Herald of Judgement

There are few more apt names for the flagship of Lukas Keath and his Obsidian Guard than Herald of Judgement, a monolithic vessel in terms of its firepower, defensive measures, and sheer size. The armament is focused on devastating enemy fleets at range with salvos from its gargantuan plasma macrocannons. These awe-inspiring weapons are also on occasion turned on ground targets in support of the Obsidian Guard’s efforts. It was commissioned after the end of the Feuerreich Crusade and thus missed action during that conflict but for the rest of the Great Crusade would be present at every battle Lukas was.

Herald is the most heavily armored of all the Gloriana Class Battleships, able to take as well as it can give and then some. This endurance comes from the unique structure of the hull, which is in fact two distinct pieces. The inner encompasses the ship proper whilst the outer is an armored shell up to a kilometer thick at some points. Between these two is a thin vacuum, which the inner ship is sealed against. When incoming weapons fire impacts the outer shell the thick armor plating robs it of much of its energy, limiting the damage inflicted. The space between the shells is wide enough that explosive charge will detonate there rather than against the inner hull. To accommodate this unique structure the barrels of the broadside plasma macrocannons are exceptionally long, stretching from the breach mounted in the inner hull through the vacuum and outer shell.

Decorations of the outer hull are quite restrained, the embodiment of Lukas's function over form philosophy. However there are a few, such as the massive dragon head prow, silvered auramite letters on either side of the bow spelling out the ship's name, and the icon of the legion on both the tops and bottoms of the fins. Its hull is for the most part black as the void of space itself, interrupted occasionally by splashes of orange, silver lines, or running lights. Other than those mentioned the only adornments to Herald are its innumerable weapons and battle scars, which are kept so long as they do not affect the ship's combat effectiveness negatively.

Despite its high mass the Herald is fast, able to keep pace with the fleet's ships of the line and control the range of any engagement it takes so that at no point any ship that can truly threaten it can get into optimal range. Only Eldar vessels or escort grade ships are able to legitimately outrun her.

Technical Characteristics
Classification: Gloriana Class Battleship

Design Template: Invictus

Dimensions:
Length: 20 Kilometers bow to stern

Width: 4 Kilometers wide tapered at bow approx., 5 Kilometers abeam at main hull approx., 6 Kilometers abeam at superstructure approx. (8 Kilometers at fins approx.)

Height: 5 Kilometers at hull, 8 Kilometers at superstructure.

Mass: 130 Megatonnes approx.

Crew: 1,000,000+

Accel: 1.5 gravities max sustainable acceleration. (Additional Reactor)

Other Features: Training Decks, Mausoleum, Dreadnought Hangar, Apothecarium, Manufactorii, Teleportation Decks, Fleet Command Grade Augur and Vox Arrays, Redundant Life Support Systems, Complex Layout, Hardened Bulkheads.

Systems:
Additional Plasma Reactor

Enhanced Countermeasures

Field Braces

Deficiencies-

Insufficient Void Shield Generators

Prow
6X Torpedo Tubes

Power Ram

Dorsal
6X Quad Barrel Lance Turrets

Port side
6X Hecutor Class Plasma Macrocannon Batteries

Starboard side
6X Hecutor Class Plasma Macrocannon Batteries

Ventral
6X Quad Barrel Lance Turrets

[[Category:H]]