Editing Andromeda Ascendant

See also: [[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]], [[Andromeda Ascendant (Song)]]

Dylan Hunt: ''"Rommie, do you believe in fate?"''<br>Andromeda: ''"The idea that the universe is a vast preprogrammed machine does have its appeal."'' 

{{Infobox ship
| aka         =Andromeda
| image       =Andromeda_Ascendant.jpg
| class       =[[Glorious Heritage Class]]
| Ship's name = Andromeda Ascendant
| registry    =Serial No. XMC-10-284
| length      =1301m
| beam        =976m
| draft       =325m
| deck        =50 Inhabitable Decks<br>13 Uninhabitable Decks
| laid        =CY 9768
| commissioned =12th day of Kalends, CY 9772
| decomm      =
| launch      =C.Y. 9772
| motto       =
| active      =320 Years
| status      =Active
| yard        =[[Newport News Orbital Shipyards]], [[Earth]]
| mass        =96,408,876 kg
| handling    =Manual Control<br>[[Artificial Intelligence]] control<br>[[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]]<br>Autopilot<br>
| manufacturer  =Systems Commonwealth<br>Newport News Orbital Shipyards (Located above [[Earth]])
| modifier      =Various upgrades by [[Systems Commonwealth]] allied shipyards at intervals of several years to perform major structural repairs and reinforcements, and update small hardware and software
| fighter     =16 [[ES-115 Oracle]] drones<br>8 [[ES-14 Janus]] drones<br>36 [[RF-42 Centaur Tactical Fighter]]<br>76 [[RA-26 Shrike]]<br>12 [[AF/A-29 Phoenix]]
| mech        =4,000 [[General Utility Android]] Units<br>2 [[Planetfall Defense Bot]]<br>[[Multi-purpose Shipboard Robot]]s<br>[[Self-guided Recording Unit]]
| crew        =4,500 living crew (Pre-fall)<br>400 living crew (Post-fall)
| skeleton    =6 living<br>Hundreds of [[Android]]s
| passenger   =2,300 with full living crew
| co          =[[Fatima Novarro]] (original)<br>[[Perim]] (former)<br>[[Dylan Hunt]] (CY 9781 to present
| xo          =[[Beka Valentine]] (Current)<br>[[Gaheris Rhade]]
| 2nd         =
| med         =[[Tristan Selvig]] (Former)<br>[[Trance Gemini]] (Current)
| 2nd med     =
| eng         =[[Seamus Harper]]
| opps        =[[Yukio Cooper]]
| sci         =Seamus Harper<br>[[Rev Bem]]
| com         =Rev Bem
| helm        =[[Beka Valentine]]<br>[[Refractions of Dawn]] (pre-long night)
| sec         =[[Iskander Hassan]] (Former)<br>[[Tyr Anasazi]] (Recent)<br>[[Telemachus Rhade]](Current)
| slip        =[[Kim Jong San]] (Former CO of Fighter Operations)<br>[[Maisus nax Sinque]] (Former CO of Centaur Tactical Fighter Wing)<br>[[Thabo Xhosa]] (Former CO of Shrike and Phoenix Strike Fighter Wing)<br>[[Beka Valentine]] (Current CO of Fighter Operations)
| avatar      =[[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]]<br>[[Rommie]]<br>[[Doyle]]
| maincomp    =[[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]]
| nav         =[[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]]
| avionics    =
| sensor      =[[PAS-37Q System Search Sensor (Phased Array)]]<br>[[HSS-114D Hyper-Spectral Scanner]] (EO)<br>[[AIS-117M Advanced Imaging Sensor]] (Synthetic Aperture/[[Moving Target Indicator]])<br>[[AIS-117I Advanced Imaging Sensor]] (Inverse Synthetic Aperture)<br>[[ES/A-9R Electronic Support and Attack Measure Suite]]
| target      =
| modsyst     =
| other       =
| power       =[[Antiproton]] Fusion Generator
| output      =
| sub-light   =[[Navigational Thrusters]]
| ftl         =[[Gravity Field Generator]] Mark VIII [[Slipstream]] Engines
| maxspeed     =At least 40 [[PSL]] without killing the inhabitants using her [[MagnetoplasmaDynamic Drive]]s
| maxaccel     =Unknown<br>Slipstream is temperamental, allowing travel between galaxies in weeks or hours depending on the skill level of the pilot
| torpedo      =
| missile      =60 [[Electromagnetic Launch System]] missile tubes<br>PM-6 Star Arrow smart anti-ship missiles<br>PM-6L Strategic Star Arrow smart anti-ship missiles (extended range variant)<br>PM-6LII Strategic Star Arrow [[multiple independent kill vehicle]] (MIKV) variant<br>SAPM-6III Strike Arrow surface attack variant
| kinetic      =OM-5 standard [[Offensive kinetic kill missile]]<br>DM-5 standard [[Defensive kinetic kill missile]]
| particle     =12 [[Point Defense Laser]] 50Mw turrets<br>12 [[Antiproton Cannon]]
| heavy        =[[Nova bomb]]<br>[[Negative Energy bomb]]
| upgrade      =
| hull         =Reactive Armour<br>Polymer Sheath
| counter      =Combat [[Drone]]<br>6 Radiating Counter Measure generators
| shield basic    =High Tension Armor<br>[[Ablative Armor]]<br>[[Reactive Armor]]
| shield special  =[[Battle Blade]]
| era             =Systems Commonwealth<br>Fall of the Commonwealth<br>New Systems Commonwealth
| gov         =[[Systems Commonwealth]]
| navy        =[[High Guard]]
| role        =Heavy Cruiser}}

