Battlecruiser

**Battlecruiser**, **battle-cruiser**, **battle cruiser** or properly **line-of-battle cruiser** was a formal designation for the general class of capital starships that fell below Star Dreadnoughts in terms of firepower, and were capable of independent operations away from the fleet—in contrast to their counterparts, battleships. Informally, the term was also used for the largest and most powerful ships that most stellar governments produced on a large scale. The name also applied to those vessels called "large cruisers" or "cruiser killers" in some governments, though terminology could vary immensely, and some "battlecruisers" possess considerable size, firepower, and protection advantages over their battleship and even dreadnought counterparts.

## History

The history of the 'battlecruiser' goes back much further than the primitive high-speed, lightly-armoured capital ships of 20th-century Earth. Informally, the term has always been used for *any* capital ship of sufficient size and independent action capabilities, going back to the ancient Ketari Ascendancy's *Shintani*-class battlecruisers during the Expanse War. Different customs and naming conventions varied the precise roles such ships played: some could be seen as frigate analogs on a galactic scale, while others were comparable to—and surpassed—Star Dreadnoughts in all respects. Still most were fully comparable to their battleships, at least in the size and firepower departments: the *Reisenji*-class battlecruisers, of recent design, were no weaker than their *Miyagi*-class counterparts.

Under the Terran Alliance's recently-reformulated Admiralty Class System, a "battlecruiser" was defined as being between 1,000 and 1,600 metres in length, i.e. between heavy cruisers and battleships in size, speed, and firepower: the *Luna*-class battlecruisers and their *Mercury*-class progenitors fall under this category nicely, but as the system was designed for Terran use, it never took hold despite the Galactic Council's adoption of it as an official rating system. Instead, most Milky Way states continue to use the Lucaelian Ascendancy's War College System. This system defined a battlecruiser as any warship below a Star Dreadnought in terms of size—i.e. less than 3,000 metres in length, according to their own system—designed specifically for long-range, independent actions with minimal or no support.

## Known Battlecruiser Designs

### *Aretheila*-class battlecruiser

A modern Na'alu Collective design built to lead small strike forces and preemptive strikes. At 1.4 km in length, it matches both Lucaelian and Terran definitions of the type, and is well-armed with advanced weaponry and powerful torpedoes.

### *Eternal*-class battlecruiser

The latest model of Razorbird battlecruiser, breaking the Imperial trend towards stagnancy by incorporating new and powerful subsystems plus a much stronger hull. Few in number thanks to lagging construction times, each one is nonetheless significantly more powerful than most of their same-type counterparts within a large margin.

### *Luna*-class battlecruiser

The Terran Alliance's newest main-line battlecruiser, a 1,150-metre-long tube of sheet metal wrapped around a spinally-mounted superlaser.

### *Mediator*-class Main Star Battlecruiser

A Vespiran battlecruiser type, of new design. While it is considerably smaller than its older *Valorous*-class counterpart, it has commensurate firepower, and a very high capacity for long-endurance patrols thanks to its smaller crew and more efficient storage spaces.

### *Mercury*-class battlecruiser

An older but still active Alliance warship. While largely relegated to second-line defense duties thanks to increased *Luna* production, and outclassed by many modern battlecruisers in most respects, the type is still extremely effective against smaller vessels and as a screening ship for larger fleets.

### *Miranda*-class Heavy Star Battlecruiser

The ***Miranda*-class Heavy Star Battlecruisers** are a series of limited but exceedingly powerful Alliance capital ships. Advanced, expensive, durable and powerful, they are the ultimate expression of balance between the latest Terran and Veydreth engineering. With a basic hullform planned on the frame of the older but still fearsome *Hesperia* class, coupled with advancements gleaned from both the largest Veydreth Battle Dragons as well as the latest joint-designed battlecruisers, the *Miranda* class breaks the Alliance's own design trends and classifications with her size and firepower, as well as her varied artillery.

### *Nova*-class Main Battlecruiser

The primary heavy artillery ship associated with the Murrcioun Syndicates and their battle shoals, a highly advanced and modern hybrid cruiser/carrier with significant combat capabilities, at the cost of endurance.

### *Orpheus*-class Star Battlecruiser

A specialized class designed for export by the Directorate. Also known as interdictors, they are capable of locking down faster-than-light travel and subjugating entire star systems on their own: their weaker characteristics compared to other battlecruisers was compensated for by the fact that they would rarely face them.

### *Prometheus*-class Heavy Star Battlecruiser

An advanced version of the *Luna* class with extreme firepower and acceleration qualities. While somewhat under-protected for an Alliance warship and specialized towards heavy anti-ship combat, it remains one of the few Alliance capital vessels capable of operating with Veydreth task forces and taking on Razorbird capital ships in slugging matches. An extraordinary price tag makes these vessels rare, isolating their presence to within core fleet units.

### *Pulsar*-class Battle Dragon

The Veydreth Auxiliary Forces's primary capital ship. It is designed for aggressive ship-to-ship combat: a demon of speed and firepower, sacrificing all staying power and endurance in favor of overwhelming warfighting potential. Like all Veydreth ships, it also sports a powerful starfighter wing and is somewhat larger than the galactic standard for same-type vessels.

### *Rhea*-class Light Star Battlecruiser

A hybrid Alliance gunship/carrier designed for multirole operations and support roles. With significant carrier capabilities and firepower exceeding its smaller counterpart, the *Mercury*, it is an effective—if expensive—warship.

### *Venus*-class battlecarrier

An Alliance hybrid cruiser/carrier of relatively recent design. Rendered popular as a result of the Razorbird Crusade, it is still favored today by Alliance officers on long patrols thanks to its habitability and endurance qualities without sacrificing combat performance.

## See Also

 Starfighters | **Starfighters** are the smallest type of starship known. Though—*most*—Milky Way starfighters are not capable of traversing interstellar space, necessitating transport by mothership, their small size, high manoeuvrability, and accurate (if weak) armament allows them precision target selection and high survivability. Though the nature of stellar warfare makes the life of a starfighter pilot a low-expectancy one, their ability to "mission kill" a target—crippling it and removing it from the fight—makes them invaluable on the field.