation fighter with the GTVA. The Ulysses remains in very limited production, but has been completely retired from front-line GTVA formations.

 

{{comment| The Ulysses is notably used in one occasion by the [[Gaian Effort]]'s Kostadin cell, as part of a semi-hidden, semi-bonus gauntlet. They use the callsign "Kostadin Habitat Guard", sport the Balls of Steele AI, are armed with [[Balor]], [[Vulcan]] and [[Dart]], and are part of a wing with 55 waves also comprising a couple of similarly-equipped [[Scimitar (Blue Planet)|Scimitar]], and escorting a [[GEC Ancamna]] gunship.}}

===[[GTF Loki]]===
[[Image:Gtfloki.jpg|left|240px]]
The linchpin of GTI fighter forces during Rybak's Hades Rebellion was the Loki stealth fighter. Initially an invisible nightmare, the Loki lost its main tactical advantage when a weakness in its stealth systems was discovered. It was moved into the role of scout fighter during Reconstruction, but was often pressed into the dogfight and intercept role by the Neo-Terran Front, where it earned praise for its agility but struggled to compensate for its structural weakness. The Loki has not been produced since the NTF Rebellion, and most remaining spaceframes have been sold off.

 

{{comment| The only use of this ship in BP so far is as the mental representation of Ken in Noémie's mind.}}

===[[GTF Hercules]]===
[[Image:Gtfhercules.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hercules assault fighter was the crowning jewel of Allied fighter forces during the Great War, and it remained a favorite amongst pilots even after the introduction of its successor, the Hercules II. Many Hercules units were lost during the NTF rebellion. The Hercules has been pulled from front-line service, and production has been discontinued. Remaining spaceframes serve as targets or in security operations.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Myrmidon]]===
[[Image:Gtfmyrmidon.jpg|left|240px]]
The Myrmidon fighter, designed by RNI Systems to fulfill an impossibly broad request from the Admiralty, is a space superiority fighter with problematic handling, the primary firepower of an assault craft, and three secondary banks of unusual design and limited capacity. It is gradually being phased out, but still serves as a line fighter, bomber escort, and battle group guardian across the Terran elements of the Alliance fleet. Some pilots achieve a particular affinity with this unusual craft, but in general its wide target profile has given it a reputation as a pilot-killer. Captured Neo-Terran Front pilots reported that the Myrmidon was respected for its firepower but considered too clumsy for its role.

 

{{comment| Do NOT underestimate the ship based on how cheap and vulnerable it is, a 4x Balor and Tornado racks can easily ruin your day.}}

===[[GTF Perseus]]===
[[Image:Perseus 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The mainstay of the Terran fleet after the Second Incursion, the Perseus is produced on nearly every world in the Alliance and assigned to every destroyer in every battle group. Reassigned from intercept to multirole combatant after its sterling performance during the Second Incursion, the Perseus is cheap, flexible, and an excellent dogfighter and interceptor. In a pinch it can perform anti-subsystem strikes on warships with Stiletto II bombs. Even with the advent of next-generation fighters, the Perseus will remain in service for years to come.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, this is practically one of the best fighters of the game. The long distances you have to cross make the Perseus the ideal fighter, and its maneuverability is good enough so you can evade quite well. The only thing it cannot do for any less experienced pilot is basically destroy Shivan cruisers wholesale without risk of suffering heavy damage, that is typically left to wingmen you give Maxims to or with bomber support. Always take the Prometheus Standard with this ship, and if you can, take the UD-8 Kayser. Sometimes, the Balor may not be the ideal weapon to bring onto a Perseus because of the 2/2 gun configuration if you tend to use linked-fire mode on your primaries (on its own, it stands out as a good interception weapon). Most times, you may want to take a Perseus over an Aurora mainly because the Aurora simply doesn't have the reactor juice necessary to sustain use of higher-draw weaponry (the one true advantage the Aurora has over the Perseus is the ability to mount a quad Balor, which doesn't have the rate-of-fire suffering as a dual Balor in linked mode).

In War in Heaven, Persei armed with the Balor and Prometheus Standard are one of the few that actually hold a candle against UEF ships. They typically have Harpoons and/or Trebuchets. Expect at least one wing of them to be in your operations zone in every mission. Out of the Second Incursion-age craft, the Perseus remains as one of the most useful ships in the GTVA ranks, and it handles multi-tasking as well as the GTF Apollo of old (the difference being Apollos were mainly superiority/assault and Persei being superiority/intercept).}}

===[[GTF Hercules Mark II]]===
[[Image:Herc Mk2 12 w14 lighting.png|left|240px]]
The Hercules II assault fighter sacrifices some of its predecessor's cannon firepower for a boost in secondary capacity. The modernized, hybrid spaceframe offers enhanced ordnance bays and a sophisticated fire control computer. The Hercules II performed well during its OpEval period and, despite casualties during the Second Shivan Incursion, was judged a success in its assigned role attacking lightly defended targets and cruisers. However, the introduction of the Ares spaceframe, a modified Hercules II, has limited Hercules II deployment in the true heavy assault role. Hercules II fighters are used as skirmishers against lightly defended convoys, and as heavy missile pickets on escort missions.

 

{{comment| In Age of Aquarius, the Herc II can easily work for you, and one of the fighters with a somewhat high survival rate. Armed with a Kayser/Maxim combo, these ships can prove their salt in [[Forced Entry]].

In War in Heaven, these ships are almost always on the scene rigging Maxim strikes at long range, making them a priority. The other massive threat they pose is with their swarm missiles, which can do a number on cruisers and frigates. If they are in an anti-fighter role ([[Delenda Est]]), they have a Prom S/Balor combination and are not afraid to abuse Harpoons against you.}}

===[[GTF Erinyes]]===
[[Image:Gtferinyes.jpg|left|240px]]
The Erinyes had barely entered its OpEval period when the Second Shivan incursion began. It served with SOC units and, later, elite line squadrons, where it gained a reputation for massive firepower but low sustainability. Mounting the UD-8 Kayser probability weapon, the Erinyes' eight gun banks and good secondary capability give it tremendous killing power. But its reactor cannot handle the strain of sustained fire, and its maneuverability leaves something to be desired. Although it proved effective at massacring most Shivan fighters, and went into wide-scale production during the Threat Exigency Initiative, it remains an oddly paradoxical design - an excellent killer but a limited fighter. As agility became more and more critical to fighter design, the complex Erinyes proved impossible to re-engineer. Although it remains in service with elite squadrons for heavy space superiority missions, it will soon be superceded by the next-generation GTF Nyx.

 

{{comment| In [[My Brother, My Enemy]], the Erinyes fighters you see are equipped with UD-8 Kaysers, often being the main source of frustration for that mission. Once you have access to the Rapier, these fighters are relatively easy to cut through.}}

===[[GTF Ares]]===
[[Image:Gtfares.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ares was the result of a crash program to rebuild the Hercules Mark 2 as a heavily armored missile boat. Slower and clumsier than its base model, the Ares mounts depleted uranium armor plating over critical subsystems, molybdenum plates, and enhanced shields. It can carry sufficient [[Trebuchet]] missiles to disarm a light warship or fend off multiple bomber wings before rearming. The Ares entered service just as the Shivans stormed Capella, and what few units were available saved thousands of lives during escort missions. Despite a stormy production history, the Ares is now a front-line combatant, used in heavy assault missions, pop-up [[Trebuchet]] strikes, and critical defensive missions. Despite its usefulness as a missile platform, it cannot dogfight effectively, and must avoid interceptors at all costs.

 

{{comment| The few times you see the Ares, they will be launching plot-critical Trebuchet attacks against you or wings you need to defend. Missiles are a surefire way to bring them down.}}

===[[GTF Pegasus]]===
[[Image:Gtfpegasus.jpg|left|240px]]
The low-visibility, sensor-stealthed Pegasus fighter is a recon platform above all else. Operated primarily by Special Operations Command, Pegasus pilots work in pairs or alone, cruising for long cold hours or days without making telltale subspace jumps. The onboard sensor systems are adequate to the recon task, but limited by the need to maintain EMCON. Even when they must make subspace transits, Pegasus jump drives are difficult to detect or vector. Pegasus pilots gathered critical information that helped suppress brush wars after the Second Incursion, and allegedly performed deniable assassination missions.

 

{{comment| Note that the Pegasii used in [[Deals in Shadows]] are force-mounted with [[Maxim]] guns through the mission file, even though they would normally be incapable of equipping them.}}

===[[GTF Aurora]]===
[[Image:GTFAurora.png|left|240px]]
The Aurora is a heavy reconnaissance fighter designed to replace the Loki in its intended role of scouting, interception and space superiority. The Aurora is a swift fighter and carries several advanced avionics and sensor systems to assist in the gathering of information. However, the added equipment has produced a heavy hull, limiting the combat manoeuverability of the design. Aurora fighters are currently undergoing mission trials with the 14th Battlegroup in the Sol system.

 

{{comment|}}

 

===[[GTF Kulas]]===
[[Image:Ptfkulas.jpg|left|240px]]
The GTF Kulas was originally a civilian design popular with pirates and law enforcement agencies within GTVA systems. After the resolution of the Second Shivan Incursion, RNI Systems refurbished the design, replacing the old reactor with one of military grade. The result is a moderately powerful light fighter, notable for its excellent afterburner endurance - allowing it to cover large areas in pursuit of bombers. The GTVA purchased enormous numbers of Kulas to fill out escort squadrons.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Atalanta]]===
[[Image:Gtfatalanta.jpg|left|240px]]
The Atalanta is the first of the Threat Exigency Initiative's Wave 2 fighters, true next-generation strike craft with extraordinarily capabilities. Produced in record time by the Alliance's first wholly classified procurement and design process - plagued by rumors of intrigue and mysterious 'red assets' - the Atalanta is an elegant, minimalist design wholly devoted to murdering other strike craft with very nearly Shivan flight characteristics. The original specifications of the Atalanta called for a multirole interceptor and space superiority fighter. Due to the United Earth Federation's fighter corps' successes, this variant has been field-modified to enhance its capabilities in the space-superiority role. These fighters remain rare in the Terran theatre, but they are likely to become a mainstay of Alliance forces in the near future.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Nyx]]===
[[Image:Nyx.png|left|240px]]
A product of the second wave of Threat Exigency Initiative fighters, the advanced GTF Nyx is one of the newest GTVA heavy fighters, falling somewhere between multirole heavy assault/space superiority niche and the Vasudan concept of a space dominance fighter. The design was fast-tracked in 2385 as a response to increasing fighter losses to superior UEF fighter designs. A dedicated gunship killer, with heavy armour and firepower, this fighter has become the bane of many a UEF pilot. It marries the Erinyes' eight gun banks with the agility and versatility of the Perseus interceptor, producing a sterling design that has become a pilot favorite. Extraordinary cost, however, has slowed its planned deployment.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTF Draco]]===
[[Image:Gtfdraco-bp.jpg|left|240px]]
Analysis of defensive actions during the Second Incursion, such as the evacuation of Third Fleet Headquarters in Capella, revealed systemic failures in defensive fighter coverage. Multi-axis attack by lightly escorted Shivan bombers demanded rapid redeployment across kilometers of space, and in terms of pure linear speed, no Terran fighter design was up to the challenge. When the Threat Exigency Initiative was launched, one of the first demands of the GTVA admiralty was for a new dedicated fighter design in the pure intercept role, a tactical niche left empty since the retirement of the GTF Valkyrie in 2361.

The result of a rare collaboration between Triton Dynamics and its longtime competitor Nankam Aeronautical, including subcontracts to Snapka-Flegel and Boone Thrusters, the Draco was accepted for combat evaluation trials a few weeks before the outbreak of the war in Sol, conducting peacekeeping and customs operations in the Terran periphery. Its stunning speed and fast recharge drive capacitors quickly made it a pilot favorite.

Evaluation did not complete in time for the departure of the 14th Battlegroup, and GTVA Command further held back its deployment to the Sol theater for fear that it would be easy prey for UEF point defenses and the heavier Kentauroi. While it remains a rare sight, these concerns were largely unfounded, and thanks to a doctrine of evasion and attack by pure speed, the Draco now enjoys one of the highest kill/casualty ratios of any Alliance strikecraft in the conflict. Although its light weapons suite - designed to engage Shivan bombers and intercept warheads - leaves it arguably undergunned when attacking heavier UEF strike craft, the Draco nonetheless exerts a powerful tactical presence, dictating terms of engagement and placing its opponents firmly on the defensive.

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran bombers==
===[[GTB Zeus]]===
[[Image:Gtbzeus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Zeus was a GTI tactical bomber, designed for light anti-shipping work and as a tactical missile platform. For nearly twelve years after the Second Incursion, the Zeus actually remained in production to serve as a stopgap Trebuchet delivery system, as well as in its historical role carrying light warheads like the Stiletto II. The Zeus now serves as a training target and has been largely removed from service.

 

{{comment| Don't bother flying this bomber. The Hercules Mark Two is much more survivable and capable (with the raw damage output from a Maxim and Trebuchets alone), and in [[A Time for Heroes]], you're better off taking the Ursa or Boanerges.}}

===[[GTB Medusa]]===
[[Image:GTBMedusa.png|left|240px]]
The Medusa is an obsolete Great War-era bomber. It was used in an anti-shipping role by the Neo-Terran Front, but never met with any real success. GTVA pilots considered the Medusa an ineffective deathtrap.

