The Jupiter class battleship was the largest ship ever conceived, until the production of the Terra class over a century later. The Jupiter is a heavy combat, carrier, and planetary bombardment vessel. In its hey-day, it was at the pinnacle of space warfare: extremely heavy armor plating and vast weapons batteries allowed it to plow through any ship smaller than it. The wealth of laser turrets and torpedo tubes exist for an important reason: to stop anything from getting a chance to hit it. A single Jupiter class ship was capable of defeating an entire battle formation on its own.
The Jupiter class was conceived in the years of the Rimworld Rebellions 130 years ago. A flying behemoth, it served as the flagship of the OUTO Armada in crushing its opposition into oblivion. The Jupiter has never been defeated in open combat.
Decks 50 and below are all hangar and weapons battery decks.
The primary armory is situated near the stern of the main hangar deck. It contains weapons lockers, a briefing room, and replicators for all of the marines onboard.
The bridge is situated deep within the heart of the vessel. The large room is filled with various stations for every major job in the ship. In the center are large helm stations for the pilots, and towards the back is the captain's chair.
A somewhat comfortable room near the bridge. The suite is several times larger than regular quarters, and has an extensive computer relay station for monitoring the ship.
Located towards the top of the ship, the cargo areas take up the majority of two decks.
Situated in the majority of the levels between the cargo decks and deck 50, there is a wealth of space for crewmen. Every crewman has a 10×10 room, with communal bathrooms in each section.
Several athletic and entertainment facilities are spread throughout the crew decks.
Most of the rear quarter of the ship is dedicated to engineering and the engine rooms.
Large power conduits run throughout the ship, some taking up large segments of decks. They are easily reached through access spaces.
There is a hospital situated on the hangar level near the armory.
All passages are approximately 2.5 meters wide and 3.5 meters high. They are generally only lit along the edges of the floors in unimportant sections. More important areas have bright wall lighting running the lengths.
The ship has a single, enormous hangar bay stretching across most of its length.
The hull is made of some of the thickest plating known to man. Since the ship does not use shields, it relies on its tough armor and various weapons systems to protect itself from damage.
Since the ship has been refurbished, it carries standard computer systems used in most Terran warships.
The ship wasn't built with surrender in mind; the only emergency countermeasure is a self-destruct power core overload sequence.
Low-grade carbon filters keep the air fresh, albeit must be changed every refit cycle. Oxygen ports allow reserves to be replenished when the ship is docked.
The ship's combustion drive is old, but is still highly functional. It has been retrofitted with rush job warp engines, giving it decent light speed capabilities.
The Jupiter hails from an era when shielding was in its infancy. As such, retrofitting shields to the vessel takes considerable time and effort.
100 meter Turbolaser Pulse Cannon (1): This massive pulse cannon is a step down from the Solaris Cannon in destructive power, but is still capable of punching a hole through a Drake. Primary Purpose: Anti-Warship Range: 2,500 miles Damage: Heavy - does light damage to anything within a 20m radius of the pulse, and is capable of knocking through shields and ripping through armor in a single shot. Rate of Fire: 2 shots every 5 seconds Payload: Effectively unlimited, will function so long as the ship provides power.
Pulse Laser Arrays (45): The best defense against fighters, projectile weapons, boarding pods, and shuttles available. 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: Effectively unlimited.
Torpedo and Countermeasure Tubes (app. 200): These ports are capable of rapidly firing torpedoes and countermeasures at a rate of once every 4 seconds. Interchangeably fires between the two based on incoming fire. Countermeasures are purely defensive. Essentially the strategy with the low-range, high-damage torpedoes is to get alongside a ship and broadside them. The strategy is rarely used in modern warfare, which is why it works so well. Enemy vessels rarely carry enough countermeasures to survive the attacks. Range: 35 miles Damage: Medium - Since the torpedoes are kinetic weapons, they slip right through shields to target critical systems: weapons arrays, hangars, bridges, shield arrays, etc. The torpedoes are more like missiles in nature: they have advanced guidance systems capable of interfacing with each other to perform coordinated attacks and avoid wasting ammunition. Payload: Over 300,000 torpedoes and countermeasures, enough to maintain sustained fire for almost 2 hours straight.
Turbolaser Arrays (3): Anti-starship shield penetrating weapons. They can also be anti-shuttle or used as an active countermeasure against solid projectile ammunitions. Range: 1,000 miles Damage: Heavy. Does damage to anything touched by the beam, be it shields or armor. Rate of Fire: 2 shots every 5 seconds Payload: Effectively unlimited.
complement of 70
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By all means, this class should be extinct. However, most of them have been preserved in the years since their decommissioning as giant monuments to the might of the Republic. Since the Drathonian War has broken out, 2 of the 5 surviving Jupiters - the Hermes and the Byzantine - have been retrofitted with modern armaments and pressed back into service. The other 3 are due back from the ARWW in the next year, with Hymn-like shield arrays.
Together, the 6 Jupiters produced were the driving force that ended the rebellion. Only one Jupiter has ever been defeated: the Valhalla's Prow was forced to self-destruct in battle to avoid capture.
Jupiters were produced with twin ships, with the purpose of having two in each of three Battle Groups.
Vessels Produced: 1.The Carthage 2.The Byzantine 3.Valhalla's Prow 4.The Heaven's Edge 5.Hermes 6.Artemis
Overall Effectiveness Compared to the Hymn: 73% -Speed: 40% -Range: 30% -Troop Transport: 130% -Weapons: 40% -Armor: 120% -Shields: 0% -Hangar Bay: 150%