Barachiel-class

"The Barachiel Class is one of the most advanced and feared warships in the Earth Sphere, only the Earth Alliance's Archangel is superior. The Barachiel though still has that fear factor, even then the Archangel herself is getting pretty close"

- Jose Weaver, one of the designers for the class "A Barachiel Class!? We are so dead..."

- Unknown Blue Cosmos Ship Commander, thanks to the respect and fear of the class has received

The Barachiel Class Battlecruiser is one of the more advanced and powerful warships in the Earth Sphere with only the Earth Alliance's Archangel Class more powerful though that is mainly thanks to its main guns. It also has become quite a feared and respected sight throughout the Earth Sphere thanks in part to the actions of the lead ship of the class during several different clashes with the Blue Cosmos Terrorist Space Force and Pirate Forces.

General Overview
When the Black Knights were first formed and organized by the United Nation Security Council it was decided that they needed equipment to help them in their mission. One such piece of equipment would be the awe-inspiring Barachiel Class Battlecruiser developed by the partnership of Sphinx Heavy Industries and Altair based Mars Shipwrights. The Barachiel Class is built with speed and heavy firepower in mind a great combination for the main mission of the Black Knights. This new ship would be heavily based on Altair’s already successful Albatross Class Heavy Cruiser and shares some design similarities thanks to this relationship.

The Barachiel Class is equipped with nine duel-barrel two-hundred meter beam cannons based on the successful XM-08 “Thunderbird” 100cm Duel Barrel High-Energy Beam Cannons from the Albatross Class. These cannons allowed the Black Knights to launch a devastating bombardment of high-energy particle beams at an enemy. Even the toughest ships can’t last for long against the superior firepower of the Barachiel Class. The main secondary armament of the ship is the new M20 Torpedo Launchers on the front of the ship. There are thirty-two of these launchers able to launch a heavy barrage of powerful anti-ship missiles at an enemy ship. When combined the Barachiel has a devastating offensive punch, something only seen on a full-on battleship like the Atlas Class and to a lesser degree the Albatross Class.

The success of the Barachiel lays in its unique duel-hull design that allows it to carry the numerous weapons it possesses. It is a design that had been first proposed by Jose Weaver several years before for the Atlantic Federation’s Sixties Rearmament Plan for their Federal Space Forces. Mister Weaver would be consulted by Sphinx during the initial design phase for the Barachiel Class where he would suggest his old duel-hull proposal for the new ship. Sphinx would unlike the Atlantic Federation take this suggestion to heart and would combine this with the data on Mars Shipwrights successful Albatross Class Mobile Cruiser to create the Barachiel Class Battlecruiser.

The first ship of the class the Barachiel would be finished and launched on June 10, CE69 only three months after construction began, though five months after the United Nations first ordered the new ship for the still forming Black Knight Taskforce. The second ship of the class would then be started soon after the lead ship of the class sailed out of its shipyard. However thanks to several issues including the collapse of the United Nations after the Tragedy of Copernicus, which ceased the main source of support and funding for the Taskforce, the launch of the second ship was delayed for several months before it finally launched only several days after the start of the war. Any following ships where delayed thanks to both the war and the loss of the UN Support. The Black Knights for several months had to relay only on the two ships for its main mission of Anti-Terrorism. Finally around the start of the second year of the war the Black Knights would receive further support from both the Republic of Altair and the Lunar Colonial Alliance. This would allow the Black Knights to start construction of both a third and fourth ship of the class.

By the time of the last months of the war the Black Knight Taskforce numbered five ships with another ship being constructed and later delayed thanks to effort being concentrated on the fifth ship. These five ships would join the newly formed Peacekeeper Alliance. They would be participate in the following battles and prove themselves to be a deadly ship against numerous enemy ships from both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. They became as feared as the legendary Archangel and its Odin Class Escorts during these battles. Only the Alliance Atlas Class Battleships could stand against the raw firepower of the Barachiel Class ships. However during these battles the tactical and strategic skills of Black Knight Commander Lelouch Lamperouge evened the odds against the Earth Alliance Fleet and its Atlas Class Battleships.

After the end of the war the Barachiel Class ships would return to their Anti-Terrorist and Anti-Pirate mission. However sadly their size would be restricted by several clauses in the new Junius Treaty therefore only six ships of the class would be produced. Even then many rightly fear facing a Barachiel Class Battlecruiser in combat, as many learned the hard way in the second war.

BKS Barachiel
(Captain Kaguya Sumeragi/Commander Lelouch Lamperouge)

The first ship of the class and flagship of the Taskforce it becomes one of the most known of the six ships of the class. Its first mission would become almost legendary to many in the Earth Sphere, a mission that saw the complete destruction of Blue Cosmos small Space Force. The Barachiel is commanded by the young yet Captain Kaguya Sumeragi, a Coordinator from an old Japanese family that had all been killed by Blue Cosmos due to their decision to adopt Coordinator technology. Their mobile suit unit, the Black Bushi Team is just as legendary as their mothership having taken part in numerous anti-pirate and anti-terrorist mission before it ever joined the Black Knights. Over the years the Barachiel would become quite famous and feared having earned a fierce reputation.

Adelaide Class Cruiser
A simpler version of the class related somewhat to the Albatross Class produced in secret for the Peacekeeper Alliance Fleet as the Second Bloody Valentine War raged on, at the secret base known only by its codename “The Factory”. Later after the end of the Second War these ships would go on to serve in the. Ships of the class are named after Christian Saints.

Majestic Class Battleship
A slightly larger version of the Barachiel Class that is produced by MarsSec Shipyards to serve as the main command ship and battleship of the Altairan Self Defense Force. Due to their sheer firepower MarsSec only produces three of these battleships for the ASDF.

Miscellaneous Information
Design Notes: Based heavily on the Darwin Class Cruiser from Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, while the Adelaide Class is based on the Zalam Chaceldony Class ship from the same series.