The Rebel Faction

The Longsword is a frigate of about five-hundred meters in length. It is build with fairly light armour for a ship of it's size, but that is counterbalanced by a powerful triple-thruster layout that allows the Longsword to reach incredible speeds, not to mention maneauvering oft-though impossible for a ship of that size. The Longsword is meant to be a mainstay of Coalition fleets, appearing across the galaxy, either on patrol or in open combat.
It is built with a pair of thrusters and cannons sticking out of the main body. The reason for this is simply a matter of space and engineering, but has opened up new tactical opportunities as well (more on that later). Each 'arm' has a single, powerful thruster on the back, and an SHP cannon on the front. SHP stands for Super-Heated Particle Cannon, a weaon found to be extremely deadly in ship-to-ship combat. Using similar principles as the Kris Particle Cannon, only on a much larger sclae, the SHP launches massive balls of matter, sheathed in energy and propelled by magnetic force. Unlike the smaller guns, the SHP has impressive range, as the particles have no need for any force to hold it together.

In test-combats, a single SHP round has proven enough to crush a Corellian Corvette's front half, smash a Star Destroyer's bridge, or terminate a torrent of Tie Fighters. It is believed alliteration improves its' power, aswell. Particle shields are generally weak, allowing the SHP to bulldoze through, and although the energy shields are often enough to resist the sheath of energy around each shell, should they be lacking the additional power often turns the impact zone into a pool of molten metal. In regular combat conditions, it is believed the SHP will be somewhat less effective, as often shots will be deflected, force lost due to impacts along the way, or enemy vessels moving away to reduce impact speed (If they are moving TOWARDS the shell, virtual simulations show devestation).

The tactical option opened up by the seperate manner of the thrusters and cannons are interesting. Firstly, each gun could - in an emergancy - seperate from the main ship. There is enough emergancy power aboard that from the bridge of the main ship the captain could remotely order the guns to fire - excellent to distract enemies with while the ship escapes. Or, if in a real emergancy, the guns can be set to remote self-destruct, discouraging enemies who wish to pursue for fear of passing by a pair of potential bombs.

One more feature of the Longsword are its' boarding torpedoes. Designed in conjunction with the cannons, six boarding torpedo tubes adorn each side. The idea is, that after an enemy vessel's armour is breached by SHPs, and their partical shields knocked down, the Longsword can quickly pull up within meters of the hole, and launch a torpedo full of soldiers into the breach. Each torpedo holds twenty men (so commanders of Longswords are given heavy training to ensure no accidents occur) and are only used when their safety is assured. The Torpedo has a drill on it's nose, to dig through armour or the wreckage thereof, and the drill then opens creating a seal around an enemy room. The troops are quickly disengorged, free to begin operations. The entire process, from launch to deployment, has taken as little as six seconds from the best teams, and the armour and shielding of the Torpedo makes them near-impossible to destroy during the brief trip from one ship to the other.

The Torpedo unit, once aboard, is wearin hazard suits in case their seal is lost, complete with magnetic boots to cling to the side of enemy ships in real emergancies. Some of the best close-range fighters of the Coalition are training for this duty, and once aboard their orders may range from the surgical disabling and capture of an enemy craft to committing as much chaos as they can before escaping - either back into their torpedo or an enemy escape pod. Or even a shuttle or fighter, if they're lucky.

Once out, the powerful tractor-beams of the Longsword - wether the same Longsword or not - are often enough to yank them into the safety of the landing bay, which is situated on the front of the ship. The torpedoes are equiped with a prototype "Tractor-beam-breaker" that allows it to single out certain beams on them and nullify them, in an effort to prevent tug-of-wars between enemy ships. It is a high-risk operation, relying greatly on the skill and initiative of the individual, a field in which the Coalition has great potential.

Of course, not all is fun-and-games on a Longsword. Due to the size of the Tractor-beam projectors , there is comparatively little space on the hull of the ship for weapons. All such space is dedicated to anti-fighter laser and Ion weapons, with a handful of the particle cannons found on turrets situated around the bridge (there is an Auxillery bridge further down). Also, the size of the thrusters and related technology takes up so much space that armour is sparse. The best that could be managed was a double-layer of light armour, like the Kris fighters. There are a few exceptions, as regions of the ship bear heavy armour, such as the nose (to protect the boarding torpedoes) and the arms holding onto each cannon.

The Longsword will take a little time to really fill up the Coalition's fleet, but there is a definite effort. A ship of such strengths and reliability, along with unconventional combat styles, will make it a valuable addition to the Coalition fleet.