Imperium Class

Designed to complement the War Eagle Class Dreadnought, the Imperium is somewhat overshadowed by the infamy of her larger sister. However, she has developed a reputation of her own in the recent undeclared border conflict with the Klingon Empire, where amongst Klingon Captains she gained the Nom de Guerre of "The White Death". Many Klingon ships were crippled by her guns, and the fact that only 3 were present during that entire border conflict when the KDF believed at least 20 different vessels were encountered, is testament to the stealth and firepower of the Imperium.

## Development

In 2267, whilst KR Series vessels imported from the Klingon Empire were useful additions to the Romulan Star Navy, there was concern in the Senate that the Star Empire was becoming dependent on Klingon military materiel and neglecting the development of native technology as a result. A new technological programme was launched to provide new, entirely Romulan warships for the RSN. This design programme became known as the Ornith Series, and one of the first designs to be approved was that of a Frigate. This late 2260s design had a number of flaws however, namely that she still relied on fusion power, and lacked any weapon more formidable than the increasingly obsolescent Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon. Production of the new design was put on hold until a number of concurrent programmes in the fields of weaponry and propulsion could bear fruit.

In 2275 Romulan engineers produced a working, reliable M/AM powered warp drive. Priority was given initially to refitting the Cricket Class Destroyer, resulting in the War Bird Class of 2278. Once this programme neared completion, all effort ways turned to introducing new, powerful, M/AM powered designs. The first of these designs was a revived and updated version of the 2269 Frigate design. An unexpected side effect of M/AM research was that the technology designed for plasma flow to warp nacelles could also be employed to refine and perfect a lighter, less power hungry version of the Plasma Torpedo. Previously, plasma flow had been too inefficient to make a reduced power version viable, but now a torpedo with approximately 1/3rd the yield and power requirements of the standard Plasma Torpedo and capable of being charged in just over half the time. Whilst less efficient overall than the existing Plasma Torpedo, this new Light Plasma Torpedo did allow a weapon of significant power to be fitted to smaller and lighter vessels. In this role, the new Type L Plasma Torpedo Tube came to replace the old CFDIC as the weapon of choice on light Romulan designs.

The Gladius Class Frigate entered service shortly after, albeit with a single Type L Plasma Torpedo Tube and a CFDIC as a back-up weapon. Limited peace-time weapons range experience proved the Light Plasma Torpedo was a reliable and efficient weapon. Using a scaled up Gladius Class hull, and designed with a pair of Type L Plasma Torpedo Tubes as her main offensive weapons, a design for a new Light Cruiser took shape, soon named the Legion Class. The Legion was designed to complement a larger, Battlecruiser-sized design that became known as the Garuda Class. Again using a scaled up Gladius Class hull planform, the Garuda was essentially a much larger "Bird of Prey", much like the older Capsize Class. She was built around a single Type H Plasma Torpedo Tube, the same as the lighter War Bird Class, but she was intended to carry a much heavier Primary Weapons array along with considerably stronger shields and hull armour.

The Garuda entered service in 2282, just in time to serve in the 4th Gorn-Romulan War. Immediately though, combat experience showed there were considerable problems with her design. The single Type H Plasma Torpedo Tube simply wasn't heavy enough armament for a Battlecruiser. Whilst her primary array of five Disruptor Cannons was formidable, extended use of these weapons was counter to the Alpha Strike, hit and fade tactics employed by the Romulan Star Navy, and she simply didn't have the shield strength or armour to slug it out with heavy Gorn warships. Production was halted, and the few ships in service used as command ships and kept away from heavy combat.

The whole debacle left the RSN with an embarrassing problem. The largest and most powerful ships under their command were of Klingon origin; Romulan Capital Ships of a similar size were hopelessly out of date, and although the 4th Gorn-Romulan War had been a stalemate and white peace, the Star Navy was starting to look increasingly obsolete. War was coming, and the RSN desperately needed Capital Ships.

In the short term, additional Condor Class Battleships helped to "plug the gap", but they were of Klingon design and not especially suited to Romulan battle tactics. Romulan warship designers had been toying with conceptual designs for a very large Bird of Prey type vessel since the 2250s, always finding that the lack of an efficient power source was the undoing of such a design. The adoption of M/AM Power in the 2270s finally gave these designs the power they needed. In such a large design, a huge M/AM reactor could be mounted, which would also solve the usual problem of insufficient power reserves for powerful Plasma Torpedo weaponry.

At the same time as this massive Battleship was being designed, a smaller, more nimble design was put forwards to complement her. The War Eagle Class, as the larger design became known, mounted formidable firepower, but such firepower came with a cost; Heavy Plasma Torpedo Tubes required enormous amounts of energy to charge, and even with the reserves available on the War Eagle, the effective rate of fire was still low. She could of course cloak, but this took considerable energy reserves away from the torpedo tubes, and was not always a tactically sound move in a fleet engagement. The Imperium Class was designed deliberately with rate of fire over firepower in mind, initially being armed with four Light Plasma Torpedo Tubes as her Secondary Weapons Array. Then, during the construction of the prototype, a new development was made in Plasma Weaponry.

