# Leviathan, Awake **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [November 1, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088 "2024-11-01T06:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2024, 6:56am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/1 "2024-11-01T06:56:01Z")
**LEVIATHAN-CLASS DREADNOUGHT** **Operated by:** Empire of the Star **Type:** Dreadnought, General Operations **Construction:** Palaxias Fleet Yards **Length:** 3 km **Beam (avg.):** 0.8 km **Z-Beam (avg.):** 0.6 km **Dry mass:** 2,500,000 tons **Gravity-well capable:** No. **Atmosphere-capable:** No. **Personnel:** 6,736 - 4,968 crewers - 1,768 espatiers - Thinker-class AI **Drives:** - Imperial Navy 4×2 “Neutrino Dawn” antimatter pion drive - Nucleodyne Thrust Applications 4×4 “Nova Pulse” fusion torch **Propellant:** - Deuterium slush/metallic antideuterium - Deuterium/helium-3 slush blend **Cruising (sustainable) thrust:** 7.2 standard gravities (6.7 Earth G) **Peak (unsustainable) thrust:** 8.4 standard gravities (7.8 Earth G) **Maximum velocity:** 0.3 c (rated, based on particle shielding) **Drones:** - 144 x AKVs (loadout varies by mission, typically _Daggerfan_-class) - 144 x add-on thrust packs for AKVs - 72 x “Buckler VI” point-defense supplementary drones, Artifice Armaments, ICC - 72 x “Rook” tactical observation platforms, Sy Astronautic Engineering Collective (with supplementary IN hardware) - 72 x general-duty modular drones **Sensors:** - 3 x independent standard navigational sensor suite, Cilmínar Spaceworks - 18 x [classified] enhanced active/passive tactical sensory suite, Sy Astronautic Engineering Collective - Imperial Navy tactically-enhanced longscan **Weapons (Primary):** - 4800/2400 mm custom axial heavy mass driver, Artifice Armaments, ICC **Weapons (Secondary):** - 4 x 4800/2400 mm custom heavy mass drivers, Artifice Armaments, ICC - 4 x “Black Lightning” axial grasers, Artifice Armaments, ICC **Weapons (Tertiary):** - 64 x 2400/1200 mm turreted mass drivers (32 capable of broadside use), Artifice Armaments, ICC - 8 x 2400/1200 mm turreted mass drivers (rear-firing for kilt defense), Artifice Armaments, ICC - 32 x “Flashburn” turreted heavy lasers, Artifice Armaments, ICC - Artifice Armaments, ICC “Popcorn” point defense/CQB laser grid **Other systems:** - 3 x Artifice Armaments, ICC cyclic kinetic barrier system - Biogenesis Technologies, ICC Mark VII regenerative life support (multiple independent systems) - 3 x Bright Shadow, ICC custom-build megaframe data system, plus multiple EC-1140 information furnaces for sectoral control - Class IV starship repair facilities - 8 x Extropa Energy, ICC “Calviata” second-phase fusion reactors - Flag bridge - 4 x Imperial Navy command communications/tactical networking suite - 4 x Imperial Navy DN-class vector-control core and associated technologies - 3 x Metric Engineering, ICC “Gloaming” ray shielding system - 3 x Nanodynamics, ICC “Phage-a-Phage” immunity - 32 x modular swapout regions (large) - Systemic Integrated Technologies, ICC high-capacity thermal sinks and dual-mode radiative striping **Small craft:** - 8 x _Reaver-_class starfighters, with own AKVs - 8 x _Nelyn_-class modular cutters - 4 x _Ékalaman_-class pinnace/shuttle (atmosphere capable) - 16 x _Élyn_-class microcutter - 16 x _Traest Sargas_-class troop transport - 32 x _Adhaïc_-class workpod - 32 x _Marlinspike_-class boarding torpedo - 32 x _Sledgehammer_-class drop shuttle From without, the _Leviathan_-class dreadnought resembles a slender wedge, a dagger-blade without a hilt. It is, of course, rather larger than virtually all equivalent dreadnought classes and even some superdreadnought classes seen elsewhere, in keeping with the Empire’s naval construction policy of “shock and awesome”. This should come as no surprise to anyone, since the realities of armoring such a vessel mandate such a glacis, and as such virtually _all_ ships of the plane, of whatever origin, share this common feature. The _Leviathan_ mixes this up slightly, having a change in ratio along its length that gives the hull a subtle curve and the ship entire a forward-leaning, sleek and hungry look. _(Although those who serve aboard_ Leviathans_, especially back in the maneuvering sector, tend to describe their workplace as the ship’s “fat ass”.)_ As is also usual, the apparent outer hull of the vessel is entirely composed of armor plating, which in the case of the _Leviathan_ is a little over 30m thick, comprised of multiple layers of heavy plate, Whipple foam, radiation-absorbent material, thermal superconductors, dilatant shock gel, flexible spreader trusses, and other necessities for survivability in the modern high-energy battlespace, many of which remain classified. _(The important thing to remember about this armor plating is that it is not there to protect against a direct hit from an opposing capital ship. No practicable material will do that. It’s there to protect against the spallation debris left behind after your point-defense grid sweeps the sky like the hand of an angry laser-spewing god.)