Sol Bianca

The Sol class frigate is a lost ship of a bygone human civilization age. Its construction and technology are marvels of engineering and scientific mystery. Ships of this class are generally named with the Sol- prefix naming scheme. The "Sol Bianca" (「ソル・ビアンカ」) is the only known ship of the class still in use. There are rumors of at least another similar lost ship.

History
The following is a reconstruction of information recovered from two lost files and numerous intelligence reports. There are 7 or 9 known lost files that were unrecoverable.

Frontier Era & Golden Age
The Sol class was designed and build during the Golden Age.

Great War
Near the end of the Golden Age, numerous Sol class ships, among others, had gathered for a final battle somewhere in the Galaxy. The Sol Bianca and her squadron of 12 ships took part in this battle. However, they were betrayed by their command ship and a virus was sent to disable them. The Sol Bianca's crew somehow managed to break the lock-down and escaped the onslaught. Fleeing the enemy the dying crew put Jun, the ship's bioroid, into stasis to save her life.

Dark Age
Since the end of the Great War the ship has been floating through space for centuries until it was found.

New Age
2395-03-08 Galaxy Era, Sol Bianca raided and looted an interstellar transport.

Battle of Tres
2395-03-11 Galaxy Era, Sol Bianca devastated the Tres Empire's fleet.

Auction Planet
(Sometime around Space Era 6xx?) The Sol Bianca crew looted part of the auction. An Earth Fleet ship witnessed the ship's firepower as it annihilated a lost terraforming base. The base was identified as one built on July 5 of Space Era 223 in the first shipyard of Planet Angora.

Planet Consuegra
Consuegra was a large gas planetoid with an abandoned pre-Great War colony. It underwent a nuclear transformation to a brown dwarf. Although, the circumstances are unknown, the cause of this catalyst is attributed to the Sol Bianca.

Planet Top Island
The Sol Bianca appeared to have been taken hostage by a terrorist, who aimed to assassinate the president. However, the crew seemed to have retaken control after a shootout.

Pirate satellite Garianzu
The Sol Bianca was entangled in a dispute among pirates.

Planet Earth
The Sol Bianca engaged the Terra Force's main fleet leaving behind a destroyed lost fleet-command ship and hundreds of destroyed ships.

Design elements & Technology
The overall design features an inverted T-shaped (全没型) hydrofoil like wings connecting to a secondary hull. The ring-wing section consist mostly of superconducting coils of unknown purpose. It also serves as (fuel) storage.

Hull
The hull appears to be made out of pure pasha. Pasha is an energy-amplifying metal. A 5% pasha alloy ring can increase power output by 30 times. Such a ring costs 18 trillion (~40 trillion/g). In natural form it can be found in minute quantities only. No more than a few hundred tonnes have ever been found. Yet, at 5% the estimated mass of pasha within the hull plating is 5000×(1.728)[2] tons.

The hull is stronger and tougher than those of most starships but it's no match against modern military weapons.

Artificial gravity
Like all modern ships, the ship is equipped with an artificial gravity system.

Inertial dampeners
Like all modern ships, the ship is equipped with an inertial dampening system.

Bridge
The bridge is a 3-deck high half-spherical room with a large wall-screen. There are up to 8-10 bubble capsule control cockpits arranged in two rows of 6 and 2-4 cockpits side by side. These are stored and accessible below decks in a 3-decks high half-spherical room. When manned the cockpits are moved to the bridge by a rail transport system.

The cockpits are typical for modern glass cockpits found on most military ships. The cockpit controls are a combination of HOTAS and input consoles. An equatorial transparent touch screen band provides ship system displays. A HUD is provided by a large helm-like head-cover, attached to the seat. The HUD lowers over the operator's head when manned.

The cockpit bubble opens up to allow operators to enter or to exit.

Due to extensive automation, only one or two operators are needed for mission management or supervision. Most of the time the ship operates without need of supervision. Although, it's flexible in adjusting to situations and applying predetermined policies, reaction and decisions the crew should be present in situations and issue commands as needed.

Shuttle bays
The ship has a large main shuttle bay on the lower section forward of the primary hull. The bay is large enough to hold numerous shuttles and fighters. Fighters are automatically mounted to a topside transport system for storage and launching.

A second dedicated shuttle bay is located on the bottom of the aft section of the primary hull. It's exclusively used for the dropship and can hold only one dropship.

Cargo bays
A large cargo bay is located directly aft of the main shuttle bay. There are forklifts and transport vehicles available to handle cargo.

Recreation
For recreation there's a large arboretum inside the ship. It features a waterfall and a little lake, surrounded by a mini beach, lawns and plenty of trees. Observation rooms are spread on the upper decks.

There's a large two-deck observation room.

