Yeah, in this timeline the PRC undergoes major liberalization in 2023, holds singapore/Japan style elections where minority parties get maybe 30% of the vote, and then joins the Terran Alliance before the Deimos Project kicks off. And then when McKenna takes over, the Communist Party's right wing (by now pretty not communist but unable to change their name for branding purposes) sides with him for nationalist pride and because he promises them a Warship of their very own Soon(tm).
Hong Kong doesn't remain an independent micro-state for 200 years in the face of One China policy from both sides, come on.
And yes, the entire point of this is that in order to get the nation states to agree to McKenna's reforms, he has to placate various power groups, just like he left the House of Windsor on the throne of Great Britain. James McKenna himself never delivered any of his warship promises, and India got theirs first-and only after he was dead.
And speaking of India, I want to ask you a question: What's just the nastiest upgrade you can give a Black Lion block 1 to make it a more effective low-orbit brawler? Well, I thought it over and decided that NAC40s were the way to go. I could have gone a bit more extreme but I decided to hold back on converting the ship entirely from expeditionary warship to super-BC, and anyways, it was already pretty nasty. So I got rid of the anti-fighter ACs and put on something with some more kick. Gauss rifles and ER LLs replace them, greatly increasing the anti-fighter punch. The AMS grid is pretty leaky, but it would suffice to make it a bit harder to hit.
And if I ever wrote this up, the Lord Varuna, a ship given to a region of 2 billion to assure them they would never be bombed from orbit would do a lot of bombing from orbit with both regular NACs and with their 'special weapons locker.' Turns out, nukes are easy to come by if you request DOME funding for 'mountain removal charges'.
Black Lion I Battlecruiser Lord Varuna
Mass: 720,000 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 2755
Mass: 720,000
Battle Value: 168,413
Tech Rating/Availability: E/E-X-E-F
Cost: 7,624,378,000 C-bills
Fuel: 1,000 tons (2,500)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Sail Integrity: 5
KF Drive Integrity: 16
Heat Sinks: 1054 (2108)
Structural Integrity: 75
Armor
Nose: 102
Fore Sides: 177/177
Aft Sides: 177/177
Aft: 102
Cargo
Bay 1: Fighter (16) 1 Door
Bay 2: Fighter (16) 1 Door
Bay 3: Cargo (68576.0 tons) 2 Doors
Ammunition:
400 rounds of NAC/40 ammunition (46.8 tons),
1,024 rounds of Gauss Rifle [IS] ammunition (16 tons),
192 rounds of Anti-Missile System [IS] ammunition (8 tons),
160 rounds of Killer Whale ammunition (8,000 tons)
Dropship Capacity: 0
Grav Decks: 2 (150 m, 150 m)
Escape Pods: 36
Life Boats: 36
Crew: 99 officers, 394 enlisted/non-rated, 104 gunners, 64 bay personnel, 70 passengers, 140 marines
Notes: Mounts 1,080 tons of ferro-carbide armor.
Weapons: Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat) Heat SRV MRV LRV ERV Class
Nose (646 Heat)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
8 ER Large Laser 96 6(64) 6(64) 6(64) 0(0) Laser
2 Anti-Missile System 2 1(6) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (24 shots)
FRS/FLS (509 Heat)
3 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 60 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 Naval Laser 35 208 14(140) 14(140) 14(140) 0(0) Capital Laser
8 ER Large Laser 96 6(64) 6(64) 6(64) 0(0) Laser
2 Anti-Missile System 2 1(6) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (24 shots)
RBS/LBS (646 Heat)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
8 ER Large Laser 96 6(64) 6(64) 6(64) 0(0) Laser
2 Anti-Missile System 2 1(6) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (24 shots)
ARS/ALS (509 Heat)
3 Capital Missile Launcher (Killer Whale) 60 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) 12(120) Capital Missile
Killer Whale Ammo (40 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 Naval Laser 35 208 14(140) 14(140) 14(140) 0(0) Capital Laser
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 ER Large Laser 48 3(32) 3(32) 3(32) 0(0) Laser
4 ER Large Laser 48 3(32) 3(32) 3(32) 0(0) Laser
2 Anti-Missile System 2 1(6) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (24 shots)
Aft (646 Heat)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
1 Naval Autocannon (NAC/40) 135 40(400) 40(400) 0(0) 0(0) Capital AC
NAC/40 Ammo (20 shots)
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 ER Large Laser 48 3(32) 3(32) 3(32) 0(0) Laser
4 Gauss Rifle 4 6(60) 6(60) 6(60) 0(0) AC
Gauss Rifle Ammo [IS] (64 shots)
4 ER Large Laser 48 3(32) 3(32) 3(32) 0(0) Laser
2 Anti-Missile System 2 1(6) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) AMS
Anti-Missile System Ammo [IS] (24 shots)