SD Lucifer

The SD Lucifer

Background

The SD Lucifer was a massive superdestroyer that led the Shivan incursion during the Great War. Armed with what would be termed today as 'beam cannons', the Lucifer possessed enough firepower to destroy capital ships and bombard planetary targets with ease. The vessel was rendered invulnerable to Terran and Vasudan weapons through the employment of an advanced shielding system. Unable to be stopped, the Lucifer lay waste to entire worlds, including Vasuda Prime.

In the ending phase of the Great War, Vasudan scientists fleeing their homeworld's destruction discovered Ancient artifacts on a planet in the Altair system. The information enclosed in the artifacts described the technology necessary to track vessels in subspace, something that neither Terrans or Vasudans had been able to do before. Coupled with the knowledge that shields did not function in subspace, a desperate plan was formulated to stop the Lucifer before the superdestroyer destroyed Sol.

Launching from the GTD Bastion, a small number of fighter and bomber wings followed the Lucifer into subspace as the superdestroyer made the jump from Delta Serpentis to Sol. The gamble succeeded, destroying the Lucifer and saving Sol. Unfortunately, the destruction of the Lucifer within the subspace corridor had the unintended side effect of collapsing the subspace corridor from Sol to Delta Serpentis, cutting off the heart of the Galactic Terran Alliance from the rest of the universe. However, the victory over the Lucifer effectively ended the Shivan incursion and Terran and Vasudan forces quickly evicted the remaining Shivan forces from their territories.

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FreeSpace 1 Ships Terran ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers Capital ships Installations Misc Ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Vasudan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers Capital ships Misc Ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Shivan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers Capital ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Notable ships of FreeSpace 1

FreeSpace 2 Ships Terran ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Installations Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Vasudan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Shivan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Notable ships of FreeSpace 2

Description:

FS1 Tech Room Description

The Lucifer is the greatest threat to the survival of the GTA, the PVN, and both the Terran and Vasudan species. It wields three massive Flux Cannons which can destroy one of our capital ships in a few hits. These same cannons have been seen bombarding colonized worlds. With four full fighter squadrons, and a massive array of defensive turrets, the Lucifer would be extremely difficult to destroy.

The fact that it is protected by a sheath shielding system which makes it completely impervious to any kind of kinetic or plasma damage makes it impossible to destroy. We have yet to find a way to breach this shielding technology. It is hoped that a solution will be found soon. Assuming that a solution is found, we have managed to gather enough data on the Lucifer to destroy it. In a recon mission, we were able to determine that the Lucifer is powered by five reactors across its surface. If these reactors are destroyed in a short amount of time, the Lucifer will be stopped.

If we cannot stop the Lucifer, we do not expect to be able to defeat the Shivans.

We have no way of knowing if there are more than one Lucifer-class destroyer. However, any that exist should be considered more dangerous than a Class A threat.

FS2 Tech Room Description

The SD Lucifer was a massive superdestroyer that led the Shivan armada in the Great War. No weapon in the allied arsenal could penetrate the Lucifer's shields. In the Altair system, Vasudan scientists uncovered ancient artifacts that explained how to track ships into subspace, where the Lucifer's shields would not function. A desperate mission to attack the Lucifer in subspace succeeded. But the explosion of the Lucifer collapsed the Sol jump node, severing all contact with Earth. The victory over the Lucifer effectively ended the Shivan invasion.

Lucifer Sightings and Fleet Movements during the Great War

The Lucifer's first known sighting was in the Ross 128 system, the prelude to the Great War with the Shivans (FS1 Intro).

The Lucifer did not reemerge until 2/11/35, when it suddenly appeared in the Ribos system, destroying the Tombaugh Installation and all its defences. Terran Command believed that it had tracked the captured Shivan Cruiser, the Taranis, through subspace to the Tombaugh Installation (CB sm2-01a.fsm and CB sm2-05a.fsm).

By 2/20/35, the Shivans had completely bypassed the Terran blockades in Antares and Beta Aquilae, proceeding immediately to Deneb through Vega (CB sm2-07a.fsm). Terran Command believed that the Lucifer would attack Vasuda through Antares, while the Eva, a Shivan Demon-class destroyer, would attack through Deneb.

However, on 2/31/35 the Lucifer was seen jumping into Deneb system from the Deneb-Vega jump node with the SD Eva taking the lead(sm2-08a.fsm and its debriefing, mission briefing sm2-09a.fsm). It is unknown whether the Lucifer jumped to Vega directly from Ribos, or through Antares (the Eva entered Vega through the Antares-Vega jumpnode).

In retaliation for the destruction of the SD Eva, the Lucifer directly confronted and destroyed the GTD Galatea (at 1900hrs 2/31/35; sm2-10a.fsm and its debriefing, CB sm3-01a.fsm).

Shortly afterwards, the Lucifer made the jump to Vasuda through the Deneb-Vasuda jumpnode (CB sm3-01a.fsm). Once in Vasuda, 2/31/25-3/01/35, the Lucifer Fleet bombarded Vasuda Prime from orbit for 13 consecutive hours, rendering the planet uninhabitable. The 'Lucifer fleet rapidly redeployed, now searching for the Terran homeworld.

