Apocalypse-class Battleship

The Apocalypse Class Battleship is a rare but extremely powerful battleship currently in service in the Imperial Navy. The Apocalyspe Class is no longer produced at Forge World ship yards due to the aging design and lost technical specificaions over the millennia. The vessels now in service have either been in service since they were built or were recovered as hulks and retrofitted back into working order so as to continue the fight for the Imperium.

Overview
The Apocalypse Class is a vessel worthy of such a title. Carrying enough firepower to rival that of a Retribution Class Battleship, it is a vessel much sought after throughout all of the Segmentum fleets, particulary those that face the fiercest of space combat, and is also much feared by the Imperium's enemies alike. The firepower it brings to battle is one for any Fleet Admiral to relish but the technology is so ancient that few can operate it and fewer still can maintain it. These shortcomings mean that because of the lack of knowledge and technology to replicate these warships; the Apocaplyse Class is a precious jem of the Imperial Navy and the loss of any one of them is keenly felt throughout the Navy and also by the Adeptus Mechanicus- who revere the technology as sacred.

However the sacrifice of these vessels is rare and so the battle records of the Apocalypse become legendary with vessels like His Will and Triumph carving out impressive war records that are remembered and spoken about across the Imperium of Man in countless campaigns from one end of the galaxy to the other. However dispite Admirals and Captain alike treasuring these relics and keeping them in fighting condition, their numbers continue to dwindle and though most Segmentum fleets have several examples of the Apocalypse worthy of combat, they cannot be replaced.

Design
The Apocalypse Class is a truly ancient class of human space faring vessel which predates the Retribution Class by a millennia which dates the design to around M.28 or M.29. The arcane technologies used in its construction all but lost in the eons of time since they were first envisioned. Nevertheless the technology remains as does the ship class itself but the Apocalypse Class is far too valuable and too complex to simply reverse engineer which itself could take hundreds of years if not thousands. Of the knowledge that has been gained by the Tech Priests, the ability to operate it efficiently as been acquired and thus it is able to participate in the defence of mankind. But the exact details of its construction are still unknown. Apart from the bare basics or the obvious, the Apocalypse Class is still a mystery to all.

At just under 4km in length and just under 2km in breadth at its widest point, the Apocalypse is a colossal ship with only Emperor and Retribution battleships besting it at size. It is also shorter in height than its fellow battleship classes. The prowess of this vessel visibly emulates but a fraction of the Emperor’s power. Its looks and overall design do much to show enemy shipping just what Imperial firepower means. The most notable part of the Apocalypse Class is the prow. Its distinctive armoured ‘Eagle’ prow gleams white with adamantium armoured designed to protect the ship when ramming. However it also houses and protects the delicate and formidable Nova Cannon bombardment weapon.

Unlike the Emperor and Retribution battleships, the Apocalypse Class does not have a huge golden monument relating to the Imperium atop its bridge (The Emperor Class has a cloaked angel with a sword and shield and the Retribution has an Imperial Eagle). It, and along with its sister classes the Oberon, do not have this unique feature. It not known why no Apocalypse or Oberon Class battleships are built without such ornaments but in keeping with tradition they continue to operate without them unless used as way of decorating the vessel.

The final note on appearance is its engine fins. Emperor and Retribution have long fins to the port and starboard sides of the main engines sitting vertically with some additional thrusters built into them with a third vertical one sitting in the middle between the engines. However this is not the case with the Apocalypse Class. It does have the central vertical fin between the engines but the side tail fins are horizontal instead of vertical with no built in thrusters. Why this is so isn’t known but the ship is still as sluggish at manoeuvring as fellow battleships so they are not to improving in steering. It may have to do with the vessel’s use as a lance firing platform and thus improved stability while moving and turning is required. However no one can be sure and there is no detailed record of its construction or design to cross reference all the theories.

Weapons
The armament is the most impressive aspect of this battleship. Banks upon banks of lance batteries provide the ship, and the Imperial fleet with which it is present, a stable, accurate and monumentally lethal firing platform that can accurate ‘snipe’ enemy vessels from distance. The lance batteries are all mounted along the broadsides of the Apocalypse and have an impressive range and can bring huge amounts of phased energy on to enemy targets. Such weapons effortlessly cleave apart enemy escorts and can cripple or destroy enemy capital ships with just a single broadside. But what makes these weapons even more dangerous is the Apocalypse Class’ advanced tracking and firing sensors and the ability to engineer the power relays inside the ship to funnel more energy to the lances. This vastly increases the lances already have, so much so that the process effectively doubles the range of the lance batteries. However the ship and its internal workings are very delicate and when the array conduits of the lances are reengineered in this way it places unimaginable stress on the load-bearing capabilities these relays. The conduits powering the lances and other sectors of the ship become extremely unreliable and in order to prevent a complete loss of power to the weapons the power relays start to drain the ship of power and have to tap into the main engines to keep everything working. This makes an already sluggish battleship even less chance of changing course which is dangerous when in battle. The thrusters become critically damaged and have to be repaired. Thus, the Apocalypse Class usually keep their lances batteries firing at a range that does not damage the ship or its fighting ability.

The Apocalypse Class also has a very long range and quite formidable weapons battery running along the dorsal ‘spine’ of the ship. This is a common sight on many capital ships but makes the ship much more flexible with multiple firing arcs, increased weapons range and the ability to engage smaller and weaker targets with ordinary weaponry without wasting powerful lance shots better suited for heavier targets.



The ship is also home to a Nova Cannon. More commonly found on Mars Class battlecruisers, the nova cannon fits perfectly in with the Apocalypses’ role of a bombardment battleship. The cannon is huge and mounted on the prow so that the engine can better brace the ship against the recoil when it fires. When fired a projectile is flung towards the target at nearly the speed of light and implodes at a distance set by the tactical officer on board the ship before it was fired, causing destruction in the surrounding area of space capable of destroying almost all escorts and crippling cruisers and battleships alike.

Turrets are the final weapon mounted on the Apocalypse Class worthy of mention. They are used as a final defence against enemy fighters and torpedoes and the ship houses four turrets and are mounted on the ‘wings’ of the battleship.

Void Shields
Void shields on Imperial vessels (and enemy vessels for that matter), are larger and more powerful versions than those found on titans and other war machines. A void shield is created by single generator that creates a sphere of energy around the ship that protects it from direct and indirect enemy fire. It prevents damage from energy weapons and prevents actual critical structural damage occurring on the ship. Any vessel large enough to be built with a shield generator thus as a shield but energy weapons overload the generators so once fire as been absorbed, the void shield collapses. The shield regenerates several minutes later assuming the ship isn’t attacked again and that subsequent attacks do not damage the shield generator. Ordnance like torpedoes and fighters are not affected by the effects of shields and can do direct damage to the ship unless engaged by turrets. The Apocalypse Class has four shield generators and thus has four shields.