Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies, part 3: The Emancipator Series
TheEmancipator - Similar to how several of the Imperiums classes of cruisers and battle cruisers have been created, the original Emancipator began its life as a Lunar class cruiser. Much of its history flying the Aquila has been lost while, for better or worse, the ship's darkest chapter is rather well known. It was captured and taken as a prize by the despicable pirate Jeremiah Smile. Its old name replaced, the vessel was rechristened as the Murderous Jest and for years it was forced to serve a most unworthy of masters until the Laughing Fiend's defeat. Recovered after the first battle of Adumbria, the ship was then placed in the hands of the Borgs to rebuild it for Protectorate service.
While a great many hands and voices from the Bringers of renewed Greatness worked on the ship, ultimate responsibility and authority rested upon the shoulders of Andronika-Rho. Ever since the Liberation, Andronika had shown both great enthusiasm and skill in working, overseeing and teaching others in the subject fields of zero gravity and plasma reactor construction.
She was part of the Borg contingent during the very first efforts in turning Emeli's Gift into an orbital defense station. Once Adumbria had been liberated and the Protectorate was established, Andronika was given shared responsibility of salvaging the wrecked merchant ships strewn across the system as one of three senior Borgs dedicated to this task. During the years leading up to the First Battle of Adumbria, the salvage crews under her command managed to just about beat her colleagues in the friendly competition that had developed around the question of who could recover the most merchant ships and make them void-capable again. It is by this slim victory of a two points lead, that Andronika-Rho earned herself the honor of refitting the battered cruiser hull.
The cruiser was put under tow and placed in a stable orbit around Adumbria. With the assistance of the USA, the ship was cleared twice to ensure that none of the former pirate crew remained onboard. After that the lengthy damage assessment and hazard clearance process began. The ship's reactors had to be put into long sustainment mode, the magazines were checked for damage to the ammunition and many other tasks had to be performed with the cruiser finally, officially being declared safe and ready for reconstruction. Jumping forward in time again, the freshly commissioned Emancipator would enter Protectorate service as a slightly modified Lunar class cruiser, the majority of upgrades revolving around reducing the crew numbers needed to operate the ship.
In the following 18 years the vessel and its crew performed admirably, yet time and time again the logistical burden which the vessel imposed on the PUN compared to its use in and outside of the battlespace called its role as a carrier escort into question. The introduction of the Defiant class, its gradual evolution into the Protector class and then the start of the Courageous' development made the matter unavoidable. There was no long term place for the conventional Imperial ship design within the PUN's doctrine. The Emancipator returned to Adumbria for its rebirth as the lead ship of an entire series of ship classes.
The basic concepts that had been worked out for the design of the Courageous class were taken to a whole new scale and it is in this form as a most formidable battle cruiser that the Emancipator has ever since been serving the PUN.
The Emancipator II class battle cruiser has all the standard upgrades of Protectorate warships and in many ways it is apt to call it a greatly upscaled version of the Courageous class light cruiser. With prow torpedo launchers, two heavy quad macro turrets, two heavy triple lance turrets and the broadside weapons replaced by four hangar bays, the ship can concentrate the fire power of its entire armament against a single foe, to devastating effect.
This means that in a theoretical duel with an Armageddon class battle cruiser, the closest Imperial equivalent in terms of nominal anti-ship armaments, the latter can only point half of its macro cannons and two thirds of its lances at the enemy. This comparison only shifts even more in favor of the Emancipator II when one includes the ship's carrier capabilities and the off-bore shot capable No.9 homing torpedoes, easily outperforming the Imperial dumb fire torpedoes.
The unique feature of the Emancipator II class are the over-built lance weapons, shield generators, engines and power grid, which allow the crew to rapidly adjust power-distribution between offensive power, defensive power and mobility. The system is kept safe from overheating by use of a highly effective nano-crystal suspension coolant. The coolant's strange property of hardening under shock also allows it to self-seal holes in the cooling system and protect the power grid from damage to a limited degree, making the whole system surprisingly robust despite its complexity. Obviously the redistribution of power must come at a cost, when the captain decides that the tactical situation for example demands raising the shield strength to that of a grand cruiser, either speed or lance power must be sacrificed for it.
The Emancipator II's design also had to sacrifice ease of maintenance and strategic endurance for the capabilities it brings to the battlefield. This lack of self sufficiency restricts them to battle fleets either operating close to their supply base or expeditionary forces with ample support from Liberty Mk2 fleet tenders. Ultimately, the tactical flexibility offered by the first of the Emancipators has won many great victories for the Protectorate, earning them the nickname as Cain's Warhammer.
The Emancipator I Class Cruiser was developed by combining the hull design of the Emancipator II with the turret armament of the Courageous MK3 and removing the overbuilt power distribution system. The total armament thus consists of a prow mounted set of torpedo launchers, two triple macro turrets, one twin lance turret and four launch bays.
