M-9 "Pavise" SDS Battle Station

{Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field InfoBoxSpaceStation | image = | Name = M-9 "Pavise" SDS Battle Station | Manufacturer = Terran Hegemony | Type = Space Station | Tech Base = Inner Sphere | Cost = Unknown | Introduced = 2720 | Mass = 1,500,000 | Length = 1,000 meters | Width = 2,000 meters | Thrust = Station Keeping Only | Fuel (tons) = 5,000 | Fuel (days) = 2.82 | LF battery = None | Armament = Weapon Layout

• 12 x Naval Gauss Rifles
• 12 x Heavy Naval PPCs
• 12 x NAC/35s
• 30 x NAC/10s
• 12 x AR-10s
• 72 x NL55s
• 24 x Gauss Rifles
• 36 x PPCs
• 36 x ER Large Lasers
• 24 x LB 10-Xs
• 36 x Large Pulse Lasers
• 24 x LRM 20s+ArtIV
• 72 x Medium Pulse Lasers
• 72 x Small Pulse Lasers

| Armor = Ferro-Carbide | Structural Integrity = 1 | Docking Collars = 12 | Crew/Passengers = SDS Drone Control System
20 Officers
100 Enlisted/Non-Rates Overseers
45 Marines
300 Visitor/Passengers | Grav Decks = 2 (450 meter diameter) | Escape Pods/Life Boats = 90/0 | Heat Sinks = 7,000 (Double Heat Sinks) | BV (1.0) = None | BV (2.0) = 288,172 }}

Description

The M-9 "Pavise" SDS Battle Station was a SLDF robotic defense outpost created as part of First Lord Jonathan Cameron's plan to protect the Terran Hegemony. These were the largest drones ever created as part of the M-Series.

The Pavise was created as an automated space command outpost to maintain and coordinate a large fleet of SDS Robotic Drones within a star system. First deployed in 2720, the Pavise would typically be deployed to a star system's jump point or in orbit around an important world. Terra itself would have five of these battle stations protecting each of its jump points and other vital locations.

The station's robotic systems would be monitored by a small human crew and its habitable section could accommodate visitors. These stations would also serve as a space traffic control stations and perform maintenance which the SDS cannot do itself.

Many of these stations would fall under control of Stefan Amaris's occupation forces, posing a significant obstacle to General Aleksandr Kerensky's liberation of the Terran Hegemony. Designed to serve as the first and last line of defense to the Hegemony, these incredibly tough battle stations forced the SLDF to resort to creative tactics in order to overcome their blistering defenses.

Weapons and Equipment

Equipment

Designed as a Command and Repair Yard for smaller SDS Drones, the Pavise Battlestations were equipped with Naval Comm-Scanner Suite and an Autonomous Tactical Analysis Computer. These sensors and computer drone controls would allow a Pavise to control up to 300 drones at a time. The station's two ARTS Pressurized Repair Bays can repair and re-arm DropShip- and WarShip-sized SDS drones.

The station has twelve DropShip collars, allowing it to handle two full squadrons of DropShips, while its fighter bays can house 144 drone fighter craft.

Encasing the station's hull is 4,125 tons worth of Ferro-Carbide armor, giving the station twice the protection of a Farragut or McKenna-class battleship.

Weapons

A Pavise's weapons layout is the equal of any typical heavy WarShip design of its era.

Each of the weapon arcs (Nose, FL/FR, AL/AR, Aft) has the following weapons layout:

• Capital weaponry: 4 Heavy Naval Gauss Rifles, 8 Heavy Naval PPCs, Class-35 Naval Autocannon (w/200 each), 12 Class-55 Naval Lasers, and AR-10 Launcher (100 Killer Whales, 100 White Sharks, and 100 Barracuda Capital Missiles).
• Conventional weaponry: 4 Gauss Rifles, 6 Particle Projector Cannons, 6 Extended-Ranged Large Lasers, 4 Artemis IV guided 20-Tubed Long-Range Missile Launchers, 4 LB 10-X Class Autocannons, 6 Large Pulse Lasers with 12 Medium Pulse Lasers, and 12 Small Pulse Lasers serving as point defense.

Cargo

• Bay 1: Small Craft (10) - 1 Door
• Bay 2: ARTS Fighter Cubicles (144) - 21 Doors
• Bay 3: ARTS Pressurized Repair Bay (800,000 ton Capacity) - 1 Door
• Bay 4: Cargo (157,585 tons) - 2 Doors
• Bay 5: Cargo (50,000 tons) - 2 Doors

Notes

The Pavise requires no crew as it is completely autonomous, being able to maintain both attending vessels and itself. The station's human crew oversees the SDS computer network and maintenance. The SDS Drone Control System has a gunnery rating of 3 and a piloting rating of 4. The station's internal automated defenses provides 251 Marine Points to fend off boarding actions.

Bibliography

• Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1