COBRA Trek Starships

[Zor]

A silly bit of fanart GI Joe/Star Trek fanart that i've been doing.
---

The better part of a century before Zephram Cochrane launched the Pheonix, another human mind had teased out the secrets of warp theory. During the COBRA wars of the 1980s the renegade scientist Dr. Mindbender had managed to unlock the principles of Warp Travel. While the rest of COBRA's leadership was initially hesitant on it's utility towards the aim of global domination, eventually Cobra Commander saw it's usefulness in an emergency measure. As such between 1990 and 1993 COBRA assembled the Coatl. Work on this was done mostly by B.A.T.s and other robots wherever practical and by highly compartmentalized human labor for most of the rest. As things became more desperate for COBRA in the final stages of the COBRA wars Cobra Commander, the Baroness, Zartan, Doctor Mindbender, Destro and Storm Shadow as well as 594 COBRA scientists, engineers, technicians, vipers, physicians and other specialists as well as 200 B.A.T.s, a playload of high end industrial equipment, vehicles, seedstock, a genebank and a set of 32 exowombs. The final battle of the COBRA wars as a delaying action to allow the Coatl to launch. To clear the atmosphere, the Coatl used a nuclear pulse drive based on the earlier Project Orion to clear the atmosphere, then it deployed it's for warp nacelles and jumped to warp, using a set of drive charges as a smokescreen as it vanished from RADAR.

During it's launch most of the computers which held it's blueprints or any information on Warp Theory were destroyed. Even so one was specifically spared, though it's information was only partially correct. It described the Coatl as an orion pulse drive craft meant to evacuate a section of COBRA from the earth, though it's intended destination was Mars. The Warp Nacelles were described as a set of cooling systems. After the escape there was some who posited that the Coatl had been outfitted with a cloaking device, but as scans and probes found no evidence of any presence being established by COBRA on the red planet or elsewhere in the solar system these the general consensus on earth was that the Coatl destroyed itself in it's escape attempt.

Meanwhile the Coatl began it's thirty six year journey and six times the speed of light. Most of it's crew would remain in stasis, with only a small number of engineers and technicians awake at any one time working in shifts. Due to conflict with the Andorians, the Vulcans were unable to maintain scientific surveys of Sol System. It would latter be noted that at least one Andorian ship on a long rage scouting mission detected the Coatl during it's voyage and got a good scan of it, but gave it little consideration due to the fact that it was away from their territory and the comparatively primitive craft posed no threat. Baring a few minor mechanical failures the voyage was uneventful until the Coatl arrived in the Cobra System, delivering it's crew to Cobra Prime. After arrival the Coatl unloaded it's cargo and jettisoned it's fusion reactor to touch down on the planet's surface. The hull of the Coatl would decades latter serve as a space station and would gradually be cannibalized for raw materials in the creation of a Cobra Prime shipyards.



After it's long journey concluded in 2030, the passengers of the Coatl made their way to the surface of the moon of Cobra Prime. Once they arrived on their home system, the interstellar refugees focused their efforts planet-side for the next half century. Their first priority was survival, their second was the establishment of a power base. They set up farms, built factories, raised families, used exowomb technology to expand their population rapidly, gave these future generations an vision and fought to conquer the bronze age native Sauroids. Cobra Commander's (latter known as the First Commander) plan would take lifetimes to be realized. Manned spaceflight was only reestablished in 2078 and that was limited until 2082. After that point, the Coatl was extensively rebuilt. Much of it was broken up and either salvaged or recycled. The Habitat Module was extensively renovated to serve as crew quarters and onto it was built ore processors, machine shops, fabricators, storehouses and assembly berths. First it assembled low range mining ships collecting material from Cobra-II's ring system, but it's first warp capable ship was completed in 2086: the Cobra Space Navy ship Squamate (Experimental Test Vehicle 01).

Several systems from the Squamate were directly salvaged from the Coatl, most notably it made use of four of it's Warp Nacelles. Three were used in it's construction while the forth was kept as a spare. This fact contributed to the trilateral hull profile common on COBRA warships. The Squamate was 108 meters long and originally weighed 7,500 tonnes and had a crew of 30 while being powered by a fusion reactor. It could carry some cargo internally, as well as either a shuttle or an external cargo pod. It's maximum speed was 6 C. It had multiple redundancies to many systems. It's shakedown cruise was successful, even if it did have a few problems. Initially the Squamate was unarmed.

