T.N.F. Strike Carrier Class 'Tyrant' Mk.I

”A massive Tyrant-class strike carrier, the Pillager dwarfed her surroundings. The outer plating sloped gently outward to a thin edge, giving the ship a shape like two double-edged blades connected by a single hilt. Automated turrets lined the upper and lower parts of the hull, and massive ion engines and rocket nozzles were gathered in her aft section. She had room for an entire platoon of strikers, their dropships, and escort fighters. Strike carriers could therefore jump to a planet and launch a fully armed and supported Strike Infantry platoon, ready to punch through the atmosphere and raid or seize unsuspecting targets.”
-From The Fleet Beyond Neptune

Following the introduction and later widespread use of the Ghost dropship, its much larger and less armed counterpart Rhino was no longer used in active combat. The Fleet’s main strike carrier, the Tigershark, was constructed to carry only one Rhino due to its size, but the Fleet now wanted to make use of the Ghost’s smaller size by carrying more of them and the accompanying Strike Infantry teams. The Tyrant is therefore everything the Tigershark is, and more. Capable of carrying and launching up to four Ghost-sized dropships, two fighters the size of Broadwing Mk.II Light Assault Fighters, and two drones of standard Fleet dimensions, it is very well suited for prolonged independent operations.

The combined firepower of these combat ships is a boost to its automated turrets, but its main weapon is the ability to deploy Strike Infantry assault teams against targets on a planet surface, or in space. It has robust hovering thrusters for operations in atmosphere, and is capable of atmospheric entry and launch by using its hydrogen thrusters. This gives the Tyrant operational flexibility, and can either chose to enter and deploy its smallcraft in a planet's atmosphere, or deploy in orbit and enter the atmosphere later to recover them.



Atmospheric entry:
● When entering a planet’s gravity pull from space, level the Tyrant with the planet’s gravity, turn on all thrusters, shut down its inertia dampeners, and let it free fall to the surface.
● When below 4000 m, engage the inertia dampeners and the ship will eventually slow down, and stop completely at around 150-300 m, depending on the planet’s size and gravity.

Atmospheric launch:
● Turn on hydrogen thrusters, level the ship with the planet’s gravity, and engage full upward thrust.
● The Tyrant will enter a transition phase in the planet’s upper atmosphere, where it will temporarily lose speed. Keep the thrusters at full burn, and the ship will begin to accelerate again when nearing 60 m/s, depending on the planet’s size and gravity.
● At this point the ion thrusters deliver enough thrust, and the ship can continue to manoeuvre in orbit, or continue into space. The ship will have used approx. 25% of its stored hydrogen supply during this launch.

General characteristics:
● Crew: 12x Bridge Officers, 6x Pilots and 18x Strike Infantrymen. 36 crewmembers total.
● Length: 157,5 m
● Width: 77,5 m
● Height: 50 m
● Mass (empty): 6,8 kilotons
● Mass (standard equipped): 7,4 kilotons
● Block count: 9 156 blocks
● Block count (with smallcraft): 11 315 blocks

Armaments:
● 6x Assault Cannon Turrets
● 4x Gatling Turrets
● 2x Artillery Turrets

Features:
● Has three hangar types, supporting smallcraft of various sizes.
● Carries Ghost Mk.III (M) Dropships and Ghost Mk.IV (C) Dropships, and Broadwing Mk.III Light Assault Fighters.
● It also carries a Ceres Mk.IV Mining Drone and a Welan Mk.II Utility Drone for resource gathering and repairs in space.
● Robust hovering thrusters for operations in atmosphere.
● Capable of atmospheric entry and launch by using its hydrogen thrusters.
● Several oxygen generators for quick refilling of the hydrogen tanks.
● Six Jump Drive with a maximum range of 2006 km.
● Several bridge stations with displays showing the ship’s status.
● An internal projector to aid in repairing the ship.
● Has combat repair welders attached to its turrets, increasing the damage they can take.
● Solar panels, oxygen farms and various production equipment for prolonged independent operations.
● Airlocks compatible with all T.N.F. ships and stations.
● No rotors nor pistons.
● Contains fuel, ammunition and components – tested in survival.


Known issues:
● None at the moment.

Acknowledgements:
▪ The radar panel uses Whip’s Turret Based Radar script by Whiplash141.
▪ The information screens use MMaster's LCD 2 script.
▪ The screen showing the ship's heading is using Whip's Artificial Horizon Redux script by Whiplash141.
▪ Diagnostics screen is using the SIMPL|Ship Integrity Monitoring Program Lite script by Whiplash141.
▪ The doors and airlocks are operated by Whip's Auto Door and Airlock Script by Whiplash 141.


For those who like the setting and lore surrounding the Fleet: consider reading The Fleet Beyond Neptune, my book about the conflict between the Fleet and the Alliance.