Javelin Class Corvette

The Javelin Class was a class of 328 light escort ships designed for the Blue Star Federation in the 2070s. This Class was in service for over 80 years, only being taken out of Federation service due to the military coup orchestrated by the Pheonix Empire, although some were stolen and served within rebel cells afterwards. BSS Javelin (CR-005), the lead ship of the class, had her keel laid in 2081, and was in service the following year. The Javelin Class are 80m long, with a beam of 18m, and carry relatively heavy weapons and shields for a ship of their size. The team behind their design was led by Aiyakah Novahich and Capt. Thomas Bane. Aiyakah would serve as captain of the BSS Blackfin (CR-105) for the entirety of her service life, up until he was mutinied against at the end of the Second Solar War, while Bane would serve as captain of the heavy cruiser Constitution, for much of her service life.

### Background

The Javelin Class came about because of the fledgling navy of the Blue Star Federaton having a requirement for a multirole combat/exploration vessel that was fast, relatively well armed, easy to maintain, and with good range. The Federation initially looked into a foreign purchase, but it was decided that that would be cost prohibitive, and if hostilities ever arouse, parts would become difficult to get ahold of. And so, the Federal Navy commissioned a design board headed by Capt. Aiyakah Novahich and Capt. Thomas Bane to design the ship.

The Javelin Class was designed initally for exploration, and some combat, and so it would be suprising that they were able to serve well into the turbulent 22nd century, but their extremely modular and easy to maintain design would allow them to be outfitted with different loadouts for different use cases. These were the first human ships designed as multirole ships, previous classes of starship were designed entirely with exploration in mind, and had extremely limited weapons.

Later comprable to RoP corvette classes, Block II and IIA were designed with defense against these ships in mind, and so are well shielded with efficient armor schemes and fast, which is a direct contrast to the highly armored and relatively slow RoP ships.

### Design

#### Design overview

When the design was initially proposed, the Federation's Navy was much less militaristic than it would become. Its primary purpose was organizing Federal expansion, exploration, and colonization in systems outside current Federation Space. The relatively young nation was just starting to mature, and it's navy was often limited by it's naïveté and idealism. This led to some of the Javelin's limitations, which although there were few, oftentimes meant that carrying some heavier weaponry decreased their range significantly. (This would lead to a major redesign down the road, starting with BSS Harambe (CC-98)). 80m long, the Javelins are relatively large for Corvettes, which allows them to have ample interior space, although fully kitted out for a combat mission later in their careers it was still quite cramped.

#### Engineering Spaces

##### Reactor Rooms

The Javelin Class was famous for their extremely well designed engineering spaces. With 2 redundant Matter/Antimatter reactors, each within it's own airtight and armored compartment, this allowed the ships to take potential damage to their machinery spaces without it being a mission kill, a stipulation of designer Aiyakah Novahich. Each of these reactors can generate 20 GW of power, enough to keep all of the ship's systems running, plus firing the Phased Particle Accelerator array and regenerating shields. On one reactor, it has enough power to travel at maximum Warp velocity, or stay and fight, allowing these ships to have a reactor down for maintenance while continuing normal operations.

##### Warp Drives

The Javelin Class' original Warp Drives were of a revolutionary design, allowing these ships to be the first ships in the Federal Navy to hit Warp 5, or c5, along with the drive nacelles being of a revolutionary design that allowed them to be built into the hull, allowing them to be better protected by the ship's shields and armor. This was new technology developed at the behest of Thomas Bane, Co-director of the design board. He foresaw the need to have better protected warp drives, which lead to this design choice being made, and incorporated into all other Federation ships after the Javelin Class was designed.

##### Sublight/Impulse Drives

The sublight engines of the Javelin Class were designed such that upgrades, replacement, and repairs would be easy. Oftentimes, very little cutting and welding would be required to replace or upgrade them. This was intentionally, and would lead to a system of standard connectors and components across the fleet, known as the Javelin Standard. This was a stipulation of Navy Brass, as they wanted a ship that could exchange any part with another part, without modification or machining.

