Daedalus-class battlecruiser

## *Daedalus* class

The ***Daedalus*-class Super Star Battlecruisers** are not only the most advanced line battlecruisers in the Directorate arsenal, but also the largest and most heavily armed. Outstripping most equivalent-size warships in all characteristics but held back by a pricetag that even the Zenian conglomerate might balk at, they are both rare and highly valuable: only the most favored executives and security admirals can obtain one of the Directorate's prized flagships.

As with many Directorate warships, the *Daedalus* type was outfitted with not only their more 'standard' weapons but also a plethora of experimental systems. Some of these, such as the Scylla torpedoes on the *Damocles*, were potent enough to be a threat against even large astral bodies—others were minor nuisances, or more dangerous to the ship itself than to the enemy. Such is and was the nature of untested equipment, making these ships somewhat unreliable.

## Design

### Dimensions & Role

At 1,600 metres in length and shaped like a delta, the *Daedalus* class were not only the largest factory-produced (if limited) battlecruisers used by the Directorate, but also much larger line ships than their equivalents in the Terran Alliance, which restricted the use of "battlecruiser" specifically to those ships within a certain size range as opposed to role. Smooth curves and their elegant white-and-black stock color schemes made sure that not only these ships would be instantly recognizable, but also desired for their appearance—an important consideration for the stratified Zenian society.

Generally, the role of these ships was nothing more than ceremonial, but they could also be found in their designed capacity leading security fleets either in the service of a stellar government or subjugating new worlds for Directorate experiments.

### Artillery Systems

Though each *Daedalus* typically mounted powerful and experimental weapons of all types and descriptions, as the name implies, those weapons were *experimental*: shock trials and extensive testing to procure data and refine the prototypes was constantly done to ensure acceptability. Due to their status as such, they could not be relied upon as the primary artillery thanks to their propensity to either act unexpectedly or fail to work at all.

The primary armament of a factory-standard *Daedalus* came in the form of a large number of (typically twelve) triple-gun turrets for super-heavy pulse cannons, located towards the stern and divided equally to the four primary sectors. In this manner, no matter the direction of an attack, at least a quarter of the ship's firepower would be able to respond. This artillery was complemented by a number of heavier maser batteries, known colloquially as turbomasers, as well as ion cannon emplacements and multiple plasma railguns. Complete coverage for all arcs was therefore provided over the entirety of the vessel's length.

The secondary battery of these ships, intended mostly for use at medium and close ranges against lighter targets, consisted mainly of so-called "repeaters": rapid-firing cannons using solid armour-piercing slugs haloed in plasma. Closer ranges allowed their hefty batteries of light masers and plasma autocannons to come into play, though these were mainly restricted to point defense against starfighters and guided ordnance. These gun systems were also backed by hundreds of vertical launch cells and turreted launchers for both long- and short-range missiles, of varying types ranging from antimatter/matter warheads to biological and chemical warfare.