Battlecraft

The Skycarrier - often the flagship of any fleet and the most important component, the skycarrier provides support in the form of both interceptor and air superiority fighters that are needed to establish control over the skies, help deliver payloads on enemy craft and protect battlecraft of your own. Skycarriers are as such one of the prime targets of any fleet battle, and are often hidden behind the front line, protected by PD boats or cruisers (in the case of the build I've had to move the carriers forward less the map becomes even longer).

Skycarriers and all other battlecraft use helium-3 burning fusion thrusters to keep themselves afloat. The fuel is relatively cheaply extracted from lunar colonies and the gas giants like Uranus, and stored in the large light blue containers you can see on battlecraft (ice pipes are helium 3 pipes). Although early research expeditions to Venus used airships, keeping battlecraft afloat with massive bags of air poses obvious vulnerabilities. Still, a successful thruster strike is the quickest way to destroy a battlecraft, although not necessarily the easiest. A skycarrier typically carries 8 or 6 side-thrusters for steering and hovering plus several large forward-thrusters shielded at the back.

Another thing to note about Venusian battlecraft is the wide comms arrays and sensors often seen on their fronts, as well as radar systems. These are used to help communicate during battle and detect enemy fleets but also to navigate during Venus' 117 Earth day dark period (A Venusian day is 243 Earth days)



The Battleship - considered by some to be a relic of an older age, the battleship still has its uses on Venus. The slow, heavily armoured battlecraft hosts a terrifying display of guns. The battleship's most devastating armaments are actually positioned on the underside of the craft - these cannons can be used to shell ground targets as well as any battlecraft unfortunate to fly underneath the battleship. They also have some fairly impressive weapons topside, although these are more useful for protection against bombers or destroyers trying to surround the slower craft.

Battleships may often take the frontlines to absorb damage, or fly upwards and act as artillery pieces. The escape shuttle attached on the battleship's underside is used to flee a falling battlecraft with damaged or destroyed thrusters.


The Cruiser - likely the most adaptable and useful battlecraft, the cruiser can act as an intermediate between battleship and destroyer, maintaining manoeuvrability whilst also having an impressive array of guns. Cruisers often pack point defence systems that rival those of PD boats and will help protect the vulnerable battleships and carriers from bombing, however their main role is in that of protecting the carriers. Cruisers may also host helipads for transport or attack VTOL aircraft (including helicopters which, yes, can fly on Venus).

Heat vents shown on the BIO cruiser are common among all battlecraft. They are needed to get rid of the massive amount of heat produced by helium 3 thrusters and weapon systems.


The Destroyer - the most common of all battlecraft, the destroyer is often a missile boat, packed to the brim with cruise missiles but also 'sky torpedoes' a variant of heavy missile fired from a battlecraft's belly and meant to be resistant to point defence systems. These combined allow destroyers to deal a large amount of damage, whilst also providing reconnaissance and assisting fighter craft with their quick speeds.

The destroyer however is a weak and easily disabled aircraft. They carry only 4 thrusters compared to the 6 for cruisers and 8 for battleships and skycarriers - this gives them a lighter weight and so greater manoeuvrability but makes them vulnerable, so much so that corporations often don't bother with shielding the thrusters from the side. Knock one out and the whole battlecraft will start to tilt.


The Dropship - to control territory on Venus and take industrial sites for your own, you need something to go down to the surface, clear defences and plant the flag. This nightmarish job is braved by the 'mech pilots, warriors in heat-resistant alloy that drop 40km to the surface and fight using heavy-duty mecha suits, only to be pulled back up again once the battle is won. 'Mechs, their pilots and mech command are all stored in the dropship, a battlecraft that often resembles a re-fitted gas hauler with tanks replaced with ~3 mech bays. Dropships often don't engage in air battles, although they do have some weaponry for self-protection and large shields for their rear thrusters.


The BDC - shorthand for bomber deployment craft, the BDC does what the name implies - releases both strike and heavy bombers to assist in air battles or destroy surface targets. These bombers are hoisted up via a robotic arm and hook and stored on the underside of the BDC, and jettisoned out when needed. This method is much more efficient than building a large runway for the bombers, although slightly scarier for the pilots. Like the skycarrier, the BDC often stays behind the frontline and also keeps a higher altitude than other battlecraft.


The PD boat - this stands for point-defence boat. Although technically too small to be battlecraft, the PD boat provides a very important role in a fleet battle. Their job is to snipe out enemy projectiles from the sky, be that shells, missiles, rockets and even drones. PD boats provide protection bubbles for battlecraft and assist jets in taking away missiles that have locked onto their heat signatures.