Stasis room
The stasis room is inside a protected area with a large 3-deck high waiting room. It has ornament features implying a sacred place where the goddess sleeps. The stasis room has a crystalline bed. The advanced crystal technology serves to control and support the occupant's life. For a bioroid the crystalline structures may establish a physical link with the ship's computer network.

Alternatively, for extreme long-term use, there's at least a 3-deck spherical room with an enclosed stasis capsule. The capsule is a protected and has an independent, fully automated life support system.

Holography deck room
There is at least one holodeck. There are likely more holodecks available.

Crew quarters
The crew quarters are large, about 2 decks high, and are like an independent apartment. They are customizable and have large display windows that can project any landscape or the outside of the ship. Except for the bathroom there are usually no separated rooms. They are typically styled like the inside of a luxury hotel or palace.

A large reception lounge with a little waterfall and clock tower serves as entrance to the crew section and as guess reception area. A large living room is located further inside the crew section.

Computer system
The ship's computer system has an artificial intelligence (AI) called "G". It's located inside a (8-9)-story dome-like room with a holographic avatar in the form of a goddess. G usually remains silent but keeps a direct connection to Jun. Jun is the ship's bioroid who acts as an interface to access G.

Power generation
The ship has a "bioreactor" (『バイオリアクター』) of unknown bio-energy output. (The exact nature of this bio-energy is unknown. It may not have anything to do with biology but some sort of metaphysical relation.) It is unknown whether there are other power generation system or not. It's extreme unlikely to be the sole power generation.

Power is distributed throughout the ship by an electro-plasma system called "protoplast system" (『プロトプラストシステム』).

Engineering
Engineering is a large room with lofty cat walks crisscrossing on many levels.

Multi-molecular coating & Particle Manipulation Field
The hull of the ship can be charged or polarized for ion protection. To further enhance the strength and toughness of the hull it can be reinforced by the particle manipulation field system. The particle manipulation field system deposits a multi-molecular coating which can chip away while protecting the underlying hull. The charged hull coating also serves in a similar fashion as a heat knife easing penetration through solid objects. The effect is kept at a minimum, however, due to energy requirements as well as energy saving functions.

The particle manipulation field system can be used to regenerate the ship when it is damaged. Regeneration time can vary depending on the complexity of the damage, e.g. many holes verses complete loss.

Dimension Drive
The dimension drive allows the ship to jump instantly to warp without the need of a gate.

With the dimension drive the ship can dive into subspace and emerge precisely at a determined point in space.

Anti-gravity system
The ship features an anti-gravity system which can be used to fly within an atmosphere.

Thruster
The dual-purpose thruster engines of the ship have atmospheric intakes which allow them to be used in an atmosphere while saving fuel.

Shields
The ship has at least four shields with full recovery in 30 seconds. The shield pose not much resistance against modern shield splitters fired by battleships.

Weapons
Despite being smaller than a patrol ship its ultimate firepower is on the same scale as the most powerful ships.

Weapons storage
The ship has a large automated weapons storage system of assorted personal weapons. The weapons are stored in an automated (vertical) carousel (tower/drum) with linked capsules. Each capsule contains a weapon. A terminal provides access and selection of the wanted weapon.

Personal armor suits
The ship has an unknown number of powered (combat) suits and heavily armored battlesuit, similar to a Landmate, for the crew and troops.

Grappler
The ship features at least one grappler of unknown reach. It can create a force field bubble to enclose and protect people inside. An internal pipe, among others, can be used to supply or transfer air or gas or fluid. The grappler can be used to collect or suck gas or fluids.

Tractor beam
There is at least one tractor beam emitter about the front of the main shuttle bay. Most likely the ship has are more tractor beams; at least one pointing aft.

Defense Turrets
The ship has numerous defensive turrets that are retracted into the hull. Two are known to be in front of the main shuttle bay. The turret's size is unknown but appear to have a size no more than 8 to 10 m in diameter. The actual size might be as small as half that. Each turret features a cluster of three cannons of unknown type. Based on the arrangement it's likely each cannon can be individually targeted. The turret's purpose is obviously for engaging small to medium ships as well as antipersonnel defense. Based on appearance the cannons are some type of energy based weapons, possibly phasers.

Plasma laser beam cannon
The ship has at least 2x7 plasma laser beam projector cannons in the secondary hull. There are 4 cannons on the underside of the forward section of the primary hull. It's a precision weapon of unknown range and power. The beam is fast like most energy weapon but exhibit whip-like movements which may be the result of containment field manipulations or interactions. The beam is usually used to cut through matter. On low power a laser beam is used. At higher power the laser guides plasma which can act as electro-plasma to transfer (destructive) energy directly from the ship's power system. Using the beam it may be possible to leech energy from a star.

