Database and Lore

The Qo Mark 1 Class Medium Assault Carrier

*Spoilers if you haven’t read Gabatrix: The First Peace* “The Aksren clan ground forces are insignificant when compared to the Shal’rein, even when pressed against the UHN marines, but it doesn’t mean that you should underestimate them either. Some ships outright change the outcome of a battle with the Qo taking up the front.” UHN Analyst Harvey, 2349 AD. When humanity first encountered the Itreans in 2349, many didn’t know how the Itreans fought. Many speculations pointed at the idea of them as being robots or not even human at all. The information about how they fought on the ground was an even greater mystery. It wasn’t until the alliance between the UWA and the T’rintar that the entire information became available. Before, it was nothing but guesswork. Humanity also engaged in the same exact pattern as the Itreans when it came to ground warfare. However, with all that said, the Aksren clan did have their own variety of warships. The Qo was one such vessel with its own history. Design The “Swooping Scorpion” would be one of three major current Aksren clan ground attack vessels around its impending design phase. Prior to the Emphra War, the Aksren clan utilized another vessel that was considered a thru deck carrier to house and deploy atmospheric fighter craft. With the conclusion of the war, the Aksren clan were all but eager to help knock down their fleet sizes. With economic recessions in place, the need to have numerous landing ships was generally not needed. However, the Aksren clan was all but eager to eventually introduce a new vessel to help back up their fleet of the small Oga’krenkren carriers. This was further supported when the Aksren clan witnessed the introduction of the Tiltra class Heavy Carrier. It surprised them as the Yutilian worlds were interested in having a new vessel to help support the recent arrival of refugee Shal’rein families and future troops to come. The Aksren were welcome to participate in the project, but they rightfully refused to do so. It is more than easily speculated that the Tiltra class was a direct threat to the future of Aksren clan ground warfare. Both the Yutilians and Shal’rein had access to some of the best assault ships, but even then, the Tiltra was an oversized brick of a vessel. It was too big and cumbersome for the Aksren to operate. By 2310, the clan decided to remain out of the project in the “interests of peace,” but it was a well-speculated move that everyone predicted. The Aksren were developing their own brand-new carrier design in secret. The Qo Mark 1 was designed to help spearhead future ground invasions that the Aksren clan would engage in. If the T’rintar government failed, the Aksren would have their own ship ready for ground assaults. The entire frame of the Qo focuses on a medium carrier design. From the side, the vessel is mostly broad and flat. It uses four forward and aft-mounted thrusters to move forward and backward. In planetary flight, it has two sets of wings and eight VTOL emitters to keep it in the air. The front neck section is mostly devoted to the hangar bay facility. It’s capable of retrieving and launching aircraft through the front hatch with a bow port and starboard launch tubes. The vessel also carries three doors in the front port and starboard sides along with the rear section to deploy troops and ground vehicles. What makes the vessel deadly is the combination of firepower for its small frame. In all cases, the Qo is a smaller replica of the Tiltra but with Aksren clan ingenuity. The front wing is a housing pylon for one set of VTOL engines and carries a pair of gimble-mounted light railgun turrets. These turrets can quickly strike vehicles and buildings with ease while covering a wide arc. The vessel also houses a top rear-mounted railgun turret to snipe enemy vessels that get too close. The Qo also carries two scatter pack missile pods. These missiles can easily lay waste to swarms of planetary ground vehicles or takedown enemy defenses. The combination of these two sets of weapons transforms it into an oversized gunship. The cheaper cost than that of the Tiltra class easily convinced the Aksren clan into giving the ok to have them constructed.  History The arrival of the Qo by the time of the Itrean Civil War was a partial shock. However, its appearance was only partially dented by the fierce resistance that could occur from the ground. Even with the resilient systems in place, the Qo’s aggressive nature was stunted at best. Nevertheless, in 2339, the vessels did make their mark on a few ground fronts. They would fly low and begin hammering enemy defenses. On some occasions, they were known as the “Dwarf Tiltra” for having a similar design spectrum. It was the most powerful ground assault ship that was in Aksren clan possession. It is unknown if the Qo truly forms the command network of an Aksren clan ground invasion. Because it is the largest vessel available, it’s usually pressed into the role. However, critics of the design were able to point out the flaws rather quickly. The N’Jip, the T’rintar clan rival, actually carries more missiles than the Qo. The scatter pack missiles on the Qo are somewhat unreliable when compared to the better-designed T’rintar micro-missiles. Scatterpack munitions are fired in swarms and have mostly basic fire and forget tracking systems. Against small targets, the missiles have a chance of missing them. This includes ground vehicles. When used in large numbers, it’s not a complete loss, but their effectiveness against a single tank can be deplorable. This can cause the Qo to deplete its munition supply rather quickly while only doing so much damage. Essentially, the missile network system is not a practical setup. Regardless, the Qo is the only true heavy- hitting warship in Aksren clan ground invasions. Their gimble-mounted railguns are no laughing matter as the ship can hover in place and bombard forces from the ground. The Qo can decimate a ground force with simplicity without the proper means to stop it. By 2348, the Qo Mark 2 was introduced. The Mark 2 drops the top- mounted railgun since its usage was rather limited. It instead replaces it with a small VTOL missile launcher array to provide additional firepower against other targets while being able to repel enemy vessels in orbit. *Spoilers if you haven’t read Gabatrix: The Cipra Campaign* The Qo would make its debut to the UHN at the 2^nd Siege of Cipra (Operation Desert Shrike). It was revealed that a single Qo ultimately named the “Xiwiq” along with several Oga’krenkren carriers had captured the desert colony world of Cipra. The vessel would later help serve as a command outpost for troops to operate. It was particularly devastating to any UHN marine vehicles that got in the way of the carrier’s railgun batteries. This single vessel was a priority target because of the sheer danger that it posed to the small force. Even with Aksren aerial superiority and countless vehicles, the MMACC, the UHN flag command vehicle, was still hard to stop. However, the Xiwiq was able to fly low and remain at the same speed as the UHN force. Hovering low in the air, the railguns would have made short work of the marines with their pinpoint accuracy. When a small UHN marine task force was trying to retake the capital of Cipra, the Qo’s engines activated. It tried to liftoff and approached the invading force from the other side of the city. However, the courageous actions of a single pilot and weapon officer had managed to target one of the vessel’s weak points. It was argued that if a powerful enough explosion struck the large wing pylon where the three VTOL engines were housed, it could knock out the ship’s ability to remain in flight. Miraculously, the single UHN bomber had managed to approach the vessel while under heavy fire from aircraft and the Qo’s defense batteries. During the onslaught, a ballistic warhead struck the engine housing and detonated. All three of the VTOL thrusters were destroyed on the starboard wing, and the vessel lost control in flight. It flipped onto its side, struck the ground, and was knocked out of the fight. After UHN marines retook Cipra, the surviving Cipran population requested to have the broken remains of the vessel remain to help serve as a reminder of the battle.