Star Dreadnought

A **Star Dreadnought**, sometimes incorrectly spelled **Star Dreadnaught**, was the formal designation for the largest and strongest capital ships in a galactic Great Power's starfleet. In the Terran Alliance's Admiralty Class system, a Star Dreadnought was any war-built vessel exceeding 1,750 metres in length, regardless of equipment.

## Known Star Dreadnought Designs

### *Arcaena*-class Star Dreadnought

A limited series of brand-new "fast dreadnoughts" produced by the Na'alu Collective to act as incursion fleet flagships and control units. Unlike the normal cruciform nature of contemporary Na'alu designs, these are upscaled *Aretheila*-class Star Battlecruisers: they were officially rated as dreadnoughts, but often referred to as 'Grand Battlecruisers.'

### *Atlas*-class Star Dreadnought

The Terran Alliance's other gunline combatant, sacrificing its fighter complement and some of its heavy cannons for extra speed and the two most powerful super-heavy boring lasers that the Alliance can construct. An equal yet different kind of terror on the battlefield, capable of one-shotting opposing enemy dreadnoughts and carving up battleships like hot butter- the hammer to a *Terra*'s anvil.

### *Bloodmoon*

The largest warship in the Milky Way galaxy. At 29,000 metres in length, it is more of an interstellar city than a starship, and plays host to the entirety of the Veydreth Raka'tan tribe.

### *Elysium*-class Star Battleship

The Kedeshi Alliance's toughest bruisers, armed with large-calibre positron shock cannons and a nasty disposition.

### *Heresiarch*-class Star Dreadnought

The Star Empire's heavy gunship, a monstrous warship capable of going toe-to-toe with a Razorbird supreme battlecruiser and surviving the encounter. Armed with enough hybrid mass drivers and torpedoes to make any opponent at close range regret the encounter.

### *Interrogator*-class Star Dreadnought

The Trade Alliance's premier heavy gunship. Originally refitted cargo haulers were used in the role, but as more star systems joined the shipping union, they began to afford more dedicated warships: the *Interrogator* was the answer. At 1,600 metres in diameter and shaped like a flattened disc, they have excellent defensive capabilities and firing arcs but only limited firepower and superluminal capacity thanks to Council laws.

### *Nemesis*

The *Nemesis* is the personal Grand Star Battlecruiser of corporate executive and Raptor Inc. senior security admiral Cordelia Sheridan. Her personal tastes shaped the basic design—an upscaled *Daedalus*—into a truly formidable warship, capable of going toe-to-toe with any other vessel not only in the Milky Way but outside of it as well. It is one of the most combat-proficient warships in the Directorate's arsenal and Raptor Inc.'s best warship overall: only the Corporate High Council's personal warships outclass it in size, and only *Andromeda* itself outstrips *Nemesis* for firepower.

### *Retentor*-class Star Dreadnought

The Inferno of Muaat's forces are not well-known for their large vessels: this is because the 7-km-long *Retentor* typically does not leave any witnesses. Armed with powerful close-range weaponry, thick armour, and heavy shields, it is a close-range brute for fleet action.

### *Saturn*-class Star Dreadnought

The *Saturn* class are the largest, most powerful hybrid carrier/dreadnoughts in the Terran fleet. While they sacrifice much of their gunpower—they are built on the same frame as a *Terra* Star Dreadnought—for their large complement of starfighters, they continue to sport heavy firepower and defensive capabilities, allowing them to engage battleships on equal terms.

### *Star of Terra*

The *Star of Terra* is a unique Command Star Dreadnought serving in the Grand Navy of the Terran Alliance. With its stunning size and power—the largest warship ever completed by the Terran Alliance and twice the size of a *Terra*-class dreadnought—it reigns as a match for the Na'alu's *Teraevyn's Grace* in all respects. While small by some standards—only 3.5 km in length—excellent firing arcs allow it to bring disproportionate firepower onto any target caught in its sights.

### *Syraphine*-class Star Dreadnought

The 1-km-long, 1.5-km-high *Syraphine* class represent the largest of the Na'alu line warships. Cruciform in nature and sporting advanced weaponry, they are essentially downscaled versions of *Teraevyn's Grace*.

### *Tantalus*-class Star Dreadnought

The Directorate's main line dreadnought. Small for a dreadnought—2,000 metres in length—but packed with weapons and heavily shielded, it is a slow but extremely dangerous opponent. Moreover, experimental modifications and weaponry allow some ships to achieve truly disproportionate fire relative to size, making them fearsome warships to face even when countered with much larger warships.

### *Tartarus*

The *Tartarus* is the flagship of the Corporate High Council, the leaders of the most powerful companies within the Zenian corporate empire and the de-facto absolute rulers of the Velium Cluster. A truly massive warship, it is nonetheless not as combat-capable as many ships much smaller than itself: the size alone is intimidation enough for those who would try to cheat the Directorate.

### *Teraevyn's Grace*

The flagship of the Collective Security Fleet and of the Na'alu armada as a whole. Considered the largest warship—by volume—in the Milky Way until the appearance of *Bloodmoon* and the confirmation of the Ascendancy's largest Star Battlecruisers, it remains a formidable combatant thanks to advanced weaponry and high defensive abilities.

### *Terra*-class Star Dreadnought

The mainstay heavy capital ships of the Alliance. While smaller than many conventional gun combatants—1,750 metres long—they make up for that in numbers, as hundreds of *Terra* dreadnoughts patrol Alliance space. For their size, their firepower is nothing to laugh at either: aside from that, they carry some of the best shield systems of any capital ship known, allowing them to slug it out with much heavier starships and still remain in the fight.

## See Also

 Starfighters | **Starfighters** are the smallest type of starship known. Though—*most*—Milky Way starfighters are not capable of traversing interstellar space, necessitating transport by mothership, their small size, high manoeuvrability, and accurate (if weak) armament allows them precision target selection and high survivability. Though the nature of stellar warfare makes the life of a starfighter pilot a low-expectancy one, their ability to "mission kill" a target—crippling it and removing it from the fight—makes them invaluable on the field.