“And now, we take this experience to military starship production. We have taken the best aspects that have made K&B the best in civilian transport and have taken the next step into military applications. You see, in our minds, quality equals survivability.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Honored guests, Beings of a Free Galaxy. I present to you:

“The Orion Class Cruiser.”

- Otto Kholhaussen III during the christening of the R.N.S Orion, February 12th 3052

HISTORICAL & PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW-

Since a young boy Otto Kholhaussen dreamed of flying in outer space. A Danish dockworker, Kholhaussen worked in the family business on the Trans-Europa Space Port in southern Denmark. His love of flying made him a hobbyist in trans-atmospheric speedboats. He had built many of these speedboats for fellow sportsmen from scratch, several of which fetching hefty sums on the non-FTL civilian market.

As he grew older, he realized that his talent for boat working could be applied to greater uses. Thus, he and a childhood friend, Turner Bracht, started an entrepreneurial venture into civilian shipbuilding.

Selling his family dock working business he acquired the initial startup capital for this new, fledgling business, known as Kholhaussen and Bracht, or simply K&B. With this money, he and Bracht set off for the Jovian Shipyards to make their dreams come true. Spending nearly all of this money on a small dry-dock in the Ganymede Yards, he set out to build his first ship.

Many long nights and several business loans later, Kholhaussen and Bracht unveiled their first non-FTL orbital yacht, the Corona Del Alma (Spanish for “Soul Corona,” a play on words that Bracht had a penchant for) series. This small vessel was designed to ferry a single family or party on leisure cruises about the ELM Habitat Zone. It could even be carried aboard larger, luxury vessels as smaller away craft.

This small luxury craft was an immediate success. Sports enthusiast publications were quick to heap praise upon this vessel. The intuitive use of the vessel’s space was, in many minds, genius. The lavish accouterments, the exceptional handling and superb use of space, all at a very affordable price won this vessel many of the field’s highest awards, including Orbital of the Year from the prestigious Luxury and Sport Republica periodical.

Unfortunately for Kholhaussen and Bracht, the mounting accolades and awards paled in comparison to the increasing debts that their business had incurred in the Corona Del Alma’s production. Increasing demand for this vessel was a double-edged sword for them, as their meager dockyards could not handle the increased production level and they could barely afford to grow accommodate more advanced birthing for their increasingly popular craft.

Despite their mounting popularity, K&B was on the verge of going out of business.

Enter Vladimir Sharapova, president and CEO of NightSky Exploration and Endeavors. NightSky has been a mainstay in space exploration since the early days of the Republic. Sharapova himself can trace his own legacy back to the days where his great ancestors built and operated the legendary Surveyors Vessels that charted many of the systems now so important to the Republic. It used to be that, if there was ever an uncharted area of the galaxy that needed to be explored, all eyes fell on Vlad Sharapova and NightSky.

Now, when exploration and charting the vast frontiers missed by the early expansion efforts of the Republic accelerating at a fever pitch, good business was there for the taking. But, somehow, inexplicably, NightSky was losing business. Ship crews demanded higher wages or left to other firms altogether. Exploration charters fell to NightSky’s competition. In a time when money was to be had, Vlad was losing it, hand over fist.

No sooner had Vlad considered retiring from the exploration business, than a breakthrough hit him. While vacationing with his daughter Ingrid an board her Corona Del Alma yacht, the Spell Jammer, he was astounded at the luxurious and ingenious layout and accommodations of her vessel. He then began to theorize that, perhaps it wasn’t the inadequate wages that kept explorers and charters from his books, but, rather, the inadequate amenities and comforts of his vessels.

Exploration is a time-consuming, arduous task. Full of many long months of boredom as the vessel plots hyperspace coordinates, gravimetric approach lanes, charting habitable and neighboring planetary bodies and preparing for ensuing colony missions. Perhaps, if its vessels were more luxurious, more intuitive in layout and even better built overall, the disgruntled crew of NightSky would want to serve on them once more. Just perhaps, with a fleet of exploration vessels as comfortable as the Spell Jammer, NightSky may once again be on the forefront of galactic exploration.

