The Sanctuary systems are a small group of planets and systems under the protective wing of the Western Alliance. Two core corporations handle a lot of the design aspects for the actual military deployment. Sanctuary Unlimited is the smaller of the two, hailing more from the core system of the Sanctuary cluster. Arkival Munitions tends to handle most of everywhere else, though joint projects between the two are not uncommon. They don't consider each other rivals and military contracts are shared between the two for the betterment of the systems they serve.
The first offering currently is the Weasel-class vessel. It sports superior defenses against certain weaponry, a glaring weakness, and weaponry with custom statistics. It moves fast but turns slowly, giving ships with more accurate firepower a chance to take advantage of the vessel's open front and rear. It's closer to a frigate than a destroyer, despite the size, due to its speed and light armament.
Armament
2x Light Railgun
3-shot bursts every 2.5 seconds at reduced damage (20). They offer light penetration to surgically strike critical systems and weapons but have reduced range over the larger variants. Their small firing arc coupled with the ship's slow turn speed makes the open core construction of the ship a liability.
1x Rocket Pod
Fires five reduced damage (15) rockets every 2.5 seconds in a somewhat rapid launch pattern. Their tracking arc is low-powered and PDS eats them alive.
2x Aegis Defenses
They power (as shown) a pair of outer 'wings' making inaccurate burst-fire weapons such as blasters and pulser-types nearly useless. Accurate weapons like beamers and other railguns can easily penetrate the ship's front or rear and deliver a rapid killing blow or simply de-claw the Weasel.
The second offering from Arkival Munitions is the Minotaur-class light-support vessel. It features two of the primary Arkival design features, that being the twin railguns as well as mandibular Aegis generators. It lacks major firepower as a support vessel but its extra features make it invaluable in much larger engagements where it can take up the sideline role its meant for.
Armament
2x Standard Railguns
Forward-firing twin-mounted railguns offer superior forward firepower with high accuracy for long-range engavements.
4x Sidewinder
These flank-mounted curve-cannons fulfill a dual role. For close-range encounters with smaller vessels, the barrage of arced fire creates a deadly field of energy to navigate through. In battles against larger vessels, they act as decoy launchers to overload point-defense systems so larger vessels' heavier cannon offerings can break through unharassed.
2x Flak Cannon
Simple forward-mounted point defense to aid in defending the ship's vulnerable cannon wells.
1x Demeter Launcher
fulfills the same dual purpose as the sidewinders--unmanned fighters offer minor damage output against smaller craft as well as assisting in overloading PD systems with the wily craft.
2x Aegis Defense Fields
A veritable trademark of AM's ship designs, the twin shield generators deflect scattered forward fire as well as fire (such as Sidewinders and Weasel Guns) designed to bypass front defenses. Coupled with the pair of flak cannons, these provide excellent defenses for a ship this size.
.