The Javelins were powered by extremely advanced ion thrusters which could produce 300 metric tons of thrust per thruster. Of these, there were 4 for'ard and 4 aft, facing opposite directions. Maneuvering was achieved by a combination of gyroscopes and extremely powerful gymballed ion thrusters, which produced 3 metric tons of force each. The main thrusters could swivel, to provide lift in the case of a planetary landing for dropping troops and such. This ability proved extremely useful during the two solar wars, in which these ships made planetary landings quite often.

#### Armor

The Javelin Class' armor scheme is one that was referred to in Earth navies of old as "all or nothing". This meant that the armor was only where it was needed, and only in the amounts that it was needed. On a light ship that must retain speed and maneuverability at all costs, the armor only exists in quantity in certain locations in the ship, such as around the Engine Room, Magazines, and Thrusters/Warp Nacelles. This kept the ships light, although at the cost of protection around many of the ships weapons. The armor was used sparingly, this was at the request of Aiyakah Novahich and other potential Javelin commanders who knew that the best kind of corvette are the light, fast, and heavily armed type. Thus armor was kept to the bare minimum, and the ships gained a reputation for being hard to hit, although you had hell to pay if one did get hit. Thus damage control crews on these ships would always be well trained and practiced in the case of a hull breach, although the advent of airtight force fields and automatic airtight doors made this form of damage less dangerous.

#### Shielding

The Javelin Class had powerful shielding for it's size, but like every other component on these ships, that shield generator could be replaced with a different unit based on the mission. A typical shield generator for the Red Mare Project's flagship BSS Blackfin (CR-105)would have been as follows. Class II (350mj) shields, and standard armor, would give the ship enough shield protection to fight an effective war of attrition. Get in, go fast, maneuver to avoid enemy fire, and rain a hail of destruction on anything in your path, then get out while you still can. However, different fleets used different tactics, such as Thomas Bane's Task Force 2's compliment of Javelins modified to carry Class IV (600mj) shield generators, making the Javelins into insane shield tanks, able to take most things that the enemy could throw at them. Although slower by about 5 100ths of light speed, they more than made up for it in their shield capacity.

#### Weapons

Javelin Class mostly relied on their speed and long range guided munitions to get the job done, as at close ranges they are an easy target for physical munitions. Thus they carry 4 tubes for Mk. VI antimatter torpedoes and 2 deployment racks for mines. However, their unguided weaponry is also no slouch, with the Javelin Class carrying a Coaxial 250mm Railgun, which is used for sniping other ships at long range. The 250mm railgun particular to the Javelin is unique among the Federation fleet, as it had to deal with major size constraints to deal with the limited space in the bow of the Javelin. This meant that it had to be specially designed to fit into the Javelin, and although many of it's early overheating issues have since been resolved, it is still limited to 1 shot every 2 minutes to keep heat down. Being designed to be pulled out and replaced with another module based on the mission, not all Javelin Class carry these gargantuan weapons, but those that do were mostly in the role of escort and blockading ships, due to the high range.

As for other weapons, the Javelin Class also carries a multitude of energy and physical weapons, with it's most fearsome being the Class IV and Class III PPA emitters on the hull, capable of dealing damage at ranges up to 100 and 175km respectively. Phased Particle Accelerators were designed and tested to work with the Javelins, with BSS Hawking (CR-010), being the testbed chosen by Dr. Henry Falgor. Relatively new at the time, the Javelin Class were just starting to enter service, and Hawking had just had her keel laid when she was chosen. This allowed the PPA mounts to be integrated quickly and easily into her design, and she went on to have a long and distinguished career.

