Name: Battle King
Alignment: Zian (Formerly old Helic Republic)
Family: Whale
Registration Number: Zi-060
Height: 65 meters (keel to mast)
Length: 300 meters
Weight: 52,000 tons (mean war service)
Top Speed: 40 knots/74 kph
Weapons: Nine 450mm Ultraheavy Cannons, Six Twin AZ130mm Cannons, Quad Phalanx, Anti-Ship Missiles, Cruise Missiles, Torpedo Launchers.
Special Abilities: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Composite Sensory Unit, Command and Control Center, Turret System, Multilock, Sailing.
Cost: $1,000,000
Level: Crewed
Bridge Crew: 8 (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Captain, Executive Officer, Gunnery Sergeant/Tactical Officer, Chief Engineer, Communications Officer, Chief of Operations. Note: The Command and Control Center is also the bridge, so many more men are usually on hand.)
Minimum Crew Requirements: 600
Standard Crew: 1,800
Maximum Personnel: 3000 ((That can be continuously supported and sustained by the Battle King.))
During the struggle for control of Zi between the Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire, it could never be denied that the Empire ruled on land, outnumbering and outgunning the Helic Republic. The Republic, in turn, tried its best to dominate in the air and on the high seas. Most of the aquatic Zoids in existence are small, fitting neatly into the modern Zoid Battling classifications of Level 1-5. However, the conflict between the Republic and the Empire began to see the advent of Crewed Ships - ships that could no longer be piloted by a single person. With the exception of a few, most notably the transports, the majority of these crewed vessels could not sink beneath the waves like their smaller breathern, but possessed enormous firepower and widely expanded capabilities, and hence enormous value to each of the two nation's militaries.
One great ship in particular has long been subject of attention, talk, speculation, and fear. The Battle King was developed by the old Helic Republic as a way to finally gain the edge in the ship-to-ship warfare - it is the equivalent of what we would have called an old Terran battleship. It is equipped with a grand total of nine massive 450mm cannons, essentially meaning that is outguns any other Zoid or ship in existance. Combined with armor to rival that of the Death Saurer and a battery of smaller guns, AA defenses, and various missiles and torpedos. The Battle King is essentially a floating fortress. There is a downside: the ship is slow and has low maneuverability, but in the kinds of battles it fights, those two things tend to mean precious little.
The Battle King served in the Helic Navy until the end of the Republic, and beyond. Rarely was any Battle King sunk, and only rarely did the Helic navies, backed by the Battle Kings, fail to protect the homeland. Each nation today has access to a small number of Battle Kings, as the design and Zoid has long since dispersed across the entire world. However, Battle Kings are exceedingly rare and difficult to produce, owing to the fact that the oversized Zoid Cores within the Battle King only "reproduce" - that is, create duplicates of themselves - once every few decades. Aside from that, Battle Kings are ridiculously expensive and require huge manpower and natural resources to construct. However, if you have one, believe you me, no one is going to argue with you.
Note: Each Faction can own a maximum of three Battle Kings.
Weapons:
Nine 450mm Ultraheavy Cannons:
Well, death be not proud. Astute observers may notice the three massive triple-gun battery found on the Battle King. Two of these are found forward of the conning tower, and one aft. Each battery can rotate a little over 90 degrees in either direction- the two forward turrets face forward, and the aft turret faces backward, if that wasn’t obvious. It should be noted that the centermost turret is raised, to allow it to fire over the forward turret. Each turret has a range of about 40 kilometers (yes, I said kilometers), and a firing rate of one volley from all three cannons every three rounds of combat (around 18 seconds to reload) - the cannons in each turret must fire together, for various reasons. To put the massive power of these guns into perspective, each shell weighs about 3 tons, and is slightly less than 18” in diameter. These guns are designed to fire two different types of ammo- Armor Piercing and High Explosive (the captain of the ship can order the ammo type changed during every reload). Armor Piercing rounds are meant to blast holes in other battleships. A single hit from ONE of these shells will CSF any standard zoid, ZX, Gustav, large transport, and other things in that area. Three of them will inflict serious pain to just about everything. High Explosive shells, on the other hand, were meant to support ground troops with long ranged bombardment. Each shell has power comparable to that of a Ballistic Missile, down to the 80 meter blast radius. Most ZXs and some of the most powerful level 5s can survive this type of damage if they are only within the blast radius of one of the shells, but they are not going to come out of it in good condition. And, since the turrets are fire-linked, that means you better have the firepower to take three Ballistic Missiles. Your best bet against these rounds is to be as far away as possible.
