Ares-class

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The most powerful Earth Fleet vessel, this class was designed to enter a star system and control it almost without assistance, but in practice was usually accompanied by large task forces of escort and transport ships.  At seven miles long and three miles wide, it was even bigger than the Coral Sea class that preceded it.  It has a complement of 16,000 crew, and carries four small battle stations and four Gryphon-class Assault Vessels in a large hangar at the rear, as well as four divisions of Tech Infantry Marines (a total of 40,000 troopers) and the pod launchers, transit beacons, and assault pinnaces to land them on a planet, supported by 32 squadrons of starfighters (384 fighters total) and 288 shuttles and pinnaces in side-mounted launch and landing bays connected through central hangar bays.

The main armaments include massive numbers of Lance Torpedoes launch tubes, some of the largest Mass Drivers ever mounted on a starship, and sixteen powerful grav lasers, but its heaviest weapon is the Gravitic Ram, a larger and more powerful version of the one tested on the Alexander-class Battle Dreadnoughts.  This immense weapon system takes up much of the forward third of the starship.  Secondary armament includes large numbers of Fusion Cannons, Particle Beams, and 1-meter chemlaser turrets, and point defense coverage is provided by almost 200 Particle Phalanx systems.

Such massive vessels can only be built in the construction yards over Avalon and Phoenix.  Its massively powerful third-generation Gravity Drive provides it with an almost impenetrable defensive shield, but also allows it to travel at a higher rate of acceleration than most smaller vessels (up to 100 Gs), as well as create jump points large enough for itself and dozens of escort vessels to enter or leave hyperspace together.

After several Star Control Ships were destroyed during the Third Civil War, several more ships of this class were built after the war to an almost identical pattern, as a stopgap measure before the Poseidon class could be designed and put into service.  They were given the names of destroyed ships which they were replacing.

Known Vessels

• EFS Ares SC-19 (Destroyed as Fleet Admiral Jamison's flagship at Battle of Avalon, 2243)
• EFS Mars SC-20
  
• EFS Hathor SC-21
  
• EFS Horus SC-22
  
• EFS Marduk SC-23
  
• EFS Ahura-Mazda SC-24
  
• EFS Kali SC-25
  
• EFS Vishnu SC-26 (Flagship of Task Force 23 at Battle of New Madrid, 2243)
  
• EFS Zeus SC-27 (Destroyed fighting the Resistance over Earth, 2244)
  
• EFS Hachiman SC-28 (Lost as as Karl Von Shrakenberg's flagship of Task Force 54 at Battle of Mars, 2243)
  
• EFS Queztalcoatl SC-29
  
• EFS Yahweh SC-30
  
• EFS Jehovah SC-31
  
• EFS Allah SC-32
• EFS Ares SC-33 (Captured by the Caal at Chapman's Folly, used as flagship of their invasion of the Federation, September 2264, destroyed over Avalon.)
• EFS Hachiman SC-34 (Fleet Admiral Nirav Patel's flagship, destroyed fighting the Caal at Avalon, September 2264).

Behind the Scenes

Class designed by Martin Hohner.  Named after War Gods and other belligerent deities.  Rarely actually seen in stories.