ALV Pyre Dawn
The ALV Pyre Dawn is a fast attack cruiser built by Aniki Labs in service of prosecuting the Armoa Conflict in the Evermornan home system, the so-called 'core region' of the Cobalt Protectorate.
Propulsion
The Pyre Dawn is propelled by a nuclear salt water rocket. A jet of water suffused with Uranium salts is injected into a shielded reaction plenum, reaching criticality as it leaves the confines of the neutron-scavenging materials which line the fuel tanks. This gives the Dawn exceptional acceleration and fairly impressive field endurance, though it is by no means as enduring as the CKV Mercury Sable and similar patrol craft which it is designed to go up against.
Weapons & Armament
The Dawn is armed with three ultraviolet laser arrays, 36 missile cells stacked with fission shaped charge missiles, and a force docking array. Long manipulators at the front of the craft allow it to manipulate and sieze other craft, a facility it uses in one instance to capture the general purpose module containing the research HLAI named SARA. While not a weapon per se, the nuclear exhaust of the Dawn may be employed as an impromptu weapons against installations and pursuing craft, with the radiation generated thereby doing significant injury to unshielded personnel.
Armor and defense
While the core of the ship has decent radiation protection due to the shielded fuel tanks which surround it, the Dawn gives up a degree of ballistic protection, as any small rupture in the fuel tanks has the potential to cause an immedate runaway reaction. Like many Aniki vessels below the size of drone carriers, the Dawn relies on its great maneuverability and laser point defense capability (enabled by strong heat rejection systems) to win out against the more durable and efficient Cobalt Knight spacecraft.
Communication Tools & Systems
In addition to its multispectral scopes (see Sensors), the Dawn's aft 'petals' contain a large radio antenna which, when the engines are not being fired serve communications, espionage, and scientific purposes. This aft shielded section is, in essence, a large collection dish, with the exhaust plenum capable of being closed in furtherance of this function. The legs of an antenna tripod extend from the petals and meet in the middle to support the radio collector unit.
Sensors
Like most vessels of human-descendant construction within the Sealed Kingdoms region, the Dawn relies on LIDAR-enhanced multispectral scopes for communications, passive and active remote sensing, and laser point defense. This also provides for narrow-band, long-ranged, encrypted, laser-based communications between the crew of the Dawn and any allies they might have in the field. The Dawn is also equipped with gravity and particle scintilation sensors to better investigate objects in nearby space, especially those which might contain isotopes with which the vessel might refuel itself in the field.
As a formerly purely scientific organization, Aniki Labs fields some of the best sensor packages in the industry.
Hangars & docked vessels
The force docking array of the ALV Pyre Dawn is designed to fit the adaptors found on standard Evermornan GPMs, and the ship carries enough fuel to practially make the journey back to high Armoa orbit with one in tow - or, more likely, back to a tender vessel lurking on the outskirts of the Evermorn system.
Because of the radioactive nature of the ship's engines, it must generally dock nose-first with any other station or vessel to keep the other crew within the shadow of the radiation shield. To enter a drydock, it must idle until the residual radiation of its last engine burn has dissipated and then submit to hull decontamination; the engine nozzle can, over time, become crusted with fission products.
Manufacturer
Owning Organization
Rarity
Common
Beam
85' (radius with laser arrays retracted)
Length
160'
Complement / Crew
10
Cargo & Passenger Capacity
5 espatiers
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