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Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with New, Custom Parts! ...and a background taken from some sleazy online 'repository'...

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First, a bit of history...

At the end of combat operations against the Krȃng Infestation in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), the Republic Defense Force (RDF) lost some 97% of its 'Dark Fleet' when the Krȃng detonated nearly two thousand stars in what is now known - appropriately - as the Multinovae Sector. The Dark Fleet consists of those ships kept in ready-storage in the darkness between the stars both as a stockpile against a time of war and as a way to avoid starting an arms race among the lesser powers that would prove detrimental in one way or another to their economies and/or citizenry. When the Republic was forced into action against the threat of a rapidly expanding Krȃng infestation, the Dark Fleet was the perfect choice. What this means now is that the Defense Force has to replace these vessels; innumerable battleships, dreadnoughts, cruisers, along with other classes of warships.

Never one to let opportunity pass them by, the RDF has used these losses as an excuse to both upgrade and add to its fleet roster. A previous example is the new 'Cluster and SuperCluster-Class Carriers; most of the 'Cluster-Class produced will be headed straight to the Dark Fleet while the few SuperCluster-Class will be posted to the various public-facing quadrant-level commands. In the case of the Apex-Class, it will be completely replacing the Impact-Class Cruisers in the Dark Fleet and joining those in public-facing service and slowly replacing them as currently serving vessels are damaged or retired.

Technologically, the Apex-Class is a significant step above even the highly-advanced Impact-Class. Nearly every ship's system is synthetic; software-driven rather than based on physical hardware with the limitations that brings. A particular vessel in need of a more capable sensor system can actively reconfigure itself - within the confines of its mass - to have a more capable sensor system; abet at the expense of another system. Even some of the ship's 'fixed' systems - armor and ordinance launchers - are at least somewhat capable of being modified in this way. The downside? Expense, of course. The infrastructure and energy needs to create even one of these vessels would utterly consume a K1 civilization and tax a fledgling K2.

What this means for the Defense Force is a return to the true multirole, long-duration cruiser with the Apex-Class expected to more-or-less take over the entirety of the Exploration Command's fleet roster - the most public-facing of the service branches. Like the other current service vessels, it has a low crew total - 27, in most cases - and with a more expansive interior that allows it to undertake some of the duties that were denied to the 'cramped' Impact-Class.

Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with New, Custom Parts! ...and a background taken from some sleazy online 'repository'...

----

First, a bit of history...

At the end of combat operations against the Krȃng Infestation in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), the Republic Defense Force (RDF) lost some 97% of its 'Dark Fleet' when the Krȃng detonated nearly two thousand stars in what is now known - appropriately - as the Multinovae Sector. The Dark Fleet consists of those ships kept in ready-storage in the darkness between the stars both as a stockpile against a time of war and as a way to avoid starting an arms race among the lesser powers that would prove detrimental in one way or another to their economies and/or citizenry. When the Republic was forced into action against the threat of a rapidly expanding Krȃng infestation, the Dark Fleet was the perfect choice. What this means now is that the Defense Force has to replace these vessels; innumerable battleships, dreadnoughts, cruisers, along with other classes of warships.

Never one to let opportunity pass them by, the RDF has used these losses as an excuse to both upgrade and add to its fleet roster. A previous example is the new 'Cluster and SuperCluster-Class Carriers; most of the 'Cluster-Class produced will be headed straight to the Dark Fleet while the few SuperCluster-Class will be posted to the various public-facing quadrant-level commands. In the case of the Apex-Class, it will be completely replacing the Impact-Class Cruisers in the Dark Fleet and joining those in public-facing service and slowly replacing them as currently serving vessels are damaged or retired.

Technologically, the Apex-Class is a significant step above even the highly-advanced Impact-Class. Nearly every ship's system is synthetic; software-driven rather than based on physical hardware with the limitations that brings. A particular vessel in need of a more capable sensor system can actively reconfigure itself - within the confines of its mass - to have a more capable sensor system; abet at the expense of another system. Even some of the ship's 'fixed' systems - armor and ordinance launchers - are at least somewhat capable of being modified in this way. The downside? Expense, of course. The infrastructure and energy needs to create even one of these vessels would utterly consume a K1 civilization and tax a fledgling K2.

What this means for the Defense Force is a return to the true multirole, long-duration cruiser with the Apex-Class expected to more-or-less take over the entirety of the Exploration Command's fleet roster - the most public-facing of the service branches. Like the other current service vessels, it has a low crew total - 27, in most cases - and with a more expansive interior that allows it to undertake some of the duties that were denied to the 'cramped' Impact-Class.