Ship Designation: Rigel-class

Ship Class: Cruiser

Model Number: Mark 3

Full Designation: Rigel 3-class Cruiser

Armament: Three 2-barrel 150mm Anti-Ship Cannon turrets, Three 2-barrel Beam Cannon turrets, One Variable Payload Long Range Missile Launcher.

Description: What can be said about this ship other than that it was designed and built to act as a faster and more affordable pocket battleship? Its weapon loadout would make you think that this is a Heavy Cruiser, while its speed and lesser armor would make you think that it is a Light Cruiser. Barely straddling both types of cruiser at the same time, the Rigel 3 is a machine that would normally be impossible to make were it not for the existence of Lord Arkhan’s ‘Hangar’. Through that parallel pocket dimension, ammunition can be safely transported to any ship without it ever needing to stop for resupply. This goes for fuel as well, along with water and rations. This little ‘cheat’ is why the Rigel 3 can go as fast as it can without worry.

It barely carries any ammunition or fuel for its weapons or engines and basically relies on a drip-feed from the ‘Hangar’ to keep itself operational. Take its three 150mm Anti-Ship Cannons, for instance. The guns actually only have enough rounds for three shots each, but this is offset by the fact that more rounds are immediately fed in as the others are expended. This also means that the guns can switch their shell type based on the situation at hand and not have to worry about carrying shells they may or may not need. As the 150mm Anti-Ship Cannons are not tech taken from an MSG, they are not as easily replaced, meaning the captain of this type of ship would rather loose the Beam Cannon Turrets than these ones. These cannons are smaller than the beam cannons, and this makes room for the missile launcher right behind the last gun.

As for the Beam Cannon Turrets, they were ripped off of a Summonable warship and slightly modified in order to make them work with the rest of the ship. While the kinetic batteries are located on the top of the ship, the beam weapons are located on the bottom. Of course, in space there is no ‘up’ or ‘down’, so by top and bottom I mean the way its floors are laid out inside the ship. The beam cannons each have a maximum range that is long enough to, at its absolute limit, scorch the armor of a similarly advanced ship. When in their effective range, they can easily melt decently sized holes in an enemy ship so long as the shields are gone.

The last weapon to talk about is, arguably, its most potent one (if used properly and in optimal conditions, of course). The ‘Variable Payload Long Range Missile Launcher’ is reminiscent of a terrestrial cruise missile launcher. However, as the ship only carries two of these missiles at any point in time, the ‘Hangar’ is used as a quick resupply method while the ship is engaged in combat. The missile launcher is actually embedded into the ship itself, making it less conspicuous as a target than if it were a turret.

While the missiles themselves are not Summonable, they can be placed in the ‘Hangar’ and it is rumored that there are enough of them to allow every Rigel 3 Cruiser to fire over three thousand missiles before even a single percent of the storage is emptied. The missiles can be filled with various payloads, from canisters of ‘Shieldbreaker Blue’ to corrosives to even nuclear devices or the dreaded G-3 Nerve Gas. This weapon outranges the others on this ship, but it can be shot down by adequate point defense, thus making this weapon less useful than it appears. But when it does hit, then you’ll get to see some fireworks.

The Rigel 3 is slower than a destroyer but faster than a battleship or carrier, and its main function in the AGC military is to act as a stand-in for those particular ships in most system defense fleets. As the Rigel 3 is cheaper and faster than a larger capital ship, it can escape some rather sticky situations if needed, all while giving the foe a black eye as it escapes. In a pinch, the Rigel 3 can act as a pseudo-battleship, effectively making it a force-multiplier in most small skirmishes. Rarely is the Rigel 3 called upon to join a main fleet, as it is overshadowed by battleships and carriers, but it works wonders in its intended role as a beacon for the home defense fleets to rally around.

Rigel-class Cruisers rarely see combat outside of fights against particularly ambitious and particularly stupid pirates. This does not make them useless in a larger fight, as they can flank a target more easily than a battleship while also diverting the enemy’s attention away from the bigger ships. As it has no Point Defense of its own, it is generally paired with a few Destroyers and a decent number of MSGs. As the MSGs can use the ‘Hangar’ to enter ships directly, they usually enter a ship, go immediately to the airlock, jump out and then enter ‘Rel Mode’ in order to add to the fight. The Rigel 3 fully embraces this, and has four airlocks for use by MSGs and two for use by the crew.