Damocles (spaceship)
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The Starship Damocles is a fictional sword-shaped spacecraft from the science fiction computer game, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. The player may command this unique starship to attack, even ram, Primordius' heavily-shielded haunted space station. This is one of two rare quest encounters in the game.
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[edit] History
In an age long before the events that take place in Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space and Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, the Starship Damocles was the personal vessel of the heroic leader -and interstellar playboy- Prince Arcturus, noble son of Queen Eledra of Centuria.
Since that distant time, the Damocles has become the stuff of speculation and legend...until it was recently discovered, by chance, by an intrepid explorer (the player of the game) as a derelict vessel in orbit around an uncharted gas giant planet.
Although it was found to be protected by venerable defenses -a ring of deadly automatic drones- the Starship Damocles was "pulled as the sword was pulled from the stone," reactivated and utilized to stop the reemergence of an ancient undying enemy of Queen Eledra -Primordius, Dread Lord of the Dark Traverse- who would, if unchecked, once again attempt to plunge the galaxy into darkness and despair.
[edit] Design
The Damocles was designed to be largely automatic so that a single person can control the entire ship from the captain's seat if desired. The ship is self-maintaining and well-shielded which explains its nearly perfect condition after thousands of years in a parking orbit.
Ordinarily, a bridge crew of six would handle the ship's higher functions, with a total crew size of 50-100. Surviving records indicate that during peacetime most of the crew consisted of Arcturus' personal servants and bodyguards.
Despite its martial appearance (it was modeled after the sword-shaped battleships of the time) the Damocles is not a dedicated warship and is relatively lightly armed for its size. When attached to a fleet, it was primarily used as a command ship, captained by Arcturus, to carry diplomats, members of the royal court, etc. Smaller escort spacecraft were used to defend it.
The front half of the hull (the slender "blade") consists of grandiose dining halls, luxurious living quarters for interstellar nobility and, at the very tip, an armor-shuttered observation deck. Aft of that, a bulkier area contains the cargo hold, two airlocks for "space scooters," crew/servant quarters and the command bridge. The ship's power plants and star drives are located in the rear end of this section. The cluster of four gimballed maneuvering thrusters placed at the end of a long "stem" (the "hilt") provide increased leverage, but the ship remains rather sluggish.
Weapon systems are mounted within the short wings on each side of the main hull. The main offensive weapons are "Cobalt Thorium G" torpedoes, launched from large tubes built into each wing. Two aft-facing Proton Phasor beam turrets are mounted in the wing tips to defend against attacks from the rear. Additionally, the hull is very robust with a reinforced sharp front section to allow ramming.
[edit] Advanced technology
Although the Starship Damocles is extremely old some of its ship systems are of a technological level far beyond that of humans and the other starfaring races of Sector Prime.
- Temporal Flux shield: a powerful energy field that surrounds a starship with an anti-time "flux" affording optimum shield protection. In deep space the flux field can even expand to shield a small flotilla from a nova shockwave.
- Anti-Graviton Shunt: an exotic and powerful alien "gizmo" which generates an antigravitic field large enough to nullify the pull of a black hole and shield a flotilla of starships from its effects.
[edit] Specifications
Length: 186m (610ft)
Width: 66m (217ft)
Cargo Space: 20 universal containers
Weapons:
- two 12 Kiloton Cobalt Torpedo launchers
- two Proton Phasor beam turrets (aft-facing)
Drives:
- two Hydrogen Fusion FTL drives
- four Fusion Tube sublight thrusters
Other systems:
- Temporal Flux shield
- ram plating
- Anti-Graviton Shunt
