Knights Templar Lore

(Please note that this page is still under construction.

Over View
The Knights Templar are an independent fleet of ships that work as an intergalactic crime-fighting organisation. They are not sponsored by any particular empire or government, but fight crime of their own accord, taking some of the loot they capture from pirate fleets to pay for their expenses.

They are extremely pious warriors, taking after the crusaders of old. They take vows of poverty before being knighted, and keep them with extreme fervor, donating most of the pirate treasure they find to worthy causes along the way.

As stated above, the Knights Templar are their own state with their own government, and owe allegiance to no lord or emperor. They owe allegiance only to God, as they say often.

Planets
The Knights Templar are an organisation and not an empire: they live among many nations. Thus they have no holdings, save The Planet of Antioch in the Alpha Centauri planet where they have their headquarters.

The Templar Master
Commander William Kentis (Also known as Kentis the Crusader) is a devoted follower of the Christian God, one of the few in these days of inter-planetary travel. He was the son of a wealthy merchent, and was captured and held ransom by space pirates when he was sixteen. When he finally escaped captivity, he discovered that his father had died in his absence, and Kentis inherited his family's entire fortune.

Kentis used this money to finance a fleet of ships to combat space pirates, and this small but determined group grew into the Knights Templar.

WARBIRDS
The Warbird is a small, sleek, fighter ship that is extremely versatile. It is used as a deployable and usually housed in larger transport ships. It comes in four distinct models:

Type-A Warbird

The Type-A Warbird was a landmark in space warfare: a small ship that was deployed from a larger ship, similar to how planes flew from aircraft carriers. The Type-A was engineered by billionaire William Kentis and remains the backbone of many fleets. It is a small but agile dogfighter, having only enough room for a pilot and a gunner. The weaponry is very modular and can differ from ship to ship, but normally they are equiped with small phaser weapons on the tip of each wing, and a single laser canon mounted on the gunners station on the center of the ship. It also can also carry a few bombs for anti-surface ops.

Type-B Warbird

The Type-B is a smaller, sleeker, more modern version of the Type-A. It was engineered by a team of Knights Templar trying to improve on Kentis's design, and make it more modern. Unlike the Type-A, the Type-B has solar panels On it's wings allowing it to fly indeffinetly on solar power. Also, it has almost double the fire-power and triple the speed and handling then the earlier model. Yet it is extremely expensive, thus very few fleets have upgraded from the Type-A.

Type-C Warbird

The Type-C is the largest in the warbird line, and has been made famous by the expliots of Alex Steele the infamous mercinary. The Type-C has (relitively) huge amounts of room allowing it to be used for trans-system voyages, thus it is very popular among diplomats and buisnessmen. It has plenty of fire power, with laser canons on the tip of each wing, and three mounted on the gunner's station. Militaries use it as a bomber, it's relitively large size giving enough room for even a nuclear payload.

Type-D Warbird

The Type-D is still in the experimental stages, but a few test versions have been created by the Knights Templar for use in battle. These monsters have six phaser rifles mounted on each wing, and two gunner's stations, each mounted with a laser canon. Not only that, but each ship is built with a nuclear warhead: If no hope is left, the pilot will inact the "Oregon Protocal" and ram an enemy ship, destroying both ships completely and preventing Type-D or it's pilote from getting captured.

LIBERATER
Liberators are extremely large and heavy warships that serve as capital ships for the Knights Templar. A few different variations exist.

Fire Class

The Fire class Liberators are the lightest of the classes, and serve as command ships for minor captains and admirals. They hold 10-15 warbirds that can be deployed during battle. They have 26 gunners stations (13 on each side) each containing 2 laser canons. The average crew of a Flame Class Liberator is around 350 people.

Warrior Class

The Warrior Class liberator is a good deal heavier the the Fire class, but a good deal slower as well. It holds 10-20 warbirds and is equiped with 34 gunner's stations and 2 missile launchers that are deadly, albiet wildly inaccurite. The average crew is around 500 men.

Honor Class

The Honor Class is the second heaviest ship in the fleet, carrying 44 gunner's stations, 15 missile launchers, and carrying around 20 warbirds. Only fleet admirals command these. Average crew is 1200

Victory Class

The Victory Class is the heaviest ship in the Templar fleet, taking over 3 years to construct. So heavy are these ships, that only 2 have ever been built: The Crusader II which serves as the Templar flagship, and The Lionheart which was lost in battle several years ago. The Victory Class holds 25 warbirds, 84 gunner's stations, and 20 missile launchers, each with nuclear capabilites. Average crew is 2000.

VOYAGER
Voyagers are large and versitile ships, usually used for long travels and exploration. They are large enough that they don't need an escort, but small enough that they can go up to 5 years without needing to stop for supplies.

Avenger Class

The Avenger Class Voyager is commonly used for the transport of supplies: the ships are large enough that they don't need an escort, making the Voyager a cost-effective option for merchants. The Avenger Class is specialized for merchants with large cargo bays and takes only a twenty-five man crew to fly.

Templar Class

The Knights Templar were always going abroad, for the various pirate ports lay entire solar systems apart. The Templar needed a reliable craft that could be sent on long journeys without an escort. Thus Kentis the Templar Master engineered the Templar Class Voyager that had enough weapontry to fend of pirate ambushes, and enough room to house a large crew. It can go over five years without refueling, thus many empires use it for exploration.

FREEDOM FIGHTER
Freedom Fighters are small and stealthy ships that have advanced cloaking capabilites engineered by William Kentis himself. Only the most advanced radar systems can sense their presense. They are extremily versitile, and serve all sorts of purposes, from shuttle craft to dogfighters to bombers. The most famous of these ships is the Jerusulem Star that Kentis has personally piloted to victory on many occasions. A few different Freedom Fighter variations exist:

Valor Class

The Valor Class Freedom Fighter is used mostly for scouting missions. It is extremely fast and agile, but the only weapontry it has is a few bombs and a single laser canons.

Lightning Class

The Lightning Class Freedom Fighter is smaller then the average warbird, and considered to be the fastest type of ship in the galaxy. It is armed with only a single phaser rifle for protection, but it's main use is as a bomber. It flies low over enemy planets and can drop its entire payload of bombs in under 15 seconds, thus they've earned the nickname "Strikers".

Byzantine Class

The Byzantine Class Freedom Fighter is slightly less quick then the Lightning Class, but it's armed with two gunner's stations, each with three laser canons. Its larger size makes it more versitile, and it is used by diplomats, leaders, and spies alike. The most famous of these ships is the Jerusulem Star which has flown over 50 sucessful missions under the personal command of William Kentis