Spacecraft of The Saga of Seven Suns
The following is a list of fictional spacecraft featured in The Saga of Seven Suns, a series of science fiction novels written by Kevin J. Anderson.
Earth Defense Force
The Earth Defense Force (EDF) is the military of the Hansa. The entire fleet is commanded by General Kurt Lanyan the primary commander. The EDF controls ten defined sections of space within the Hansa territories called grids. Each grid is monitored by an Admiral. The EDF consists of the following ships.
- Remora - The smallest ship in the EDF, however an extremely maneuverable attack fighter. The Weapons consignment on board a Remora consist of Jazers. They are also known to carry a highly versatile foam that is used to make rafts in A Forest of Stars to save settlers from drowning.
- Personnel dropship Used in ground operations such as those as Yreka and roamer complexes. No weapons on board.
- Thunderhead - Slightly smaller than a Manta, the Thunderhead is a fast and highly maneuverable weapons platform. They are capable of docking a large number of Remoras. The Weapons consignment on board a Thunderhead consist of Jazers, Railguns and later Carbon-Carbon Smashers.
- Manta - The EDF's Mid-sized cruiser class vessel. The majority of the EDF is made up of Mantas, they are fast, powerful and are also capable of docking a large number of Remoras. The Weapons consignment on board a Manta also consist of Jazers, Railguns and later Carbon-Carbon Smashers and fracture pulse drones.
- Juggernaut - The largest and strongest battleship in the EDF. Ten juggernaut class battleships were created in total, one for each grid of the Hansa. The Weapons consignment on board a Juggernaut is much like the Manta and Thunderhead and also consists of Jazers, Railguns, Carbon-Carbon Smashers and fracture pulse drones. The Goliath was the first newly constructed Juggernaut, commanded by Admiral Lev Stromo of grid 0. Others Include. The Jupiter commanded by Admiral Sheila Willis of grid 7. The Eldorado Commanded By Admiral Kostas Eolus of grid 5. The thunder child commanded by Admiral Wu-lin of grid 3. And unnamed others.
- Rammer - The heavily shielded kamikaze attack vessel of the EDF, created to destroy Hydrogue Cityplexes found in the center of gas giants. The Rammer contains no life support or vital systems, and is crewed entirely by soldier compies. It is designed to overload its engines which provides an explosion many times that of a nuclear warhead. The bridge of the Rammer contains a small craft that may jettison from the bridge before the overload. Also have nukes to weaken the warglobes before impact.
Civilian
- Cargo Ships - These fast transport ships are not mentioned often and the only ones mentioned throughout the series are the ones commanded by Rlinda Kett. A successful merchant with a fleet of five cargo ships such as. The Voracious Curiosity Rlinda's personal ship, The Great Expectations a ship that was stolen by Rand Sorengaard, The Blind Faith as commanded by Branson Roberts and others that were commissioned by the EDF.
- Yacht - This luxury ship is large and very fast and is usually adorned by official or ceremonial markings. The uses of the ships are generally for ambassadors, politicizations, military officials, the king and other royal officials. The previous chairman of the Hansa Maureen Fitzpatrick was mentioned to own a personal yacht. The Speaker for all Roamer clans also has a Yacht that has no official markings.
- Hansa Generation Ship - Created by the Hansa these enormous ships carried many humans to unknown destinations. Once launched each generation ship's crew would become self-contained and independent finding their own way across the stars. Each ship was named after a famous explorer, (some of which are fictional/only exist in the SoSS universe). The names were:
- Peary
- Marco-Polo
- Balboa
- Burton
- Caillie
- Amundsen
- Clark
- Vichy
- Stroganov
- Abel-Wexler
- Kanaka
Roamer
Roamers have many types of ship of with all shapes and sizes. Due to their belief in function over form, it is likely that you would rarely see two identical or standardized ships. There are many ships created from recycled parts and hulls that create an 'ugly' yet individual look to each ship.
