ASS-MMMMCCXLII Automated Star Ship

The **ASS-MMMMCCXLII Automated Star Ship**, otherwise known as the **Type-4242 Automated Star Ship** is a multi-purpose craft commonly used by the Nisser.

## Technical and Development History

The Type-4242 Automated Star Ship is an often misunderstood part of the
Nisser forces. Contrary to common naval doctrines, the 4242 is not a
mother ship in the traditional sense. The smaller Type-9001 units are
not beholden to it at all. Rather, the Type-4242 is primarily a support
platform and in some ways decoy, meant to confuse the enemy.

Unless necessary, the Type-4242 will sit on the edge of the system far
from the battle, coordinating local mobile platforms. Multiple of the
platform can coordinate to create complicated tactical forecasts. If overwhelmed, the vessel will merely make a precision jump to the opposite
 side of the system and resume its work. Pin point slipspace technology allows the ship to rapidly deploy to provide fire support and disrupt enemy movements should the need arise. Against more advanced species such as the Formians, it will more directly engage in combat to take down larger, more powerful vessels.

The Type-4242 is relatively small warship for what all it can do, due to sacrificing all comforts biologicals need. Furthermore, as it is not intended for sustained combat, its armor plating is rather thin, relying more on its shields and nanolaminated armor.

The ship does serve a vital role as a mobile construction yard, able to
produce all parts needed for defensive turrets, Type-9001’s, and even other Type-4242’s. The
 ship does require proximity to a black hole in order to produce the
time-phased mirrors needed for the Nisser’s favored brand of
nanolaminate armor.

## Equipment and Design Features

* *Transphasic Shields:* While most Nisser technologies can trace their lineage back to the Skapari technology that was adapted by the Ghaz and Vordr, modern Nisser shielding technology seems to be adapted from the UrukHar and the Vaarg.
* *Subspace Manipulator:* Resembling a warp drive, this system is actually designed for both support and enemy interference. Using inverted warp fields, the vessel can accelerate its own projectiles and nearby allied craft. It can also force enemies to drop out of warp further from it, and jam subspace communications. The manipulator can also ‘hijack’ other warp fields, allowing the vessel to fire its Pulse Drones at escaping ships. If the need should somehow arise, the manipulator can be used as a clumsy Warp Drive, inferior to most modern designs, though can use hi-jacked fields to travel alongside faster warp-capable vessels at some loss of speed to both vessels.

## Fixed Armaments

* *2x Type-32 Hardlight Caster:* A strip along either side of the Type-4242. This marriage of Hyur and Nisser technologies resembles CAST hardlight weapons. Instead of dark matter, the Caster uses hardlight jacketed Ahab particles to similar effect. Each ‘strip’ can fire up to 15 beams at once. Despite being mounted on the sides, the sloping nature of ship’s fore section allows them to fire at targets in front of the ship.
* *4x Type-9999 Cross-Phased Pulse Drone Launcher:* An intelligent torpedo system mounted in the vessel’s side pods, able fire before forward and behind. It is based on generating a destructive subspace compression pulse. Upon detonation the torpedo delivers the pulse in an asymmetric superposition of multiple phase states. Shields can normally only block one subcomponent of the pulse. The other subcomponents deliver the majority of the pulse to the target. Every torpedo has a different transphasic configuration, generated randomly by a dissonant feedback effect to prevent the enemies from predicting the configuration of the phase states. Unlike traditional torpedos, the drones are not destroyed when their weapon is activated. Provided they are not destroyed when interacting with the target, they can pierce through hulls and attack the same or other targets multiple times, before possibly returning to their mother craft to recharge.
* *2x Nanomite Spreader:* Both a weapon and part of the ship’s factory functions, mounted on the lower hull is a pair of factories designed for creating swarms of self-replicating nanites. Able to manipulate Ahab particles for propulsion, the nanites can be launched in clusters around compressed Ahab particles. Used primarily in the construction of other Mobile Platforms, these can also be weaponized in a number of ways. The most common way is the rapid construction of defensive platforms out of asteroids, moons, or even planets, typically using hardlight armaments. It can also be used to create crude replicas of Type-9001 and even other Type-4242 platforms provided the right resources are available, which can be completed later. They can also be used directly against enemy ships to commandeer and convert enemy ships should their shields be down.