{"data":{"id":19967,"title":"Whitley's Guide - Hercules","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/spectrum-dispatch\/19967-Whitleys-Guide-Hercules","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/19967","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/19967","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"News Update","images":[{"id":26463,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/weozjmuuh3hwh\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":843046,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-09-19T15:49:32+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26463\/similar"},{"id":27892,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/w3o9r4zgppm77\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":900916,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2021-09-06T14:48:40+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/27892\/similar"}],"images_count":8,"translations":{"en_EN":"This article originally appeared in Jump Point 7.10.\nCrusader Industries Hercules\nDEVELOPMENT HISTORY\nDevelopment of the spacecraft that would become the modern Hercules began in the mid-28th century during a particularly introspective period for UEE military leadership. Keen to examine the potential lessons of the last war, UEE commanders undertook an unprecedented analysis of the Second Tevarin War followed by a series of simulated wargames covering major battles. One of the outcomes of this effort was a new understanding of the impact of support logistics on interstellar warfare. During the Tevarin wars and prior, interplanetary operations meant establishing an initial beachhead on a hostile world using small, heavily armored landing assault craft. Once a base was established, heavier equipment would be brought in using a support column of freighters and transporters not specially equipped for combat. Analysis of this practice in action suggested it had created a major choke point that had significantly delayed necessary assets in several cases. Not only did transporting weaponry crated aboard traditional transports slow the ability to deploy heavier artillery, missile launchers, and armored tanks, it also limited their immediate range once deployed. Even successes like the famed 2605 Battle of Koren Pass were cited as examples of situations where casualties resulted from a lack of logistics: if the UEE had the lift capacity to deliver fighting vehicles directly from orbit, losses on the ground could have been significantly reduced.\n\nThe solution, military leaders determined, was two-fold. The first was organizational. In an attempt to reduce time lost to inter-service confusion, the decision was made to establish UEE Starlift Command \u2013 a cross-service support framework intended to better coordinate the UEEN assets responsible for delivering personnel and materiel that would address the UEEA and UEEM\u2019s granular battlefield needs. The second was to set forth the specifications for a complete quantum-to-battlefield support spacecraft that could deploy armored units and other assets to a variety of alien terrains while under fire. Instead of amphibious operations focusing on establishing individual fire bases to bring in heavier assault weaponry, this command and its theoretical spacecraft could deliver advanced units directly to active theaters. The plan would prove incredibly effective and significantly alter the shape of planetary-scale battlefields. Additionally, this new spacecraft could be maintained locally and be used to quickly relocate already deployed assets should flashpoints evolve.\n\nThe formal request for a proposal was issued in 2814. It asked for a large, well-protected transport that was jump-capable, able to sustain concentrated artillery fire, and able to deploy multiple armored vehicles quickly. Significant proposals were developed by both Aegis Dynamics and Crusader Industries. Crusader, then a premiere manufacturer of carriers and associated industrial conversions, was expected to adapt their serving Jupiter-class carrier for combat operations. Aegis was expected to develop a bespoke design specific to the UEEN\u2019s needs. In an unexpected twist, the opposite proved true: Aegis suggested adapting existing military freighters with armor and defensive turrets, while Crusader developed a much more expensive proposal to create an entirely new design that would eventually become the Hercules starlifter. Despite Crusader\u2019s proposal having three times the price tag of the Aegis conversion, the feeling was that such a major reorganization of tactical doctrine would be better supported with an entirely new spacecraft. The military decided to invest, despite the cost of developing such a system and the inevitable organizational issues that would come with its adoption. With that, Crusader Industries launched an all-out four-year program to develop their first dedicated military support spacecraft.