LAST EDITED ON Oct-04-01 AT 01:21 PM (EDT)

(from "Everett's Guide to Starships, 2400 edition")

After the Corporate Wars, the CFMF divided its Tactical Fleet (the dedicated warships under its command) into a Tactical Fleet and a Strategic Fleet. StratFleet is only deployed in response to threats or as part of an organized campaign, while TacFleet is deployed in task-force units to patrol and secure regions of space designated by the CFMF's contractees.

This separation of duties is, in large part, due to the manufacture of the ships in each fleet. StratFleet is based around the 'Gift Fleet' (ships given to the CFMF as part of the GENOM war surrender) and privately owned ships such as the venerable CFMF Palendrom. As such, it is made up of ships constructed by many firms, such as Kuat Drive Yards, the Corellian Engineering Corporation, the San Francisco Shipyards, and even Utopia Planitia itself. With such a mixture of ships, even retrofitted for CFMF technology, maintenance issues make long-term deployments undesirable.

TacFleet, however, is made up -entirely- of designs built by RebelTech Industries or under contract to their schematics.

What follows is a list of past and present starship designs by RebelTech Industries, and their unique characteristics. Weapons layout varies from ship to ship and is classified in any case, so it is not listed here. Common to all RebelTech ships are the following qualities: they give highest priority to raw speed, they are invariably the most maneuverable ships of their tonnage in any service, and in -theory- they can make planetary landings on any hard surface flat enough to accomodate their size.

PLYMOUTH/PLYMOUTH-1/CONFEDERACY
Designation: Multi-purpose Corvette
Length: 72 meters
Crew: 8 (plus 8 Marines)(plus 16 passengers or MASS Unit personnel)

The original RebelTech warship, the Plymouth class is still under construction as a hyperdrive-capable medium freighter. Lightly armed, the original CFMF Confederacy established the Plymouth's quiet reputation for speed, durability under fire, ease of repair, and all-around utility.

All the old CFMF Plymouth class ships were upgraded to the Plymouth-III class during the 22nd century (see entry).

BROADWAY
Designation: High-speed Assault and Evac Corvette
Length: 70 meters
Crew: 20 (plus 8 Marines)

The Broadway class sacrifices the Plymouth's cargo bay and half its weapons capacity for sheer velocity. CFMF Broadway and its various successors routinely challenged ships such as the infamous Millenium Falcon for the Blue Riband- and won several times- and this trend of speed has continued since the CFMF's conversion from hyperdrive to warp in the 2270s and 2280s. The powerful engines required for such performance require a higher proportion of trained engineers in a Broadway corvette's crew than in any other CFMF ship class.

The Broadway class is the oldest RebelTech warship design still in manufacture; now, as then, all Broadway ships are named after musicals or plays.

ALBATROSS
Designation: Destroyer
Length: 80 meters
Crew compliment: 25 (plus 8 Marines)

With the end of the Zardon Civil War, and with the backing of the Salusian government, the CFMF made several experiments in applying warp propulsion to destroyer-class vessels for use as patrol ships. Although the experiments did end in a test-platform ship which could achieve Warp Two, this came at horrendous energy costs, and the effort was abandoned. The experiment did not come without results, however; the power systems designed for the task allowed a destroyer to use greater amounts of power safely, leading to a faster and more potently armed destroyer.

Production of the Albatross class ended with the CFMF's introduction of the Plymouth-II class, having built five destroyers. All of these ships were destroyed at Wilderness Station.

PLYMOUTH II/CRUSADER
Designation: Fleet Supply Corvette
Length: 72 meters
Crew: 8 (plus 8 Marines)(plus 16 passengers or MASS Unit personnel)

In the wake of the Greub Pretendership, the CFMF embarked on a massive expansion, including the introduction of large ships such as carriers and support vessels for same. The Plymouth class was given a new design, shifting the engines from the rear to the 'bottom' of the ship, so as to free up more cargo space to support the larger ships on deployment.

The redesign proved to be a mistake. The newer ship had much greater vulnerability to engine-disabling shots and had subtly altered handling which most CFMF personnel disliked. Furthermore, the rapid expansion of the CFMF's civilian membership (the Confederate Freespacer Alliance) soon made the Plymouth-II's mission directive wholly obsolete. (In fact, many privately owned ships contracted for fleet supply -outgunned- the Plymouth-II design.)

Delays in finalizing the Plymouth-III's specifications allowed the Plymouth-II to remain in production up to 2090. However, by 2150 all the Plymouth-II ships were upgraded to Plymouth-III.

CAMELOT
Designation: Carrier
Length: 400 meters (prototype: 240 meters)
Crew complement: 400 (plus 100 Marines)
Starfighter capacity: 40 (prototype:24)

CFMF Camelot was the Freespacers' first designated carrier, and the design proved successful enough to enlarge and put into regular production. Based on the Broadway design, Camelot carriers are unbelievably swift and maneuverable... a fact which often annoys pilots attempting to launch fighters in the middle of evasive maneuvers.

