Azashar Class General Purpose Vessel

(Version 1.00 - Last Modified: 01/15/2005)

The Azashar Class General Purpose Vessels started their lives as trans-light colony ships during the first Tirolian colonization wave, centuries before the advent of Robotechnology. In those times, fold technology was still primitive, and the fold drives of that time were extremely large and inefficient. In addition, the total mass that could be folded was bound by an upper limit, and the colony ships were built right up to this limit. As much of the internal space and total mass of these vessels was reserved for the fold drives, their cargo capacity was far less than their size would lead one to expect. However, inefficient as they were, twenty-five of these vessels were built and used to establish the first Tirolian colonies. Later on, when more advanced fold engine designs became available and Protoculture power sources became common, the colony ships were mothballed, as they were utterly obsolete. However, they now had very substantial internal spaces and because of Tirolian design practices, had very thick and sound hulls. Thus, when the Robotech Elders decided to emigrate from the Tirolian surface, they chose to strip the colony vessels of their gigantic fold drives and use the freed-up space to install the latest in starship technologies. The new drives and other machinery were relatively so small, the vessels had large areas of empty space left over, an extremely rare occurrence on a starship.

When the Invid and the Ci'Vonian rebels and their renegade Zentraedi allies, known to the Masters as the Disciples of Zor, began their fold-guerilla campaigns against the Robotech Empire, there was little that could be done in the beginning, owing to the fact that a fold jump could not be tracked. The Tirolian's answer to this was the creation of the Hyperspace Mass Sensor, which could track all fold movements within a radius of light years. However, these sensors were originally extremely large and the only vessels large enough to mount the required two antennae per ship were the Azashar vessels. Thus they were refitted with the large horn-like sensors. Using this technology, the Masters managed to track and defeat the Disciples of Zor at their bases and also managed to keep the Invid contained and away from more vulnerable systems. Eventually, the Hyperspace sensor technology improved and was miniaturized, but the Azashar vessels retained their original and very powerful sensors.

The Azashar Class General Purpose Vessel was a gargantuan mass of metals, ceramics and organics, massing as much as 350 Macross Class Battle Fortresses. The main hull was shaped in an irregular hexagonal platform, with the longitudinal side far larger than the other four sides. On top of the hull were two rather distinct features: a round pyramid on the forward portion of the ship, and a large elevated rectangle capped by two sloping planes. The latter feature gave the impression of a roof built on top of the vessel. The rest of the surface was not flat, but resembled very much the streets and stone canyons of a city. However, there were no windows or portholes present. Under the hull were two important features of the ships: two Hyperspace Mass Sensor horns and a large cone of metal that was actually the hangar and docking area for the larger sub-vessels.

The drives of the Mother ship were unusual, the Tirolian scientists had perfected an efficient reactionless drive and installed one in each Azashar vessel. However, as was proven over Earth during the Second Robotech War, the shielding of this drive was not ideal, and the downing of the Robotech Master's flagship on Earth caused emergency modifications to the other remaining ships in the fleet. In addition, the energy demands of this drive system far outstripped the generating capability of the class, even if all the internal space was converted into Reflex furnace chambers. Consequently, the ships stored a large amount of energy, built up over a long period of time and discharged the energy into the drive units. The technological basis of this system is classified, but basic physics, and what information concerning this system is declassified, would suggest that the energy was stored in the form of anti-matter.

The ships armaments were impressive as well, with almost several hundred Roil corvettes, tens of thousands of Bioroids, and a ship-to-ship armament second to none. The latter included a Reflex Cannon of the larger variety, numerous anti-ship cannons, and over a thousand anti-mecha cannons which proved to be frightfully effective against the forces of the Southern Cross. Added to all this was the formidable passive defense system of the hull itself and the force fields that came with it.

Internally, no two ships were identical, and only some broad locations can be pointed out. The residential sections of the ship occupied the upper decks of the main hull, with the command and control sections underneath them. The lower parts of the hull were relegated to engines, storage sites and industrial purposes. The two horns on the underside formed the hyperspace sensors, and the mentioned upper deck features were part research laboratory spaces and secondary command centers. As much of the internal hull could be restructured (originally for damage control purposes), any detailed description of the internal layout of any vessel must by necessity be placed within a certain timeframe. Outside said frame, the description would have become invalid due to the constant reshuffling and refitting done by the ships' commanding Triumvirate.