\n\nThe first active-duty starlifter unit was formed in May 2821 with a dozen first model spacecraft (formally designated the \u2018M2 Hercules\u2019). In initial training exercises, the new ship worked perfectly. Capable of taking sustained fire and deploying a tank or armored car in minutes, the Hercules met the military\u2019s requirements and then some. However, delays to Hercules deployment occurred due to the difficulty of integrating the new interservice command, with those involved facing a great deal of bureaucracy in order to allow these new processes to supplant the tried-and-true support chain. Nevertheless, the wisdom of the decision became clear in March 2824 with the first active combat deployment of the Hercules system, when UEE armed forces were called upon to put down a heavily armed group of pirate forces located on a frontier world near the Xi\u2019an border. Instead of attacking the site from orbit, planners determined that it would be worthwhile to capture assets intact in order to pursue further antipiracy operations elsewhere. Two Hercules squadrons, escorted by deep space support fighters, quietly deployed troops and an armored column which defeated the stunned criminal forces in short order. The battle, previously thought to be a particularly hazardous prospect, was won with no losses of UEE personnel and the resulting capture of information would lead directly to the destruction of two pirate outposts and a small capital ship.\n\nAs use of the Crusader starlifter normalized, it quickly became a favorite among soldiers and ground crews. Crusader\u2019s experience with civil space transport meant they understood how to build a spacecraft intended for ease of maintenance. Additionally, the hulky, armored appearance of the Hercules became a comfort to soldiers and marines, who came to associate it with much safer deployments. The sight of a Hercules on the battlefield inevitably meant the delivery of additional supplies or reinforcements. Within two decades, Starlift Command had organizational structures in place across the empire that would allow the rapid movement of Hercules to any battlefield within a jump of a currently settled star system. Several units of starlifters are kept on \u2018ready five\u2019 status around the Empire already loaded with tanks and missile launchers and teamed with special operations troops that can be used to address rapidly developing situations.\n\nOver the decades, Crusader has continued to update and enhance the original Hercules design and has made a tidy profit performing fleet enhancements and producing battlefield update kits in the progress. This steady dedication to modernizing the fleet has been strongly supported by Starlift Command and has allowed individual examples to remain in service well past their intended retirement. As of 2948, a significant number of first and second generation Hercules hulls were still being operated thanks to these extensive maintenance processes. Similarly, Crusader has continued to apply their \u2018frame-and-role\u2019 design process developed in starliner construction to the Hercules line, which has allowed the rapid creation of a number of role-specific variants including refuelers, heavy armor support ships, and information runners. Crusader\u2019s philosophy allows the creation of variants to proceed rapidly as the need requires without disrupting existing production lines. This has allowed role-specific Hercules to be constructed as needed and retired just as quickly. One of these variants has become a significant part of the UEEN inventory: the A2 is a dedicated heavy gunship that adapts the Hercules\u2019 heavy armor and other defensive systems for more a sustained combat role and uses the design\u2019s extensive cargo capacity for munitions storage. The A2 Hercules is now constructed on its own factory line and has seen extensive combat operations against planetside forces.