HSV Resource (AR-12): The Assistance Class fleet repair ships are a legacy of the Hegemony's rapid expansion through the Orion arm and the race towards the core. The demand for new resources and territory was massive, and suitable colony worlds were scarce, so the fleet needed a relatively cheap way to extend the longevity and range of its patrols. The Assistance Class was born. Essentially it is a long, flat deck, like the naval carriers of old, with a spinal dock capable of taking ships of up to a light cruiser in size. Around the central structure are nine repair decks, each capable of taking a small ship by itself. The ships are held still in place by powerful artificial gravity generators, allowing the repair crews aboard the Assistance to work on them in stabilised conditions, and the lower surface of the ship holds hundreds of deployable repair drones, capable of administering hull patches, removing debris and other small tasks, whilst manned repair craft and EVA pods are dispatched, sometimes under fire, to the more severe emergencies. If needs be, the modular shielding allows the Assistance to accept a ship to the repair dock even under combat conditions, though the mating is extremely dangerous and usually entirely governed by the two ships' AIs. The Resource herself is an older ship of the class, having been in service for the best part of twenty years, including time out for overhaul. With a ship that old, crews say that she takes on a life and character of her own, and that it rubs off on the officers and men. The same is said of the HSV Resource, who is said to be a fine and proud old bird, and tough as old nails to boot! Scratching off the paint from the latest stint in dry dock would reveal a plethora of scars and old wounds, relics of a tough life in the service of humanity. Her crew, likewise, are seen to be proud and fiercely loyal to their home, not standing for the warship crews' taunting or belittling of their auxiliary ship. They know that, even on routine patrols, the Old Lady will always be needed, and routine patrols are a rare occurrence this far out into the void... Assistance Class Length-Width-Height 2000m 250m 280m (repair dock) 150m (hull) Class: Repair Ship Tonnage: 14,000,000 tonnes (Fully Loaded) 12,000,000 tonnes (Dry Weight) [hider=Reference Image] [img]http://i.imgur.com/EsB2XxZ.jpg[/img] [/hider] PRIMARY ARMAMENT The Assistance Class carries no capital armaments. SECONDARY ARMAMENT 10 6GW Point-defence laser turrets (automated) 5 Twin 40mm Shrike auto-cannons firing Proximity Fuse Hi-Explosive Shrapnel Rounds (automated) 20 150mm Twin Railgun turrets firing Non-Explosive Solid-Core rounds (automated) 10 200mm Quad Railgun Turret Positions firing Non-Explosive Solid-Core rounds (manned) ARMOR/SHIELDING Repair deck armour is rated as 10 meter thick Iridium-Titanium alloy with an additional .5m thick nanite-regenative armour. Hull armour is rated as 15m thick Iridium-Titanium alloy interweaved with Carbon-fiber netting with an addiional .5m thick nanite-regenative armour. Fuel and ammunition storage bay armour is rated as 40m thick Iridium-Titanium alloy interweaved with Carbon-fiber netting with an addiional 1m thick nanite-regenative armour. Shielding is conventional powered Fullerene shielding, with modular shield generators to allow access to and exit from the repair deck whilst active. Moderate strength. COUNTERMEASURES 100 chaff rocket launchers 50 flare launchers 20 "Spoof" decoy drones ENGINES Intra-system engines are fusion-powered CARV4 forced-fusion engines providing 1,400,000 tonnes of thrust. x8 Inter-system engines are VAR4 VASMIR drives providing 600,000 tonnes of thrust. x4 FTL engines are Mass-canceling fields combined with Alcubierre Drive technology to provide a 100x SoL rating. REACTORS 4 Tokamak heavy fusion reactors providing .75 YW of power. (Yottawatt) 12 Anti-Matter Medium reactors providing 1200GW of power. CREW 1,500 Flight Crew 4,000 Engineering Crew 10,000 Mechanical and Repair Crew 600 Marines COMPUTER SYSTEMS 2 Main Computer cores manage all flight and defence systems. All systems are EMP hardened and isolated to prevent hacking attacks. 2 Drone Datalink Computers manage all autonomous launches and operations. EMP hardened and isolated. 1 Engineering Computer manages all automated repair operations on the repair deck. EMP Hardened and isolated. 1 Backup computer core on standby. EMP hardened and isolated. 1 AIs assists in managing ship functions and coordinating repair efforts with other ships in real-time, named Hephaestus (commonly known as "Harry"). DRONE AND LAUNCH COMPLEMENT [hider=600 Mk. 6 Repair Drones] [img]http://i.imgur.com/xhVnpCi.jpg[/img][/hider] 50 Mk.4 Asteroid Mining Droids 40 Mk. IIa Freight Shuttles 5 Mk.IV Transport Shuttles 10 "Cradle" Class Mobile Repair Vehicles 100 EVA Pods