 

{{comment| You can see this bomber in use by the Gaian Effort in [[One Future]].}}

 

===[[GTB Artemis]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemis.png|left|240px]]
Artemis bombers were not anticipated to be a success, but after a strong showing during the NTF rebellion, they now represent the majority of the GTVA's tactical strike ability. Maneuverable and cheap, the Artemis is able to deliver its payload rapidly. Tactical analysis suggested that bombers rarely survived prolonged engagement, so the Artemis' limited warhead capacity is considered non-problematic. Without defensive turrets, the Artemis is reliant on fighter escort, but it can dogfight if pressed. This behavior is strongly discouraged during pilot training, but because Artemis bombers are often deployed with inadequate escort, it frequently becomes necessary. The bomber's single primary bank is often fitted with a Maxim cannon for supplementary firepower.

 

{{comment| Rigged with a quad Maxim and Cyclops Torpedoes, these bombers are more of a valid threat than other targets in the area. Intercept ASAP. Hellfire and Javelin volleys can do a number on them.}}

===[[GTB Artemis D.H.]]===
[[Image:GTBArtemisDH.png|left|240px]]
A more maneuverable variant of the Artemis bomber, the Artemis DH has seen production alongside its white-skinned cousin. It is used in the same tactical role, targeting cruisers and corvettes.

 

{{comment| Same tactics as the Artemis, however some D.H. bombers have a 4x Balor.}}

===[[GTB Boanerges]]===
[[Image:GTBBoanerges.png|left|240px]]
A controversial new heavy bomber at the time of the Second Shivan Incursion, the Boanerges proved a logistical dream but a mixed blessing tactically. Heavily shielded and with a large payload, the Boanerges eschewed defensive turrets as "of limited use." Bomber pilots did not react strongly to this decision, and although the Boanerges is at least capable in its role, it still divides pilots today. Good maneuverability allows the Boanerges some success in reaching its targets, but in spite of heavy armor cannot withstand defensive fire from warships or interceptors. It is an open question whether heavy bombers will remain tactically relevant. For the moment, the Boanerges' easy maintenance, cheap assembly, and long lifespan make it common in the heavy anti-shipping and anti-installation role.

 

{{comment|''In [[A Time for Heroes]], you are given a choice to fly this ship in a [[Bearbaiting]]-like strike against a Sathanas juggernaut. This is probably the only mission ever made, canon- or fan-made regardless, that can do justice to this ship. Apart from better missile bank distribution, the Boanerges' slight speed advantage over the Ursa means that, defended properly by its escort, a single Boanerges could theoretically de-beam the Sathanas' main guns within a distance of two to three klicks without calling for a support ship, assuming that it carries two banks of Helios torpedoes, fires them in dual-fire mode, and each paired warhead shot scores a direct hit on each beam. Maxim compatibility means that it can still hang around and lay down barrages of anti-hull fire even if its bays are emptied.''

''The biggest failing of the Boanerges is its very low hull integrity, which is comparable to the Medusa rather than the Ursa. This makes anti-shield weapons useful against them as they can be easily dispatched with normal missiles once their shields are gone. Boanerges pilots tend to launch dual Cyclops torpedoes, or even the Helios on occasion. If all else fails, a Grimler or Slammer works.''}}

===[[GTB Ursa]]===
[[Image:Gtbursa.jpg|left|240px]]
Fifty years after the Great War, the Ursa bomber still serves the GTVA as an inflexible but powerful anti-shipping platform. With limited speed, the Ursa struggles to reach its targets, and in spite of heavy armor it cannot survive engagement with even a single interceptor. Its large target profile renders it vulnerable to flak and beam fire. Tactical doctrine calls for Ursa deployment against destroyers after their antifighter defenses are disarmed and their fighter compliment depleted. Designers today consider the Ursa a dead end, and strive to manufacture bombers with fighter-like maneuverability and speed.

 

{{comment| Practically one of the ships that you can hand some of your wingmen in [[Universal Truth]], Ursas can do a fantastic job of defense if they have a tri-Prometheus S and a dual Balor, along with anti-fighter missiles and area suppression warheads.

Not seen at all during War in Heaven Part One.}}

===[[GTB Rhea]]===
[[Image:Gtbrhea.jpg|left|240px]]
The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Its primary role was, at least in theory, to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. This tactic has been quietly discouraged by squadron leaders, and although the Rhea is generally considered a success, it now flies with escort like other bomber designs. Its unusual asymmetrical design is unpopular with pilots, but it appears to be a statistical success even amongst the historically casualty-prone bomber force.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTB Stheno|GTB Gorgon]]===
[[Image:GTBStheno.png|left|240px]]
Next-generation GTVA fortress bomber. Designed to perform standoff attacks with Bifrost torpedos, launch local SSMs, and command flights of drone bombers. Survivability and return rate are primary design goals, so the class carries self-defense EMP charges, armor hardeners, and a sprint drive. BACKBREAKER integration provides the Gorgon with full AWACS capability.

 

{{comment| }}

 
==GTVA Terran warships==
===[[GTC Cretheus]]===
[[Image:GTCCretheus.png|left|240px]]
The Cretheus gunboat, officially a Fast Picket, is a small, cheap, agile escort with dedicated antifighter defenses, limited anti-warship ability, and a tortured design history. The prototype was fielded during the Second Incursion, intended as a cheap, numerous escort platform armed with eight Flak Turrets. But the first prototype was lost during its OpEval period in a classified operation on the fringes of the Capella system, and the findings of the loss investigation pointed to unacceptable vulnerability to hostile beam-armed warships. RNI designers protested that the ship was never meant to operate under such conditions, but lobbying by the Akheton Corporation, which hoped to push a variant Mentu design into the light escort role, managed to block the other prototypes from deployment to Capella where, ironically, they might have saved tens of thousands of lives lost to Shivan bombers. The spaceframe was brought back into consideration during the first wave of the Threat Exigency Initiative, but Morgan Technologies asked for it to be held back until it could be packaged with first new fire control systems, then provisions for their new pulse weapons, then improved flak magazine storage. The design entered mass production two years before the Reunion in a number of variants, but the Akheton Corporation again held back its deployment, and it is only now being cycled into the Sol theater where it is intended as a gunship deterrent and point defense picket.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTC Fenris]]===
[[Image:Gtcfenris.jpg|left|240px]]
The Fenris was never a successful warship design. Too lightly armored to withstand assault fighter attacks, unable to meaningfully engage other warships even after upgraded with beam weapons, and bogged down by inefficient reactors and an obsolete spaceframe, the Fenris is now used solely as a target or a patrol cruiser. Cramped quarters and an inflated crew count due to obsolete automation make posting to a Fenris into a punishment detail.

{{comment| }}

 

===[[GTC Leviathan]]===
[[Image:Gtcleviathan.jpg|left|240px]]
Unlike its cousin the Fenris, with which it shares a spaceframe, the Leviathan remains in limited use in some battle groups as a destroyer defense picket. It is useless against modern warships, but its four Phalanx anti-fighter systems give it respectable deterrent ability. Painfully slow both in realspace and in terms of subspace agility, the Leviathan is a crude, inefficient, and largely obsolete warship.

 

{{comment| You'll see these ships in [[Delenda Est]], and they're evil, covering the Deimos corvettes (as observed by one hapless pilot who died by the GTC Systema a lot). If you keep getting shot up by these cruisers, use your long-range anti-subsystem weapons to take out the rear-flank beams.}}

===[[GTC Aeolus]]===
[[Image:Gtcaeolus.jpg|left|240px]]
Although cruisers are now largely considered obsolete, the Aeolus was so successful at fending off fighters and bombers during the collapse of Capella that production lines were re-opened. New manufacturing techniques brought costs down, and today, Aeolus-class 'cruisers' serve in the role of tactical gunboat, escorting corvettes and destroyers and anchoring rapid-response Jump Five teams. They are ineffective against warship but truly nightmares to any nearby fighters.

 

{{comment| Re-opening the production lines of that warship was one of the best decisions the Tevs did. You are reminded the hard way of the effectiveness of this flak farm as early as [[Collateral Damage]] and [[Post Meridian]]. It is only when you finally get access to the [[Uriel]] and [[Paveway]] missiles that assaulting this warship becomes non-suicidary.}}

===[[GTC Hyperion]]===
[[Image:8bnLN4f.png|left|240px]]
Oldest of the next-generation GTVA warships, the Hyperion cruiser represents the Alliance's best shot at a new niche for the aging cruiser hull — a scout, skirmisher, and anti-fighter platform that can conduct reconnaissance by fire, draw off bomber wings, and engage larger ships from range with its Thorn Lance light beams.

With corvettes dominating the the main line combatant role, cruisers must be deployed - and built - more carefully. Hyperion captains train to respond to their many predators, including heavy assault wings and beam-armed warships.

After Capella, the Threat Exigency Initiative launched a push for new military technology and doctrine. At the center would be a next generation of warships, more agile, sophisticated, and survivable than their ancestors: capable of sliding around Shivan concentrations and applying force to gaps and weaknesses.

They would also be more expensive. Unfortunately, the Terran economy had just flown into a supernova.

GTVA High Command issued a requirement for a next-generation cruiser that could serve as an escort, skirmisher, and screen element. It would have the anti-fighter prowess of the Aeolus, a highly capable subspace drive, next-generation power systems, and electronic warfare capabilities. All this was true, but it was also a smokescreen.

In truth, the Hyperion-class cruiser was an attempt to shake down next-generation systems...and next-generation procurement. The Admiralty took a torch to the connections between the officer corps and Alliance contractors, then rebuilt the procurement system with brutalist efficiency. Careers flared up, burnt out, and spiraled off into nothing around the Hyperion as teams fought to get their systems on-board.

Economic sequestration placed the Hyperion in danger of cancellation, and suddenly project teams began withdrawing, trying to avoid tying their technology to a failed warship. This left the baffled hull designers with no choice but to build a ship without knowing what equipment it would carry.

The team drew on experience with the Deimos corvette to build the ship from the reactor out, selecting a simple hull form and flexible power grid. This allows the Hyperion to easily mount new systems. Even the forward beam cannons are trivial to replace if destroyed, since the emitters are isolated from the plasma cores.

The first block of Hyperions served as a testbed for meson reactors, pulse weapons, and next-generation beams. Although successful as anti-fighter pickets and reasonably affordable, they didn't hit the mark for subspace agility or anti-ship firepower. The class is still rolling through a series of block upgrades, expanding electronic warfare capabilities and installing survivability packages for the main weapons.

The Hyperion is notorious for the so-called 'bad quench' failure mode of its meson reactors, which severely limits the crew's chances of survival in the event of a hull loss.

 

{{comment| }}

===[[GTCv Deimos]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdeimos.jpg|left|240px]]
The Deimos corvette is to the Terran fleet today what the Fenris was during the Great War. Built in vast quantities, the Deimos now serves as the myrmidon of the GTVA, employing its adequate beam firepower and excellent anti-fighter abilities in its role as destroyer escort, line corvette, patrol craft, and centerpiece of corvette battle teams. It is due to be augmented, but not replaced, by the new [[GTCv Bellerophon|Bellerophon]] and [[GTCv Chimera|Chimera]] corvettes. Molybdenum armor and Vasudan reactors give the Deimos excellent survivability and the ability to jump early and often. Deimos corvettes will continue to be produced for decades to come.

 

{{comment| Those corvettes are by far the most numerous warships you will encounter in the Tev ranks. The Deimos is every bit as balanced as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion, and although it struggles to compete with the overwhelming beam firepower of the newer, but more expensive, TEI corvettes, it still carries enough punch to engage UEF frigates at short ranges, make short work of [[UEC Sanctus|Sanctuses]], and enough anti-fighter coverage to give second thoughts to even the trained UEF pilots and their more advanced fighters. Its four [[TerSlash|TerSlashes]], on top of being slashing beams that can punch more easily through beam jamming, are set up in such a manner that it can nearly always bear two on a single target from any angle. A pair of Deimoses are generally considered equivalent to a [[Karuna]] and a [[Sanctus]], although this obviously depends a lot on the combat situations.

Deimos corvettes seem to be easily retrofitable, as some corvettes in War in Heaven sport [[Terran Turret 2|Terran Turrets II]] or [[STerPulse|STerPulses]].
}}

===[[GTCv Chimera]]===
[[Image:GTCvChimera.png|left|240px]]
The Chimera corvette is the archetypical next-generation warship, a flying beam cannon with a superb subspace drive and power grid. Designed to kill destroyers and Sathanas juggernauts, the Chimera mimics the shock jump tactics of the Second Incursion, drawing on the new ISN BACKBREAKER strategic communications and sensor fusion standard to plot jumps and find targets.

In combat, the Chimera points at the biggest ship around and fires until there's nothing left to shoot at. Three Aurora Wake main beams provide unsurpassed killing power for the hull size. Clouds of vaporized coolant gave the corvette the unflattering nickname 'the bong'. Thermal management is a major concern, and the corvette could easily destroy itself with unwise tactics, but the ship's power grid handles well.

Defensively, the Chimera counts on next-generation active armor and an array of pulse and beam weapons to screen it from bombers. Like all next-generation corvettes, the Chimera must be ready to serve as a destroyer escort.

Chimera production is ramping up, with the perhaps-ambitious goal of matching every Deimos battleteam with a single Chimera by the end of the century. With the exception of the beam reactors, the class came in well under budget.

Of all the TEI's next-generation warships, the Chimera had the smoothest development. Data from the Hyperion class allowed designers to choose simple priorities very early: light hull, huge guns, good heat sinks, good drive, all other concerns secondary. The power grid actually overshot the target, providing the class with excess capabilities that could be exploited by a Block 2 upgrade.

