DES Battleaxe II

"Wow, this is even more impressive than the last one, I do hope this one lasts more than 2 years" Draoga upon seeing the Battleaxe II upon hearing she was to be it's captain.
The DES Battleaxe II was the direct successor to the DES Battleaxe which was destroyed in 2032.
==Technical Specifications==
*Name: DES Battleaxe II
*Captain(s): Draoga Necron
*In Service: 2032 Onwards
*Crew Complement: 368
*Length: 695m
*Armaments:
**5 Fixed Ancient Dragon Beam Cannons
**2 Turreted Ancient Dragon Beam Cannons
** 22 Side Mounted Drakeian Heavy Railguns
** 21 Turreted Drakeian Heavy Railguns
*Shields: Ancient Dragon shields with 6 independant emitters.
*Fighter Complement: 8
*Shuttle Complement: 3 (All Ancient Dragon Hyperdrive equipped)
*Engines:
**2 Drakeian Sublight Engines
**1 Ancient Dragon/Drakeian Hyperdrive/Sublight Engine
**3 Ancient Dragon Hyperdrive/Sublight Engines
*Sensors:
**1 Ancient Dragon sensor array
**1 Drakeian sensor array
*Constructor: Drakeians
==Overview==
The DES Battleaxe II was designed a few months after the DES Battleaxe made it's first flight, it incorporated various upgrades over the old Battleaxe, including a much greater top speed, higher power weaponry, more beam cannons, a larger, and also rear mounted, hanger, stronger shields and also less crew were required to operate the ship. The Battleaxe II was finished a week or so after Draoga Necron arrived back at Drakeia after the Battleaxe's destruction, much to Draoga's shock, the Battleaxe II was given to her.
The Battleaxe II 's first flight was not without problems, as the ship featured various new systems such as a changeable sublight or hyperdrive mode, which caused a sarcastic remark from Draoga upon launch, as well as other new features such as improved sensors and higher power beam cannons. The ship also had a redundant hyperdrive and sublight system (the engines mounted on the rear of the hull and not in the nacelles) which had a complicated useage system, requiring a helm control bypass just to activate them.
During the Battleaxe II's first flight, nothing went wrong one the crew realised how to operate the ship properly, and the ship made it back to Drakeia without suffering any damage, having not ran into any other vessels while conduting a successful weapons test in an asteroid belt in a star system near the Drakeian System.
The Battleaxe II's first major engagement was The Battle Of The Timekeeper after it discovered the Timekeeper during a deep space incursion around the borders of Dragoian space.
==Design Improvements==
The Battleaxe II was designed so that all essential systems and areas were located at the rear of the vessel, in-case the neck was damaged and the front couldn't be accessed. The ship was also styled to look more sleek, the need for the rustic disguise gone. The ships systems were overhauled with better replicated Ancient Dragon systems and 2 of the sublight engines were removed to mount 3, very fast, both sub-light and hyperdrive, Ancient Dragon engine units that could work either as a three-some, or as a duo (the 2 on the wings) and a single (the one behind the bridge) if needed. The hybrid Drakeian/Ancient Dragon hyperdrive was retained incase the Ancient Dragon drive pods were damaged too heavily. The ships bridge was also more advanced than the old Battleaxe, with it's viewscreen over-lapping the main window, instead of being a seperate screen on the left side wall. The bridge was also made more comfortable, having dropped the rustic design knowing they could no longer fool anyone with it, believing the Dragoians to be the only other space-faring species at the time.
The improvements did not go smoothly with designers, who believed the nacelle based primary engines were of 'antiquated' design, despite being the second starship ever designed on Drakeia, and the only one with nacelles. This comment came about when the designers looked over blueprints of the surviving Ancient Dragon vessel and did not see any indication of nacelles on it. The nacelles were actually conceived as a safety system, as they were able to be placed far away from other vital systems, such as backup drive systems and life support, and thus safer if they got damaged.
==Failure on First Flight==
As the Battleaxe II was leaving Drakeia for the first time, when the order was given to engage hyperdrive, the ship refused to open the hyperspace window, after Draoga's sarcastic comment at the helmsman, 'Did you leave the hyperspace brake on?', the helmsman realised the issue, the engines, all of them, were engaged in sub-light only mode, a new feature for the Battleaxe II, owing to it's lower number of dedicated sub-light engines and higher number of hybrid engines.
Category:Drakeians
Category:Starships
Category:Drakeian Starships
Category:Technology
Category:Flagships