The Squamate's name was symbolic of it's purpose. Squamata is the taxonomic order of reptiles which includes lizards and snakes, as well as encompassing the ancestors of both modern groups. It is the latter that the Squamate drew it's name from, for like those ancestral reptiles the Squamate was to be the progenitor for COBRA's space navy. It was built to serve as a training craft for crews, test out new designs and to perform various interplanetary tasks. Even so after the creation of a long range Subspace Scanner array everything changed. Up until this point COBRA's leadership had operated on the assumption that their were no other space fairing races anywhere close to earth. It came as quite a shock when a warp field was detected within 3 light-years of Cobra Prime. Fearing the possibility of attack, COBRA began a crash space armament program. Among the manifestations of this was the arming of the Squamate. MARS provided a set of four Laser Cannons and sixteen Torpedo Launch cells, a fact which also increased the ship's mass to 8,200 tonnes, the crew complement to 36 and ate up a fair bit of internal space due to the addition of capacitors and a reworked power system. These changes were distinctly unpopular with the crew. Regardless the upgrade would prove to be essential in dealing with the coming challenges.



With the detection of Warp Signatures passing within 3 lightyears of Cobra Prime plans for Starship (and in particular warships) construction were accelerated. In doing so there was not much time for radical redesigns. The Garter class Frigate (the first starship made entirely in Cobra Prime) was a product of that. In practice the Garter class Frigate was a modified version of the Squamate, making use of many of the same parts and components. Even so it boasted a number of improvements and modifications using experience with the previous. It was enlarged to 120 meters long which allowed for extra room for weapons power system for six laser cannons (with recharged 25% faster). It weighed in at 11,500 tonnes, thanks in part to a reinforced hull. It was outfitted with a set of impulse engines which were a considerable improvement in acceleration while freeing up space for a small shuttlebay in the enlarged aft of the craft. It's crew was enlarged to 42 spacers, but also included a complement of 24 Battle Android Troopers (generally kept in storage) on the off. In it's initial configuration the Garter's top speed was still 6c, though it could achieve that while consuming less energy than her older counterpart.

The first Garter class was completed in 2092. After performing within expected parameters in it's shakedown cruise six additional ships were ordered that were delivered over the next 14 years. Their real test came in 2109 when COBRA had it's first contact with another spacefaring culture, specifically a group of Nausicaan raiders. In their first raid one pirate vessel attacked an asteroid mining operation, making off with an impulse equiped mining ship before COBRA's fleet could respond. Seven months latter (and after the sensor network was improve) another such raid was attempted by was fought off by the Squamate, Stonefish and Ferret. While the Ferret and the Squamate did take significant damage, the raider was forced into retreat. Even so, they launched their third and most serious attack in 2112 when four raider ships launched an attack against Coatl Station's shipyards. In that battle they went up against Cobra Prime's orbital defense stations, six Garter class ships, the Squamate, a dozen mining ships carrying lasers and four squadrons of Mark-1 Stiletto and Star-Rattler fightercraft. Two orbital defense stations, five mining ships, 9 fighters, the Stonefish and the Anguilla were destroyed while the Garter and Ferret were damaged. Even so the casualties on the pirate side were much higher. Three raider ships were destroyed outright while the forth was crippled and captured.

After a review of the captured Naussicaan ship's databanks and the interrogation of the it's surviving crew it was soon deduced that this raid represented the entirety of their assets. More importantly the raider was soon gutted and examined. Naussicaan technology was for the most part a kitbash of systems that were stolen from those they preyed upon and crude copies there-of, but was still decades ahead of COBRA. Numerous systems which were only theoretical to COBRA engineers such as the use of antimatter as a power source were shown in practical form, as were improved warp coil designs and hull polarization systems. Over the next decade these mechanisms would be examined, tested, dissected and ultimately replicated. Even so, the need for an enlarged fleet persisted and so five more Garter class frigates would be built between 2114 and 2121. As these ships incorporated some of the new technology into their designs (and the older vessels were gradually refit with the new technology), these latter vessels are generally called Garter Block-1 Refits. They had a maximum speed of 18 c (Warp 2.5) and considerably improved durability. A three ship squadron of these ships led by the Garter did the first interstellar survey of the three nearest star systems around COBRA prime in 2122 to 2123.



In the third Naussicaan Raid, COBRA's fighter corps got it's first taste of battle. Fightercraft were initially designed as low cost defensive craft for the Cobra-II lunar system, but in the battle their high speed and maneuverability proved their effectiveness. Fighter attacks disrupted the pirate's formation while laying in missile and light energy attacks from multiple vectors which softened their defenses an struck at vulnerable systems. One ship was destroyed mostly by fighter attacks and the one which was captured did not escape after it's warp drives were struck by fighter attacks. This (as well as subsequent war games) proved the effectiveness that a single man fighter could show in battle, which was taken into consideration in future spacecraft design and doctrine. Garter class frigates would carry a single Stiletto Fighter as would subsequent ships in their range. The upgrade from Mark-1 impulse Fightercraft to Mark-2 fighters capable of warp travel at 2 C in 2120 was a further boon. Even so, their were still considerable limitations imposed by range. As preparations were made to establish COBRA's first out of system colony in 2127, work began on the Wasp. COBRA's first dedicated carrier. Construction would take five years to complete, with the Wasp entering service in 2133 after passing it's shakedown cruise.

