Pegasus Class

### Additional systems

High capacity water purification systems, long range scanning devices, various science devices with attachable hard points, ATD ring to assist in long range exploration and a hydrogen fuel scoop

## Overview

Commissioned in 163 DoS the Pegasus class is one of the fastest mass produced ships in the Aetherian sector. Built using all modern technology the ship is able to manipulate its warp bubble through the use of its extended engine nacelles to increase it's speed at FTL speeds.

## History

### Development

Well the first ship of the line, the FCS-Pegasus was laid down in September of 163 DoS the plans were made over a decade earlier in 149 DoS. The Federation of Cathlium sought to improve their short range exploration ability by increasing the speed at which they could transfer between systems. Development on the the router 15 engine was started and progressed for the a time at a normal speed until the Grey Fleet Crisis of 151 DoS. At the time all productions were changed and the Federation required all their ships to be better armed in the event war between the Mass Alliance and Grand Duchy did break out. The design would take another 12 years to come together at which point tensions had begun to fall again. However the Federation had firmly aligned it's self with the Mass Alliance and had their fleet needed to be able to be utilized in the event of a war. As such the Pegasus and the Tempest classes would be far better armed than previous Cathlium ships such as the Jarico.

### Service

The FCS-Pegasus was launched on March 14th of 166 DoS and would begin her career of exploring friendly territories throughout the Aetherian sector. Over the course of the next 11 years 8 more Pegasus classes would be commissioned and completed all contributing to major scientific endeavors and exploration. Notably the FCS-Seritago would be the first ship to fly between the Novora system and the Jattalon system in five and a half days thanks to the vastly improved ATD (Advanced Transit Drive) that it utilized giving it a speed of 12.3 LY per day.

### Serpent War

In 177 DoS the outbreak of hostilities between the Aetherian nations and the Serpent Empire left the Cathlium in a good position geographically. Being so far away from the combat zone they were largely able to maintain a peaceful position and keep production of their ships unchanged. However when the fortress world Octavia fell on ████ ██/██ ███ DoS they were forced to change how they produced ships. While the Xalmorina was the official combat ship of the Federation it simply was not cut out for the support role that the Cathlium were most comfortable with. Instead the Pegasus class was chosen to take priority as it could fill a larger utility role and help toe damaged ships away from the front. The Pegasus class would go on to see a dozen more streamlined construction projects completed over the course of the war, adding to the ships already impressive legacy.

## Design

### Speed

The Pegasus class was built for high speeds at FTL and most of its shape was built to facilitate this. The crew section is located at the forward part of the ship and the engines and warp ring are suspended behind it. The large engine nacelles are relatively underpowered at sub-light speeds they are designed to help extend the warp bubble and allow even higher FTL speeds. This combined with the warp ring allows the ship to travel faster than any other ship and for longer periods, at a very large cost as the specialized materials needed to keep this speed up are notably rare.

### Weapons

As part of the mutual defense pact with the Mass Alliance the Pegasus had upgraded weapons over it's predecessors, like the Jarico. It features six CF-301 pike lasers in ball turret emplacements with four on the bow of the ship and two on the ventral and dorsal missile pods. This way the ship can turn four of its weapons to either side of the craft, It however does leave the rear of the ship under defended as only the ventral and dorsal lasers can fire directly behind it. However they are assisted by the missile pods which can fire forward or backward and can be equipped with probes as the mission requires.

### Safety

The Pegasus also features a PMC core eject system on the ventral hull. This allows the ship to eject its heat sink in the event of dangerous levels of over heating.

### Shuttles

The last major notable feature of the Pegasus's deign is that due to complexities with space the shuttle hangar is located at the back of the crew compartment, meaning that shuttles need to be launched through the warp ring. This means that shuttles can only be deployed while the ship is not at FTL speeds or else risk giving a high dose of radiation from the active warp ring. It also makes re-docking a difficult process for shuttles.