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Description
This has been rotting in my art folder for almost a year and just in the past day or two I actually got around to cleaning it up and posting it in an atleast mostly-decent state. I know aliboy357 was waiting for this one. It probably still has some small mistakes but it looks as good as most of my other works, so here we go.

Ship Class:
Seeker-Class Gunship (D-28 variant)
(Kimbeau Translation: Prowling Hoyhound type Subordinate Combat Ship)
Length: 117m (dome extended) 110m (dome retracted)
Width: 32m (side domes retracted) 37m (side domes extended)
Height: 32m
Mass: 6,000 metric tons (empty) 7,300 metric tons (fully fueled and loaded)
Est. Manufacturing Cost: Δ 750,000,000
Overview:
The D-28 Seeker is the latest in a long line of subordinate combat vessels. Operating in an intermediate size category between true starships and dropships and aerospace fighters. The Seeker line is known to be a platform for a singular capital ship grade HLO-429 Vanquisher point defense blister.
Just as cruisers such as the vigilance, lucidity and observant will screen large primary combat ships from harm and prevent them from being overwhelmed or bracketed, seeker gunships can in turn protect these cruisers from individual threats. Working as a standoff point defense screen, they can shoot down missiles and engage drones or aerospace fightercraft before they can strike at a capital ship. This made them one of the most common answers to opposing fleets reliant on swarms of missiles, dronecraft or aerospace fighters.
Weapons:
1 HLO-429 Vanquisher Point defense system. Able to fire up to 4096 1.21GW photokinetic beams. Beams can be retargeted by manipulating a huge variable pleochroic liquid crystals in the dome with electric currents to precisely redirect the lasers. The vanquisher system is a combination weapon and high resolution visible/uv sensor system. The system is known for its ferocious precision and aggression, with the AI able to multitask, isolating and prioritizing targets and delivering the appropriate amount of power.
2 HLO-222 Vanquisher Point Defense Systems. These are the older version of the HLO system, also seen on the Indomitable-class ship. They fire 512 1.21 GW beams, but are otherwise very similar.
82 Reaper missile Tubes. Tubes compatible with the Reaper-class missiles. Typically the missile load of the Seeker gunship contains primarily the flechette or “Yiatt Pack” submunition based variants of reaper missiles to make it effective in its role as a standoff defense platform. Though reaper tubes are universal, thus it is possible that other varieties of missile may be loaded based on the mission.
4 Side-Launched courser missile tubes. A linear launch conveyor able to hold and fire 9 courser class missiles. Between the 4 tubes 36 missiles can be loaded. More missiles may be stored and fed into the launcher internally. These are smaller and shorter range missiles with similar functionality.
Active Defenses:
The seeker gunship has a hardlight deflector system. This system is effective at stoping most weapons from peer technology and size ships, though its usage is limited by the already limited power reserves and production of the ship. However the hardlight deflector (even if properly tuned and activated) can be overloaded by peer technology weapons from large capital ships. The HLO-429 system has a secondary proprietary deflector protecting this powerful, but delicate structure from harm.
Passive Defenses:
The Seeker gunship makes use of a sub-captial reduced thickness variant of jagtooth armor. The has the standard components of gaussian armor. The outer Tazutun layer is effective at absorbing some amount of damage from lower yield energy weapons or nuclear flashes at longer ranges. The spaced layer of jagtooth armor can redirect hypervelocity shrapnel or flak. An arsium liner protects against some kinds of exotic weapons and penetrative scans. Nano warfare layer protects against nano weapons, superconducting faraday cage layer protects against electromagnetic disruptions and an inner spall liner of graphene mesh contains sealing agents and prevents the armor from spalling. The armor is utterly ineffective against peer-grade captial weapons.
Electronics:
-4 Kon-Ta standard shipboard computer units.
-Shipmaster Sub-AI
-PID Operation System
-Shielding Control Matrix
-Sensor Analyisis Suite
-Commscan Computer
-Quantum thread switchboard
-HLO-429-S Software suite. A variant of the native independent system of the capital ship mounted HLO-429 computer system. A targeting AI which sources data from the ship sensors to ascertain the relative velocity, distance, maneuvering characteristics and threat level of any objects, and respond within milliseconds to potential threats. This modified suite autonomously incorporates the xadar systems and secondary FEMS sensors as well as accounting for the side mounted domes and their rear-facing firing arcs in determining which weapons system to use. The system is almost completely automated with the crew only determining higher-order target priority, aggression, behaviors, and authorizing engagement.