Twenty-five hulls were built over Tirol from 1033 through 1125. All 23 surviving vessels were folded back to Tirol and decommissioned from 1134 through 1138, and the hulls were stored in a deep space depot. From 1398 onwards, the hulls were taken out of depot and refitted to the Azashar class standard. All vessels were renamed to 'Neuparszietsch' (translated into English as "Capital Vessel") followed by a number. However, the clone crews nicknamed their homes after principles and qualities deemed admirable by them, and these names often showed up even in official Tirolian documents. The Azashar vessels remains in orbit of Tirol until the destruction of the Zentraedi armada over Earth in 2011. With the Zentraedi failing to capture the SDF-1, the Robotech Masters decided it was time to travel to Earth and capture the ship themselves. The 22 vessels that had survived until 2011 folded out of the Valivarre star system on their long journey to Earth. Unfortunately, only nine vessels were able to make the journey to Earth without losing power over the several fold jumps needed to reach the Sol System, all of the other ships were depleted of energy and were cannibalized long before the fleet reached Earth-space. One of these nine ships was destroyed when the Hannibal rammed and self-destructed inside her; the Tirolian flagship was destroyed when Zor Prime destroyed the main engineering computer; another ship was destroyed over the ruins of the SDF-1 by Zor Prime, which released the Flower of Life onto Earth's biosphere. A fourth ship crash-landed in the Skagerrak and within a few years resembled an island off the Norwegian coast. The hulk provided many sorely needed resources to the European resistance in their fight against the Invid. A fifth ship crashed into the Indochina region after attempting to rendezvous with the Zentraedi forces located there. The other ships were destroyed in space during the final battles at the end of the Second Robotech War. Although there locations were known only the Robotech Masters, there are twelve Azashar vessels scattered throughout a path from Earth to Tirol.

Names and Disposition:

Shipyard Name	Tirolian Name	Notes
Neuparszietsch 01	Azashar (Progress)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 02	Gneuatzenai (Strength)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 03	Tszaequhous (Attentive Patience)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth. Used as first flagship for the Robotech Masters, until Zor Prime destroyed it.
Neuparszietsch 04	Bluurentzs (Wisdom)	Wrecked in an unnamed system 300 light years from Tirol.
Neuparszietsch 05	Tszailits (Obedience)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 06	Bimalkarre (Harmony)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth.
Neuparszietsch 07	Qlispitsz (Utmost Accuracy)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 08	Qulbtzsu Dashai (Solid Foundation)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 09	Thavallie (Unity)	Destroyed in 2030 on Earth, over the remains of the SDF-1. Used as the second flagship for the Robotech Masters.
Neuparszietsch 10	Tsjienalas (Guarded Enlightenment)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth.
Neuparszietsch 11	Asbilledes (Forefront of Advancement)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 12	Buoquolin (Efficiency)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 13	Quilmenar (Visionary)	Crashed into the Indochina sector of Earth, completely inoperable.
Neuparszietsch 14	Roinamintszal (Serenity)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth.
Neuparszietsch 15	Querosotsz (Knowledge)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 16	Tszavrlain (Clear Hierarchy)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 17	Iethepatz (Path to Perfection)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 18	Qlanadul Damol (Central Dogma)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth. Crashed into the Skaggerak, in Europe.
Neuparszietsch 19	Miltlari (Prosperity)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 20	Galstaran (Deep Thought)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 21	Tszienajno (Harmonious Community)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 22	Bontamasz (Guidance from Elders)	Missing, presumed lost to Protoculture depletion.
Neuparszietsch 23	Kasatsziri (Order)	Destroyed in 2030 over Earth.

