Class: Yǐtiān Jiàn (倚天劍)
Operators: Dìguó Jūnshì (帝国军事)
Manufacturer: Daqin Diguo


Length: 140 Meters
Width (Radiators): 400 Meters
Height (Main Body): 40 Meters

Crew: 6 Crew
Propulsion: Fusion-Thermal engine system
Maximum Acceleration: 12g

Range:

Sensors:

Armament:
Spinal Mounted Particle Beam Array
x4 medium rotary launchers
x4 small rotary launchers

The origins of this ship start in the 2310s during a period of closer cooperation between the American Union ad the Daqin Empire in expeditions into the liminal worlds. It was during this time that initial sketches and concepts were developed for a purely combat-oriented ship that utilized the Daqin's expertise in virtualization and thermal stealth.

Empress Zuliee would advance the need for a pure combat craft for the Dìguó Jūnshì starting in 2310. This design was intended to showcase the technological superiority of the Daqin, and as such received constant mandates to include 'transformational' technologies. By 2315 bespoke versions of the ship were being deployed, each custom built and incorporating major internal changes between each version. This would result in a small fleet size, of dubious usefulness, and with relatively untested quality. The ships were, however, considered major prizes and status symbols for Daqin generals which would ensure that funding for the program would continue despite the issues in the final product.

by 2319 a 'version 1' of the ship design had been settled on, incorporating all of the advanced, flashy, technologies demanded of the design regardless of practicality. The original bespoke production facility that had been use for low-rate production of the ship was converted into a ship breaking yard, and the earlier versions of the ship started to be quietly retired as mass production of the design started. By 2322, the design was starting to proliferate through the Dìguó Jūnshì in greater numbers, though it was first assigned to high priority units like those around key installations, the general's personal escorts, and attack oriented units.

In 2322, the abduction of the Empress during the Olympic Conference would result in the first combat deployment of the design. There is conflicting information about what the remaining portions of the Daqin government were planning for immediately following the abduction, but the White Tiger Fleet of the West was the first to act. Xian Leang would command the Dulihuo, taking it on a nearly year long journey without leaving the control pod. Her fleet would depart for Atlantica with two mobile SLE systems, and then send a combat section onward into Sol which including the Dulihuo itself, a support carrier and its escorts. The Dulihuo would evade an intercepting fleet upon arrival at Sol, and proceed to destroy an HFR fleet near earth in a single high speed pass-by before flinging itself out towards the outer planets, destroying numerous targets of opportunity along the way. The Dulihuo would manage to survive nearly the entire war, and its infamous run on Earth would become the stuff of legend.

While many would say that this was a validation of the Empress' favored design, it glosses over many of the specifics of the fight. Despite the victory at Earth, the Dulihuo was unable to press its advantage against overwhelming numbers. In order to survive it ultimately had to go on the run ad avoid decisive battles. Furthermore, despite the great initial showing, two more Yǐtiān Jiàn class ships in Atlantica the Jīn huǒ and Qiángliè de yùwàng were both destroyed during a four way engagement between the HFR and Magnetic Assembly engaging with American Union and Daqin forces. This would heavily suggest that the initial success of the Dulihio could be attributed to the prowess of Xian Leang rather than the ship itself. Many also attribute Xian's success to luck, as the Stealth Missiles that were used to destroy the HFR's interception unit at earth got through largely because their targets did not feel the need to observe the Dulihio in the thermal spectrum from multiple angels, relying entirely on their own sensors and being blinded by the flaring dusty-plasma radiators of the Dulihio... a combination of fortunate events that are unlikely to be repeated.

The Yǐtiān Jiàn is a sleek wing-design, created to maximize the radiative surface away from a head on target as much as it is for asthetics. It makes an extensive use of integrating equipment like sensors and protective systems into the hull shape itself.

All of the ship's internal space is given over to its mission of void combat, and as such there is minimal space for crew or repair equipment. Anything beyond minor repairs in flight require the help of a support ship.

The Yǐtiān Jiàn is lightly armored against most types of attack using a thin layer of industrial diamond attached to a carbon-composite material sandwiching a thick layer of silica-infused areogel over the majority of the ship to provide protection from all directions against small impacts or indirect hits.

Heavy Osmium plates are used for protection from the frontal aspect, and over important components to provide protection against all types of attacks.

Coating nearly every surface is an advanced Daqin meta-material composite designed to channel and absorb energy from enemy radars and shift the heat emissions of the ship into more limited wavelengths to reduce detection.

Partially as protection against charged particle beams, and partially to help control the electromagnetic spectrum directly adjacent to the ship for a wide range of applications, electromagnetic systems are embedded in the hull under the Emissions-Management layer, and in some places exposed to the void.

Hydrogen kept near its triple-point is used as both a cooling system and a source of reaction-mass for some of the ship's RCS systems. The storage tanks of Hydrogen-Slush are allowed to slowly evaporate. This keeps the slush at super-cooled temperatures as the excess that 'boils off' is pumped through the interior armor channels of the ship, then through the ship's radiator fins, and then finally through the ship reactor's chambers before exiting out the ship's exhaust nozzle. This is used to help cool the ship, doubling as a form of thermal stealth and protection against lasers or other directed energy weapons.

The crew of the ship is intended to operate all of the systems from a virtual workspace. The crew's bodies are kept suspended in a life support pod, that can be ejected from the ship so that its limited delta V can take it towards a friendly recovery ship.

Intended to be a supplemental radiator, liquid metal circulated through the ship as part of a secondary cooling system can be ejected out the rear of the ship and recollected once it has cooled through electromagnetic forces.

One of the showy pieces of technology onboard the Yǐtiān Jiàn, the Dusty Plasma Radiator uses electromagnetically suspended dusty in a plasma to radiate heat away from the ship. This gives the ship a large wing of glowing plasma that trails behind it, acting as a radiator that's also a very difficult target to destroy with weapons fire.

The primary weapon system built specifically for the Yǐtiān Jiàn is a massive combined particle beam system mounted in the center of the ship. This massive beam array is used in the ship's fusion reactor, helping compress the fuel to generate energy. The beams can also be directed out the rear of the ship to provide high efficency, low acceleration propulsion, or be directed out the front of the ship as a weapon system.

As a weapon system, the particle beam sends a charged beam that is directed by electromagnets on the front of the hull. The beam is capable of being bent 40 degrees off the main axis of the ship for targeting without loosing any effective power. The beam can be bent further, but the strength of the beam falls off rapidly after that.

The beam's range is comparable to lasers systems of similar size used throughout the American Union and Magnetic Assembly.

There are 8 banks of rotary launchers onboard the ship that can carry a variety of weapon systems to support the Yǐtiān Jiàn's mission. These are typically some form of defensive missile to help the particle beam system deal with saturation attacks, however other weapon systems, probes, or utility equipment can be stored here for use.