-“Flashpoint” Holographic dazzler system. A powerful trans-spectrum electronic countermeasure suite. Though not capable of creating photoreal holographic decoys, this versatile system can create multi-spectrum dazzling lasers. The laser is able to be projected some distance away from the ship and then redirected towards the target by way of holographic technology to defeat lock-on-jam capability by enemy missiles or drones. The hologram can also produce high frequency radiation to create decoy missile drive signatures, though this act is power-intenstive.
-Laser guidance system. A secondary laser system that can be used to guide missiles to their targets by shooting a broadband laser which pulses in a unique coded pattern that missiles will home in on. This pattern can be programmed into the missile at launch to prevent electronic warfare and jamming.
-Superluminal Impact Alert System (SAIS). This is a system integrated directly to the parent capital ship (possibly multiple ships resources permitting) through a quantum thread and a powerful onboard computer software suite. The sensor suite watches for incoming weaponsfire on the mothership. The system can see a relativistic projectile traveling at near light speed or the scattering or heating of a laser on the interstellar medium with optimal sensor conditions, and accurately observe and calculate its trajectory. If the Seeker gunship is closer to the source of the weapons fire than its mothership, then it will see this incoming attack ‘before’ the mothership. It can then anticipate the impact and send a warning to the mothership’s computer systems to raise hardlight deflectors in the appropriate sector. This can massively increase the effectiveness of hard light deflector systems. Even at a distance of only 1000km (about 1/30th of a light second from the mothership) can be adequate warning for the hardlight deflectors to parry an otherwise unforeseeable attack.
Sensors:
-10 FEMS-7 hardened telescopic camera arrays. (6 fore, 4 aft). These are extremely high resolution and rugged sensor packages with polarizing lenses and nanomachines to rebuild the digitizers in the event of coming under attack. The sensors work together to create a full 360 degree view of the exterior of the ship and have extensive zoom functionality to spot distant targets.
-398 225MW Kasidon WS Xadar Transceivers. (Total array power 89.55GW). The primary sensory system of the Seeker gunship used in stealth vessel detection. This large array of independent transceivers can engage in both non-holographic and holographic modes. The system can strip the electrons off the hull of objects and read their return to identify their composition.
-Secondary cameras and proximity radar system used for docking.
Power Generation:
-The main reactor is a model P-26 “Nova” 1.25 TW superconducting torodial fusion reactor. This is a common high output model used in civilian starships and applications as a backup fusion reactor on capital starships thanks to its reliability, power output and built-in neutrino heatsinks. The ’26’ in its designation indicates the final element in the fusion chain (Iron). Since Iron has the highest atomic binding energy and does not produce energy when fused, it is the end product of the reactor which extracts all available hydrogen energy from its fuel. This highly radioactive iron is stored in a rad-shielded tank and dumped into the drive plume of the engine, providing additional reaction mass for thrust. Waste heat from the reactor is dumped via supercooled helium-ion neutrino volumetric heat sinks near of the vessel. The reactor can only provide enough power to run the primary weapon at a quarter of its full effectiveness.
-420 GWH nanocapacitor bank. Primary capacitor bank, equivalent to 20 minutes of reactor run time or 6.66 minutes of full operation of the vanquisher system on the nose of the ship.
-5 GWH emergency nanocapacitor bank. A secondary emergency power bank designed to contain enough energy to sustain life support… basically forever. Or jump-start the reactor.
Utilities:
-Small Fabrication Shop with extensive tooling, as well as limited 3d printing and milling abilities. The machine shop could recreate basic components or be used to service squires. Advanced atomic assembly or composite manufacturing were not afforded.
-Cryogenic ductless atmosphere processing system.
-Advanced reverse-osmosis water filtration system linked to shipboard plumbing.
-Limited function medical bay able to recieve 24 paitents.
-Stertilization sprayer and scanning airlocks.
-CIC isolation bulkhead.
-Advanced Inertia dampening system. The Seeker gunship accelerated at twice the speed of a normal starship and was known to make harsh maneuvers. Given the seating in the passenger compartment onboard was not in the form of gyroscopic acceleration couches, the inertia dampeners needed to be capiable enough to be partially or even fully engaged during combat accelerations to prevent the passenger compartment from suffering acceleration injuries. Running inertia dampeners still required significant power.
-4 extendable airlock tubes. While present (though not listed) on large capital ships, these extendable docking tubes could connect to standard GDSF octagonal docking connectors. Some dropship variants were also compatible with this system, with floor, mounted docking ports. The ship could connect and transfer troops and cargo without needing to depressurize either vessel or have crews EVA between ships.
