Star Knight Lore: The Gomorrah-Class Carrier

Great Gomorrah

General & Technical Data
Class: Gomorrah
Name: RPASS-C01
Ships of the Line: Great Gomorrah, Lilith, Delilah, Endora
Unit Type: Carrier
Manufacturer: Red Eyes Pirate Armada
Operator: Red Eyes Pirate Armada
First Deployment: 5 January, AD 3001
Length: 450 meters
Width: 250 meters
Crew: 100 (skeleton); 300 (standard) plus 60 pilots.
Armament: Corner-Mounted Point-Defense Weapon System (anti-mecha/anti-asteroid/anti-missile) x8, Multi-Purpose Missile Launcher x4.
Compliment: 60 Goblin-class GERWALK mecha (standard)

Technical & Historical Notes

When Red Eyes commissioned the design of the Goblin, he also decreed that a carrier vessel be produced to carry them forth. The same industrial constraints applied, so the resulting design is as basic as a carrier could be while remaining capable of fulfilling its intended purpose. The result was the Gomorrah class, the first purpose-built original design warship by a hostile alien power since the conquest of the Milky Way by Galactic Christendom.

The intention was to reduce Red Eyes' reliance upon stolen carriers, or transports converted into carriers, by taking the common elements of the models they've previously hijacked and stolen and building their own version of it. The result is a star-faring box with engines on one end incapable of atmospheric entry, a hangar bay in the middle, crew quarters squished as close to duty stations as possible, and fixed armaments reduced to the minimum for self-defense.

The Gommorah is a class meant to stand off beyond the range of most ships' guns, using its mecha as its offense primarily and its missile launchers as a supplement to that primary capacity. The point-defense cannons on the corners are its primary defensive arms; the ball turret design decision cuts cost by offering maximum coverage possible.

Its bridge doubles as a fighter command center, making this class ideal for managing a fleet and therefore selected as a flagship. This was the case for the fleet deployed upon New Edinburgh at its debut; Vice Admiral Zuzu, the Painbringer, chose the Great Gomorrah for that reason as her flagship.

This class would turn out to be a fragile one. Speed of construction came at the cost of protection and safety systems, which became apparent when Ireton and allied forces retaliated against the Red Eyes Armada after the raid on New Edinburgh, the taking of Countess Gabriela Robin, and the start of the Matter of the Milky Way. Several ships of the line got sunk, making it clear to Red Eyes that the doctrine regarding their use had to move back to their strengths as raiders, which would be the case thereafter.

In time this class would be superseded and replaced, but for the brief time it roamed the galaxy it proved potent, and later it would find a second life reconfigured into a logistical support role as a fleet tender or a hospital vessel. The last of the class would meet its end at the Battle of Onares, when Duke Far's famous "Ghost Fist Gambit" let him take Baron Sheelak prisoner and turn the Baron's flagship against Duke Onares' planetary shield.