Difference between revisions of "SJ Sathanas"

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The '''SJ ''Sathanas''''' is the most powerful space-faring warship ever encountered by the [[Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance|GTVA]]. With four ultra-heavy beam cannons, a Sathanas outstrips even a [[GTVA Colossus|''Colossus''-class vessel]] in terms of raw firepower.
+
{{FS12_Ships}}The '''SJ ''Sathanas''''' is the most powerful space-faring warship ever encountered by the [[Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance|GTVA]]. It is comparable in size to and perhaps more than a match for the [[GTVA Colossus|GTVA ''Colossus'']].
  
{{spoiler}}
+
:''Not to be confused with the [[SJD Sathanas|SJ<u>D</u> ''Sathanas'']].''
*Freespace 2
+
 
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:sathanas320x240.jpg]]|caption=The SJ Sathanas}}
+
A debris chunk of the Sathanas is also included as an individual model and ship, known as the [[SpaceHunk]].
 +
 
 +
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:Sjsathanas-old.jpg ]]|caption=The {{PAGENAME}}}}
  
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
The prowess of this class was tragically demonstrated when a Sathanas juggernaut destroyed the [[GTVA Colossus|GTVA ''Colossus'']] in the [[Capella]] system.  The only apparent weakness of the Shivan juggernaut is that the massive beam cannons are concentrated at the bow. Aside from a comparatively diminuative anti-warship beam cannon at the stern, the other flanks of the massive warship are covered only by point-defense weapons. However, a Sathanas is still more than able to defend itself and project offensive power via the many hundreds of fighters and bombers it carries in its cavernous hangar. Thus, stopping a juggernaut is almost impossible.  Even the "expedient" of disabling the massive warship is hardly worth considering, due to the numerous redundant engines found on the hull.  In essence, any attack on a ''Sathanas''-class juggernaut can be considered almost suicidal. Only the ''Colossus'' demonstrated enough firepower to take on a Sathanas.
+
With four ultra-heavy beam cannons concentrated in the bow, a Sathanas outstrips even a [[GTVA Colossus|''Colossus''-class vessel]] in terms of raw firepower that it can project at one target. Like other Shivan capital ships, the Sathanas has an attack-oriented design that makes use of the known Shivan superiority at subspace jumping to deal devastating first-strike blows. The Sathanas best exemplifies the Shivan war machine, which is dependent on continually being on the attack to keep its flaws from being exposed. On the defensive it can still deal out heavy blows, but ultimately it is not prepared for the role.
  
Its prefix designation, SJ, stands for "Shivan Juggernaut."
+
The only apparent weakness of the Shivan juggernaut is that the massive beam cannons are concentrated at the bow, and aside from a comparatively diminutive anti-warship beam cannon at the stern, the other flanks of the massive warship are covered only by point-defense weapons.  The main armament is also not well defended against fighters compared to the ''Colossus''.  Nonetheless, a Sathanas is still more than able to defend itself and project offensive power via the many hundreds of fighters and bombers it carries in its cavernous hangar. Thus, stopping a juggernaut is almost impossible.
  
==History==
+
Even the "expedient" of disabling the massive warship is hardly worth considering, due to the numerous redundant engines found on the hullIn essence, any attack on a ''Sathanas''-class juggernaut can be considered almost suicidal. Only the ''Colossus'' demonstrated enough firepower to take on a Sathanas.
The first combat appearance of a Shivan Juggernaut was in the nebula theater, beyond the first [[Knossos]] portal in [[Gamma Draconis]], when the warship destroyed a Vasudan task force assaulting a Shivan gasmining operationThe GTVA immediately began to withdraw from the nebula, though not before sending a pilot in the new [[GVF Ptah|''Ptah'']]-class stealth fighter to scan the vessel. Based on this information, the Alliance launched a targetted bombing mission to eliminate several of the forward beam cannons (there is no canon consensus concerning exactly how many were destroyed, but at least two were taken out) in the Gamma Draconis system, and the [[GTVA Colossus|GTVA ''Colossus'']] engaged and destroyed the weakened juggernaut after it jumped to the Capella system.
 
