Behemoth-class Command Ship

"Oh no..."                                                                                                                                                                              -Janportus Fighter Pilot upon seeing a Behemoth-class Vessel

The Behemoth-class Command Ships, also known as Behemoth Airships or simply Behemoths, were the first recorded armed and armored warships ever built in history. Constructed by the Kingdom of Lanier, the date of it's first commissioning is unknown, although it is likely much before the year 740 AED. The Behemoth-class represented the pride of Lanierian engineering, built at a time when wooden hulks were the sole true warships of any nation, and was a fierce symbol of the power of the kingdom with it's impressive size and menacing appearance.

Despite it's vallue as a symbol of Lanierian Power and military might, the Behemoth, at first known as the deadliest ships known to mankind, quickly found themselves viewed as too large and costly in ressources to be practical and built in large numbers. As a result the smaller Destroyers were built, a direct successor to the design of the Behemoth, one cheaper, smaller and more practical. As the royal Navy's technologies improved over the years, Behemoths became more or less outdated, with equipment surpassed by the newer designs. This did not truly stop the ship's production however, as many refits were attempted to ships such as the HMA Behemoth itself and later the HMA Vociferous. During the War of Acquisition, the behemoths were ill suited to fight the modern fighter swarming tactics of the Silver Empire, and despite attempted refits to save the design, the Behemoth was eventually sent for scrap and the design retired in favor of more modern vessels such as the HMA Goliath, a ship often considered to be it's successor.

-Equipment-
The Behemoth-class vessels were built during a time when airship technologies were still new and those that took advantage of it did not use it in most efficient ways, as the design was built in a time where such things as armor, efficient weapons coverage and wiring were largely unknown to shipwrights. As such, the Behemoths were quite underarmed for their size. Nevertheless, they still featured two 1230R9 Auto-Cannons Mk1, a simple 3 Propellant/2 Projectiles cannon design used on most royal navy designs of the day. Their range and firepower were average, and the cannon design was later miniaturized to serve aboard the Royal Destroyers and Corvettes Mk1. Both cannons were facing forward, having massive barrels. It's fuse was controllable from a Gun Deck beneath the command bridge, and both guns could be fired either together or separately, at least on the original models. These weapons were used to pierce through the armor of warships before they could be set alight by AA Guns. The idea was that one projectile would pierce through the armor of enemy warships while the other could wreck havoc on the lifting cells and interior sections. Behemoths also possessed AA guns, spread out accross three defensive rings (port, starboard and dorsal) and installed in twin machine gun emplacements. Interestingly, unlike most other designs that followed it, these could not be controlled from the bridge or together. Instead, each of these dual gun emplacements had to be controlled independently from the Defensive Rings themselves. these had an automatic rapid-fire rate, although they could have a tendency to jam. AA Guns were used to set alight lifting cells on warships who's armor has been breached prior by cannon fire. They could also defend the aircraft from fighters, although the coverage was not ideal for that purpose, as it was easy for a fighter to slip through the gun emplacements and fire at undefended areas. Interestingly, the dorsal defensive ring had it's AA guns facing upwards, to fire at targets above the ship, potentially bombers. This feature was not seen on any ship until late modern warships took advantage of that to defend themselves against LAS Bombers and fighter aircraft, decades later. Finally, another twin AA gun emplacement was placed on the Aft Bridge to defend the Behemoths from pursuit. AA Guns were often loaded with arrows instead of Fire charges to attack targets on the ground.

Aside from those ship-to-ship combat abilities, the Behemoth was also equipped for ground assault. As such, setting aside the configurable AA Guns, the Behemoth possessed an advanced device, a Cluster Bomb Dropper. Again, a design later miniaturized to serve aboard royal navy destroyers. This device, was effective in providing the ship with a good ground assault coverage. It is controlled manually from a large bomb bay from which ground attacks can be coordinated. The device drops 9 TNT bombs arranged in a circle, with 1 on a shorter fuse in the middle. This bomb will explode sooner than the others upon release, thus propelling the other bombs in every direction to cause significant destruction beneath the aircraft. Despite the device functionning perfectly, it was soon realized that it was more complicated than was needed, as simply dropping bombs continuously was a more effective, faster technique which often demanded less space than this complicated mechanism.

Finally, The Behemoth possessed a large double layered hangar bay, located towards the midships section. this hangar bay possessed four landing platforms to accomodate 8 to 12 aircraft of any type. During the era of it's comissioning, these were often Death Dart escort fighters and their variants or Cloudburst gunships, though it is possible that those that saw service in the early war of acquisition could carry Banshee torpedo fighters, although no behemoth has been recorded to. this fighter compliment allowed the Behemoth to act as an aircraft carrier for a battlegroup, something it often found itself doing. In fact the Behemoths were often kept at the back of a formation to monitor fleet actions, as the ship is easy to outgun and/or outmaneuver, thus making it better in the role of an aircraft carrier and a command ship, relaying orders to more dedicated combat warships and leading assault campaigns.

