Federated Suns Turn 5
2380-2399
Kentares IV
On the 16th of January 2383 in high orbit over the world of Kentares IV the galaxy changed forever. The titanic clash between the might of the Federated Suns and Hegemony Navy had not only given the Terrans their first real defeat since the fall of the Alliance, but it had also shown that the burgeoning new nations of the Inner Sphere would no longer be cowed by their old masters.
While officially, the government had issued statements decrying the overzealous actions of Admiral Hasek and his senior staff, few, if any took these seriously. The Admiral had become not only a hero, but came to represent the new national pride growing within the Federated Suns. What had started 66 years ago as a defensive pact between the desperate worlds of the Crucis Reach had, through the fires of Tikonov and Kentares, grown in to a true nation.
Peace with Honor
Even before the dust had settled at Kentares IV, President Paul Davion had enacted his plan to diffuse the increasingly apocalyptic situation between the 'Suns and Hegemony. What few jumpships as could be spared had been organized into a rudimentary command circuit to deliver the President's sister, Marie Davion to Terra as quickly as possible. While many on New Avalon openly questioned the President's choice at such a crucial time, Paul Davion had the utmost faith in his sister. This was immediately proven to be well paced, as within days of arriving on Terra, Marie had through a mix of charm, intelligence and supreme competence, diffused the situation entirely. Both the Federated Suns and Hegemony had stepped back from the precipice, and as the negotiations drew to a close two years later, and the ink dried on a bevy of new trade, navigation and emigration treaties, both nations had, despite all the bloodshed, violence, and death, emerged victorious.
The world marches on
"Look, I've seen our projections on a possible Combine battleship too. Yes, it could probably blast something like the Crusis to scrap, but by the time they get anything out of that new yard of theirs we will have almost as many battleships as they have cruisers."
"So you are saying they aren't a threat?"
"No, I'm saying we aren't worrying about paper spaceships and imaginary naval-races with neutral powers whose whole navy has less combat experience than the ****ing Albion, when we have real and credible threats to deal with."
- Adm. Michael Hasek to reporters on Wake Up Avalon City! 2389
Kentares IV had not only been a wake-up call to the Hegemony, but also the to the Federated Suns other rivals. Not only was the FPF equipped with larger, faster, and better armed warships than any other Inner Sphere power, they also possessed the most experienced force in the Inner Sphere, which had, despite an inauspicious start, emerged victorious in nearly every engagement it fought.
This was clearly not a situation which the other nations of the Inner Sphere could allow to continue, and, in the 2390s Federated Suns intelligence operatives began reporting on massive new shipyard construction programs across space. They projected that within the next decade, not only would the 'Suns perennial foe the Capellan confederation be able to construct warships on par with the much vaunted Crucis-class battleship, but the ever-growing Draconis Combine would be able to construct ships which rivaled even the Hegemony's behemoths.
The situation was becoming increasingly concerning. The FPF Navy may have had superior ships to its rivals, but, in terms of overall fleet weight, it was a less optimistic story. Many of their ships were also beginning to show their age. The Galahad-class had never received its proposed upgrades after the battle of Highspire, and the venerable Albion-class had proven to not be of sufficient size or power to serve as a ship-of-the-wall. In the halls of power on New Avalon, panic was beginning to set in. The Navy was still in the midst of repairing the damage dealt to it at Kentares IV, and their budget was stretched to the breaking point. Many petitioned the President to order the Navy to scrap all current production and invest nearly the entire procurement budget for the next decade in to a audacious plan to upgrade the Universal Shipyards facilities at Delevan to a similar size and capacity to those that the Combine was rumoured to be constructing in orbit of New Samarkand.
While the President understood that nations like the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League must, to some extent, view the Federated Suns as a threat to their security, that threat paled in comparison to the juggernaut of the Terran Hegemony. He, and most of the moderates on the Navy Board felt that while upgrades to some shipyards were advisable to keep pace with their neighbor`s growth, the proposed upgrades to Delevan came at too high a cost. In a compromise it was decided that the smaller yards at Delevan would be upgraded to match the current largest over the next 20 years, and more focused production on heavier warships would be undertaken to mitigate any possible capability gap.
