The Excelsior is the Altresian flagship, the largest ship in the Holy Altresian Empire's Navy, as well as the most powerful. it is an icon, and can change the fate of a battle just by being present.
The Excelsior was created as the pinnacle of Altresian might and worth, their greatest creation in space which would give hope to the Altresians and strike fear into the heart of Altres' enemies. It's brilliant white hull is extremely visible and acts as a shining beacon of Hope to Altresians, and even many Terrans, as it was the largest ship the UTR could count on before the creation of the Terra class.
The bridge, atop its high tower, is an enormous, cavernous space filled with open spaces dotted with stations and consoles. it has two very large viewports which gives the commander a good view of the battle. The ship's captain sits in a special seat in the center of the room which allows him to command efficiently.
The Hangar bays are two cavernous chambers, taking up ten decks worth each. They are a polished, vibrant white with delicate silver and gold inlays along the walls. There hangar bays can accomodate a ship up to 100 meters long, 75 meters wide, and 50 meters tall.
The Hull is made from Titanium, with a composite tiled armor over it.
The prow section of the ship is made from hardened Duratanium.
The Excelsior has a Terran Warp drive, which allows it to travel at speeds faster than the speed of light, as well as to travel by folding space to shorten distances between two points.
Its main STL propulsion is a set of Ten very large Heavy fusion thrusters, capable of thrusting the ship up to .30c before they simply cannot provide any more momentum.
The Excelsior is powered by ten enormous fusion reactors, each of which is directly linked to an engine, but supplies some of its power to the rest of the ship.
Aromayeth-type shielding is utilized by the Excelsior. These shields are capable of being endlessly modulated nearly instantaneously, and the Generator is constructed in such a way that feedback rarely damages it, meaning that a brute force attack that knocks down shields only does so for a matter of seconds before the shields restore themselves. These shields can be made to encompass only certain portions of the ship, while leaving others purposefully exposed.
Multi-purpose Guass cannons (10): Heavy Guass cannons which lob projectiles at extremely high fractions of c, allowing them to be explosive out of sheer kinetic energy. These cannons have so much force that they are useful against just about anything. Range: Theoretically unlimited, usefully 150,000 miles Damage: High. The Kinetic force of the projectile releases immense amounts of energy upon impact with shields and armor. Rate of fire: 8 shots per ten seconds Payload: 10,000 rounds per cannon
Turbolaser Arrays (4): These weapons are dual-barreled anti-starship shield penetrating weapons. They can also be anti-shuttle or used as an active countermeasure against solid projectile ammunitions. Range: 20,000 miles Damage: Heavy. Does heavy damage to anything touched by the beam. Damages both shields and armor Rate of fire: 2 shots every 5 seconds Payload: Unlimited, as long as the ship provides power
Pulse laser arrays(350): these weapons are the best defense against fighters, projectile weapons, boarding pods and shuttles available. they are placed all over the hull under panels, and come out when needed. range: 50 miles Damage: medium. can hurt both shields and armor, the pulse type shot can be calibrated to specific wavelengths to allow instant deactivation of fighter shields, like an EMP pulse. Rate of fire: between 10 and 35 pulses per second Payload: unlimited as long as the ship provides power Notes: only used on things inside the ships shields unless in an emergency
Reinforced Ramming Prow: The Excelsior has an extremely tough reinforced ramming prow. this section of the ship is devoid of anything except structures strengthening and reinforcing the prow. The prow has been honed to the point of being nearly razor-sharp, and is made of specially hardened duratanium at great effort and expense. This prow can damage even Durtanium armored ships. Range: melee Damage:Immensely Heavy Rate of Fire: excruciatingly slow. Payload: Unlimited, as long as the prow is attached to the ship.
The Excelsior can handle about 100 shuttles
The Excelsior has 12 squadrons of fighters, meaning 144 fighters total.