The Frigates of EVE Online, page 11
As tensions peaked between the State and Federation after the One Day War and the annexing of Caldari Prime by the Caldari Providence Directorate, it was estimated that more than two thousand Helios class assault frigates operated by the Federation Navy and Federal Intelligence Office were stationed on the Caldari side of the border, gathering intelligence and performing electronic snooping duties on Caldari Navy installations.
This was, of course, denied by the Federal Intelligence Office until a Senate report leaked in December of YC118 was revealed to contain the CONCORD Serial Identification Codes for three Helios class frigates registered to a shell corporation, which had received funds from the Federal Intelligence Office in YC116.
The FIO declined to comment on the matter, and as of yet there have been no reported sightings of covert FEDCAF vessels on the Caldari side of the border, despite rumors that operations continue uninterrupted in the State, Empire, and Republic under direct orders from President Roden.
TYPICAL USAGE
For years, the Imicus struggled to find a place within any FEDCAF fleet doctrine, crippled by design flaws that made it a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. It was only after the collapse of the Crielere Project that the Imicus received a long-awaited technology review as senior Federal military figures realized the need for a dedicated astrometrics platform to compete with the Caldari State’s Heron.
It was at this point that the Imicus we know today was born. The original design for the vessel was gutted, and much of its internal space was dedicated to serving as a drone management and maintenance platform. Significant upgrades to its energy generation and storage systems, as well as the introduction of the 01-FF drone control array and a whole host of dedicated astrometrics equipment transformed the Imicus from what many regarded as a crystalline carbonide wrapped paperweight into a sub-one-thousand-ton astrometrics kingpin.
Today, the Imicus is widely used across the cluster in both military and commercial applications and serves as a gold standard in basic astrometric hull design, as well as providing a solid example of overhaul of a substandard blueprint for reuse.
Now deployed by FEDCAF in massive numbers, the Imicus is widely used by all branches as a lightweight astrometrics platform for noncovert scouting and post-combat search and rescue. Probably the most widely known utilization of the Imicus today is its place in the fleet doctrines of Federation Customs as a scanning and security vessel used to remotely probe the cargo holds of vessels that are halted for search by the Federation’s border control and customs teams.
In commercial operation, the Imicus fulfills a wide range of roles, from acting as a resource surveying and mapping platform, to a low yield mining vessel that utilizes its single pair of turret hardpoints to fit mining lasers, and its drone handling capacity for a combination of self-defense and additional mining capability.
More recently, the Imicus has been developed into the Helios class covert ops frigate, which now sees wide use by both FEDCAF and independent capsuleer alliances as a combat scouting vessel and exploration platform.
VARIATIONS
Helios
While the collapse of the Crielere Project was a huge blow for both the Ishukone Corporation and Duvolle Laboratories, the aftereffects were felt on a much larger scale, influencing decision making by both the Federation and State for years after the incident that brought the project to an end.
The first result of that change in decision making was the release of the Buzzard class covert ops frigate by the Ishukone Corporation, which was swiftly integrated into the ranks of the Caldari Navy, serving as their primary scouting vessel soon after its introduction.
With Duvolle Laboratories tied up by a full review of its operations by a Senate Oversight Committee, the remains of their Crielere based research were handed to CreoDron by FEDCAF leadership, along with a contract to produce a counter to the Buzzard.
The result was both the revised noncovert blueprint of the Imicus, and an advanced version of the vessel that was named the Helios. With reduced capacity for drone handling, the Helios focuses more on operating as an all-out combat astrometrics platform, with most of the internal space formerly utilized for drone storage and maintenance allocated to additional scanning hardware and covert ops cloaking equipment.
“When I look back on the designs we presented to FEDCAF leadership, I shake my head and wonder what in the name of all that’s holy we thought we were doing. There were so many holes, so many flaws, and in truth the blueprint was thrown together as a competitor to the Tristan. Realistically, we should have let Roden have their fifteen minutes of fame, taken another year to polish the plans, and put together a prototype, but the brass was piling on the pressure. Still, all’s well that ends well. Today we’ve got a kick-ass little frigate platform that excels in its role.”
