Vulcan Class Long-Range Factory Ship (D30)

''The Vulcan Class Long-Range Factory Ships, were the main reason for many of the Megaroad Colony Fleets to survive years and later decades in space. They allowed for any of the Colony Fleets to repair its ships, build new ones when needed, or even build whatever the colony needed in the way of equipment. It paved the way for the far superior Three Star Class ships, and later the dedicated Factory Sections of the New Macross "Island Cluster" Type Colony Fleets. ''

- Taken from NUNG Colony Ships and Support Craft

Technical and Historical Notes
When the Megaroad Colony Ships where first being constructed many in the United Nations Government would believe that these colony fleets would need dedicated factory and support ships thanks to the thought that these colony fleets would be traveling for decades they need a way to replace combat losses as well as producing equipment for the colony itself. While some early Megaraod Fleets would use modified captured Quiltra Queleual Class ships for support ships. Later fleets would need a better capable ship to do this. Therefore the Vulcan Class Long-Range Factory Ships would be introduced to serve this role in a colony fleet starting with the Megaroad-04.

The Vulcan Class starting in 2018 would be constructed alongside their assigned Colony Ship and once launched serve as the main core of the colony fleet. It would be noted during an early planning session for the Megaroad-04 Colony Mission that it would be better if the fleet sported two factory ships. This would prevent a fleet losing its main factory ship if one of them was destroyed. It would for this reason both ships would be kept apart in the fleet, with one usually trailing behind the main colony fleet.

Once finished the Vulcan Class would be packed with various factories, forges, factory shops, machine shops and assembly lines allowing it to supply the colony with whatever it needs. All of these factories and such allow a colony to be pretty-much self-sufficient. The new factory ship would also sport two extra-large interior docks allowing the factory ship to repair, refit, or even build entirely new ships for the colony fleet either for civilian purposes or the defense of the colony. These docks could take in ships up to three-hundred meters and two hundred meters wide which would be too small to build or repair larger ARMD Carriers. They could also construct or repair numerous smaller vessels up to three per dock with temporary bulkheads separating the dock into three equal smaller docks.

What would really make it a great support ship for the Megaroad Colony Fleets would be the large center extendable scaffolding that allowed the ship to repair ships up to eighteen hundred meters long and seventeen hundred meters in width. This was a feature included in the design so it could repair the Megaroad Colony Ship when needed. When it is needed the ship extends its main six pods, away from the center while extending its scaffolding, and then a ship would easily slide into newly created dock to be repaired. However thanks to this the ship is not able to move at all during repair operations, though in a real emergency it can fold but it is not advised. An interesting feature of this center dock is that it can be used to construct ships from scratch with the support of all six of the ship’s pods.

Like the larger Megaroad Colony ship the Vulcan Class Factory Ships would sport light close-in defense for anti-fighter/anti-mecha defense. However the factory ship can not carry its own defense fighters thanks to cramped nature of the ship with all of its various factories and such stuffed into the ship. Therefore a Factory Ship is often escorted by a large escort group, mainly several Oberth-II Class Destroyers, later Northampton Class Frigates. It should noted however that while the ship doesn’t sport its own organic fighter compliment its sport the ability to carry twenty-four work pods and four light work shuttles for supporting the ship itself.

The UNG would continue to build new Vulcan Class ships for every Megaroad Colony Fleet and would finally be replaced in the UN Colony Fleets in 2027 by the far-larger Three-Star class Super-Long Range Factory Ships which would be assigned to the last five Megaroad Fleets and the New Macross Colony Fleets. However like the Megaroad Colony Ships there are still several Vulcan Class ships traveling along the stars looking for a new home.

AMDF-04 UNAS Mucliber (Port Admiral Gerald Gadem)
The Mucliber would become quite famous after the Tirolian Conflict, where a group of Tirolian Radicals attacked the Megaroad-05 Fleet, after the intinal contact between them, destroying much of its defense fleet along with the sister ship to the Mucliber. The factory ship would then end up rebuilding the entire defense fleet, as well as repairing the Megaroad-05, in only a year and a half. The Mucliber would construct two modified Midas Class ships to replace its sister ship as the fleet continued on.

AMDF-07 UNAS/CAS Hepaestus (Lieutenant Colonel Brian Carter, Colonial Service)
The Hepaestus is the first of the two Vulcan Class ships to be assigned to the Megaroad-07 Colony Fleet. Unlike its sister the Aetnaeus the Hepaestus would survive the unknown attack on the fleet and later be found by the Refugee Fleet of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol.

The Colonials would retrieve the ship and take it back to their fleet where it would be repaired and repurposed for their own use. It would then be used by the Colonials to repair their ragged fleet and construct new ships to ease the crowding on many of the ships. Under the control of the Colonials it would commanded by newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Brian Carter who would run the ship as if it was a well-run factory and shipyard.

Class Equipment and Design Features

 * Hyperspace Sensors, range unknown
 * 2 x NES-2 Type II Dockyards, able to repair, build or refit ships up to three hundred meters and two hundred meters width
 * 2 x OT/M7 Type III Forge Stations, able to build almost anything mechanical in nature from fighters to a simple civilian auto-car for the colony
 * 1 x OT/R4 Refinery Station, able to refine anything from scrap metal or wreckage to gathered minerals
 * 1 x 'Macross' Type Two City Block, with a maximum population of eight thousand, and sports numerous industrial facilities to support the ship itself and the colony ship, works in tandem with the Megaroad Industrial Section
 * 1 x Extra-Large Extendable Scaffold, able to repair ships up to two thousand meters, can in combination with its Dockyard, Forge and Refinery Stations build ships
 * 2 x Type-IV Exterior Docking Clamps, able to dock any ship up to two thousand meters in length for resupply and light repair duties
 * 1 x Heat Disruption Fin, can be retracted during repair, construction or resupply operations

Basic Construction Times

 * Basic Supplies (i.e minor replacement Parts, supplies for the colony, etc): 1 Hour
 * UNG Combat Gear: 4 Hours
 * Standard Fighter Craft: 30 Hours
 * Advanced Fighter or Support Craft: 2 Days
 * Light Starship (Sloop or Corvette Class): 14 to 25 Days, Depending On Sophistication
 * Medium Starship (Frigate or Destroyer Class): 20 to 40 Days, Depending On Sophistication
 * Heavy Starship (Light Cruiser Class): 50 Days
 * Super-Heavy Starship (Battleship or Carrier): 8 to 10 Months, thanks to the exterior construction due to the scaffolding
 * Ultra-Heavy Starship (Battlefortress or Advanced Combat Ship): 14 Months to 20 Months

Variants/Subclasses

 * Flight I, the original design of the class.
 * Flight II, an improved version of the original, basically improves all of entire factory section and improves the ability to construct large ships in the scaffolding.
 * Midas Class, a slightly smaller variant of the original design built for the use of the regular UN Spacy, as well as civilian uses. Trade in both its Forge and Refinery Stations for four more Docks. Only really used for repair work on ships, and in emergency can build ships though needs dedicated Factory and Refinery Ships to keep it supplied.
 * Cartha Class Repair Yard, a variant that does away with its mobile nature, and basically a non-mobile repair yard for both civilian and military ships alike

Design Notes

 * Basically a factory ship built before the introduction of the ¬larger and far superior Three Star Class Factory Ships, only really assigned to the older Megaroad Colony Fleets.
 * Based heavily on the Telgorn Shipyard from the Star Wars X-wing Game and its sequels. It just sports engines to make into a ship, not a stationary shipyard station.