[VOIDIAN CONFLICT SHIPS -- REQUIRES MODS]
NanoTrasen's role in the war is interesting.
The company has major stations across the galaxy, linked together with FTL gateways that let them send personnel and shuttlecraft between one another -- anything larger will need an FTL drive of its own. Many independent one-planet governments purchase gateway tickets for their trade shuttles, or simply pay the company to bring supplies to them and do all their trading that way. Often times, these are colony worlds that can't afford (or don't know how) to build their own space stations. More than once, NanoTrasen's deterrence fleets have been requisitioned to act as planetary defense forces.
Never more so than now.
As the Voidians sink their hooks into the galaxy, NanoTrasen vessels are spread thin protecting their assets. The main Voidian fleet is unstoppable; the company can barely hold out enough to evacuate their stations, much less the worlds they orbit. Frantically, NanoTrasen has searched far and wide for new technologies unrestricted by military clearance or exorbitant cost. They aren't state-of-the-art by any means, but NanoTrasen and its desperate captains will take any edge over the invaders.
Fishtail Fighter
$79,800 credits
14 crew
Voidian raiding parties have stretched NanoTrasen's fleets thin; even Spearpoint Skirmishers are becoming scarce. The Fishtail-class is somewhat cheaper than a Skirmisher, but lacks FTL -- it can only move between stations equipped with FTL gateways. Its standard cannon and shielding are enough to eliminate Voidian fighters. New hardlight accelerator technology helps the Fishtail deal with the light shielding of Voidian bombers.
Bulk Gunship
$151,450 credits
32 crew
A Bulk-class is quick to make but not cheap. Against single targets, it's better than a Spearpoint. Two of these can handle a Voidian Corvette nicely. It uses standard technology, save for its payload of high-velocity shock missiles that do fairly low damage but move too fast for Voidian point defense to respond. Like the Fishtail, it can only stick to stations. These ships get produced so fast that their crews are often pieced together from whatever rookies are available. It's become a fast-spreading tradition for crews aboard these ships not to name their craft until after they survive their first battle.
Astray-class Minelayer
$481,050 credits
114 crew
There is no more Astraeus ship classification. Every single one has been turned into the Astray-class "science vessels". They still do research, mind, but by this point it's mostly a formality.
It only takes one good look at the Astray-class to know that NanoTrasen is losing. A winning side doesn't tell its crews to move all vital command functions into an escape pod, and it most certainly doesn't turn a hydroponics bay into a tracking mine factory. The front of the Astray-class is fitted with ion missile fabricators, volt disruptors, and gauss arrays.
The NSS Lethal Injection
$2,928,500 credits
128 crew
In one of the many skirmishes with the advancing Voidian fleet, something miraculous happened.
It was the usual story. Two Spearpoint Skirmishers and a few spacepods escorted a Rockpuncher into the fray, just a few ballsy captains having a morbid laugh about their impending doom. The plan was to disable an Annihilator's escort fleet so that it would have to fall back, giving NanoTrasen enough time to evacuate the next world. It went badly, as these fights always did. They focused fire and took out the destroyers and fighters, but not before losing three of the four spacepods and a Spearpoint. The other one had taken a nasty sniper round that ignited an ammo store and was burning, fast. Then the Annihilator closed in. In an effort to give the Spearpoint enough time to charge its FTL drive, the remaining spacepod rushed the Annihilator. Shots tore apart its control room and sent it spinning, and somewhere in that dizzing madness, the gunners actually got a shot off before their ship exploded. It hit an engine block on the Annihilator and started a fire.
The Spearpoint didn't get away. It came apart in a nuclear blast. The Rockpuncher tried to put some distance between itself and the Annihilator before spinning up the FTL drives, but strangely enough, the Voidian superweapon stopped chasing after a while. The Rockpuncher captain, taking a chance, canceled the drives and waited. The Voidians hadn't installed fire suppression systems on the Annihilators.
The nearest Syndicate Freighter was quickly called in, and they started to strip the disabled Voidian ship as fast as possible before reinforcements could arrive. None came, but the Freighter captain was so spooked that he called the salvage operation quits after looting three of the four remaining missile bays. The two ships jumped out of system.
The Rockpuncher that survived the skirmish, called the NSS Lethal Injection, was outfitted with several modified missile bays equipped with the stolen Voidian missiles. It has been given extra engines, shields, armor, and point defense cannons at the cost of all of its energy weaponry.
NanoTrasen has seen the Voidian flagship plenty of times. Usually, it's been through the last seconds of footage transmitted from the poor bastards who had to fight it. The flagship's escorts alone can do serious harm to a Spelunker-class Cruiser, and have so much point defense that missiles disappear in a wall of superheated plasma. The captain of the NSS Lethal Injection has thus been given a special mission:
Ram the flagship. From point blank, detonate the nuclear missiles. A fleet will be provided to distract the escorts.
MODS NEEDED:
Abh Mod, version 0.4.5: https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/299-abh-mod
Decalmore Mod: https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/914-decalmore-mod
Cannons Plus Mod: https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/678-extra-cannons-cannons-plus-mod
Meranera's Additional Weapons Mod: https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/968-additional-weapons-mod