Vigilant Type: Corvette In Class: ? Mass: 175,000 Sail Integrity: 3 Thrust: 5/8 Fuel: 3000 tons Structural Integrity: 40 Armor: 200 tons of standard armor (120, 15+4 aft, 18+4 fwd and aft quarters, 33+4 forward) Docking Collars: 0 Fighters: 12 Small Craft: 2 Crew: 85 Lifeboats: 15 Escape Pods: 0 Grav Decks: 1 60 meter Cargo: 1,000 Bay 1: Fighters (12) 4 door Bay 2: Cargo (1,000) 1 door Bay 3: Small Craft (2) 1 door Weapons: Forward: 2 NAC 10 2 NL 45s Fore Left / Fore Right 1 NAC 10 1 Baracuda 2 Large Lasers Aft Left / Aft Right 2 Large Lasers Designers Notes: Like the Bonadventure this ship is grossly underweight. Even with all the things I dumped from the original, its still in my opinion a better ship than the Vincent that was supposed to replace it, which might in itself invalidate the design, but then again it might not. As the fluff indicates, I drew a great deal of inspiration from the Fredasa. Overview: One of the Hegemony's "Dynamic Duo", the other being the Bonadventure, the Vigilant is a pure gunship designed for raiding and pirate hunting. Its four naval autocannons and twin naval lasers, combined with two squadrons of fighters, give it excellent ship killing power for its size, especially compared to its contemporaries. Its armor is very good for its size, and its speed is excelent, rivaling even the Star League's vaunted Sovremenyy and Kimagure class cruisers. The only way the ship does not excell is in its sensor systems, which are arguably the worst of any warship of its era. This poor sensor capability is the primary reason that Vigilant was first paired with the Bonadventure. Between the Vigilant's guns and the Bonadventure's sensors, a squadron composed of two of each of these ships is a dangerous foe for small to medium sized capital ships. Nevertheless the Vigilant was doomed to retirement just like the Bonadventure. The Vincent class corvette came into service in the year 2432 specifically to replace both classes. This sparked a bit of dissention in the ranks, especially among Vigilant comanders and crews when it became apparent that one on one the Vigilant was the better ship than its replacement. At least one captain resigned his commision when his Vigilant was removed from service, refusing to command an "ugly brick". On the surface these complaints seem well founded. The Vincent surrenders a significant advantage to the Vigilant's heavier armament, armor, and extra fighters, an advantage not fully recouped by the Vincent's superior sensor system. However this fails to acknowlege that neither of these ships are supposed to operate alone. When one compares a squadron of four Vincents to an old group of two Vigilants and two Bonadventures, the advantages of firepower, survivability, and mobility clearly lie with the Vincents. Most importantly of all, the Vincent was much easier to modify than the Vigilant, meaning that the Vincent could keep up with the pace of technological improvement, while the Vigilant must ultimately be cossigned to the mothballs. Like the Bonadventure, the Vigilant was retired from service with the Hegemony Armed Forces before the formation of the Star League, and like the Bonadventure several ships of this class ended up in various house militaries or in hegemony mothball yards. The numbers of surviving ships are far less exact than the Bonadventure, though an estimated seventy to one hundred Vigilants were used during the succession wars, and General Kerensky is believed to have taken at least one Vigilant with him on the exodus (which appears to have been the inspiration for the Fredasa class corvette). Estimates on the number of Vigilants still unaccounted for range anywhere from none to an astounding two hundred.