_ This armor serves as a backup to the triple-layered cyclic kinetic barrier system with which the _Leviathan_ is equipped, along with the likewise triple-layered ray shielding to protect against photonic attack. The majority of the space within this outer hull is unpressurized volume, occupied by machinery space, bunkerage, stores (tanks and unpressurized cargo holds), accessways, robot hotels, and magazines. The habitable volume is represented by a relatively small (roughly equivalent to a 232-storey building, laid out tail-lander style) cylinder buried deep within this, above the axial passage for the primary mass driver, with two attendant counter-rotating gravity rings providing space for gravity-requiring special facilities. Below and to port and starboard of this passage can be found the eight fusion reactors providing non-thrust power to the _Leviathan_. In addition to the primary (axial) heavy mass driver, the _Leviathan_ mounts four secondary heavy mass drivers of only slightly lower power along its dorsal-ventral centerline, spread out at 15 and 30 degrees off-axis (although with off-bore firing capability), along with four heavy grasers clustered around, and aligned to, the axial primary. Tertiary weapons systems consist of 64 turreted mass drivers and 32 turreted heavy lasers, of which half can slew far enough to be capable of broadside firing. An additional eight turreted mass drivers are mounted on the stern for kilt defense, should the prospect of attacking through, or at best in close proximity to, the emissions plume of the _Leviathan_‘s 24 torch drives not be sufficient deterrent. Finally, the _Leviathan_ is equipped with the Artifice Armaments “Popcorn” laser grid for point-defense and CQB purposes, ensuring that anyone foolish enough to close to point-defense range will have mere microseconds to contemplate their folly before vaporizing in one of the most spectacular coruscations known to sophontkind. Also pressurized are portions of the “docks and locks” sections to port and starboard, 500 meters for’ard of the drives, which house the _Leviathan_‘s small craft complement. These are buried beneath the starship’s outer hull armor, which is designed to retract under non-combat conditions to provide ingress. In light of this, the multiple AKV wings and drones are launched via dog-leg tubes through the dorsal and ventral armor, and recovered – if this is necessary during an engagement – when circumstances permit turning broadside to the enemy and recovering through the far-side landing bay. As a dreadnought, the _Leviathan_ is equipped with a flag bridge and communications/tactical mesh suite for task force command; with the capability to effect repairs on smaller vessels of its task force; with the ability to deploy starfighters for patrol or remote operations missions; and with a substantial _espatier_ force and the means to deploy them, whether in boarding operations or for groundside raids.   * * * This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [https://eldraeverse.com/2018/09/05/leviathan-awake](https://eldraeverse.com/2018/09/05/leviathan-awake) ---
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/2 "2024-11-21T03:58:53Z")
**Comments migrated from WordPress:** > [@Robert Houghton \ on 2018-09-06 02:49:53 wrote](#): > > Does it come in black? > [@ahd \ on 2018-09-06 08:08:20 wrote](#): > > …ray…shielding? > [@Jade Nekotenshi \ on 2018-09-06 17:00:25 wrote](#): > > I’m curious about the ray shielding too - does this work like Trek-style “outboard ablative armor”, like Babylon 5’s e-web that expands the cross-section of incoming beams so that the armor can deal with it more easily, or something else? > [@MirrorField \ on 2018-09-09 03:11:41 wrote](#): > > Not bad at all. A Technological question: Main mass drivers are rather massive, but does technology allow for “really relativistic” mass drivers? (As in projectile mass around 100-200 grams, spinal mount construction several kilometers long, relative muzzle velocity around 0.9+ _c_) Or what E. William Brown nicknamed “snowflake rounds” (1-2 milligram osmium bead projectiles accelerated to same near-c velocities)? After all, one of the weak points of mass drivers is the difference between projectile velocity and lightspeed… > > > [@Robert Houghton \ on 2018-09-09 07:31:56 wrote](#): > > > > I always thought cans of ravioli (or the local equivalent) were the best railgun ammo. > > > [@Ru \ on 2018-09-11 08:03:05 wrote](#): > > > > There are all sorts of