History (brief summary) There isn’t very much information available on the origin(s) of the Zirax Empire at this time, however Intel reports that the ancient Zirax were in touch with the ‘Elder Talon’, and were given a technological boost from the advanced civilization. The Talon and Zirax were joined together in a technological and cultural Union, called the “Talon-Zirax Assembly”, which persisted for hundreds of years. Design Philosophy The Zirax Empire is the successor of the Talon-Zirax Assembly. The Talon raised the Zirax (which they found making their first steps into space) so the Zirax have used the Talon space ships for a long time, without needing to develop their own designs. In general, and also in opposite to the clean, smoothend and rounded style of the Talon vessels, the Zirax Empire ship designs are primarily a visual statement with subtle, but martial details and threatening looks. Even for something like Transporters and Factory Ships. Grand Fleet Of course Empire Fleets consist of the Zirax very own design - from Corvettes to Battlecruisers. But the Zirax have seized various specialized ships from different civilizations that fell under their reign. They do not actively rebuild them, but spacefarers might run into them occasionally. (f.ex in protectorates or in specific areas of the Zirax territory) They will also usually seize…or how they say: borrow.. specialized ships from companies in their territory (f.ex from Polaris). Design Specialities Not really a "design speciality" the various houses of the Zirax Empire use slightly different approaches on the ship concepts. Some of the more specialized ships are even totally different than the standard designs. The only (but even there only partially) clear split can be observed between the actual 'combat vessels' and the 'support vessels' ( service, support and transport). Especially the latter fleet-support vessels are often a mix of different seized ships and older designs Category Tags heavy armed, ribbed design Main Subfactions & Colors Xenu > Combat ships, hardened; Red/Orange + Grey Rados > Supplies & Logistic; Bright and dark Grey + Cyanblue glow Epsilon > Communication; Green/Grey Ghyst > SpecOps, Recon; Indigo/Black Abyssal > High Technology / Research ; Blue/Purple + White Serdu > Biotech, Religion ; Dark Purple + light Purple + a lot of Black Pharos > Trader, Red/White Notes: The Military part is totally on the Xenu subfaction as the transport/supply is on the Rados The Abyssal seem to own a few science ships that are on totally different design The Epsilon own a specialized Communication and Surveillance shiptype, shared with Ghyst, based on the Abyssal model series Serdu and Pharos do not use own ship designs, but share from the Rados.
Sunat-Class Corvette Formerly known as Chariot-Class Corvette. Faction: Xenu Description: The main bridge is located at the end of the tail, rather than up high, center-mounted or at the front like a terran or polaran ship. Allowing the captain a view of the entire ship and clear visuals for clearance when landing such a wide vessel. In heavy combat, the captain will usually switch to the Combat bridge at the heart of the ship where there's less chance of being killed by a stray rocket from a flanking spacecraft. Though taking the combat bridge for light combat is considered cowardly. The main bridge can be sealed in an emergency; includes cryopods for the entire crew.
Periat-Class Frigate Faction: Xenu Description The Periat-class Missile Frigate is the last of the older model hammerhead-type ships used by the Xenu. Like the Sunat-class, the Periat possesses a heavily armored prow designed for head-on assaults and ramming. With a rear-mounted bridge to both survey the battlefield and to aid in landing the ship's considerable width, while also a lower, more protected combat bridge inside the head of the ship for heavy combat situations where the rear bridge may come under fire by a flanking enemy. The ship boasts a considerable number of rooms and bunks for crew, but on average as the number of Periat-class frigates are slowly retired from service, less than half the available bunks are ever filled as crews are more use trained for more modern combat vessels. Due to the considerable width of the Periat-class Frigates, docking and finding suitable landing areas always proved a problem and became one of the leading reasons the hammerhead-type ships went out of style. Relegated to the task of patrol duty, parade and support roles, they number now only in the hundreds. The Periat-class have a hangar beneath the combat bridge, accessed from the rear; four forward-facing rocket batteries mounted top and bottom to engage enemies ahead, with four flak turrets mounted top and bottom to cover the rear and blindspots of the forward rocket batteries. A pair of heavy Zirax plasma turrets are mounted beneath the bridge to prevent boarders entering the hangar and for orbital bombardment of ground installations.
Imerat-Class Destroyer Faction: Xenu Description: The Imerat-Class Destroyer is one of the latest models of combat vessel currently in use by the Zirax, making up a significant portion of their total fleet. However, due to the need for defense around their home systems and border patrols at the edge of controlled space, it's generally quite rare to encounter one in the area between the two zones. Unlike the older model Periat and Sunat class ships, the Imerat consolidates the majority of it's infrastructure into a single, heavily armored body instead of spreading it out amongst an array of modules and arms. Giving away space normally used for crew for the mass of machinery required to run the engines and a high-output reactor far in excess of what the ship needs to run. The general theory behind the use of such a high output generator is as an external power supply for establishing bases in the field; There are other theories, though. The Imerat's arsenal seems impressive on paper, but much of it is low-output energy weapons designed for combating legacy infestations and swarmships. While it has significant artillery, it's distributed for forward firing and orbital bombardment and isn't suitable for high-speed engagements, being at a disadvantage against a single small, fast-moving craft. For this reason, it has a set of rails on the rear to which a pair of fighters are usually docked to protect the ship's vulnerable rear.
Looking good and once again I hope for more planet base attack vehicles like HV's and squads of SV's?
