Reptillon Class

A conversion of the older Saurus Class Heavy Cruiser, the Reptillon was an early experiment in a "fire support ship", a concept which became the Torpedo Cruiser. She became the first warship of her type in service, although the type remained relatively unknown until the Interstellar Concordium bombardment of Miras and Annwynn.

## Development

Gorn warship design had long been a rather simplistic affair, at least judged by later Federation standards. After their discovery of warp drive in the early 22nd Century, Gorn designers and engineers found the simplest method of ship construction was robust, angular designs with high-powered impulse drives at the rear, with multiple warp nacelles bolted on for warp travel. Little changed after their development of M/AM power in the early 2200s (relatively late, in galactic terms), with later Starfleet engineers referring to the concept as the "warp powered brick".

Against their earliest enemies (the now extinct Paravians) and their most hated foes (the Romulans) this principle worked well enough however, and their earliest designs of Heavy Cruiser all followed this same planform. The Saurus Class, entering service in 2244 was an evolutionary rather than revolutionary step. The biggest departure made from previous designs was the choice of pure M/AM power from the outset (with earlier Gorn Heavy Cruisers being refit from hybrid M/AM-Fusion backups) and being designed with Phaser weaponry in mind rather than conversions from existing Laser emitter installations. These two new systems being integral to the new design would yield significant efficiency improvements over earlier designs which retrofitted the later systems. The Saurus also mounted a pair of the then standard Gorn Secondary Weapon System, the Particle Accelerator Cannon.

In 2258, the Type G Plasma Torpedo was at last ready for deployment, and the Saurus saw her first refit to carry the new weapon, with her Particle Accelerator Cannons removed in favour of a single forward tube. This new weapons system gave the Saurus enormous punch, although took considerable time to arm and was rather short ranged. The technology behind the Type G was considered Top Secret, and was successfully hidden even from Romulan Tal Shiar agents for many years.

The Saurus never saw a full scale conflict in this configuration however, as during the early 2260s, the Gorn Royal Navy sought to replace the design with another evolutionary upgrade of their trusted Heavy Cruiser planform. The result was the Euromastyx Class of 2264. The Saurus however still had life left in her, and two different directions were taken. The majority were refit into Scout Cruisers for the Gorn Royal Navy assault fleets.

The remainder were set side for conversion into a theorised "fire support ship". Gorn tacticians had a new and powerful weapons system at their disposal, the Type G Plasma Torpedo, and whilst one conventional use was to simply replace the obsolescent Particle Accelerator Cannon with the new weapon, a more radical approach was to mount as many of these torpedo tubes on a hull as possible, at the expense of Primary Weapons if necessary, to create a ship capable of supporting the fleet from range (although the Type G Plasma Torpedo was relatively short ranged, so, the effect would be more of a withering barrage of fire, either to destroy the enemy outright or weaken them sufficiently for regular forces to mop up the survivors.)

The power consumption of multiple torpedo tubes was an immediate problem, besides the tactical issues of how best to use such a warship if constructed. Whether this type of warship would need to be well-shielded and armoured given her proximity to the enemy and likelihood to draw fire, and the subsequent power draw such shielding systems would require created further problems, and the design process dragged on for many years, with the Saurus Class hulls selected for the project mothballed as the requirements changed and the bickering continued.

By 2268, three Type G Plasma Torpedo Tubes had been settled on as the ideal, providing maximum firepower without requiring unrealistically high power reserves. Primary Weapons were reduced to a pair of Gorn Type Phaser Emitters mainly for self defence purposes. By this stage, a new purpose had been added to her list of roles; planetary bombardment. Previously believed to be not particularly suitable for the task due to their short range, Federation reports from the Neutral Zone Incident of 2266 showed that even against solid iron planetoids, plasma torpedoes were devastating. The Reptillon finally entered service in 2270.