\n\nIn 2940, Crusader surprised the aerospace industry by announcing the development of the first standalone civilian variant of the Hercules, the C2. Long seen as a military-only spacecraft design, the decision was especially unexpected as Crusader\u2019s factories did not have the immediate capacity to produce more than the Hercules already requisitioned by the military. In order to produce the C2, three more Hercules lines would need to be opened. Crusader, however, saw this as less of a gamble, believing that even if interest in a civilianized Hercules was not immediately apparent, the investment would ultimately be useful as military demand increased in the face of increased conflict with the Vanduul. The C2 Hercules design drops some of the armor and specialized hardware from the current generation military type in exchange for an overall improvement in cargo. Formally targeted at frontier concerns, the C2 variant has been positioned as a way for planets with less developed infrastructures to rapidly move vehicles from place to place. In their example study, Crusader imagined a mining corporation seeking to reallocate heavy equipment to sites around a newly explored planet in order to make use of claims before unlicensed jumpers could move in. The move proved to be a success, with civilian organizations quickly taking to the sturdy spacecraft design and corporate partners happy to have a ship with such a well-developed lineage and extant support apparatus. In addition to miners and explorers, the C2 Hercules quickly proved to be popular among militia groups eager to move small spacecraft and ground vehicles from place to place on individual worlds","de_DE":"Dieser Artikel erschien urspr\u00fcnglich in Jump Point 7.10.\nCrusader Industries Hercules\nENTWICKLUNGSGESCHICHTE\nDie Entwicklung des Raumschiffs, aus dem die moderne Hercules werden sollte, begann Mitte des 28. Jahrhunderts, als die milit\u00e4rische F\u00fchrung der UEE besonders nachdenklich war. In dem Bestreben, die m\u00f6glichen Lehren aus dem letzten Krieg zu ziehen, unternahmen die UEE-Kommandeure eine beispiellose Analyse des Zweiten Tevarin-Krieges, gefolgt von einer Reihe simulierter Kriegsspiele, die die wichtigsten Schlachten abdeckten. Eines der Ergebnisse dieser Bem\u00fchungen war ein neues Verst\u00e4ndnis f\u00fcr den Einfluss der Unterst\u00fctzungslogistik auf die interstellare Kriegsf\u00fchrung. W\u00e4hrend der Tevarin-Kriege und davor bedeuteten interplanetarische Operationen, dass man mit kleinen, schwer gepanzerten Landungsschiffen einen ersten Landekopf auf einer feindlichen Welt errichtete. Sobald ein St\u00fctzpunkt errichtet war, wurde schwerere Ausr\u00fcstung mit Hilfe einer Unterst\u00fctzungskolonne aus Frachtern und Transportern, die nicht speziell f\u00fcr den Kampf ausger\u00fcstet waren, herangeschafft. Eine Analyse dieser Praxis ergab, dass sie zu einem gro\u00dfen Engpass gef\u00fchrt hatte, der in mehreren F\u00e4llen zu erheblichen Verz\u00f6gerungen bei der Bereitstellung der ben\u00f6tigten Mittel f\u00fchrte. Der Transport von Waffen in traditionellen Transportern verlangsamte nicht nur den Einsatz von schwerer Artillerie, Raketenwerfern und Panzern, sondern schr\u00e4nkte auch deren unmittelbare Reichweite ein, sobald sie eingesetzt wurden. Selbst Erfolge wie die ber\u00fchmte Schlacht am Koren-Pass im Jahr 2605 wurden als Beispiele f\u00fcr Situationen angef\u00fchrt, in denen die Verluste auf einen Mangel an Logistik zur\u00fcckzuf\u00fchren waren: H\u00e4tte die UEE die M\u00f6glichkeit gehabt, Kampffahrzeuge direkt aus dem Orbit zu transportieren, h\u00e4tten die Verluste am Boden deutlich verringert werden k\u00f6nnen.\n\nDie milit\u00e4rische F\u00fchrung kam zu dem Schluss, dass es zwei L\u00f6sungen gab. Die erste war organisatorischer Natur. Um Zeitverluste durch dienststellen\u00fcbergreifende Verwirrung zu vermeiden, wurde beschlossen, das UEE Starlift Command einzurichten - ein dienststellen\u00fcbergreifender Unterst\u00fctzungsrahmen, der die UEEN-Mittel, die f\u00fcr die Bereitstellung von Personal und Material verantwortlich sind, besser koordinieren sollte, um den detaillierten Bed\u00fcrfnissen der UEEA und UEEM auf dem Schlachtfeld gerecht zu werden. Die zweite Aufgabe bestand darin, die Spezifikationen f\u00fcr ein komplettes Quantum-to-Battlefield-Support-Raumschiff festzulegen, das gepanzerte Einheiten und andere Mittel in einer Vielzahl von fremden Terrains unter Beschuss nehmen kann. Anstelle von amphibischen Operationen, die sich darauf konzentrieren, einzelne Feuerbasen einzurichten, um schwerere Angriffswaffen herbeizuschaffen, k\u00f6nnten dieses Kommando und sein theoretisches Raumschiff fortschrittliche Einheiten direkt auf aktive Schaupl\u00e4tze bringen. Dieser Plan w\u00fcrde sich als unglaublich effektiv erweisen und die Form der Schlachtfelder auf dem Planeten erheblich ver\u00e4ndern. Au\u00dferdem k\u00f6nnte dieses neue Raumschiff vor Ort gewartet und genutzt werden, um bereits eingesetzte Einheiten schnell zu verlagern, wenn sich Krisenherde entwickeln.