Gladius-class

## Gladius-class Destroyer

The ***Gladius*-class** is a modern class of light destroyer manufactured by the Sirius Shipyards corporation for the Trident Foundries military.

## Description

A fairly long and voluminous ship, the *Gladius*-class was designed from the outset as a pure military vessel, packing huge forward firepower into a shell barely bigger than a heavy frigate.

### Exterior

The exterior is made up primarily of interlocking white armour panels, arranged at various angles to maximise protection on important sections of the ship. Trident stripes are prominently displayed on these panels. Following the action of 14 December 2433, it was determined that this armour was insufficient, after the sinking of two and the severe damage sustained to three of the five *Gladius*-class destroyers engaged during that action.

The Mk VI Block I, first constructed in late November 2434, was the first variant to radically change parts of the exterior hull; the entire vessel was widened by 3 metres, lengthened by several metres due to the replacement of the engine array with a larger single engine, and had additional turrets arranged in 45-degree mountings on the sides of the hull.

### Interior

*Gladius* is lacking many amenities found aboard lesser vessels, such as mess halls and recreation rooms. Life aboard a *Gladius* was difficult, particularly in wartime, due to the spartan nature of its living conditions and relative unsuitability for combat against the bigger cruisers and ships of the line she was expected to face.

### Systems

Quad capital-grade plasma cannons cap the front end of the ship, with twin high-yield fusion missile launchers below and behind these. Mk IV, V and VI models switched to long-ranged plasma beam weapons instead. It was assumed the *Gladius*' main strength lied in the coverage of its turret batteries. In practice, however, many of these turrets failed to operate, insignificantly damaging the cruisers *Kadsura* and *Arrakis Infinite* during the action of 14 December 2433. The missiles of the *Quieros Shield* and her sister ships proved to be much more lethal, and were given additional focus on the Mk IV and VI.

Most *Gladius*-class ships do not carry a cargo bay. However there are exceptions, like the TRV *Quieros Shield*, with an external cargo pad retrofit to the midsection.

## History

During acceptance trials in July 2432, the class was changed from frigate to light destroyer to recognise the large amount of changes made from the initial concept.

### 2433

In early October, a vessel of the class was constructed in orbit over the gas giant Quieros V. Many issues were quickly identified with it, the most obvious being that the turret armament data was misconfigured, leaving one side turret intact while the other suffered irrepairable corruption. A refit effort was swiftly undertaken to correct the armament data corruption issue.

In late October, the Mk II *Gladius* began production, solving the turret data corruption issue of the Mk I predecessor.

#### Action of 16 November 2433

On 16 November 2433, the Mk II Block-I vessel *Quieros Shield* engaged and sank the sloop *N'Gow Nimoy* in the outer reaches of the Quieros system*,* killing its commander.

Shortly afterward, the Mk III *Gladius* began production, equipped with superior heavy plasma turrets and more advanced point-defence weaponry.

#### Action of 14 December 2433

On 14 December 2433, a flotilla of destroyers consisting of the Mk II Block-I *Quieros Shield, Kopis, Pilum, Spatha* and the Mk III Block-II *Lucenia* engaged the light cruiser *Arrakis Infinite* around Quieros Station. *Pilum* is credited as sinking *Arrakis Infinite*. During the engagement, the flotilla was ambushed by a *Kadsura*-class cruiser, which opened up upon the flotilla with beam fire. In short order, both *Kopis* and *Pilum* were sunk. *Spatha* was heavily damaged during her withdrawal, and *Quieros Shield* sustained moderate damage. Upon their return, *Spatha* and *Quieros Shield* were scrapped, the damage deemed too severe to feasibly repair; and the wreckage of *Pilum* was recovered by friendly forces shortly afterwards, the reactor having failed to overload.

Many issues were identified in this operation; the biggest being that the ship's shield array was woefully underpowered for the ship's size, leaving it vulnerable in a prolonged engagement. After the operation had concluded, *Lucenia* was dispatched to assault nearby pirate elements, returning with minor damage. Following this, it was decided that *Lucenia* would receive repairs to the exterior of the ship, and was subsequently decommissioned and preserved as a museum ship, as a form of memorial to the brave souls who died on December 14th. One further vessel was constructed of the Mk III Block-II subtype, the TRV *Falcata*, and a Mk IV refit was scheduled for early 2434 to give the class vastly better chances of survival in combat.

### Military buildup in Fnazhpuvo

In mid-2434, TRS *Fnazhpuvo* was alerted of potential Odium fleet movements and were sent reinforcements in the form of several Mk IV Block I *Gladius*-class ships; the *Langseax*, *Mainz*, *Hispania* and *Marius*. The *Hispania* was subsequently modified and used as the basis for the Mk IV Block II, and *Langseax* was turned into the abortive prototype of the Mk V series and scrapped when that was quickly deemed a failure; the system changes were too extreme to simply revert.

Trident Command in the Fnazhpuvo system subsequently decided to have Mk IV Block-II *Gladius*-class vessels mass-produced in anticipation of conflict, as the Mk V project had failed and the Mk VI still being some time away from completion.

In late 2434, the long-awaited Mk VI blueprints began to be distributed across the Trident network.

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## Notable vessels

* TRV *Quieros Shield* (CV-6001) [Mk II Block-I]
* TRV *Spatha* (CV-6002) [Mk II Block-1]
* TRV *Kopis* (CV-6004) [Mk II Block-I]
* TRV *Pilum* (CV-6008) [Mk II Block-I]
* TRV *Lucenia* (CV-6009) [Mk III Block-II]
* TRV *Langseax* (CV-7008) [Mk IV Block-I]
* TRV *Mainz* (CV-7009) [Mk IV Block-I]
* TRV *Hispania* (CV-7010) [Mk IV Block-II]
* TRV *Marius* (CV-7011) [Mk IV Block-I]