Ship Information:

• Ship Class: Dreadnought
• Ship Type: Heavy Command
• Year Commissioned: 1033 CE
• Crew:
  • Command Crew: 240 to 300 (Masters, Scientists, and War Triumvirates)
  • Ship Crew: 9000 to 10,000
  • Total: 9240 to 10,300
• Troops:
  • Air Group: 30,000 to 35,000
  • Troops: 0 to 10,000
  • Total: 30,000 to 45,000
• Civilians: 150,000 to 270,000
• Total Crew, Troops, and Civilians: 189,240 to 325,300

Vehicle Complement:

• Bioroid Complement:

26,085	Blue Combat Bioroid
1080	Green Combat Bioroid
2265	Red Combat Leader Bioroid
600	Invid Fighter Bioroid
210	Bioroid Scout

• Drone Complement:

300	Roil Quekasm Air Defense Drone

• Other Complement:

40,320	Bioroid Skysled
200	Roil Tiluvo Class Assault Corvette

M.D.C. by location:

• Heavy Particle Cannon - 15,000 each
• Retractable Particle Beam Cannons (930) - 150 each
• Retractable Laser Turrets (1200) - 60 each
• Retractable Weapon Hatches (2130) - 100 each
• Airlock Access Hatches - 200 each
• Shuttle Bay Hatches (2) - 750 each
• Main Towers (2) - 30,000 each
• Maneuvering Thrusters (2100) - 150 each
• Hull Regions (600) - 1000 each
• Main Body - 600,000 *
• Hexagonal Force Fields (100) - 1000 each


M.D.C. Armor Rating - Hull Region: 13
M.D.C. Armor Rating - Main Body: 22
Notes:

*	Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut down the entire ship, including life support, gravity control, communications, weapons, and engines. The command bridge will also be destroyed.

Speed:

• Fold Drive: Uses a Fold Drive with a maximum speed of 10 light-years per hour. The ship's navigational equipment cannot safely execute a fold jump of distances greater than 1 kiloparsec (3260 light-years) and it can only be activated once per hour.
• Sublight: Can travel at up to 20 percent of the speed of light (0.20c) and accelerate / decelerate at a rate of 0.1 percent of light (0.001c) per melee.
• Atmospheric Propulsion: Uses an anti-gravity drive that has a maximum cruise speed is Mach 2 (1490 mph / 2400 km/h) and can enter and leave an atmosphere with Earth-like gravity.
• Maximum Range: Effectively unlimited by drive system and onboard supplies will last indefinitely as long as sources of raw materials can be found every few years.

Statistical Data:

• Height: 3970' (1210 m)
• Width: 19,078' or 3.6 miles (5815 m or 5.8 km)
• Length: 23,820' or 4.5 miles (7260 m or 7.3 km)
• Weight: 6.92 billion tons (6.28 billion metric tons)
• Reactor System: Tirolian Protoculture Reactor with a life span of 100 years.
• Propulsion System: Anti-Gravity
• Gravity System: Internal
• Cargo: Extensive

Weapon Systems:

1. Heavy Reflex Cannon
   The most powerful weapon on the vessel, the Heavy Reflex Cannon is capable of destroying entire fleets in a single shot, and forced opposing fleets to spread themselves out over a large area to avoid having several ships destroyed in a single shot from this weapon. The cannon is hidden in the core of the forward section of the ship, and that section to fire. The cannon needs five full minutes to power up its enormous capacitors and another full minute to separate the ship before it is ready to fire. The beam itself will last for one full melee and then the capacitors can begin recharging again. The cannon's strength is equivalent to 50 MT (megatons) of TNT. See Tirolian Ship Systems for more details on Heavy Reflex Cannons.
   • Range: 100 miles (160.9 km) underwater, 200 miles (321.9 km) through an atmosphere, and 200,000 miles (321,869 km) in space.
   • Damage: 5D4x500,000 M.D. per single blast.
   • Blast Radius: The cannon's beam width is 2080' (634 m) and when used against a planet, it leaves a crater with a diameter of 50,000' (15,240 m) and a depth of 5000' (1524 m).
   • M.D.C. Weapon Rating: 100
   • Rate of Fire: The cannon can fire once every eight minutes, but can fire no more then five times per hour.
   • Payload: Effectively unlimited
   • Note: None of the Heavy Particle Cannons were working on the Azashar vessels that reached Earth during the Second Robotech War.
2. Retractable Particle Beam Cannons (930)
   Scattered across the hull of every Tirolian warship, the Particle Beam Cannons stand ready to pop out from under their sliding hatches to attack. Each turret is capable of 360 degrees of rotation with an arc of fire of 180 degrees. 250 cannons are located on the top of the ship, 400 cannons are located on the bottom of the ship, and the remaining 280 cannons are spread around the rim of the ship.
   • Range: 100 miles (160.9 km) underwater, 200 miles (321.9 km) through an atmosphere, and 200,000 miles (321,869 km) in space.
   • Damage: 2D4x100 M.D. per single blast.
   • M.D.C. Weapon Rating: 24
   • Rate of Fire: Each cannon can fire twice per melee.
   • Payload: Effectively unlimited
3. Retractable Laser Turrets (1200)
   The Lasers Turrets are located in batteries along the front and side of all Tirolian ships. They are not very powerful, but if fired in large numbers they can be devastating. They are primarily used against enemy fighters that are attacking the ship. 400 cannons are located on the top of the ship, 500 cannons are located on the bottom of the ship, and the remaining 300 cannons are spread around the rim of the ship.
   • Range: 1584' (956.6 m) underwater, 3168' (956.6 m) through an atmosphere, and 60 miles (96.6 km) in space.
   • Damage: 2D6x10 M.D. per single blast.
   • M.D.C. Weapon Rating: 23
   • Rate of Fire: Each cannon can fire four times per melee, but they must fire in a volley of at least three cannons.
   • Payload: Effectively unlimited