In order to counter the broad, vulnerable target the carrier hull presented to attackers, RebelTech licensed shield generator technology from a Corellian ship design firm named Kuat Drive Yards. The shield-tower paradigm was continued on the Dreadnaught and Charlemagne class, the Dreadnaught because of a special experiment (see entry) and the Charlemagne for the same reason as the Camelot- the shield towers made a more attractive target than the bottom hull of the ship.

CFMF Camelot, first of its class, was nearly its last. As the only carrier to survive the Battle of Wilderness Station, it saw service despite severe structural weakening until CFMF Charlemagne came fully on-line, whereupon it was retired and turned into the Freespacer Museum. However, the rebuilding CFMF discovered a need for smaller carriers than the immense Charlemagne or Plymouth-IV classes, and thus Camelot carriers were brought back into production.

VALIANT
Designation: Light Cruiser
Length: 175 meters
Crew: 140 (plus 50 Marines)

The Valiant class was one of three early experiments in "ships of the line," capital ships capable of slugging it out with frigates and cruisers of other navies. It was basically the Albatross design writ large, focusing more on speed than armaments, and although several were constructed over the lifespan of the design, it was not considered a great success.

However, crewmen from Valiant-class ships, and from the CFMF Valiant in particular, claimed before Wilderness that the ships had inherited the luck of the CFMF Valiant's first commander, Lando Calrissian. The fact that Valiant -survived- Wilderness, alone of its class, has given some credence to this superstition, and the loyalty of its crew, past and present, has kept the ship in commission long after RebelTech ceased construction of its class.

EMPEROR
Designation: Cruiser
Length: 250 meters
Crew: 200 (+ 100 Marines)

The Emperor class was, prior to Wilderness, the preferred cruiser class for the CFMF. Built along the same lines as the Plymouth class, but replacing the cargo hold with more powerful engine and weapons systems developed during the Albatross experiments, the class performed startlingly well in combat against ships twice its mass or greater. The fact that fewer Emperors were built than Valiants is due more to their greater expense of construction and maintenance than to their relative utility.

All four Emperors were destroyed at Wilderness, and analysis of their battle record, plus new technology developed in the decade before the Corporate Wars, led to the O'Keefe class light cruiser and the Johnston class heavy cruiser.

DREADNOUGHT (CFMF version)
Designation: Combat Assault Cruiser
Length: 275 meters
Crew: 350 (+ 250 Marines)

Every service eventually introduces a "Dreadnought" class; the birth of the CFMF's version forever cast its two test-bed vessels with a legacy of shame. Designed with an experimental shield technology that tripled the shields' effectiveness with a marginal energy increase, the ships were stolen from drydock by agents of the Zardon Imperial Front in 2026. When the ships were recaptured at the end of the Zardon War for Imperial Restoration in 2028, it was done by exploiting a flaw in the system which made it unsuitable for further use. Without the experimental shield system, the Dreadnought class became the CFMF's slowest white elephant, a heavily armed cruiser unable to evade and no more durable than the other classes.

The Dreadnought class did have one other novelty; special equipment was built into the bottom of the hull to allow the ship to grapple, board, and capture enemy ships whose shields had been lowered. This made the RebelTech Dreadnought class the largest combat assault vehicles in known space.

Only one other Dreadnought was ever built, and all three perished at Wilderness.

LIBERATOR
Designation: Guncruiser
Length: 110 meters
Crew: 70 (plus 20 Marines)

The 'guncruiser' class is unique to the CFMF, in the Liberator class and its successor the Plymouth-V class. Although the Liberator class is of corvette size, it has a vastly outsized power system which either propels the vessel through hyperspace or warp at high speeds -or- powers a weapons load equal to a cruiser of three times its mass.

The vital point of the Liberator class is in its forward hull; in battle, the entire forward third of the hull opens into a wing, mounting most of its weaponry within that wing. While the wing is open, the ship cannot engage its FTL drive, but even with all weapons armed the Liberator class is extremely nimble and maneuverable.

The last Liberator-class vessel went out in a blaze of glory, ramming and destroying an Imperial-class star destroyer at the Second Battle of Zeta Cygni.

PLYMOUTH-III/DISCOVERY
Designation: Destroyer
Length: 80
Crew: 35 (+ 8 Marines) (+ 16 MASS unit personnel optional)

The new design of the Plymouth destroyer was introduced in 2100 in honor of the Freespacer Alliance's seating in the first Grand Assembly of the United Galactica. The deployment of CFMF Discovery, CFMF Surak, and CFMF Bumblebee came shortly after the repulse of a Kilrathi incursion into Vega sector; shortly afterwards, the full force of the Sixth Great Kilrathi War became apparent, and the new ship class showed its utility countless times. All Plymouth classes were upgraded to the new class through massive refits, giving them improved speed, sensors, armament and storage capacity. They remain the foundation of the CFMF to this day; every third CFMF warship today is a Plymouth-III destroyer.

