The Rebel Faction

Seraph Mk II-class Medium Cruiser

Note: The Seraph’s statistics were based on upscaling a Strike Cruiser, which is of similar shape, from 450 Meters to 600 meters. The Proportions used here are linear, though in actuality they would be exponential and thus larger because of volume being exponential. I have included the calculations here to verify it’s feasibility.

Seraph-class Medium Cruiser

Name/Type: Seraph Mk II-class Medium Cruiser
Designer/Manufacturer: Kashan Defence Industries
Designation: Medium Cruiser
Crew: 1,201 + 97 Gunners
Length: 600 meters
Speed: 16 MGLT, 800 Kph
Hyperdrive: x0.6
Shield Rating: 3125 SBD + 3125 SBD Back-up
Hull Rating: 1870 RU
Weapons: 20 KDI IX-7 Improved Turbolaser Batteries (2 Turbolasers per battery), 20 KDI IV-8 Medium Quad Ion Cannons, 8 KDI Starflare-class Missile Tubes, 10 KDI H7 Tractor Beam Projectors.
Fighter Complement: 3 S9 Deathsaber Squadrons (36 Starfighters).
Troops: 1200 Kashan Army Troopers, 16 Sentinel-class Tanks (or other equivalent).
Support Craft: 4 Y-4 Raptor-class Transports or 4 Meteor-class Transports.
Other: Integrated Kashan Battle Computer.

Description: Technology is developed to fit people’s needs and wants. The Seraph-class is no exception to that rule. It was designed seven years after the end of the Clone Wars as a point defence ship capable of enduring torrents of enemy fire as it fended off fledgling Colony from enemy attacks. The result is a heavily armed and armoured ship that is slower than typical for a ship its size. Additionally, it has been built with redundant back-up systems including shield generators and an auxiliary bridge. The Seraph-class is the pinnacle of Kashan technology thus far, and has become of symbol of Kashan. Thus, it was not hard for the navy to procure the resources and manpower necessary to build more of these cruisers. However, because most vessels require massive crews to man them and the Kashan population was relatively small, the cruisers utilize state-of-the-art automation to offset the population problem. Recently, all existing Seraph Mk I cruisers were retrofitted into Mk IIs as the planet prepares for war.

R&D Explanations:

Automation: Automation was a key necessity when the Seraph was designed because Kashan had only a comparatively small population with which to man its navy. Hence, every crewman was vital. Also, it freed up space to be used for other systems and cargo/passenger space. As such, most systems of the ship have been automated as much as possible without reducing efficiency. Although most of this automation technology was designed by the former CIS Separatist members, the Seraph’s automation has been improved upon since the days of the Clone Wars.

The droid brains that make up most of the automation system have been programmed with data collected from actual crewmembers in the actual jobs that they do, making the ships as effective as if they were run by actual crewmembers. There are several “automation personalities” available for each system of the ship, making them unpredictable to the enemy. For further improved performance and unpredictability, the droid brains have been allowed to learn. The droid brains can be overridden by a command code from the officer in charge of the system that it automates. Thus, the weapon’s officer can override the weapons automation, etc.

In order to protect the droid brains, they are armored with ultrachrome and Dallorian alloys and are positioned towards the centre of the hull to prevent damage from glancing hits on the vessel. Access to the droid brains themselves is severely restricted and is heavily protected by the ship’s security system, which is discussed below.

While automation certainly has its advantages for the Kashan Fleet, it does have on drawback. Moving and living creatures can help with damage control. Stationary Droid brains aren’t quite as effective to say the least. Thus, the efficiency of the damage control is below average for a ship it’s size.

Hull Construction: Kashan’s dominant industry is mining along with metallurgy. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Seraph is made of excellent materials. The frame of the Seraph is composed of Ferrocarbon, giving it excellent structural strength, laminated with carbon and Trimantium fibers to increase the frame’s tensile strength. However, the pride of the Seraph is it’s Ultrachrome armor plating, which covers the entire ship.

Each Ultrachrome plate is made by liquefying the metal with ion fusers and flash-freezing it by the vacuum of space or any number of cooling agents. This process makes the metal abnormally dense than even typical Ultrachrome. (Ultrachrome is an incredibly-dense metal was used in the production of vibroshields and other forms of blades, since it could withstand high temperatures and maintain a razor-sharp edge despite hard usage. When connected to a power supply, ultrachrome became a form of superconductor, absorbing energy and shunting it aside… (CUSWE)). The Ultrachrome is connected to the ship’s power supply, allowing it to absorb energy weapon attacks and transfer that power to reserve power cells of the vessel’s Power System. In the advent of excess energy, the power grid system will automatically vent the excess energy into space as heat until more power storage becomes available. It should be noted that all weapons and other systems that bulge out from the main hull are equally protected as the main hull itself with Ultrachrome plating.

1520 * 600 / 450 => 2026.666 =>1870 RU

Shields: The Seraph carries fairly typical shield systems for any modern warship. The main innovation of the Seraph is that both the main and back-up shield generator systems are identical. This leads to easier maintenance and improved battle capabilities. All shield generators are located below the Ultrachrome armor plating. Thus, the shields themselves are situation just on top of the hull plating. It should be noted that the domes on the bridge tower are not the shield generators, but rather auxilary sensor domes.