  
After that victory, the GTVA were confident they could eliminate any threats the Shivans could present, and returned to the nebula with the objective of locating and capturing [[Admiral Aken Bosch]].  However, that goal failed to be achieved as GTVA forces discovered that multiple ''Sathanas''-class juggernauts were en route to GTVA space.  Gamma Draconis was quickly overrun by the swift advance of the juggernaut fleet, which shortly entered Capella. In a desperate gamble, the GTVA fleet held the Shivans at bay while civilians were evacuated to [[Epsilon Pegasi]] and [[Vega]].  During the closing stages of the battle, the GTVA ''Colossus'' was destroyed in Capella by a Shivan juggernaut while providing a diversion for the [[GTD Bastion|GTD ''Bastion'']], which was tasked with collapsing the jump corridor to Epsilon Pegasi.  In a final startling turn of events, the Shivan juggernauts instigated the super-nova of the Capella star as the jump corridor to Vega was destroyed.
+
===History===
 +
The first combat appearance of a Shivan Juggernaut was in the nebula theater, beyond the first [[Knossos]] portal in [[Gamma Draconis]], when the warship destroyed a Vasudan task force assaulting a Shivan gas mining operationThe GTVA immediately began to withdraw from the nebula, though not before sending a pilot in the new [[GVF Ptah|''Ptah'']]-class stealth fighter to scan the vessel. Based on this information, the Alliance launched [[Bearbaiting|a targeted bombing mission]] to eliminate several of the forward beam cannons (there is no canon consensus concerning exactly how many were destroyed, but at least two were taken out) in the Gamma Draconis system, and the [[GTVA Colossus|GTVA ''Colossus'']] [[High Noon|engaged and destroyed]] the weakened juggernaut after it jumped to the [[Capella]] system.
  
==Conclusion==
+
After that victory, the GTVA were confident they could eliminate any threats the Shivans could present, and returned to the nebula with the objective of locating and capturing [[Admiral Aken Bosch]]. However, that goal failed to be achieved as GTVA forces discovered that multiple ''Sathanas''-class juggernauts were en route to GTVA space.  Gamma Draconis was quickly overrun by the swift advance of the juggernaut fleet, which shortly entered [[Capella]].  In a desperate gamble, the GTVA fleet held the Shivans at bay while civilians were evacuated to [[Epsilon Pegasi]] and [[Vega]].  During the closing stages of [[Their Finest Hour|the battle]], the GTVA ''Colossus'' was destroyed in Capella by a Shivan juggernaut while providing a diversion for the [[GTD Bastion|GTD ''Bastion'']], which was tasked with collapsing the jump corridor to Epsilon Pegasi.  In a [[Apocalypse|final startling turn of events]], the Shivan juggernauts instigated the supernova of the Capella star as the jump corridor to Vega was destroyed.
The Shivan juggernaut fleet is the single, most serious threat to the survival of the Terran and Vasudan species. The GTVA barely managed to stop one Sathanas, and even then it was with warship that took two decades to construct. An encounter with any more Shivan juggernauts will only be able to be stopped with extreme difficulty. All technical data concerning ''Sathanas''-class juggernauts has been classified Level Upsilon.
 
  
----
+
===Conclusion===
 
+
The Shivan juggernaut fleet is the single most serious threat to the survival of the Terran and Vasudan species. The prowess of this class was tragically demonstrated when a Sathanas juggernaut destroyed the [[GTVA Colossus|GTVA ''Colossus'']] in the [[Capella]] system. The GTVA barely managed to stop one Sathanas, and even then it was with a warship that took two decades and enormous amounts of resources to construct. An encounter with any more Shivan juggernauts will only be able to be stopped with extreme difficulty.
{{FS12_Ships}}
 
  
 
==Description:==
 
==Description:==
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===Developer Notes===
 
===Developer Notes===
 
None
 
None
 
===Veteran Comments===
 
''It would be the best to steer clear of the juggernaut, as it would be suicide to attack it without capital ship support.  However, it is extremely vulnerable to attack from capital ships from the side and the rear, where there are little to no anti capital ship defences.''<br><br>
 