Unfortunately for Chimera crews, no amount of excess power has yet provided a solution for the corvette's abominable living conditions. A software error stocked the first example of the class, Pilum, with thousands of identical pre-cooked meal pouches, each one broccoli and tofu - leading to the much-beloved story of the Cooks' Mutiny. Live on a flying gun, the saying goes, and you get treated like a bullet.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Bellerophon]]===
[[Image:Bellerophon.png|left|240px]]
The Bellerophon heavy corvette is a logical variant of the Chimera, mounting an Ice Queen destroyer-grade beam in place of one of its little sister's Aurora Wakes. The Bellerophon fills the exact same niche as the Chimera, but it brings more force to the battlespace.

Advocates of the Diomedes corvette fought hard to kill the Bellerophon, claiming it was redundant with the Chimera. But VEGADEX data suggested that marginal gains in speed-of-kill on hard targets like destroyers and juggernauts could create vital strategic opportunities. A difference in seconds could win victory. The Admiralty upheld the design requirement.

A special team directly under High Command expanded the hull into a triangular shape, hollowed out a space for a self-contained Ice Queen and thermal systems, and packed the new hull volume with command electronics and sensors so that the Bellerophon could serve as a corvette leader. When operating in a pack with other corvettes, the Bellerophon can integrate sensor data to generate fast and accurate navigational solutions. The Bellerophon actually contains more classified equipment per hull volume than any other main-line Alliance warship.

Some thermal issues plagued the first two spaceframes, leading to the installation of a hot-metal heat sink on the ventral hull.

To the dismay of Fleet crew, the Bellerophon shares a common life support space with the Chimera.

 

{{comment|}}

===[[GTCv Diomedes]]===
[[Image:Gtcvdiomedes10.png|left|240px]]
Conceptualized early in the Threat Exigency Initiative warship program, the Diomedes-class strike corvette was shaped by the necessities of two worlds: the tactical realities of the post-Capella battlefield and the political turmoil of a Fleet in crisis.

GTVA designers conceived the Chimera and Bellerophon-class corvettes hand in hand with new doctrines of of massive force application. These designs were intentionally overspecialized to neutralize Shivan destroyers and juggernauts with beam alpha strikes. Strike craft support, aggressive subspace maneuvering, and sheer shock would, it was argued, allow the Chimera and Bellerophon to outrun their own design weaknesses.

But more conservative factions of the GTVA military agitated for a less specialized next-generation design, a successor to and improvement upon the still-young Deimos corvette. Politically, they needed a warship that would fit the operational profile of line as well as elite units, but they also offered compelling tactical reasoning. Agile, aggressive combatants lacked the staying power for prolonged defensive operations at hardpoints, nodes, or convoys. A cheaper, more all-round design could supplement Deimos production with a powerful corvette leader or a supporting element to cover the flanks of destroyers or sister corvettes. Other camps in the Fleet added their own requirements: the addition of a fighterbay would open up possibilities as an SOC platform, or in the independent strike role through organic escorts or bombers. Missile launchers and magazines would allow for selectable munition loads.

The notional Diomedes became a rallying point for design schools who had been pushed out of the main thrust of Threat Exigency Initiative work. The design went forward, but these competing requirements should have produced a catastrophic compromise.

Instead, GTVA designers produced a fascinating warship, one whose weaknesses are addressed by carefully counterpointed strengths. Armed with four Bull Frost next-generation anti-warship beams in a pair of twinned lateral batteries, the Diomedes relies on its startling agility to bring its firepower to bear. Designed to engage targets abeam, the class rewards flanking tactics and circling engagements against larger hostiles and aggressive action against multiple lighter opponents. Considerable sacrifices were made to operationalize the ship's fighterbay, but the potency of an on-board interceptor or bomber unit justified the cost, particularly in the areas of point defense and counter-air. The Diomedes' weapons suite also includes light pulse cannons and a pair of missile launchers capable of anti-fighter or anti-warship fire. Unburdened by massive beam weapons, her reactors permit a modestly rapid jump cycle and excellent ESM and active armor capabilities.

Even as the GTVA has cracked down on its own patronage system, dissolving the lines of influence that connected warship designers and commanders to particular schools, the Diomedes has acquired a reputation for scrappy flexibility and solitary pluck. Neglected by formal doctrine on the eve of the UEF-GTVA conflict except as a general 'flank escort' and 'fast response expedient', Diomedes captains drilled their own tactics and built a quiet professional community.

The ongoing conflict has found the Diomedes thrown into the fire, often alone, often undersupported, acting on sketchy intelligence to provide decisive force at key moments. Casualties among the Diomedes class exceed that of any other next-generation warship, but GTVA commanders have taken note of the design's successes, and of the discipline and capability of her crews. Once seen as the ugly duckling of the TEI warship line, the Diomedes now finds itself in strategic and tactical demand

 

{{comment|}}

 
==GTVA Terran capital ships==
===[[GTD Orion]]===
[[Image:Gtdorion.jpg|left|240px]]
The magnificent Orion destroyer was the GTVA's heaviest line combatant in the Second Incursion, complimenting the Hecate-class carriers. With the new Erebus class entering service, the Orion has at last found a worthy successor, and its five-decade career is nearing an end. Some Orions remain in service, including the storied [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]], now a Combat Evaluation Destroyer with modified jump drives.

See also: [[GTD_Carthage_(BP)|GTD Cathage]], [[GTD_Orion_Phase_II|Sanctuary]]

 

{{comment| The only Orion seen in War in Heaven so far (as of Act Two) is the specially modified [[GTD Carthage (BP)|GTD Carthage]].}}

===[[GTD Hecate]]===
[[Image:Gtdhecate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hecate carrier was designed for rapid, efficient fighter operations rather than direct combat. The Second Shivan Incursion proved the value of this strategy, but also highlighted its flaws. Whenever Hecate-class destroyers found themselves in direct combat with hostile warships, they failed to perform. The Hecate now makes up the bulk of the GTVA's destroyer fleet, and, in line with current fighter-heavy strategic doctrine, serves as a rear-area base for strike craft operations. Hecate destroyers never enter combat without their battlegroups. Superior fighter capacity and an excellent flight deck make the Hecate an extraordinarily flexible power projection system, and this ability is at the center of the GTVA's planning for future Shivan threats.

 

{{comment| The Hecate, usually re-designated as a carrier in the BP lore, is the most numerous destroyer-class ship available to the Tevs. Unfortunately for them, it is just as vulnerable to warship assaults as it was during the Second Shivan Incursion. Fortunately for them, warship assaults aren't exactly the specialty of the UEF. With reinforced beam dish armor, an easily-overcharged frontal [[BGreen|Crypt Hammer]], EW capabilities and a full hangar of trained GTVA pilots, the Hecate is not exactly an easy prey. That doesn't mean, however, that a Hecate should cruise without the support of its battlegroup, or be deployed as an attack warship - as [[Post Meridian]] showed, a couple of well-prepared [[UEFg Karuna|Karunae]] with sufficient fighter support are enough to do a number to it. The Hecate is still significantly outmatched on nearly every point by the newer [[GTD Erebus|Erebus]] and [[GTD Titan|Titan]].}}

===[[GTD Titan]]===
[[Image:GTD Titan.png|left|240px]]
The Titan-class destroyer/strike carrier bases more fightercraft than any other Alliance vessel. Armed with a mighty triple array of 'Ice Queen' spinal beams, a battery of pulse weapons, and Supernova meson torpedoes, the Titan serves as a companion to the Erebus-class line destroyer.

In the event of a new Shivan incursion, the Titan will hold in support of its Erebus partner, deploying its fighter wings to generate and exploit openings. In this respect it resembles a larger Hecate-class. But the Titan also shares the Erebus' excellent subspace agility, and its main beams make it a capable shock attacker. Developing doctrine suggests that the Titan will serve either as a firefighter, leaping onto and erasing Shivan breakthroughs, or as a force lever to punch through vital targets.

Titan development proceeded under the codename COLD WEDGE. The first attempt drew on design principles from the Massive Mjolnir and Supercarrer design camps, but it failed when Triton Dynamics studies suggested the hull's ammunition stores would be catastrophically vulnerable. A second attempt began under a Vasudan project leader, but internal politics caused great offense, and only a hasty diplomatic intervention by Aya McCarthy retained the Vasudan team as a reactor lead.

The third iteration of the Titan design drew heavily on the Ravana destroyer, creating an eerie reputation around the team offices. The hull coalesced around a hangar module, a main beam spine, and a sophisticated engineering section for the drive and reactors. BACKBREAKER and SCORPION PROPHET combat management and network software coordinate the ship's systems, with added facilities for precise attacks out of subspace jumps. The Titan's power systems and ammunition stores are highly distributed to enhance resilience. Multiple emitter arrays give the Titan excellent long-range sensor and command capability. Because the Titan's role requires fewer sudden power transfers than the Erebus, its power grid is more conventional and less integrated, closely following the pattern established by the Hatshepsut.

Considerable dispute rages over the best use of the Titan's tactical presence. The class could serve as a supercarrier, an attrition sniper that leaps between hot spots and picks off primary targets, a floating reserve, or the hammer in a fix-and-fire team with the Erebus.

A long waiting list has developed for Titan postings, in part because of career opportunities for fighter officers, in part because of the type's excellent quarters. Conspiracy theorists often debate whether a module exists to replace the hangar bay with a long-term habitat so the Titan could serve as a deep-space ark.

See also: [[GTD Temeraire]], [[GTD Imperieuse]]

 

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===[[GTD Erebus]]===
[[Image:Fs2 open 3 7 1 SSE2 2015-09-26 16-44-05-92.png|left|240px]]
The Erebus-class destroyer. Humanity's sharpest sword. Primary force concentration asset in the Threat Exigency Initiative's doctrine of effect warfare. A triumph of achievement in the face of adversity: both economic and existential.

The mission of the Erebus is to enter a tactical situation and successfully resolve it. No matter the threat, the Erebus is designed to deploy tactical intelligence, subspace agility, weapons fire, its onboard air wing, battle group command, and strategic connectivity in a unified plan to degrade and destroy the foe. Tactically, the Erebus depends on nothing.

Implicitly, the Erebus is meant to duel - and win against - small groups of Sathanas juggernauts.

Armed with a WINTER KING long-range spinal beam cannon, an ICE QUEEN coaxial main beam, an array of anti-warship beams, a battery of massive pulse weapons, a comprehensive CIWS close-defense suite, selectable-load SARISSA-M1 torpedo launchers with subspace attack capability, and an active armor suite tougher than the Colossus, the Erebus is a killer. Her weapons layout suits her role as a door-kicker, plunging into formations of smaller warships, but she can also outrange a Sathanas juggernaut for as long as necessary to defang its weapons.

But a modern Alliance admiral asks about the weapons last. The platform's truly revolutionary capability lies with her tactical systems.

The Erebus' heart is an integrated power system fed by redundant meson reactors. Her overengineered grid can safely surge combat systems ranging from sensors to main beam weapons by orders of magnitude. Slurry heat sinks and generous thermal tolerances permit tactical overloads in emergency situations. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a Vasudan SCORPION PROPHET combat net degrade the effectiveness of all incoming fire, from main warship beams through aspect-seeking warheads down to the very basic primary weapons of strike craft.

That same power system feeds a revolutionary sprint drive, a multi-core subspace engine capable of rapid subspace transits. Erebus' sensor/navigation fusion capability can retask classical and subspace arrays between tactical and navigational needs. A cutting-edge navigational system with a dedicated n-space active battery array cuts down calculation times and, some allege, permits at least tenuous plotting of multiple chained jumps.

Communications systems built to the Alliance's BACKBREAKER standard provide common operational capability in the face of most jamming, but the Erebus also boasts a command theater for battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments. The Erebus' informational weapons systems are built to partner with a Titan-class destroyer, incorporating the Titan's air wing and battle group into force awareness. When multiple Erebus-class destroyers operate in the same theater, BACKBREAKER can designate a group leader or coordinate a flat, decentralized operational schedule which intelligently distributes tasks across the Erebus battle groups. Future upgrades may integrate AWACS capability directly into the destroyer.

The Erebus' primary design tradeoffs lie in her fusion drive, air wing, and logistics. As a line combatant, the Erebus carries few strike craft. She is as fast as a Sathanas, but no faster, relying on her subspace drive to keep the range. And while tactically independent, the Erebus requires more logistical tail than many next-generation warships.

Cataclysm gave birth to Erebus. The death throes of the GTVA Colossus killed more than thirty thousand officers and crew — and an entire philosophy of warship design. The detonation of the Capella star wiped out not only a densely populated system, but an entire concept of strategic action. No more would the GTVA depend on monumental centerpiece combatants, designed to draw the enemy into a single set piece engagement and score a knockout blow.

The disaster left GTVA fleet doctrine in ashes. But the Alliance arranged its remaining assets, profiled available intelligence, and set to work. Next time apocalypse came knocking, they'd be ready.

The Threat Exigency Initiative was a crash-response program to the Shivan threat glimpsed at Capella. Fed by GTVI/SOC, the unflappable Space War College, and the grueling VEGADEX exercise series (which matched Alliance fleets against simulated Shivan opponents), the TEI program set out a series of short and long-term goals for Alliance military survival.

In the short run, the successful elements of the Capella-era military were enhanced. Deimos corvettes took over the old cruiser role. AWACS/TAG coordination saw renewed focus. Stealth fighters and pop-up missile doctrine became core elements of fleet training. The Hecate-class destroyer held onto its niche as mobile fleet base, providing logistics and carrier capability to the corvettes and strike craft that would in turn hold back swarms of Shivan bombers. Cheap new designs were requisitioned. This element proceeded smoothly: Capella had boiled most existing doctrinal disputes and contractor interests away.

