Database and Lore

The Alrow Class Siege Dreadnought

*Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* “When we saw this ship appear, we knew that the odds were pressed against Cipra. It was little more than a giant space gun that could smash the buildings to bits. Cipra, never had a chance,” UHN serviceman spectator at the Cipra Siege. The “Supreme Arrow” class Siege Dreadnought is simple yet effective in its role to pummel worlds into submission. It is a rare vessel but one that is still seen in Aksren invasion task forces. Their purpose, however, is quite evident in providing an asset that can assist and provide fire support to the Aksren. However, its high cost and singular utility plague the vessel’s current legacy. Design The Aksren clan, in their long history, have had access to various vessels devoted to a single but powerful weapon. The entire frame of the Alrow is a long cylindrical frame dedicated to housing and firing one very heavy-duty railgun. While new since the last three hundred years, the Aksren clan did use different vessels that carried a siege gun in the past. This included former Emperor Jalgren that had siege cannon warships. The entire premise was to have a ship that could fire this heavy-duty hypervelocity round onto the ground targets of planets. If used carefully, they can also be used to cripple and damage space stations. The Aksren clan were well aware that the Itrean Civil War might not have been a conflict done by simple sieges. However, since the T’rintar and Shal’rein clans had already possessed siege warships, the Aksren decided to craft one of their own. The Alrow was not designed to be elegant or beautiful. Its CIWS armament is poor but adequate. At the same time, the single very heavy railgun was not intended to target and destroy spacefaring vessels. UHN analysts are quick to point out that the Alrow is similar to that of the Monitor class warships used in the World Wars of Earth. This could even include mortar sailing vessels used by various European nations to bomb fortresses. The biggest significant factor in the Alrow was its cost. It is moderately cheap for a vessel of its type, and the railgun is still quite powerful. With an enormous elongated barrel, the round can be expelled at more incredible speeds than the typical dreadnought railgun batteries. History It was initially intended for the vessel to be ready for manufacturing in 2340, but Zilik’s Disease would serve as a catastrophic blow to the Alrow class. For one, the original design team was run by the Aksatota, a group of all-male engineers. Unlike the other ship projects that had a mix of gender that still carried on with the work even with the male population gone, the Alrow was dramatically hit. The temporary ceasefire combined with the lack of personnel halted all work on the new upcoming siege dreadnoughts. Eventually, however, as the women had taken up every role, the women took another look at the Alrow class. By then, it was decided to recommence with the project design. It would take until late 2343 before the first prototype was tested. In 2344, the first warship was finally built four years later. Even with the introduction of the Alrow, planetary sieges were very rare, even for the Aksren clan that was more devoted to offenses than the other clans. At the same time, the siege dreadnoughts had very specific roles and were mostly kept in the rear lines. Unlike the other clan siege dreadnoughts, however, the Alrow was slowly gaining its place when it was utilized. The greatest advantage was that it would be outproduced over all of the other siege dreadnoughts but at the cost of the lack of viability. During some offensive campaigns, the Alrow would be fitted into fleets and bombard planetary installations, but other battleships and dreadnoughts could still accomplish what the Alrow was doing. However, some installations were more buried than others. There were two sieges in which the Alrow would be used to some effect. Once would be the Battle of Jimly’For where three of the dreadnoughts would execute a well- established bombardment pattern. The ships inflicted heavy damage on some T’rintar clan city structures and a powerful defense weapon base, but the Itrean clan managed to overwhelm and obliterate all but one of the siege warships. However, in the Battle of Korein, the siege dreadnoughts did manage to inflict substantial damage on one of the three heavy orbital defense platforms stationed there. However, the Alrows still sustained severe damage from Shal’rein counterattacks even then. It was deemed that both major battles did manage to do something, but the Alrow’s contribution was questioned. Lack of quality trained crews and improper placement of the vessels resulted in the Alrow being almost useless.  This still hasn’t stopped the Aksren clan from being more free-thinking in the realm of planning out assaults on some worlds. The Alrow class at least managed to perform a role in providing a useful utility when needed. The simple fact that they could be built in far greater numbers than the other clans meant that the ship could be used in large numbers to pummel orbital or ground-based targets. The Alrow would gain a reputation when one of the vessels was spotted over the end of the Cipra Siege. When the warship appeared, it shocked the UHN officials that the Itreans simply kept bringing more and more powerful equipment into a conflict that was months long. Even with the late arrival, the powerful cannon of the Alrow was able to shatter entire buildings in a single shot. Cipra’s ground defenses were no match as the heavy railgun simply added to the fleet’s offensive onslaught. According to T’rintar clan spy reports, the siege dreadnought has left the main fleet that had long captured Cipra. The legacy of the warship had been fulfilled.