''I disagree. The Sathanas anihilates anything that it is facing it, period. Not even a Colossus can defend against the beams in the front. However, because the beams are so far from any anti-fighter defences, it is a simple matter to destroy them, and render the warship practically defenseless against capital ships.''<br><br>
 
''It is also vulnerable to fighters and bombers if they attack near enough to the weapons subsystems, making it impossible for the anti-fighter beams to reach.''<br><br>
 
''This giant warship is curious, neither the [[GTVA Colossus|Colossus]] nor the Sathanas have very good anti-fighter defenses. A squadron of [[GTM Helios|Helios]] capable bombers can take out all of its main beam cannons, leaving it vulnerable to attack. If it wasn't for the "supercap" flag, the Sathanas in such a state would be vulnerable to attacks by destroyers.''<br><br>
 
''The Sathanas, like most FS2 Shivan capital craft, has an attack-oriented design that makes use of the known Shivan superiority at subspace jumping (at least in capital craft) to deal devastating first-strike blows. If itself attacked, it has problems. it has a single other anti-capital beam, an LRed in a "stinger" posistion aft and below; this weapon is not sufficent to prevent the Sathanas from being flanked. The Sathanas' defenses against fightercraft assault are respectable, but as mentioned above poorly sited to defend against an attack on its main armament. (The Colossus is notably superior in this regard.) In a way the Sathanas is a microcosm of the Shivan war machine, which is dependant on continually being on the assault to keep its flaws from being exposed. On the defensive it can still deal out heavy blows, but ultimately it is not prepared for the role. It is worth noting that the only time ingame the Sathanas was actually attacked, by a Vasudan corvette in "A Monster in the Mist", it was unable to come to grips with its opponent. Even in "High Noon" the Sathanas was essentially on the offensive, in motion towards the statically posistioned Colossus.''
 
<br><br>
 
''This is one bigass mother of a ship. However, its defensive capabilities against fighters and bombers are far below par, so you can easily see why I disagree with the first comment. A quick salvo of helios missiles should take care of the four front beams. The only annoying thing one should be warned about this is the forward flak cannon constantly bombarding your ship. If you can get rid of that, the ship is easily fried into helpless cap-ship fodder. Given an endless amount of time, enough missiles, and enough patience, it's possible that a single fighter or bomber could take down this juggernaut, as the Shivans apparently weren't planning on engineering defenses into their cap-ship destroyer. Unless its forward beam turrets are intact, it's as harmless as a fly (although not easily as squashed). Just be warned not to sit in front of it as it jumps out.''
 
<br><br>
 
" This ship is sooo not to be trifled with. You have to make sure you take out its front beams before you do anything else or you and your fellow Terrans are screwed bigtime.
 
  
 
==Performance:==
 
==Performance:==
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| Unknown
 
| Unknown
 
|-
 
|-
| '''[[Technical_Terms_and_Definitions#Manuverablity|Manuverability]]'''
+
| '''[[Technical_Terms_and_Definitions#Maneuverablity|Maneuverability]]'''
 
| N/A
 
| N/A
 
|-
 
|-
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{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
 
{| border=1 cellpadding=4 style="border-collapse: collapse"
 
|- align="center"
 
|- align="center"
| colspan=2 style="background:#300505;"| '''Freespace 2'''
+
| colspan=2 style="background:#300505;"| '''FreeSpace 2'''
 
|- align="center"
 
|- align="center"
 
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
 
| style="width:120px" |Turret Type
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| 5
 
| 5
 
|- align="center"
 
|- align="center"
| [[SAAA|Anti-Fighter Beam]]
+
| [[SAAA]]
 
| 8
 
| 8
 
|- align="center"
 
|- align="center"
| [[LRed|Large Red Beam]]
+
| [[LRed]]
 
| 1
 
| 1
 
|- align="center"
 
|- align="center"
| [[BFRed|Very Big Red Beam]]
+
| [[BFRed]]
 
