Design Reception
The new Sentry warship schematic is exactly what the Trade Order asked for: cheap, readily available on short notice, and a piece of proof they can wave to their employees and citizens that something is being done about the aliens. Already a dozen shipyards on the alien front are being converted to retrofit old freighters and build new ships to model as militia warships.
A press offensive launched by yourself and capitalized upon by many local governments and defense contractors markets these new ships as heroic underdogs to hold the line against an alien foe. Irrespective of corporate boundaries and political lines, everyone is outright eager to have a new warship available on short notice to brag about as the first step to matching an alien invader.
For the powerbrokers in the know, as well as the heads of larger system defense forces and mercenaries, there is grim admission that your design is being played up because there are few alternatives. Some designs are close to deployment, but PVRI is once again the first in a new field and with a product able to double the size of militia defense forces in the way of the aliens. Your next-best competitor from the Stalwart Industries for a heavy mining ship loaded with autocannons is still months away from a viable prototype due to difficulties with turret mounts and trying to avoid narrow fixed guns. (The Trade Order as a whole is turning out to have severe trouble with weapon turrets entirely it seems.)
Eventually other designs and locally-developed corvettes and frigates will fill out the ranks, but your Sentry design will still make up over half of the initial flotillas coming together to respond to the alien threat.
Design Performance
Barely weeks into actual field deployment, your new design is put to the test in battle as Vasari ships strike at outlying resource asteroid bases and fringe outposts, seemingly following trade maps acquired from Kearny to build up a logistics base before pressing further into Trader space. Which pits pairs and trios of Vasari attack frigates against assorted militia squadrons, many of them with Sentries. All too frequently, the results are brutal defeats or mass casualties before a retreat is called by one of the two sides. It is apparent that the Trade Order has no great military tradition between the lack of direction of local defenders and impressed or contracted sailors.
However, between survivors and the crash-beacons of your Sentries, a detailed tactical picture is assembled for these small-scale skirmishes. Damaged ships limp or are towed home to have the scars of alien weapon fire studied to determine how the plasma bolts deal damage. A singular alien frigate is broken and captured for study, with images of cheering marines in its damaged halls plastered across the entirety of Human space to cover the horrific fates of those that died as the ship's self repair systems were used as ad hoc defenses against boarders.
To clarify: the aliens had outright nanotechnology interwoven into their ships. They were regenerating from weapon strikes and patching internal systems even in the heat of battle, and the aliens themselves had nanotech in their bodies fixing their wounds. A holy grail of technology the Trade Order had been seeking for centuries, and we're now on the receiving end of it by invading aliens. For all the hunger of the techs eager to acquire it, Vasari DRM proves to be impossible to overcome and any recovered samples of nanotech dissolve after they stop receiving signals from their ship computer and users. This does not bode well.
Paradoxically however, despite this clear symbol of technological advantage the Vasari also completely lack any kind of signal jamming equipment to block missile guidance channels or counter the primitive jamming gear some militia units brought to bear. While this was good for our Sentry's in bringing firepower to bear, to not even make attempts at jamming? Something was off.
Also, a sizable number of the alien bodies recovered were not that of crew. There were passengers, families, aboard those frigates when they went into battle. Possible indications of a shipbound culture? Or first-wave colonists to settle these outposts ahead of extraction teams? So much remains unknown, but there's a growing consensus that the alien threat isn't simply here to burn and pillage.
For now, pyrrhic victories in skirmishes over resource outposts is the best we can do. We still don't have an answer to the Boar, or to the larger invasion force descending upon Kearny.
ContractingThe mad scramble and blank checks are being reigned in now that some breathing room has been established and market actors are making their positions clear. Across the frontline worlds, a general consensus has been established: we need to prepare for a large-scale battle with the aliens. More ships, bigger ships, better ships, whatever form it takes our next designs will be judged based on their suitability for a fleet-scale engagement to hold the line at the next world the aliens intend to conquer.
High among the ivory towers and richly appointed suites where the Trade Order took its orders from, power is pooling together. There is, after all, no profit or power in ruling over nothing and thus the "first among equals" of the Order are stepping into the light in lockstep to begin shaping the Order into a tool of battle. For survival, for profit, there was no difference.
Humanity's existence was at stake. To secure that there were few prices that would not be paid.
(Select one per company)
Mass Tonnage
[ ] [Mass Tonnage] Linehauler Hull: Mass Tonnage engineering division believes they can come up with a standardized refit plan for the Linehauler bulk freighter series that's been MT's bread and butter for the past decade. These hulls have more volume and operating room for broadside equipment over common bulk haulers. Potentially useful for broadside gunships or carrier cruisers, but inherently limited to MT yards initially. (Improved cruiserweight option, bonus broadside slots but lower initial throughput)
[ ] [Mass Tonnage] "Yard" Plasma Pulse Drives: While MT favors single large engine blocks, they also recognize the need for maneuver around docks and cargo ports, and now combat. Their new Yard-drive has an extended drive cone with large numbers of maneuvering secondary ports, improving the ship's ability to rotate and pivot over competitor designs significantly. Albeit at the price of still being one single, big engine.
[ ] [Mass Tonnage] "Asbestos" Thermally Resistant Composite: Different to solar radiation, Vasari plasma weapons dealt heat through convection and in quick bursts in addition to the physical impact. Even so, layering armor with materials meant to suck the heat from the projectiles would be a major boon to any project meant to stay under the guns of the invaders.
Utopian Eridani
[ ] [Utopian Eridani] Searchlight Sensor Package: We need more intel on our enemies, our weapons need help locking on targets, and UE may have what is needed to get a leg up in that field. The Searchlight combined sensor package is derived from science ship sensors in a hopefully more durable module setup.
