Euromastyx Class

Entering service to replace the Saurus Class as the standard Heavy Cruiser of the Gorn Royal Navy, the Euromastyx is the workhorse of the Gorn fleet. She is perhaps one of the most recognisable Gorn vessels, having been present during almost every major fleet engagement since her introduction in 2264.

## Development

Gorn warship design had long been a rather simplistic affair, at least judged by later Federation standards. After their discovery of warp drive in the early 22nd Century, Gorn designers and engineers found the simplest method of ship construction was robust, angular designs with high-powered impulse drives at the rear, with multiple warp nacelles bolted on for warp travel. Little changed after their development of M/AM power in the early 2200s (relatively late, in galactic terms), with later Starfleet engineers referring to the concept as the "warp powered brick".

Against their earliest enemies (the now extinct Paravians) and their most hated foes (the Romulans) this principle worked well enough however, and their earliest designs of Heavy Cruiser all followed this same planform. The Saurus Class, entering service in 2244 was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary step. The biggest departure made from previous designs was the choice of pure M/AM power from the outset (with earlier Gorn Heavy Cruisers being refit from hybrid M/AM-Fusion backups) and being designed with Phaser weaponry in mind rather than conversions from existing Laser emitter installations. These two new systems being integral to the new design would yield significant efficiency improvements over earlier designs which retrofitted the later systems. The Saurus also mounted a pair of the then standard Gorn Secondary Weapon System, the Particle Accelerator Cannon.

In 2258, the Type G Plasma Torpedo was at last ready for deployment, and the Saurus saw her first refit to carry the new weapon, with her Particle Accelerator Cannons removed in favour of a single forward tube. This new weapons system gave the Saurus enormous punch, although took considerable time to arm and was rather short ranged. The technology behind the Type G was considered Top Secret, and was successfully hidden even from Romulan Tal Shiar agents for many years.

However, even at this early stage, there were proponents of a new Heavy Cruiser design, built from the ground up to use the new weapon. Although again following the same basic hull planform as the Saurus Class, the proposed design had considerably different internal architecture, built from the start to house the Type G Plasma Torpedo Tube. Her Primary Weapons array was also enhanced, and her warp core, nacelles and internals systems upgraded in line with the newest technology available (an uneconomical prospect with the Saurus Class, for the most part, due to her different internal design.)

Although not an enormous improvement to the Saurus Class, the new design did have more scope for future expansion, and, christened Euromastyx, it had entered service by 2264.

In 2280, a breakthrough in gravimetric science led to the development of the Graviton Density Distortion Sphere (GDDS). This device, when fitted to a warship, projected a graviton particle field around the ship. This shell would protect from most forms of physical damage, including weapons fire, until the graviton field was sufficiently weakened by impacts to fail completely. Whilst not an invulnerability shield, it did have several practical applications, both offensively and defensively. The Euromastyx was fitted with this device in 2283, first seeing combat use in the 5th Gorn-Romulan War‏‎ a year later.

## Operational History

The Euromastyx entered service in 2264, entire as expected, with no unpleasant hiccups or teething issues. Her first operational sortie came in 2267, when an unknown force had set up an outpost on the third planet of the border system of Cestus. Fearing another hostile power, this time on their Northern border, the Gorn Admiralty dispatched the GNS Gress'sril to drive out the invaders. After a short but bloody planetary assault, the warm-blooded occupiers were vanquished, but the Gress'sril was attacked by a hostile starship that had arrived in-system. Captain S'alath, commander of the Gress'sril, elected to head for home after brief combat with the vessel proved inconclusive, and his landing party on the surface was attacked and destroyed by forces beamed down by the starship. There was a brief high speed pursuit, and the details of what occurred next are somewhat confused. However, the Captain of the opposing starship, realising there had been a terrible misunderstanding of territorial borders, contacted Captain S'alath. This Captain was of course, Captain James T. Kirk‏‎ of the Federation starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). Once the issues of sovereignty of the Cestus System had been resolved, peaceful relations with the United Federation of Planets began, and by the 2270s they were considered to be strong allies of the Gorn people.

The next combat engagement for the Euromastyx was against the traditional enemy of the Gorn Confederacy, the Romulan Star Empire. Her use of the new Type G Plasma Torpedo game as nasty surprise to the Romulan Star Navy during the 4th Gorn-Romulan War‏‎ of 2282, with the Romulans believing they had the monopoly on plasma-based weaponry. During the lull in fighting, the Euromastyx was fitted with the new Graviton Density Distortion Sphere (GDDS). When the 5th Romulan-Gorn War‏‎ broke out in 2284, Euromastyx Captains used the new device predominantly as an offensive weapon, perfecting new aggressive ramming tactics with the GDDS protecting their warship from the crippling damage normally associated with such attacks.

This tactics were again employed during the Organian Conflict, although new Romulan warships were starting to make such attacks risky. The War of Pacification saw these attacks employed against ISC Echelons, with Euromastyxs quite literally punching a hole though these rigid formations.

The General War saw Euromastyx Class warships called upon again to serve, forming the core of the Gorn Royal Navy Grand Fleet that liberated occupied Federation worlds and swept into the Klingon Empire.

## Apocrypha

The Euromastyx served as the standard Heavy Cruiser of the Gorn Royal Navy until that organisation was folded into Starfleet when the Gorn Confederacy joined the United Federation of Planets in 2325. Remaining Euromastyxs found their way into planetary defence forces and militias, often serving as command ships in these small fleets.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Heavy Cruiser
* **Hull Type Designation:** GCA
* **Length:** 381m
* **Crew:** 244
* **Warp Nacelles:** 4

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 3975 k/s (39.75 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 7.1
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 9.1
* **Hull Rating:** 600 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 320 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 800 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 4 × Gorn Type Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- 1 × Type G Plasma Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- Graviton Density Distortion Sphere (GDDS)
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Probes

## Ships in Service (2292)

GNS Euromastyx

GNS Gloramsk

GNS Nognilk

GNS Dekcsoolb

GNS Garrskar

GNS Girskam

GNS Iknahmargen

GNS Reizzglikb

GNS Thoghlankz

GNS Shieark

GNS Suetorpk

GNS Reptiliosk

GNS Gork

GNS J'tan

GNS Thoran

GNS Tolar

GNS Tilbok

GNS Gorisk

GNS Hascrenthak

GNS Oraksinar

GNS Ssslarsk

GNS Mork

GNS Torskinak

GNS Garathensk

GNS Matarathsk

GNS Hinsakarth

GNS Larstksoth

GNS Porskenthar

GNS Smorkenskth

GNS Talagath

GNS Nabroks