| 4
 
| 4
 
|}
 
|}
 +
 +
==Modding Resources==
 +
{{shipimage|image=[[Image:Sathanas_MVP.jpg|650px]]|caption=The {{PAGENAME}} in the latest MVPs}}
 +
'''Retail''':
 +
:$POF File: SuperCap2S-01.pof
 +
 +
'''MediaVPs''':
 +
:$POF File: Sathanas.pof
 +
:Credits: RgaNoris
 +
 +
 +
==Notes==
 +
===User-made campaigns===
 +
In the [[Inferno]] campaign, the Sathanas makes use of a subspace weapon based on the one seen in FreeSpace 2's penultimate cutscene. Several other mods including the [[Scroll of Atankharzim]] and Inferno-based campaigns also make use of this addition.
 +
 +
Unfortunately, currently the pincer movements and other cosmetic effects have not been reproduced in-game, though it would theoretically be possible to do so using the [[Animation Code]] and major modifications to the model.
 +
 +
 +
==Gallery==
 +
<gallery>
 +
Image:RScreen0028.jpg | A Sathanas, unthreatened by a [[GVCv Sobek]].
 +
Image:RScreen0047.png | The supreme forward firepower of the Sathanas against the [[GTVA Colossus]].
 +
Image:Sjsathanas.jpg | The SJ Sathanas in FS2_Open 3.6.10
 +
Image:Sjsathanas-new.png | The first iteration of the SJ Sathanas by Rga_Noris
 +
Image:Sjsathanas-bob.png | An alternate SJ Sathanas by bobbtmann
 +
Image:RScreen0092.jpg | The main beam weaponry in the [[Inferno]] mod.
 +
Image:SathShowCase03.png | A texture redux from Rga_Noris on his take of the Sathanas.
 +
 +
</gallery>
 +
 +
 +
===Veteran Comments===
 +
{{comment|''The Sathanas, like most FS2 Shivan capital craft, has an attack-oriented design that makes use of the known Shivan superiority at subspace jumping (at least in capital craft) to deal devastating first-strike blows. If itself attacked, it has problems. It has a single other anti-capital beam, an LRed in a "stinger" position aft and below; this weapon is not sufficent to prevent the Sathanas from being flanked. The Sathanas' defenses against fightercraft assault are respectable, but poorly sited to defend against an attack on its main armament. (The Colossus is notably superior in this regard.) In a way the Sathanas is a microcosm of the Shivan war machine, which is dependent on continually being on the assault to keep its flaws from being exposed. On the defensive it can still deal out heavy blows, but ultimately it is not prepared for the role. It is worth noting that the only time ingame the Sathanas was actually attacked, by a Vasudan corvette in [[A Monster in the Mist]], it was unable to come to grips with its opponent. Additionally, in [[High Noon]], the main challenge was to survive a head-on exchange with the Sathanas; once the Colossus got past that and both ships switched to a broadside confrontation, the Colossus started turning the tables against the Shivan juggernaut, which had virtually no long-range weaponry on its sides and flank to fight back save the LRed and SAAAs.''
 +
 +
 +
''It is also vulnerable to fighters and bombers if they attack near enough to the weapons subsystem, making it impossible for the anti-fighter beams to reach.''
 +
 +
 +
''It's not clear if the Sathanas is a warship at all, or some kind of colonization vessel or Shivan living quarters fitted with heavy weaponry. It certainly has some kind of secondary non-combat capabilites, such as the bizarre equipment that the Shivans used to destroy the Capella star. Via Petrarch's statements in the end cutscenes, Volition seems to imply that the Shivans destroyed Capella to create subspace access to their homeworld and used the Sathanses as glorified personnel transports for their journey.''
 +
 +
 +
''This giant warship is curious, neither the [[GTVA Colossus|Colossus]] nor the Sathanas have very good anti-fighter defenses. A squadron of [[GTM Helios|Helios]]-capable bombers can take out all of its main beam cannons, leaving it vulnerable to attack. If it wasn't for the "supercap" flag, the Sathanas in such a state would be vulnerable to attacks by destroyers.''
 +
 +
 +
''This is one bigass mother of a ship. However, its defensive capabilities against fighters and bombers are far below par, so you can easily see why I disagree with the first comment. A quick salvo of Helios missiles should take care of the four front beams. The only annoying thing one should be warned about this is the forward flak cannon constantly bombarding your ship. If you can get rid of that, the ship is easily fried into helpless cap-ship fodder. Given an endless amount of time, enough missiles, and enough patience, it's possible that a single fighter or bomber could take down this juggernaut, as the Shivans apparently weren't planning on engineering defenses into their cap-ship destroyer. Unless its forward beam turrets are intact, it's as harmless as a fly (although not easily as squashed). Just be warned not to sit in front of it as it jumps out.''
 +
 +
 +
''It is true that a Sathanas '''CAN''' be flanked by a smaller warship, but do not underestimate the strength of its rear-facing LRed. Without any fighters or bombers to disable it, even a [[GVD Hatshepsut|Hatshepsut-class]] destroyer may not be able to survive attacking it from behind. If that single turret is destroyed, however, it will change the outcome.
 +
 +
It is also interesting to note that the Sathanas has basic AWACS capabilities, meaning that it can occasionally target and open fire on hostile stealth fighters in addition to relaying the enemy stealth fighter's targeting data to all nearby friendly ships.
 +
 +
 +
''A note about the ship's turn radius: if ordered to attack a nearby target, the AI code will tell the Sathanas to move forward while turning (rather than just pivot in place), so a warship placed to the side of the Sathanas in the right "sweet spot" can harass the juggernaut while remaining out of range of the short-range anti-fighter beams and blobs guarding the Sath's flanks. The Sath will turn in a wide circle and will never bring its main guns to bear. In this way a Fenris can defeat a Sathanas over the course of an hour, assuming that the latter's fighterbays are empty, and that the person who FREDded the mission didn't simply give the Shivan vessel a decent waypoint path to follow. For example, telling the Sath to head for a distant waypoint will cause it to pivot tightly, in which case the Fenris is screwed.''
 +
 +
 +
''Despite all this, remember that the Sathanas is not meant to be left immobile and unescorted. If you create a mission, make sure that the ship turns to face the opponent, or at least move to evade. Also, the Sath's presumably very large fighter complement should be enough to overwhelm GTVA bombers and warships. Consider these factors when designing a strike against a Sathanas. ''
 +
 +
 +
I find that as long as you're nowhere near any flak cannons, staying low and close to the hull like you're walking on it is a method that can allow you to effectively neutralize every one of its turrets. Of course it'll take a while, since you're certainly not going to get your wingmen to follow you in your plan. The Sathanas in my opinion really only poses a threat to big ships. (A really, really big threat.)
 +
}}
 +
  