Shield Systems:

1. Hexagonal Force Fields (100)
   The ship can create a hundred hexagonal force fields at any point around the ship to protect it from incoming attacks. Once placed, the fields cannot be moved until the next melee round, but they can be taken down and replaced by an inactive shield between each volley against the ship. There are enough hexagons so that the entire ship can be covered with ten hexagons remaining inactive. Damage in excess of what an individual field can sustain if caused by a beam or projectile weapon will cause damage to the ship, but excess damage from a missile or a missile volley will be completely deflected. Each field regenerates at a rate of 50 M.D.C. per minute while active and 100 M.D.C. per melee round while inactive.
   • M.D.C.: 1000 each

Special Systems:

1. Medial and Bio-Scan Facilities
   The ship has extensive medical facilities that can do anything from mend broken bones to extremely complicated surgery. The ship also has a complete bio-scan chamber used to study and analyze alien life forms and to provide detailed information regarding the physiology, chemical structure, and genetic structure of that life form.
2. Protoculture Reactor Recharger
   The ship is able to recharge other ship's Protoculture Reactors by draining its own reactor of energy. For every five years recharged by the ship, the life span of the ship's Protoculture Reactor is reduced by one year.
3. Spaceship Production Facilities
   The ship contains basic spaceship construction facilities. There is one building dock measuring 1300' (396 m) in length and six building docks measuring 450' (137.2 m) in length. In total, seven ships could be under construction at the same time. The ship is only designed to build Tirolian ships, not Zentraedi or Border Fleet ships. At normal production it takes two months to build a Taul Detrel Class Destroyer and three weeks to build a Roil Tiluvo Class Assault Corvette. Reduce production times by half if a facility is at maximum production, but for every week the facility is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the facility will fail and require 2D4 months of repair before restarting operations.
4. Spaceship Repair Facilities
   Each spaceship construction dock can be used to repair or refit a Tirolian ship; the docks can also be used to repair or refit any Zentraedi or Border Fleet ship. The length of time it takes to repair a ship depends on the extent of the damage or disrepair of the ship. The average length of time to repair a ship can last from a few days to several months.
5. Mecha Production Facilities
   The ships contains impressive mecha construction facilities. There are three mecha factories and each factory is designed to be generic and can construct any Tirolian bioroid. At normal production, each factory can produce 72 Blue Combat Bioroids, 36 Green Combat Bioroids, 48 Red Combat Leader Bioroids, 24 Invid Fighter Bioroids, 36 Bioroid Scouts, 30 Roil Quekasm Air Defense Drones, or 120 Bioroid Skysleds per week. It takes one week to retool a factory from producing one mecha type to a different mecha type. Double rate of production if a factory is at maximum production, but for every month the factory is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the factory will fail and require 1D4 weeks of repair before restarting operations.
6. Weapon Production Facilities
   The ship contains impressive weapon construction facilities. There are three factories aboard the ship and they are dedicated to producing armor and infantry weapons. At normal production, each factory can produce 500 suits of armor of any type and 750 infantry weapons of any type per week. Double rate of production if the factory is at maximum production, but for every month the factory is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the factory will fail and require 1D4 weeks of repair before restarting operations.
7. Missile Production Facilities
   The ship contains impressive missile construction facilities. There are two factories aboard the ship and they are designed to be generic and can construct any Tirolian missile. At normal production, each factory can produce 1000 short range missiles, 250 medium range missiles, 50 long range missiles, or 10 cruise missiles per week. It takes one week to retool a factory from producing one missile type to a different missile type. Double rate of production if a factory is at maximum production, but for every month the factory is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the factory will fail and require 1D4 weeks of repair before restarting operations. The construction of a missile includes all guidance systems and warheads, although no reflex warheads can be built.
8. Clone Production Facilities
   The ship contains basic clone production facilities. There is a single factory aboard the ship and it can produce 600 new Tirolian clone soldiers of either gender per week. The ship has the facilities to train thousands of new clones and within two months of birth, these clones are fully capable soldiers, although integration into Tirolian culture can take several additional months. Double rate of production if the factory is at maximum production, but for every month the factory is at maximum production there is a cumulative 5% chance that the factory will fail and require 1D4 months of repair before restarting operations.

