Nergal Type: Assault Carrier In class: 16 at its height Producer: Dekirk Aerospace In service: 2757 Mass: 700,000 Sail Integrity: 4 Thrust: 4/6 Fuel: 8000 tons Structural Integrity: 90 Armor: 1260 tons of lamellor ferro carbide (210+9 each facing) Docking Collars: 0 Fighters: 108 Small Craft: 20 Crew: 250 Passengers: 100 Marines: 262 Lifeboats: 40 Escape Pods: 20 Grav Decks: 2 90 meter Cargo: 81,000 Bay 1: Small Craft (20) 2 doors Bay 2: Cargo (81,000) / Marines (262) 5 doors Bay 3: Fighters (108) 6 doors Other equipment Lithium fusion battery, HPG, extensive command and control center Weapons: Heatsinks: 2850(5700) (enough) Forward 2 Naval Autocannon 35s 10 Artemis linked LRM 20s Fore Left/Fore Right 10 Naval Laser 55s 10 Artemis linked LRM 20s Left Broadside/Right Broadside 5 Artemis linked LRM 20s Aft Left/Aft Right 10 Naval Laser 55s 10 Artemis linked LRM 20s Aft 20 Naval Laser 55s Ammo: 330 rounds of Naval Autocannon ammunition 3600 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition Overview: Named for the Babylonian god of the underworld, the Nergal was purpose built as a command ship for the SLDF's unrealized mobile assault regiments. These formations, which were to be composed of equal numbers of aerospace fighters and land-air mechs, were intended to serve as a rapid response force, able to quickly relocate to trouble spots as needed. Though the SLDF already had rapid response forces, these more conventional units lacked the flexibility expected from the MAR. However, the MAR concept frightened more than a few house lords. Because LAMs are somewhat fragile, they are ill suited for defensive opperations. However, a massed group of over fifty LAMs, backed by as many heavy fighters, would be a devastating offensive weapon capable of laying waste to even some of the toughest units in the inner sphere. As one Kurita admiral remarked, "the MAR isn't a rapid response force, it's a bloody sledgehammer waiting to smash us for getting out of line". Capabilities: One of the core elements of the Mobile Assault Regiment was its base ship. This vessel had to be capable of transporting and supporting the entire regiment, and at the same time be capable of surviving with minimal escort in hostile territory. The Nergal fits both requirements admirably. The Nergal's primary weapons are its battery of five dozen naval lasers. These guns provide exceptional firepower, allowing the ship to fend off most expected opponents, and they also serve a secondary purpose, giving the ship the capacity for controllable naval support fire to its assigned MAR. A pair of massive naval autocannons mounted in the nose enhance the ship's firepower, giving the ship a surprising close in bite that has taken more than one opponent by surprise. Designers ruled out naval missiles for fighter defense given their rather high mass. Instead, the Nergal has a remarkable network of artemis linked LRM launchers covering all sides. A total of twelve hundred missile tubes are mounted on the ship, providing a curtain of fire that only the bravest or most foolish fighter pilots are willing to face. Though the shorter range of LRMs compared to naval missiles means that any attacking fighter is more likely to get a shot off at the Nergal, the shear number of missile tubes tends to guarantee that he won't live to brag about it. And of course, rounding out the ship's offensive complement are the over one hundred fighter bays. Designers were originally planning on relying on an attached dropship complement to transport the MAR, however, it was decided that given the LAM's capacity for both air and space flight, there was little advantage in transporting the craft via a dropship as opposed to including extra bays for them as an integral part of the Nergal. This led to the deletion of four planned docking collars from the design, and the doubling of the fighter bays to accomodate the LAMs, a rather extensive redesign which delayed construction of the first Nergal by a full year. To further augment the capabilities of the Mobile Assault Regiment, space for a battalion of marines was added, along with bays for several assault shuttles. This added an available infantry complement for those jobs which LAMs and aerofighters could not do. In addition to these impressive capabilities, the Nergal is capable of exceptional thrust for its day, able to keep pace with most destroyers and outrun a few. In addition, close to thirteen hundred tons of the most advanced armor available provides protection superior to a battlecruiser, and a lithium fusion battery allows for quick retreats when neccesary. The most impressive feature, though, is the ship's command center. Because LAMs are too frail for a standup fight, the SLDF envisioned a strike by an MAR as a chaotic frenzy of simultaneous quick strikes against numerous targets at once supported by heavy airstrikes and light orbital support fire as needed. The key weapon of the MAR would be that it could, and would, hit anywhere and everywhere as quickly and violently as possible. The most important part of making such a strategy work would be the ability of the base ship to coordinate multiple strikes to maximum affect. Buried deep within the bowels of the Nergal is one of the most extensive command centers in existance. This allows the command staff of an MAR to easily coordinate as many as a hundred independent attacks across an entire planet or even a star system simultaneously, with the only restriction being the lag time between distant transmissions. This capability for coordination made the Nergal and her sisters prized flagships even after the failure of the MAR project. Because the Nergal was expected to have a total of a thousand crewmembers, pilots, marines, officers, and techs permanentally assigned to her, the designers made sure the ship was well equipped with amenities, including extensive recreation facilities on the ship's two grav decks. Also, though enlisted quarters are rather small compared to the officers, all two hundred and fifty crewmen, along with all of the techs and pilots of the MAR, have single occupancy cabins. Another hundred cabins are available for passengers, including senior officers of the MAR, however, usually barely more than twenty of these are used. Unfortunately, as the marine complement was something of an afterthought, no such luxurious quarters are available for the marine battalion, they have to make do with a set of comunal barracks. This tended to cause friction aboard some ships of this class, and by 2760, captains of Nergal class vessels had gotten into the habit of turning most of the single occupancy cabins into double occupancy, which allowed the entire complement to live in good comfort. Deployment: Despite the worries of the member states (or perhaps because of them) the effort to assemble MARs enjoyed the young first lord Richard Cameron's undying support, and Dekirk aerospace enjoyed a steady stream of orders for Nergal class ships. However, by 2760, it was apparent that the MAR was a pipedream. There simply weren't enough LAMs available to form the units in the kind of numbers Cameron wanted. Only one regiment, the 1st MAR (Gilgamesh Regiment), was ever brought into service, and the SLDF soon abandoned the program. The Nergal and her sister ships, however, still made exceptional carriers and flagships, and Dekirk Aerospace continued to turn out two ships a year for eight years, coincidentally halting production of the Nergal class barely a month before the start of the periphery uprising. Though most of the Nergals in service went with the bulk of the SLDF to the periphery, three ships, the Enlil, Gilgamesh, and Utu, were based in the Terran Hegemony when the Amaris Coup began. The three carriers soon began a fighting withdrawl from the Hegemony. Though the Enlil and Utu managed to limp into Lyran space, the Gilgamesh, along with the young 1st MAR, was destroyed over Nirasaki by Caspar drone warships. Though the remaining Nergal class vessels were able to avenge their fallen sister ship a dozen times over, in the end most of them fell to the ravages of the war as well. Of the sixteen Nergal class ships in service before the beginning of the coup, two, the Marduk and Anu, survived to accompany the exodus, and the Anu fell during the exodus civil war in a battle over Eden against the destroyer Amelia. The fate of the Marduk remains unknown. SLDF records indicate that the lead ship of the class, the Nergal herself. was crippled when she was rammed by a suicidal Rim Worlds dropship during the campaign in the Rim Worlds Republic, and was scuttled and left for dead somewhere in the Republic, however nobody has the slightest clue as to where she could be, or if she would even be worth finding given her likely deplorable condition.