 
[[Category:Ship]]
 
[[Category:Ship]]

Latest revision as of 08:00, 1 May 2020

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Notable ships of FreeSpace 2


The SJ Sathanas is the most powerful space-faring warship ever encountered by the GTVA. It is comparable in size to and perhaps more than a match for the GTVA Colossus.

Not to be confused with the SJD Sathanas.

A debris chunk of the Sathanas is also included as an individual model and ship, known as the SpaceHunk.

Sjsathanas-old.jpg
The SJ Sathanas


Overview

With four ultra-heavy beam cannons concentrated in the bow, a Sathanas outstrips even a Colossus-class vessel in terms of raw firepower that it can project at one target. Like other Shivan capital ships, the Sathanas has an attack-oriented design that makes use of the known Shivan superiority at subspace jumping to deal devastating first-strike blows. The Sathanas best exemplifies the Shivan war machine, which is dependent on continually being on the attack to keep its flaws from being exposed. On the defensive it can still deal out heavy blows, but ultimately it is not prepared for the role.

The only apparent weakness of the Shivan juggernaut is that the massive beam cannons are concentrated at the bow, and aside from a comparatively diminutive anti-warship beam cannon at the stern, the other flanks of the massive warship are covered only by point-defense weapons. The main armament is also not well defended against fighters compared to the Colossus. Nonetheless, a Sathanas is still more than able to defend itself and project offensive power via the many hundreds of fighters and bombers it carries in its cavernous hangar. Thus, stopping a juggernaut is almost impossible.