Six Twin AZ130mm Cannons:
The Battle King’s main batteries are located on the back, as are the secondary weapons. Mounted to the back of the Battle King are the AZ130mm Cannons, six turrets of two conventional cannons (for 12 in total), similar in principle to the main batteries, but in many ways different. Firstly, the six turrets are grouped into threes: three foreward of the conning tower and three aft of it. The three forward batteries face forwards and the three aft batteries face aft (if you couldn't deduce that yourself). They are located behind the main guns, but elevated slightly above, so as to be able to fire over them. The turrets can turn a little over 90 degrees in either direction the horizontal axis and 80 degrees up on the vertical. However, unlike the main guns, the AZ130mm Turrets are obstructed from pointing both starboard and port by the central structures of the Battle King. They are designed mainly for close range ship-to-ship combat and ground support, having a maximum range of 20 kilometers. They are AZ130mm cannons, which is survivable by many Zoids, but there's no one who can escape that kind of fire without feeling the burn. The six turrets all have linked fire between their two cannons, and are capable of firing 1 volley every three seconds. That means that these cannons can fire 24 rounds between them, however, only ever a maximum of half at the same target. There are three turrets starboard side and three port side, as well as three fore and three aft. That means that no matter where you come from, if you're attacking a battle kind, you're likely to find youself staring down 6 AZ130mm Cannons.
Quad Phalanx:
To understand the Quad Phalanx, one must first understand the concept of a Phalanx. A Phalanx is a composite anti-air defense system for ships, originally developed by the Helic Republic based on what they knew about the old Earth concept. Each Phalanx unit has two parts: a 20mm Vulcan and a Surface-to-Air Missile Launcher. Let us first discuss the 20mm weapon. The six-barrelled, air-cooled Vulcan on the Phalanx has one of the highest rates of fires of any modern weapon - more than 100 rounds per second. The purpose for this relatively small caliber but high rate of fire weapon is simple. ECM technology having long outstripped ECCM, preventing effective use of missiles versus other missiles, the 20mm Vulcan has the primary job of shooting down incoming missiles. It has the secondary job of shooting down incoming aircraft or other such targets, and may even be used to attack nearby ships in a pinch. The SAM side of the Phalanx is simple. Though the SAM launcher was traditionally referred to as a separate component, it quickly became clear that both systems were necessary to adequately defend a ship and the term "Phalanx" came to refer to both systems, not just the Vulcan. Anyway, the SAM launcher carries a grand total of 21 AAZ Surface-to-Air missiles, each of which use both IR and passive radar guidance to find their targets. The missiles have the primary function of shooting down incoming aircraft, but may also be used to supplement the anti-cruise missile defense provided by the vulcan. It is important to understand that the Phalanx is integrated into the ship's sensor system and is semiautomated, giving it much-improved accuracy with the vulcan. Similarly, the range of the SAMs, though they are primarily IR guided, have been extended through the synthesis with the ship's sensors to a distance of 7.5 kilometers. Furthermore, thanks to this IR/passive radar guidance, the SAMs locking on will not activate a radar warning receiver (as no active radar is used), and can often achieve the lock in 1/3 the usual time - as little as a single second. To facilitate defending the ship, both the Vulcan and the SAMs are mounted on 360 degree rotating turrets, and can incline up to 80 degrees upwards. Now, understand that the Battle King has four of these. This is why most consider on board a Battle King to be one of the safest places in the world to be. Be it noted it extremely difficult to reload the SAM launcher during combat, though the Battle King carries many internal reloads and can do so easily out of combat.
Anti-Ship Missiles:
It's important to understand that by the time Zi was colonized, it was no longer the age of cannon combat on the high seas - not on Zi, not anywhere in all of what was known of humanity. It was already the age of missile combat. Why use your 450mm guns, even if they did have a 40 kilometer range, when your enemy had a missile that would sink your ship from 350 kilometers away? Good question. The Battle King carries Anti-Ship missiles that have that 350 kilometer range, because, unfortunately for the main guns, it is really a better way to do things. Now, when I say "Anti-Ship" missiles, I don't mean the kinds of puny missiles that Zoids carry. These have the same yield as a ballistic missile, meaning that they're able to sink many ships in just one hit. They've also armored, meaning that it will take more than a few hits (or another missile) to take them down. Unfortunately, that's with good reason, because these missiles do have a weakness. They only move at around 250 m/s, meaning that they can take several minutes for the missiles to hit their targets. Anyway, they are actively radar-guided and require the usual timeframe to lock on. Then, you can fire an arbitrary number of them. By the way, the Battle King has 16 of these Anti-Ship missiles grouped into four armored boxes of four missiles (360 degree rotating and able to incline up to 90 degrees upwards), so it's well-equipped for a prolonged battle.
Cruise Missiles:
Hand in hand with the Anti-Ship Missiles are Cruise Missiles. These weapons are completely unguided, but can a strike a target from essentially halfway across the ocean. You just dial in a location to hit, and the Cruise Missile launches and goes after it. It has all the explosive of an Iron Kong's ballistic missile, and, like the Anti-Ship missile only move at 250 m/s. It also, like the two aforementioned missiles, is armored, allowing it to take a few hits and keep going. Unlike the other two aforementioned missiles, it has a maximum range of 2500 kilometers. The Battle King carries 32 of them. Go nuts.
