Aventis Bastion Class

The **Bastion-Class** is the primary warship and command vessel of the **Aventis Empire**.

## History

The Bastion-Class was first conceived during the early days of interstellar travel for the Aventis Empire, specifically in the Kingdom of *Avalal*, one of the oldest and largest countries on Aventis.

As is common and expected with Aventis society, the origins of the **Bastion-Class** are steeped in mythology and legend. According to the ancient text, the "*Book of Destiny"*, which seems to date back thousands of years;

* *"There was once a wondrous, ancient and marvellous city, with gleaming white towers, it stood for a thousand years, protecting the Aventis people and leading them on the path of greatness. However, one day, their was a huge roar that shock the very foundations of the planet, and the magnificent, gleaming city of Avalon, ascended upwards towards the stars above."*

Tales and fables like this seem to have directly inspired the construction of the Bastion-Class, however Aventis scholars have wondered if the Aventis were given the ability to construct these colossal vessels by contact with an alien civilisation, a school of thought that was widely ridiculed until the Aventis made first contact with the other lifeforms of the **Black Eye Galaxy (M64)**.

In 2115, the construction of the first *Bastion-Class* vessel was completed, this had been a joint construction effort between all the countries on Aventis who were currently embroiled in a war with the **Rothian Corporation**, following a disastrous first contact.

The *Bastion-Class* was designed as an answer to the powerful **Magnificent-Class** Dreadnought used by the Roth, as conventional starship design proved to be extremely ineffective. As such the *Bastion-Class* was designed to assault Roth vessels from a distancing, using its powerful wing of fighters, too small for the Roth defences to inflict terrible damage.

Originally, during the course of the Roth/Aventis War of 2100, fifty-one *Bastion-Class* mobile fortresses were constructed, each symbolising the different countries which existed on Aventis. As a result, the *Bastion-Class* quickly became a symbol of Aventis splendour and honour.

The *Bastion-Class* or **"Sky Citadel"** as it is sometimes known, measures at about 1,500 meters long and at least 600 meters high. This vessel serves as both a station and space vessel, being able to move using traditional impulse engines as well as house thousands of troops and fighters.

In order facilitate such a colossal vessel, Aventis apothecaries and scholars began to research an alternative to the traditional warp drive used by older Aventis vessels such as the *Gallantry-Class* and the *Bulwark-Class*. This led to the discovery of an entirely new form of propulsion known as **Coaxial Warp** which allows the *Bastion-Class* to "jump" great distances rather then travelling in traditional warp which would damage the hulls of these exquisite vessels.

By 2453, the **Aventis Star Navy** started to phase out the **Bastion-Class** in favour for the newer **Concentric Class** and **Burh Clas**s ships. Despite still being a formidable fortress, the Bastion-Class was relegated to a more ceremonial role, serving chiefly as diplomatic and memorial functions in the Aventis Empire.

## Tactical Systems

The *Bastion-Class* is armed with one thousand independently targeted **Verteron** beam turrets. Verterons are subatomic particles that are capable of travelling faster then the speed of light. Verteron particles create a cumulative effect when used in a high enough concentrating, severely disrupting the sensors of an enemy vessel and eventually overloading the field coils of the opponent's warp drive, possibly disabling the vessel.

The main defensive force of the *Bastion-Class* is the extensive fighter wing stationed aboard each vessel, these include;

* 3000 "*Hussar-Class*" fighter - A small, one-man fighter with a powerful engine designed to ram through other vessels.
* 2000 "*Berber-Class*" Snipe Fighter - A Fighter with an impressive ranged energy weapon that is specially designed to "snipe" other fighters with deadly accuracy.
* 1000 "*Amboise-Class"* Heavy Bombers - Heavy and slower fighters carrying an extensive number of plasma explosives designed to penetrate the shields of larger vessels.

## Known Vessels

At present, their are only five operational *Bastion-Classes* in the **Black Eye Galaxy**, due to the incredible resource cost needed to create them.

These are;

* *A.V.S. Wintanceastre* - *Destroyed*
* *A.V.S. Ceaster - Destroyed*
* *A.V.S. Canterburos*
* *A.V.S. Plowonida*
* *A.V.S. Oxenaforda - Destroyed*
* *A.V.S. Mercia - Lost to the **Banished***