Even the "expedient" of disabling the massive warship is hardly worth considering, due to the numerous redundant engines found on the hull. In essence, any attack on a Sathanas-class juggernaut can be considered almost suicidal. Only the Colossus demonstrated enough firepower to take on a Sathanas.

History

The first combat appearance of a Shivan Juggernaut was in the nebula theater, beyond the first Knossos portal in Gamma Draconis, when the warship destroyed a Vasudan task force assaulting a Shivan gas mining operation. The GTVA immediately began to withdraw from the nebula, though not before sending a pilot in the new Ptah-class stealth fighter to scan the vessel. Based on this information, the Alliance launched a targeted bombing mission to eliminate several of the forward beam cannons (there is no canon consensus concerning exactly how many were destroyed, but at least two were taken out) in the Gamma Draconis system, and the GTVA Colossus engaged and destroyed the weakened juggernaut after it jumped to the Capella system.

After that victory, the GTVA were confident they could eliminate any threats the Shivans could present, and returned to the nebula with the objective of locating and capturing Admiral Aken Bosch. However, that goal failed to be achieved as GTVA forces discovered that multiple Sathanas-class juggernauts were en route to GTVA space. Gamma Draconis was quickly overrun by the swift advance of the juggernaut fleet, which shortly entered Capella. In a desperate gamble, the GTVA fleet held the Shivans at bay while civilians were evacuated to Epsilon Pegasi and Vega. During the closing stages of the battle, the GTVA Colossus was destroyed in Capella by a Shivan juggernaut while providing a diversion for the GTD Bastion, which was tasked with collapsing the jump corridor to Epsilon Pegasi. In a final startling turn of events, the Shivan juggernauts instigated the supernova of the Capella star as the jump corridor to Vega was destroyed.

Conclusion

The Shivan juggernaut fleet is the single most serious threat to the survival of the Terran and Vasudan species. The prowess of this class was tragically demonstrated when a Sathanas juggernaut destroyed the GTVA Colossus in the Capella system. The GTVA barely managed to stop one Sathanas, and even then it was with a warship that took two decades and enormous amounts of resources to construct. An encounter with any more Shivan juggernauts will only be able to be stopped with extreme difficulty.

Description:

FS2 Tech Room Description

Very little is known about the SJ Sathanas class. This juggernaut seems comparable in strength to the GTVA Colossus. All intelligence concerning the Sathanas has been classified level Upsilon.

Developer Notes

None

Performance:

Statistics

Type Juggernaut
Manufacturer Unknown
Maneuverability N/A
Max Velocity 25.0 mps
Max Afterburner Velocity N/A
Armor N/A
Hitpoints 1 000 000
Shields N/A
Length 5978 m

Armaments

FreeSpace 2
Turret Type Amount
Shivan Turret Laser 22
Standard Flak 11
Long Range Flak 2
Piranha 5
SAAA 8
LRed 1
BFRed 4

Modding Resources

Sathanas MVP.jpg
The SJ Sathanas in the latest MVPs


Retail:

$POF File: SuperCap2S-01.pof

MediaVPs:

$POF File: Sathanas.pof
Credits: RgaNoris


Notes

User-made campaigns

In the Inferno campaign, the Sathanas makes use of a subspace weapon based on the one seen in FreeSpace 2's penultimate cutscene. Several other mods including the Scroll of Atankharzim and Inferno-based campaigns also make use of this addition.

Unfortunately, currently the pincer movements and other cosmetic effects have not been reproduced in-game, though it would theoretically be possible to do so using the Animation Code and major modifications to the model.


Gallery


Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.