The Javelin Class' Gauss Cannons are a formidable force to be reckoned with, to be sure. Although most useful at shorter ranges, they still pack a punch out to 75km, and like the Phased Particle Accelerators, were designed parallel to the Javelin Class, and so were tightly integrated into the design. Carrying 2 Class IV and 4 Class III Gauss Cannons, the Javelins were designed specifically with these weapons in mind. The Gauss Cannon and Phased Particle Accelerators are the only part of the Javelins that they cannot go on deployment without, although there were some attempts to add larger mounts or swap them out for other packages, those ships did not succeed, and were quickly reverted.

### Service History

#### Early exploration and colonization

Due to their initial design being oriented around exploration, early examples of the Javelin Class (CR-005 - CR-025) were sent on 3-5 year exploration tours, expanding and spreading Federation ideals, from 2085 to 2098. Many were involved with colonization of many early Human colonies, such as Teegarden's Star, as well as making First Contact with multiple other species, notably [placeholder], [placeholder], and [placeholder]. These would eventually become member species of the Federation.

#### First Contact with the Republic of Pheonix : The Palzos Encounter

In November of 2098, the Javelin Class Corvette [placeholder] was part of a long distance exploration fleet headed farther from Earth than ever before. This fleet was made up primarily of Javelin Class Corvettes and Gettysburg class Frigates, with a Europa Class Light Cruiser as flagship. Their mission was to go and determine how suitable the TRAPPIST-1 system would be for colonization. However, a navigational error would lead to the ships landing in a system controlled by another interstellar nation, the Republic of Pheonix.

#### Federation/Republic Cold War

By the end of 2098, all Federal exploration ships were recalled to Earth for refitting, to be conducted in stages. All of the currently existing Block I Javelin Class (CR-5 - CR-26), were immediately retrofitted towards much more militaristic roles, especially since tensions were rapidly rising. These retrofits were far-reaching, changing many aspects of the design. All Block I starships were upgraded with PPA arrays,

Meanwhile, the Federation fast tracked the already ordered Block II and Block IIA Javelin Class, while simultaneously expanding orders from 40 of each to 80 of each block. Each block had technological and logistical improvements that made them more effective in combat scenarios. Block II and IIA were also the first Federation starships to be built with PPA arrays installed at the shipyard, as opposed to in refits later down the line.

During this Cold War, Javelin Class Corvettes served as short range escorts for larger, newer Federal ships. Although capable of taking on a RoP Light Frigate on their own, they were most effective in packs, often led by a Gettysburg Class Frigate or Halsey Class Destroyer, which were the only larger ships capable of keeping up. Also during this time, a number of Javelin Class (the number remains classified), were transferred to the Red Mare Project, under the command of Commodore Aiyakah Novahich. These ships were heavily modified, with the latest weapons tech, and had crews made up of black ops RMP troops. The Flagship of the RMP fleet was the BSS Blackfin (CR-105), which was a highly modified Block IIA Javelin, which served for over 40 years, before being scuttled in the Battle of Earth during the Pheonix Empire Takeover.

Cold War Era patrols were the bread and butter of the Javelin Fleet, mostly because Javelins were so adaptable to any mission thrown their way, that they could and often did have large amounts of their subsystems exchanged for different payloads depending on the mission, somewhat like submarines of Earth-that-was.

#### First Solar War

When all out war broke out in 2114, Javelin Class ships were instrumental to the war effort, although now they were modified, along with the new, and final, Block III ships, to have greater range and survivability. Now, they served as long range escorts for the new Constitution Class Heavy Cruisers, Farragut Class Destroyers, Enterprise Class Carriers, and others.

##### Escort Missions

One of the most common missions that Javelin Class would serve during the First Solar War was as long range escorts for larger fleet ships, and also to serve as escorting ships in larger fleets and taskforces, such as Rear Admiral Thomas Bane's CRUDIV 1, later Task Force 2, composed around the 10 year old BSS Constitution (CA-001), with an escorting fleet of 2 Farragut Class Destroyers, usually BSS Farragut (DD-58) and BSS Hull (DD-59), 4 Liberty Class Frigates, and 4 Javelin Class Corvettes, depending on the mission.