At 250 meters long and massing 200,000 tonnes, the Wasp was far larger than any previous COBRA warship. It was also outfitted with the fastest COBRA warp drive of it's time, able to reach 38 C (Warp 3.3) with a cruising speed of 25 C (Warp 2.. It had a complement of 500 personnel. It's armament was comparatively modest with twelve medium particle beam cannons and no missile capacity. Instead it carried a complement of 24 Stiletto fighters and 8 Star Rattler heavy fighters.

The first combat mission of the Wasp was in 2136 in response to raids on interstellar shipping between COBRA prime and the new colony of Vanguard by another small fleet of raiders (in this case an multi-species fleet). In response a carrier group tracked them down to their asteroid orbiting an otherwise unremarkable red dwarf and launched an attack from five AU away. While three fighters were lost in the initial the attack did manage to destroy two of their five ships and damage a third. The rest of their fleet was dispatched by the Wasp's escorts with fighter support fairly easily. Even so, more pressing challenges awaited.
---
GI Joe-Hasbro
Star Trek-Paramount

Zor

[Tribble]

Awesome scenario, as usual!

When will COBRA and Starfleet run into Cybertronians again?

[Sea Skimmer]

I approve!

I suggest they also need something really silly and vulnerable to go zipping around in besides the fighter, in other words as space scooter-technical. With say a railing, but no gun shield because Cobra!

[Crazedwraith]

Very phallic.

They actually remind me of the romulan war period and before designs from the Starfleet museum website

[Zor]

While the creation of COBRA's first carrier units is generally considered to be of greater historical importance, one would be remiss to neglect mention of it's older sibling the Adder class. While the refitted Garter class Frigate was a considerable improvement in terms of speed, durability and firepower there were still concerns. While a general assessment of their capacities showed that they had become more than a match for their raider counterparts, their were still concerns about the threat posed by larger, better made dedicated warships of the established powers listed in the raider's logs could pose. Initially three ships were ordered in 2121 (the Adder, the Cottonmouth and the Asp, named for Cobra Prime's three continents) with MARS's engineers working day and night. Work began on this first batch in 2123 with the respective ships being launched in 2126, 2127 and 2129. In 2133 five more of these ships were ordered with some minor improvements and refinements, mostly to simplify production and improve reliability.

The Adder's warp systems were identical to those of the of the Wasp, as was it's general performance at FTL speed with better STL maneuverability due to the fact that it weighed only 200,000 tonnes. It was 190 meters long and had a crew of 200 spacers, in addition to some 30 Void Vipers and 300 B.A.T.s in storage. Each ship also carries a pair of S-5 Dragon shuttlecraft, though it could also carry three Stiletto fighters. It was heavily armored and carried a main armament of eight torpedo tubes and two heavy particle cannons, each of which was more twelve times as powerful as those medium models mounted on a Frigate but had a lower rate of fire, plus four aft medium particle cannons. It's main energy weapons were placed in armored turrets to maximize coverage.

The Adder was the product of brute force engineering applied to creating a brawler. Built to be both take and give punishment and specifically to engage craft either comparable or larger in size with concentrated firepower. Even so, this came at the cost of STL maneuverability and a limited ability to respond to multiple assailants and generally requires an escort for support. The Adder class first taste of combat against pirate vessels in 2134 and saw a few more engagements which were similarity easily won. Even so, their true test came in 2142 at the battle of C-3 when the Adder class Cruisers Asp and Copperhead (as well as four escorts) were confronted by a squadron of three Klingon D-5 Cruisers. In that fight two of it's escorting frigates were destroyed, another was crippled and had to be towed back to COBRA prime while the Asp suffered major damage and needed several weeks of field repair work before it could limp home for proper repairs. The Copperhead while suffering less damage still needed some yard work afterwards. Even so, one ship was destroyed outright while the remaining two were forced into retreat after receiving damage, with one of said ships being unable to limp back to Klingon Space, forcing her crew to abandon ship and scuttle. While this did prove that Coatl Station's Shipyards, MARS and the Academy of Science could produce ships which at least hold their own in a firefight with the established power, they were now faced with the threat of a large expansionist power. Among the responses of the Third Commander to this threat was the commissioning of three more Adder class cruisers with upgraded Warp systems.

[Zor]

COBRA began to seriously look beyond the Cobra System in the 2120s, which saw the first surveys of nearby systems (all stars within six lightyears of COBRA prime and several beyond said sphere) and the establishment of Vangaurd Colony in 2128. Even so it's efforts were hampered as any interstellar voyage took months. It also saw contact with trade relations in 2127 (through Nerrax, an independent trading world some 13 lightyears away listed in the Raider's databanks, which would eventually be taken over by COBRA in by a coup in 2136) in which refined Dilithium, antimatter, small arms, B.A.T.s and spices were exchanged for capital used to acquire examples of alien technology and engineering information. Systems would be replicated, tested, compared, modified and revised in a process which steadily improved on what capacities they possessed. At first this yielded minor improvements but in a comparatively span of time it led to breakthroughs demonstrated on unmanned test craft. Most notable among these was what would become COBRA's forth generation of Warp Drives. These would be given their first tested in the Oculus class long range survey ship. Construction of two of these ships (the Oculus and the Mindbender) began in 2133 and was completed in 2135 and 2136. A third ship (the Venom) with considerable upgrades was launched in 2146.