Yvandele Benic
Research & Development Manager,
CreoDron
GALLENTE FEDERATION
PROPULSION
Fourth Generation Roden Shipyards Direct Port Ion Propulsion System
– Roden Shipyards WR-01 FTL System
– 4× Roden Shipyards FR-2 Primary Ion Propulsion Units
– 4× Roden Shipyards AA-1S Trim Jets
ENGINEERING
– Roden Shipyards “Realle” Fusion Reactor Unit
– 6× Roden Shipyards GE-50 Oscillator Capacitor Banks
– Duvolle Second Generation 500 Series Photon Microprocessor Mainframe
– Roden Shipyards BZ-10 Magnetometric Sensor Suite
DEFENSE
– Roden Shipyards Dual Layer 225 mm Full Wrap Crystalline Carbonide Outer Skin
– Roden Shipyards AR-2 Nanorepair Pumps
– Duvolle Laboratories GS-1 Pulse Shield Emitter System
OFFENSE
– 3× Roden Shipyards LM-LEV Turret Hardpoint Pairs
– Roden Shipyards FY-66 Auxiliary Turret Tracking Subsystems
– CreoDron TG-101 Supplementary Drone Control Matrix
INCURSUS
The design of the Incursus class frigate has remained almost at a constant for the last seventy years since its introduction to service with the Federation Navy.
While modernized with cutting edge materials and technology, the familiar profile of this fast, maneuverable attack frigate has remained recognizable throughout the cluster since it was first drafted by Federation Navy engineers.
Typically deployed to complement the Atron and Maulus class frigates of FEDCAF to provide fast, dependable fire support on Federation Navy, Customs, and GFPD patrols, the Incursus remains second favorite to its technological successor, the Comet, with most Federation Navy service personnel.
After a highly successful trial period during live combat exercises in the Caldari Border Zone, Placid and Solitude, the vessel was welcomed into the fold as a staple Federation Navy attack frigate and still sees wide use today. So much so, in fact, that the Incursus has become somewhat of an icon for the Federation Navy, taking a place on propaganda posters alongside the Federation Navy Comet and the Megathron class battleship.
Benefiting from an incredibly versatile, but relatively heavy, chassis and weapons platform coupled with oversized propulsion to cope with the additional weight, the Incursus has been successful enough in service with the Federation Navy that both the Intaki Syndicate and Serpentis Corporation have begun to include the hull as a platform for fast hit-and-run attacks.
Given its popularity, the Incursus has been adapted further into two advanced hulls, the hard hitting Enyo class assault frigate, based on the Incursus with more advanced armor layering technology and significant weapons subsystems upgrades, and the Ishkur, a fearsome frigate-class drone deployment platform developed by CreoDron.
Technology from the Incursus has also found its way into the Taranis and Ares class interceptors, as well as the Comet class frigate. In more recent years, the Incursus has been used as a test bed for prototype hardware that is to be introduced to the FEDCAF fleet as part of a large scale refit that is scheduled to begin in early YC120, serving as a platform for capacitor, propulsion, and reactor hardware testing.
TYPICAL USAGE
A brute of a frigate, more so than any other in use by FEDCAF, the Incursus is perfectly suited to its role-all out fire support for squadrons of all sizes across most of the divisions that operate within the Federal Combined Armed Forces.
While not fast enough to provide antifighter support when loaded out with blaster based weapons subsystems, the Incursus can excel in this role if fitted for medium to long engagements with a set of 150 mm railguns and the correct ordnance, allowing it to dictate engagement range and punch holes through anything that attempts to come close enough to do significant damage.
A front line frigate that perfectly complements the faster and lighter Atron class, the Incursus is more often than not seen sporting a railgun based loadout to support it. A key role for the Incursus also resides with both the Federal Intelligence Office and the Gallente Senate, where it is used for escort purposes when transporting government officials and senators.