Crew:
-Typical crew of 8 organics. (Tagati, Dugati, Weapons Officer, Sensor Officer, Chief Engineer, Communications Officer, 2 technicians). The ship may be flown by a single individual or reduced crew if needed.
-12 Humanoid squires.
-256 SQ-77 Hexbot units for shipboard repair and maintenance.
Troop Compliment:
The Seeker has a large seating area in its two middle decks. Combined the two decks can carry 540 individuals, though under normal circumstances troops are not kept onboard as there are no long-term accommodations. This large capacity could be used in transport and boarding actions (to ferry a large number of troops and equipment to and from a space station without directly docking a capital-grade ship) or in the event that a capital ship needs to be evacuated the crew might make use of the seeker as a lifeboat.
Cargo:
-The Seeker typically carries 120 SBs (Smart Boxes). These were typically configured for the ‘lifeboat’ emergency situation. These contained non-perishable rations and water recycling equipment enough to last the crew one month as well as medical supplies and emergency space suits. When used for boarding action, some or all of this cargo compliment may be exchanged for weaponry. Some additional supplies are stored in cargo compartments.
-The Seeker carries 1,200,000kg of Liquid Metallic Hydrogen fusion fuel in 2 spherical tanks roughly 12m in diameter.
-Typically around 144 courser missiles of various warhead types) would be kept onboard and tied down near the internal loading mechanisms. Enough for 5 full volleys from this system (including those loaded into the launcher. These could be loaded by a bot, crew member or automated reloading mechanism installed in the deck.
Engines+FTL:
-The Seeker utilizes a custom protium fusion ringjet. Unlike dedicated capital ships it lacks a deuterium-tritium “afterburner” and relies soley on light construction and a powerful engine to achieve an 75g combat acceleration, with the engine able to provide in excess of 5 giganewtons. (Though at these accelerations the engine burns roughly 10 kilograms of liquid metallic hydrogen fuel into mostly radioactive iron per second) Inertial compensation must be used to counter these intense accelerations as such crushing gee forces can cause even heavily cybernetically and genetically augmented crews to black out.
-32 Reaction thrust plates provide rapid turning and jinking thrust.
-The Seeker has no FTL travel system by default due to the issues with miniaturizing subspace drives.

Description
This has been rotting in my art folder for almost a year and just in the past day or two I actually got around to cleaning it up and posting it in an atleast mostly-decent state. I know aliboy357 was waiting for this one. It probably still has some small mistakes but it looks as good as most of my other works, so here we go.

Ship Class:
Seeker-Class Gunship (D-28 variant)
(Kimbeau Translation: Prowling Hoyhound type Subordinate Combat Ship)
Length: 117m (dome extended) 110m (dome retracted)
Width: 32m (side domes retracted) 37m (side domes extended)
Height: 32m
Mass: 6,000 metric tons (empty) 7,300 metric tons (fully fueled and loaded)
Est. Manufacturing Cost: Δ 750,000,000
Overview:
The D-28 Seeker is the latest in a long line of subordinate combat vessels. Operating in an intermediate size category between true starships and dropships and aerospace fighters. The Seeker line is known to be a platform for a singular capital ship grade HLO-429 Vanquisher point defense blister.
Just as cruisers such as the vigilance, lucidity and observant will screen large primary combat ships from harm and prevent them from being overwhelmed or bracketed, seeker gunships can in turn protect these cruisers from individual threats. Working as a standoff point defense screen, they can shoot down missiles and engage drones or aerospace fightercraft before they can strike at a capital ship. This made them one of the most common answers to opposing fleets reliant on swarms of missiles, dronecraft or aerospace fighters.
Weapons:
1 HLO-429 Vanquisher Point defense system. Able to fire up to 4096 1.21GW photokinetic beams. Beams can be retargeted by manipulating a huge variable pleochroic liquid crystals in the dome with electric currents to precisely redirect the lasers. The vanquisher system is a combination weapon and high resolution visible/uv sensor system. The system is known for its ferocious precision and aggression, with the AI able to multitask, isolating and prioritizing targets and delivering the appropriate amount of power.
2 HLO-222 Vanquisher Point Defense Systems. These are the older version of the HLO system, also seen on the Indomitable-class ship. They fire 512 1.21 GW beams, but are otherwise very similar.
82 Reaper missile Tubes. Tubes compatible with the Reaper-class missiles. Typically the missile load of the Seeker gunship contains primarily the flechette or “Yiatt Pack” submunition based variants of reaper missiles to make it effective in its role as a standoff defense platform. Though reaper tubes are universal, thus it is possible that other varieties of missile may be loaded based on the mission.
