Medarusa-class Heavy Annihilation Battleship

Disambiguation
OS

The Medarusa-class Heavy Annihilation Battleship, also called Medarusa Class Heavy Battleship^[7] or the Heavy Annihilation Battleship Medarusa Class,^[8] was a warship class in service of the Gatlantis Empire. Equipped with systems based partly on alien technology, the Medarusa was an early example of a new generation of powerful Gatlantean ships that posed a serious challenge to enemy fleets in both the Gatlantis-Garmillas War and the Gatlantis campaign.

Armaments and Technical Specifications[]

Armed with a massive gun turret at the bow, smaller artillery and torpedoes across the entire length of the ship, and a wing of armored fighters, Medarusa-class battleships were larger and more heavily armed than more commonly encountered vessels of the Gatlantis Astro Fleet in 2199.^[9] Its most lethal weapon was a massive cannon located in a special compartment in the lower bow section, dubbed the Flame Strike Gun. The weapon was designed by Garmillas science slaves^[10] and marked a significant technological leap for the empire. Although the Flame Strike Gun did not exhibit the same power output as a wave motion gun, it could wipe out multiple capital ships at once, and it could overwhelm both wave motion shields and advanced armor with only three shots. It could also re-charge and fire again within only a few seconds, making it far more effective than wave motion weapons in most active combat situations. The cannon could be detached and ejected from the ship if necessary.^[5]^[11]

Megaluda Fires at Allied Fleet — Using a Flame Strike Gun with an instant matter transporter.

The Flame Strike Gun became even more destructive when it was paired with two instant matter transporters, built from Garmillan experimental designs.^[10]^[12] The weapon was fired directly into a field projected by the matter transporters; the cannon's discharge was teleported toward a target, allowing the Medarusa to stay out of enemy weapons range while potentially giving it an added element of surprise.^[5]

Medarusa battleships were warp capable.^[5] Fighters took off and land from a V-shaped flight deck on the top aft section.^[1] Ships of the class were simplified and adapted into massive land battleships for ground actions, with removal of their Flame Strike Guns and matter transporters. In this configuration, the upper hull could be mounted with a Reflective Satellite Cannon. Although Medarusa vessels were typically crewed by Gatlantean soldiers, tank versions could be fully operated by artificial intelligence systems.^[13]^[6] Given this new operative model, the land battleship's bridge was devoid of any control console, with only a spherical holographic AI in the middle.^[14]

History[]

Megaluda Flame Strike Gun open — *Megaruda* prepares for battle at Shambleau.

The Medarusa-class Megaruda served as the personal flagship of Grand Chief Commissioner Goran "Thunder" Dagam as he led the Gubata Expedition Force on a search for the Celestial Ark, Shambleau, in late 2199. The flagship completely destroyed a task force of Garmillas ships before encountering the Earth Federation battleship Yamato. Megaruda's Flame Gun fire was deflected by the battleship's wave motion shield, eventually allowing Yamato to escape. However, the Megaruda and the expeditionary force later caught up with the Yamato and a Garmillas carrier group at Shambleau. During the ensuing battle, the Earth and Garmillas forces were able to predict the appearance of the Flame Strike Gun's weapon fire, rendering it useless and forcing Megaruda into a final direct confrontation with Yamato that ended in its destruction.^[5]

Sometime in 2202, a single Medarusa vessel led an invasion of planet Terezart.^[11]

In December 2202, two Medarusa ships participated in the Gatlantean defense of the Eighth Floating Continent against an allied Earth and Garmillan fleet. They were able to overcome specially armored Zoellugut-class warships with three shots of their Flame Strike Guns, but one was sunk by torpedoes from a Kongo-class battleship and the other was destroyed when an Andromeda-class Spaceship fired its wave motion gun towards the end of the battle^[11].

Medalusa tanks Telezart — A line of *Medarusa* tanks moving into battle.

The reconquest of seven floating continents, including the 8th floating continent, by the Earth-Garmillas forces caused a temporary energy shortage for the Gatlantis Astro Fleet, forcing them to reorganize their shipbuilding plans. This led to the development of a plan calling for the simplification of the Medarusa-class Annihilation Heavy Battleship and its repurposing as a land battleship.^[14]

These converted Medarusas were stationed on the ruined surface of Terezart under the command of Zantz Zurvival aboard Helvestia. Long distance shock cannon fire from Yamato and a lightning assault by UN Cosmo Marines in mobile armor took out the first line of tanks, while the remainder were crushed by a massive chunk of rock initially placed in orbit above Terezart and then maneuvered toward the surface.^[6]^[15]