- Sky Mine - Roamer sky mines harvest vast amounts of hydrogen from gas planets, giant reservoirs of resource accessible for the taking. Running millions of gaseous tons through ekti reactors using an old Ildiran process. Through catalysis's and convoluted magnetic fields the reactors convert ultra-pure hydrogen into an exotic allotrope of hydrogen, ekti. The Blue Sky Mine was Ross Tamblyn's sky mine, operated above the Golgen gas giant. A sky mine can be seen on the UK edition cover of Metal Swarm.
- Nebular Skimmers - With their ability to Sky mine Roamers developed these new ships that drift through Nebula slowly extracting the much needed Hydrogen to be converted to Ekti. This ship is mainly sails made of microfiber film which is used to collect the Hydrogen. It is encased in an ellipsoidal ballistic cocoon where is folded and later released into 4 large sails. With a crew of one which live in a habitation module that sits in the center of the structure these ships collect Hydrogen to be later transported and converted.
- Grappler pod - A small, short range craft which can deploy a grapple.
- Ore collector - A short range ship used for collecting mined metals.
Solar Navy
The Solar Navy is the military of the Ildiran Empires. The lowest ranking officer of the Solar Navy is Septar and is in charge of a Septa of ships, a total of 7 Warliners. The next ranking officer is Qul and is charge of a Maniple, 7 Septas, a total 49 Warliners. The next highest ranking is Tal and is charge of a Cohort, 7 Maniples, a total 343 Warliners. There are 7 Tal's, each in charge of a Cohort, totalling 2401 Warliners. The entire fleet is commanded by the Adar, second child of the Prime-Designate a halfbreed Noble and Solder Kith. The Solar Navy consists of the following ships.
- Warliner - The largest and most powerful ship in the Ildiran Empire. A Warliner can be described as a large disk tilted on its side adorned with ornamental heat radiator solar sails. The Weapons consignment on board a Warliner consist of Kinetic Missile Launchers, High Energy Cutting Beams and Planet-Splitters. It is pictured on the UK edition cover of A Forest of Stars.
- Cutter - One of the smallest ships in the Ildiran Empire. It is mainly used as a transport for military officials and Soldiers. This small ship is able to dock directly onto the side of a Warliner becoming part of the hull. The Weapons consignment on board a Cutter is unknown however it can be assumed that High Energy Cutting Beams would be the major system.
- Streamer - The fastest ship in the Solar Navy. Its arrowhead design is aerodynamic allowing it to fly at great speeds even in planetary atmosphere. The streamer is used often in celebrations held throughout the Ildiran Empire. The Weapons consignment on board a Streamer is also unknown however it can be assumed that again High Energy Cutting Beams would be the major system.
Hydrogues
The hydrogues liquid metal form needs to be maintained. From the enormous pressure in the core of a gas giant hydrogues compress carbon into pure diamond. Hydrogues ships are diamond hulled and are described as "warglobes" or else "citypheres". These warglobes vary in size, from the smallest Emissary size to a city sized sphere. The weapons consignment on board a warglobe consists of "lightning weapon" as well as a "frost weapon". An image of a warglobe can be seen on the UK edition cover of Horizon Storms.
Faeros
Not much is known about the faeros however is known that they travel in powerful and massive ellipsoid ships. These ships much like the hydrogues are made with an exterior much the same at their environment. The hull is made of a gaseous material that can withstand extreme temperatures of a sun and it also emits heat itself. The weapons consignment on board a faeros ship is unknown. They have previously destroyed hydrogue ships simply by ramming into them at high speeds. A faeros fireball can be seen on the cover of Ashes of Worlds.
Verdani
After bonding with the wentals the verdani become energized by the wentals' seemingly inexhaustible energy which permits them to grow at a rapid rate allowing them to form into gigantic battleships. These "treeships" need a human counterpart who can form a mental bond with the trees and therefore become part of the verdani forever (the verdani previously used a race of, presumably extinct, birdlike humanoids for this task). There are no weapons on board a treeship as it uses its long thorny branches to grapple onto its attacker and crush them. An image of a verdani treeship can be seen on the UK edition cover of Of Fire and Night.
Wentals
The wentals ship remains to be seen however a large water globule ship was created for Jess Tamblyn. Held together by a "skeleton" of coral it was built by wentals by the entranced sea creatures. In Scattered Suns it was used to destroy hydrogue ships by fragmenting and slamming into them.
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