Wings of the Alkari: The Sparrow Class Frigate

[teukros]

This is something I did seven years ago which was inspired by the classic Discovery Channel series Wings. This is part one of five parts and I hope to post another installment every day for the next five days.

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Sparrow Class Frigate Space 31, Space Available 0 Cost 79 Interphase Drive · 7 parsecs/turn · 20 combat speed Adamantium Armor · 32 structure points · 32 armor points Class VII Shield · 35 strength · 7 dmg pts blocked Moleculartronic Computer · +125% Beam Attack Beam Defense +100% Missile Evasion +0% Weapon Type Damage Arc Cost Space Modifications 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af Special System Description Battle Pods Increases available space 50% Phasing Cloak Invisible in combat and on main screen Time Warp Facilitator Ships move and attack twice per turn Rangemaster Unit Reduces range to-hit penalties by 1/3 Structural Analyzer Doubles any damage that penetrates shield Achilles Targeting Unit Negates armor; 3X chance to hit shields, weapons

The prototype "Sparrow" class Frigate was a testbed which proved that the technology employed and the concept behind the design were both sound. Although it never entered production, the combination of the phasing cloak and the tremendous firepower provided by two autofire disrupters could not fail to impress anyone who saw it in action. It therefore paved the way for the successful production runs of the Sparrow-A, Sparrow-B and Sparrow-C frigates.

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Sparrow-A Class Frigate Space 31, Space Available 0 Cost 75 Interphase Drive · 7 parsecs/turn · 20 combat speed Moleculartronic Computer · +125% Beam Attack Class X Shield · 50 strength · 13 dmg pts blocked Adamantium Armor · 32 structure points · 32 armor points Beam Defense +100% Missile Evasion 0% Weapon Type Damage Arc Cost Space Modifications 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af 1 Phasor 3-10 Fx 3 3 pd, co, sp, af Special System Description Battle Pods Increases available space 50% Phasing Cloak Invisible in combat and on main screen Hard Shields Reduces all damage by 3 Time Warp Facilitator Ships move and attack twice per turn Rangemaster Unit Reduces range to hit penalties by 1/3 Structural Analyzer Doubles any damage that penetrates shield Achilles Targeting Unit Negates armor; 3X chance to hit shields, weapons

The Sparrow-A was the first version of the Sparrow to go into production. It differed from the prototype in that firepower was sacrificed in an attempt to make the ship better protected and to give the crew a better chance of surviving an enemy attack. It was argued that the original design would have been vulnerable to damage from a single point defense phasor, and there was strong opposition to the idea of deliberately downgrading the shields to an inferior type simply for the sake of saving a little space. In addition, the Sparrow-A is both less vulnerable and less costly than the prototype would have been had it entered production. Lastly, the Sparrow-A was the first class of any ship to employ the "Hard Shields" system, recently developed from Orion artifacts, and the need to prove this technology on a large scale guaranteed that this design would be put into at least limited production. The point defense phasor gives the Sparrow-A a limited capability of engaging targets to its flank, in addition to giving it at least some capability to engage enemy missiles or fighters. It was originally felt that the Sparrow-A would be operating in squadrons large enough for the pd phasors to have a significant effect on a collective scale. However this doctrine was impractical due to the Sparrow-A's limited production run. Most Sparrow-A's are now successfully serving in either customs patrol or law enforcement roles. It is particularly well suited to these roles due to the shield piercing and superior targeting characteristics of its secondary phasor weapon system.

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Sparrow-B Class Frigate Space 31, Space Available 0 Cost 74 Interphase drive · 7 parsecs/turn · 20 combat speed Moleculartronic Computer · +125% Beam Attack Class VII Shield · 35 strength · 7 dmg pts blocked Adamantium Armor · 32 structure points · 32 armor points Beam Defense +100% Missile Evasion 0% Weapon Type Damage Arc Cost Space Modifications 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af Special System Description Battle Pods Increases available space 50% Phasing Cloak Invisible in combat and on main screen Time Warp Facilitator Ships move and attack twice per turn Rangemaster Unit Reduces range to hit penalties by 1/3 Structural Analyzer Doubles any damage that penetrates shield Achilles Targeting Unit Negates armor; 3X chance to hit shields, weapons High Energy Focus +50% damage for beam weapons Hyper-X Capacitors 2 beam shots once until recharge

The Sparrow-B would probably never have entered production if it had not been for the fact that it is marginally less expensive than the Sparrow-A. Due to the fact that the protection offered by the shield systems was no better than it was on the prototype, the Sparrow-B was originally intended to be relegated to small garrison task forces far from the front lines. It was also felt that eliminating the second weapon and relying on the High Energy Focus and the Hyper-X capacitors for increased firepower was a needless complication, "putting all eggs in one basket". The critics did not foresee the serendipitous way in which the Hyper-X capacitors, the Phasing Cloak and the Time Warp Facilitator would all interact to create an astonishingly effective and survivable ship. The Time Warp Facilitator made it possible for the Sparrow-B to uncloak, fire its High Energy Focus enhanced AFD twice, and recloak all before the enemy was able to return fire. While cloaked it would recharge its Hyper-X capacitors so that it would be able to repeat the process. This revolutionary tactic has proved to be so effective in the battleplanes that many front line combat ships of all sizes are now being modified with the necessary systems so that they will be able to use this tactic themselves. It did not take long for the Sparrow-B to develop a mystique around itself and it quickly became very popular with its crews. In addition to its employment in Naval task forces, Sparrow-B's are widely sought after by system governors for local garrisons. Not surprisingly, the Sparrow-B continues to be in large scale production to the present day.

