HCR-146 Emissary

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"Emissary: a person sent on a special mission, usually as a diplomatic representative."

The SDCN Emissary (HCR-146), known commonly by just its name Emissary, is an Ambassador-class heavy cruiser and the flagship of the United Nations' Final Frontier Project. Constructed with funding from the AXIOM Corporation, the ship features the latest technologies and features available to the UN. The ship itself is designed for long-term habitation, and as a result is built rather luxuriously, featuring plenty of amenities as well as clean and lavish design to appeal to the senses, while simultaneously still being functional at its duties.

History
Ever since the HSC-133 Escapade made its maiden voyage in 2100, scientists and engineers have always conspired as to what the future of starships could look like as successors to the Escapade. Building upon its simplistic navigation style and overall layout, architects had drafted a larger version of the Escapade's layout, which was ultimately combined with more rooms and amenities and polished to give the ship its signature look.

Several prototypes had failed to turn out anything promising for the engineers, and, after several attempts back at the drawing board, a new, final Emissary was created, prototyped, and had successfully passed the reviews of both peers and the United Nations, finally giving it the green light to be constructed.

The Emissary was built over the course of 8 months at Stratford Shipyards, Earth, completed finally on December 24, 2112. It was commissioned the day after on Christmas Day, December 25, and was put to service at the very start of the new year in 2113. Staffed with flexible crews and organized into a small but efficient hierarchy, the ship was designed for exploration and science above all else, but featured plenty of munitions to keep itself well-defended should anyone come to attack it for its valued possessions and research.

Crew
The Emissary is staffed by Sol Defence Corps Navy personnel in combination with a small number of AXIOM contractors. United Nations maritime law is enforced on the vessel and as a result, it features a security complement to deal with internal and external disputes and affairs.

In the event that security is not enough, the Emissary is also staffed with both UN Sol Defence Corps Marines as well as UN Navy Special Operations soldiers to make for a formidable infantry defence should the ship come under boarding.

The service complement of the Emissary serves as standard custodians and personnel-in-training, to simultaneously provide upkeep to the ship and its crew as well as providing junior Crewmen the general idea of serving aboard a starship.

Deck 0
Only a single room sits on the lowest deck—the Cargo Bay. It can be accessed from the outside of the ship via the underside and can be accessed via the catwalk overlooking it on Deck 1. The sole purpose of this room is to house cargo and other machinery.

Deck 1
Deck 1 hosts the Shuttlebay, an adjacent computer room with ascending ramps to Deck 2, a catwalk over the Cargo Bay, and the main deck of Engineering.

Deck 2
Deck 2 is the habitation deck of the ship. The Crew Quarters are located on either side of the deck 2 primary hallway, with the Senior Enlisted Advisor's Office, Court Room, and Briefing Room located at the end of the hall.

Deck 3
Deck 3 is the main operations deck of the ship and home of the Lounge at the bow, the Medbay and Laboratory at the fore, the Rec Room and the Mess Hall at the center, and access to Engineering and the Utility Closet at the rear.

Deck 4
Deck 4 is the command deck of the ship. The Bridge is located at the fore, along with the Captain's Quarters. At the aft lies the Officer's Quarters, the Meeting Room, the First Officer's Quarters and the CIC (Combat Infomation Center.)

Hull
The Emissary's hull is comprised of a five-layer composite plating, with an ablative outer layer, followed by 6 inches (on average) of carbon nanotube-reinforced tungsten carbide plating. A layer of graphene and aluminum form a pressure layer for atmospherics.

The Emissary's windows are composed of reinforced transparent aluminum oxynitride, capable of withstanding significant impacts as well as being extremely scratch-resistant. While it is not as strong as the main hull plating, it is capable of withstanding large kinetic impacts such as micrometeorites.

Armament
The Emissary is capable of defending itself against a myriad of attacks, with a sizeable defence complement as well as heavy offensive railguns and torpedo mounts to take down enemy craft and vessels.

The Emissary is equipped with the following armament:
 * 4x forward facing rail cannons
 * 18x (9 Starboard, 9 Portside) point defence turrets
 * 12x (6 Starboard 6 Portside ) heavy artillery
 * 8x high-yield autocannons
 * 16x (8 Starboard, 8 Portside) laser turrets

The turrets featured on the ship are automated under normal operation but can be manually controlled alongside the offensive artillery by a gunnery crew.