MC80a Star Cruiser

MC80a Star Cruiser The MC80a Star Cruiser was a general classification for a group of early MC80 Mon Calamari Star Cruisers converted from luxury starships into warships.

Characteristics


Built initially as massive pleasure craft by Mon Calamari shipyards, the MC80a Star Cruisers received a series of crucial upgrades to allow them to operate against Imperial warships. The addition of the Mon Calamari provided the Rebel Alliance with their first consistent source of large, powerful capital warships.

Rounded and organic in appearance, most MC80a cruisers were oblong cigar-shaped vessels, although some were more flat or triangular in shape, and others featured wings. The surface of the cruisers were dotted in pods and bulges that contained sensor arrays, weapons batteries, and shield generators.

The MC80a Star Cruiser's role as the center of most Rebel Alliance fleet formations often pitted it against larger, more powerful Imperial-class Star Destroyers. While unable to match the Star Destroyers in weaponry, the MC80a cruisers were equipped with triple layered shields, redundant back-up shielding, and double redundancy critical systems.

These features, combined with structural improvements, allowed an MC80a to absorb large amounts of damage while other fleet elements either fled or engaged enemy vessels, but required extensive pre- and post-battle maintenance.

Subclasses


While no two MC80 vessels were the same, most MC80a Star Cruisers shared a similar baseline level of protection, weaponry, and features. There were even subclasses among the designs.

Most MC80a cruisers measured approximately 1,200 meters in length and required a crew of roughly 5,400. A TriLuna 400 MGS Stardrive and Hyperdrive Motivator achieved a Class 1 hyperdrive rating, while a Serridge SEAL Shielding System provided up to 240 SBD in shield ratings.

Weaponry was guided by a Plat Dromma targeting computer, and included 20 ArMek SW-7 ion cannon batteries, 6 front-mounted Phylon Q7 tractor beam projectors, and 48 Taim & Bak XV9 turbolaser batteries.

MC80a cruisers also included at least six starfighter bays and one auxiliary bay. These bays housed several shuttlecraft and freighters and six starfighter squadrons, which generally included one squadron of interceptors, two space superiorty fighter squadrons, and three bomber squadrons. A light ground assault force was also common, which included a mixture of repulsor tanks, light assault vehicles, and 1,200 troops.



A larger MC80a subclass was distinguised by a sleek profile, ventral thrusters close to the bow and dorsal thrusters close to the stern. They were 1,300 meters in length. The amount of crew was bigger than on other MC80a models, with 200 additional gunners operating the ship's weaponry. Each vessel carried 1,200 troops and three starfighter squadrons.

Another subclass was 1,400 meters long, had four main thrusters, short wings on either side and a cylindrical appearance, similar to the MC80 battleships.

The largest subclass was 1,500 meters long and had a winged design similar to the MC80 Star Cruiser but with a slightly different thruster array.

Known ships

 * Hope
 * Naritus

Behind the scenes

 * The information found on MC80a cruisers is contradicting: some sources say it’s a design found before the Battle of Yavin, others say it was a New Republic design and therefore at least post-Battle of Endor. The text above is a combination of the information from both sources: the history is from pre-Yavin sources, the stats from post-Endor sources. A summary on the different MC80a sources:
 * Heir to the Empire sourcebook (1992)&mdash;post-Endor. The bit in the sourcebook that tells about Mon Calamari cruisers is basically a repeat of what can be found in earlier sourcebooks, only the writers changed the word "Rebel" to "New Republic". Though this seems to suggest that MC80a's are made after Endor, it does not rule out that the Rebellion also had MC80a's. Also, the term "MC80a" can only be seen in the stats bit, strangely enough the text paragraph still talks about "MC80". Furthermore, the image used in the HTTE SB is the same as the MC80 image in previous sourcebooks.
 * Star Wars: X-wing (1993)&mdash;pre-Yavin. The storyline of this game leads up to the Battle of Yavin, and the game has MC80a cruisers (Independence and Defiance); the models for these ships look suspicious like Home One. Interesting note is that apparently the game makers interpreted the info on MC80a's from the HTTE SB as them being rebel cruisers as well (the X-wing game borrowed many other starship designs from the West End Games sourcebooks).
 * Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels (1996)&mdash;post-Endor. This guide tells that "a number of more powerful cruisers [more powerful than a MC80], including the MC80a, MC80B, and MC90, are being built." While it's not very strong evidence, the text does seem to suggest that the MC80a is a newer starship design.
 * The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook (1996)&mdash;post-Endor. This book has the same info as the HTTE SB mentioned above.
 * Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter (1997)&mdash;pre-Yavin (actually pre-Endor). This game once again features the MC80a, and is set in the period around the original three films.
 * Cracken's Threat Dossier (1997)&mdash;arguably. The sourcebook tells about a cruiser, Naritus, featured in the novel Assault at Selonia, which then appears to be a MC80a in this matching sourcebook. The ship is described as an "aging" cruiser. Now, depending on what is considered "aging" in the GFFA the ship is at least 18 years old (pre-Yavin) or at most 14 years old (post-Endor). This book is also the only source which refers to MC80a's, using a capital "A".
 * X-wing Alliance (1999)&mdash;pre-Yavin (actually pre-Endor). Once again Independence and Defiance are featured in this game as MC80a's.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: X-wing
 * Star Wars: TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing vs. TIE Fighter
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Assault at Selonia