Sharapova then met with Kholhaussen and a dangerous gamble was set into motion. Selling the entire fleet of aging NightSky Surveyors and Explorers, Sharapova retooled the entire NightSky dry-docks orbiting Callisto to K&B’s specifications. Kholhaussen and Bracht then dedicated their entire company’s effort toward designing and constructing Exploration and Surveyor vessels the way Sharapova had envisioned. If this gamble worked, corporations from all over the Republic would come clamoring to purchase fleets of these vessels and long-term exploration charters. If it failed, both companies would be destroyed.

Two years later, before an anxious audience from both the civilian and military sectors, the first of the K&B and NightSky Explorers, The Endeavor class, was christened. The inaugural vessel, the NS.E.E Endeavor, named in honor of the first FTL-drive vessel, cleared her moorings and made her first trail run around the Solar System.

The quality that K&B had become known for was immediately apparent with this new vessel. The corporate and press invitees marveled at how well this vessel was built. News of this ship traveled across the corporate sector like wild fire. Reports of this superb vessel even reverberated across the halls of the Republic Navy Fleet Command, even the Republic Senate.

The gamble had paid off and for a decade, the marriage between K&B and NightSky seemed as a match made in heaven. Both companies became leaders in their field with the Endeavor Class explorer vessels. Exploration charters became backlogged with NightSky 3 decades deep and many corporations were begging for very lucrative refits to the Endeavor.

For the next one hundred twenty years, K&B became the quintessential leader in civilian ship design and construction. From orbital yachts and speedboats, to exploration and surveyor vessels to enormous luxury cruisers, the brand K&B became the one of most respected in the industry.

In 2939, K&B made it first bold move into military vessel design when Otto Kholhaussen III, grandson to the late Otto Kholhaussen, made a bid to produce the Archangel Class Battle Cruiser.

The Republic Frontiers were rapidly becoming dangerous places for civilian shipping. Pirates, Oroken Ronin renegades, and a growing Freeman movement had the Navy looking for a means to patrol and pacify these wild areas. They needed a vessel that could operate for extended periods of time, away from homeport, often in dangerous and uncharted areas of space. A vessel that K&B excelled at designing and producing.

Unfortunately, the Naval Budget committee awarded the Archangel contract to long time Naval ship producers, Vanguard Fleet Systems. It was a blessing in disguise however, as the Navy, not entirely sure what they wanted, began asking for additional mission requirements placed upon the Archangel design. The resulting vessel, in many eyes a complete disaster, fell far short of Navy expectations and Vanguard took the blame.

Another hundred years would pass and, with the frontier situation getting far worse as the Freeman Movement nearly turning into civil war, the Navy began requesting again a cruiser sized vessel that could operate for extended periods of time outside of Terran controlled space. A vessel that could, with little support, perform both armed exploration and search mission as well as diplomatic ventures. A vessel that could be used to do many missions that other, heavier ships of the line simply were ill-equipped to handle. A vessel that K&B again bid on and won in 3049.

Learning from Vanguard’s mistake, Kholhaussen expressly stipulated to the Navy that such a vessel simply would not be well equipped to handle fleet command duties on the front line. Such a vessel would be well armed and endowed to defend herself if need be. But, she would not be a Battle Cruiser or Battleship, which the Archangel was asked to be, and failed. Grudgingly, the Navy relented, knowing the Avatar Class Battle Cruiser was exceeding their expectation in that regard.

For the next three years, K&B went to great extents to produce one of the most controversial designs in Republic Naval history. The class that has come to be known as the Orion Class Cruiser.

K&B took the initial plans for the Antares Class Destroyer, expanded the foredecks to included science suites and research facilities. Her sensor suites were vastly improved with expanded stellar cartography systems to help her navigate uncharted systems. In many ways, with the systems aboard her, the Orion could operate as a military exploration vessel.

The drive section was completely replaced with a revolutionary vectored thrust vent system. This makes the vessel faster and more agile than others of her weight class. The fighter bays were expanded to include 30 fighters. The flight decks mid ship are of a throughway type that allows for faster launch and retrieval.

The shield package is comparable to others of her weight class. However, these shields have a rotating-frequency modulation that can adversely affect onboard tracking systems. This makes the vessel harder to hit at longer distances, where the opposing gunners rely on computer targeting instead of direct visual lock on.

The weapons package is also standard for a ship in her weight class. Her primary weapons are turreted extended range particle accelerators forward and aft with auxiliary fixed mounts covering port, starboard and aft facings. Turreted particle accelerator cannons forward and a fixed mount aft represent her secondary batteries. Rounding out her weapon systems are four standard fusion missile launchers in fixed mounts covering forward, port and starboard facings.