In 2291, with close cooperation from Starfleet, the Reptillon was given an extensive refit, being fit with Plasma-Detecting Probes and a Gorn variation of Proximity Burst Photon Torpedoes that proved remarkably similar to Romulan Parallax Torpedoes entering service at the same time (both being plasma-based weapons inside Photon Torpedo casings). To solve an issue with limited hull space (without compromising armour protection), Gorn engineers utilised an ingenious Y-Shaped launching tube. This meant that a single external tube was connected to two internal magazines and firing systems, allowing rapid firing of torpedoes from a single external port. It also had the effect of reducing the frontal profile of the Reptillon compared to a conventional double torpedo bay. This refit enabled the Reptillon to hunt and destroy cloaked ships, ever useful in the frequent conflicts the Gorn Confederacy found themselves in with the Romulan Star Empire. Little did they know it would find more use against the forces of the Klingon Empire scant months later.

## Operational History

The Reptillon first saw service in the 4th Romulan-Gorn War‏‎ of 2282. The Gorn Royal Navy laid siege to a number of Romulan worlds during the conflict, with the Reptillon aiding the Royal Marines in subduing their garrisons. She struggled in her fire support role against the new Romulan Condor Class Battleship, being simply overwhelmed by the larger warship, but the Romulan Capital Ships were few in number. She once again served against the forces of the Romulan Star Navy during the 5th Romulan-Gorn War in 2284. Again, in the planetary bombardment role she excelled.

By the outbreak of the Organian Conflict a year later, the Reptillon had been supplemented with the new Grendel Class Battleship, allowing her to be fully dedicated to planetary assault fleets. With the arrival of the Interstellar Concordium in 2289 however, she found some renewed service in the fire support role, with all available warships being called into service to try and stem the tide of the ISPF Attack Echellons. Gorn warships were some of the few that could stand against the ISC, being fast enough to engage them, powerful enough to batter them into submission and strong enough to stand against their equally formidable weaponry.

The General War of 2292 was perhaps the finest hour of the Gorn Royal Navy, and the Reptillon was vital in liberating the worlds conquered by the Klingon Empire (although, not without collateral damage, much to the alarm of the Federation) and bringing the war to the worlds of the Klingon people themselves. They also found new service, after their refit in 2291, in hunting down cloaked Klingon and Romulan ships.

## Apocrypha

Although their specialist torpedoes became obsolete by the early 24th Century, and with the signing of the Khitomer Accords, the galaxy was largely at peace, the Reptillon remained in service with the Gorn Royal Navy until 2325 when the Gorn Confederacy joined the United Federation of Planets. Due to their advanced age (their original frames approaching 80 years by that stage) and specialist nature, the Reptillons were withdrawn and scrapped rather than entering local defence fleets.

## Specifications

* **Class:** Torpedo Cruiser
* **Hull Type Designation:** GCT
* **Length:** 381m
* **Crew:** 244
* **Warp Nacelles:** 2

* **Maximum Sublight Speed:** 3975 k/s (39.75 Mk/s)
* **Cruise** **Warp Factor Speed:** wf 6.8
* **Safe** **Maximum Warp Factor Speed:** wf 9.1
* **Hull Rating:** 600 HSF
* **Shield Rating:** 320 FSP

* **Sensor Rating:** 1000 SRU

* **Armament and Equipment:**
	+ Primary
		- 2 × Gorn Type Phaser Emitter
	+ Secondary
		- 3 × Type G Plasma Torpedo Tube
		- 2 × Parallax Torpedo Tube
	+ Heavy
		- None
	+ Advanced
		- None
	+ Equipment
		- Tractor Beam Emitter
		- Plasma-Detecting Probes

## Ships in Service (2292)

GNS Reptillon

GNS Reptiloss

GNS Lizaarhht

GNS Jorlkiss

GNS Tharnok

GNS ThargoidsK

GNS Falrosnik

GNS Dorlinksn

GNS Flarerenskt

GNS Dereneksil

GNS Nargorethesk

GNS Sauricon

GNS Serpenticon

GNS Reptilicon

GNS Predatoricon

GNS Wyvericon

GNS Chamelicon

GNS Tricericon

GNS Wyrmicon

GNS Drakeicon

GNS Selach

GNS Final Strike

GNS Death Wail

GNS Death Stomp

GNS Death Tongue