Enduring Flame Class Dreadnought

[DreadPirateMike]

Enduring Flame The Republic’s Invincible Protector (Art by John Berkey) Name • Enduring Flame Class Dreadnought Classification • Starship Origin • Corellian Engineering Corporation Specifications Size • How big is this thing? Give rough estimates in metric measurements (meters) - Height: 4.7 km - Width: 1 km - Length: 4.3 km Appearance • The Enduring Flame is set apart from its comrades in the Republic fleet by far more than its sheer size, although at over four kilometers long and taller still, that’s admittedly pretty hard to miss. But in an era of military ship design increasingly dominated by simplicity, efficiency and streamlined form, it definitely doesn’t quite fit in. Between its massive and stylized aft fin, with its sharply jutting communications and sensor apparatus, and the sedate curvature of its primary hull that evokes a modern luxury liner as much as a utilitarian weapon of mass destruction, it seems a colossal relic of some bygone era. And in a very real sense, that’s precisely what it is. The Corellian Engineering Corporation actually first submitted their initial design proposal for the craft centuries ago, awarded the contract by a sub-committee of a Senate eager to re-assert its challenged relevance and damaged prestige in the wake of the Great Sith War. The urgency soon fell away after Exar Kun’s death of course, but while the engineers faithfully revisited and updated the design every twenty years or so in preparation for the day the Republic actually authorized construction, a combination of Corellian sentimentality and the complexity of the task ensured the basic space frame was never significantly changed. Ultimately, the archaic aesthetic proved a perfect match for the massive warship’s intended purpose. For a Republic citizen to look upon it is to be reminded that they are inheritors of a legacy that stretches back more than twenty millennia. Thus the name: the Enduring Flame of civilization, undimmed by time or opposition. Overall, it must be admitted that Enduring Flame does not look nearly so mean as its Sith counterpart, in large part because the majority of its massive weapons emplacements are kept concealed for protection behind massive armored blast doors until needed. It does, however, possess one unique and distinctive feature which marks it unmistakably as a fighter. The massive red stripe splashed across it’s dorsal hull is a specifically Corellian affectation, added only after the battle of Coruscant 3595 BBY by special dispensation from the Republic Navy. In recognition of its critical role in blunting the massive Sith assault until Republic reinforcements arrived to turn the tide, and the almighty pounding it endured in the process, it was determined that Enduring Flame had earned the Corellian Blood Stripe, First Class. Function First and foremost, Enduring Flame is of course a warship. Its firepower leaves no room for doubt in that regard. Boasting monstrous ion cannons each the size of a destroyer, heavy quad turbolaser batteries, countless smaller point defense weapons, and an arsenal of proton torpedoes that number in the thousands, she is more than up to the task of pulverizing virtually any target its commander chooses. Her defensive systems are at least as impressive, comprising a resilient and multi-tiered array of shields and a comprehensive network of tractor beams capable of stopping a battlecruiser at full sublight in its tracks. And even should all that fail, its armor is capable of withstanding protracted fire from all but the heaviest of weapons. Even its ostensibly flimsiest sections, particularly up around the command deck, are in fact reinforced with molecularly bonded durasteel support struts and cross braces, a relatively new and ludicrously expensive process but one which grants the ship’s “bones” amazing resilience. All of this is made possible by nine Superfortress Class Fusion Reactors, with a combined sustainable output greater than most civilized planets. In practice, she is a mobile city in space, home to tens of thousands of civilian laborers and contractors in addition to its regular crew of 120,000 officers and enlisted personnel and its regular marine detachment of 30,000. This floating metropolis possesses its own public transit system, dubbed the Coronet Express in honor of the Corellian rocket trams emulated aboard, launch and repair facilities for a fleet of transports and landing craft in addition to its sizable fighter compliment, countless shops and commissaries, and unofficially, even its seedier neighborhoods hidden in the maze of service tunnels. Indeed, in the event of a severe and protracted threat to Coruscant itself, Enduring Flame is intended as an extension of the Republic government itself. The Republic News Network maintains permanent offices aboard, taking advantage of its powerful transmission capacity, appropriate accommodations are in place for a rotating contingent of Jedi Knights, and it even has built in facilities and space to host the entire Republic Senate should the need ever arise. Particularly famous is the exclusive restaurant located atop this mountain of durasteel, beneath only the command deck, appropriately dubbed the Eyrie. Not only does it possess a raised stage for the Republic’s hottest musicians, serve the finest food and drink, and offer an awe inspiring view of the ship and whatever planet it’s typically orbiting, but its dance floor is a technological achievement in itself. A sophisticated artificial gravity system can be reprogrammed on demand, allowing species from both low and high gravity worlds to elegantly waltz the night away in mid-air. None of this is frivolously wasted space, of course. A lift leading up from there is the only way to the command deck, and in a combat situation, all the finery can be stored away by well-drilled crews in minutes, as the space is converted into a fortress. Plush carpeting conceals mounting stations for heavy weapons, sturdy barricades rise from the deck to shield waiting fire teams, and that programmable gravity becomes a death trap for intruders. In short, while Ending Flame is a rare sight outside the Core, its mere presence is usually enough to calm entire nervous star systems. Here is the Republic, they know. Strong and immovable as ever.

[Fromikeable]