[ ] [Utopian Eridani] Hull Sealant: With ships being destroyed at ever increasing rates, protecting the crew will need to be a top priority. All personnel are provided a vacuum sealed suit, of course, but they are still carrying a finite amount of air with them. By providing new grades of more structural and more flexible foaming sealant ship and system integrity on struck vessels can be more secure than ever. (Improved damage control)
[ ] [Utopian Eridani] Gimballed Weapon Mounts: During the [new warship] project it had come to notice that weapon tracking and mounting was limited in capability. This new niche in the market can be filled should development time be put into a new generation of weapon mounts so as to be able to better lay down fire on alien warships and maneuver at the same time.
Rothschild Robotics
[ ] [Rothschild Robotics] Modular Subcraft: Designing a new generation of strike craft to be made up of different sections will allow for faster repairs and ease stowage concerns while on deployment. Projections indicate substantial losses in the presence of enemy point defense and analogous vehicles and thus faster operational tempos and shorter repair periods will be required to sustain combat viability during naval actions. (Faster strikecraft repair)
[ ] [Rothschild Robotics] Autocrew Bay: Full-up robotic crew have always been a niche product on account of difficulty of programming AI to match a spacer. But with wartime pressures the idea of disposable and uncomplaining crew to handle scutwork and dangerous work details now has new appeal. Rothschild is prepared to try with its next expert systems if some marketing support is provided. (Robotic crew options)
[ ] [Rothschild Robotics] Combat Probes: SDF and mercenary forces everywhere are bolting on racks of probes in attempts to bag the lucrative alien intel commissions, but are running afoul of canny Vasari sensors. Rothschild has concepts for probes better able to handle the stress of combat without degrading sensor performance that it is willing to license out in exchange for preferential intel access for future product design. (improves durability of all probes and drones)
Presswick & Rossman Verticalized Industries
[ ] [PRVI] Flatpacked Subcraft: Allowing the removal and attachment of exterior features by technical crews rather than needing a workshop will allow carriers to carry more fighters in the same space, fitting out new craft from those hauled up from storage rather than being limited to what the deck can hold. (Improved strikecraft stowage)
[ ] [PRVI] Repair Scaffolding: Trade order infrastructure is made to service and support freighters, not a warmachine. Repair facilities are proving to be in short supply, any degree of field repair kit would be handy for a battlegroup. Functionally this is putting band-aids over big engineering problems, but that could make all the difference in getting back to a safe port. (Utility options for field-repairs, first step to true auxiliaries)
[ ] [PRVI] Sova Carrier Production License: PRVI is outright shocked, nay, OFFENDED, at the idea that OQC could get into the militarized capital ship market before them. Aggressively acquiring production and design licenses for the Sova anti-piracy capital carrier won't have immediate benefits, but will enable our bureau to break into the capital design market ahead of expectations and usual channels. (Unlock capital ship hull option early)
With more funding and resources coming your way, more battle data to build upon, and a clear and present demand for your services, it is now time to ramp up operations. With proven engineers mingling with a wave of new hires and acquired subcontractors, your bureau's capacity has been expanded to develop two new ship designs to meet upcoming demand.
As before it begins with a decision at the highest level of what product line to act upon.
<Select two ship designs to work on in parallel>
[ ] Corvette: Due to one or more reasons, the enemy frigates rely on fixed forward plasma weapons. A fast and maneuverable ship could stay out of that cone to deal damage with little in the way of retribution- in theory. In practice a formation is likely to "form square" as infantry in pre-history did and cover the entire sky. But that still leaves opportunity for other ships should they do so.
[ ] Line Frigate: Something needs to fill out the numbers of a fleet, dealing their share of the damage and taking most of the casualties. Without a combat proven laser design to scale up the armament will likely consist of some diameter of autocannon aping the layout of the enemy frigates.
[ ] Artillery Frigate: The Sentry has proved itself as a combatant. But its still fundamentally a retrofit of a freighter. A more purpose-built design that could put more missiles downrange in salvos would be invaluable.
[ ] Transport Frigate: It is apparent that combat won't just be between ships, but also in boarding actions across stations and space habitats as well as planetary ground battles. While security contractors have put up with chartered freighters before, it is clear we need a protected and speedy troop transport to keep up with this raiding warfare the aliens prefer.
[ ] Carrier Cruiser: The Trade Order has few warships, but it does have a longstanding strikecraft industry on account of their economy in piracy-hunting and system customs patrols. Developing a cruiser carrier that is more than a launchpad will be a boon to a variety of fleet duties depending on complement.
[ ] Siege Cruiser: A larger volume is more efficient for moving goods. That fact is well established. But a larger hull also leaves more room for supporting systems to aid the troop complement being carried, from bombardment systems to superior shuttles to defenses.
[ ] (MT Linehauler option required): Heavy Cruiser Refit: MT's linehauler designs would be a sizable cruiser option with expanded outfitting options over common designs between their size and room for customer customization demands. With the constraint of coming out of MT speciality yards to begin with and also focusing more on broadside action.
[ ] (PRVI Sova option required): Emergency Heavy Carrier Design: While consideration was initially sparked by PRVI not wanting their first-mover reputation compromised, on further review there is merit to taking the pre-existing Sova carrier into a modernized condition. Already the flagship of several high-security systems, the Sova would be a useful first foray into capital tonnage that can be achieved in a relatively short time frame.
AN: Thanks to Trent01 for assistance and voting will be done by plan.