But it would take something radically new to challenge an armada of more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts. And here there was room for conflict. Some factions pushed for an end to the destroyer class, moving to a doctrine of corvettes and light carriers. Others wanted supercarriers, or 'juggernaut destroyers', massive flying beam cannons with limited defensive capability.

Ultimately, a verdict was achieved. Supercarrier and Massive Mjolnir advocates would get an answer in the Titan destroyer. But something more was needed.

Wherever Alliance destroyers in the Second Incursion had been given enough escort to hold, enough intelligence to plan sorties, and enough support for their air wings, they had achieved victory. Wherever Alliance destroyers had been committed in haste, without the ability to either outrun or outfight possible threats, they had met disaster.

The Alliance needed a smart, agile, flexible line combatant: as tough as an Orion, as well-equipped to support battle groups as a Hecate, as terrifyingly quick to reposition as a Ravana, and able to both locate and exploit weakness in the enemy disposition.

Development began under the codename NIMBLE BASTARD, then moved to Admiral Armanjani's task force as LONGSWORD. The project foundered for several years under the curse of 'concurrency', a plan to build the hull and power systems, then gradually install new technologies as they were developed. But Armanjani successfully fought to delay both the Titan and Erebus projects until meson technology was fully mature. Soaring development costs were in part defrayed by quiet investments from the Vasudan Medjai, and the actual unit cost of the Erebus class remained within budget.

The Erebus emerged as a dream ship, poised on the edge of nightmare. Crammed with cutting-edge systems, the class has yet to prove its reliability in main combat. Some critics assert the switch from flak to pulse weapons will leave the vessel vulnerable to bombers. Other believe the sprint drive is a game of Russian roulette.

Examples of the class include Atreus, Orestes, Agamemnon, and Menelaus. Atreus, under Admiral Steele, has seen the most extensive shaking-down, but a minor scandal has developed in the Admiralty concerning Steele's refusal to obey politically desirable test parameters.

If the Erebus-class performs as expected, production will continue at full pace until the GTVA is satisfied multiple next-generation battle groups can rapidly respond to any new incursion. The Erebus will remain the spearhead of effect warfare for the foreseeable future...or until the doctrine fails.

See also: [[GTD Orestes]], [[GTD Atreus]]

 

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===[[GTVA Colossus]]===
[[Image:Gtvacolossus.jpg|left|240px]]
Thirty thousand of the GTVA's finest, Terran and Vasudan alike, died aboard the GTVA Colossus when it was destroyed by a single Sathanas juggernaught in Capella. Twenty years of effort, along with all the pride and propaganda bound up in the massive warship, were lost in a mere twenty seconds. After this tragedy, GTVA warship design steered away from massive superships and towards more flexible advanced destroyers. In spite of frequent rumours, no plans to build a fleet of Colossus warships have ever been suggested.

 

{{comment| The destruction of the Colossus was arguably one of the main reasons why the Threat Exigency Initiative was formed. The Colossus also has the distinction of being the very last, major joint endeavour between the Terrans and Vasudans. It lacks the better point defences of newer warships, but it could arguably absorb a lot more damage than all of them, even the Erebus. Because of this, there is a considerable likelihood that, if another Colossus was manufactured in the same way, it could have dealt with the UEF in a similar fashion to how it almost single-handedly destroyed the [[Neo-Terran Front]] on its own.}}

 
==GTVA Terran support ships==
===[[GTSG Alastor|GTSG Alastor Bravo]]===
[[Image:Gtsgalastor.jpg|left|240px]]
GTSG Alastor sentry gun platforms can be dropped by warships to cover a retreat, or they can be used to strengthen firepower around strategic locations. While Alastors alone cannot hold a position against more than a few fighters, complementing them with a warship and several wings of fighters presents an exemplary defense against all but the most determined foes. The Bravo variant uses twin missile lanchers drawing from an ammunition storage derived from the Hygeia support ship.

 

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===[[GTSG Mjolnir]]===
[[Image:Gtsgmjolnir.jpg|left|240px]]
The Mjolnir beam cannon is a fantastically powerful but tactically inflexible weapons system commonly used for node defense. Mounting one of the most potent anti-warship attack systems in the GTVA arsenal, it is a threat to any warship. Critical vulnerability to fighter attack necessitates the deployment of escorts or other sentry guns. Dozens of Mjolnir weapons systems have been manufactured and are kept ready to form node blockades. Several are already deployed at the site of the collapsed Capella node in Vega.

 

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===[[GTI Ganymede]]===
[[Image:Gtiganymede.jpg|left|240px]]
The unsung cornerstone of Terran military might, the Ganymede ring is an integrated repair, resupply, and refit facility with onboard machine shops, electronics manufactories, and foundries. Each ring can service five warships simultaneously, including extension-of-service refits and block upgrades. The TEI upgrade to the Ganymede’s adapter protocols was one of the most logistically and politically painful episodes in GTVA military history, with two flag officers falling to graft charges.

 

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===[[GTI Arcadia]]===
[[Image:GTIArcadia.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Arcadia is a multi-purpose installation that has served the Terran fleet since the days of the Great War. Almost every major star system is host to at least one Arcadia, which is often used as a center for trade and communications. Home to scores of small ships, including repair vessels, fighters, and transports, an Arcadia installation is always a hub of intrasystem and interstellar traffic. An Arcadia is not an easy target for hostile forces, as it combines the firepower of over 20 weapon turrets with the ability to launch up to ten wings of fighters from its fighterbay. In the post-Capella era, Arcadias have assumed the role of system evacuation hubs, where civilian traffic rallies to take on refugees in case of Shivan attack.

 

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===[[GTI Asteria]]===
[[Image:GTIAsteria.png|left|240px]]
The GTI Asteria was originally designed as a lighter, forward-deployed sibling to the Arcadia. With nine docking points and a fighterbay, the station is well fitted to serve as a hub for local trade. After the Joint Tactical Platform was canceled in favor of the Anemoi logistics ship, military exigency pushed the Asteria forward as a supply outpost in contested areas. With 24 turrets, including modern anti-fighter beams, the Asteria's self-defense is adequate, but its primary function is as a logistical node.

 

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===[[Alliance Jump Gate]]===
[[Image:Alliancejumpgate.jpg|left|240px]]
The Alliance Jump Gate employs Knossos technology to connect Delta Serpentis to Sol along the severed jump node. Requiring eight years of planning and a decade to build, the Sol Jump Gate is the largest project undertaken by the GTVA since the Colossus.

 

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===[[TC-Meson Bomb]]===
[[Image:Tcmesonbomb.jpg|left|240px]]
Developed at the Hideki Institute in Vega, the meson bomb is a strategic antimatter weapon of appalling power. Exploiting staged meson decay to unleash energies locally approaching the Big Bang environment, these weapons are temperamental, unbelievably expensive, and vital to defense doctrine. Only large clusters of meson weapons can reliably collapse subspace nodes, preventing Shivan outbreaks. The long firing sequences and relatively short range of strategic meson weapons make them unsuited for tactical applications except in the field of demolition, since enemy forces can outmaneuver or even disable the weapon. But tactical variants of this technology have now entered the GTVA arsenal.

 

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===[[GTT Elysium]]===
[[Image:Gttelysium.jpg|left|240px]]
More than half a century old and still in production, the GTT Elysium transport is the definitive interstellar utility craft. The Elysium lineage has radiated into a dizzying number of variants, from engineering support craft to covert blockade runners.

With only a single defensive turret and minimal armor, the Elysium should, one post-Capella swarm combatant refit notwithstanding, never be deployed in combat. But its small logistical footprint, fuel economy, and low downtime often put it in harm's way. The Elysium's single greatest asset may be its robust and flexible docking system.

 

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===[[GTM Hippocrates]]===
[[Image:Gtmhippocrates.jpg|left|240px]]
The Hippocrates medical ship is built in multiple, easily isolated compartments in case of disease outbreak. These vessels are amongst the GTVA's most important, traveling from system to system to provide disaster relief and specialized medical facilities. The Hippocrates can carry thousands of patients, and as such, the Block 2 upgrade provided it with some defense: anti-fighter weapons and even a light beam cannon. However, only the most desperate of circumstances would necessitate their use.

 

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===[[GTSC Faustus]]===
[[Image:Gtscfaustus.jpg|left|240px]]
The Faustus science cruiser is a tactical disaster and strategic asset of unparalleled worth. Terran-Vasudan shield systems were designed aboard a Faustus during the Great War, and when the Alliance discovered the Knossos portal 32 years later, the same class of science cruisers carried Mina Hargrove’s team to their fateful work. Easily destroyed by even a single enemy fighter, the true worth of the Faustus lies in its onboard information and laboratory systems, including neural-net computers capable of agnostic response to a broad range of problems. Some see the Alliance’s failure to develop a tactical science ship as a major failure. Others point to the constant race for grant money as an explanation for the longevity of the Faustus, since no one can afford a new ship. Whatever the case, an end to the current economic recession might see the design of a new lead science ship. Until then, the Faustus will continue to be upgraded and repurposed by those in search of truth.

 

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===[[GTG Zephyrus]]===
[[Image:Gtgzephyrus.jpg|left|240px]]
Zephyrus gas miners harvest and transport deuterium for Alliance fusion drives. These vessels are vital strategic assets, but extensive armor or defensive systems would only slow them down. The new Anemoi-class logistics ship handles fueling in combat theaters, while the Zephyrus continues to serve as the lungs of the fleet. Wherever a secure gas giant may be found, pilots can expect Zephyrus operations. A small but outspoken faction in GTVA fleet doctrine, the Convoy Cabal, insists that the installation of a few modern point defense systems would allow the Zephyrus to contribute to convoy anti-warhead defense.

 

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===[[GTA Charybdis]]===
[[Image:GTA-Charybdis.png|left|240px]]
The Charybdis Advanced Warning and Control System is a fragile but extraordinarily useful piece of technology. Capable of calculating and rapidly relaying precise subspace jump coordinates, it enable GTVA fighters and bombers to approach their targets at optimal range. It can also perform blanket communications jamming, selectively block aspect lock on itself or friendly warships, or grant itself or nearby vessels limited stealth. OpEval equipment permits it to generate EMP blasts or to guide subspace missile strikes to their targets.

 

{{comment| ''Canonical AWACS roles include plotting precise jumps coordinates, jamming communications, jamming torpedo lock, and setting up SSM strikes without the need for a TAG link. They're often mission-critical targets, but are vulnerable enough on their own that a single UEF fighter could easily destroy them or force them to retreat.''

''Despite what seems to be a logical error made by the GTVA when they commissioned this ship class, as one veteran puts it, the Alliance seems to have taken the Charybdis' poor defences in their stride, making do with the Charybdis as it is rather than spending even more resources designing a replacement. In War in Heaven, this is especially obvious as every AWACs belonging to the Alliance is either deployed with very heavy escort or, in most other cases, tens of thousands of klicks out, making them virtually untouchable by Federation forces.''}}

===[[GTL Anemoi]]===
[[Image:GTLAnemoi.png|left|240px]]
Logistics vessels are the newest class of support vessels commissioned by the GTVA. These mammoth ships serve as an all-around support ship, combining freight hauling capabilities with field repair stations and medical facilities. They are an indispensable asset to long-range battlegroups that are expected to undergo long-term operations far from friendly outposts. Two of these vessels have been deployed with the Sol Expeditionary Force, the GTL Solace and the GTL Fortune.

 

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=GTVA Vasudan ships=
==GTVA Vasudan fighters==
===[[GVF Seth]]===
[[Image:HTL_Seth.png|left|240px]]
The Seth is a Great War-vintage Vasudan strike craft designed to both protect and destroy bombers. It meets this requirement in particularly Vasudan fashion, slow to keep pace with bombers but equipped with a superb afterburner to chase them. The Seth's incredible Mekhu-Sahr plasma power plant gives it design longevity, leading to significant Vasudan smugness about the value of putting good power systems above all other concerns. Pilots point to the Seth's slim target profile when closing or retreating as key to mastering the craft. Although the Seth's fore-mounted sensors are extremely vulnerable to beam fire, Vasudan pilots take pride in resolving engagements without aspect lock. As a decades-old favorite, the Seth has seen continued production in the maze that is Vasudan private industry. The Set Mace is a popular modern variant.
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===[[GVF Horus]]===
[[Image:GVFHorus.png|left|240px]]
Terran pilots often advance two complaints against Vasudan fighters. Their gun placement is poor, and they often cannot survive in a non-permissive environment. Vasudan aces reply that what is most important is the ability to avoid that threat environment in the first place. The Horus light interceptor lines up with both the complaint and the rejoinder. A nimble high-speed attacker, the Horus fares poorly when being shot at but offers skilled pilots a wide range of maneuvering options. At the time of the ship's design, Vasudan tactical philosophy prized the ability to penetrate and disrupt enemy groups, since placing the enemy on the defensive was seen as the key step to victory. The Horus excels in this role, and with modifications to use modern long-range missiles, it can serve as a sniper and skirmisher. Like most Vasudan ships, the Horus remains in production in some capacity, built by Sentences with industrial capability. The Horus-Ur is an example of modern builds.
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===[[GVF Thoth]]===
[[Image:GVFThoth.png|left|240px]]
A frail little beetle of a dogfighter, the Thoth was once a dreaded sight for Terran pilots. Nimble and armed for only a single mission, the Thoth could prey on Terran fighters and bombers, setting the terms of the engagement and performing quick slashing attacks. In this light the design's widely spaced guns make sense, because repeated pinpoint hits are less important than consistency over multiple attacks. As the lethality of warship point defenses evolved, however, the Thoth's huntings grounds dwindled. The stigma of the Hammer of Light stained the design, but it remained in service as a line space superiority fighter. Terran pilots hoping to master the Thoth must understand Vasudan fighter doctrine, which leverages Vasudan advantages in energy efficiency to feed a more flexible, hit-and-fade fighting style. Prolonged engagements are death, and superb spatial awareness is a must. Vasudan fighters do not forgive error. The Thoth's production history is far more exclusive than most other Great War era designs, and only names tied to the Sahr Corporation participate in Thoth assembly today. The Asten Thoth is the solitary modern variant.
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===[[GVF Serapis]]===
[[Image:HTL_Serapis.png|left|240px]]
The post-Capella era has seen an explosion of Vasudan technological, cultural, and economic power. It often reassures Terran observers to know that the Vasudans are also capable of grand and systematic mistakes. After Operation Templar, Vasudan doctrine called for two lines of new fighters to be deployed. Agile, sophisticated light craft would disrupt and outmaneuver enemy formations, while heavy-hitting assault craft would provide killing power. The Pa-anmu Admiralty championed this doctrine, in part because it would satisfy a wide range of industrial concerns, helping stabilize trade and strengthening the Ambassador to Caravans. The Ambassador would use that strength against the Emperor's military advisors, opening opportunities for Pa-anmu's allies. Designed as an affordably high-tech interceptor and dogfighter to cover roles filled by the Horus and Thoth, the Serapis boasted revolutionary controls and incredible agility. The opportunities for artistic expression were intoxicating, and before anyone could outmaneuver the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Serapis had become an icon of Vasudan progress and prowess.

