Excalibur class

The Excalibur class was a mainline power projection battleship of both the Allied Systems Federation and the Terran Unitary State well into the 24th century. All ships of this class were built by Aurora Drive Yards. The ship class was highly durable and quite capable of dealing damage on its own, but it often worked as the powerhouse of tactical groups. In these groups, it relied on the protection and assistance of other starships while using its armaments to give enemies a worthy fight.

Overview
The Excalibur class was a fearsome battleship, equipped with various heavy weapon systems capable of laying waste to a fleet of hostiles. The signature weapon of the Excalibur class was it's spinal bow-facing Jazer cannon, an enormous particle-beam emitter capable of cutting through the toughest armors at medium-to-long ranges. Aside from this primary weapon, the Excalibur also carried 2 turreted railguns; 8 quad point defense machine gun turrets, and 8 missile tubes. This made the Excalibur class at most combat ranges, with the possible exception of very close quarters combat. The Excalibur class mitigates this potential weakness by making sure nobody gets close enough for that scenario to occur, and to have escorts with it at all times.

The Jazer particle cannon requires a enormous amount of power during continued use, and as such the engines and the cannon cannot be used at the same time.

History
'' The Excalibur class was designed in response to the K'adurbian R'tar battleship. As this fearsome foe brought siege beam emitters onto regular warships instead of specialised siege platforms, various ASF Space stations came under serious threat. The Excalibur class and the Hexari class were outfitted with siege emitters, to counter the K'adurbians. ''

'' Where the Hexari shined in being a versatile weapons platform, the Excalibur excelled in being a durable tank. Capable of sniping far-away targets with its beam, and fighting close targets with its array of weapon installments. ''

'' The Excalibur class saw a lot of action in the ASF-K'adurbian War and the Vrox Rampage. In the former the ship class lead tactical groups alongside with an Atlas Carrier. The Atlas would stay behind the Excalibur and use its great Interceptor and Bomber complement to defend the Excalibur and the tactical group. In primary tactical groups an enormous Bastion carrier would join this group. These groups were often filled with ships of the Hexari, Yaeger, Chasseur, Nabulon, Caldius, or Vishaap classes. ''

'' Another field where Excaliburs saw a lot of deployment was planetary defense, in which a group of Excaliburs would guard star systems or inhabited planets. These Excalibur groups often worked with 3 Excalibur classes, aided by ships of the Atlas, Hermes, Bastion, or Nabulon classes. ''

'' In the Vrox Rampage, the production of the Excalibur class was greatly increased, as its siege beam proved one of the few significant weapons the Federation could throw against the mighty Vrox fleets. In this war, many Excaliburs would join to form a wall of firing armaments while they were supported by carrier ships and a great many Yaegers, Chasseurs, and Nabulons. ''

'' After the fragmentation of the Allied Systems Federation and the subsequent rise of the Terran Unitary State, many of the existing Excalibur ships joined the young Terran state. Both the ASF and the TUS continued to use the class as a mainline power projection vessel, but some were refitted to serve as carriers or transports. Some vessels of the class were sold to merchants, while others were hijacked and used by pirates. ''

Use
'' The Excalibur was a sight to be feared. The vessel had and extensive shield grid and reinforced hull armor, making the ship significantly more durable than contemporary ships its size. While its armaments were certainly impressive, the class lacked significant medium weaponry and therefor could not engage light vessels as effectively as large vessels. The class also lacked adequate aft defense, a weakness common among Federation starships. Because of these shortcomings, the vessels of this class had to be accompanied by smaller vessels such as corvettes or frigates. ''

'' The Excalibur class was on par with the K'adurbian R'Tar cruiser. ''

Variation
During the Vrox Rampage, a variation on the Excalibur was designed in order to save resources in mass-production. This variation was the Lambda class. The lambda class was essentially a flying cannon with engines and shield generators strapped on top of it. The Lambda class could be produced faster and cheaper than the Excalibur, and could fill the firing lines against the ever-pressing Vrox. Due to the design-process of the Lambda however, not many were built in during the Vrox invasion.

Another variation on the Excalibur was the Hercules class. This variation transformed the large bulk of the Excalibur into a cargo vessel that could land on planetary surfaces.

Ships in use
These are known ships of the class that are, or were, in service.
 * v.s.s. Excalibur - The first ship of the class
 * v.s.s. Lobera
 * v.s.s. Hercules - This was the first ship refitted into the Hercules class, which is named after this ship.