Photon torpedoes
The ship has six forward torpedo launchers which can fire photon torpedoes and other anti-ship ordnance. The torpedo size appears to be as large as up to 28 m. The number of loads is unknown. Judging from their unsavory use it's likely no small amount.

Energy projector cannon
The ship has an unknown energy projector cannon. The cannon appears to use bio-energy on a scale that is comparable to the output of a whole planet. In order to use this cannon the ship transforms and deploys it's wings. This is probably due to the required control mechanism and high energy output. At the same time the ship can project an impressively large hologram showing a goddess arming and aiming her bow. The charging time appears to be 10 seconds long.

As there are two energy globes visibly projected, it's possible the ship is able to release two shots at the same time or one large shot

The total energy released has the destructive power of a planet destroyer. It has been observed that the cannon can be used as a defense against multiple ships at once. In this case the energy can be released in numerous smaller beam shots at once with precision.

It has been speculated that the cannon is some sort of gluon cannon as it can disrupt and overpower a quantum cascade cannon of a planet destroyer.

Dropship
The ship appears to have a single dropship. The dropship is deployed from a dedicated hangar. Its transport capacity is estimated to be at least 28 passengers/fully equipped troops and 2 pilots. It may be able to transport a large object between its secondary hull pylons.

Dimensions:


 * L: 48.3 m
 * H: ~20 m
 * W: 27.37 m

Shuttle
The ship likely has two shuttles.

Dimensions:


 * L: m
 * H: m
 * W: m

Fighter
The ship has at least one or more (snub-fighter sized) fighters. Despite their appearance these are advanced fighters capable of matching the best fighters available. The fighter has a bubble cockpit. It's a typically modern glass cockpit with HOTAS controls.

Dimensions:


 * L: 24.2 m
 * H: 5.4 m
 * W: 12.5 m

Known Crew

 * Captain Feb Fall
 * XO April Bikirk
 * Janny Mann
 * June Ashel
 * May Jessica

Etymology/Apocrypha
The ship class is, perhaps, named after the ship of the sun found in the ancient Egyptian "The Great Pyramid" of Cheops, built by Khufu. Alternatively, it can also be called "the ship of the heavens" as all ancient gods used to sail on a ship. It could be a distant reference to the Japanese god Sukuna-Biko-Na who rides on a heavenly Kagami boat. It could also refer to Amaterasu, the Japanese sun god. In any case, it's a ship that sails forever the heavens. It is eternal as the stars and is manned by gods. As ships are usually considered female the gods for ships are usually represented as goddesses.

Pasha is Turkish derived from Persian and generally means something of higher order or rank or first grade,

The goddess with the bow could refer to Artemis from ancient Greek myth. Artemis is also known as Diana.

The hydrofoil like wings forming a ring with "spikes", perhaps far fetch, may have some relation to the Egyptian myth of "ship with celestial horns", "new Moon", etc.

Games
The ship, among others, appears in a PCEngine and Turbo CD game on June 29, 1990.

Trivia

 * Coincidentally or not, the popularity of the name Bianca reached its zenith in the years Sol Bianca was announced and came out.
 * The Sol Bianca uses some Star Trek techno bubbles and vice versa.
 * The particle synthesis system from Star Trek Voyager: "Hope and Fear" and the ablative armor generator in Star Trek Voyager: "Endgame" most likely have been inspired by the particle manipulation field system.
 * The bio-energy weapon may have inspired the species 8472 bioship weapons in Star Trek Voyager.
 * The through wall penetrating technique appears to be a variation from the Captain Future anime.
 * The sniper rifle's stock design may have inspired Star Trek VOY/DS9 phaser rifles.
 * The Sol Bianca structural features likely have inspired the Babylon 5 White Star. Their names are literally the same.
 * The planet destroyer likely inspired the Eve Online Avatar class Titan, the escape ship in Gall Force 1 Eternal Story. The idea of focusing of multiple beams comes from nuclear research and dates back as far as Mary Curie and others of the time depending on viewpoint.
 * The bump and visual hull features (active and inactive) of the particle manipulation field system inspired numerous Star Trek ships: USS Relativity, Gegen's ship, Voth city ship, Devore warship, cytoplasmic ship etc. which in turn inspired others.
 * The engine, among other old japanese shows, are inspired striking similar to the engines in "Lost in space".

Andromeda Ascendant's engineering looks striking similar to the Sol Bianca's.
 * There are similarities to the Lost Universe anime even though both are of a different universe.
 * The goddess statue/avatar theme also can be found in the Megami Kohosei, and Claymore animes and the Mabinogi game.
 * The Sol Bianca design features inspired many ship designs in the Tenchi Muyo universe and Onegai teacher.
 * The Earth Force Dolphin used holographic projection to disguise its appearance in Legacy episode 4 similar to Star Trek Voyager: "Basics" Part 1
 * Carbon-frozen woman a la Star Wars Episode 5