The Oculucs was 168 meters long and weighed in at 125,000 tonnes. It had a large spherical primary hull which historians have compared to that of the United Earth/Federation Daedalus class cruiser. Each Oculus class ship has five medium particle cannons, one heavy particle cannon on a retractable forward mount and four torpedo tubes. The Oculus carried a crew of 300 personnel, which included some 60 scientists. It also had 30 B.A.T.s in storage and would generally be outfitted with Cryogenic systems able to accommodate up to 48 people. The Oculus class had a top warp speed of 85c (Warp 4.4) and a cruising speed of 60c (Warp 3.9). Several members of each ship's science team had been subjected to Neural Stimulation: a procedure which increases cognition but also produces a variety of mental instabilities, the most common (indeed nearly universal) of which is sociopathy. Their utility as polymaths is valued, but it does mean that among the functions of the ship's security staff is riot control. In any case, the primary mission of the Oculus class was to survey surrounding star systems.

For it's parasite craft, the Oculus would usually carry three S-5 Dragon Shuttlecraft in it's shuttle bay. However for many missions it would also carry with it three Single use Enclave Establishment Dropships (SEEDs) on external mounts. These simple flower shaped ships were initially designed to deliver troops and supplies to planetary surfaces, but they were soon modified for the purposes of delivering first wave settlers to planetary surfaces. Their basic thrusters systems could allow for safe landings, but were unable to reach orbit again. Each SEED contained 32 settlers in suspended animation, 12 B.A.T.s, several prefabricated shelters, a fusion reactor, a fabricator system, a nutritional synthesizer, two utility trucks, seed stock, a genebank, six exowombs and other equipment. If an Oculus class ship came a across an unclaimed habitable planet it would deploy (depending on it's viability) either one or all three of it's SEEDs, who's settlers would lay claim to this world and prep it for further colonization at a latter date, supplementing their numbers with defrosted settlers held in storage. Between 2136 and 2150 some ten worlds worlds were seeded with some some 18 SEEDs. Of these by 2160 two seed colonies failed due to equipment failure, one was overwhelmed by hostile natives, one was attacked by slavers, two were destroyed by Klingon forces, one was forced to evacute due to threat of Klingon attack and three had survived, received additional settlers and were growing as initially intended.

However one of the reasons why the Oculus class was built was a specialized long range scouting mission performed in 2138 through 2143. The Oculus was dispatched to make the journey with an extended fuel supply, much of it's science crew reduced (including the elimination of any Neural Stimulated personnel), it's life support systems augmented with additional redundancies. Making use of Warp Lanes for speed boosts the Oculus was able to reach the area near Sol in less than two years and began examining the surrounding area for signs of development from earth. While a set of agents (including a pair of ninjas) were deployed via shuttle the Oculus itself went out of it's way to avoid contact. The ship was hailed several times, but always responded with a set of audio responses in Faljei (a Sauroid language) while avoiding confrontation and eventually scouted out Sol. Eventually it was determined that on earth humanity was a minor player and even with the assistance of the more advanced Vulcans they were just beginning to push beyond Warp 2. Satisfied with the results, the Oculus returned back to Cobra Prime with the intel. While the data they provided was accurate at the time, the launch of the Franklin, Daedalus, Intrepid and NX classes would soon render said intel out of date. Moreover while the Oculus did not provide any information as to it's origins, nationality or mission on it's return journey it was scanned and catalogued several times by ships of several different species. In of itself a minor point, but on it's return journey the Vulcan science ship Sh'Raan detected human lifesigns aboard this ship. While inconclusive at the time this was enough to spark interest in the matter by the United Earth and Vulcan governments.

[Zor]

Through the 2130s considerable breakthroughs were made by COBRA in the fields of Warp technology, antimatter power systems and defensive technologies. It also saw the gradual emergence of a small interstellar empire which needed to be patrolled against pirates, convoys that needed to be escorted against and greater threats looming on the horizon. Even so the resources that COBRA at it's disposal were still limited, especially manpower. Even with the increasingly integrated Sauroid population, aggressive exowomb operations, heavy use of robotics and a trickle of immigrants there was a chronic manpower shortage for the ambitions of the Third Commander and even with alien technology being acquired and replicated there were still practical limits on what could be done and efforts had to be prioritized. It was deemed that the existing capital ship classes were adequate for their job in the 2130s, but smaller warp capable craft needed an upgrade. Even refit the the Garter class Frigate was beginning to show it's age. As such two designs for medium craft were put into production. The first was the Skink class Frigate, which succeeded in it's fairly modest goal of making a successor to the Garter class in the same size class using proven technology and was first launched in 2132. The second was a more ambitious plan using technology pioneered in the Oculus-class Survey ship, the Razorback class Destroyer.