The reduced turret armament and lack of the power distribution system mean that the Emancipator I's capabilities in a stand up fight are less than those of the II, yet both ships fill different roles in the PUN's doctrine. The Emancipator II is a more expensive ship, both in its construction and logistical profile. Another point of note is that the battle cruiser fails to reach the speeds of the Emancipator I, even if the thrusters are pushed to the limit of their absurd power rating. The Emancipator I is thus the faster, more resource efficient way of carrying the same amount of strike craft, capable of operating for longer without logistical support.
Yet this does not mean that the cruiser has to fear battle with an enemy of equal tonnage, quite the opposite. With equivalent armor and hull strength, greater firepower, upgraded shields and far better speed, no Imperial cruiser can match the ship one-for-one. The Emancipator I can dictate the engagement range, chase a fleeing foe or retreat at its own leisure if the enemy tries to fight it using overwhelming numbers.
Many ships of the Emancipator I class are part of the PUN's battle fleets, kept near their fleet bases in readiness or exercising for the next great clash, the next titanic battle. This is only ever a temporary position as ships are rotated in and out of battle fleet duty, for there is another just as vital task to perform. Together with the Protector and the Courageous, the Emancipator I forms the core of the PUN's patrol force, constantly looking for any incursion into Protectorate territory, always on the hunt for the enemies of the Liberation.
The Emancipator III Class Grand Cruiser is a departure from the basic hull of the Lunar class cruiser, instead taking after the Exorcist class of grand cruisers. The very first Emancipator III - the Promise of Leniency - was in fact made from a salvaged Exorcist.
As the Exorcist does already offer two sets of hangar bays on each side, the design work needed was actually easier than expected, considering the size of the vessel. The broadside gun decks above the existing launch bays have been converted into even more hangar space, making for a staggering total of six launch bays.
Five dorsal turrets running up the spine of the ship, from the prow to the bridge, make up the direct-fire anti-ship armament. Three heavy quad macro turrets and two heavy quad lance turrets give the Emancipator III enough firepower to handily outgun anything less than a proper battleship, even without the swarm of Cain-Wings it can carry. As is standard among all Emancipators, the weapon loadout is rounded out by a set of prow torpedo launchers.
Compared to the Exorcist, the Emancipator III trades strategic endurance for firepower, not to the degree of the Emancipator II, yet still the ship can not go on long patrols without several fleet tenders accompanying it. There are concepts for an Emancipator III Mk2, which would see two hangar bays converted into cargo holds. The admiralty does not see such a heavy patrol vessel as necessary, especially as it would decrease the maximum speed of the accompanying patrol force.
The Emancipator III is an awe inspiring sight to behold for the citizens Protectorate and sailors of the PUN. It is terrifying in equal measure for an enemy naval commander when one of them sails at the center of a PUN battle fleet, ready to unleash death and destruction upon all who stand in the way of Humanity's Liberation.
Why would the PUN ever choose to mainly become a battle-carrier force? Two reasons: 1) The Liberator said so and 2) to keep themselves from becoming a one-trick pony.
If you only build lightly armored, unarmed carriers and some escorts to keep them safe, relying entirely on the Cain-Wing as your only offensive weapon, then eventually your enemies are going to adapt to your tactics and develop countermeasures.
There is very little room for error, remember, the Protectorate is still a small fish in a very large pond, the Imperium can afford to lose entire sectors, the Protectorate can not. There are also other enemies beyond the Imperium and pirates out there among the stars, enemies that may just be able to pull an ace out of their sleeve and shred your strike craft like confetti. Having conventional firepower also gives your enemy more things to worry about than just your strike craft and forces them to act while under attack from several different sources which need to be dealt with in different ways.
From Cain's perspective of course this is him seeing how effective the Cain-Wing is and desperately trying to limit the scale at which it is employed. After all, the Borgs could not possibly build a ship with strong anti-ship weapon batteries and good carrier capabilities combined into one, right?
While they are (bordering on) blatantly overpowered, each of the Emancipators does have some limitations inherent to them. Once the shields are down, the Emancipator I and II are still just about as resilient as a regular Imperial cruiser(Edit: a debatable downside). The Emancipator II's cargo capacity is very limited with a lot more space taken up by a larger reactor, bigger magazines, the over-built powergrid, etc compared to the Emancipator I. The Emancipator III is the most expensive of them all and takes the longest to build, but none of the three classes are cheap ships or quick to construct.
The Borgs adhere to the wise decree of the Liberator, those who safeguard the Liberation shall not find themselves wanting for better weapons and gear. Naturally this idea also extends to the realm of space combat.
The problem of fielding expensive ships that take long to build can of course be solved by again following the Liberator's guidance and growing the economy at a stupid pace while industrializing space in a way that hasn't been done by Humanity ever since the final days of the Federation.
Edit2: The next part will be a bit differently formatted. Part 5 after that then will look similar to this one, covering the Proclamator Series. Small teaser - the Proclamator III's nickname is "The Liberator's Double Barrel".