\n\nDie offizielle Aufforderung zur Angebotsabgabe wurde im Jahr 2814 ver\u00f6ffentlicht. Gefordert wurde ein gro\u00dfes, gut gesch\u00fctztes Transportmittel, das sprungf\u00e4hig ist, konzentriertem Artilleriebeschuss standhalten kann und in der Lage ist, mehrere gepanzerte Fahrzeuge schnell zu verlegen. Sowohl Aegis Dynamics als auch Crusader Industries legten wichtige Vorschl\u00e4ge vor. Crusader, damals ein f\u00fchrender Hersteller von Flugzeugtr\u00e4gern und entsprechenden industriellen Umbauten, sollte seinen Flugzeugtr\u00e4ger der Jupiter-Klasse f\u00fcr den Kampfeinsatz umr\u00fcsten. Von Aegis wurde erwartet, dass sie ein ma\u00dfgeschneidertes Design f\u00fcr die Bed\u00fcrfnisse der UEEN entwickelt. Unerwartet erwies sich jedoch das Gegenteil als wahr: Aegis schlug vor, bestehende milit\u00e4rische Frachter mit Panzerung und Verteidigungst\u00fcrmen auszustatten, w\u00e4hrend Crusader einen viel teureren Vorschlag f\u00fcr ein v\u00f6llig neues Design entwickelte, das schlie\u00dflich zum Hercules Starlifter wurde. Obwohl der Vorschlag von Crusader dreimal so teuer war wie der Umbau von Aegis, war man der Meinung, dass eine so umfassende Umstrukturierung der taktischen Doktrin besser mit einem v\u00f6llig neuen Raumschiff unterst\u00fctzt werden sollte. Das Milit\u00e4r beschloss zu investieren, trotz der Kosten f\u00fcr die Entwicklung eines solchen Systems und der unvermeidlichen organisatorischen Probleme, die mit seiner Einf\u00fchrung einhergehen w\u00fcrden. So startete Crusader Industries ein vierj\u00e4hriges Programm zur Entwicklung des ersten speziellen milit\u00e4rischen Unterst\u00fctzungsraumschiffs.\n\nDie erste aktive Starlifter-Einheit wurde im Mai 2821 mit einem Dutzend Raumschiffen des ersten Modells (offiziell als \"M2 Hercules\" bezeichnet) gegr\u00fcndet. In den ersten Trainings\u00fcbungen funktionierte das neue Schiff perfekt. Die Hercules war in der Lage, unter Dauerfeuer zu stehen und einen Panzer oder ein gepanzertes Fahrzeug innerhalb weniger Minuten zu transportieren. Der Einsatz der Hercules verz\u00f6gerte sich jedoch aufgrund der Schwierigkeiten bei der Integration des neuen dienststellen\u00fcbergreifenden Kommandos, da die Beteiligten mit viel B\u00fcrokratie zu k\u00e4mpfen hatten, damit die neuen Prozesse die bew\u00e4hrte Unterst\u00fctzungskette abl\u00f6sen konnten. Wie weise diese Entscheidung war, zeigte sich im M\u00e4rz 2824 beim ersten aktiven Kampfeinsatz des Herkules-Systems, als die Streitkr\u00e4fte der UEE eine schwer bewaffnete Gruppe von Piraten auf einer Grenzwelt nahe der Grenze zu Xi'an niederschlagen mussten. Anstatt den Ort aus dem Orbit anzugreifen, entschieden die Planer, dass es sich lohnen w\u00fcrde, die Anlagen intakt zu erobern, um weitere Anti-Piraten-Operationen anderswo durchzuf\u00fchren. Zwei Hercules-Staffeln, die von Tiefraumj\u00e4gern eskortiert wurden, setzten in aller Ruhe Truppen und eine gepanzerte Kolonne ein, die die verbl\u00fcfften kriminellen Kr\u00e4fte in kurzer Zeit besiegten. Die Schlacht, die zuvor als besonders gef\u00e4hrlich galt, wurde ohne Verluste an UEE-Personal gewonnen und die gewonnenen Informationen f\u00fchrten direkt zur Zerst\u00f6rung von zwei Piratenau\u00dfenposten und einem kleinen Hauptschiff.\n\nAls sich der Einsatz des Crusader Starlifters normalisierte, wurde er schnell zu einem Favoriten unter Soldaten und Bodencrews. Dank ihrer Erfahrung im zivilen Raumtransport wussten die Crusader, wie man ein wartungsfreundliches Raumschiff baut. Au\u00dferdem wurde das bullige, gepanzerte Aussehen des Hercules f\u00fcr die Soldaten und Marines zu einem Trostpflaster, das sie mit viel sichereren Eins\u00e4tzen in Verbindung brachten. Der Anblick einer Hercules auf dem Schlachtfeld bedeutete unweigerlich die Lieferung von Nachschub oder Verst\u00e4rkung. Innerhalb von zwei Jahrzehnten hatte das Starlift Command im ganzen Imperium Organisationsstrukturen geschaffen, die eine schnelle Verlegung von Hercules zu jedem Schlachtfeld innerhalb eines Sprungs von einem derzeit besiedelten Sternensystem erm\u00f6glichten. Mehrere Einheiten von Starliftern werden im ganzen Imperium in Bereitschaft gehalten, die bereits mit Panzern und Raketenwerfern beladen sind und mit Sondereinsatztruppen ausgestattet sind, die in sich schnell entwickelnden Situationen eingesetzt werden k\u00f6nnen.