Xeo Celestium Arbitrage Class Financial Dreadnought

Appearance:

The Arbitrage Class Financial Dreadnought blurs the line between super-battleship and space habitat. Most are approximately three kilometers in length, and a 400 meters in diameter. They have limited drive capability, and are considered immensely slow and unmaneuverable. Compared to normal space habitats and stations, they are agile as cats, and can move under their own power, without the need for tugs or tow ships.

Defensive Abilities:

The Arbitrage class has a class IV armored hull, up to ten meters thick in some places.

Point Defense systems include multiple laser batteries, magnetic cannons, and limited shield generation capacity.

Offensive Abilities:

Hangers and launch facilities for 300 light aerospace fighters

Hangers and launch facilities for 50 large craft (marine aerospace transports, heavy bombers, etc)

A large collection of Naval grade capital lasers, naval grade capital particle cannons, naval grade magnetic/gauss cannons, and anti-ship missiles (torpedos) Each Arbitrage class has its own unique weapons layout, tailored to the specific tastes and equipment of the Celestium Clan that owns it.

Support Abilities:

Most Arbitrage class dreadnoughts are the space homes of at least one Celestium Clan, and houses their families, genetic legacies, birthing creches, and financial assets, they are never left alone. In most instances, several of these dreadnoughts will occupy overlapping zones of support, leaving any attacking force vulnerable to the weaponry of more than one Arbitrage dreadnought. As each is the heart of a clan, and often functions as the anchorage for their other ships, said ships will be present, especially if the homeship is potentially threatened.

A regular Clan within the Celestium can have a dozen or more ships present, mostly cruisers and destroyers, present to defend their home ship. One of the Great Clans can present a force of dozens of battleships, assault carriers, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and more in their line of battle.

Population:

100,000 to 500,000

Notable Ships in the Class

XCS-002 Prince Graemon

The Graemon was the first Arbitrage to be assaulted by enemy forces, during the third Trade War. The battle was a pyrric victory for the attacking Anti-Banking Alliance, as their attacking force was successful in severely damaging the Prince, but at horrific cost. The Xeo Celestium turned the Graemon into a citadel, and left it an exposed position. The ABA struck with the full of their might and engaged not just the dreadnought but its defensive armada of warships, fighter screens, and space mecha. The battle lasted sixteen hours, and the Graemon lost atmosphere and half of its weapons were depleted of ammo or destroyed. The Celestium lost a handful of destroyers and frigates, a few escort carriers, and a pair of deemed antique battleships, the Lucerne and the Markab. These were all deemed expendable. On the opposite side of the battle, the Anti-Banking Alliance lost every single capital ship committed to the battle, irreplaceable battlecruisers, battleships, and fleet carriers. After the seeming loss of the Prince Graemon, the Xeo Celestium mounted a reprisal against the ABA fleet base at Chau Tenebra. With most of the ABA fleet damaged and scattered between the Prince Graemon and their home base, the Celestium fleet made quick work of the Chau Tenebra base, and then picked off the surviving sub-capital ships in their fleet. Within a month, the formerly dangerous ABA was reduced to criminals living in the fringe colonies, corpses, or the enslaved property of the Celestium.

XCS-097 Zahn

The Zahn is the flagship of one of the Royal Clans of the Xeo Celestium. The dreadnought is part of the Zahn flotilla, and there are technically six ships bearing the name Zahn. 097 though 102, Zahn Prime through Zahn VI. The first of the ships is considered the most important as it has a gold alloy hull, state of the art technology, and if there is a king among the Xeo Celestium, he would live on the Zahn. The ship is a half kilometer longer than the average Arbitrage class, is equipped with nothing but homing austerhagen torpedos and plasma lance cannons. The ship has only seen combat once, and the term is used loosely. The Zahn Prime was involved in the final assault on the planet Zhattan 6. The defending fleet had been broken, most ground forces had been routed, and the defenders had retreated to their final fortress. Zahn Prime used its forward plasma lances to soften the target before destroying it completely with a fatal barrage of mico-black hole torpedos.

The planet was rendered uninhabitable.