PD boats are extremely hard to take down other than by direct assault from interceptor jets or overwhelming their turrets with weapons, but provide in the way of damage to enemy aircraft and battlecraft. Weapons found on PD boats include missile pods, high-powered laser systems and CIWS (close-in weapon systems that are basically bullet-spamming turrets)

Aircraft

The air superiority fighter - these are fighter jets designed to destroy other fighter jets, often identified as 'broadwings' due to their delta-shape or larger surface area wings to aid in turning in a dog fight. Air superiority fighters help clear the skies of other jets and make room for the otherwise vulnerable interceptor planes, and often are flown by a corporation's more experienced and skilled pilots. They host a wide array of weapons including machine guns, rockets and EMP or high explosive missiles.



Interceptor fighters - these fighter jets are more commonly seen - the interceptor's job is to deal damage to enemy battlecraft (with bombs or missiles) and take down PD boats and bombers. Although they may engage in dogfights with other interceptors, they will most likely use their superior speed and acceleration to escape air superiority fighters that try to hunt them down. Interceptors have narrower wings to help them achieve greater speeds and so are known as 'narrowwings'.



Drones - cheap and nasty, swarms of attack drones are a common sight in a Venusian air battle. They fight with other drones and spray battlecraft with bullets, often targeting any sailors that might be working on battlecraft decks. Drones are often controlled from a PD boat and are released from bays found on larger battlecraft (battleships, skycarriers and sometimes cruisers)



VTOL aircraft - as before, these are often used to transport troops from battlecraft to battlecraft as well as airlift off sailors from a failing craft. Helicopters or thruster jump-ships are often used, and have machine guns or rockets at their disposal in case they need to be used for combat



'Mechs

Assault 'mech - dropped from great heights and used to raid enemy structures, the assault mech resembles a humanoid in order to provide natural ease of use to the human pilot. Assault mechs are often equipped with piercing rifles and are quite mobile, even in the immense pressures of the Venusian surface. They have legs designed to maximise energy absorption from falls and also landing jets to help slow them down before impact. A Venusian mech has an armoured head and tough plating, but joints are exposed and can be exploited.

The job of a 'mech pilot is likely the most challenging out there, as you will be separated from the rest of the fleet with little support and a comms link that can be blocked by bad weather, which is a common occurrence on Venus. A penetrating shot to your mech will quickly fry your electronics and render you immobile and essentially dead unless you can be carried to and evacuated up to the dropship.


Guardian 'mech - these defensive mechs are designed to autonomously patrol and protect corporation industrial sites. They contain large cannon turrets, actually primarily used to defend against aircraft as even the most intelligent guardian mechs are quickly overwhelmed and defeated by the more nimble and tactical assault mechs. The best defence against enemy assault mechs are assault mechs of your own.
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In the year 2170 humanity united under a system-wide government called the SSU (Sol System Union). The SSU's rise to power however was not a stable one. Pacts were made to many corporate areas in order to fund the project and keep the integrating nations happy. As such many mega-corporations that lie in SSU territory gained a lot of political power.

In 2183 the SSU was starting to cave under corporate pressure. To combat the threat of a potential collapse back into nation states, the SSU broke a deal: the planet Venus, considered by many to be inhospitable and dangerous, would be free game to any corporations willing to settle there. Government research facilities would be decommissioned or abandoned and government power over the planet would be greatly relaxed.

The corporations jumped at the opportunity, and before long many had set up facilities to harvest Venus' resources without the threat of rules and regulations. It quickly came apparent that the most profitable parts of the planet would come into conflict, and without the SSU's control fighting would inevitably break out.

However, a war between 2 corporations on Venus could reach beyond the planet. The implications of an escalating mega-corporation war in system space frightened both government politicians and corporate CEOs, who didn't want to see the loss in population support and income respectively. Government officials quickly went to ban the settling of larger corporations on Venus' surface, and as a result many smaller, newly founded corporations were the first to populate the planet.

Mega corporations quickly found a loop-hole however. They could approach these smaller corporations and offer funding or technology to them, provided that a quantity of their extracted resources were shifted into the bigger corporation's hands. This quickly would escalate due to the combative nature of Venusian territory so that many smaller corporations became sub-states of those larger ones - so much so that they would often sport the mega-corporation's logo, and the smaller corporation's name was diminished to name the sky fleet they once controlled.

With their new found power and orders from their overlords, these smaller corporations began to lay siege on one another in order to grow more powerful. This is still the state of Venus year 2246, the year in which the build is set.