Vessels of the Protectorate United Navies, part 5: The Proclamator Series
The Proclamator Series - "A human life is not expendable, a million artillery shells are." Just like the Protectorate's ground forces, the PUN takes the wisdom of the Liberator's words to heart. From this wisdom(as well as the analysis of a salvaged Mars class battle cruiser) was conceived the need for a series of ships armed with a variety of long range weapons to support the main frontline combatants of the Emancipator series. Their intended role was to deliver the first strike in any larger battle and break apart enemy formations as well as giving long range fire support in general. Ever since their introduction the vessels of the Proclamator series have proven their worth time and time again, delivering overwhelming firepower in the form of nova cannon rounds, lance artillery beams and swarms of torpedoes.
To quote the last sentences of Admiral Slybeef's speech during the Proclamator's commissioning ceremony: "As the enemies of Humanity's Liberation raise their fists against the Protectorate in their spiteful attempts to destroy our dream of a brighter future, they shall be met by the blazing shots of the Proclamator and all her future sisters! Let the darkness of space be lit up by our refusal to give up! Let the bells toll in proclamation of our war against apathy and despair! FOR! THE! LIBERATION!"
The Proclamator Torpedo shortage - The introduction of the Proclamators was not without its troubles. Within twelve months of their first deployment, a report was made by the PUN Office Of Procurements regarding torpedo expenditure rates of battle groups that included one or more Proclamators. The ability to flood the battle space with swarms of torpedoes had given rise to new tactics among PUN commanders, even if it meant engaging in gross torpedo overkill.
The problem was naturally resolved through the suggestions made by the Liberator himself. After once more optimizing the No.9's design and production process, the Borgs succeeded in raising production rates for existing factories by roughly 30%. Meanwhile the great powderworks of the industrial worlds of the Candelabrix system underwent a rapid conversion process, no longer producing absurd quantities of mostly useless fireworks meant for the entertainment of Imperial nobles throughout the Ultima Segmentum. The main production focus was shifted towards ammunition for both the PUN and Protectorate ground forces, with projected production numbers accounting for the steady increase of Proclamators within PUN battle groups without restricting torpedo supply.
The Proclamator I Class Cruiser is the smallest vessel in the Protectorate's battle fleets to mount a Grand Slam nova cannon. Like the Imperial weapons that the pattern was derived from, the Grand Slam uses a set of gravitic impellers to accelerate its massive projectiles to appreciable percentages of c. The Borg's understanding of gravity manipulation technologies has made the Grand Slam a lot less temperamental than other nova cannon patterns. The weapon also boasts a significantly increased fire rate through the use of a nano-crystal suspension coolant system and a greatly improved loading mechanism.
In addition to two launch bays, a pair of torpedo silos fill out the broadsides of the Proclamator I. Compared to a set of prow torpedo launchers, the broadside silos can launch salvos many times larger and hold much greater ammunition reserves in their magazines. A sufficiently large salvo of No.9 torpedoes can force even the most determined or suicidal of enemies to reconsider their attack.
The obvious trade-off is that the silos take up space that would otherwise be used to house more hangar bays to support more Cain-Wings, though only a few Proclamator captains and task force commanders have made formal complaints about this lack of strike craft capacity.
Two turrets complete the Proclamator I's armament, one triple macro turret and one superheavy lance artillery turret.
The Long pattern lance(named after the designers: Obrique, Bellapheron and Aixinis Long) can maintain beam coherence over incredible distances to then bring down enemy shields and burn holes through their armor, though as one might expect it is a very power hungry weapon.
The Long Lance's energy requirements combined with those of the Grand Slam necessitated an upgrade for the Proclamator I's main reactor, further increasing cost and construction time of the class. Yet despite their cost, the PUN admiralty keeps ordering more Proclamators to be built and for good reason.
Adding just a single Proclamator I to a task force of cruisers and light cruisers drastically increases the formation's long range firepower. If then combined with the sensor capabilities of an Argus-Vigil, the Proclamator I becomes a precision tool which gives PUN commanders the ability to decapitate their opponents with a single shot or salvo.
