Quantum-class Corvette

## Quantum-class

The ***Quantum*-class Corvette** is a medium-sized vessel operated by Trident Foundries and many other factions.

## Description

The *Quantum*-class has an organic shape and closely resembles a marine fish in appearance. It's distinguishing features are its main heavy beam bank emplacement in the extreme fore of the ship, inset ten metres into the hull, and its engine layout.

## History

### 2314

The *Quantum*-class began life in February 2314 as a vessel solely made to defeat a stolen *Dreadnought*-class Frigate. Mr Crazy specified that the ship would have heavy weaponry, including a heavy beam bank and lock-on missiles, and shielding able to stand up to the frigate's attacks. Jump Drive was relegated to a secondary concern, as early Trident engineers didn't consider the then-brand new technology very useful. At this time, the *Quantum*-class was categorised as a frigate.

The *Quantum*-class was involved in numerous border skirmishes throughout 2314.

When Hammy attacked the Trident homebase in mid-2314, Mr Crazy fought him off with an SR2 *Quantum*-class frigate. When Hammy tried to attack again, both Mr Crazy and Jake Lancia used SR3 *Quantums* against Hammy, overpowering Hammy's stolen and modified *Quantum* variant.

### 2315

Later variants of the *Quantum*-class began to do away with the main beam bank, and instead used the space to strengthen their plasma cannons or missiles. This trend reached a peak in May 2315, where the main beam bank was rendered useless by extortionate power consumption, and variants made after May had powerful plasma cannons instead.

In June 2315, in the Aetherion Galaxies, a Fast Response *Quantum* was instrumental in preventing the death of FlyingDebris, Lecic and Azereiah by destroying a marauder vessel that was attacking their transports.

A Fast Response *Quantum* was among the vessels destroyed when Zorozeenee of Vaygr Empire destroyed the abandoned Trident station TRS *Prometheus* in the GenXNova Galaxies.

In November in the Vyzion Galaxies, an Assault *Quantum* assisted a Nova Fleet Dynamics *Rockhopper*-class frigate in destroying assets of the hostile faction Iron Dragons.

### 2316

The *Quantum*-class was absorbed into the new, larger Trinova navy after the merger. Since the merger, none have been used in combat scenarios.

### 2317

A *Quantum* Mk.V SR1 experimental vessel entered service with Trident Foundries' expeditionary forces in the LCB Galaxies in early March.

## Usage

The *Quantum*-class (including all variants) has, in addition to its standard role as a light attack ship, been used in the following roles:

* Interceptor
* Heavy Frigate
* Light Frigate
* AI Drone
* Defence Vessel
* Interdictor
* Testbed
* Diplomatic Vessel
* Cargo Ship
* Mobile Party Ship

It has been superseded in its original role as attack frigate by the *Brawler* Light Frigate, and has since been relegated to a corvette role, putting it in the same classification as such ships as the *Hyperion*, *Mercury II*, *Freedom II* and *Cobra*.

## Variants

### Mk.I

* Prototype - The original vessel, solely intended for defense against an old *Dreadnought*-class Frigate.
* SR1 - The production variant for the first month of its conception.
* Privateer Variant - After having an SR1 stolen, a privateer expanded upon it.
* SR2 - This upgrade includes swarmer missiles, stop beams and stronger shielding, designed to fight multiple foes alone.
* SR3 - A long-serving *Quantum* variant, being in service for almost 3 months, and well-liked by its pilots.
* *Mighty Pigeon* sub-type - These vessels were used primarily for trade and diplomacy, yet retained the deadly weapons of the original.
* *Alpha* - A one-off modification of an SR2, adding massive additional superstructures to try and increase the available weapons and power systems. Widely considered a failure within Trident.

### Mk.II

* SR1 - A complete rebuild of all systems resulted in an almost entirely new ship, necessitating a new designation.
* SR2 - Additional tinkering to the shields and warp drive resulted in a faster and better defended version of the Mk II SR1.
* SR2.5 - A development of the SR2, adding a small salvager array on the port side of the ship, in addition to other small changes. Later formed the SR3.
* SR3 Prototype - A prototype that never made it into production. This version had the strongest weapons and shields of the Mk IIs, with over twice the firepower in the beams alone, but it never saw combat
* SR2 Evil - A vessel given to high-ranking pilots of Trident between June and August 2314, the red striping (a change from Trident's traditional blue) showed battlefield dominance and true skill.

### Mk.III

* Fast Response - The fastest variant yet. This *Quantum* has had major tuning of the warp drive to achieve much quicker charge speeds.
* *Rogue* - A variant intended for lone-wolf missions. This version includes high thrust as well as decent new weapons and hardened shields.
* *Hunter* - A further development of the *Rogue*.

### Mk.IV

* Assault - A complete rebuild from the ground up, this version features the strongest systems yet in addition to eight point-defence plasma turrets.
* *Lonestar* - A heavily armoured variant, built for a new age. It restores the famous primary beam bank and has extremely strong shielding for it's size.

### Mk.V

* SR1 - A restored version featuring an all-new beam bank and heavy armour, intended for fleet support and armour stripping.