The Serapis sacrificed armor and shielding to hit these design targets, and it quickly became apparent that the rise of anti-fighter beam systems threatened the Serapis mission. The fighter was relabeled an interceptor, a feat of linguistic engineering which Pa-anmu hoped would keep pilots away from warship fire envelopes. But the Serapis lacked the linear speed for that role, and was inevitably deployed as a space superiority fighter. Pilots able to rapidly juggle multiple threats while toggling power systems can win stunning performance from the Serapis, but the craft simply needs more survivability. During the Second Incursion the Serapis produced both a number of aces and a large number of casualties. A hasty retrofit to mount the Maxim cannon allowed the Serapis to serve as an anti-warship skirmisher, giving it a new tactical niche. In some respects the Serapis became the lightest heavy assault fighter ever built. Peacetime production in both corporate and private capacity has filled Vasudan space with Serapis fighters, but many have received survivability packages. The current Imperial Vasudan Navy standard is the Isi-Serapis, but the Medjai has already replaced the Serapis with the next-generation Serekh Taa space dominance fighter, and the IVN has terminated procurement.
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===[[GVF Tauret]]===
[[Image:GVFTauret.png|left|240px]]
The Tauret is a heavy assault fighter whose wildfire success ended an Admiral's career. When the Pa-anmu doctrine called for one light and one heavy fighter to spearhead the Vasudan fleet, engineers and artisans machinated furiously to win the light fighter design. Inevitably, not everyone made it. Worse yet, the Tauret project was given an insultingly generous line of credit and an Ambassador to facilitate political needs. Since lack of constraint invites excess, and excess is death, the team set out to hobble themselves. First, they decided to build a tribute to the Apsu-Hek, a foul-tempered ambush predator from Vasuda Prime. This popular emblem would keep them humble and alert. Second, they sought out Terran funding and engineering talent to avoid drawing on their baited credit line. Successfully tapping Terran strengths while still producing a uniquely Vasudan design would display adaptability and vigor.

Serious problems with the Tauret's power grid nearly sank the project, but the team rose to the occasion, tapping RNI's experts and incorporating Terran solutions. The team settled on a wide, thin spaceframe with excellent thermal characteristics and trivial shield solutions. The problem of volume was solved, again, with humility, using artistic fold algorithms to efficiently pack systems.

Although the Tauret does suffer power issues, its reactor feeds six gun mounts, a massive arsenal of missiles, and respectable shields and armor. Initial reactions were negative, in part because the Tauret's design made it extremely frustrating to service. But telemetry from the nebula theater established that the Serapis' whirlwind agility couldn't keep it from the scythe, while Tauret squadrons steamrolled Shivan forces with obdurate ferocity. The team paid off their debts, Admiral Pa-anmu graciously stepped aside to pursue the arts, and the Tauret quietly become the heart of Vasudan air wings.

In modern times the Tauret has been supplemented by the Maa-kheru siege fighter, but it remains a vital strength of the IVN.
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===[[GVF Ptah]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_HTL_Ptah.png|left|240px]]
Akheton's Ptah stealth reconnaissance craft sprang from the same joint product as the Pegasus stealth fighter. Although the hull configuration and stealth systems are divergent, the craft's final performance is comparable to the Pegasus, with superb agility and carefully baffled emanations. The Vasudan design team paid less attention to target profile and visibility than the Pegasus team, preferring to work with a tested configuration, and as a result the Ptah is far easier to maintain and has nearly twice the operational up-time and sortie rate. Ptah missions provided vital data in the Alliance's attack on the first Sathanas juggernaut.

Ptah postings and deployments have become politically controversial since Capella. The IVN and Medjai both maintain Ptah wings, nominally for strategic reconnaissance. Several IVN admirals have been accused of deploying stealth fighters as political instruments. Conversely, whispers suggest the honorable and heroic Medjai use Ptah sorties to eavesdrop and monitor loyalties. "The Ptahs know" is an idiom suggesting both that a secret has been breached and that the breach may be proper - or improper, depending on the delivery.
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==GTVA Vasudan bombers==
===[[GVB Sekhmet]]===
[[Image:Placeholder_htl_sekhmet.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans lost their homeworld to the Shivans. Nothing can heal that wound. But the Vasudans are a pragmatic people, resilient to loss, and when Operation Templar shattered the Hammer of Light, Mekhu Enterprises found something to take back - a Shivan bomber design adapted by the Hammer of Light. As if haunted by its origins, the Sekhmet maintains a ferocious reputation. Mekhu produced a spectacularly expensive juggernaut of a bomber, heavily armed and plated in molybdenum, a pocket warship stitched into a compact frame. The Sekhmet's power plant and drive actually make it capable of dogfighting at par with many fighters. Many of the design techniques used in the Sekhmet remain highly classified, and the spaceframe is still exclusively produced by Vasudan military corporations. No other bomber in the Alliance arsenal can strike in such a wide range of tactical environments.

Although once rare, the Vasudan economic boom has enabled widescale Sekhmet production, fulfilling Khonsu's requirement for organic fleetwide anti-destroyer capability. Training for a Sekhmet post is intense, ritualistic, and exclusive. Rumors of Hammer rituals plague the corps. In spite of this taint, the Sekhmet's raw power inspired the design philosophy behind modern Vasudan superfighters such as the Serekh Taa, Maa-kheru, and Abatos.
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===[[GVB Bakha]]===
[[Image:HTL_Bakha.png|left|240px]]
The first modern strike bomber to enter the Alliance arsenal, the Bakha is an economic triumph. Built around two baffled Akh-12 engines, ancestors of the Ptah's stealth drive, the Bakha's elegant spaceframe won the hearts of hangar crews across the Vasudan navy. Slightly tougher than its Terran counterpart, the Artemis, the Bakha also boasts two separate primary gun banks. Defensive dogfighting is an integral part of Bakha pilot training. Perhaps most importantly, the Bakha passed through design and qualification in record time, and its production line is extremely economical. This makes the Bakha a natural partner to the hideously expensive Sekhmet.

The Bakha came to life almost wholly through nepotism and favor-trading. Fortunately, all the relatives involved were competent professionals with the best interests of the Vasudan people in mind. By the time of the NTF rebellion, shipyards over the grave of Vasuda Prime had turned out more than six thousand Bakhas. As the rebellion began to target Vasudan civilians, Bakha squadrons scrambled to protect Vasudan interests from NTF warships. One famous squadron, Atinmerit's 808th, violated standing orders and conducted pre-emptive attacks without fighter escort against NTF rallying points. This story provided the inspiration for the smash hit "This Price I Pay".

Like many products of the Pa-anmu Admiralty, the Bakha suffers when faced with layered anti-fighter defenses. Bakha squadrons developed SEAD tactics using Trebuchet and Stiletto missiles. Although the Bakha could not carry the Maxim cannon during the Second Incursion, Serapis fighters provided improvised support.

The single greatest failure the Bakha ever suffered related to the Helios warhead. The software hastily distributed for the Helios capability accidentally treated the weapon as a primary gun, not a guided warhead. Technicians aboard the ''Psamtik'' had to write their own code to get the Helios operational in time for the attack on the SJ Sathanas.

Modern marks of the Bakha fly under the designation Apis Bakha.
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===[[GVB Osiris]]===
[[Image:Htl_osiris.png|left|240px]]
The obsolete Osiris was the primary Vasudan fleet bomber during the Great War. It performed well at the time, but as warships got tougher, the Osiris simply couldn't carry the payload required to score kills. Pulled from front-line order of battle, the Osiris remains in service with Vasudan system defense forces, armed with anti-subsystem munitions for police and customs work. Although obsolete Terran spacecraft are generally used as targets or sold off, the post-sorrow Vasudans have a tradition of private ship maintenance that keeps old designs in circulation. A spacecraft, they argue, is an obscenely expensive and intricate piece of technology, and it must be appreciated for its practical and historical worth.

In recent months a surprising number of Osiris spaceframes have been purchased by Terran military contractors. Speculation suggests that the Terran defense establishment, frustrated with attrition in the strike bomber corps, has decided to look elsewhere for inspiration. The twin-turreted Osiris may represent performance data of interest. Interestingly, the terms of purchase neglected the usual stipulation for Terran environment and control refits.
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==GTVA Vasudan warships==
===[[GVC Aten]]===
[[Image:Aten480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
In the post-Capella era, the Aten has been reclassified from cruiser to heavy picket. A senescent design, fragile and agonizingly undergunned, the Aten killed thousands of Vasudan officers and crew during the Second Incursion by simple inability to defend itself. Swarms of Shivan Basilisk fighters proved a particular menace, since their missiles were too small for intercept, but the Aten's lack of anti-warship beams meant it was no match for Shivan cruisers.

The Vasudan preoccupation with history and lineage is a source of real friction in fleet doctrine. The Vasudans, loathe to waste functional spacecraft, actually continue to maintain the Aten as a convoy escort. The hull has been upgraded to the Aten-Re standard, with enhanced active armor, hardened subsystems, a pair of modern KHAFRA BURN energy flak guns, a capacitor system feeding an Akheton pulse cannon, and improved TAG awareness for fire support. The pulse cannon provides interdiction and area denial capability against small groups of strike craft. Expanded automation collapses crew requirements to 250, leaving much of the hull uninhabited. These pickets serve as convoy motherships, packing components, fuel, and medical systems to manage any en-route emergencies.

The next-generation Vasudan cruiser, the GVC Akhenaten, fills the fast strike and skirmisher requirement that the Aten never met.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVC Mentu]]===
[[Image:HTL_Mentu.png|left|240px]]
The Mentu should've been the Vasudan Navy's modern strike cruiser, built from the keel up to mount a pair of Mkh/Akh 121b anti-warship beams. A typically superb powerplant, including acoustic baffles engineered to rumble at pleasant frequencies, would keep the Mentu charging along at good speed even while operating the weapons. Intelligence and publicity documents from the Mentu's development make it clear that the design was meant to showcase Vasudan anti-warship beams.

But the Mentu was another ironic casualty of its ancestor's vices. The Aten cruiser was so cripplingly unsuited to front-line action that it would be reassigned as a convoy escort and rear-area picket once the Mentu joined the fleet. But leading members of the Kames Admiralty, who saw the future in direct action by modern destroyers, refused to accept the absence of an anti-fighter cruiser on the front lines. Destroyers could take out enemy warships, with fire support from the new corvettes. Someone had to shoot down all the bombers, and it certainly wouldn't be the fighter corps.

Through a series of manipulations that encompassed finance, social life, and art, the Kames Admiralty misdirected the Mentu's engineers about the heat requirements of the Mkh/Akh 121b. The result was a superb strike cruiser -- without the heatsinks required to operate its own main weapons for more than a few shots. The 121b performed too well to be rebuilt. Less than six months before its OpEval period, the Mentu was redesigned as a fast escort with its main beams downgraded to Phalanx anti-fighter beams.

The officers responsible escaped prosecution, as they had simply arranged to be misunderstood. Their malfeasance may have saved lives. The Mentu served in the Second Incursion as a fast escort cruiser, swatting warheads and bombers with an excellent CIWS and interdiction arsenal. Tough, long-lasting, and well under budget, the Mentu worked well with the Sobek corvette in a sword-shield pair. Early in the war, Mentu captains developed the infamous Against Apsu maneuver, flying the GVC ''Somtus'' and GVC ''Mycerinus'' belly-to-belly to take advantage of their weapons and armor layout in an engagement against the NTF.

Ever since, Mentu captains take pride in the command to roll ship. The modern Mentu-Ra uses slurry coolant, finally granting it the heat capacity to mount anti-warship beams. It is the principle cruiser of the IVN. Older Mentu variants still serve as escorts, armed with pulse cannons and energy flak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVCv Sobek]]===
[[Image:Sobek640x480.jpg|left|240px]]
The Sobek is a superb ship-to-ship combatant, a brutal sword of a corvette that specializes in direct attacks against hostile warships up to destroyer size.