Proclamator II Class Battle Cruiser - Like the Emancipator II, the battle cruiser of the Proclamator series distinguishes itself from the cruiser variant through its heavier turret armament, overbuilt powergrid and nano-crystal suspension coolant system. Even more so than the Emancipator II, the design lacks strategic endurance, focusing on its tactical capabilities and relying on fleet tenders to keep the ship supplied on longer deployments beyond Protectorate space.
In the majority of battles, the additional Long Lance turret combined with the ability to overcharge both lances gives the Proclamator II the reach and firepower to start picking apart enemy escort screens while the foe is still trying to position themselves in the opening stages of an engagement. From then till the end of the battle, the Long Lances usually don't spend much time idle, only ever halting their fire when the nova cannon is being overcharged instead.
The addition of the Proclamator II has given the PUN's heavy battle fleets the combat power to keep the Liberation's enemies at bay, even as they escalate their war efforts against the Protectorate.
The Proclamator III Class Grand Cruiser - Leaving any unique creations and recovered archeotech artifacts aside, the Proclamator III carries the Protectorate's most destructive weapon for ship-to-ship combat, the twin barreled Grand Slam II nova cannon, "The Liberator's Double Barrel". The Stalwart Companion(lead ship of the class) first used its Grand Slam II in the battle of Hellmire against a Tyranid remnant fleet, scoring both the first and final lethal hits of the action.
With a dedicated loading mechanism for each barrel and its own plasma reactor to provide power for the whole weapon system, the cannon can keep up a steady barrage, constantly disrupting enemy formations and either crippling or outright destroying enemy ships with each shot. It is an awe inspiring experience to watch a Grand Slam II blast apart an enemy fleet, leaving only distraught stragglers behind.
The rest of the grand cruiser's armaments consist of four launch bays, two broadside torpedo silos, two heavy quad macro turrets and two superheavy twin lance artillery turrets. In the context of a major fleet action a Proclamator III carries enough firepower to either blunt an enemy attack or create an opening for the rest of the fleet to exploit.
The PUN is a steadily expanding force, constantly in need for more ships to keep the borders of the Protectorate safe, to sail out to meet the enemy head-on and to proceed in spreading the Liberation to ever more distant worlds as the Imperium retreats out of the Damocles Gulf. The KDY(Kasteen Drive Yards) orbital docks of Adumbria have come a long way ever since the earliest days of the Protectorate, many decades later now they form the single most productive shipyard within the Damocles Gulf and the wider region.
Yet for all the military ship building capacity spread throughout the Protectorate, the Proclamator III is even rarer than its Emancipator equivalent. Their size limits the number of locations where they can be constructed and their cost in both time and resources makes their smaller siblings a lot more appealing, but the Proclamator IIIs do have their place in the PUN. They are either held in reserve near the most likely points of major enemy incursions into Protectorate space or sent out to support those expeditionary forces that are expected to face fierce resistance and it is here where they excel.
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How do you make a broadside torpedo silo in 40k? Easy, you make a mundane launch cell based VLS system, flip it on its side, scale it up massively to account for both the enormous weapons and the way larger capacity, slap appropriately 40k levels of armor on it and then you put more layers of torpedoes inside, hidden behind the outermost, launch-ready layer.
From there you need the Borgs to go ham on safety features. Add some more shielding/armor to keep the ammo safe. Develop some liquid binary explosives that need centrifugal force to mix them into a state where they can actually explode. Have the silo doors designed in a certain way so they can act as blow-out panels.
What kinds of ammo do PUN nova cannons fire? So far I got three, maybe four different shells:
1) Regular plasma warheads. They go boom very nicely.
2) Void-collapse Implosion-formed Plasma-fusion warheads. This is also the warhead type that the No.24 torpedo carries but much larger. A skip drive lets the warhead jump into the warp and jump back out to create a very large and unstable warp portal at the target point. The warhead turns into plasma as the skip drive goes super-critical from the amount of energy pumped through it. The portal collapses in an instant, creating a vacuum in the fabric of reality, so to speak. Reality rushes in to fill the empty space left behind by the portal and compresses the plasma. From there the whole thing turns into a nuclear fusion bomb.
3) Graviton warheads. Crush the enemy using their own weight.
4) Solid metal slugs, maybe? The idea is a bit weird at first, but I think there is some appeal to it, if the Borgs can make a nova cannon that is accurate enough.