New Units
Kentares IV-class Carrier
A Fleet Carrier had been in the works since the inception of the FPF Navy in the early 2300s. However the "gunboat clique" which ruled the Navy's procurement bureaucracy felt that fighters were only suited for reconnaissance, and that any ship which sacrificed significant space to the support and maintenance of them over conventional weaponry was folly. This attitude began to change gradually in the 2370s when fighters proved instrumental at the battle of Tikonov, and unequivocally in 2383 when massed fighter formations devastated the Hegemony fleet at Kentares IV.
Ultimately the Navy went with a Universal Shipyard's design which had been kicking around naval circles since the inception of the Federated Suns. It was a simple design which lacked many modern features such as dropship collars or advanced targeting and tracking systems, but, what it lacked in advanced technology it it made up for in speed, protection and fighter capacity. With 4 squadrons of fighters, and 60kt of supplies to sustain them, the Kentares IV offered a drastic improvement to both fighter coverage and endurance. For defence the ship primarily relied on its incredible speed to keep it out of range of hostile warships. At 4g of acceleration, few dropships, and even fewer warships would be able to keep up. However, it did also mount an impressive weight of armour for a carrier as well as a sizable array of class 55 naval lasers to make what few opponents who could catch up to the Kentares IV think twice about it.
Class/Model/Name: Kentares IV-class Carrier
Tech: Inner Sphere
Ship Cost: $7,112,484,000.00
Magazine Cost: $464,000.00
BV2: 42,273
Mass: 750,000
K-F Drive System: Compact
Power Plant: Maneuvering Drive
Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
32 Naval Laser 55
32 AC 5
64 Machine Gun (IS)
Class/Model/Name: Kentares IV-class Carrier
Mass: 750,000
Equipment: Mass
Drive: 225,000
Thrust
Safe: 5
Maximum: 8
Controls: 1,875
K-F Hyperdrive: Compact (16 Integrity) 339,375
Jump Sail: (5 Integrity) 68
Structural Integrity: 50 37,500
Total Heat Sinks: 2715 Single 2,000
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 13500 points 5,508
Fire Control Computers: 0
Armor: 330 pts Standard 750
Fore: 70
Fore-Left/Right: 40/40
Aft-Left/Right: 40/40
Aft: 70
Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks:
Small: 0
Medium: 2 200
Large: 0
Escape Pods: 150 1,050
Life Boats: 0
Crew And Passengers:
41 Officers in 2nd Class Quarters 287
154 Crew in 2nd Class Quarters 1,078
48 Gunners and Others in 2nd Class Quarters 336
525 Bay Personnel 0
10 1st Class Passengers 100
600 2nd Class Passengers 4,200
Steerage Passengers 0
# Weapons Loc Heat Damage Range Mass
8 Naval Laser 55 Nose 680 440 (44-C) Extreme-C 8,800
4 AC 5 Nose 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) Nose 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
2 Naval Laser 55 FR 170 110 (11-C) Extreme-C 2,200
4 AC 5 FR 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) FR 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
2 Naval Laser 55 FL 170 110 (11-C) Extreme-C 2,200
4 AC 5 FL 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) FL 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
4 Naval Laser 55 RBS 340 220 (22-C) Extreme-C 4,400
4 AC 5 RBS 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) RBS 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
4 Naval Laser 55 LBS 340 220 (22-C) Extreme-C 4,400
4 AC 5 LBS 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) LBS 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
2 Naval Laser 55 AR 170 110 (11-C) Extreme-C 2,200
4 AC 5 AR 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) AR 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
2 Naval Laser 55 AL 170 110 (11-C) Extreme-C 2,200
4 AC 5 AL 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) AL 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
8 Naval Laser 55 Aft 680 440 (44-C) Extreme-C 8,800
4 AC 5 Aft 4 20 (2-C) Medium 32
8 Machine Gun (IS) Aft 16 (1.6-C) Short-PDS 4
Ammo Rounds Mass
AC 5 Ammo 1920 96.00
Machine Gun (IS) Ammo 6400 32.00
Number Equipment and Bays Mass Doors
200 Bay Fighter 30,000 2
25 Bay Small Craft 5,000 8
60,000 Cargo, Standard 60,000 2
Turn
Administration
Budget - 100
Upkeep - 22
R&D
Kentares IV-class Carrier - 7.1
Construction
Ships
2x Crucis - 23.3
2x Kentares IV - 14.2
Stations
1x Northumberland - 1
5x Barghest - 0.072
Misc
10x Lt Dropship
380x Fighter
Research & Other
Research - 69 - 0.029
Fleet Repairs - 12