Torpedo Launchers:
Well, for all its guns, missiles, its vaunted armor that rivals the strength of that of the Death Saurer, its Phalanx vulcans and SAM launchers - it looks like the Battle King has no defense against submarines or other underwater aquatic terrors. Looks can be deceiving. The Battle King has a grand total of 12 torpedo launchers, eight fore and four aft. When they’re needed, each of those tubes opens up and reveals a torpedo. The torpedo tube, if flooded, can then fire its torpedo into the water, which will lock onto the nearest underwater target that doesn’t respond to its IFF signature. It will then use active sonar to chase that target to the ends of the world, until it either hits something or is destroyed. Torpedoes are relatively slow, but armored, so they can be tricky to destroy. Furthermore, each torpedo tube the Battle King has is capable of reloading from the Zoid’s internal stores, which are near infinite. (Reloading takes roughly 3 seconds.) Each torpedo is anti-Zoid and also has 3 times the explosive power of a standard anti-ground missile, so they can be devastating against other aquatic Zoids.
Special Abilities:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles:
Traditionally speaking, warships are limited to shooting at what they're in visual range of. This has changed over the eons, with the advent of useful devices such as active radar and the like back on old earth. On Zi, the principle was carried over and the Battle King is fully capable of engaging targets beyond the limits of sight. However, sight is still nice. So, to that end, the Battle King has eight small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, which is uses as scouts and as spotters for the guns and cruise missiles. These UAVs are less than a meter tall and, thanks to their size, are difficult to detect on radar or shoot down with associated missiles. Since they are propeller planes with very little heat emission, IR is also of only limited use against them. Each UAV is equipped with an Active Radar System, and can trasmit data back to the Battle King or any friendly units in the area. They do have their limitations, though: they have only 5 hours of fuel aboard, have a maximum range of 200 kilometers, and have a top speed of about 60 m/s. They're difficult to launch during combat, but if launched before, they can be quite handy.
Composite Sensory Unit:
The Battle King is equipped with a Composite Sensory Unit, giving it an active radar, sub-surface sonar, and IR sensor insight into everything happening around it. Though some components of this system have localized hubs (like the radar dish on the conning tower), the system has secondary, tertiary, and quaternary backups, allowing it to continue functioning even through the worst of damage. Many systems, such as the Quad Phalanx, depend on the Composite Sensory Unit for their functionality.
Command and Control Center:
The heart of the Battle King, the Command and Control Center is where the Navy’s brass does its work. The Battle King is constantly fed information about its battle group, nearby ships of all sides, enemy and allied formations, and just about everything else it could possibly ask for. The C&C is also the Battle King’s bridge- the Composite Sensory Unit feeds its data here, and a number of communications systems monitor every known comm. frequency in use, as well as keeping battle group’s frequencies open, helping to keep clear of tapping and jamming. All of the data can be transmitted to allies, both nearby and around the globe, via satellite. (Yep - they've got a satellite uplink on ship.)
Turret System:
Like the Ultrasaurus, the Battle King mounts a large number of guns, far too many for any one man to control. Also like the Ultrasaurus, the Battle King has a crew of gunners to operate its guns- every turret is manned. The most significant effects of this is that the Battle King’s guns can keep firing even if the C&C Center takes a direct hit (not that that’s likely to happen), and that the Battle King never suffers from multitasking issues. Each turret and battery gunner also gets the full benefit of the Battle King’s sensors, and has the ability to share targeting solutions- useful for coordinating firepower, especially for the Phalanxes.
Multilock:
The Battle King is ridiculously well-armed for a vessel that was only designed to fight one opponent at a time. That’s because it wasn’t. The Battle King has a unique system that allows each of its missile launcher systems to lock onto multiple targets at once, with a designated number of missiles locking onto a single target. (IE: 2 anti-ship missiles on one opponent, 3 on the other. A single missile cannot lock onto two or more opponents.) This gives it some very real and relevant defenses, and helps it against swarm attacks. Note that this doesn't apply to torpedoes - they lock onto the first thing they see without a friendly IFF signature. That's just a downside of no lock-on time for torpedoes.
Sailing:
Understand that the Battle King is a sailing ship, not a swimming one. That is, it moves along the surface, but cannot submerge itself. That being said, the Battle King's locomotion in the water is not its strong point. It can move at a relatively slow 40 knots and probably has among the worst rates of turn of any Zoid there is (with the possible exception of the Ultrasaurus) - taking it about six seconds at best rate of turn to pivot 180 degrees. Furthermore, it handles like... well, there's really no comparison. Real whales are probably more maneuverable than the Battle King. But it makes up for these deficiencies with heavy armor and big guns.