2560 * 600 / 450 => 3413.333 => 3125 SBD

Kashan Hyperdrive: The Hyperdrive found on the Seraph is derived from that of the Acclamator-class Military Transport. While the design team did not have an actual Acclamator hyperdrive available to them, they did have several engineers and mechanics who worked on them during the Clone Wars. To the best of their abilities, it was reconstructed. Nonetheless, it still was slower than that of the Acclamators. In the end, the hyperdrive’s rating was raised to Acclamator levels by brute force engineering. It was modified to accept more power. In order to prevent the engine from overheating and melting, it was made with Dallorian Alloy and given an advanced cyro-cooling system.

Weapons: The Seraph’s weapons are all Kashan specific weapons designed particularly for this cruiser. The armament is reasonably well-rounded, except lacking short-range weapons to deal with enemy starfighters and projectiles.

Weapons of Strike Cruiser scaled up to 600 Meters
20 Turbolasers * 600 / 450 => 26.67 Turbolasers (13.33 Turbolaser Batteries)
10 Turbolaser Batteries * 600 / 450 => 13.333 Turbolaser Batteries
10 Ion Cannons * 600 / 450 => 13.333 Ion Cannons
10 Tractor Beam Projectors * 600 / 450 => 13.333 Tractor Beam Projectors

Note: 13.333 TB + 13.333 TB = 26.67 Turbolaser Batteries total for Strike Cruiser

Seraph-class Weapons: The Seraph does not carry as many turbolaser batteries in exchange for more Medium Quad Ion Cannons. It also doesn’t carry as many Tractor Beam Projectors in exchange for the Starflare Missile Octets. I should note that the Strike Cruiser’s Tractor Beam Projectors are the same model used on Imperial-class Star Destroyers.

KDI IX-7 Improved Turbolaser: This weapon was specifically developed for the Seraph-class to provide the cruiser with an exceptional punch. Although slightly larger than the typical turbolaser, the IX-7 has the power and range of a larger weapon. One of the weapon’s innovations has been use of ion sheathing technology. When the bolt is fired, it is encased with an ion sheath as it leaves the barrel. The ion sheath improves the bolt’s cohesion for improved range. Additionally, because the bolt is encased by the ion sheath, it has slightly improved shield piercing ratings against standard ray shielding. For increased damage and ranges, it has been equipped with a particle accelerator at the end of the barrel. The range of the IX-7 is roughly 135% of that of normal turbolasers.

KDI IV-8 Medium Quad Ion Cannon: The Medium Quad Ion Cannon is a medium-grade starship weapon. While it uses the power of a normal ion cannon, the IV-8 has a much improved firing rate at the cost of individual bolt power. As with other KDI weapons, it is fitted with a particle accelerator for improved range and damage ratings. This weapon has the option for flak bursts for use against enemy starfighters and warheads.

KDI Starflare-class Missile Tube: The Starflare-class Missile Tube is the launching unit for the Starflare-class Missile. In order to switch warhead types, the Seraph uses a revolving rack of the warheads. To prevent premature detonation, the warhead changing process takes place behind durasteel blast doors aside from the Ultrachrome Hull plating. Also, each warhead is automatically armed only after it leaves the launching tube.

Carrying Capacity: Kashan Engineers were familiar with the Rendili StarDrive Dreadnaught, and the Seraph’s capacity was originally nearly identical. However, it became obvious that more emphasis would have to placed on carrying space vessels rather than the thousands of infantry placed on the Rendili vessel. The Seraph carries a respectable three squadrons of starfighters, nearly always S9 Deathsabers, although other starfighters can be carried as well. The pride of the Seraph is its ground complement, which can by itself generally overrun small facilities. Much of the room used to house the troops comes from space that would have been occupied by crewmembers if there wasn’t automation.

The latest version of the Seraph depicted here carries the Coalition Sentinel-class Tank instead of the armored freerunners found on the original Mk I. The Mk II was originally designed to use the old Y-4 Raptor Transport (which the current Seraph's still carry), but with Kashan's induction into the Coalition, subsequent ships will be equipped with the more common Meteor-class Transport.

Integrated Kashan Battle Computer: The Integrated Kashan Battle Computer is actually multi-purpose network that is connected to every vessel of the Kashan Fleet, whether it is a patrol starfighter or a Seraph-class Cruiser. The main purpose of the Battle Computer is to intertwine, triangulate, and transmit sensor data collected from each ship.

This allows the ships to instantly gather target acquisition data and triangulate that data. The triangulation process ensures excellent target data, foiling most anti-targetting and sensor-jamming systems.

More importantly, the network can also provide navigational data from each ship along. Each vessel automatically transmits its location to the other vessel and shares navigational data with it as well. This allows the vessels of the Kashan fleet to act as navigation beacons for hyperspace jumps. As such, it is possible for Kashan ships to make instant intra-system micro-jumps to a Kashan vessel with the Battle Computer.

Security: Aside from the typical security monitors, security passes, and checkpoints, the Seraph uses Ultrachrome for the bulkhead lining of the entire ship. When an intruder is detected, it runs electricity through those linings, which then. Thus, the intruder is fried by the electric current, whether it be a living being or a droid. The power settings of the electricity can be adjusted from a shock that will normally knock a living being unconscious to the highest level, which can start circuits on fire.

Command Facilities: The Seraph-class sports two bridges. The observation bridge, which resembles the typical Imperial bridge tower, for normal operations. A battle bridge, located underneath the observation bridge tower, for instances in which using the observational bridge would be dangerous to the ship's command crew.