Harald
Harald and his friends had been excited ever since his father had returned to Isca. The System-lord had taken the King’s Guard Hilda Grip to the borders of the Commonwealth, the edge of the Dumgarth sector along the Void of Eriu where they had patrolled the minor systems.
They had captured several small corvette and frigate class ships, but the System-lord had insisted that there had been no battle. The would be raiders had run at the sight of the small fleet, but they had been caught by the faster and larger starships, and surrendered without a fight.
It was a common story his father often told Harald. Few Eriu raiders had the firepower of that of the Furse StarCarriers, and even fewer had the heart to face one in battle. Although his father had told him tales of his time in the Void, before he was the System-lord of Isca, and he and his mother Edith roamed the void as warlords. There they had battled some of the largest Eriu ships on the other side of the void.
What excited them though was the offer to come on board the ‘Jade Grip’, and tour the new Sword class Battleship starship. The top of the line starship was the latest to be deployed by the Commonwealth Forces, and Haral had studied it’s plans, along with dozens if not hundreds of other plans for starships.
The shuttle touched down in one of the landing bays of the ‘Jade Grip’. Harald looked at his father, System-lord Peder Frost and his large entourage. Harald was joined by Gwen, Winnifred, Jae, and Joslyn. They were also joined by Aldric, a distant cousin of clan Frost but of a different House. Aldric was two year older than them, often kept to himself, but he and Harald shared a passion for starships, big and small.
“Welcome!” The King’s Guard Hilda Grip said, and welcomed them on board the battleship.
The King’s Guard gave them a tour of the Battleship. A hundred and seventy five decks, almost as many as the ‘Frost’. It was just as tall and wide as the StarCarriers, but five hundred meters shorter, and with a crew of only fifteen thousand compared to the more than fifty thousands of his father’s ships. The Sword class Battleship was designed for war. It might not have been as armed or had the fighter capacity of the StarCarrier, but it could not only take a beating, but dish it out.
The ‘Jade Grip’ with it’s thirty starfighters was outmatched by the more than three thousand starfighters of the ‘Frost’, but it made up for that with armored hull plates twice as thick. It was designed for one thing his father had told him, to combat other large capital warships, and it’s weakness, like many Commonwealth ships, and Fabian ships in general was it’s lack of point defense weapons. It could be overwhelmed like any other starship by the thousands of starfighters of the ‘Frost’, while the ‘Frost’ had four times the point defense cannons.
Head to head, without starfighter support, System-lord Peder had admitted to Harald in private that it would be a close match, and under a skilled captain the Battleship might come out on top, but the Starcarrier was designed as a troop and starfighter carrier, not a front line warship, which meant that it would still fall short of the Furse designed Hammer class Battleships of his father’s fleet.
Harald didn’t know. It was top of the line, the best tech the Commonwealth had. It might have less weapon cannons, but they could fire faster and with more of a punch than the other ships, at least in theory. It’s hull plating meant that it could stand blast after blast from enemy fire and still maintain combat effectiveness.
The ship was also crewed by the King’s Guard Forces. The elite forces of the Commonwealth. Those who served under the thirteen King’s Guard, loyal to the King alone.
