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Ships


MC-80 Star Cruiser

Craft: Mon Calamari MC-80 Star Cruiser
Type: Converted Star Cruiser
Length: 1,800 Meters
Weapons:
48 Turbo Lasers
20 Ion Cannon
6 Tractor Beam Projectors
Crew: 5,156, Gunners 246
Top Speed: 60 MGLT
Troop Capacity: 1.200
Cargo Capacity:
200,000 Metric Tons or
20,000 Metric Tons (Home One)
Starfighters: 120 Fighters
36 Bombers
6 Shuttles
Passengers: 1.200

The Rebel Alliance's premier battlecruiser and flagship, the MC-80 was designed as a galactic commerce and luxury liner by the peaceful, but highly intelligent, Mon Calamari. There are three examples of the MC-80 in existence, the largest of the sixteen or so Calamari cruisers. They are Home One, Independence, and Defiance.

The Mon Calamari Star Cruisers are the main cruisers in the New Republic's battle fleet. They are durable ships that are as fast and almost as tough as the larger Imperial Star Destroyers. It must be noted that even Imperial Navy commanders have reluctantly admitted that the Mon Cals are superior space combatants.

The Mon Cal cruisers were originally civilian ships designed for pleasure cruises and colonization efforts. However, when an Imperial ship found the Mon Calamari homeworld, the Empire's invasion forces were dispatched immediately. After forcing the Empire from Mon Calamari, the Mon Cals converted their ships to military duty by adding thick hull plating and numerous weapon emplacements. The Mon Cals became totally committed to the Alliance's cause and built huge shipyards in orbit around Calamari.

Each Mon Cal cruiser is unique in design; to the Mon Cals, their ships are as much works of art as weapons of war. While this individualized design bewilders most technicians, the Mon Cals fin it a logical approach. Mon Cal ships are notoriously difficult to repair, but they are so durable that they are seldom damaged in combat. Notable Mon Cal ships include the round, blimp shaped Headquarters Frigate (also known as Home One) and the winged Medial Frigates.

Home One served as Admiral Ackbar's command vessel for the attack on the second Death Star and went on to excel in a number of other pivotal battles against Imperial forces. An exceptionally well armed vessel, it carries an incredible ten squadrons of starfighters, for a total of 120 fighters. Its weaponry includes twenty-nine turbolasers, thirty-six ion cannons, and multiple tractor-beam projectors and shield generators. Mon Cal ships have unusually powerful shields; extra shield redundancies allow the Mon Cals to quickly replace the damaged shield array while in combat, and this made it much more difficult for Imperial guns to wear down a Star Cruiser's defenses.

Even standard Mon Cal MC80 cruisers maintain three squadrons of starfighters (thirty six fighters), forty eight turbolasers, twenty ion cannons, and six tractor-beam projectors. A number of more powerful cruisers, including the MC80a, MC80b, and MC90, are being built.

While beings of all species served aboard Mon Cal cruisers, the command sections are geared specifically toward the Mon Cals unique aquatic anatomy. Controls are affected not only through computer keyboards, but by making specific movements in the command chairs- while natural to the Mon Cals, these movements are often difficult for other species to perform. Bridge display monitors are geared to the Mon Cals' vision spectrum; to humans, theses holodisplays seem warped and distorted.

In the early years of the New Republic, the type remained in front-line service as command ships, with Ackbar using the Independence as his flagship at the Battle of Brentaal IV, and the Home One leading the fleet at the First Battle of Coruscant, Battle of Bilbringi, and the Second Battle of Ciutric IV. 

However, this did not end the careers of the older vessels. The Home One served as a squadron command ship and remained in commission as the Supreme Commander's personal flagship until 23 after the Battle of Yavin, while the Independence was still on active duty in the early years of the Yuuzhan Vong War, commanding a patrol force based near Mon Calamari.

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