These ships also served around Enterprise Class Carriers, although with a larger fleet composition, oftentimes composing of a carrier, then 1 Constitution or Europa Class cruiser, 2 Farragut Class Destroyers, 4 Liberty Class Frigates, and then oftentimes 8 or 10 Javelin Class. Their use in small fleets was to screen the capital ships with electronic jamming or straight up visual obscuration, to defend the fleets with long range weapory, and to get up close and personal to take out enemy ships that got too close.

##### Service with the Red Mare Project

As Aiyakah Novahich's ship of choice for many RMP missions, the Javelin Class Corvette, especially it's Block IIA and Block III variants were the light combat ship of choice for the Federal Navy's famed Black Ops division. Although there were some larger ships in the RMP fleet, such as a set of 4 custom ordered Europa Class cruisers, the Red Mare Project fleet was mainly composed of frigates and corvettes. In fact, Aiya's usual flagship, BSS Blackfin (CR-105), was a Javelin Class Corvette.

The near exclusive use of light combat vessels in the Red Mare Project, although scoffed at by some of the Navy Brass, proved to be an extremely effective fleet composition, and combined with advanced technology, extremely well trained crews and troops; this made for one of the most potent forces in the Federation's arsenal.

##### Service with Task Force 2

Task Force 2, formerly known as CRUDIV-1, was, for much of his career, Thomas Bane's usual fleet, centered around the cruiser BSS Constitution. In this fleet, a number of Javelin Class Corvettes, often crewed by RMP crews, acted as the outer screen of this most central cruiser division. Although also made up of some larger vessels to protect the *Constitution*, it's Corvettes were central to it's proper operation. Usually a fleet of no more than 20 vessels, Task Force 2 was best known for leading the Federation operation to push deep into Republic territory and force a surrender.

During this campaign, Bane pushed hard and struck fast, and the Javelin Class ships of the fleet fought valiantly, taking little damage and wreaking much havoc upon the Republic's own navy. Task Force 2 was a manuverable and fast fleet, and having a large number of light escort ships certainly didn't detract from this.

Task Force 2, and it's contingent of Javelins, were present at the Battle of Farah, the final battle of the war, and were instrumental in taking down the Republic dreadnought RoP Destiny, although sadly one, the BSS [placeholder] was lost along with the BSS *Deutchland*. The surrender ceremony took place on the BSS Constitution, with the various escort ships forming an honor guard and, still, a protective screen around the ship as the ceremony took place.

##### Patrol Service

Javelin Class corvettes were also instrumental in defending the home front, as they were the flagships of the various patrol fleets, often made up of Raptor Class Patrol ships, serving as squad leaders for 4-8 of these patrol boats. During the Battle of Sol, these small fleets performed honorably and defended Earth, often to the last man, and were instrumental in turning the tide of the war.

##### The Battle of Sol

On Friday, August 13th 2117, the Battle of Sol began. At 0500 GMT, Republic of Pheonix warp signatures were first detected on long range scanners at high speed. At 0530, the Republic of Pheonix's Task Force 9 dropped out of warp in the outer reaches of the Sol System, and began making a beeline for Earth.

The attack happened so suddenly, with the Republic fleet pushing past the Federation's front line, that Sol was ill prepared for the attack, with only ADM Thomas Bane's Task Force 2 in system, although tied up for refueling, repairs, and rearming. This would be one of the largest mistakes of the day, with the Navy leaving Earth, and it's 9 billion person population, virtually undefended. However, small patrol units headed by Javelin Class Corvettes, began to make attritional attacks on the Republic fleet, harrying it and forcing it to slow down, as calls were made for reinforcements.

At 1000 GMT, the first Federation reinforcements came in to start to relieve the battered Task Force 2 and patrol fleets. The first fleet to arrive was an RMP fleet headed by BSS Triton, an Europa Class cruiser commanded by Commodore Alexander Mitchell, with 6 destroyers, 8 frigates, and 10 Javelin Class corvettes in tow. These Corvettes, BSS Woodstock, BSS Plant City, BSS Greenwich, BSS Constellation, BSS Reliant, BSS Cook, BSS Phobos, BSS Daimos, BSS Lindwyrm and BSS Rutland, were all highly modified, and updated with the latest tech. Immediately, they began putting a dent in the RoP forces, and pushing them back.