Highly regarded by the Federal Intelligence Office for the versatility it provides, the Incursus has its own set of sixteen squadrons with the Federal Intelligence Office that hold the call sign “The Black Lancers.” The responsibilities of the Lancers range from VIP escorts to internal black operations and intelligence gathering sorties within the Federation.
Part of the Special Department of Internal Investigations, colloquially known as the Black Eagles, the Lancers take their name from the matte black super Kerr-induced nanocoatings that their ships utilize to deflect and confuse telemetry gathering equipment on other vessels.
With several variations of the Incursus available on the market, including the standard issue frigate and two assault frigate-class hulls, the Incursus remains a versatile and rock solid vessel for deployment by both FEDCAF and private security forces.
VARIATIONS
Enyo
After reviewing the performance of the Incursus during its introduction to the ranks of the Special Department of Internal Investigations, Roden Shipyards moved swiftly to purchase development rights on its blueprint, and immediately set about creating what can only be described as an Incursus on steroids.
The addition of an extra pair of turret hardpoints, plus the inclusion of hardware support for a single Duvolle sourced launcher hardpoint subsystem, gives the Enyo even more bite than its standard counterpart. Though it is significantly slower than the Incursus, what the Enyo lacks in speed it makes up for with incredible damage projection over long ranges.
A triple skin of 225 mm full wrap crystalline carbonide armor plating ensures that the Enyo poses not only a risk to other frigates, but also destroyers, cruisers, and even lone battlecruisers in the hands of a skilled pilot.
Ishkur
Losing out on more than a year of development time while locked in a legal battle in the Federal Senate over Roden Shipyards’ monopoly on the Incursus blueprint, CreoDron were eventually able to bring their own spin on this popular frigate to market after a Supreme Court ruling in their favor dissolved the sole right of Roden to develop from the blueprint on the grounds of fair competition.
The result of their efforts is the Ishkur class assault frigate, a heavily armored frigate platform capable of fielding a full flight of five light scout drones, while also possessing three pairs of turret hardpoints of its own, in the same hull profile layout as the original Incursus.
An immediate hit, the green-hulled drone menace immediately swallowed up a colossal 40 percent of the market demand for Incursus class hulls, with many current pilots of the Incursus looking to upgrade as soon as the specifications and blueprints were released into the public domain.
“A little bit heavy in the stern, but I like how she handles. Turret coverage is reasonable, no real blind spots either. I am worried about heat emissions and signature from the cap banks however. So close to the FTL system, if one of them goes up, it could leave a pilot stranded or paint a big-ass target on him in combat. All in all, the refit looks good. She’s shaping up to be competitive again, but we need to check those heat emissions aren’t causing an increase in the size of her signature radius, or State border control will have us for breakfast.”
Tolede Cincere
Flight Engineer & Test Pilot,
Federation Customs
GALLENTE FEDERATION
PROPULSION TYPE
Mark Two Duvolle Laboratories “Antelle” Ion Propulsion System
– Duvolle Laboratories TG-1 Shielded Compact FTL Coupling
– 4× Duvolle Laboratories FA-1 Primary Ion Propulsion Unit
– 6× Duvolle Laboratories VP-2 Variable Pitch Secondary Ion Propulsion Panels
ENGINEERING
– Duvolle Laboratories F-07 Subcompact Fusion Reactor Unit
– 6× Duvolle Laboratories 400R Oscillator Capacitor Banks
– Duvolle Laboratories 200 Series Photon Microprocessor Mainframe
– Duvolle Laboratories BZ-1000 Magnetometric Sensor Suite
DEFENSE
– Duvolle Laboratories Dual Skin 250 mm Full Wrap Crystalline Carbonide Armor
– Duvolle Laboratories GS-5 Pulse Shield Emitter System
OFFENSE
– 2× Duvolle Laboratories LEV-6 Turret Hardpoint Pairs
– Duvolle Laboratories GD-66 Auxiliary Processing Array
MAULUS
A more recent introduction to the Federal Combined Armed Forces fleet, the Maulus serves as a medium weight, highly specialized electronic warfare platform that is particularly valued in fleet formation given the fact that it is geared toward heavy optimization for the use of sensor dampening technology.
