LNBs Herrscherin

"Crowned in the name of the primodials, the Queen descends from the void, our foes beware."

- Speaker for the Council Gosaval

The Herrscherin-Class (Translated from an old Luminarian word) is a 5th-Generation Strategic Battleship. The Herrscherin-Class was constructed as part of the Quantum Strategic Integration Refit to replace the LNBs Claymore. It has a typical complement of 6500 personnel, with 1400 required to support the hangar bay.

The Herrscherin-Class was designed to dominate the post-2nd Norsus battlespace, utilizing cutting edge technology such as the VERDRANGEN Quantum Barrier and REPUDIUM Electronic Warfare Suite to negate Margan Shock Jump attacks and Zaretian ECM disruption. It is also equipped with a plethora of "Over-the-Horizon" weaponry such as Meridian Quantum Torpedos and the Selah SuperHeavy Quantum Beam, allowing it to strike multiple targets regardless of its location within the star system at a much greater rate than its predecessors.

The huge costs taken to produce a single Herrscherin-Class have heavily limited its production. Navy analysts believe that mass production of Herrscherin-Class Battleships will take a long time before it's viable.

Origin
After the 2nd Battle of Norsus, the Luminarians faced 2 major threats in the form of a resurgent Zaretian Navy and the Margan reappearance. Despite the huge technological advancements made during the interim period, Luminarian ships were still threatened by Margan hunter-killer teams, backed up by devastating Zaretian ordinance and strikecraft. Once able to constantly deploy ships without fear of retaliation, Luminarian commanders are now having their ship deployments limited, or risk losing assets. This would be reinforced during the 2nd Battle of Norsus, where even a LNBs Claymore Block II can be taken out by a dedicated warlord hunter-killer team.

What was needed was a way to engage and destroy these hunter-killer teams before they could strike or alternatively adequately protect ships from the first salvo and provide them enough time to strike back. Additionally, the Luminarian Navy needed a way to also heavily limit Warlord ship deployments, to negate their numbers advantage.

Alongside the general upgrade of 3rd and 4th Generation ships as part of the Quantum Strategic Integration Refit, new ships would be developed to adapt to the changing battlespace of the Post-2nd Norsus era.

Project MONARCH
One such design was codenamed MONARCH and was helmed by Admiral Cyrillus and the Quantum Analysis Wing with support from the Strategic Research and Analysis Wing. Intended to supplement and eventually replace the LNBs Claymore, the Herrscherin was designed to resemble the Claymore in both weaponry and role. Its basic hull shape is extremely similar to the Claymore's, including turret mount spots and beam cannon locations. However, it's internal structure is radically different, accounting for 5th Generation systems and improvements in damage control.

The project set out to utilize as much cutting edge systems to future proof the ship as much as possible.

However, in contrast with the 5.6km long Claymore, the Herrscherin 's hull length measures at 3.9k, owing to improvements in 5th Generation plasma beam construction. There has been debate amongst the design committee to upscale the hull to match the Claymore's to allow the fitting of more defensive systems and weaponry. However, due to exponentially rising costs, the debate was ended.

Finalized Prototype
The finalized prototype would be armed with a plethora of 5th-generation weapons. Armed with a single Selah SuperHeavy Quantum Beam, 6 Caelestis Heavy Quantum Beams and 20 Kaustos Quantum Beams provide the Herrscherin with an immense amount of firepower unseen by any ship in the Zaretian front (not counting Battlestations), making it a tactical and strategic nightmare. An ER point defense suite provides the Herrscherrin with the ability to suppress hostile strikecraft at twice the range of existing 4th-generation ships.

All those weapons are powered by an integrated power system fed by multiple redundant reactors. The Herrscherin's power grid can overload systems ranging from sensors to weapons, allowing for tactical adaptability in different combat environments. Buttressed electronic countermeasures managed by a PRAECIS Combat Management System and REPUDIUM Electronic Warfare Suite degrade and hinder opposing weapons and sensors, ranging from capital-grade beam weapons, down to the basic missiles utilized by strikecraft.

That same power system feeds an experimental quantum drive that provides the instant transition a quantum gate provides but without the need for a launch gate and a receiving gate.

The Herrscherin also uses the tried and tested FORESIGHT strategic communications and sensor fusion, allowing for networked combat battle group coordination in non-permissive comm environments.

Defensively, Herrscherin sports the 5th Generation ERINNERN Quantum Displacement Field, capable of neutralizing hostile warheads and safely eliminate point defense busting munitions at a greater distance than typical interceptor missiles. A VERDRANGEN Quantum Barrier can completely nullify fire from a single side of the ship, while any remaining weapons are interdicted by KUKLOS Multilayered Shielding and the PROPHULAKTIKOS Active Armor Suite. Its Hangar bay can support up to 30 LNCv Maelstroms or 120 LNF Orphidans

The first OPEVAL deployment of the Herrscherin-class was conducted by the lead ship, the LNBs Suzerain during Operation NightFire.

Production
Mass production of the Herrscherin-class has met a number of problems. These include its immense cost as well as 5th generation system bugs that have not been fixed. Until then, the Claymore still continues to be the main heavy capital ship the Luminarian Navy fields.