Atrum Pars

General Vessel Information

The Strike-class medium cruiser was a medium cruiser designed by the Loronar Corporation during the Galactic Civil War for the Imperial Navy as a general-purpose vessel capable of modular modifications to allow it to fit many mission profiles, yet cheap enough to be produced in large quantities. A departure from the Navy's trend towards increasingly large warships, the Strike-class cruiser was an admission to diminished ability to defend space superiority against the Rebel Alliance and other forces as the conflict wore on. Ironically, the one big disadvantage of the Strike-class cruiser was a side effect of its biggest advantage. Due to the modular design of the ship, a single, well-placed hit could shut down entire systems or weapon batteries if the densely arrayed power connectors between two sections of the ship were damaged. If the ship suffered too many critical hits by large-impact weapons (such as proton torpedoes or heavy turbolasers) it was also possible that it might simply break apart, losing large portions of its structure. By the time the ship was introduced into full naval service this was only considered to be a minor flaw, as the Empire had enough resources to replenish damaged or lost components that were considered "disposable" at that time. However, as the war raged on and large starships started to become a rare sight, the Imperial Remnant felt the need to make this otherwise reliable, versatile and thus tactically important class of cruisers more durable, which resulted in reinforcing the connections between the cruiser's basic integral structure and the attached modules in order to prevent easy decouplings. Nevertheless, these spots remained the most vulnerable parts of the Strike-class, and pilots and commanders alike on both sides of the Galactic Civil War adapted their tactics to deal with this knowledge.

History

Construction of Penitence began mere weeks before the Battle of Endor. The chaos of the Empire’s collapse disrupted its completion by nearly a standard year, and ensured that its first foray into combat was defending its own shipyard. It found its way into one of the smaller Imperial factions for several years, where the crew saw little actual combat and was faced with mounting supply and payroll issues. After a short courtship by the Brotherhood’s diplomats her Captain agreed to defect, and the ship was presented to the fledgling Clan Exar Kun. Upon the merger with Satal Keto the ship was renamed Atrum Pars. It is under the command of the Proconsul during times of hostility, but primarily serves in a defensive role over Morroth in peacetime.

Due to Clan Kun’s small naval size at its inception, and the desire of the Dark Council to keep it afloat, the ship was permitted an extensive weapons upgrade to include additional shield generators, 10 heavy turbolaser batteries, 10 quad laser cannons, 2 dual turbolaser cannons, 4 missile launchers, and 6 tractor beam emplacements. In keeping with the standard specifications for this ship type, the Pars also carries a single squadron of starfighters.

[CEK’s choice in the Capital Gains competition, additional upgrades due to high placement]

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