Gladius(ii)-class

## Gladius-class Destroyer

TRV Quieros Shield, 2321.

The ***Gladius*-class** is a modern class of light destroyer manufactured by the Sirius Shipyards corporation for the Trident Foundries military.

## Description

A fairly long and voluminous ship, the *Gladius*-class was designed from the outset as a pure military vessel, packing huge forward firepower into a shell barely bigger than a heavy frigate.

### Exterior

The exterior is made up primarily of interlocking white armour panels, arranged at various angles to maximise protection on important sections of the ship. Trident stripes are prominently displayed on these panels. Following the action of 14 December 2321, it was determined that this armour was insufficient, after the sinking of two and the severe damage sustained to three of the five *Gladius*-class destroyers engaged during that action.

### Interior

*Gladius* is lacking many amenities found aboard lesser vessels, such as mess halls and recreation rooms. Life aboard a *Gladius* was difficult, particularly in wartime, due to the spartan nature of its living conditions and relative unsuitability for combat against the bigger cruisers and ships of the line she was expected to face.

### Systems

Twin capital grade plasma cannons cap the front end of the ship, with twin high-yield fusion missile launchers below and behind these. It was assumed the *Gladius*' main strength lied in the coverage of its turret batteries. In practice, however, many of these turrets failed to operate, insignificantly damaging the cruisers *Kadsura* and *Arrakis Infinite* during the action of 14 December 2321. The missiles of the *Quieros Shield* and her sister ships proved to be much more lethal.

Most *Gladius*-class ships do not carry a cargo bay. However there are exceptions, like the TRV *Quieros Shield*, with an external cargo pad retrofit to the midsection.

## History

During acceptance trials in July 2320, the class was changed from frigate to light destroyer to recognise the large amount of changes made from the initial concept.

### 2321

In early October, a vessel of the class was constructed in orbit over the gas giant Quieros V. Many issues were quickly identified with it, the most obvious being that the turret armament data was misconfigured, leaving one side turret intact while the other suffered irrepairable corruption. A refit effort was swiftly undertaken to correct the armament data corruption issue.

In late October, the Mk II *Gladius* began production, solving the turret data corruption issue of the Mk I predecessor.

#### Action of 16 November 2321

On 16 November 2321, the Mk II Block-I vessel *Quieros Shield* engaged and sank the sloop *N'Gow Nimoy* in the outer reaches of the Quieros system*,* killing its commander.

#### Action of 14 December 2321

On 14 December 2321, a flotilla of destroyers consisting of *Quieros Shield, Kopis, Pilum, Lucenia* and *Spatha* engaged the light cruiser *Arrakis Infinite* around Quieros Station. *Pilum* is credited as sinking *Arrakis Infinite*. During the engagement, the flotilla was ambushed by a *Kadsura*-class cruiser, which opened up upon the flotilla with beam fire. In short order, both *Kopis* and *Pilum* were sunk. *Spatha* was heavily damaged during her withdrawal, and *Quieros Shield* sustained moderate damage. Upon their return, *Spatha* and *Quieros Shield* were scrapped, the damage deemed too severe to feasibly repair; and the wreckage of *Pilum* was recovered by friendly forces shortly afterwards, the reactor having failed to overload.

## Notable vessels

* TRV *Quieros Shield* (CV-6001)
* TRV *Spatha* (CV-6002)
* TRV *Kopis* (CV-6004)
* TRV *Pilum* (CV-6008)
* TRV *Lucenia* (CV-6009)