GTVA Colossus

http://www.freespace2.com/images/ship_colossus/smpic.jpg

General

Description and History

The largest space-faring warship ever constructed by Terrans or Vasudans, the GTVA Colossus was the result of twenty years of joint effort from dozens of contractors from across the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance. Logging in with a length of six-kilometres, this behemoth was equipped with over eighty weapon turrets, in addition to over 240 combat spacecraft.

With the offensive power that exceeded most GTVA battlegroups, the Colossus was designed to combat the Shivans upon their return to Allied territory. The prospective target was one or more Lucifer-class super-destroyers, and it was deemed that the Colossus would not only have the firepower not only to destroy such a foe, but also to survive multiple hits from a Lucifer's primary weapon system.

The first combat use of the Colossus was against the Neo-Terran Front. NTF forces proved to be no match for the Colossus and her battlegroup, and the rebels made every effort to avoid direct combat with the juggernaut. It can be truthfully said that it was the Colossus that was the ultimate factor in the NTF's collapse. With his fleet shattered, and the remnants being actively pursued and destroyed by the Colossus, Admiral Aken Bosch gave the order to flee GTVA space to the relative safety of the nebula beyond Gamma Draconis.

With the NTF defeated, the Colossus was finally to fulfil the role her designers had envisioned for her: the defeat of a Shivan incursion. However, as it turned out, the challenge was not to be Lucifer-class super-destroyers, but rather a Sathanas-class juggernaut. Twenty-years of constant struggle finally culminated with the Colossus' destruction of the SJ Sathanas, all at the cost of moderate damage to the Colossus.

All would have been well was it not for the Shivans possessing multiple juggernauts. In the closing stages of the Battle of Capella, the Colossus was deployed to interdict Shivan traffic at the Gamma Draconis jump node in Capella to divert enemy forces and attention away from the GTD Bastion, which was en route to collapse the jump corridor to Epsilon Pegasi. The ploy succeeded, as the Shivans first deployed an SD Ravana, then a Sathanas to engage the Colossus. In her weakened state, it was obvious that the Colossus would not survive an engagement with another Sathanas-class juggernaut, and Allied Command ordered the Colossus to withdraw.

However, with the success of the Bastion's critical mission in doubt, the Colossus disobeyed the direct order from Allied Command, and refused to disengage. Subsequently, the Colossus was destroyed with the loss of all hands. The thirty-thousand officers and crew of the Colossus willingly sacrificed themselves to ensure the continued survival of the billions of individuals making up the Terran and Vasudan species, and ultimately, the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance. They shall never be forgotten.

Technical data

Class: GTVA Colossus (Unique ship)
Length: 6,116 metres
Hull strength: 1,000,000 hitpoints
Maximal velocity: 25 metres/second
Number of turrets: 82 in description, 67 in-game
Fighter capacity: Sixty fighter and bomber wings
Crew: around 30,000

Victims of the Colossus

• NTCv Hawkwood (Destroyed at Enif Station)
• NTD Repulse (Admiral Koth's flagship. Kamikaze attacked the Colossus)
• NTD Andronius (Reported destroyed in Command Briefing)
• NTC Camisard (Reported destroyed in Command Briefing)
• SJ Sathanas (First, High Noon mission)
• SD Beast (Destroyed shortly before the second Shivan juggernaut destroyed the Colossus)

Quotes

"This is the GTVA Colossus. Fighters, stand back of hostile warships. All batteries, fire at will!"

"This is the GTVA Colossus. Admiral Koth, you are ordered to power down your engines immidietely and surrender, the Polaris jump node is blockaded, there is no escape"

"You are sacrificing thousands of lifes for nothing!"

"If only Koth had surrendered rather than playing Martyr, his crew would still be alive"

"A Shivan juggernaut has jumped within range. What's the status of the Bastion?"

"We'll hold them back here. Just get the Baston through!"

Colossus, the cutscene

WORD BY WORD
Narrator: The following is classified level Rho. Unauthorised access is punishable under the GTVA security act, Deneb convention, section 21.3.5. We vanquished the Shivans in the Great War but the hard questions remained. How would we confront the threat of future invasion? The Shivans might return at any time, any place, without warning. How would we fight the next threat to the very existence of our species? In 2345, on the tenth anniversary of the Shivan attack on Ross 128, the Vasudan emperor Khonsu II addressed the newly formed GTVA general assembly. The emperor inaugurated an ambitious and unprecedented joint endeavour. The GTVA Colossus.

Khonsu II: Together we built a civilisation on the ruins of the great war, and now we stand on the threshold of a new era of prosperity and harmony. Project Colossus the Vasudan people celebrate our shared covenant of peaceful coexistence and mutual defense of our Terran allies.

Narrator: The Colossus is the most powerful space faring warship ever constructed. Spanning six kilometres from bow to stern the Colossus has taken over twenty years to complete. Twelve Lucifer class destroyers can fit within its massive hull. Its state of the art weaponry includes, forty-five laser turrets, fifteen flack guns, twelve missile batteries and twelve beam cannons. The Colossus wields more firepower than twelve Orion class destroyers combined. Sixty fighter and bomber wings are housed in its vast hanger, and its crew numbers over thirty thousand. Among its contractors are industry giants Triton Dynamics, Subach-Innes and the Akheton Corporation The alliance now wages war on multiple fronts in Deneb, Alpha Centuri, Epsilon Pegasi and the mysterious nebula beyond Gamma Draconis. Once deployed the Colossus will end these conflicts swiftly and decisively. If ever the Shivans return to threaten our worlds we will be ready to face the challenge, securing peace for today and for generations to come.