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Sparrow-C Frigate Space 31, Space Available 0 Cost 71 Interphase Drive · 7 parsecs/turn · 20 combat speed Moleculartronic Computer · +125% Beam Attack Class X Shield · 50 strength · 10 dmg pts blocked Adamantium Armor · 32 structure points · 32 armor points Beam Defense +100% Missile Evasion +0% Weapon Type Damage Arc Cost Space Modifications 1 Phasor 5-20 Fx 6 7 co, sp, af Special System Description Battle Pods Increases available space 50% Phasing Cloak Invisible in combat and on main screen Time Warp Facilitator Ships move and attack twice per turn Rangemaster Unit Reduces range to hit penalties by 1/3 Structural Analyzer Doubles any damage that penetrates shield Achilles Targeting Unit Negates armor; 3X chance to hit shields, weapons High Energy Focus +50% damage for beam weapons Hyper-X Capacitors 2 beam shots once until recharge

Despite the proven record of the Sparrow-B, there continue to be strong feelings in the Navy that every ship should have the most advanced shields available. It was felt that the Sparrow-B, while undeniably a formidable ship, put the crew at unnecessary risk with its inferior Class VII shields. The Sparrow-C is an attempt to combine the survivability of the Sparrow-A and the strengths of the Sparrow-B and is a logical development of the series. In the shadow of its predecessors, the Sparrow-C is still a fine ship in its own right. Continuing the trend of the series it is cheaper than all previous models, making it ideal for large scale production for local garrisons and for rear area security, i.e. for customs patrol and law enforcement. The ship's phasor weapon system uses older and more robust technology than the disrupter cannon used in all other versions, and the ship on a whole is more forgiving and easier to handle and maintain than older models of the series. The overloaded Megafluxer circuits so common in the Sparrow-B are almost unknown in the Sparrow-C. When the Sparrow-C is serving in its rear area security role, its phasing cloak allows it to approach suspect ships unseen, and if it must attack, the high accuracy of its continuous-firing phasor combined with its shield piercing capability allow it to disable, rather than destroy, smuggler and other criminal ships; by targeting vital systems with pinpoint, shield piercing, low strength bursts, it can disable almost any ship safely and reliably. It can then stand guard over the ship until a tug arrives to tow it away. It is thought that the Sparrow-C's phasor's pinpoint accuracy and very wide firing angle, combined with the much stronger Class X shields, will make it possible for squadrons of Sparrow-C's to flank enemy ships in the battleplanes, uncloaking and disabling vital systems as they fly past. However, the advocates of the Sparrow-B are opposed to the Sparrow-C being used in a combat role and would like to see it assigned exclusively to local garrisons and rear area security roles, which would coincidentally free for combat many Sparrow-Bs currently being used in these roles. It remains to be seen whether the Sparrow-C will ever be given the chance to prove itself as a combat worthy ship.

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Sparrow-D Frigate Space 31, Space Available 0 Cost 75 Interphase drive · 7 parsecs/turn · 20 combat speed Moleculartronic Computer · +125% Beam Attack No Shield · No strength · No dmg pts blocked Xentronium Armor · 40 structure points · 40 armor points Beam Defense +100% Missile Evasion 0% Weapon Type Damage Arc Cost Space Modifications 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af 1 Disrupter 40 F 9 8 af Special System Description Battle Pods Increases available space 50% Battle Scanner +50% to hit with beam weapons Time Warp Facilitator Ships move and attack twice per turn Rangemaster Unit Reduces range to hit penalties by 1/3 Structural Analyzer Doubles any damage that penetrates shield Achilles Targeting Unit Negates armor; 3X chance to hit shields, weapons High Energy Focus +50% damage for beam weapons

The Sparrow-D is a radical redesign of a proven concept and is an attempt to fantastically increase the firepower available to the ship (a more than 400% increase over the Sparrow-A); however it accomplishes this by eliminating the shields, the Hyper-X capacitors and, surprisingly, the Phasing Cloak. The opposition which could be expected due to the complete lack of any shields is magnified by elimination of the cloaking capability. The general feeling is that this class of ship would be much less survivable than any previous class of ship in the series. However the manufacturers claim that the same argument was made about the Sparrow-B and that there are specific roles which the Sparrow-D would be best able to fill. They say, somewhat disingenuously, that the Sparrow-B, Sparrow-C and Sparrow-D all have specific roles to fill in the battleplanes.
The manufacturers also claim that the new "Xentronium" armor gives the crew as much protection as Adamantium armor with a Class VII shield. However Xentronium armor remains largely theoreretical and has never been produced on the scale which would be demanded by a production run of the Sparrow-D. The estimated cost of the Sparrow-D (an increase on both the Sparrow-B and the Sparrow-C) is based on optimistic projections of the cost of Xentronium armor, which assume it is already being produced on a large scale; but this assumes that Xentronium's current production problems can be solved in time. It is feared that Adamantium armor would be substituted, resulting in the most vulnerable ship of the series. The Battle Scanner is also new technology and it has been said that the ship could go into production with Adamantium armor, if the Battle Scanner was eliminated in favor of Class VII Shields and the Hard Shields system. The resulting ship would have 300% more firepower than the Sparrow-A but it would have no Phasing Cloak; however the manufacturers seem to be committed to producing the Sparrow-D with Xentronium armor, no shields and the new Battle Scanner. At this time it seems doubtful that the Sparrow-D will ever go into production.