4 Side-Launched courser missile tubes. A linear launch conveyor able to hold and fire 9 courser class missiles. Between the 4 tubes 36 missiles can be loaded. More missiles may be stored and fed into the launcher internally. These are smaller and shorter range missiles with similar functionality.
Active Defenses:
The seeker gunship has a hardlight deflector system. This system is effective at stoping most weapons from peer technology and size ships, though its usage is limited by the already limited power reserves and production of the ship. However the hardlight deflector (even if properly tuned and activated) can be overloaded by peer technology weapons from large capital ships. The HLO-429 system has a secondary proprietary deflector protecting this powerful, but delicate structure from harm.
Passive Defenses:
The Seeker gunship makes use of a sub-captial reduced thickness variant of jagtooth armor. The has the standard components of gaussian armor. The outer Tazutun layer is effective at absorbing some amount of damage from lower yield energy weapons or nuclear flashes at longer ranges. The spaced layer of jagtooth armor can redirect hypervelocity shrapnel or flak. An arsium liner protects against some kinds of exotic weapons and penetrative scans. Nano warfare layer protects against nano weapons, superconducting faraday cage layer protects against electromagnetic disruptions and an inner spall liner of graphene mesh contains sealing agents and prevents the armor from spalling. The armor is utterly ineffective against peer-grade captial weapons.
Electronics:
-4 Kon-Ta standard shipboard computer units.
-Shipmaster Sub-AI
-PID Operation System
-Shielding Control Matrix
-Sensor Analyisis Suite
-Commscan Computer
-Quantum thread switchboard
-HLO-429-S Software suite. A variant of the native independent system of the capital ship mounted HLO-429 computer system. A targeting AI which sources data from the ship sensors to ascertain the relative velocity, distance, maneuvering characteristics and threat level of any objects, and respond within milliseconds to potential threats. This modified suite autonomously incorporates the xadar systems and secondary FEMS sensors as well as accounting for the side mounted domes and their rear-facing firing arcs in determining which weapons system to use. The system is almost completely automated with the crew only determining higher-order target priority, aggression, behaviors, and authorizing engagement.
-“Flashpoint” Holographic dazzler system. A powerful trans-spectrum electronic countermeasure suite. Though not capable of creating photoreal holographic decoys, this versatile system can create multi-spectrum dazzling lasers. The laser is able to be projected some distance away from the ship and then redirected towards the target by way of holographic technology to defeat lock-on-jam capability by enemy missiles or drones. The hologram can also produce high frequency radiation to create decoy missile drive signatures, though this act is power-intenstive.
-Laser guidance system. A secondary laser system that can be used to guide missiles to their targets by shooting a broadband laser which pulses in a unique coded pattern that missiles will home in on. This pattern can be programmed into the missile at launch to prevent electronic warfare and jamming.
-Superluminal Impact Alert System (SAIS). This is a system integrated directly to the parent capital ship (possibly multiple ships resources permitting) through a quantum thread and a powerful onboard computer software suite. The sensor suite watches for incoming weaponsfire on the mothership. The system can see a relativistic projectile traveling at near light speed or the scattering or heating of a laser on the interstellar medium with optimal sensor conditions, and accurately observe and calculate its trajectory. If the Seeker gunship is closer to the source of the weapons fire than its mothership, then it will see this incoming attack ‘before’ the mothership. It can then anticipate the impact and send a warning to the mothership’s computer systems to raise hardlight deflectors in the appropriate sector. This can massively increase the effectiveness of hard light deflector systems. Even at a distance of only 1000km (about 1/30th of a light second from the mothership) can be adequate warning for the hardlight deflectors to parry an otherwise unforeseeable attack.
Sensors:
-10 FEMS-7 hardened telescopic camera arrays. (6 fore, 4 aft). These are extremely high resolution and rugged sensor packages with polarizing lenses and nanomachines to rebuild the digitizers in the event of coming under attack. The sensors work together to create a full 360 degree view of the exterior of the ship and have extensive zoom functionality to spot distant targets.
-398 225MW Kasidon WS Xadar Transceivers. (Total array power 89.55GW). The primary sensory system of the Seeker gunship used in stealth vessel detection. This large array of independent transceivers can engage in both non-holographic and holographic modes. The system can strip the electrons off the hull of objects and read their return to identify their composition.
-Secondary cameras and proximity radar system used for docking.