PLYMOUTH-IV/TINKER/WILDERNESS
Designation: Battlecruiser
Length: 800 meters
Crew: 1,500 plus 1,000 Marines
Starfighter capacity: 50

CFMF Tinker went on the design boards almost immediately after the end of the Sixth Great Kilrathi War; construction on it did not begin until 2196, and it took nearly 110 years to complete. The sheer expense of the project, and the new developments in technology during its construction, delayed it until it became vital to the survival of the CFMF. In its 80-year career it served as flagship of the CFMF, a symbol of freedom and courage in a dark, chaotic time... but more importantly, it served as a testbed for what the popular media now refers to as the CFMF's 'Wilderness' class.

The Plymouth-IV is a much upscaled version of the Plymouth-III. Two massive phaser emitters dominate the forward hull, with dozens of lesser guns lining its sides, deck and hull. A large hangar bay accommodates six full squadrons of fighters plus auxiliary vessels. Command facilities allow the Tinker to command massive battle fleets with perfect organization- or as perfect as the Freespacers ever allow their organization to get. With the usual speed and maneuverability of all RebelTech vessels, it can turn inside vessels half its mass. During the CFMF's rebuilding, special attention was given to making Plymouth-IVs and Charlemagnes the core of every carrier task force in the fleet.

CHARLEMAGNE
Designation: Heavy Carrier
Length: 950 meters
Crew: 2,000 (plus 1,000 Marines)
Starfighter capacity: 100

The chronicles describe the CFMF Charlemagne as 'a super-deformed Star Destroyer.' This sounds unfair, but considering its equilateral-triangle lines, the shield tower on the aft third of the vessel, and the brilliant white paint used by the CFMF, it is not inaccurate. The Charlemagne has about 2/3 the guns of a Victory-class Star Destroyer, more than twice the fighter capacity and about the same ground-troop capacity, and an immesurably vast advantage in maneuverability and raw speed.

Charlemagne class carriers are the flagships of most carrier task forces, although mixed task forces usually require the superior command facilities of the Plymouth-IV class. As the original Plymouth class, in its role as tender for MASS units, was the CFMF's symbol during the Golden Age, and the Plymouth-IV its symbol during the Exile, so the Charlemagne class has become the image of the CFMF for the years following the Corporate Wars.

PLYMOUTH-V
Designation: Guncruiser
Length: 90 meters
Crew: 50 (plus 8 Marines)

The success of the Liberator class in the otherwise one-sided massacre at Wilderness Station led to a major evaluation of the guncruiser's role in the line of battle. Whereas guncruisers had formerly been deployed as lone patrol ships, the Plymouth-V version would be built specifically for task-force deployments, where fire support from larger ships and starfighters could cover the ships while they made their slashing, hammer-blow attacks on enemy ships.

Plymouth-V ships are basically the same hull as Plymouth-III, with minor changes. Advances in technology have allowed a smaller power plant to deploy the same weapons wing as the older Liberator class, also economizing on crew demands.

Plymouth-V ships are named after storms or storm-related disasters, such as tsunami.

O'KEEFE
Designation: Light cruiser
Length: 160 meters
Crew: 140 (plus 50 Marines)

The O'Keefe light cruiser, named after the highest-ranking Freespacer to die in the Second Battle of Zeta Cygni, follows the lines of the Broadway class. Its high speed tempered by mass and needs for additional guns, it is nevertheless swift and deadly in its own right.

JOHNSTON
Designation: Heavy cruiser
Length: 370 meters
Crew: 390 (plus 200 Marines)

The Johnston class is the personal pet project of James Joseph Condorcet XIX. The successor of the Emperor class, which was named after various Earth monarchs, the Johnston class is named after Southern generals in the North American Civil War of the 19th Century. This tends to embarrass many of its crew members, at least those with a background in Earth history, but the Condorcet clan in general support the class loudly. The ship itself performs quite adequately, comparing favorably with a Constitution class vessel in speed and maneuverability and nearly equal in weapons and durability.

Establishment strength for a Tactical Fleet carrier task force is:

1 Charlemagne carrier
1 Plymouth-IV battlecruiser
1 Johnston heavy cruiser
1 O'Keefe light cruiser
1 Camelot class carrier
2 Plymouth-V guncruisers
2 MASS units (based on Plymouth-III destroyer tenders)
2 Broadway class corvettes
2 Plymouth-III destroyers
1 NSSH unit (based on Plymouth-I freighter, unarmed)

In addition to these ships, various unassigned ships and MASS units are deployed individually or stand by to fill holes in establishment left by vessels sent to drydock. In total, about 2/3 of the CFMF's currently active ships are in the Tactical Fleet.

***

Redneck

Red wizard needs money badly...
www.wlpcomics.com
White Lightning Productions - don't tell the Pope

Red, being in the industry you are, I wont burden you buy quoting the worth of a picture... However, ARE there any sort of baseline images that can help us visualize these ships?

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<

Matrix Dragon