-Early Services-
The Behemoth-class Command Ships were the first armed and armored warships ever built, thus opening the field to the kingdom of Lanier and later the whole world to modern airship technologies. Not much is known of the early life of the Behemoth-class or their construction, but it is likely imaginable that they were involved in numerous conquests by the Kingdom of Lanier as apart of their rise as an influent faction. At first envisionned as the mainline warships of the royal navy, the behemoths were found to be too costly in ressources to be mass-produced and too little armed for it's size, and thus left this place to the smaller Destroyers whilst it was reassigned to the role of aircraft carrier and command ship. Even despite their lack of proper recognized combat abilities, Behemoth-class ships were likely given only to high ranking officers, as the ship features several luxurious frills such as large officer quarters and even a throne in the Command Bridge. the amount of Behemoth-class ships was thus small - estimated to perhaps a small dozen - and were almost always under command of an Admiral when apart of a formation. Regardless, early deeds of the Behemoth-class vessels remain a mystery.

-Siege of Janportus-
A refitted Behemoth-class Command Ship - possibly the HMA Behemoth itself - led the Royal Navy campaign against Janportus in 741 AED. It participated in multiple engagements against the Janportus Defense Forces, taking out at least three janportus fighters on it's own. It is unknown whether that ship was the only Behemoth-class present in this campaign or if it was indeed the HMA Behemoth. It remained intact and returned to Aerie with the rest of it's fleet rapidly after Janportus had been captured.

-Battle of the Argean-
Before the War of Aquisition, the pirate Robert Bellamy captured the Majestic Pearl whilst it was on route to Verace with the Shadow of the Deep, thus acquiring it's precious cargo; a white missile from the kingdom of lanier shipped to Verace. Under orders from the king himself, the HMA Behemoth, a modified Behemoth-class with an upgraded command bridge module, was comissioned to lead a royal navy task force comprised of 5 Destroyers, 4 Cannon Corvettes, 1 Victory-class Battleship and 1 Nautilus submarine to take down Robert Bellamy and his pirate group.

At the heart of the fleet, the HMA Behemoth, at the time flagship of the royal navy, was about to relay orders to the fleet, before the Shadow of the Deep launched the siezed white missile at the Behemoth. Unable to move in time, the ship and it's entire command staff were taken out by the white missile, sinking the flagship and bringing down a destroyer with it. Disoriented and with the Victory's captain refusing to join the battlegroup before the Tiger Shark was taken out, the rest of the fleet lacked coordination and ultimately the entire royal fleet was taken down by the Shadow of the Deep and the Tiger Shark.

After the battle, the wreck of the HMA Behemoth, much like the other lost ships of the battle, was used as a platform on which the free town of South Haven was constructed by Bellamy's pirates and the surviving royal crews.

-War of Aquisition-
During the war of aquisition, the behemoth-class command ships found themselves utterly ineffective against the swarms of Silver Empire fighters and their cheap, expendable warships. Numerous additional modifications were made to whatever Behemoth-class remained. One such ship was the HMA Vociferous, which saw it's AA armament increased and it's Cannons replaced with longarm torpedoes positionned on either side of the command bridge. A torpedo turret was also installed on the ship's underbelly. Unfortunately for the Kingdom, the ship was stolen, reported lost with all hands whilst performing trials. Eventually, the Royal Navy was forced to abandon the venerable design and the Behemoths, along with the Victory-class battleships, were sent for scrapped and replaced with more efficient designs.

-Duke Dougal's Conspiracy-
Despite the beliefs of the HMA Vociferous having been destroyed by the Silver Empire, it was in reality stolen by Duke Dougal as apart of his conspiracy to serve as mobile headquarters for him and his supporters. The ship was heavily repainted and modified with unidentified technologies, being given a Detection Shield and "Life Creation Engine Torpedoes" (LCET) which were capable of bringing monsters from the Age of Darkness into an intended target. This ship was used to devastating effect by Captain Thompson and his crew, allowing for the easy capture of the HMA Forester, A Silver Empire bulk freighter and later the HMA Goliath herself, pride of the royal navy.

Later, the Black Magic led the assault on Aerie-on-the-Isle from the shadows, using the captured Goliath as a diversion for the defensive fleet and launching troops to sieze the queen and the royal palace. Although the duke's men believed they were apart of a conspiracy against the kingdom, in reality duke dougal was plotting for the return of the Age of Darkness by releasing the Ender Dragon. As the Shadow of the Deep was about to destroy the castle before the operation could succeed, the Black Magic revealed itself and moved itself between the Shadow and the palace to block it, in an effort to buy the Duke enough time.

Shortly afterwards, the Shadow opened fire on the unknown vessel. Devoid of defenses of it's own, the Black Magic could only sit and take the damage for as long as possible, survivng multiple fierce broadsides before the Shadow blasted the bridge, claiming the lives of Thompson and his crew and sinking the Black Magic, effectively ending the last Behemoth-class command ship in service.

Although the duke had died, however, the Black Magic bought enough time, and the Ender Dragon managed to ascend to the end, thus beginning the second Age of Darkness.