Nova Battle Cruiser

The Nova-class Battle Cruiser is a Hapan capital warship that has been employed as the mainstay of the Royal Hapan Navy for over thirty years. Even by modern interstellar standards the ship is considered formidable due to its heavy weaponry combined with impressive speed. The cruisers are usually deployed in groups in order to overpower opponents and act as escort craft for the Battle Dragons.

The ship was designed personally by the Olanji twins Eledri Olanji and Aladri Olanji between 3995 and 3997 during the Hapan civil war for the Draconian Union. In the end, it was also their final design before their deaths in 3998 and they never saw any operational Nova Battle Cruiser enter service. The twins drew inspiration from intelligence reports on Kuat Drive Yards, SoroSuub Corporation and Rendili Shipyards provided by corrupt Galactic Republic representatives who had also sold the Draconian Union Dreadnaught Heavy Cruisers. In the final days of the conflict, the designs for the cruiser were used as a bargaining chip by the Draconian Council before the signing of the Gallinore accords.

History

Background

The Nova Battle Cruiser was designed between 3995 and early 3997 by Eledri Olanji, Aladri Olanji and a team of expert designers from Olanji/Charubah. An excessive amount of credits was poured in to the project as it had the highest priority and was considered vital for the war effort of the Draconian Union. After the loss of their house seat, the Charu system in 3991, House Olanji was losing favour with Princess Da'tanah as their fleet was steadily shrinking. The cruiser would be superior to every capital ship in service within the Hapes Cluster and could easily overpower the Quasar Battle Cruiser which was common on all sides of the war. The ships were designed with the intent of building them at the massive Charu Wheels shipyards, formerly the property of Olanji/Charubah, which were located in the Charu system.

After the designs were completed, the Draconian Union lacked the raw materials to produce any significant quantity of the ship type, and at the same time no shipyard within Draconian territory had the capacity to support the structures of the unusual ship design. Production was put on hold until the Charu system could be retaken from the Phoenix Movement. House Olanji managed to convince the Draconian leadership to launch an assault on the system in 3997, insisting that a retaking of their company's main production facilities was the only way the ships could be produced and the war won. The third battle of Charu ultimately ended in Draconian defeat and the retreating House Olanji fleet destroyed the Charu Wheels to cripple the Phoenix Movement's industrial capacity.

Andrew Starfyre was made aware of the existance of the designs in late 3997 and viewed them as a major threat, hoping to end the war before any ships of the type could be produced by the Draconian Union. House Olanji fell in 3998 during the second battle of Gallinore along with Princess Da'tanah, forcing the remaining Draconian leadership in to peace talks with the Phoenix Movement at the Gallinore Conference of 3999. During these talks, the Nova Battle Cruiser designs were used as a bargaining chip by the Draconians to "buy" certain points and conditions to be used in the peace treaty known as the Gallinore accords.

Service

Nova Battle Cruiser (with two Miy'til Interceptors) over Lorell during the Black Sun Crisis.

The first three Nova Battle Cruisers were ordered by Starfyre in 4000 and were all completed and commissioned in 4001. The King's friend and advisor, Kalyna Amethius, was the project leader responsible for overseeing the construction of the vessels. HRS Ramsted BDC 12 was the first to enter the service of the reunified Royal Hapan Navy, followed by a steady production of additional vessels in the course of King Andrew's reign. By 4010, all the Quasar Battle Cruisers had been decommissioned and replaced by Novas.

In 4015, the design of the cruisers was significantly modified in numerous ways on orders from Jessy James, the Naval Commander of the time. Backup shield and power generators were introduced to give the ships increased defensive capacity as well as eliminate some of the power problems that plagued the earlier models. These additions took up some of the interior space of the vessels, removing some of the ships' carrier capacity. No mass quantity of the Mark II Nova Battle Cruiser was produced until after the coronation of former Grand Admiral, King James, in 4027.

The Nova Battle Cruisers have seen action in numerous armed conflicts both in an out of the Hapes Cluster in recent years, such as the Black Sun crisis in 4028 and the Dellalt Conflict of 4031, and also joined the King as escort craft on good-will tours in foreign sectors.

The Cruisers have been effective at keeping pirate activity in the Hapes Cluster to a minimum during the last three decades, thanks to their impressive speed which makes it easy for them to intercept trespassing vessels. They maintain a large amount of supplies, allowing them to patrol the Transitory Mist region for extensive periods without having to return to port for provisions.

Ship Statistics

Design & Hull

The design of the Nova Battle Cruisers draws inspiration from the Quasar Battle Cruiser as well as numerous frigate designs. The heads of House Olanji had always been insistent on participating in the designing of their flagship vessels themselves and often favoured heavily armed ships.

Lady Eledri Olanji was supposedly inspired by the appearance of a long-necked Pentix dragon when attending a council session in the Pentix mountains on Arxian Major in 3994. She incorporated several elements of the Quasar Battle Cruiser design, such as the bridge and command sections of the ship. Much criticism was directed at her and her sister's design of the thin and sleek neck of the ship, leading up to the bridge. As a result, additional hull and structural support was added underneath the ship so that it would not become an easy target if shields were brought down.

Armament

The Nova Battle Cruiser has a significant amount of weaponry which makes it formidable, even by today's standards. Most of the 45 weapon emplacements are along the rim of the dorsal fins, as well as the sides and underside of the ship's neck which connects the command section to the rest of the ship's superstructure.

It has 25 turbolaser batteries used for engagement against other capital class objects, attacks on space stations or even planetary bombardment. In addition, it has 10 ion batteries for disabling other vessels and 10 heavy lasers for anti-starfighter defence.

Shielding

The Nova Battle Cruiser's shielding was considered impressive during its early days of service, but by modern standards are merely adequate. Since the introduction of the Battle Dragon to the Royal Hapan Navy, all plans of modifying the Nova shield capacity have been put on the backburner.

A smaller backup shield generator was introduced with the Mark II Novas in 4015, which was specifically designed to add additional protection to the command section and connecting superstructure.

Power & Engines

The Cruiser has a Froond-class hyperdrive, which provides it with its impressive hyperspeed. Due to the massive power requirements of these engines, additional power generators were added with the Mark II Novas in 4015 as the previous generators were ultimately insufficient to power all systems at once. This has been partially blamed on the Olanji twins who designed the ship, but their original plans for the ship did not include as many turbolaser batteries which were the major source of the power drains.

The O/C VI-class sublight engines give the ship the sublight speed it needs to overtake most smaller ships, as well as intercept slower capital warships.

Cargo & Carrier Capacity

The original Nova Battle Cruisers were capable of carrying two squadrons of starfighters and half a squadron of bombers (mostly Miy'tils and Hetrinar), as well as some additional landing craft and shuttles. However, with the installment of additional power and shield generators with the upgrade to Mark II in 4015, this has been reduced to just one squadron of starfighters and half a squadron of bombers.

Crew & Passenger Capacity

The Novas have a significant crew complement, most of which are vital to make the ships run smoothly. A number of senior and junior officer delegate orders, while a large amount of the crew is devoted to maintenance and hangar related duties. The rest are gunners and gunner support crew, while there is always a complement of security personnel onboard. In total, the crew amount comes to 2850 individuals on most Nova Battle Cruisers.