Power Generation:
-The main reactor is a model P-26 “Nova” 1.25 TW superconducting torodial fusion reactor. This is a common high output model used in civilian starships and applications as a backup fusion reactor on capital starships thanks to its reliability, power output and built-in neutrino heatsinks. The ’26’ in its designation indicates the final element in the fusion chain (Iron). Since Iron has the highest atomic binding energy and does not produce energy when fused, it is the end product of the reactor which extracts all available hydrogen energy from its fuel. This highly radioactive iron is stored in a rad-shielded tank and dumped into the drive plume of the engine, providing additional reaction mass for thrust. Waste heat from the reactor is dumped via supercooled helium-ion neutrino volumetric heat sinks near of the vessel. The reactor can only provide enough power to run the primary weapon at a quarter of its full effectiveness.
-420 GWH nanocapacitor bank. Primary capacitor bank, equivalent to 20 minutes of reactor run time or 6.66 minutes of full operation of the vanquisher system on the nose of the ship.
-5 GWH emergency nanocapacitor bank. A secondary emergency power bank designed to contain enough energy to sustain life support… basically forever. Or jump-start the reactor.
Utilities:
-Small Fabrication Shop with extensive tooling, as well as limited 3d printing and milling abilities. The machine shop could recreate basic components or be used to service squires. Advanced atomic assembly or composite manufacturing were not afforded.
-Cryogenic ductless atmosphere processing system.
-Advanced reverse-osmosis water filtration system linked to shipboard plumbing.
-Limited function medical bay able to recieve 24 paitents.
-Stertilization sprayer and scanning airlocks.
-CIC isolation bulkhead.
-Advanced Inertia dampening system. The Seeker gunship accelerated at twice the speed of a normal starship and was known to make harsh maneuvers. Given the seating in the passenger compartment onboard was not in the form of gyroscopic acceleration couches, the inertia dampeners needed to be capiable enough to be partially or even fully engaged during combat accelerations to prevent the passenger compartment from suffering acceleration injuries. Running inertia dampeners still required significant power.
-4 extendable airlock tubes. While present (though not listed) on large capital ships, these extendable docking tubes could connect to standard GDSF octagonal docking connectors. Some dropship variants were also compatible with this system, with floor, mounted docking ports. The ship could connect and transfer troops and cargo without needing to depressurize either vessel or have crews EVA between ships.
Crew:
-Typical crew of 8 organics. (Tagati, Dugati, Weapons Officer, Sensor Officer, Chief Engineer, Communications Officer, 2 technicians). The ship may be flown by a single individual or reduced crew if needed.
-12 Humanoid squires.
-256 SQ-77 Hexbot units for shipboard repair and maintenance.
Troop Compliment:
The Seeker has a large seating area in its two middle decks. Combined the two decks can carry 540 individuals, though under normal circumstances troops are not kept onboard as there are no long-term accommodations. This large capacity could be used in transport and boarding actions (to ferry a large number of troops and equipment to and from a space station without directly docking a capital-grade ship) or in the event that a capital ship needs to be evacuated the crew might make use of the seeker as a lifeboat.
Cargo:
-The Seeker typically carries 120 SBs (Smart Boxes). These were typically configured for the ‘lifeboat’ emergency situation. These contained non-perishable rations and water recycling equipment enough to last the crew one month as well as medical supplies and emergency space suits. When used for boarding action, some or all of this cargo compliment may be exchanged for weaponry. Some additional supplies are stored in cargo compartments.
-The Seeker carries 1,200,000kg of Liquid Metallic Hydrogen fusion fuel in 2 spherical tanks roughly 12m in diameter.
-Typically around 144 courser missiles of various warhead types) would be kept onboard and tied down near the internal loading mechanisms. Enough for 5 full volleys from this system (including those loaded into the launcher. These could be loaded by a bot, crew member or automated reloading mechanism installed in the deck.
Engines+FTL:
-The Seeker utilizes a custom protium fusion ringjet. Unlike dedicated capital ships it lacks a deuterium-tritium “afterburner” and relies soley on light construction and a powerful engine to achieve an 75g combat acceleration, with the engine able to provide in excess of 5 giganewtons. (Though at these accelerations the engine burns roughly 10 kilograms of liquid metallic hydrogen fuel into mostly radioactive iron per second) Inertial compensation must be used to counter these intense accelerations as such crushing gee forces can cause even heavily cybernetically and genetically augmented crews to black out.
-32 Reaction thrust plates provide rapid turning and jinking thrust.
-The Seeker has no FTL travel system by default due to the issues with miniaturizing subspace drives.