Guardian

The Guardian cruiser, like most Padani ships, is a meticulously crafted vessel, designed for durability and safety. Systems have many redundancies and crew safety measures, giving them excellent survivability. The cost of this precise and careful engineering is that it takes an extra half-a-year to build compared to similar designs.

Tactically, weapons consist of several phaser rings, all of them capable of bearing on one target in a broadside, power permitting. The ring design is to maximize emitter power while reducing the risk of a break knocking the entire weapon offline. The Guardian does not mount torpedos. Due to Padani concerns involving transporter travel, the Guardian is fitted with a large shuttlebay. Finally, the warp core is armored, which makes refits difficult but helps prevent catastrophic failure.

Guardians typically operate in groups (usually of three ships, though larger ones are not unknown), so all Guardian vessels have command facilities to ensure even if a lead vessel is loses its command crew, coordination can be maintained. Every Guardian is a far-ranging vessel with long tours. This has lead to a wide array of customization; no two Guardians are exactly alike. Fitting with the importance the Padani place on family, ships in Guardian groups are colloquially referred to as ‘cousins’ and are rarely split up. This means ‘cousin’ vessels often have complementary customizations -- enhanced bussards on one vessel for better resource collection, a cargo bay converted to additional medical facilities on another, expanded rec facilities on a third. The Padani are well aware of the risk of psychological burnout on long cruises and ensure the crew has access to adequate recreation facilities.

Crew complement is 600.