There a many different races present within the vast Sundruntan galaxy who each had their own ideas when it came time to build their starships. Some designs were inspired by physical traits of the race who built them while others designed their ships to be extensions of their own personality traits.
Kin
Even while the Kin bear a strong resemblance to the Fox branch of the Beast Humans, they have taken a drastically different approach in the design of their own fleet. They’re own warship design philosophy is a perfect extension of the normally hidden, and more whimsical, side of their personalities.
Their ships feature aspects like smooth, flowing pieces of armor that protect externally mounted thrusters or turrets, and seemingly strange-but-effective weaponry. One of the most interesting of the weapons employed by the Kin is the main weapon typically installed on their larger ships, the Polarized Helix Cannon. The cannon itself is a series of two energy emitters and a central burst-plasma-cannon. The emitters each fire a band of energy that are oppositely charged from one another while the burst-plasma-cannon fires small orbs of plasma. The plasma orbs help to bridge the opposing charges of the energy streams and causes the streams of energy to twirl about the plasma orbs in a helix fashion as they fly toward their target. The end result is a volley that, between the two opposing charges of the streams, destabilizes energy shields while allowing the plasma orbs to reach the hull of an enemy vessel.
After the CCG passed the External Manufacturing Act and submitted the accompanying Corinthian External Manufacturing Treaty for ratification by their allies, the Kin and other allied races became more accepting of incorporating technology developed within the borders of the Corinthian Confederation. After the first plants to manufacture protected Corinthian technology beyond the borders of the turbulent Corinthian Frontier were officially announced, the Kin and other allied races began the process of redesigning many of their ships and fighters to make use of Dimensional Rudders that allow for the conservation and redirection of momentum for ship maneuvering over the comparably antiquated directional thrusters they previously relied on.
Rhynos
They Rhynos warship design philosophy very much resembles, and is required by, their own form. Due in part to their larger size than other races, Rhynos require higher ceilings and larger, more open areas to feel comfortable. Their ships often appear cumbersome, bulky, and slow, and many of them are compared to similarly classed ships of other races, but they are typically heavily armed and equipped with a great many thrusters to facilitate rapid aiming of fixed primary weapons.
Their favored primary capital ship weapon is a powerful beam capable of firing continually while also sending pulses of energy through the beam. The result is a weapon capable of quickly wearing down shields and then dealing explosive damage to the enemy hull with each pulse of energy.
For the most part, the Rhynos focus solely fielding larger ship classes such as cruisers, destroyers, carriers, and a variety of capital ships. There is almost complete lack of frigates, fighters of their own. An absence of escort craft would represent a major flaw in fleet composition if not for the Rhynos practice of forming joint-fleets with their closest allies, the Severen.
Like the Kin, the Rhynos are researching incorporating the now more readily available dimensional rudder technology developed by the Corinthians into their own vessels, but have encountered difficulties. They have found that while existing thrusters are very powerful, the force they exert on a ship hull is more gradual as the ship’s previous momentum is reduced before a change in direction. In testing, it was found that the more immediate changes in direction when using dimensional rudders, while sought after, places much greater stress on ships and can lead to severe internal damage.
Severen
The Severen ship design philosophy, like with other races, is a representation of their personality. Their ships tend to be smaller, because of their smaller size, except for those that are designed to accommodate passengers belonging to larger races, such as their closest allies, the Rhynos. Severen ships are typically designed to focus on speed, maneuverability, and most often employ rapid-firing weapons.
As the Severen operate a joint fleet with the Rhynos, they primarily operate and build ships of the frigate and smaller classes. They also pilot fighter craft that are primarily based on Rhynos vessels.
Due to the smaller size of their ships and their sturdy nature, the Severen have had comparatively little difficulty in incorporating the dimension rudder technology that was made more readily available after their ratification of the Corinthian External Manufacturing Treaty. The result is that their already fast and maneuverable ships have gained the ability to strafe enemy targets while still aiming their more powerful fixed forward weapons without losing their momentum.
Civilian Vessels
The styles of freighters, passenger craft, scientific vessels, and other civilian vessels are typically governed by what different markets find appealing rather than outright utility of design. This desire to chase changing trends in what is considered appealing has resulted in a great variety in ship designs even within ships made for similar purposes. It is sometimes said that there are as many civilian ship designs as there are stars in the sky.
Security and Independent Forces
Mercenaries, militaries of independent worlds, security forces, and factions lacking the required infrastructure to build their own fleets rely on commercially available ships. These ships can be acquired from any race that allows for military technology to be manufactured and sold in such a manner. The most common ships found in these roles are often Corinthian vessels of less dense versions of the ships employed by the CCG, or Kin manufacture due to the general flexibility of both races’ ship design philosophies. Rhynos vessels may sometimes be found acting as flagships of planetary defense fleets or larger independent security forces that aid in escorting trade convoys through the Frontier and other dangerous areas of space. When used, Severen vessels are primarily employed as rapid response craft.
Ships manufactured by other races may be found in service of independent powers, but other races are generally opposed to selling ships to others outside of their own spheres of influence or are view would-be-purchasers as potential hostiles to plot against. It is believed that the primary reason for the prevalence of Corinthian military and trade vessels among the fleets of independent powers is due largely to the strong marketing of the General Technologies Group and their large advanced shipyards that allow them to undercut the cost of many competitors.
Black Market Ships
Before any faction or individual can purchase a warship or any space-worthy vessel from any of the major independent corporations, they must pass through a rigorous vetting process by both nation the manufacturer is based within and the manufacturer itself. If the would-be-purchaser is found to have any criminal ties or falls under suspicion of having them, they are typically black-listed and barred from legally obtaining ships or military hardware. For this reason, most illegal operators rely on black market shipyards. Black market ships are often designed to blend in with civilian vessels yet often have a hidden weaponry, scan blocking technology, or other features.
Most of these shipyards tend to operate out of areas of space not controlled or claimed by any major galactic power where they are less likely to draw attention to themselves. Also, while most galactic powers express a desire to shut down all of these shipyards and cut off the supply of ships to criminal elements, they periodically make use of certain shipyards themselves to acquire vessels for covert military or intelligence operations.
General Pirate Vessels
While pirates of most factions often seek to purchase dedicated, and sometimes completely custom, warships from black-market shipyards, it often isn’t an option. As such, the vessels used by less established pirate factions or independent crews can best be described as anything they can get their hands on. A common practice is to capture civilian vessels and equip them with better weapons, armor, and shielding. A less used approach is to piece together pieces from derelict or partially destroyed ships to make a functioning vessel. One recovered, and rather interesting, pirate vessel consisted of the rear cargo section of a freighter attached to the front of a salvaged warship. While less effective than a full warship, it proved highly useful to its former pirate owners in transporting captured loot after raiding operations. After refit and repair, the warship was sold to the defense force of an independent world on the outskirts of the Frontier and is still in service.
There are still other ships and races yet to be revealed, but the ones represented in this and the first Ship Design Philosophy represent the races and groups who will be mentioned within my first novel, "Drifters: Origins."
For my next post I'll pivot back to a topic that I touched on in my bio. Just who are the Drifters and what will the novel be about.
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