Sian Type: Battlecruiser In class: 52 In service: 2623 Mass: 800,000 Sail Integrity: 4 Thrust: 3/5 Fuel: 3000 tons Structural Integrity: 100 Armor: 1600 tons of standard armor (106+10 fore and aft, 107+10 elsewhere) Docking Collars: 4 Fighters: 18 Small Craft: 10 Crew: 800 Lifeboats: 30 Escape Pods: 30 Grav Decks: 2 70 meter Cargo: 44,170 Bay 1: Small Craft (10) 2 doors Bay 2: Cargo (44,170) 2 doors Bay 3: Fighters (18) 2 doors Other equipment none Weapons: Heatsinks: 4582 Forward 5 Killer Whale Launchers Fore Left/Fore Right 2 Naval Autocannnon 30s 5 Killer Whale Launchers Left Broadside/Right Broadside 6 Naval Autocannon 30s 4 Killer Whale Launchers Aft Left/Aft Right 8 Naval Autocannon 30s 3 Killer Whale Launchers Aft 3 Killer Whale Launchers Ammo: 1200 rounds of Naval Autocannon ammunition 320 Killer Whale Overview: The Sian class battlecruiser (named in reference to a decisive battle during the Andurien War) was created as a stopgap to meet the needs of the Free Worlds League during the battleship race of the early 27th Century. Though the League initially attempted to match the battleship construction of their neighbors measure for measure with their new Atreus class battleships, it soon became readily apparent that the Atreus, though big and powerful, was also very expensive. With the economy of the League begining to falter by 2620, Parliament decided to greatly slow production of the Atreus, seeking instead to concentrate production on a smaller, simpler, and less expensive alternative. The end result of a year of design work was the Sian. Capabilities: The Sian is pretty much a garden variety battlecruiser. Though not as cost effective as Parliament had hoped it would be, the ship is certainly simple, straightforward, and to the point. The Sian's primary armament is thirty six heavy naval autocannons. These cannon are arranged in eighteen dual turrets along the sides of the ship, presenting a pure broadside fighter. Though this can limit the tactical options of a lone ship, when opperating in a massed battlegroup these ships are more than capable of covering each other's exposed arcs. The Sian's secondary armament is surprising, as the ship carries one of the heaviest batteries of naval missiles ever mounted on a ship. This massed battery makes fighter attacks against a Sian very dangerous indeed, and in fact many Sians served a secondary role as AA ships escorting Atreus class battleships and Varyag class carriers. Though relying on standard plate in order to cut costs, the Sian is reasonably well protected. Sixteen hundred tons of armor cover an extremely strong hull making for a ship that can stand a remarkable amount of punishment. Rounding out these exceptional offensive and defensive capabilities are a full wing of aerofighters and space for ten small craft. Deployment and Notable Vessels: Most of the construction for the Sian class took place in the provinces of Oriente and Regulus, with fifty two ships constructed before work ended in 2650 (twelve of which were put into reserve status following the restriction of house militaries). In one of the tragic ironies of history, the first major battle the Sian and her sisters would see was against each other. After three members of Regulus's ruling Selaj family were implicated in an atempt to slaughter the Marik family, Captain General Gerald Marik moved to deal with the traitors, leading to a major battle on Hellos Minor at the end of 2679. During the campaign, a pair of Sian class battlecruisers (the Stewart and Amity) which had sided with the traitors atempted to lead a convoy of reinforcements to the world. In the battle that followed, the convoy was routed from the system, the Stewart was destroyed and the Amity was captured. After the successful conclusion of the campaign, the Captain General ordered the Amity renamed the Hellos Minor. Unfortunately, this would not be the last time these ships would face each other. Much like the rest of the League, the fleet split pretty evenly when the League was wracked by civil war in 2729. Both sides in that conflict tended to use their battlecruisers as shock forces, and as a consequence many were lost before the Treaty of Verona was signed, ending the fighting. The thirty two remaining ships would be called into action again during the First Succesion War. Much as had been done during the civil war, the Sians were used primarily as shock troops, leading the way into both the Capellan Confederation and Lyran Commonwealth. This proved disastrous in many cases, however. During an attack on Hesperus II, Lyran defenders accounted for all twelve surviving Sians on the Lyran front destroyed, a loss that forced Marik to completely rethink their strategies against the Lyrans. The last ship of the class to survive was also the first ship. The Sian had been opperating along the Capellan frontier since the start of the first war, and aparently the Capellans held a special dislike for the ship. Barbara Liao herself is reported to have said "If I accomplish nothing else during this damn war I will see that ship destroyed!" She eventually got her wish in the final year of the First War. In that year, the last Sian fell to a massed fighter attack during a raid into the Confederation. [Editor's Note: The noted conspiracy theorist John Garrett, author of such tomes as "The Wolverine/Comstar Connection", "The Unseen Conspiracy", "Rise of the Illuminati", and "The Death of Sal Bremmerman", has long maintained that the principality of Regulus in fact has two intact Sians in their possession. He claims that these ships have been kept hidden for centuries in preparation for an eventual bid for Regulan independence. Of course he also claimed that Clan Wolverine infiltrated Comstar centuries ago and is secretly manipulating events for an eventual takeover of the inner sphere, so either he's paranoid or we're all out to get you anyway, so it doesn't matter if he tells you everything because he's probably just another part of the same conspiracy. Don't worry, you can trust us.]