problems with relativistic projectile weapons > > > > Consider a 1g projectile at .9c… it has ~1.2e14 joules of kinetic energy. If your acceleration method wastes anything more than the tiniest fraction of a percent of that energy in heating the projectile, you’ve made a plasma gun instead. > > > > To boost that projectile to that speed over a 2km distance, you need to impose a force of ~18GN. Now, my understanding of physics kinda breaks down here, but those sorts of forces risk turning your projectile into a cloud of fine droplets even if your thermal efficiency is perfect, and I bet that all the elements of that cloud won’t be travelling in quite the same direction… > > > > > [@Alistair Young \ on 2018-09-11 09:26:06 wrote](#): > > > > > > Just to clarify the actual capabilities in question, 0.036c is a much more typical muzzle velocity. > [@Henry Quirk \ on 2018-09-10 08:20:39 wrote](#): > > She reads as ‘impressive’, but she ain’t no Hariven. > [@Ru \ on 2018-09-11 09:21:10 wrote](#): > > So, assuming that those 2.5 million ‘tons’ are in fact metric tonnes, fitting the rest of those units, you’ve got engines capable of sustaining a cruising thrust of 167.5GN. Assuming you’re using your pion drives for this (and as high efficiency, low-thrust-per-watt type drives, I don’t know why else you’d have them), it looks like you’ve got an absolute bare minimum thrust power of around 8.375e18W. > > The mathematics of pion drive performance are a pain, but I think that it’ll generate about twice that power level in gamma ray flux. Taking that into account, and hazarding a guess at the ship’s wet weight, you can dispense with puny human units like ‘watts’, and declare your engine power to be Kardashev 1.4. > [@Robert J Houghton \ on 2018-09-11 17:45:28 wrote](#): > > Another question…How many of these can the Empire afford? Are they cost effective? > [@ahd \ on 2018-09-17 09:27:03 wrote](#): > > …so…what would we have to do to get a similar essay about the God Of War class hyperdreadnought? > > > [@Alistair Young \ on 2018-09-18 14:46:36 wrote](#): > > > > Convince me that there’s any possible way I could do justice to a warship personally designed by a god for their own use? ---
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/3 "2024-11-21T03:58:54Z")
---
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/4 "2024-11-21T04:00:30Z")
The ray shielding, I can now reveal, was an early predecessor of the modern [Carp Scale Mirror](https://eldraeverse.com/2024/07/29/flexible-protection/). ---
**Author:** ![ahd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/ahd/32/70_2.png) [@ahd](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/ahd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:16am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/5 "2024-12-02T04:16:01Z")
And is the Eschatofer also in the Too Big To Describe range? ---
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/6 "2024-12-02T16:31:14Z")
Correction: That category is “too _weird_ to describe”. ---
**Author:** ![ahd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/ahd/32/70_2.png) [@ahd](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/ahd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 7:32am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/7 "2025-08-12T07:32:39Z")
So, is the Eschatofer also in the Too Weird To Describe range? Not this month, obviously, you seem to be having great fun realigning the guts of the site. But one day, it would be nice to see what happened when the Empire of the Star finally decided to focus on sheer shock and awe. And also hear the backstory of why they felt they needed to. Clearly the Republic weren’t enough of a threat to inspire this. ---
**Author:** ![ahd](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/ahd/32/70_2.png) [@ahd](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/ahd)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2025, 2:52am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/8 "2025-11-16T02:52:28Z")
Belated followup question: can we assume that the antimatter drive safety perimeter (not the inner system!) is enforced by simply not lighting up drives like that if you have one? Or are people twitchy about even the fuel supply sitting there in the bunkerage? ---
**Author:** ![avatar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/eldraeverse.discourse.group/avatar/32/2_2.png) [@avatar](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/u/avatar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 5:40am UTC](https://eldraeverse.discourse.group/t/leviathan-awake/1088/9 "2025-12-10T05:40:37Z")
You’re thinking of lighthuggers, with their huge AM bunkerage, with that safety perimeter. Warships have a smaller supply, and so don’t merit quite such rigorous precautions.