The Razorback program began in 2135 and the first ship was launched in 2139. The resulting ship was 153 meters long and weighed in at 50,000 tonnes. She had a crew of 120 spacers with a reserve of 50 B.A.T.s. She could reach 73 C (Warp 4.2) for short bursts and had a cruising speed of 49 C (Warp 3.6) powered by an RAM-4 Warp Reactor which while being half the size of the RAM-2 produced 85% as much power as the RAM-2 reactor in use on Wasp and Adder class ships. Her engineering section had a secondary internal hull to protect sensitive systems. Her subspace communications systems were state of the art with a range of 10 Light Years. It only had room in it's aft for one shuttle. While less resilient than a cruiser or carrier, the Razorback class Destroyer was faster and a better response ship. Even so it lacked much in the way of internal cargo space even by the standards of the day, which limited it's utility.

Her energy armament had seven medium particle beam cannons and one heady particle beam turret, all but one of which was on it's incompletely spherical forward hull. It also carried seven torpedo tubes (six forward, one aft). It had fairly limited magazines and only carried 36 torpedoes in total as COBRA naval doctrine typically favored letting out a devastating opening salvo to having a greater reserve of missile for a drawn out slugging match. More notable was the fact that while the Razorback was originally to carry primarily fusion torpedoes, it was also outfitted with the specialized equipment for equipping said torpedoes with antimatter warheads. Said Warheads would be left empty of their explosive payload in most situations while the regular torpedoes would carry antimatter. The process took about fifteen minutes. Even so given the unstable nature of these weapons most captains were quite happy to obey regulations that active M/AM warheads not be kept aboard for more than 24 hours at a time, either by dumping their reaction mass back into storage or firing them.

Initially six of these ships were ordered, with three being completed by 2142 and two more at various stages of construction during the Battle of C-3. While victorious, this incident led to an additional six Razorbacks being ordered with work being accelerated on the existing units, which allowed them to be completed for the Second Battle of Cobra Prime in 2143. In retribution for the destruction of two Klingon warships, a fleet consisting of twenty four warships (including six D5 cruisers, eight D3 class cruisers and twelve patrol ships) was dispatched for retribution. Leaving aside armed mining ships and transports, COBRA had some thirty six ships available (almost their entire Navy) to meet them as well as eighteen defensive platforms. In most areas the Klingons had superior technology, which allowed them to inflict considerable casualties. Eleven ships and seven defense platform were destroyed outright, including the Flagship Hornet and with it the Third Commander. Eight more took significant damage. Even so the Klingon force, expecting an easy victory was in the end repelled. Fightercraft played a big part in this victory as the Klingon's weapons and tactics were ill suited to deal with them. But when it came to direct ship to ship action the Razorback was the most effective unit on a tonne per tonne basis mainly thanks to their torpedo armament. Fighter attacks disrupted the Klingon formations and ate away at their shields, leaving individual ships vulnerable to coordinated strikes from larger craft, especially massed torpedo salvos. At the end of the day the Klingon attack force was destroyed in it's entirety.

Even so, there were fears about a second major attack. More than half of the CSN was either destroyed or needed extensive yard work while the Klingons still had at least hundreds of ships in service and dozens of worlds. Fortunately this attack never came thanks to a border conflict with the Romulan Star Empire diverting much of the Klingon Imperial Navy elsewhere. Instead between 2144 and 2146 the Klingons launched several raids against shipping and against SEED colonies using Raptor Patrol craft. This did force the adoption of a convoy system in which the Razorback proved it's worth (even if two ships were lost). Four of them were also used at the Battle of Rgah-IV depot, a small prefabricated maintenance and refueling station set up to support raids in Cobra Space which had three Raptors docked. Eventually in November of 2146 a ceasefire agreement was made. By that point the CSN had refit many of it's ships or had produced new ones with systems first employed in the Razorback, though the class would still remain an important part of COBRA's fleet.

[Iroscato]

Never been even slightly interested in GI Joe, yet I still find this oddly fascinating. Please do continue

[Zor]

Vanguard was COBRA's first colony beyond the Cobra system, established in 2128. While not as verdant as Cobra Prime the planet was habitable, nearby and was fairly easy to establish a presence on. In spite of the limits of the population size of Cobra Prime at the time even with Sauroids the Third Commander was eager to establish a presence on this new world after it's survey. Initially some 3,000 colonists were deployed and by 2140 this had grown to 43,500 (even though by that time the luster of the first colony had wained and many of the colonists it was receiving at this point were penal colonists and the less than Stellar products of the exowomb projects that the Hama dynasty that came to dominate the settlement effectively got at bargain basement rates). Despite this fairly rapid early growth the settlement remained a minor part of the nacent interstellar polity, especially after the annexation of Nerrax. This changed with the onset of the first COBRA/Klingon war in 2142. Vanguard was slightly further from Klingon Space than Cobra Prime and there was a crash effort to develop it's industrial capacity to (in the best case) help contribute to ultimate victory or (worst case) as a place to fall back to if Cobra Prime fell. Personnel and industrial equipment were transferred to the colony, though even with that upgrade it's capacities would be limited. As such a new design was quickly contrived for something that could easily be put together named the Vanguard class Corvette.

