SPECIFICATIONS

GOVERNMENT: Jovian Defense Forces
TYPE: Interstellar Space Cruiser/Light Gunship (Valkyrie Class Refit)
MODEL: Guardian class SCC-78 (Ironclad Mark-III)
DATE INTRODUCED: 2173 AD
LENGTH: 654.5 feet (199.5 meters)
WIDTH: 236.22 feet (72 meters)
HEIGHT: 120.4 feet (36.7 meters)
MATERIAL: Crystal Composite
POWER PLANT: Macrotechnologies IPFF-5000 Ion Plasma Fusion Furnace x 8
OUTPUT: 5000 megawatts each (40,000 megawatts total)
ARMOR TYPE: Crystal Composite
ARMOR THICKNESS: 2 inches
DISPLACEMENT: 8000 tons
CREW: 85 (8 Operators, 32 Gunners, 8 Officers, 8 Engineers, 8 Technicians, 8 Electricians, 5 Medical, plus 20 pilots.)

PROPULSION
             FASTER THAN LIGHT DRIVE :
             1x Pallas Research PRID-T2-800 Type-2, Mark-II Intersection Drive unit
             SPEED: .12 light years per hour (195,523,200 miles per second, or 708,883,520,000 miles per hour)

             SUBLIGHT DRIVE:
             4x Lunar Dynamics PD-2000 plasma drives
             SPEED: kiloMACH 2.64 each or 0.06C each (2,006,400 mph each or 0.24C total for all four engines combined)

WEAPONS:
             PRIMARY (OFFENSIVE):
             4x Militia Military Industries MMI-PC-3180 540-megawatt triple PHELAC turrets; Effective Range: 1600 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch system; ROF: 3 blasts every twenty seconds with a cyclic rate of 9 blasts per minute.

             SECONDARY (OFFENSIVE):
             2x Lithgear LG-EMPAC-500 500-megawatt electromagnetic particle accelerator cannon turrets; Effective Range: 2500 miles; Payload: unlimited with nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 6 blasts per minute in cycles of 1 blast per 10 seconds. 

             PRIMARY (DEFENSIVE):
             5x Lithgear LG-RFL-502 dual 50-megawatt rapid-fire laser cannon turrets; Effective Range: 500 miles; Payload: unlimited with a 1000-megawatt nuclear battery clutch recharged from the vessel's main reactor; ROF: up to 60 blasts per minute in cycles of 10 blasts per 10 seconds.

ELECTRONICS:
              1x Microwave Radio Communications array with a 1000 AU range.
              1x Super Luminal Velocity Communications Suite with a range of 1 light year.
              1x LADAR array with a range of 220,000 miles.
              1x Passive EMS array with a range of 1,000,000 miles.
              1x Active EMS array with a range of 100,000 miles.
              1x Super Luminal Velocity Sensor Suite with a range of 1 parsec (3.26 light years).
              2x Gravitational/Antigravity Control Unit; Effect: Provides artificial lift, g-force compensation, and enhanced maneuverability.  One for Intersection Drive.

DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS:
             6x Cydonia Research CR-DF-1000 omnidirectional LEVEL-1 Gravitonic deflector field generator; Range: 1000 feet from hull; Power Requirement: 1000 megawatts each; Output: 180 terajoules with a regeneration of 18 terajoules every ten seconds.

HANGAR BAYS:
             1x 2000-yd3 space fighter hangar that holds up to twenty Main Battle Robots, normally fifteen MBR-01C and five MBR-01B1s.

Description/Overview:
            As 2178 came to a close, the Jovian Defense Forces continued their mad dash to rearm.  The Guardian was the next refit/upgrade in this arms race with the EFR and Ceres Regency.  The upgrade for the Valkyrie class into the Guardian class of Light Cruiser was a simple replacement of the beam turrets and ion engines with triple PHELAC turrets and plasma engines.  This gave the light cruiser considerably more speed and firepower which allowed the Guardian to perform its duty as a defense cruiser for the Jovian colonies and the civilian/non-combat vessels of the Extra-Solar Expeditionary colony fleets that Saturn would start sending off into deep space starting in 2179.