Venator-class Star Destroyer Mk. II

The '''Venator-class Star Destroyer Mk. II''' was a type of powerful Star Destroyer that was a cross between the Venator-class Star Destroyer and the Emancipator-class Star Destroyer utilized in fairly large numbers by the Astragon Navy.

Characteristics
Venator Mk. IIs were not built in any great amount by either the Republic or the Empire that followed it, and it was rarely used (if ever) by either of those governments. A few made it to battlefronts, and Astragon managed to capture one intact from the border skirmish. It was repainted into the Astragonian Venator Mk. II.

The ship has better power reactors than what it started with. The increased power allowed a few more weapons to be carried, but it was felt that it had plenty. Unlike either of the designs that it took characteristics from, it had more weapons but less starfighters than its predecessor.

The vessel's primary armament consists of 8 heavy dual turbolaser batteries, which are descended from the primary guns of the Mk. I. However, they were placed in a similar manner to the main guns on the Ardent-class fast frigate, ahead of the bridge tower rather than on its sides. As such, they could easily focus the heavy guns fire forward.

Ten heavy turbolaser cannons and fifteen medium dual turbolaser cannons complemented the primary guns. Many of these covered the ventral surface and bridge tower. Ten heavy proton torpedo tubes, fifty-two medium laser cannons, and a half-dozen tractor beam projectors rounded out the ship's armament.

Even though it could not carry as many starfighters as the Mk. I, it could still hold three full wings of starfighters, totaling 216 ships. These were organized into eighteen squadrons. One wing was made of starfighters, another was made of bombers, and the third was a mixed atmospheric fighter/bomber wing.

For planetary assault, these ships carried sixteen Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry to supplement the atmospheric wing and to convey troops to battlefields. Four [[Low Altitude Assault Transport/carrier conveyed a small contingent of twelve vehicles to support the soldiers. These ships carried 2,000 passenger soldiers.