Daedalus-class
Technical Data
Class: Daedalus
Ships of the line: Daedalus (CCT-01), Sovereign Protector (CCT-02), Archangel (CCT-03), Manifest Destiny (CCT-04), Newcastle-upon-Tyne (CCT-18)
Classification: combat frame supercarrier
Manufacturer: Systems Overterrestrial Coalition, United Commonwealth-Protectorate
Operator: Coalition Defense Force, United Commonwealth Navy, Martian Royal Vanguard
First deployment: CY 60
Crew: 9,012; ship’s company: 6,132, CF wing: 2,880
Dimensions: keel: 900 meters, beam: 300 meters, decks: 28, levels: 38 (with antennas)
Powerplant: ISBC fusion reactor
Propulsion: 8x fusion rocket, 12x EM impeller, gravity drive
Sensors: multiple full-spectrum, overlapping, and redundant systems including gravitic, EM, optical, and radiation detection
Standard armaments: x2 rail cannon, doubles as high-velocity launch bay, x12 anti-CF linear cannon turrets, x144 XSeeds
Special equipment: ion field projector, x8 CF launch catapult, QuaSt comm, TC/D
General Notes
The ISBC report of CY 55 declared that mankind’s only hope of surviving the Ynzu lay in mass-producing XSeed-class combat frames. With government contractors scrambling to supply the legions of advanced combat frames, the Coalition Defense Force realized they would need a new line of vessels to transport and deploy those CFs. Secretary-General Maritza Eckhart put out a call for ship designs capable of handling the job.
Hollister-Ayres made the winning bid with their combat frame supercarrier design. At a colossal 900 meters long, each Daedalus-class could carry a CF wing of 144 ReXPros. Six main catapults stood by to launch the XSeeds into action, supplemented by a high-velocity launch bay in each of the ship’s port and starboard armatures. Each armature could rotate up to 270 degrees vertically and 30 degrees horizontally to deliver its combat frames with precision. Both high-velocity launch bays could also fire kinetic payloads, allowing them to double as giant rail cannons. An as-yet not fully understood TC/D could transport the ship to trouble spots at a moment’s notice, contingent upon approval by each vessel’s ISBC liaison officer. This innovation would allow Daedalus-class carriers to patrol Earth, the Lagrange point colonies, Mars, and the ExSols. A faster-than-light QuaSt comm entangled with an identical carbon block afforded each carrier instantaneous communication with Earth regardless of distance.
The first CF supercarrier, CDFS Daedalus (CCT-01) was destroyed by the first Nidulans wave, forcing the CDF to recall Sovereign Protector (CCT-02) from its shakedown cruise. Initially overwhelmed by the enemy, the SP under Captain Robert Sylvian endured, thanks in large part to the arrival of the χMetatron. The defeat of the swarm’s Controller Barbarossa and the capture of his Imhullu CF disoriented the Nidulans, allowing SP’s ReXPros to easily mop them up.
Following the near-cataclysm of CY 60, the Military Reorganization Act concentrated responsibility for humanity’s defense in the newly formed United Commonwealth-Protectorate. Hollister-Ayres was folded into the UC Armory, and all Daedalus-class carriers not assigned to the LaGrange point colonies and Mars were redesignated United Commonwealth Ships. The all-ReXPro wings were gradually diversified as the MCF-121 Defender, MCF-122 Emancipator, and MCF-123 XSeed Marine entered service.
UCS Sovereign Protector served as the UCP flag ship until CY 98, when CDF Marshal Edoard Ziebig completed testing on the new Icarus-class and presented Icarus to UCN Admiral Wincott Hollister. Commander Jasmine Blaine, the Admiral’s handpicked replacement for the SP’s outgoing captain, aroused some controversy among SP’s crew owing to her relative youth and inexperience. Blaine’s direct oversight of Joint Task Force 7, AKA the Guardian Angels, invited further suspicion. Blaine and the GAs won over many of their critics thanks to the Captain’s brilliance and the Angels’ heroics at the battles of Cassone, New Haven, and Bercilac.
All told, the Daedalus-class spearheaded mankind’s opposition to the Ynzu for almost 40 years and continued to serve as the backbone of the UCP, MRV, and CDF’s defenses for years after its successor’s introduction.
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