The Vanguard class Corvette (sometimes known as the Vanguard-I class, though this designation has never been official) was small at 75 meters and weighed in at a modest 2,500 tonnes and in many respects it was a step backwards for COBRA ship design. She carried no parasites beyond an EVA rig, her 30 man crew lived in cramped conditions hot bunking and many systems which kept as simple as possible. The bridge had a large transparent dome overhead which could have shutters cover it in battle. It's top warp speed of 29 c (Warp 3.1) and a cruising speed of 25 c (warp 2.8 ), though it did have comparatively good STL maneuverability. It's weapons included three medium particle beam cannons, one heavy particle beam cannon and four external torpedo tubes. It's most notable feature was the RAM-8 Reactor. Under normal conditions it was an adequate if unremarkable power plant slightly better than civilian models but over short bursts of up to a few hours it could provide twice it's usual output (though this was harsh on the ship's systems) allowing it to be hold it's own to some degree. Its energy weapons were each powered from a single capacitor which meant that firing it's heavy particle cannon would leave the ship unable to fire any energy weapons for twenty seconds. More than any other COBRA Vanguard class ships were made to deliver a single heavy blow and at most finish off their prey.

Over the course of the war some 13 Vanguard class corvettes were built. Three of them were made on Vanguard, four at Nerrax and six were built in orbit of Cobra Prime shipyards as they could be thrown together quickly using yards that usually built in-system mining vessels at the time. On Vanguard components were for the most sections of the ship up to full nacelles were made planetside, hauled to orbit with a heavy lifter shuttle for final assembly. These were usually assigned for system patrols and convoy escort. They had not the range or durability for front line use. Of these five were lost, three were destroyed by Klingon raids and two more were lost due to antimatter containment failure related incidents. After the war the remaining eight were relegated to patrols after the war, but save for the CSN Bandit (EC-07) which was retained as a training ship (after an extensive refit) the class was all either scraped or sold off between 2149 to 2151. They had served their purpose and were being supplanted by less slapdash deisgns. Even so the last sighting of a (heavily modified) Vanguard class Corvette was made in 2177 by the Federal Navy starship USS Gagarin (NCC-443) as part of a pirate fleet along the coreward frontier.

[Zor]

The first COBRA/Klingon War (2142 to 2146) pressed the fledgling COBRA state to it's limits. A more civilian oriented colony would not have survived, nor one which was not so dedicated towards rapid population expansion via industrial means. Even then victory was achieved primarily because the Klingon's underestimated their target and the fact that they were occupied elsewhere at the time and COBRA's casualties were heavy. COBRA focused most of their efforts on putting as many ships together as quickly as they could and mostly stuck with existing designs. Even so, COBRA lagged in numerous fields. When they were outfitted with antimatter torpedoes COBRA ships the gulf in firepower was not too great and fightercraft were something that evened the odds, but Klingon Ships were faster at warp and their shields gave them a major durability advantage. As such some resources were set aside to build spacecraft capable of going toe to toe with Klingon Starships.

This project faced considerable setbacks due both to quotas and design revisions. The best that could be achieved in 2142 was quite different to what could be achieved in 2144 nor what could be achieved 2146. The Second Battle of Cobra Prime was costly but did leave some usable salvage. In particular several nacelles were left mostly intact as well as several more that had intact systems. These were taken apart for analysis and lead to several breakthroughs in Warp Coil design. Salvage and scans also proved invaluable for COBRA engineers to put together the DEM-1 Shield Generator, which was added to several Adder class Cruisers and Razorback class Destroyers starting in 2145. In technical terms the DEM-1 was a major breakthrough. In practical terms while it did provide some additional protection to the ship the system was a notorious maintenance hog, required a lot of power, took some time to raise to full strength, glowed like a beacon to sensors and had lackluster resilience. An upscaled version (the DEM-2) was designed for the new heavy Capital Ship, which was laid down in march of 2146 and was only 18% complete when the peace treaty was signed. Though this would be deleted from the final design due to an unexpected development.

The Romulans took notice of the COBRA/Klingon War as it resulted in a reallocation of resources. As such a Cruiser was dispatched to study this new power in 2145 with a team of analysts and Tal Shiar agents to monitor developments. After some time observing and after a set of reports were sent to Romulus a decision was made. After a set of communiques were relayed between COBRA and the Romulan ship (in a very circumspect way using audio and text only) a deal was brokered in 2147: in which COBRA provided an Mark-IV Stellar Stiletto fighter and information relating to pilot training in exchange for a working shield generator and technical information. The exchange happened in Deep Space and involved both craft jettisoning a payload towards the other and collecting it. This shield generator would be studied, analyzed and used in conjunction with information from the DEM-1 and 2 to created the much more effective DEM-3 Shield Generator, the final component of the Battlecruiser CSN Baroness which was launched in 2148.

