Database and Lore

The Yu’il Mark 1 Class Gun Battleship

* Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The First Peace arc* “The Yu’il is the pride of the Shal’rein clan. It is the pinnacle of their return to strength and power. For ten years, they only had one battleship that they built because the Yu’il was all they needed,” A Yutilian strategist. There is no doubt that one warship has appeared more often than any other Shal’rein warship when humanity encountered them. The Yu’il class has been a hallmark of design and raw power. It fixed problems and simply served as the best viable combat vessel that an alien race could ever want. Yet, even with such a design, it represents the Shal’rein beliefs that they will die, believing that it's best to fight at close unavoidable railgun ranges rather than use guided torpedoes and missiles as a viable method of combat. Design The Yu’il class Battleship is no surprise that it was an outgrowth of the venerable Ikra class battleship. While many scholars are quick to point out the fact that it was a replacement to the Qitilix, it was designed to outright resolve the issues the previous class had. Among the most significant problem was introducing an additional reactor module section. The additional power made a dramatic difference in the warship’s firepower. Not only did it not have to worry about running out of power in firing the guns, but it could actually fire the guns faster. Adjustments to the railguns allowed them to fire at a quicker rate. The entire frame, while similar to the Qitilix, has numerous differences in the interior. For one, it has a blockier appearance than the other warships. The movement of the ventral bridge to the bow section has given more room for the short-range intercept missile launchers. Internal changes were also implemented. Despite having an economy that just barely recovered from the devastation of the Emphra, it hadn’t stopped the Shal’rein from falling in love with the ship. Even Gular’shel, a famous Shal’rein hero from the Emphra, didn’t hesitate to call the Yu’il a “fantastic improvement over what he envisioned, but one that could always be improved.” History The first Yu’il class met a sudden dramatic halt in production when Zilik’s Disease struck the entire population. With the whole male population dead, peace was almost declared. By the time the conflict continued, the first series of battleships were completed at the very end of the year. Right from the start, the Shal’rein didn’t hesitate to send them into front-line combat, but it almost didn’t matter. The survivability of these warships proved to be a hallmark of their success. Their ability to inflict enormous damage at unavoidable close ranges was noteworthy. While the Aksren and T’rintar focused on their Italqs and Italxes, the Shal’rein Yu’il class was starting to gain its fame as a “cylindrical bruiser” in the fact that they could equally engage the other clan counterparts. For the Shal’rein, the immediate early success of their introduction marked the clan to rapidly construct new vessels. The Yu’il was a well-balanced vessel capable of handling an onslaught of munitions tossed at it. In typical fleet formations, the Yu’il made the core of the front-line fleets. They would be placed near the center and simply drive forward into the enemy. They would use their combined anti-missile capability to protect one another and pummel enemy targets. Regardless of its introduction, however, there had been criticisms of the design. Even if Gular’shel had praised the design before his inevitable passing, it didn’t stop the fact that the Shal’rein could see a dramatic shift in how they engaged in ship-to-ship combat. The Shal’rein short-range guided munition system was questioned by many even if it proved to be particularly effective. Many clans were beginning to fear that the Shal’rein really were going to start switching over to guided torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. According to many sources, this was far from the truth, but the short-range missile system was actually better than what the Yutilians and Aksren had. The Yu’il class battleship is often viewed as a half compromise towards progressing to guided munitions and those who don’t want it. To the Shal’rein, they place an enormous value on a person’s shooting skill. If missiles are used, then it devalues a gunner and a person’s wellbeing. Despite the popularity of the battleship, it has received criticism off and on. The cost of it is still high, even for a basic warship of its type. It is slightly more expensive to build this ship than the Aksren and T’rintar battleship clan counterparts. Another issue was that the Shal’rein didn’t bother to build different types of battleships until 2350, ten years later. This often forced the adjuncts and fleet adjuncts to put the Yu’il class in the same exact roles in every ship engagement. The lack of flexibility in this vessel was perhaps too little, and other clan species took advantage of that particular lack of adapting. Despite the criticisms, the Yu’il was famous and would remain so all the way until 2350, with the introduction of the Mark 2 and the Yis class Escort Battleship. The UHN would only really confirm this class of vessel until the Battle of Oshun. There, seven Yu’il battleships would engage in almost one on one or one against two slugging matches against the UHN defense fleet. The combined missile strikes from the planetary defenses and additional warships from the moon base of Orsa was the only thing from leaving Oshun completely vulnerable. The Battle of Oshun was one that was barely won. If it were a simple fleet of UHN warships engaging this same fleet away from the planet, they would have been annihilated. It’s been well evaluated that it would take two Magellan class battleships even to counter a single Yu’il class. The Shal’rein defenses simply make them almost impervious to anti-ship missiles and torpedoes unless there are so many that they can’t be all shot down in time. * Spoilers if you haven't read past Gabatrix: The Violet Wave arc* The Yu’il class would be seen once again at Aphadus. Much as they were used before, they were kept in a fleet formation and used to help lure the UHN defenses away enough to help Shira launch her quick strike on the surface. According to most analysts, the Yu’il class will remain in the Shal’rein fleet inventories for a very long time. Its legacy is one that has been secured in the history books.