Military historians mark the Sobek as the beginning of the Second Incursion warship design era. After the destruction of Vasuda Prime by the SD ''Lucifer'', the Admiralties issued a requirement for a new class of warship, a heavy destroyer escort that would be able to destroy any Shivan cruiser in single combat and make an accounting of itself against Shivan destroyers. The first Sobek design was long and slim, built around a pair of railgun-assisted flux cannon, a Vasudan torpedo weapon. The Sobek's designers also built a meticulous power grid in anticipation of future shield capabilities. Terran observers classified the ship as a corvette.

Warship-scale shielding failed to materialize, but beam technology matured, and the Sobek's reactor and hull profile proved a good match for the Mkh/Akh 182. This early beam cannon suffered range and accuracy issues. It pumped more matter than cruiser-scale beams, but lacked the huge plasma core clamps and bottle controls of destroyer-scale systems. Test fires tended to cavitate and fail into a spectacular but ineffective blowtorch.

Unlike Terran designers, however, Vasudan procurement occasionally makes concurrency work. Mekhu solved the blowtorch issue with the Mkh/Akh 183, which allowed the magnetic bottle to swivel, sacrificing accuracy for effect. Two of these beam weapons replaced the flux cannons in the Sobek's spine, operationalizing the Alliance's first corvette. Doctrine deploys the Sobek as a killer, focusing down single targets with the forward beams. In main fleet engagements, Sobeks seek out and prosecute any threat to friendly destroyers.

During the Second Incursion, the Sobek-class ''Dashor'' escorted the GTD Carthage during initial containment in Gamma Draconis. During the botched attack on the SD ''Ravana'', the ''Khenmu'' outmaneuvered the Shivan destroyer, surviving to provide vital fire support. The ''Tatenen'' made first contact with the ''Sathanas'', transmitting telemetry on the juggernaut's forward beam weapons even as it died to them. The ''Renenet'' and ''Thebes'' engaged Shivan forces during the campaign to destroy the ''Sathanas'', taking out the SD ''Beleth'' and countless fighter wings. Again and again, Sobek corvettes proved their worth, even under impossible conditions.

The modern Sobek-Ra features enhanced active armor and EW capabilities, as well as a reactor refit and a total point defense upgrade to improve the Sobek's survivability against strike craft attack. The IVN deploys the Sobek-Ra as its mainstay warship alongside the ''Aaru''-class heavy corvette.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan capital ships==
===[[GVD Typhon]]===
[[Image:GVDTyphon.png|left|240px]]
The Typhon-class destroyer is a veteran of the Great War, an old soldier still doing the Emperor's work.

The Vasudans saw the Terran-Vasudan War primarily as a conflict of symbols and will. Very few Vasudan leaders believed that a civilized, spacefaring people could commit planetary-scale murder. However, the Vasudans saw the aggressive, paranoid Terrans as simplistic and unstable, and they sought to communicate by violence in terms the Terrans would respect. Vasudan tactics prized disorientation, violence of action, and psychological effect, up to and including suicide tactics.

The ''Typhon''-class destroyer was built to incarnate Vasudan pride, a purposeful echo of the Terran ''Orion''. Built in formidable secrecy, the original Typhon featured anti-fighter missiles, heavy plasma weapons, and a staggering hangar capacity. At the Vega engagement, a Typhon-class destroyer closed with and destroyed the GTD ''Eisenhower'', while the Typhon's air wing decimated the Terran Fourth Fleet. The victory was both symbolically and strategically critical.

During late Reconstruction, the booming Vasudan economy fueled a new fleet, and Vasudan designers faced a choice. The Terrans had elected to build the new ''Hecate''-class, a destroyer that could serve as a fleet carrier. The old Orions would be retained as line combatants. In Terran analysis, future engagements would be resolved primarily by air wings, with corvettes providing escort and artillery support. Destroyers would remain in safety.

Vasudan analysis from the Kames Admiralty placed more weight on decisive action by destroyers on the front lines. A requirement was placed for a modern destroyer to serve as a spearhead, and the Typhon, suffering power grid issues with its new beam weapons, was re-roled as a fleet carrier and second-line destroyer. The role of symbolic supership would be inherited by another design.

Modern doctrine keeps the Typhon as a garrison destroyer, watching over the buzz of Vasudan trade and intrigue. A number of Typhons also serve as arsenal ships, armored with heavy ship-to-ship torpedoes.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVD Hatshepsut]]===
[[Image:NewHatshepsut.png|left|240px]]
The ''Hatshepsut''-class destroyer is a flying fortress, one of the finest capital warships ever designed by the Alliance. With an aggressive, backswept prow, a gleaming palace superstructure, and a thunderous fusion drive array, the Hatshepsut looks as good as she fights.

The Hatshepsut was born from the Kames Admiralty's decision to focus the fleet on decisive action against hostile destroyers. The Hatshepsut would mount modern beam weapons, missile silos, and a cutting-edge CIWS grid of flak weapons and anti-fighter beams. She would carry fewer fighters than the Typhon, but still maintain a strong air wing. Her command and informational systems would help Sobek-class corvettes select and prioritize targets. The design requirement was delivered in a series of exemplary Conversations, balancing the appeal of the Hatshepsut project against the prestige and history of rehabilitating the Typhon. As a result, the Hatshepsut team performed solemnly and correctly, avoiding some of the excessive overspecialization typical of excited Vasudans.

One major stumbling block was the ship's hull form. Early designs produced a long-neck, squat-based spaceframe. Designers agreed that the lead destroyer class of the Vasudan Navy could not look like it was about to be beheaded at the altar, so a number of sensor and command systems were moved to an arrowhead bow structure, improving resolution at a slight cost in latency.

During the NTF Rebellion, Hatshepsut-class destroyers leapt into front line combat, jumping from battle to battle and engaging NTF forces with only light escort. The golden ships became icons of Vasudan hope and targets of vendetta for the NTF. The type's formidable flak screen proved an incredible deterrent to fighter attack, and aggressive maneuvering covered for some blind spots in her turret coverage. Hatshepsut captains successfully used the ship's dorsal 255a anti-destroyer beams in circling and topsiding maneuvers, but the Hatshepsut's most fearsome reputation came from tactics against cruisers. Warships such as the ''Psamtik'' would safe their main beams, divert the power to subspace drive recharge, and close to destroy NTF vessels with anti-fighter beams, flak, and salvos of fusion mortars. The tactic harmed NTF morale, since it was clear the destroyers were more concerned with getting to the next fight than anything else.

The ''Psamtik'' was lost to the second Sathanas juggernaut in a risky deployment, but overall the ''Hatshepsut''-class performed superbly. Production continues to this today, and the latest Hatshepsut Amaru features modern pulse weapons, extended flak range, enhanced command awareness under BACKBREAKER, expanded torpedo magazines with long-range anti-warship capability and anti-fighter interdiction, and slurry heatsinks. The Hatshepsut serves as an elegant front-line combatant alongside modern heavy warships such as the iKhemu-Sek.
{{comment|}}

==GTVA Vasudan support ships==
===[[GVT Isis]]===
[[Image:Isis_shot.png|left|240px]]
The Vasudans love hotrods. Nothing says it better than the Isis, a common tugboat, shuttle, repair ship, and light transport - which is also the deadliest commando ferry in the Alliance inventory. Armed with a pair of Mekhu HL-7 close defense weapons and powered by the beloved Akh-4 powerplant, the Isis can insert boarding parties or repair teams even in live combat. The Terran arm of the fleet has quietly purchased a number of Isis transports, and the Vasudans habitually up-gun them for use as tactical gunboats. The Isis remains in wide production. The design's only notable weakness is its limited payload.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[PVFr Ma'at]]===
[[Image:PVFrMaat.png|left|240px]]
The dowdy Ma'at dates back to Vasudan commerce in the 14 Year War, where it trundled massive cargo containers from system to system. The advent of shields neutered the Ma'at's defensive armament, but the real blow to the design was the Bes' propellant efficiency, which gave it a huge marginal advantage over the Ma'at on the same routes. Today, Ma'at freighters fly civilian runs, serviced by a cooperative of Vasudan artisans who produce upgrades and replacement parts at rates cheap enough to offset the Ma'at's operating costs. The famous Vasudan Ambassador Thot-hartis favored a Ma'at for hauling her extensive collection of diplomatically useful art, relics, and conversation pieces.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Bes]]===
[[Image:Gvfrbes-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The beetle-backed Bes is the avatar of Vasudan Reconstruction. Commissioned twelve years after the end of the Great War, the Bes is a weapon of peace, admired both for its sleek aesthetic and its incredible propellant efficiency. The Bes hit the Vasudan shipping market like a snort of black sand. It could just keep moving and moving, slashing operating costs and commodity prices. It helped propel an economic boom that flowered into a new Vasudan golden age. Although Emperor Khonsu II is often credited for the design, he only intervened to resolve a dispute that had kept the engine snarled in production, the victim of a grudge that spiraled off the McCarthy Affair. In this respect his wisdom was surpassing. Today the Bes swarms trade lanes, cheerfully keeping up the flow of commerce. Vasudan attitudes towards objects are complex, and the Bes seems to carry an aura of awe and fear, as if it has built up too much success and must someday be rebalanced. Bes crews traditionally grow desert flowers in the condenser spaces. Pilots should note that the Bes is a frail target, with limited survivability against heavy assault craft - a tragic weakness during the NTF rebellion and post-Capella violence. However, its two turrets provide a capable addition to convoy warhead defense.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVFr Satis]]===
[[Image:GVFrSatis.png|left|240px]]
The Satis is a Great War-era freighter originally built for wartime self-defense. Armed with five plasma turrets, it could pose a serious threat to unshielded fighters, freeing up strike craft for offensive action. The rise of fighter shielding killed the Satis' original role, leaving it stranded as an economically inefficient freighter. But the Satis remains effective at warhead intercept, so it's often salted into convoy groups as a self-defense supplement. Vasudan Tactical Command has explored upgunning the Satis for light fire support.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVG Anuket]]===
[[Image:Gvganuket-old.jpg|left|240px]]
A curious hybrid, the GVG Anuket serves the Vasudan fleet as a gas miner, fleet tender, and sophisticated science ship. As a miner it harvests deuterium from gas giants, weathering harsh electromagnetic environments to feed the fleet's thirst. As a tender, the Anuket is a single-solution refinery, converting raw materials directly into usable fuel. During Vasudan operations in the Second Incursion's nebular theater, the Anuket was refitted with a powerful sensor suite, including subspace tracking equipment. Onboard laboratories and hot rooms helped Vasudan scientists study the supernova remnant. In the years since Capella, the Anuket's mission creep has expanded, and a number of task modules fitted inside the tanker's cavernous holds now enable the hull to serve as a lab ship, listening post, medical transport, and limited electronic warfare platform. The huge sprawl of onboard mission software has created concerns about security flaws.

The Anuket has no meaningful self-defense capability beyond a single Crow Lash flak gun, but it can contribute to warhead intercept with light CIWS. The ship's snowballing mission capabilities led to Terran complaints that pilots would have no idea whether to treat an Anuket as a tactical asset or a bomb.

The new Tawaret logistics ship has similar refining capabilities to the Anuket, but it is specifically a military asset and does not serve in a commercial role.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVA Setekh]]===
[[Image:Gvasetekh-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Setekh Advanced Warning and Control System is a vital sensor and communications asset in Vasudan battle groups. It's also an acrimonious political flashpoint. The Terran Charybdis AWACS is cheaper, more compliant with GTVA operational standards, more secure, and better-defended. The Setekh's only real advantages lie in its compartmentalized hull design, which saves it from small fighter weapons, and its superior passive sensors. Yet the IVN insists on manufacturing and deploying the Setekh, insisting it is more suitable for Vasudan purposes.

During post-Capella political tensions, Terran admirals saw this is an intentional snub and a maneuver to deny contracts to Terran manufacturers. Accusations of economic warfare met with an angry response, and today the issue remains sore. In the meantime the Setekh has been upgraded to modern standards, providing the full range of AWACS services -- precision jump navigation for friendlies, aspect lock jamming, ECCM, interception and decryption, and limited defensive stealth. Whether the Vasudans have integrated SSM spotting capability remains classified. Terran pilots refer to this vessel as the Steak.
{{comment|}}

===[[GVS Nephthys]]===
[[Image:Gvsnephthys-old.jpg|left|240px]]
Mekhu licensed the Triton Dynamics magnetic-stasis matter library system for the Nephthys support ship, which provides field rearmament to Vasudan craft. Loaded with ordnance and a powerful drive, the Nephthys is extraordinarily dangerous to fly.

Next-generation Vasudan fighters can allegedly manufacture their own ordnance and regenerate damaged systems in the field. Some analysts suggest that this is a myth, as the IVN has continued to maintain and upgrade the Nephthys. The latest block is stealthy and extremely quick. It is possible that onboard sustain systems are limited, or that the IVN simply wants the support ship available as an option for its older craft.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVL Tawaret]]===
[[Image:GVL_Tawaret.png|left|240px]]
The GVL Tawaret is an enormous Vasudan logistics vessel, comparable to the Anemoi. The Tawaret, however, doubles as a tanker capable of collecting gas and processing it for fuel to the fleet. As such, the Vasudan logistics ship lacks medical bays, and due to the fuel processing facilities, is susceptible to devastating internal explosions should it be fired upon.
{{comment|}}

 

===[[GVSG Edjo]]===
[[Image:Gvsgedjo-old.jpg|left|240px]]
For fifty years running, Vasudan strategists have been trying to wean the Alliance off its addiction to deep-space supply depots. Depots were a major feature of Great War logistics, and a combination of institutional inertia and dependability keeps them in the logistical chain, despite their vulnerability. Even the Shivans exhibited depot behavior. But the post-Vasuda Imperium wants no part of anything that can't pick itself up and run.

