Aurora-class Battleship

Remembrancer depiction of an Aurora from the pre-Imperium era

### Standard armament

Combi-cannon turrets, Light Macrocannons, Torpedoes, Missile Launchers, Weapons Batteries

### Optional armament

(to be added)

The ***Aurora*-class Battleship** was developed by the world of Kaliv during the pre-Imperium era for use in its wars against the various nations of the Glacrion system. Soon, it became the most widely-produced high-tonnage vessel in the Kaliv Imperial Navy, with the Lucindae Shipyards turning out at least 10 every year, with the highest number recorded to have been produced was eighteen in the year 839.M30. The *Aurora* was the pinnacle of battleship design in the Glacrion Wars, which had lasted for centuries before the arrival of the Imperium. In the modern era, the venerable *Aurora*-class still stands proud, serving in the Glacrion System Defense Force as the backbone of its battleline, and has defended the worlds of the system for the last twelve millennia.

## History

The brainchild of Huneric Drandi, the *Aurora*-class Battleship was built at the Lucindae Shipyards in orbit above the planet of Kaliv's one natural satellite, Tavis. Initially, it took around five years to construct, but by the height of its production, the *Aurora*-class could be built in just over a year and a half. Over the years of its service before the Imperium suddenly burst into the Glacrion system, the *Aurora*-class received several upgrades to keep the class relevant; most notably, upgrades to its weapon systems and the addition of Void Shields, along with improvements to its power plant to allow it to keep up with the power drain from the additional equipment.

Introduced into service in 786.M30, the first ship of the class laid down, the *Aurora*, saw its first combat engagement at the Battle of Icarro three months after completing void trials. During that battle, she took three torpedo hits full-on as well as a full broadside from a battleship in the service of the Sigides Royal Navy that put her out of action for five months while she was repaired in dry dock. Despite the damage sustained, however, the INKS *Aurora* acquitted herself admirably, destroying a battleship, three cruisers, and a destroyer, as well as crippling another two cruisers. The surprising results were more than enough to convince the Admiralty to issue a contract to the Lucindae Shipyards for 20 battleships to be delivered over the course of the next five to ten years. Putting all its effort into completing the contract, the Lucindae Shipyards completed the order in six years, well within the expected time frame, as workers were oftentimes put on double and even triple shifts.

The action that firmly cemented the place of the *Aurora* within the Imperial Navy of Kaliv was the Battle of Sagriter, where a fleet with four ships of the class as the core along with two other battleships, nine cruisers, four frigates, and ten destroyers absolutely savaged a fleet one and a half times its tonnage with minimal losses.

### Age of the Imperium

The arrival of 497th Expeditionary Fleet in ca. 935.M30 brought about a rapid end to both the Glacrion Wars and the system's isolation from the wider galaxy. By this time, the *Aurora* had seen well more than a century-and-a-half of service and was still the favorite flagship of choice for admirals in the Imperial Navy of Kaliv, so when the system was reorganized under Imperial rule, every effort was made by the former Admiralty of Kaliv to keep the class in service as it was both a potent military asset and a powerful symbol of superiority.

However, Imperial authorities in the sector decreed that any new ships constructed for the newly-created Glacrion System Defense Force would have to be built in the standard Imperial design doctrine; namely Gothic architecture, an armored prow, etc. The new version had all the hallmarks of current Imperial design doctrine, yet also had all the capabilities of the original class. Officially, it is considered the Block 9 version of the class, but some scholars state that since it was changed so much, the Imperial version should be classified as an entirely new class. Also, the vast majority of the ships in the system were sent either to be reserves for the SDF or to the scrapyard as thousands of warships were not required for the defense of the system. In some cases, forces from outside the system purchased left-over ships for their own uses.

By the middle of M34, the government of the sector that Glacrion resided in - the Enkarth Sector - had come to the conclusion that Battlefleet Enkarth required a more competent corps of officers after a long series of defeats that culminated in the disastrous loss of Battlegroup Phoenix Rising to Archenemy forces in 258.M34 at the Battle of Delta Okikkes. To that end, it was determined that a naval academy would be needed to train officers and give them practical experience before being given posts on Navy vessels, and due to its strong naval tradition, Glacrion was selected as the location for the new academy.

## Design

### Weapons

Each *Aurora*-class Battleship is armed with eight triple-barrel Combi-cannon turrets (four dorsal and four ventral), two torpedo tubes in the prow, two broadside batteries of five light Macrocannons.

### Void Shields

Up until the year 851.M30, the *Aurora*-class Battleship didn't include any shielding, but in the Block 5a variant of the class, Void Shields were added into the design. This is because the technology to construct Void Shields had only just been rediscovered by Kaliv after reverse-engineering the wreckage of a fleet from the nation of Enolla, whose ships possessed shielding but were notoriously weak-hulled and could be destroyed with a single decently well-placed shot if the shields were pierced.

Considered to be inferior to the Void Shields used by the Imperial Navy, the shields of the class nonetheless provide it with an additional layer of protection against enemy fire.

## Notable Vessels

* ***INKS Aurora*** - The first ship in her class, the *Aurora* first saw combat at the Battle of Icarro three months after completing void trials. During that battle, she took three torpedo hits full-on as well as a full broadside from a battleship in the service of the Sigides Royal Navy that put her out of action for five months while she was repaired in dry dock. Despite the damage sustained, however, the INKS *Aurora* acquitted herself admirably, destroying a battleship, three cruisers, and a destroyer, as well as crippling another two cruisers. After she was repaired and refitted, the *Aurora* became the flagship of the newly-created 11th Fleet, which would quickly gain renown and be dubbed the "Vanguard Vipers" after the Ambush of Rebus Nyx where the 11th smashed a fleet from the Sigides Royal Navy as it was marshaling at the void arcology of Rebus Nyx, a supply base that was the property of the Federation of Sagriter, which was an ally of Sigides at the time. Around ten years after her first action, the *Aurora* was lost with all hands when she was struck by a swarm of torpedoes and missiles that detonated her magazine and reactor core during the Battle of Thanatos Omega, though not before she reaped a bloody toll on the enemy. The loss of such an iconic ship was mourned by the entirety of Kaliv, as was its captain, who by that time had become a legendary figure and the ultimate hero in Kaliv's pantheon of heroes.

* ***INKS Baron Kroal*** -

* ***Aurora Aeterna*** - The first ship of the *Aurora*-class to be built in the post-Imperium era and in the standard Imperial design doctrine, the *Aurora Aeterna* became the flagship of the 1st Grand Fleet after completing void trials in 145.M31. Named after the *INKS Aurora*, the ship was meant to be an enduring symbol like its namesake