==Overview==
The Andromeda Ascendant (Registry Designation: Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge [[Artificial Intelligence]] model GRA 112, serial number XMC-10-284) was a warship both the [[Systems Commonwealth]] and the New Systems Commonwealth, and one of the last surviving [[Glorious Heritage Class]] ships after the [[First Systems Commonwealth Civil War]] and the [[Timeline|Long Night]] of the Commonwealth. Regarded as one of the most powerful ships in the known galaxies, she is one of the most recognizable ships, achieving a near mythic status. ("[[A Heart for Falsehood Framed]]")

==History==
The Andromeda Ascendant is the tenth [[Glorious Heritage Class]] heavy cruiser, built in the days of the old [[Systems Commonwealth]]. She began her life and career in the Newport News Orbital Shipyards above [[Earth]], where her keel was laid in CY 9768. Construction proceeded for a period of 4 years, through to the delivery and installation of the Headwaters of Invention Mark VIII [[Slipstream]] drive in CY 9772, which was the last piece of physical equipment installed. After her construction was completed, she was sent on her shakedown cruise to [[Tarn-Vedra]], where a custom designed and created [[Andromeda Ascendant Artificial Intelligence]] was installed in a "Sentience ceremony". Her Artificial Intelligence was designed, created, and programmed by the [[Systems Commonwealth|Commonwealth]]-operated [[Shining Path to Truth and Knowledge Institute]] on [[Sparborth IV]]. In C.Y. 9772, on the 12th day of Kalends, [[Vedran Empress]] [[Sucharitkul XII]], [[High Guard]] [[Constanza Stark|Admiral Constanza Q. Stark]] and dozens of other dignitaries were on hand as the Artificial Intelligence was formally commissioned into the [[High Guard]], and the first command of the vessel was given to [[Fatima Novarro]].

Several weeks after her commissioning, the Andromeda experienced her first combat action, when she served as the head of a task force created to repel the [[Magog]]. The task force, named "[[Task Force Bucephalos]]", was ordered to protect the [[Luwian Cluster]] from an impending attack by a very large [[Magog]] swarm. The Andromeda herself played an instrumental role in leading the attack, which was an extremely savage battle, as it included [[Fatima Novarro]] and the crew actually having to fight in close quarters combat against a Magog horde which breached the hull, and brought the fighting to inside her corridors. Her fearsome and extremely vital role was at the time, and still is, viewed by many politicians and tacticians as playing a large role in finally bringing the [[Magog]] to the bargaining table.

===Magog Mission===
Under the command of the [[Perseid]] [[Perim]], the Andromeda was sent on a top secret mission to ascertain the source of the [[Magog]] invasions that began to plague the Commonwealth. The Andromeda, in the course of that mission, made it to the Magog home galaxy, M82, following the route of a Commonwealth slipscout. She and her crew found that the entire galaxy had been stripped bare and destroyed, with nothing left but a gigantic cloud of gas and other debris. In the wreckage of the galaxy, Andromeda and her crew soon discovered the Magog [[World Ship]]. The Magog eventually overwhelmed the crew, then slaughtered their way through the ship and ate survivors. Immediately after this happened, the extremely damaged Andromeda barely made it to [[Slipstream]]. However, because [[Artificial Intelligence]]s cannot navigate slipstream on their own, Andromeda wandered in the tangled Slipstream threads for several months until she managed to find an exit point. Insane after months of wandering crewless through Slipstream, she finally emerged on the edges of the Triangulum galaxy. In her deranged state, she almost attacked the first ship that she detected, a Than ship. [[Systems Commonwealth]] ships arrived and towed her to the nearest outpost, and began to repair her and reconstruct what happened from the ship's logs. When the Commonwealth realized the full extent of the damage to her core Artificial Intelligence, they wiped her memory of the mission, for security purposes and to keep her from going insane again. However, a backup personality file was left in the computer system.

===New Command===
After her mission to M82 and her encounter with the [[Magog]], Andromeda spent several months in drydock being repaired, and having new crew members assigned aboard her, to replace the crewmen lost on her first mission. During this time, [[Dylan Hunt]] was tapped as a potential captain, and after a mission to eliminate the [[Ferrin|dictator]] of the planet [[Mobius]], where Dylan was paired with future first officer and friend [[Gaheris Rhade]], Dylan was informed by fleet admiral [[Constanza Stark]] that he had been promoted and assigned to the Andromeda Ascendant. He assumed command, and captained the ship for several uneventful months.