\n\nIm Laufe der Jahrzehnte hat Crusader die urspr\u00fcngliche Hercules-Konstruktion immer wieder aktualisiert und verbessert und dabei einen ordentlichen Gewinn mit Flottenverbesserungen und der Herstellung von Update-Kits f\u00fcr das Schlachtfeld erzielt. Dieses stetige Engagement f\u00fcr die Modernisierung der Flotte wurde vom Starlift Command nachdr\u00fccklich unterst\u00fctzt und hat es erm\u00f6glicht, dass einzelne Exemplare weit \u00fcber ihre geplante Ausmusterung hinaus im Einsatz bleiben. Im Jahr 2948 war eine betr\u00e4chtliche Anzahl von Hercules-R\u00fcmpfen der ersten und zweiten Generation dank dieser umfangreichen Wartungsarbeiten immer noch im Einsatz. In \u00e4hnlicher Weise hat Crusader sein \"Frame-and-Role\"-Designverfahren, das beim Bau von Starlinern entwickelt wurde, auch auf die Hercules-Linie angewandt, was die schnelle Entwicklung einer Reihe von rollenspezifischen Varianten erm\u00f6glichte, wie z. B. Tanker, schwer gepanzerte Unterst\u00fctzungsschiffe und Informationsflugzeuge. Die Philosophie von Crusader erlaubt es, Varianten je nach Bedarf schnell zu entwickeln, ohne die bestehenden Produktionslinien zu unterbrechen. So konnten rollenspezifische Hercules nach Bedarf gebaut und ebenso schnell wieder au\u00dfer Dienst gestellt werden. Eine dieser Varianten ist zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil des UEEN-Inventars geworden: Die A2 ist ein schweres Kanonenboot, das die schwere Panzerung und andere Verteidigungssysteme der Hercules f\u00fcr einen dauerhaften Kampfeinsatz anpasst und die gro\u00dfe Ladekapazit\u00e4t der Konstruktion f\u00fcr die Lagerung von Munition nutzt. Die A2 Hercules wird jetzt auf einer eigenen Fertigungsstra\u00dfe gebaut und hat bereits zahlreiche Kampfeins\u00e4tze gegen Streitkr\u00e4fte auf dem Planeten hinter sich.\n\nIm Jahr 2940 \u00fcberraschte Crusader die Raumfahrtindustrie mit der Ank\u00fcndigung der Entwicklung der ersten eigenst\u00e4ndigen zivilen Variante der Hercules, der C2. Diese Entscheidung kam besonders unerwartet, da die Fabriken von Crusader nicht \u00fcber die Kapazit\u00e4ten verf\u00fcgten, um mehr als die bereits vom Milit\u00e4r angeforderten Hercules zu produzieren. Um die C2 zu produzieren, m\u00fcssten drei weitere Hercules-Linien er\u00f6ffnet werden. Crusader sah dies jedoch als weniger riskant an, da sie der Meinung waren, dass sich die Investition, auch wenn das Interesse an einer zivilisierten Hercules nicht sofort erkennbar war, letztendlich als n\u00fctzlich erweisen w\u00fcrde, wenn die milit\u00e4rische Nachfrage angesichts des zunehmenden Konflikts mit den Vanduul steigt. Das C2 Hercules-Design verzichtet auf einige der Panzerungen und Spezialausr\u00fcstungen der aktuellen Generation des milit\u00e4rischen Typs und bietet im Gegenzug ein insgesamt besseres Ladevolumen. Die C2-Variante ist offiziell f\u00fcr Grenzregionen gedacht und soll Planeten mit weniger entwickelter Infrastruktur die M\u00f6glichkeit geben, Fahrzeuge schnell von einem Ort zum anderen zu bringen. In ihrer Beispielstudie stellte sich Crusader ein Bergbauunternehmen vor, das schweres Ger\u00e4t an Standorte rund um einen neu erforschten Planeten verlagern wollte, um Claims zu nutzen, bevor nicht lizenzierte Jumper anr\u00fccken konnten. Der Umzug erwies sich als Erfolg, da zivile Organisationen das robuste Raumschiffdesign schnell annahmen und die Unternehmenspartner froh waren, ein Schiff mit einem so gut entwickelten Stammbaum und vorhandenen Hilfsger\u00e4ten zu haben. Neben Bergleuten und Forschern war die C2 Hercules auch bei Milizen beliebt, die kleine Raum- und Bodenfahrzeuge von Ort zu Ort auf einzelnen Welten transportieren wollten.","zh_CN":"This article originally appeared in Jump Point 7.10.\nCrusader Industries Hercules\nDEVELOPMENT HISTORY\nDevelopment of the spacecraft that would become the modern Hercules began in the mid-28th century during a particularly introspective period for UEE military leadership. Keen to examine the potential lessons of the last war, UEE commanders undertook an unprecedented analysis of the Second Tevarin War followed by a series of simulated wargames covering major battles. One of the outcomes of this effort was a new understanding of the impact of support logistics on interstellar warfare. During the Tevarin wars and prior, interplanetary operations meant establishing an initial beachhead on a hostile world using small, heavily armored landing assault craft. Once a base was