Echidna-class command cruiser

Echidna-class command cruiser

The Echidna-class command cruiser was the largest ship class in the Navy of the Tetrarchy of Mezlagob.

Much more rare than Hydra-class cruisers and other smaller ships, Echidna command cruisers were generally assigned only to distinguished and trusted captains. Their size and expense relative to smaller ships made them infeasible for the Tetrarchy to mass-produce, although the Tetrarchs often included several in major battle fleets. Admiral Garyth Quorr, the last Supreme Commander of the Tetrarchy military, commanded from an Echidna-class cruiser named the Anhalia.

Echidna-class command cruisers carried 50 batteries, an additional 50 double turbolaser batteries, and 20  cannons. They also came equipped with ten burrower grenade rocket launchers, each of which had a standard complement of five rockets. Echidna cruisers were crewed by 6,000 beings, with an additional 480 gunners. When carrying maximum loads, they could transport 5,000 soldiers and an additional 10,000 tightly compacted s. They also carried 50 s.

After the Great Liberation, the Golden Empire continued to use the handful of Echidna cruisers it had captured during the war, but never produced its own copies of the ship. It was eventually replaced by the larger but less crew-intensive Samnis-class heavy cruiser.