On 3/01/35-3/02/35, the Lucifer jumped to Beta Aquilae, destroying the Beta Aquilae Installation, but left the PVD Hope and the Beta Aquilae Communications Terminal intact (mission briefing sm3-03a.fsm, CB sm3-04a.fsm).

The Lucifer was not encountered until 3/02/35, when it jumped next to the Deneb-Altair jumpnode, deploying fighter wings to attack transports carrying scientists to the Altair system (sm3-05a.fsm and its debriefing).

By 3/29/35, after determining the location of the Sol system, the Lucifer was reported to be in the Sirius system to make the jump to Delta Serpentis (CB sm3-07a.fsm). GTA Command ordered the GTD Bastion to intercept and destroy the Lucifer before it could reach Sol. Admiral Shima quickly drew up plans to intercept the Lucifer at the Sirius-Delta Serpentis jumpnode. However by the time the Bastion arrived in range of the jumpnode, the Lucifer had already departed the system. Admiral Shima estimated that the Lucifer would reach Earth in 40 hours (Debriefing 4: sm3-07a.fsm).

On the GTD Bastion's final approach to the Delta Serpentis-Sol jumpnode, the Lucifer was on the brink of jumping to Sol (sm3-08a.fsm). The Bastion scrambled its fighters and a wing of Ursa Bombers to pursue the Lucifer into subspace. While inside the subspace corridor, the Ursa bombers managed to destroy all five of the Lucifer's reactors, resulting in the Lucifer's destruction (sm3-09a.fsm).

Inconsistency

In the Command Briefing of sm2-08a.fsm (2/31/35), Admiral Wolf indicates that Alpha 1 had investigated the Lucifer in Antares: "We have now entered the Deneb system. After your investigation of the Lucifer at Antares, Terran Command has deduced that the Shivans will be attempting a multiple pronged attack on Vasuda Prime coming from Deneb and Antares." However, Alpha 1 does not see the Lucifer in Antares, nor does Alpha 1 play a mission "investigating" the Lucifer in Antares. It may be that the mission designer incorrectly meant Alpha 1's investigation of the Eva in Antares near the Antares-Vega Jump Node (which jumped out shortly after its arrival; sm2-06a.fsm).

Developer Notes

None

Name Origin

Meaning: Bringer/bearer of light

Language: Latin, imported in English

Alternate spellings: Unknown

The name "Lucifer" is of Latin origin. It's composed by the name lux, which means light, and the verb ferre, which has many meanings (in this case bringing and bearing fit well). The meaning of the name would be "Bringer/Bearer of Light".

Lucifer is a fallen angel who was cast out of heaven after losing The War of Heaven. Lucifer is said to be the enemy of God, and the embodiment of evil.

Lucifer is also depicted sometimes as being the judge of the Inferno, answering to Satan himself. It is said that the demonic persona Belial was his father. It's highly probable that Dante Alighieri's vision of Lucifer affected the popular vision, too. Dante represented it as a monster with three heads devouring the traitors Judas, Brutus and Cassius.

Lucifer was also one of the names given to the planet Venus, when it was thought to be a star. Other given names depending on its position were Hesperos and Phosphoros and, of course, the Shepherd's Star.

Performance:

Statistics

Type	Superdestroyer
Manufacturer	Unknown
Maneuverability	N/A
Max Velocity	15.0 mps
Max Afterburner Velocity	N/A
Armor	N/A
Hitpoints	800 000
Shields	N/A
Length	4800 meters (4.8 km)

Armaments

• Turrets

FreeSpace 1		FreeSpace 2
Turret Type	Amount	Turret Type	Amount
Shivan Turret Laser	11	Shivan Turret Laser	11
FighterKiller	2	FighterKiller	2
Shivan Cluster	2	Shivan Cluster	2
Shivan Super Laser	2	Small Red Beam	2

Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.

Very deadly in FS1, but in FS2 its Shivan Super Lasers have been replaced with SReds, making it more of a heavily armored target and less of a superdestroyer.

If you restore the FS1 Shivan Super Lasers, the Lucifer again becomes a potent foe.

The Lucifer is the weakest destroyer in the area of firepower in FS2. In fact, the Lucifer has less firepower than the SC Rakshasa, though it has huge amounts of armor.

People who say that the Lucifer is a "worthier adversary" in FS2 are very mistaken. The Shivan Super Lasers are closer to LReds than SReds. The Lucifer in its FS2 configuration is basically target practice for an Orion or even a Deimos. Very durable target practice, but target practice nonetheless.

FREDders should be aware that, except for the FreeSpace Port version of the FS1 main campaign, the Lucifer has no such thing as a shield. It's invulnerable because it has the Invulnerable flag turned on (Ship Editor -- Misc).

Cutscenes and command briefing videos feature the Lucifer having a pair of "horns" sticking out on its top. Yet in FreeSpace 1 and retail FreeSpace 2, no such things are encountered on the Lucifer at all. However, they are added on in the MediaVPs.

Although the beam cannons are replaced with the SReds in freespace 2, many player mods that feature a Lucifer typically change that to BFReds, giving it half the power of a SJ Sathanas. The Nyarlathotep from Derelict is an example of this.