Conquistador-class grand explorer

The Conquistador-class explorer is one of the largest armed non-naval ships in the history of human spacefaring. Designed in 2383 to suit the needs of the League Pathfinder Society in the leadup to the Terran Stellar League's actual entry into the Human-Skaald War, the design has remained in use in the service of the Republican Pathfinders. The Conquistador remains in service partly due to the Pathfinders' thriftiness and lack of access to militarized hulls since the split from the Core Systems Scout Service, partly because of the Conquistador's proud and distinguished heritage, and partly because any vessel smaller than a cruiser which tangles with a Conquistador is liable to come off a very distant - and radioactive - second-best.

In 2481 a Core Systems Republic Navy Valiance-class destroyer, the Absalom, was nearly destroyed in a battle with a Conquistador over its perceived offense of fouling a Pathfinder survey area with repair debris, cast-off rubbish and other such unsalvageable flotsam. The Absalom's skipper, Captain Hewlett, described the Conquistador's attack pattern as a surprisingly graceful, slow starboard roll (in layman's terms, a counter-clockwise spin around the long axis of the ship) as the Pathfinders rippled off waves and waves of nuclear missiles. Based on Conquistador provisioning requests filed prior to the Pathfinders' ejection from the Republic armed forces, one of these ships can carry over fourteen hundred missile bodies, and anywhere from half to all of those are mounted with League Navy-spec W282 nuclear warheads, each rated at a 1.5 megaton yield. The Absalom's records, among other (less acrimonious) encounters, indicate that a Conquistador's three massive missile bays can ripple off twelve missiles a minute, and can sustain this firing rate for almost two hours.

The profile below represents a 'best case' scenario for a captain facing down a hostile Conquistador; even so, the 'best case' loadout sees it being able to launch nuclear weapons downrange for an hour straight.

Conquistador-class grand explorer d-Tons Cost (MCr)
Hull 7,500 tons 750
TL12 Cylinder Hull 75
2 sections each Structure 75
Armor Ceramol Protection 8 750 300
Jump Drive (TL13) Jump 4 375 750
Maneuver Drive (TL13) Thrust 6 183 183
Power Plant 375 937.5
Bridge 1/section 75 75
Computer Core/3/fib Rating 40 12
Electronics Countermeasures ESP and Distributed Arrays 27 37
Survey Sensors 10 10
Weapons
Bays 3-Large Missile Bay-Long-24 (TL9) * Easy to Repair, Very High Yield 303 144
Turrets 100-Triple Sandcaster-Close-1/4 (TL10) 60 350
100-Triple-Pulse-Short-2 (TL10) 60 500
Fuel 4500 tons One Jump-4 and 12 weeks 4500
Cargo 117 tons 117
Ammunition 720 W282 Nuclear Missiles 60 1.8
720 Conventional High-Explosive Missiles 60 0.9
1,800 Sandcaster Drums 90 0.9
85 Staterooms 170 personnel (max) 340 42.5
80 Low Berths 80 personnel (max) 40 2
Extras Fuel Scoops 1
Fuel Processors Refines 4,500 tons in 3 days 75 3.75
Software Maneuver/0
Library
Intellect 1
Evade/3 3
Jump Control/4 -
Fire Control/5 10
Total 7,500 4,115,350,000 Cr
Department Crew Crew Damage Track
Command 10 Dead (-)
Engineering 10 Survivors (-4)
Gunnery 20 Skeleton (-2)
Troops 100 Half (-1)
Flight 0 Weakened
Service 20 Full
Frozen Watch 80 Battle
Total 240 Overstrength
Passengers Massively Overstrength
Engineering Forward
Hull 75 75
Structure 75 75
Roll External Internal External Internal
2 Hull Crew Hull Crew
3 25 Sandcasters J-Drive 25 Sandcasters Command
4 M-Drive P-Plant Survey Sensors Structure
5 25 Pulse Lasers Large Missile Bay 25 Pulse Lasers Large Missile Bay
6 Hull Structure Hull Structure
7 Armor Hold Armor Hold
8 Hull Structure Hull Structure
9 25 Pulse Lasers Fuel 25 Pulse Lasers Large Missile Bay
10 M-Drive J-Drive Countermeasures Computer
11 25 Sandcasters P-Plant 25 Sandcasters Structure
12 Hull Critical Hull Critical
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