Steam Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1486015322

"Sword Of Damocles"

(Can be used/named however but I thought I'd make a story behind it )

Star Control Overview:

"This ship was coined "The Sword of Damocles" by Star Control because of its powerful cloaking device and its tendancy to appear out of nowhere and raid unsuspecting vessels. We have little information on what race controls this ship so for all we know it could be a pirate vessel, Lexite cabal, rogue Terran raider or an alien marauder. The ship however has a pattern: it raids those that transport certain artifacts or exotics. A victim ship disabled and boarded by the Damocles is subject to a stun gas that is able to pass through skin or breathing filters. A localised EMP burst is also used in conjunction to deal with any robotic defenses or entities. It does not employ these tools in combat however, which indicates that there needs to be a level of preparation time aboard the vessel to utilise these functions. After a few hours when the effects of the gas has worn off, hapless crew awaken to find at least one or more pieces of their inventory missing. Items reported stolen included but were not limited to: relics, paintings, luxuries, tech, specimens being researched, medical supplies, cinema libraries and cookbooks. We do not know whether this ship then sells these goods on but some of our mercenary "friends" have stated that the things it plunders are not entirely being sold on the galactic black market. Some have deduced that it might be affiliated with a private collector who has decided to expand their collection by force or the ship is in the hands of something that has a penchant for the arts. The Damocles also seems to rely more on raiding and leaving messages rather than outright murdering their opponents. Psychologists have put forward the idea that the owners of this ship desire it to be feared through this reputation alone and that by employing these mind games the Damocles has a greater chance of preserving whatever it is they are after. Defenceless crewmen usually request the offer to continue living rather than deal with a horrible death in space so it is more enticing for them to just give up and let the Damocles take what they want. Those wishing to put a bounty on the ship in revenge find that this is an almost impossible task for the Damocles spends a lot of its travel time shifting in and out of detection with its spacial cloak."

"What we do know is that this ship has been known to dock in neutral ports or make shore leave rarely in frontier space and the design of the ship is reminiscent of some old, ancient design. Xenotechs have suggested that perhaps the ship itself is a trophy as rare as the things it hunts. Others say that it's likely the Damocles also restocks and offloads its plundered assets to a cloaked base somewhere. It appears to be incredibly technologically advanced and its tactics seem to rely on shooting enemies at a very long range with its twin ion cannons until they surrender. The ship also has a plentiful energy reserve that allows it to unleash a sporadic chain of firepower even while cloaked. Because of its size it can outlast most vessels in a fight yet it is not a ship that ideally can fight toe to toe with heavily armed and armoured ships such as Scryve Battlecruisers. Normally if the ship is caught in a bad situation it tries to avoid the encounter entirely by using its stealth technology. If it is forced into a confrontation however we assume it employs proverbial "cloak and dagger" tactics to maneuver around its enemies using powerful drive systems before raining searing, luminescent energy bolts upon its foes. Should the captain or entity of this ship be persuaded to aid Star Control it could serve as a powerful ally, although I doubt that diplomacy will be effective here. On the otherhand if the the vessel itself is disabled and towed to Earth by one of our ships where it can be "reprocessed" it would make for a good conversation starter (I know there are dozens of speculative xenologists who are itching to take a look at this thing and a few captains who would like to cruise with it to Jupiter). If we destroy it however, the galactic community will be able to sleep a bit more easier, plus we'd be able to get a look at some of its design features from the wreckage. Star Control notes though that recovering it in this state would greatly reduce its value (and would lament the missed opportunity of examining the ship or its cargo) but nevertheless if it happens to be hostile then the Damocles should be treated as such."

Hull: Large

Primary: Dual Shot

Secondary: Cloaking Device