Appropriately named for the ‘Hidden One’ of Egyptian Mythology the Amun-Ra Class Stealth
Frigate was commissioned by the Protogen Corporation and assembled at Luna’s Bush Orbital Shipyards
as part of an insidious joint conspiracy that ultimately led to the Eros Incident and the
breakout of Interplanetary War.
At a length of 61.5 Meters, the Amun-Ra Class presents an unusual frame, highly different
from that of most spacefaring vessels.
This is a biproduct of the ship’s stealth functionality, using angular sheets of composite
materials to absorb or reflect radar signals.
These materials are supported by active cooling systems to conceal the ship’s detectable
heat signature and are able to reduce the frigate’s ambient temperature to match that
of an asteroid or even of background radiation.
This functionality is of course only available while the frigate’s main drive is powered
down, as an engine burn of any kind would alert all nearby vessels to the ship’s location.
The Amun-Ra Class is frightfully well armed for its size, and at the time of its commissioning
the class was the smallest in history to be equipped with a railgun.
The ship’s prototype S-24 ‘Khopesh’ light railgun is internally mounted along
the vessel’s spine and is supported by 4 retractable PDCs as well as a pair of concealable
torpedo bays equipped with rapid-reload systems.
The standard crew complement of the Amun-Ra class includes 50 personnel, but this is frequently
expanded to 100 for missions involving troop deployment or boarding actions.
During such encounters, assault teams are deployed using the frigate’s 9 Breaching
Pods, laid into the ship’s broadsides.
These pods function by launching a small breaching charge to weaken the hull of a target ship,
before clamping themselves into surface using three mechanical claws and establishing an
access passage for troops.
The Amun-Ra Class carries a single Khonsu-Class shuttlecraft equipped with similar stealth
features to the larger frigate.
This shuttle is able to serve as a forward scout for the Frigate and is capable of travelling
impressively long distances from its mothership to transfer personnel or light supplies.
The craft is kept in a concealed compartment nearly indistinguishable from the rest of
the frigate’s hull and can be quickly deployed as an evacuation craft in the event of an
emergency.
A total of nine Amun-Ra Class vessels were commissioned by Protogen, each named after
a deity from Egyptian Mythology.
The first was the Amun-Ra herself, who served as a partially-functional Testbed for the
stealth systems and was later cannibalised to aid in the construction of further vessels.
Six of the stealth frigates were used to attack and board the MCRN Donnager prior to the Eros
Incident but were lost when the vessel engaged its self-destruct sequence, and an eighth
vessel, the Anubis was used in attacks against the Freighter’s Canterbury and Scopuli.
The last vessel of the class was the Osiris, which had served as a standing escort around
Thoth Station, and was finally destroyed by the Rocinante after the OPA attacked the station.
Though the short career of the Amun-Ra Class Stealth Frigate has come to an end and the
Protogen Corporation lies in ruin, those who encountered the vessels during their service
received a harrowing glimpse into the future of space combat, witnessing first-hand the
most advanced stealth systems ever deployed and weapons technologies that will remain
experimental for years to come.
As newer and more deadly stealth vessels begin to enter service across the coming decades,
few will ever learn the true origins of these new technologies.