Named for the famous founder of the DeCobray Dynasty the Baroness class Battlecruiser was 257 meters long and weighed in at 275,000 tonnes. She had a crew of 400 personnel as well as a complement of 50 Void Vipers and 600 B.A.T.s in storage. Her armament included four heavy particle beam cannon turrets (using improved capacitor and cooling systems to have a rate of fire 25% faster than those on an Adder class Cruiser), twelve medium particle beam cannon turrets and on it's aft section and 14 torpedo tubes (with a reserve of 288 torpedoes). For parasites the standard load was eight Mark-IV Stellar Stiletto fighters, three S-6 Nightdragon assault shuttles and two unmanned B.A.T. Box boarding craft, though this could be shuffled about if needed. She had a top warp speed of 134 C (Warp 5.1) and a cruising speed of 96 C (Warp 4.5). In addition to shields, this was the first COBRA ship to be outfitted with Transporters rated for organic life. In general terms the Baroness was designed to be a jack of all trades, able to perform well in a variety of circumstances even at the expense of being the master of one.

In general the Baroness class was a quantum leap forward for the Cobra Space Navy as their first ship able to go toe to toe with capital ships of the other established powers of the time in a fight. As soon as she had completed her shakedown cruise the Forth Commander ordered the construction of three more such ships (the Destro, the Storm Shadow and the Zartan) on top of other such naval programs. From the Bridge of the Baroness the Forth Commander toured her domain and oversaw the invasion of Tyron-III in 2150. She also had the distinction of formally reestablishing contact between COBRA and Earth in July of 2151 when she met up with the Enterprise (NX-01) and escorted her to Cobra Prime. Despite some pressure by sections of the admiralty to destroy the United Earth Ship, the Forth Commander entertained Captain Archer aboard the COBRA Prime shipyards and made overtures of peace. The incident would latter cause a stir on earth and would (among other things) lead to a force of MACOs being assigned to Enterprise a few months latter. The arrival of a Vulcan Diplomatic Mission followed shortly after in 2152, who's impression on the human splinter group was less than charitable from their militaristic culture to their use of genetic engineering to create offshoot species such as the aquatic Morays to the Zero G optimized Yard Apes.

[Zor]

The Baroness class Battlecruiser meant that COBRA had a ship which could hold it's own with the other established powers (in addition to having certain advantages such as strike craft) and was in many regards a major breakthrough, but even this was not sufficient for the Forth Commander. A handful of ships which were in general on par of those that were the mainstays established powers and had some advantages was significant, but ultimately they lacked the numbers for sustained warfare and (as was shown in the Battle of Corbra Prime) a Commander in battle would be vulnerable. Ultimately the Forth Commander desired something bigger and more power powerful and a massive project was put into effect in 2148 with work beginning in 2151. It has been argued by some historians that the Arrival of a 600 meter long Vulcan Suurok class Starship in 2152 and the Xindi Incident were contributing factors to the level of resources it received to some degree or another. What is not in dispute was the scope of the plan. Full shipyard berths were given over to assemble nacelles or sections of craft. Construction would continue for six years with numerous adjustments made to the original design along the way due to a myriad of complications. Regardless in 2157 their work was completed with the launch of the CSN Star Serpent.

At 460 Meters Long and massing at 825,000 tonnes, the Star Serpent was by far the largest mobile vehicle COBRA had built up to that point (even including the Coatl) and well above average for a spacecraft at that period (though a few ships such as Suurok class Heavy Cruisers, Aquatic Xindi cruisers and Romulan Amosarr (more commonly known in the Federation by their code name of "Hive") class fleet carriers). She had a crew of 800 spacers, 200 Void Vipers and 1,200 B.A.T.s. She carried a formidable armament of some 26 torpedo tubes (with a reserve of 500 torpedoes) and 16 heavy particle cannons. She had a top speed of 145 c (Warp 5.2) and a cruising speed of 96c (Warp 4.5), a minor improvement over the Baroness class if hardly exceptional. She carried a complex multi-generator shield system that was quite robust for its time but came with some complications. The advantage was that it used three DEM-3 generators, which were proven technology and meant that the Star Serpent could loose a generator and still have shields that were up to 66.66666% effective. The disadvantage was that individual generators were easier to take out and the system required a lot of complex support systems. Her parasite complement included 18 Mark-III Stilleto fighters, 6 Mark-III Star Raven heavy fighters, 4 S-6 Nightdragon shuttles and 4 B.A.T. Boxes. Among her most distinctive features to the casual observer however was her he forward hull, which was deliberately modeled after COBRA's namesake.