One of the most obvious and passive-aggressive elements of this movement is the Vasudans' continued inability to build a decent sentry gun. When the Alliance requested that the Vasudan Navy upgrade the Ankh, they produced the Edjo, a substandard sentry gun by any measure. Although sentry guns are sometimes deployed by warships as close-defense options, the Vasudans seem content to use the ancient Ankh in this role.

Since Capella, the Terran military has moved towards more mobile logistics. A next-generation sentry weapon is definitely in production, but the IVN treats it as a tactical asset and refuses to share.
{{comment|}}

=Shivan ships=
=Shivan ships=
==Shivan fighters==
===[[SF Manticore]]===
[[Image:Sfmanticore-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MANTICORE

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Extremely frail. Clearly an optimum favoring environments in which linear speed permits situation control, agility is an adequate defense, and numbers help swamp enemy processing. Standoff tactics and heavier strike craft promote Manticore emanation, as do modes of attack with long run-up.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting that the organism's onboard reaction time and processing is adequate to the task.

Introns favor hot swarm, cold swarm, berserker, and assassin. No standoff or bruiser introns detected. Scrambler, judas, and chain introns are present but not highly selected for.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Basilisk]]===
[[Image:Sfbasilisk-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW BASILISK

Shivan heavy assault fighter. Limited agility and heavy shielding. Sensor layout and armament suggest an effect-scale optimum favoring attacks against lightly defended targets, with little consideration for self-defense against other fighters. The Basilisk appears to be a behavior for applying maximal force to vulnerable gaps. Tactics that favor point assets, without escort or disruption to break up incoming wings, will promote Basilisk emanation.

Pilot integration is limited, suggesting minimal throughput required to optimize performance. All specimens have excellent range and endurance.

Introns suggest Basilisks could manifest heavier warheads, standoff attack capabilities, or cold swarm behavior. Some specimens imply stealth or camouflage introns.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Dragon]]===
[[Image:Sfdragon.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW DRAGON

Shivan elite agility fighter. Engages Allied strike craft using radical maneuvers across multiple degrees of freedom, to fearsome effect. Lightly armed and ineffective against larger craft. We hypothesize the Dragon emerges from a response heuristic favoring sophistication and local effect, without concern for difficulty of procurement. Because the Dragon is rarely encountered, we suspect it is somehow costly or consequential to procure. We believe that Allied tactics focused on groups of effective strike craft will cause Dragon emanation.

Pilot organism integration is nearly total. Distinctions are arbitrary.

Introns suggest that groups of Dragons may develop a number of swarm behaviors, including enhanced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. hot swarm, or reduced individual capability as swarm size degrades, i.e. cold swarm. The berserker intron is not commonly encountered in Dragon specimens. Assassin introns may be present but results are inconclusive.
</pre>
 
===[[SF Mara]]===
[[Image:Mara480x340.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW MARA

Shivan space superiority fighter. A strikingly balanced optimum between scale, effect, and sophistication in environments where pure maneuver is an asymmetrical advantage. Teleonomic analysis of the Mara design dates it to an era of behaviors fairly late in the projected conflict with the Ancients, so it is perhaps no surprise that the design seems pre-adapted. We have much better data on the Mara than most other design emanations, which makes it a point of enhanced investigation.

The Mara appears to be promoted by enemy tactical sophistication. Its flexibility allows it to perform in the space superiority, escort, and heavy assault roles. We are concerned that the design may represent a bottleneck bypass into a new set of optimae. Pilot integration is moderate.

Introns are extremely diverse, suggesting long lineage. Hot swarm, berserker, banshee, and standoff appear most probable.
</pre>
===[[SF Aeshma]]===
[[Image:Sfaeshma-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW AESHMA

Shivan assault fighter. Performs in the same niche as the Basilisk, but with reduced effect. This emanation was not present in the Lucifer fleet that destroyed the Ancients, but its presence in the nebula does suggest lineage from the same conflict. Effective only in swarm attacks against light targets. Statistical modeling suggests this emanation is moving towards extinction.

Pilot integration is surprisingly high, given the simplicity of flight behavior. Much of the connectivity appears specialized for signals analysis and mathematical transformation. Possible relic behavior from a past role, perhaps as a Nagari amplifier?

Introns strongly favor chain.
</pre>
===[[SF Astaroth]]===
[[Image:Sfastaroth-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW ASTAROTH

Shivan space superiority and intercept fighter. Agile but frail, the Astaroth depends on its slim target profile and confusing behavior. We believe the Astaroth represents a scale optimum in environments where noise and disorientation produce effect. Promotion factors are unclear, although we suspect the same factors that drive Manticore manifestation may operate. The curious possibility exists that the Astaroth also represents a kind of meta-noise, jamming attempts to infer Shivan procurement and deployment behavior.

Pilot integration is extreme.

Introns favor cold swarm behavior, with very limited hot swarm presence.
</pre>

==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
[[Image:Sbtaurvi-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nahema]]===
[[Image:Sbnahema-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
[[Image:Sbnephilim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
</pre>
 
===[[SB Seraphim]]===
[[Image:Sbseraphim-old.jpg|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>
 

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SC Lilith]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>
==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SD Lucifer]]===
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
</pre>
===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
</pre>

===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
</pre>
 
==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
</pre>
===[[SFr Dis]]===
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
</pre>
===[[ST Azrael]]===
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SSG Rahu]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
</pre>
===[[SSG Trident]]===
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
</pre>
===[[SSG Belial]]===
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
</pre>
===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
[[Image:SSJDante.png|left|240px]]
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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==Shivan bombers==
===[[SB Taurvi]]===
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NEM.NOW TAURVI

Shivan strike bomber. An apparent compromise between the Nahema and Nephilim types, the Taurvi appears to be a scale optimum, with limited sophistication and effect. High bomber casualties appear to promote Taurvi emanation.

Pilot integration is limited.

Introns favor hot swarm, chain, banshee, scrambler, and blink.
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===[[SB Nahema]]===
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NEM.NOW NAHEMA

Shivan fighter-bomber and cause of significant consternation. Like the Mara, the Nahema appears to be a traversal design, pushing through a phase space bottleneck into a new array of optimae. Although superficially an effect-sophistication optima, with excellent performance, the Nahema also appeared in tremendous numbers, accounting for a major fraction of Allied casualties during the Second Incursion. We must conclude that it is also promoted by sophistication.

Pilot integration is significant. Nahema pilots are unusually deficient in organs 7F202 and ivHQI.

Introns favor hot swarm, berserker, assassin, standoff, and bruiser.
</pre>
===[[SB Nephilim]]===
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NEM.NOW NEPHILIM

Shivan heavy bomber. Heavily shielded and armored warhead bus. Plainly an effect optimum, with limited sophistication and scale. Warship-heavy tactics with limited escort promote Nephilim emanation, as do large groups of lightly defended targets. The design appears to balance payload against chance of successful delivery.

Pilot integration is extreme. We have no hypothesis: perhaps exaptive.

Introns favor twin, scalar, scrambler, and blink. Primary weapons may approach or exceed the Kayser benchmark.
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===[[SB Seraphim]]===
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NEM.NOW SERAPHIM

Shivan superheavy bomber. We believe the Seraphim is a scale-effect optimum, with limited sophistication. It employs brute force to steamroll its way to objectives, carrying massive payloads. Heavy warship tactics appear to promote Seraphim emanation, as does the destruction of Shivan capital ships.

Pilot integration is extreme, perhaps due to sensory demands. The design's superficial similarity to the Manticore appears to be confounded by ESM capabilities in the limbs.

Introns favor berserker, assassin, standoff, bruiser, and chain.
</pre>

==Shivan warships==
===[[SC Cain]]===
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NEM.NOW CAIN

Shivan light cruiser. A Great War-era cruiser that manifested during the Second Incursion with a single cruiser-grade beam weapon, the Cain represents a baseline for Shivan tactical capabilities. Missile launchers and a CIWS beam make the Cain a respectable threat to fighter attack, but it is clearly a scale optimization for environments that reward the presence of multiple light warships. Promoters include large numbers of small Allied warships or small numbers of large Allied warships.

Cain crews cycle through an erratic series of behavioral epochs that appear statistically similar to the dynamics of an eight-body system. Ecosystem violence correlates in an exact negative relationship. Most Cains host a macroorganism of indeterminate origin and considerable size which moves erratically through a space forward of the ship's stern. Feed-forward always occurs, but in almost all cases it is statistically neutral across multiple epochs. Cain crews thus violate historical contingency.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, assassin, and chain.
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===[[SC Lilith]]===
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NEM.NOW LILITH

Shivan heavy cruiser and cause of significant consternation. A heavily armored Cain variant, it was a major threat during the Great War and escalated to nightmare during the Second Incursion, where it manifested with a destroyer-grade beam system operating at full power and rate of fire. Adequately defended against strike craft, the Lilith represents an effect-sophistication optimum, although some argue it must be treated as an anomaly or a bottleneck traversal. There is no statistical signal behind Lilith emanations, bolstering the suggestion that it is a form of accident or traversal.

It is possible that the Lilith includes a subspace heat sink akin to the Sathanas main weapons.

Lilith crews obey a strikingly different behavioral cycle than Cain crews, anaphasing into smaller and smaller behavioral groups until all groups but one are extinct. This behavior population repeats the cycle. Each observed vessel has its own characteristic cycle. Hull space diversity is lower than the Cain's, with prominent outgassing from a nanostrain that converts hull isomers.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, and assassin.
</pre>
===[[SC Rakshasa]]===
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NEM.NOW RAKSHASA

Shivan strike cruiser. Like many Shivan designs it appears to be a high-alpha beam attacker, but it exhibits an asymmetrical aberration, suggesting either a scale optimization or a missense mutation. Armed with three cruiser-grade beam weapons, the Rakshasa is a significant threat to Allied warships, but as a scale-effect optimum it can be countered with conventional tactics. Pilots should disable the three forward beam weapons with guided missiles as soon as possible. Primary gunfire is ineffective, since the exposed beam emitters are unusually small.

No data on Rakshasa crew behavior is available. Although plenty of ESM information was collected during operations in the nebula, including hull-penetrating scans, only surface exofauna are available for study. Statistical analysis of crew behavior curdles when attempting to bootstrap models of behavioral complexity unless out-of-possibility-space axioms are assumed. Surface exofauna display no particular traits of interest, as the Rakshasa appears inhabited by a conventional Shivan ecosystem of crawlers, killers, anodes, and sparkers.

Introns include berserker, picket, sleeper, armor, scalar, twin, and chain.
</pre>
===[[SCv Moloch]]===
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NEM.NOW MOLOCH

Shivan corvette. Very lightly armed for a ship-to-ship combatant, the Moloch behaves like a pocket destroyer, launching Shivan strike craft against Allied objectives. This makes it a limited battlefield presence on its own, but a major strategic nuisance. We designate the Moloch as a scale-sophistication optimum, placing agility above simple tactical effect. Promoters include Allied force concentrations, Allied convoy and fighter operations, and the presence of light Allied warships.

The Moloch is armed with three cruiser-grade antiship beams, a strong anti-fighter suite, and compartmentalized hull design that requires major firepower to kill. It has an excellent subspace drive even by Shivan standards, operating with accuracy and alacrity even close to disruptive presences like the Knossos portal. The warship's forward gun is a conventional plasma weapon, but it possesses a bottle control apparatus like a beam weapon, suggesting either a missense mutation or the development of a novel guided plasma weapon.

Crew behavior obeys the Kaleo-Mikala law, with total feed forward and historical contingency. Stable configurations orbit a behavioral attractor which we tentatively attribute to one of two large sessile masses inhabiting spaces along the ship's spine. Generations occur at thirty-minute intervals, with crossover between configurations provided by outbursts of symbolic violence. Generation turnover is complete and instantaneous. The broad trend of behavioral configurations represents an approach-and-flee cycle.

Introns include twin, standoff, glare, hot swarm, scalar, blink, and scrambler.
</pre>
==Shivan capital ships==
===[[SD Demon]]===
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NEM.NOW DEMON

Shivan line destroyer. Between the Great War and the Second Incursion the type accreted a massive defensive advantage, making it an extremely difficult target to kill. The Demon is lightly gunned for its size, identifying it as a probable scale-effect optimum, with little concern for sophistication. The Demon has excellent hangar facilities. Promoters include Allied corvette-size warships, the destruction of Shivan warships, and a shortage of support for Shivan strike craft. The Demon appears to be suited to environments in which the enemy has numbers but limited firepower.

GTVI is concerned that the Demon is continuing to optimize. Although teleonomic analysis suggests the design is very old, it has recently undergone a transition, and the transition may continue until the destroyer develops a better-defended engine system and enhanced point defenses. The Demon may mature into an escort destroyer' with area control capabilities, particularly if the type's missile launchers acquire expanded capability.

Demon crew behavior is subdivided into two primary regions, although these are purely statistical, not spatial. Regions interact only during subspace jumps. After an interaction, shocks disseminate through both regions, priming a set of games that play themselves forward in loosely superConway configurations. In one case a Demon was observed post-jump with only a single observable region, but the observation crew retired due to unease before further data could be collected.

The Demon's internal ecosystem revolves around a set of exotic-atmosphere particle accelerators and cyclotrons. These devices accelerate charged particles to relativistic velocities in fields as powerful as a star's. Near the aft of the cyclotron configuration, six erratic mass objects exchange arcs of charge in a power series. The Shivan organisms termed hulks, melts, plates, and spirals exist in relationship to this environment, although spirals sometimes penetrate as far as the outer hull.