The Sathanas, like most FS2 Shivan capital craft, has an attack-oriented design that makes use of the known Shivan superiority at subspace jumping (at least in capital craft) to deal devastating first-strike blows. If itself attacked, it has problems. It has a single other anti-capital beam, an LRed in a "stinger" position aft and below; this weapon is not sufficent to prevent the Sathanas from being flanked. The Sathanas' defenses against fightercraft assault are respectable, but poorly sited to defend against an attack on its main armament. (The Colossus is notably superior in this regard.) In a way the Sathanas is a microcosm of the Shivan war machine, which is dependent on continually being on the assault to keep its flaws from being exposed. On the defensive it can still deal out heavy blows, but ultimately it is not prepared for the role. It is worth noting that the only time ingame the Sathanas was actually attacked, by a Vasudan corvette in A Monster in the Mist, it was unable to come to grips with its opponent. Additionally, in High Noon, the main challenge was to survive a head-on exchange with the Sathanas; once the Colossus got past that and both ships switched to a broadside confrontation, the Colossus started turning the tables against the Shivan juggernaut, which had virtually no long-range weaponry on its sides and flank to fight back save the LRed and SAAAs.


It is also vulnerable to fighters and bombers if they attack near enough to the weapons subsystem, making it impossible for the anti-fighter beams to reach.


It's not clear if the Sathanas is a warship at all, or some kind of colonization vessel or Shivan living quarters fitted with heavy weaponry. It certainly has some kind of secondary non-combat capabilites, such as the bizarre equipment that the Shivans used to destroy the Capella star. Via Petrarch's statements in the end cutscenes, Volition seems to imply that the Shivans destroyed Capella to create subspace access to their homeworld and used the Sathanses as glorified personnel transports for their journey.


This giant warship is curious, neither the Colossus nor the Sathanas have very good anti-fighter defenses. A squadron of Helios-capable bombers can take out all of its main beam cannons, leaving it vulnerable to attack. If it wasn't for the "supercap" flag, the Sathanas in such a state would be vulnerable to attacks by destroyers.


This is one bigass mother of a ship. However, its defensive capabilities against fighters and bombers are far below par, so you can easily see why I disagree with the first comment. A quick salvo of Helios missiles should take care of the four front beams. The only annoying thing one should be warned about this is the forward flak cannon constantly bombarding your ship. If you can get rid of that, the ship is easily fried into helpless cap-ship fodder. Given an endless amount of time, enough missiles, and enough patience, it's possible that a single fighter or bomber could take down this juggernaut, as the Shivans apparently weren't planning on engineering defenses into their cap-ship destroyer. Unless its forward beam turrets are intact, it's as harmless as a fly (although not easily as squashed). Just be warned not to sit in front of it as it jumps out.


It is true that a Sathanas CAN be flanked by a smaller warship, but do not underestimate the strength of its rear-facing LRed. Without any fighters or bombers to disable it, even a Hatshepsut-class destroyer may not be able to survive attacking it from behind. If that single turret is destroyed, however, it will change the outcome.

It is also interesting to note that the Sathanas has basic AWACS capabilities, meaning that it can occasionally target and open fire on hostile stealth fighters in addition to relaying the enemy stealth fighter's targeting data to all nearby friendly ships.


A note about the ship's turn radius: if ordered to attack a nearby target, the AI code will tell the Sathanas to move forward while turning (rather than just pivot in place), so a warship placed to the side of the Sathanas in the right "sweet spot" can harass the juggernaut while remaining out of range of the short-range anti-fighter beams and blobs guarding the Sath's flanks. The Sath will turn in a wide circle and will never bring its main guns to bear. In this way a Fenris can defeat a Sathanas over the course of an hour, assuming that the latter's fighterbays are empty, and that the person who FREDded the mission didn't simply give the Shivan vessel a decent waypoint path to follow. For example, telling the Sath to head for a distant waypoint will cause it to pivot tightly, in which case the Fenris is screwed.


Despite all this, remember that the Sathanas is not meant to be left immobile and unescorted. If you create a mission, make sure that the ship turns to face the opponent, or at least move to evade. Also, the Sath's presumably very large fighter complement should be enough to overwhelm GTVA bombers and warships. Consider these factors when designing a strike against a Sathanas.


I find that as long as you're nowhere near any flak cannons, staying low and close to the hull like you're walking on it is a method that can allow you to effectively neutralize every one of its turrets. Of course it'll take a while, since you're certainly not going to get your wingmen to follow you in your plan. The Sathanas in my opinion really only poses a threat to big ships. (A really, really big threat.)