The Star Serpent was a multifuction ship able to serve as both a carrier and battleship, but her primary role was as a command ship. She could launch attacks against enemy formations at extreme ranges using her fighter wings and easily dispatch a Klingon D-5 Cruiser in a straight shooting match. Even so there has been some discussion about the Star Serpent in regards to it's cost effectiveness. Not because it was a bad ship, but given the amount of effort put into building and maintaining her it has been estimated that four Baroness class Battlecruisers or Python class Carriers could have been built about half the time and supported while not being a single point of failure. The United Earth government began their own buildup after the discovery of COBRA Prime and the Xindi incident, but never built anything larger than the NX class and mainly focused on smaller craft such as Intrepid and Daedalus classes. However other reasoning beyond the simple prudence of military expenditure must be considered. The Star Serpent was a considerable propaganda boon on the home front and abroad. It was also a well defended base of operations for a Commander to oversee military operations on campaign, a significant point given the Klingon view that it was especially glorious to kill enemy heads of state leading military operations. However there was a lesser known reason why the Star Serpent was built, which was seen in her manifest. She had an expanded fuel capacity, a considerable manufacturing capacity for a ship her size and all her lifepods were outfitted with bio-stasis cells. All of which could serve some function in of themselves on campaign. The same could not be said about the 64 exowombs (including some 16 Accelerated Artificial Gestation units able to rapidly produce adults). If the worse came to worse and Cobra Prime fell the Star Serpent could fulfill the same role the Coatl did: fly off into deep space, find a suitable planet and colonize it to start again from scratch. A common feature in future COBRA Flagships.

The Star Serpent's first taste of battle came in February of 2159 when a Klingon Raptor unexpectedly entered COBRA space and attacked several sensor boeys before fleeing back to Klingon Space. The ship had apparently been following orders it had received from High Command, even though no such orders had been given. Regardless this was seen by COBRA as a prelude to an invasion. As such the fleet was put on alert and so a contingency plan was launched. The Star Serpent led an force of some thirty six starships into Klingon Space in conjunction with a number of special operations were engaged. Some of these proved to be quite successful, such as the activation of Replicating Android Troopers (R.A.T.s) seeded on fourteen klingon planets, the Dethon-III uprising, the capture of thirteen Klingon cruisers by infiltrators and the scuttling of eleven more. Others (such as a ploy to get the House of Daghak to make a power grab against it's rivals or sturring insurrection among three other planets) were not. While they were still outnumbered by a considerable margin the Forth Commander's forces were able to inflict considerable casualties on the Klingon Forces. Fighter squadrons and B.A.T. boxes played a considerable role in this, though the Star Serpent proved herself more than capable for two years. Despite this the counter offensive eventually came. Even with a fleet bolstered with some thirty commandeered ships as well as some new construction from COBRA prime the Klingon sent a force which outnumbered COBRA's five to one. Casualties gradually mounted and despite some hat trick victories it was clear that neither side could take losses indefinitely. After receiving mounting battle damage the Star Serpent retreated to Cobra Prime for repairs (and to ready an Colonization fleet) in September of 2160.

Fortunately for COBRA it was eventually uncovered that the incident which sparked this conflict was caused by a Romulan plot to occupy the Klingon Empire so they could pull more forces guarding that frontier to fight the Coalition of Earth, Vulcan, Andoria and Tellar. Despite having one a costly victory at the Battle of Charon (largely due to the Romulan Fighter corps), the Romulan Empire had suffered unexpectedly heavy casualties. This revelation came with an internal power conflict resulting a new Chancellor. His ruling was that the Klingon Empire that this was was a dishonorable one fought in service of their greatest enemies. Combined with the fact that COBRA had seeded several more worlds with R.A.T.s and only they had the Kill Codes which could shut them down this meant that a ceasefire was called in March of 2161 and a peace treaty was signed by July which dictated Status Quo Antebellum. This development (as well as a costly defeat at the Second Battle of Denobula) eventually lead the Romans to sign a Peace Treaty with the Coalition in November of 2161, which would soon form the United Federation of Planets. The significance of this new development was not lost on the Forth Commander, the initial goal of taking over the Homeworld of Humanity had become a much more difficult task. Even so, COBRA had been given time to lick its wounds, expand it's influence and consolidate.

[biostem]

Y'know what would be interesting - imagine a flotilla of Cobra vessels left to colonize an uninhabited world, their remnants on Earth are defeated, a century or so passes by, the events of Star Trek play out as normal, and the Federation runs into a new Cobra empire, (perhaps with G.I. Joe taking the place of the MACOs as on board security)...

[Zor]

[Darth Lucifer]

Awesome, now we need to see some starbases...like the Cobra Terrordrome but with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet

This was very fun to read and it also brings back a lot of old memories. I was also speculating about what if Cobra had found a Stargate, or even Atlantis, that would be pretty cool too.