The 1200 GMT arrival of the fleets of RADM Aiyakah Novahich, Commanding BSS Blackfin, with a fleet of 15 Javelins alongside, RADM Edmund Maxwell, commanding BSS Magna Carta, with 6 Farraguts, 10 Liberty Class Frigates, and 15 Javelin Class Corvettes escorting, finally allowed the Federation fleet to have a chance. The arrival of successive fleets throughout the rest of the day, including the carriers BSS Enterprise, BSS Franklin, BSS Yorktown and BSS Lexington, made the fleet finally capable of taking on the massive RoP fleet.

By 0900 on August 14th, the Federal fleet had pushed the Republic fleet back to the rings of Saturn, where one of the most decisive fights of the Battle for Sol would occur. A contingent of Javelin Class corvettes led by Aiyakah Novahich lured the larger Republican Starfleet ships down into the rings of Saturn, where a contingency of Federal ships laid in wait. Forced to fight among the rocks and meteors of Saturn's rings, the Federal carriers used the rings for cover as they launched fighters and bombers to beat the republican fleet into submission, while destroyers, frigates, and corvettes sniped them with their railguns. Pinned down among warp disrupters, rocks, and enemy fire, the Republic forces took heavy losses as they tried to retreat.

By 1800 GMT on the 14th, the Republic forces were in full retreat, with Task Force 2, now fully rearmed and refueled right on their heels. Shattered and broken, they tried to link up with the rest of their fleet, but instead the Federal Navy, now out for blood, punched a hole in their lines and started retaking systems that had been under Republic control for over a year, starting with [placeholder], while making a beeline for the Republic's territory.

##### Operation Federal Glory

Operation Federal Glory commenced on October 15th 2117, as Republic Forces were in hurried retreat from Sol. This operation's entire goal was to retake any Federation system the Republic had captured, plus wreak as much havoc in Republican territory as possible, as Task Force 2 and the rest of the fleets formed up to form Task Force 1, the largest Federation fleet assembled to that point. The navy was out for blood, and they got it.

Rapidly, systems held by the republic began to fall. Teegarden's Star, Luyten's Star, [placeholder], [placeholder] and [placeholder] were the first to fall. soon after, the Federation began pushing into RoP territory, with the attempt to take the capitol.

Javelin Class Corvettes were hard at work screening the larger fleet, and almost the entire Federation fleet of Javelin Class corvettes were present to guard the larger fleet. Notable performances were the Red Mare Project's entire contingent of javelins, some 80 strong, including BSS Blackfin, BSS Rutland, BSS Constellation and BSS Reliant. Also present were some 200 Javelin Class making up the rest of the fleet, who also served valiantly, coming out of rotation in fleets such as Task Force 2, RADM Edmund Maxwell and his CRUDIV 6, Captain Robert Dawson's Carrier Battlegroup, Task Force 12, and many others.

Operation Federal Glory would end in the Siege of Farah on December 7th, 2119. The siege would last 2 years, and would be one of the costliest and bloodiest operations of the entire war. The Siege of Farah would end on September 9th 2121, with the siege giving way to a massive battle, known as the Battle of Farah, where the RoP gave it's last stand, but ultimately surrendered on October 5th, 2121, to ADM Thomas Bane and RADM Aiyakah Novahich, the joint leaders of Task Force 1.

#### Peace and Inter-reality Expansion

Immediately after the end of the war, Javelin Class corvettes were rapidly utilized as protection for supply convoys against a rapidly expanding pirate threat. Most freighters, although capable of some light defense, were usually helpless against the onslaught that pirates brought against their victims. The war brought mass destruction to both Blue Star Federation and the occupied Republic of Pheonix territories, but the cut off outer regions