Upon the Orion’s debut in 3052 the Naval Review Board and Budget Committee almost immediately fractured into several camps. The vessel performed admirably during her shakedown cruise and no one could deny the superb accommodation, some remarking as quite luxurious to military standards, that was a trademark of K&B excellence. It was immediately evident that this vessel would succeed with her design mission roles where the Archangel could not.

However, many on the Budget Committee expressed a level of “sticker shock” at the cost of deploying these new vessels. With many of the systems aboard her revolutionary and state-of-the-art, they came with a very large price tag. The Orion was, by far, the most expensive vessel in her weight class. Others noted concern that these advanced systems, untried in actual combat situation, would not be able to stand up to the rigors of warfare. Still others on the review board complained that space aboard her, devoted to science, exploration and VIP accommodation, could have better been used toward weapon stores or warfare intelligence systems.

Kholhaussen brushed these objections aside claiming that the Orion was designed to perform a specific set of wildly divergent mission directives. She meets these criteria and much more. She is, quite in effect, a multi-mission, or multi-role cruiser. The ship designer went even further to predict that the Orion was the foundation, a starting point, for a new way of military thinking and design.

Many in the Republic Admiralty agree with the innovated ship designer. Others disregard him, and his ship, entirely. Only time will tell if Otto Kholhaussen and his Orion Class Cruiser are the future of Republic Naval shipbuilding.

PRODUCTION OVERVIEW-

The eight years since the Orion’s debut has been a rocky for the fledgling cruiser. With Naval strategists and planners not exactly sure how to deploy the vessel, beyond her established mission roles of exploration and patrol, the Admiralty has been reluctant to specify any needed improvements to the design.

Kholhaussen himself has put forth a few ideas for refitting the expensive class. Some of these ideas address the concerns of some within the Admiralty that the Orion can’t handle front-line combat duties. Others improve on the existing design to allow the vessel to handle even longer periods away from homeport. The Budget Committee, still under contract to produce many more of these pricey ships, has been hesitant to bring these ideas under consideration.

As a result, the Orion Mk I is the only refit in production. These vessels have been deployed to system and sector fleets whose proximity to wild frontiers makes their use necessary. These vessels are beginning to see a lot of action with the Navy’s Rapid Reaction Battle Group fleets. These small squadrons, while part of the larger Battle Fleets that the Navy operates in times of war, has been an essential part in pacifying large areas of the frontiers. The versatile nature of the Orion makes these vessels a welcome addition to these rapid response forces.

NOTABLE VESSELS-

R.N.S Brell (CL-2958)- With the Freeman Movement heating to all but an all out shooting war, tensions between the Republic Navy and that of the Freeman “Rebellion” had reached an all time high. In many cases vessels from both sides are under standing orders to shoot any opposing vessel on sight.

The Brell, an Orion Mk I, was on a routine patrol into the Thespian Expanse Frontier in the southern arm of the Republic. There she stumbled onto a Freeman enclave guarded by an Archangel Class Heavy Cruiser, the Rasputin. Despite the previous failings of the Archangel, the Heavy Cruiser was a much heavier design and she boasted better, albeit outdated, firepower.

A short, but furious exchange left the Brell with a damaged Hyperspace module. This forced her to escape into a nearby asteroid field, where her speed and agility would lose the ungainly Rasputin. For nearly a day, the Brell, her communications jammed by the Rebels, had been playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the Heavy Cruiser. The Brell would emerge from the asteroids long enough to take a few pot shots at the Rasputin, in the hopes of disrupting the communications blockage, and slink back behind the protection of the floating debris.

Having repaired her hyperspace module, the Brell was preparing to make a run for it. However, she had to clear the asteroids long enough to translate into hyperspace, making her a juicy target for the frustrated Rasputin. What once was her shield from the Rebels now had become her trap. To make matters worse, Rebel reinforcements, three Antares class destroyers had just arrived in system.

In a daring move, the Brell utilized her full compliment of fighter craft to engage the Rasputin, distracting her long enough to clear the asteroid field. The critical part of the dangerous ploy, the fighter retrieval, had to be executed precisely as the Brell had little time to remain on station once she had cleared the field.

Many pilots lost their lives in the resulting battle, but their sacrifice gave the Brell the chance she needed to escape.