established, heavier equipment would be brought in using a support column of freighters and transporters not specially equipped for combat. Analysis of this practice in action suggested it had created a major choke point that had significantly delayed necessary assets in several cases. Not only did transporting weaponry crated aboard traditional transports slow the ability to deploy heavier artillery, missile launchers, and armored tanks, it also limited their immediate range once deployed. Even successes like the famed 2605 Battle of Koren Pass were cited as examples of situations where casualties resulted from a lack of logistics: if the UEE had the lift capacity to deliver fighting vehicles directly from orbit, losses on the ground could have been significantly reduced.\n\nThe solution, military leaders determined, was two-fold. The first was organizational. In an attempt to reduce time lost to inter-service confusion, the decision was made to establish UEE Starlift Command \u2013 a cross-service support framework intended to better coordinate the UEEN assets responsible for delivering personnel and materiel that would address the UEEA and UEEM\u2019s granular battlefield needs. The second was to set forth the specifications for a complete quantum-to-battlefield support spacecraft that could deploy armored units and other assets to a variety of alien terrains while under fire. Instead of amphibious operations focusing on establishing individual fire bases to bring in heavier assault weaponry, this command and its theoretical spacecraft could deliver advanced units directly to active theaters. The plan would prove incredibly effective and significantly alter the shape of planetary-scale battlefields. Additionally, this new spacecraft could be maintained locally and be used to quickly relocate already deployed assets should flashpoints evolve.\n\nThe formal request for a proposal was issued in 2814. It asked for a large, well-protected transport that was jump-capable, able to sustain concentrated artillery fire, and able to deploy multiple armored vehicles quickly. Significant proposals were developed by both Aegis Dynamics and Crusader Industries. Crusader, then a premiere manufacturer of carriers and associated industrial conversions, was expected to adapt their serving Jupiter-class carrier for combat operations. Aegis was expected to develop a bespoke design specific to the UEEN\u2019s needs. In an unexpected twist, the opposite proved true: Aegis suggested adapting existing military freighters with armor and defensive turrets, while Crusader developed a much more expensive proposal to create an entirely new design that would eventually become the Hercules starlifter. Despite Crusader\u2019s proposal having three times the price tag of the Aegis conversion, the feeling was that such a major reorganization of tactical doctrine would be better supported with an entirely new spacecraft. The military decided to invest, despite the cost of developing such a system and the inevitable organizational issues that would come with its adoption. With that, Crusader Industries launched an all-out four-year program to develop their first dedicated military support spacecraft.\n\nThe first active-duty starlifter unit was formed in May 2821 with a dozen first model spacecraft (formally designated the \u2018M2 Hercules\u2019). In initial training exercises, the new ship worked perfectly. Capable of taking sustained fire and deploying a tank or armored car in minutes, the Hercules met the military\u2019s requirements and then some. However, delays to Hercules deployment occurred due to the difficulty of integrating the new interservice command, with those involved facing a great deal of bureaucracy in order to allow these new processes to supplant the tried-and-true support chain. Nevertheless, the wisdom of the decision became clear in March 2824 with the first active combat deployment of the Hercules system, when UEE armed forces were called upon to put down a heavily armed group of pirate forces located on a frontier world near the Xi\u2019an border. Instead of attacking the site from orbit, planners determined that it would be worthwhile to capture assets intact in order to pursue further antipiracy operations elsewhere. Two Hercules squadrons, escorted by deep space support fighters, quietly deployed troops and an armored column which defeated the stunned criminal forces in short order. The battle, previously thought to be a particularly hazardous prospect, was won with no losses of UEE personnel and the resulting capture of information would lead directly to the destruction of two pirate outposts and a small capital ship.