Introduced to the Gallente military just two and a half decades ago, the Maulus was designed by Duvolle Laboratories to act as an inexpensive and highly mobile electronic warfare support platform in the ongoing conflict with the Caldari State, allowing the Federation to draw Caldari vessels in closer by reducing their effective range in combat with electronic dampening equipment.
Bearing a striking resemblance to a well-known model of prewar cargo handling tug, the Maulus does indeed use the same base subframe design, albeit scaled up by an order of magnitude, to save on development costs. Additional reduction in cost was achieved by using several armor and hull plating layouts from both the Tristan and Imicus to wrap the Maulus in a full skin of crystalline carbonide plating.
Benefiting from a recent hardware review, the Maulus has also been redrafted with a new Duvolle Laboratories F-07 subcompact fusion reactor, which was developed from the F-03 unit used in the Imicus as a result of research from the ill-fated Crielere Project. The Maulus also shares the cells within its capacitor banks with the Tristan, which in this case are manufactured by Roden Shipyards before being packaged and wired into banks by Duvolle to produce the 400R model oscillator bank.
In standard form, save for its drone bay which borrows technology directly from the Tristan, much of the lower superstructure of the Maulus is left empty beneath the 200 series mainframe and around the keel turret hardpoints, in order to allow for maximum versatility when installing sensor dampening equipment depending on each individual vessel’s intended user.
In some instances, when the vessel is purchased by independent contractors this space is converted for cargo storage; however, during navy duty the lower substructure of the vessel tends to be reserved for munitions storage and additional sensor dampening hardware.
THE DANGERS OF DOCK WORK
Dockside duties either in a navy or commercial role tend to be favored by most service personnel or corporate employees, given the inherent dangers of working in close proximity to the hazardous materials that are found in modern starships and the associated hazard pay.
One such incident, which caused a complete rewrite of standard dockside operating procedure for the sensor dampening systems used by Federation Navy vessels, came during the accidental activation of a phased muon sensor dampening system while a Keres class electronic attack frigate was gravdocked in Uphallant VII—Federation Navy Testing Facilities for repairs.
A FEDCAF investigation into the incident, which caused the deaths of sixty-seven maintenance personnel, indicated that a faulty discharge fail-safe circuit in one of the vessel’s Duvolle 400R capacitor banks had failed to release charge from the capacitor bank, which caused the sensor dampening system to activate when its control circuits were tested, rather than simply giving a low power error.
Statements from several members of personnel who survived the incident describe a loud lightning- like arcing of static electricity against the vessel’s gravdock scaffold, which incinerated more than a dozen of their colleagues, before a concussion wave passed through the hangar that turned many of the other staff present into biomass with the approximate consistency of pulled pork.
Despite the official investigation notes listing cause of death as either “instantaneous fatal concussion related lacerations” or “electrostatic related instantaneous incineration,” witness testimony indicates that several of the staff that subsequently died in the hospital were in fact conscious and coherent after the incident.
This is a point that the Federation Navy strongly denies, to the point of summarily court-martialing a number of survivors on the grounds of insubordination and providing false witness statements to an official FEDCAF investigation.
TYPICAL USAGE
A favorite among frigate pilots across FEDCAF, the Maulus is typically used at standoff ranges of around fifty to sixty kilometers. Employed as a rear-guard vessel, it is utilized to project electronic countermeasures over the top of closer range vessels that deliver ordnance, while utilizing either light combat scout drones for self-defense, or electronic warfare drones that cause further havoc with the electronics onboard hostile vessels.