Introns include berserker, standoff, picket, sleeper, armor, and scalar.
</pre>
===[[SD Ravana]]===
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NEM.NOW RAVANA

Shivan strike destroyer. The Ravana is a shock attacker that ambushes targets with its startling subspace agility. Once its drives are exhausted, it can be pinned down and prosecuted in real space. Heavily armed with beam weapons, the Ravana neglects anti-fighter defenses or any real staying power, classifying it as a scale-sophistication optimum, putting technique above broad effect. The Ravana's promoters include the presence of Allied light warships, or heavier warships in isolated positions. As a hit-and-run assassin, the Ravana is a critical threat to Allied morale and force cohesion.

Ravana tactics offered an enormous challenge to the Alliance during the Second Incursion, and perhaps more than any other warship except the Sathanas, it has influenced Alliance doctrine in the years since.

The most notable trait of the Ravana's ecosystem is an intermittent local subspace gate in the ship's core. This appears to be a vestigial or prototypical form of the Sathanas' subspace weapon, and it may have unusual tactical effects, as displayed by the SD Vassago in Capella. A vortex of six to eight hundred flat morphs move in proximity to the gate, forming a turbine or cycloid structure. Population collapses occur on a probabilistic basis, scaling with time since last gate activity and repopulating after a gate event. Crew behavior cycles off this seed function.

Introns include berserker, sleeper, scalar, twin, blink, scrambler, and assassin.
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===[[SD Lucifer]]===
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NEM.NOW LUCIFER

Shivan planetkiller. The Lucifer is the Great War incarnate, an invincible planet-burning nemesis that defined the Shivan threat for an entire generation. Equipped with a sheath shield, two anti-warship beams, and two dual-mode anti-ship/anti-population beams, the Lucifer posed an intractable challenge to Great War tactics and technology. The type is clearly an effect-sophistication optimum, with no concern for scale. Its promoters are unknown, but we suspect that the Lucifer is a heuristic response to a civilization with a highly developed pre-subspace infrastructure, including extensive use of kinetic kill vehicles. Alternately, the Lucifer may not be a product of Shivan response heuristics at all.

The centrality of the Lucifer to Shivan behavior in the Great War led Allied analysts down a blind path, and until the Second Incursion, Allied doctrine prized the ability to engage and destroy a single massive Shivan capital ship.

Recent encounters with a Lucifer-type combatant in unconventional circumstances have highlighted the mutability and power of the Shivan threat. This specimen displayed enhanced power generation, allowing it to operate all its main weapons simultaneously. Startling subspace agility permitted the specimen to engage and disengage with Allied forces in a series of harrying attacks. Analysts believe this Lucifer recognized that it was outmatched and intentionally deactivated its sheath shield in order to pursue a strategy of attritional engagement, exploiting its superior self-repair ability.

It is likely that these behaviors represent cognitive adaptation.

No information on crew dynamics or hull ecosystem are available. Specimen diversity is too low to explore possible introns.
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===[[SJ Sathanas]]===
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NEM.NOW SATHANAS

Shivan juggernaut and special weapon platform. The apocalyptic messenger of the Second Incursion, the Sathanas was believed to be the single command platform coordinating Shivan behavior in the nebula until more than eighty Sathanas juggernauts converged on Allied space, where they collapsed the Capella star with a subspace weapon, triggering an artificial supernova. This punctured a number of assumptions about Shivan behavior and strategic organization, marking a significant turning point in both Allied doctrine and human-Vasudan history.

The Sathanas' primary tactical armament is a quartet of forward-mounted superheavy beams that violate local thermodynamics. These weapons can mission kill an Allied destroyer in a single salvo. We believe the Sathanas sinks heat directly into a subspace domain. The Sathanas is heavily armored and defended from fighter attack by hull defenses and an air wing.

Frighteningly, we believe the Sathanas represents a scale-sophistication optimum. A juggernaut optimized for battlefield effect would have superior weapons coverage and a more diversified armament. Instead, the Sathanas appears to be a shock platform, adapted to penetrate blockades, ambush vital targets, and deploy its main weapon.

The Sathanas' strategic capability lies in its powerful subspace weapon. Fired through the same emitters as the beam weapons, this weapon engineers the subspace domain to variable effect. Imputed capabilities include node engineering, jump capture, and, when used in concert with other Sathanas juggernauts, the forced supernova of stars.

We have no information on Sathanas promoters or introns. The craft is clearly pre-adapted, but it may represent a Shivan strategic asset, responsive not to a particular threat species but to broader life cycle requirements. Sathanas behavior during the late Second Incursion was highly goal-directed and intentional.

The craft's internal ecosystem is cause for major alarm. The Sathanas' interior volume hosts an environment nicknamed the 'nightmare turbine', which appears to be coupled both to the juggernaut's tactical capabilities and to Shivan strategic behavior. Within this environment, structures ranging from the quantum level up through macrofauna and semiotic or conceptual realms engaged in destructive competition, producing lethally optimized variants and symbols. The system was highly energetic, with input from the Sathanas' primary power. Output seemed to serve as a seed function or driver for Shivan behavior.

The ability to engage and destroy Sathanas juggernauts in large numbers is a primary goal of Allied doctrine.
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===[[SSJ Dante|SJ Kalki]]===
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NEM.NOW.FLASHUP KALKI

The Kalki-class superjuggernaut was encountered by Allied forces in unconventional circumstances. Analysis must proceed from very limited data.

The Kalki appears to be a command and control vessel, which defies our understanding of Shivan behavior and organization.

An arsenal of beam weapons provides the class with significant firepower, but as with the Sathanas, its primary capabilities presumably lie beyond its overwhelming throw weight. Analysis of ESM readings from the Kalki is underway, which may provide insight into the type's role in the Shivan behavioral algorithm.
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==Shivan support ships==
===[[SFr Asmodeus]]===
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NEM.NOW ASMODEUS

Shivan tactical freighter. Displays the most armor and defensive systems of any Shivan freighter yet encountered, and carries cargo in hardened containers. Apparently an effect optimum in response to threat environments. Significant attrition on Shivan logistics causes emanation of Asmodeus freighters, suggesting procurement is consequential, perhaps due to marginal losses in efficiency.

Asmodeus crews obey a boom-bust behavioral cycle without clear period. There are some mathematical relationships to 1/f noise in neural networks. Booms are characterized by enhanced teleology, transitioning via anaphase and bilateral conflict into a bust period of stereotypic activity along two primary configurations. Novel configurations do not arise in the bust period.

Introns include scrambler, picket, chain, and armor.
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===[[SFr Dis]]===
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NEM.NOW DIS

Shivan heavy freighter. The Dis displays parturition marks suggesting that it may be a component of a larger device. Apparently built for reliability, the Dis represents a scale optimum, since it could trivially achieve greater speed. Not a tactical factor, but a major strategic target.

Dis appear to be promoted by successful logistics, by Shivan assets short on logistics, and by an excess of Mephisto and Asmodeus population. Crew cycle period unknown. During operations around the Knossos portal, Dis freighters displayed evasive behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays disproportionate diversity. System violence spikes from one to six standard deviations, with hangovers after five+ spikes and a three percent chance of a novel configuration. Feed-forward depends on survival rates.

Introns include scalar, armored, and chain.
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===[[SFr Mephisto]]===
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NEM.NOW MEPHISTO

Extremely irritating Shivan light freighter. Displays unconventional morphology for a Shivan specimen. A scale optimum with a slight tendency towards effect, the Mephisto has enough self-defense capability to make a marginal difference in survivability. Pilots report that the craft's cargo provides accidental armor.

Mephisto crews do not obey a consistent behavioral cycle, suggesting the population may somehow be too small to achieve statistical power. Emanation is promoted by attacks on Shivan logistics. Onboard ecosystem violence follows a sine wave with a thirty-minute period. Novel configurations are observed on alternate cycles. Feed-forward has not been observed.

Introns include scrambler, judas, picket, chain, and blink.
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===[[ST Azrael]]===
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NEM.NOW AZRAEL

Shivan transport. Apparently used to ferry Shivan organisms from point to point, the Azrael is optimized for range and subspace agility, classifying it as a scale-effect optimum. Tactical capabilities favor the hypothesis that the Azrael is not designed to survive resistance. Crew behavior obeys a four-hour cycle with chaotic stalls at the end of certain configuration chains.

Promoters unknown, but we believe bottlenecks in Shivan organism movement promote Azraels. Logs recovered from the NTF Iceni record Azrael transports and their crews behaving cognitively, with highly goal-directed behavior.

Ship ecosystem displays limited diversity. System violence obeys replacement homeostasis within half a standard deviation.

Introns include scrambler, picket, scalar, and chain.
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===[[SSG Rahu]]===
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NEM.NOW RAHU

Shivan gas miner. Heavily armored for a non-combat spacecraft, the Rahu gathers and processes nebula gas for use in Shivan drive systems. Rahu types explode spectacularly when destroyed, so combat pilots should use caution. Promoters include Shivan combat operations and Shivan logistical deficits.

Our models suggest that the Rahu should be lightly armored, as a scale optimum. The design may be pre-adapted as a result of past pressure on Shivan mining operations in the nebula.

Rahu crew behavior is an example of outright physical violence among Shivan organisms. The crew selects target members, who are attacked, dismembered, and integrated with components from other dismembered targets. After a convalescence period, the resulting novel phenotypes return to default crew behavior. A small fraction of crew organisms are repeatedly targeted, creating chimeric specimens with multiple limbs and convulsive, maladaptive mass. Target selection seems to crawl along a Markov-like similarity selection from past targets.

Onboard ecosystem diversity typically includes a colony of melters and spirals arranged along field lines in the fractionation array. These organisms are hunted by small predator morphs called jointers, which induce fatal communication by linking two prey organisms.

Introns include chain and picket. Some specimens confusingly display glare introns.
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===[[SSG Trident]]===
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NEM.NOW TRIDENT

Shivan sentry gun. The Trident is a simple, powerful stationary defense. Armed with two Shivan heavy primaries, the Trident fits a typical profile in which main guns underperform their Allied counterparts. Given its wide dispersal, the Trident appears to be a scale optimization.

During Allied operations in the nebula, scout wings tracked a Rahu gas miner that jumped from depot to depot, extracting Trident platforms from the nebula and caching them in small urchin' formations. The purpose of this behavior is unknown.

The Trident possesses a sophisticated onboard intelligence, but it is only vestigially connected to the actual operating mechanism. It appears to be exaptive.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, and glare. Limited presence of cold and hot swarm.
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===[[SSG Belial]]===
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NEM.NOW BELIAL

Shivan heavy sentry gun. Armed with four heavy Shivan primaries, the Belial defends key Shivan installations and depots. We describe the Belial as an effect optimum. Combat pilots respect the Belial more than any other sentry gun, and tactics prescribe long-range attack with guided missiles.

If the primary weapons of Shivan craft ever begin expressing more power and accuracy, Allied pilots will face a major threat.

Belial sentry guns were the object of a minor conspiracy within GTVI during the Second Incursion. Analysis of ESM records detected a pattern in the bearing and intensity of Belial targeting sensors, as if the Shivans were using them as communication buoys. A scramble to collect and examine Belial specimens led to the loss of a combat squadron at the hands of a Dragon emanation. Later teleonomic analysis of these transmissions inferred information content, but it matches no known Shivan emission.

Introns include chain, assassin, standoff, cold swarm, and glare.
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===[[Shivan Comm Node]]===
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NEM.NOW UNKNOWN DEVICE

All information on this structure is classified level Omega.
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=Other ships=
===[[Knossos]]===
[[Image:Knossos-old.jpg|left|240px]]
The Ancient civilization apparently constructed the Knossos portal to secure, stabilize, and expand a subspace node leading to a distant area of space. Aken Bosch rediscovered this portal in Ancient records, then incited the Neo-Terran rebellion to gain access. After the NTC Trinity powered up and transited the device, Shivan warships jumped through from the other side, initiating the Second Shivan Incursion. After extensive study by Doctor Hargrove’s team, the Knossos was destroyed by meson warheads in an effort to contain the expanding Shivan threat.

Study of the Knossos technology led to breakthroughs in node engineering and the construction of the Sol Gate, which captured and stabilized a transient node to the Sol system, re-establishing Alliance contact with Earth. The economic and scientific demands of the project were colossal, but the Alliance is optimistic that renewed traffic with Earth will rapidly recoup both fiscal and strategic costs.
 
===[[Great Darkness]]===
We have discovered no hint, no residue, no archaelogical or astronomical clue that could confirm the existence of a Brahman civilization. The very notion of a mythical progenitor species is a hoary cliche.

Yet our own coexistence with the Vasudans, and our knowledge of the extent of Ancient xenocide, summons a powerful mystery. Technologically sophisticated life is apparently common in the galaxy - it arises frequently, and it has done so for some time now, at least in the cosmological span. Why, then, is the galaxy empty? Why do we find no von Neumann probes propagating through the subspace network? Where is the life that must have come before us?

We should inhabit a teeming universe, a bazaar of wonders, a cosmic ecumenopolis overflowing with civilization. The stars and galaxies around us should by all rights have been restructured to the needs of unimaginably sophisticated engineers. Technology self-catalyzes, and that catalysis has had time to flourish. The civilizations of the universe should, by now, have conquered reality itself.

We find no such wonder. Our cosmos is silent.

Certainly the Shivans provide one answer to this question - a great filter that annihilates spacefaring civilizations. But what if there was a time before the Shivans? What happened to the first life in the universe, the children of the dawn?

Did they pass on to some unglimpsable destiny, leaving no wreckage or monument? Or do we inhabit their tomb - a quarantine zone, a carcass, malignant with some ancient mistake?

 

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