Aura-Class Battleship

The Aura-Class Battleship was a class of capital starships designed by the Terran Republic, later produced and used by the Sol Imperium, Solar Union and the United Republic of Orion.

The ship class was designed to be the flagships of the Terran Fleets, and was progressively updated and modified for different uses. Aura-Class Battleships constructed before the formation of the Solar Union are reffered to as Aura-I Class, while those built after were reffered to as Aura-II Class.

Origins
After the early wars of the Terran Republic, such as the HRA War, it became clear to the Terran Starfleet that they were in dire need of large capital starships intended for ship-to-ship combat.

In 3 P.T., a group of navy officers and engineers, including Captain John Leach of the TSS Ranger, presented a design for the so-called "New Terran Cruiser" to the TDO High Command. This design was approved and the first ships of the class quickly entered construction.

Aura-I Class
The first ships of the class enetered service in 6 P.T., and were distributed among the Terran Fleets. However, these would not see action until 10 P.T., when the formation of the Sol Imperium and the start of the great anarchy would thrust them into the forefront of naval battles across the Sol System.

Most Aura Battleships remained loyal to the Imperial Government, however some joined the Novaterran Union, the Phantom Fleet or even the Morite Republic of Sol.

The class would have its first true test of strength at the Battle of Ceres, where the severly outnumbered Solar Alliance forces were able to hold out against a Kara force for a time, later pushing them out of the system entirely, destroying several Kara cruisers in the process.

The battleships would also be the saving grace of the Solar Union during the Second League War, where they were able to deter further League invasions of Sol.

Aura-II Class
Given the sucsess of the Aura class during the First and Second League Wars, the Solar Military decided to keep the design as their standard battleship, however it was still deemed necessary to upgrade the ships to keep up to date with Alien tech, and so the Aura-II Class were ordered, along with the refitting of a few older models.

Design
The Aura-Class was designed with the goal of creating a capital ship capable of standing up to Alien vessels from the Kara or Atlanteans.

The standard configuration of the class included 18 Dual Laser Batteries for ship-to-ship long range combat. These were complemented by 6 Dual Torpedo Launchers, which were intended for close-range engagements. For starfighter defence, the ship carried 24 Dual Ion Laser Batteries. All these weapons systems were spread out around the ship, in order to cover most possible attack angles. However, the ship had a weak spot on its direct top and bottom, where the main Laser Batteries and Torpedo Launchers could not aim, and was defended soely by its Ion Lasers.

The ship was plated with Precornium Armor, and was also protected by 4 Shield Generators, positioned at the front, back, and two at the bridge. 3 Nuclear Fusion Reactors powered the ship, giving its 5 main engines propulsion and powering the ships systems. The ship was only equipped with a single Radar, located on the Bridge, and thus was often reliant on other ships during certain situations.

lastly, the ship was equipped with a small hangar bay, capable of fitting up to 30 Starfighters, however they often carried fewer, to make space for other ground equipment.