Standard Systems:

1. Life Support System
   The ship has a fully operational life support system that provides fresh atmosphere throughout the ship. The life support system can sustain a maximum of 500,000 people indefinitely or 700,000 people for a short period of time in case of an emergency.
2. Communication Systems
   The ship is equipped with four communication systems. The first is a long range laser system with a maximum range of 100,000 miles (160,934 km), the transmissions travel at the speed of light, but they rely on line of sight, so it cannot communicate with a ship that is on the other side of a solid object. The second system is a long range radio system with a maximum range of 10,000 miles (16,093 km), the transmissions travel at the speed of light, but they are easy to intercept and jam. The third system is a satellite relay system that allows the ship to boost the range of the other communication systems indefinitely by using satellites or other ships to relay the transmission. The forth system is a Hyperspace Communications Relay, which travels at a rate of one light-year every 5 seconds. Hyperspace communications can travel through planets and other obstructions unhindered, are extremely difficult to intercept, and impossible to jam. The ship's communication array can contact with up to 5000 ships simultaneously.
3. Sensor Systems
   The ship is equipped with four sensor systems. The first is the Electromagnetic Detection Equipment that detects other sensor systems at twice the maximum range of their transmitter. The second is a powerful array that uses standard radar waves, which are fairly easy to jam, but it is obvious when the radar array is being jammed. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 1.5 million miles (2.4 million km), small targets at a range of up to 15 million miles (24.1 million km), medium targets at a range of up to 25 million miles (40.2 million km), and large targets at a range of up to 40 million miles (64.4 million miles). The third is a Subspace Mass Sensor that uses gravity-based technology to detect target's at real time speed. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 2 million miles (3.2 million km), small targets at a range of up to 20 million miles (32.2 million km), medium targets at a range of up to 40 million miles (64.4 million km), and large targets at a range of up to 60 million miles (96.6 million miles). The forth is a Hyperspace Mass Sensor that can detect and track ships that are using a Fold Drive. The sensor can track tiny targets at a range of up to 8 parsecs (26.08 light-years), small targets at a range of up to 40 parsecs (130.4 light-years), medium targets at a range of up to 80 parsecs (260.8 light-years), and large targets at a range of up to 120 parsecs (391.2 light-years). See Tirolian Ship Systems for more details on sensor systems.
4. Targeting Computer System
   Connecting the ship's sensor systems with the weapon systems is the Targeting Computer System. The system is designed to control all of the weapons currently equipped on the ship. This system can track up to 700 targets simultaneously, providing detailed information about the targets from the ships data files. All direct fire weapons receive a bonus of +7 to strike and all missile weapons receive a bonus of +5 to strike. These bonuses are in addition to any previously stated bonuses or penalties.

Combat Summary:

• Combat Actions: 7
• Strike: +7 to strike with direct fire weapons and +5 to strike with missile weapons.
• Targeting System: Can track up to 700 targets simultaneously.