Gorn Plasma Torpedo Technology captured during the 5th Gorn-Romulan War of 2284 led to the development of the Medium Plasma Torpedo, or Type M. Being considerable more powerful than the earlier Light Plasma Torpedo for little more energy expenditure and an equally rapid rate of fire, the Medium Plasma Torpedo was the ideal weapon for the new Imperium Class. There was however, a snag; Whilst the Medium Plasma Torpedo only required a modest additional energy outlay than the Light variant, the additional requirements for four such tubes placed great strain on the power reserves available on the proposed Imperium Class. The number of tubes was scaled back to two, although this meant the Imperium would be scarcely better than the failed Garuda Class she was to replace. The construction of the prototype was halted, pending redesign.

Simulator trials led to an interesting solution. The two inner weapon bays in the Imperium's lower hull were fitted out with the new torpedo. Rather than leave the outer bays empty, they were fitted with a slightly modernised variant of the old Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon (CFDIC). Whilst not as formidable as the Plasma Torpedo, the CFDIC leant considerable tactical flexibility to the Imperium Class, being best able to kill enemy crewmembers through weakened or lowered shields, a task the inboard Medium Plasma Torpedo Tubes were adept at performing. Further more, the rate of fire of the CFDIC was higher than that of a Plasma Torpedo, keeping with the ethos of the Imperium design.

This design change came at a cost of time however. By the time the prototype was constructed and launched, the Star Empire had entered the Organian Conflict. The great War Eagles had gone to war without their intended support. Serial production began as soon as resources could be spared, although the delay almost cost the Romulan Star Navy one of her new Battleships, the RSE War Eagle being critically damaged in a Federation ambush.

## Operational History

The Imperium entered service in 2287, and although excelling at her original role as a complement to the larger War Eagle, she had soon proven adept in small adhoc Battlecruiser squadrons. Despite her victories in the Organian Conflict, she was always overshadowed by her larger sister, perhaps unfairly. The near loss of the RSE War Eagle showed that without support, the great Battleship was still vulnerable to smaller ships en masse.

During the War of Pacification, she once again supported the War Eagle in combat, although increasingly her individual fleet actions were noted. ISC Star Cruisers were a particular favourite prey of Imperium Captains. It is also rumoured that a single Imperium was sent in support of a War Eagle Class that was part of a fleet sent to aid Melkor during the Ormong of 2291.

By the outbreak of the General War in 2292, the Imperium had finally carved a reputation of her own. In the undeclared Klingon-Romulan border conflict of 2290, three Imperium Class warships roamed uncontested and the type soon gained the moniker of "The White Death". KDF reports estimated that roughly twenty such Battlecruisers were present in that sector during the conflict. When acting alone or in adhoc squadrons, she had the speed and stealth to appear to be in two places at once. Although the war was eventually brought to a close by the deployment of a different type (See Peregrine Class), the conflict was the Imperiums finest hour.

During the General War itself, the Imperium saw limited combat, as the involvement of the Star Empire in that conflict was limited to begin with. In the few engagements that she fought in, she acquitted herself well against the well armed and armoured warships of the Gorn Royal Navy.

## Apocrypha

After her involvement in the Praxis Incident of 2293 was revealed, the Romulan Star Empire began to once again withdraw behind her borders, withdrawing from galactic affairs again all together in the aftermath of the Tomed Incident in 2311. Even before this time, Romulan tactics had begun to turn away from fleet engagements and back to single "lone wolf" warships, now of a gargantuan size dwarfing the Crickets and Capsize Classes of old.

Experiments conducted in the field of alternative power sources had led to the development of Artificial Quantum Singularities. Trials were conducted with Imperium Class ships fitted with AQS Power, but the result was inefficient and the tactical doctrines of the Romulan Star Navy were changing, with the Imperium proving to be obsolescent in the new order. She was kept in service, still operating under M/AM power, supporting her larger sister, although the two types never fought alongside each other again. With the withdrawal of the War Eagle Class due to her gradual replacement by the Melak Class, the Imperium was also withdrawn from frontline duties, although the few AQS powered ships in service were acquired by the Tal Shiar and remained in service for decades more and are believed to have inspired the design of a dedicated "Science" (read Espionage) ship by the Tal Shiar in the 2370s.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Heavy Battlecruiser
* **Hull Type Designation:** RBCH
* **Length:** 458m
* **Crew:** 465
* **Warp Nacelles:** 4

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 2850 k/s (28.5 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.5
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 8.6
* **Hull Rating:** 510 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 653 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 1000 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 5 × Disruptor Cannon
	+ Secondary
		- 2 × Type M Plasma Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- 2 × Cohesive Fused Deuterium Irradiation Cannon (CFDIC)
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Romulan-Type Cloaking Device
		- Tal Shiar Transporter Pad
		- Probes

## Ships in Service (2292)

RSE Imperivm

RSE Imperator

RSE Exstinctor

RSE Obtvtvs ex Gorgo

RSE Sonnvs

RSE Fervs

RSE Valvonivs

RSE Aptvs

RSE Concvlco

RSE Senervs

RSE Labecvla

RSE Sannantivs

RSE Ionnivs

RSE Heranivs

RSE Caelestis

RSE Sasicivs

RSE Albisivs

RSE Atis

RSE Ladreivs

RSE Ignevs