Sweet scorpion Haz. You're right: the Shipyard is unbelievable.
Latest from my yard...a rebuild of one of my first and still most favorite designs. Really crunching the graphics card on this one.
WHD-191 "Wolfhound" Guided Missile Destroyer
&
X-WHD-SSX "Novahound" Guided Missile Destroyer
Medium Hulls, DA (No mods), 65 and 202 parts, respectively.*Note the WHD-191 was posted in the 2007 thread and is provided for comparison purposes.
Also a special shout-out to Kyro for helping me trouble-shoot my disappearing ship parts problem that allowed me to complete the SSX. Now, on with the show...and some little fiction I thought up during the 17+ total hours I spent working on it.
Enjoy. C&C welcome.
(Here's a real game story for you Peskyfly 
)BEGIN TRANSMISSION...
DECODING...
HIGHEST PRIORITY
SOURCE: KRYNN INTELLIGENCE ORDER OPERATIONS IN THE GULF WORLDS
Greetings to the High Consulate:
Since it was initially fielded during our blessed Krynn Consulate's tragic Third Jihad the Gulf World's WHD-191 series Wolfhound Class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG) with it's signature armored node ring, has become the iconic representation of both the Gulf Worlds Confederacy's naval power and ingenuity.
It was during that conflict that Wolfhound hull number 5086, "The Fightin Fifty Eighty-six," later immortalized by the holovid of the same name,
Kiss of the Blood Lotus,
3:10 to Toria,
Tora Toria and more than a dozen other human films, waged a lone and unsupported holding action against our Torian allies, decimating two full Torian Strike Fleets in a series of spectacular hit and run engagements along the expanse of space known as the Torian Corridor.
As a result of the devastating losses it inflicted , it's unique appearance, and what was, at the time, it's seemingly invincible ECM suite, Torian crews quickly nicknamed the design the "Blood Lotus" after a deadly and especially vicious carnivorous plant native to their homeworld. During the war we naturally adopted our allies designation and amongst our own forces the design is still most often referred to by this name.
Of course the tragedy of the Torian Corridor affair highlighted the need of the High Consulate to adopt the long standing recommendation of the Intelligence Order for greater technological exchange between the Krynn and our allies. While our own forces operating in Confederacy space were not so clearly outmatched the Blood Lotus still proved to be a capable vessel whose introduction was instrumental in bringing the Third Jihad grinding to a unsatisfying close.
Since the end of that conflict a few short years ago export model Wolfhounds with downgraded electronics and weapon systems (our Intelligence Order has designated these as "Service Pack 2 "vessels) have found their way into a number of navies. Today primary users remain the Gulf Worlds Confederacy and the Snathi, with a smaller number serving in both the Arcean and the Iconian fleets as well as other independent navies.
(And now a bunch of nonsense, not related to the game in any way...)Since the end of hostilities, our own operatives working amongst the Snathi covertly aquired a 191-Series vessel for us. That vessel is currently under study within Krynn Space.
However this Operative has discovered a troubling new development, necessitating this transmission..
It is with great sadness that I must report to the High Consulate the completion of construction on a new and this Operative believes far more dangerous "Blood Lotus DDG.
The Gulf Worlds' Experimental Design Bureau's prototype X-WHD-SSX "Nova Hound" represents the next evolution of their Wolfhound design. The Nova Hound maintains many of it's predecessor's unique design elements in a sleeker more aggressive, more powerful warship.
The WHD-SSX's Node Ring, always a vulnerable point of the 191 series, has been heavily reinforced. Additionally, the Node Ring's reactive/reflective armor has been significantly expanded. The original Hyperdrive engines have been replaced with dual experimental Trinity Wakedrives. Of course, immediately noticeable is the redesign of the bow and forward bridge stuctures.
IT SHOULD NOT IN ANY EVENT BE MISTAKEN BY OUR OWN FORCES OR THOSE OF OUR ALLIES FOR ANY WHD-191 SERIES BLOOD LOTUS OR MODIFICATION THEREOF.
Sources close to us inside Gulf Worlds space have informed this operative that the advancements represented by the WHD-SSX are far too significant to be either an upgrade package or a field modification and it is also reported that the Confederate Shipyards on Dresdae have begun retooling to support full production of this new vessel.
It is likely that the Confederacy's 17th Fleet currently operating along our own border in the Iron Triangle will recieve the initial shipment of Nova Hounds with other units to follow over the next 18 to 24 months. It is highly probable, given the Confederacy's past actions, that the older vessels they replace will be refurbished and sold to the Snathi, among others, rather than scrapped.
It is the opinion of this Operative, that our own blessed Krynn Consulate make every effort to determine the full operational capabilities of the Nova Houndl as soon as is reasonable and though it seems unlikely, if at all possible. acqiuire one for further study.
Your Most Humble Servant,
END TRANSMISSION