\n\nAs use of the Crusader starlifter normalized, it quickly became a favorite among soldiers and ground crews. Crusader\u2019s experience with civil space transport meant they understood how to build a spacecraft intended for ease of maintenance. Additionally, the hulky, armored appearance of the Hercules became a comfort to soldiers and marines, who came to associate it with much safer deployments. The sight of a Hercules on the battlefield inevitably meant the delivery of additional supplies or reinforcements. Within two decades, Starlift Command had organizational structures in place across the empire that would allow the rapid movement of Hercules to any battlefield within a jump of a currently settled star system. Several units of starlifters are kept on \u2018ready five\u2019 status around the Empire already loaded with tanks and missile launchers and teamed with special operations troops that can be used to address rapidly developing situations.\n\nOver the decades, Crusader has continued to update and enhance the original Hercules design and has made a tidy profit performing fleet enhancements and producing battlefield update kits in the progress. This steady dedication to modernizing the fleet has been strongly supported by Starlift Command and has allowed individual examples to remain in service well past their intended retirement. As of 2948, a significant number of first and second generation Hercules hulls were still being operated thanks to these extensive maintenance processes. Similarly, Crusader has continued to apply their \u2018frame-and-role\u2019 design process developed in starliner construction to the Hercules line, which has allowed the rapid creation of a number of role-specific variants including refuelers, heavy armor support ships, and information runners. Crusader\u2019s philosophy allows the creation of variants to proceed rapidly as the need requires without disrupting existing production lines. This has allowed role-specific Hercules to be constructed as needed and retired just as quickly. One of these variants has become a significant part of the UEEN inventory: the A2 is a dedicated heavy gunship that adapts the Hercules\u2019 heavy armor and other defensive systems for more a sustained combat role and uses the design\u2019s extensive cargo capacity for munitions storage. The A2 Hercules is now constructed on its own factory line and has seen extensive combat operations against planetside forces.\n\nIn 2940, Crusader surprised the aerospace industry by announcing the development of the first standalone civilian variant of the Hercules, the C2. Long seen as a military-only spacecraft design, the decision was especially unexpected as Crusader\u2019s factories did not have the immediate capacity to produce more than the Hercules already requisitioned by the military. In order to produce the C2, three more Hercules lines would need to be opened. Crusader, however, saw this as less of a gamble, believing that even if interest in a civilianized Hercules was not immediately apparent, the investment would ultimately be useful as military demand increased in the face of increased conflict with the Vanduul. The C2 Hercules design drops some of the armor and specialized hardware from the current generation military type in exchange for an overall improvement in cargo. Formally targeted at frontier concerns, the C2 variant has been positioned as a way for planets with less developed infrastructures to rapidly move vehicles from place to place. In their example study, Crusader imagined a mining corporation seeking to reallocate heavy equipment to sites around a newly explored planet in order to make use of claims before unlicensed jumpers could move in. The move proved to be a success, with civilian organizations quickly taking to the sturdy spacecraft design and corporate partners happy to have a ship with such a well-developed lineage and extant support apparatus. In addition to miners and explorers, the C2 Hercules quickly proved to be popular among militia groups eager to move small spacecraft and ground vehicles from place to place on individual worlds"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":14,"created_at":"2024-05-14T21:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"1 year ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-04-25 09:30:41","valid_relations":["images","links","translations"],"prev_id":19966,"next_id":19970}}