==Series==

===Season 1===
Andromeda was assigned the duties assigned to any other capital ship at the time: diplomatic and humanitarian duties. She carried out these duties, and between missions she received distress calls from the Hephaistos System about a rogue black hole that threatened the entire system. She responded to the distress call, and arrived in the system expecting to transport and provide assistance to the largely [[Nietzschean]] refugees, and to help in organizing an evacuation of the system. However, the black hole was merely a natural phenomenon that the [[Nietzschean]]s used to trigger a surprise attack against their government, the [[Systems Commonwealth]]. The Andromeda, although powerful, was not able to defeat the initial Nietzschean forces. To try and escape the [[Battle of Hephaistos|attack]] to warn the rest of the Commonwealth, Dylan made the decision to order his crew to abandon ship while he and his Than pilot, [[Refractions of Dawn]], used the nearby black hole to slingshot at extreme velocities in order to escape the Nietzchean forces, and to reach the nearest slip point. Unfortunately, during the maneuver he was betrayed by his first officer, best friend and best man, [[Gaheris Rhade]], who killed [[Refractions of Dawn]] and tried to kill Dylan. In self-defense, Dylan killed Gaheris just as Andromeda veered too close to the black hole to make the jump. She became trapped in its event horizon, and the ship became trapped in its time dilation field, as three hundred years passed in less than 3 seconds for the Andromeda and Dylan. 300 years later, she was discovered and claimed as a salvage find by the [[Eureka Maru]] and her crew. Dylan discovered that the [[Systems Commonwealth]] had actually fallen, and that the Nietzcheans had also fallen as well. Dylan then managed to convince the crew of the Maru to try and help him restore the Commonwealth.

Throughout the first season, Andromeda's main task is to try and find out what happened during the [[Timeline|Long Night]], and to make new allies so that the founding of a new Commonwealth would happen. However, not much progress was made, with only 6 major planets and peoples signing the new Commonwealth Charter. Andromeda also first encounters the minions of the [[Spirit of the Abyss]], and eventually the Abyss itself in the final episode of the season.

In the season finale, after the dormant personality from her original mission was accidentally reactivated, the Andromeda encounters the Magog [[World Ship]], a huge megastructure consisting of twenty connected planets and an [[Artificial star]]. The World ship contains trillions of hungry, vicious [[Magog]]. It is also equipped with an extremely powerful weapon: a [[Point Singularity Projector]], which creates miniature black holes and fires them. In the ensuing battle, the Andromeda is heavily damaged, [[Tyr Anasazi]] and [[Seamus Harper]] are kidnapped and taken to the world ship, and the rest of the crew are badly injured.

===Season 2===
[[Season 2]] begins with the crew of Andromeda in a hopeless situation. An injured [[Dylan Hunt|Dylan]] is treated by [[Trance Gemini|Trance]], and then goes to the [[Magog]] World ship with [[Rommie]] in order to recover [[Tyr Anasazi|Tyr]], [[Seamus Harper|Harper]] and [[Rev Bem]] from certain death. [[Tyr Anasazi|Tyr]] and [[Seamus Harper|Harper]] are implanted with [[Magog]] larvae, and [[Rev Bem|Rev's]] loyalty is tested when he sees his species' god, the [[Spirit of the Abyss]]. Although [[Tyr Anasazi|Tyr]] and [[Seamus Harper|Harper]] are recovered from the world ship, Andromeda is badly damaged, there is no known way to extract the [[Magog]] larvae from Harper. A powerful drug will prevent them from hatching for a time, but it only delays the inevitable.

The season shows the crew reacting to the sudden need of a powerful government in order to organize species to defeat the [[Magog]], and the New [[Systems Commonwealth]] that can fill that need. Many worlds became very willing to sign the New [[Systems Commonwealth]] charter after learning of the Worldship, and [[Dylan Hunt|Dylan]] becomes a more ruthless person as well because of the oncoming threat. However, by the end of the season the Commonwealth gains a new powerful fleet of combat ready vessels, and fifty charter worlds, which is enough to restart the Commonwealth.

Andromeda's [[Nietzschean]] crewman [[Tyr Anasazi]] is revealed to have a son named [[Tamerlane Anasazi]], who is a genetic reincarnation of [[Drago Museveni]]. Drago was the Founder and Progenitor of the entire [[Nietzschean]] Race, and is of great importance to them. Since all the [[Nietzschean Pride]]s believe that Drago Musevini's genetic reincarnation will a great leader and prophet, with all of his ideas and genius, suddenly [[Tyr Anasazi]] has a unique opportunity to unite all the [[Nietzschean Pride]]s. He does not immediately take advantage of his opening, biding his time.

In the season finale, the [[Systems Commonwealth]] is finally reinstated. A ceremony is held on board the Andromeda, but is interrupted by the attack of the [[Pocket Universe species]].

===Season 3===
The [[Systems Commonwealth]] has reunited, but there is unfortunately not much progress in the fight against the [[Magog]] and [[Spirit of the Abyss]]. Many episodes this season are standalones.

Several episodes of season three explore [[Trance Gemini|Trance]] and her role. One episode ([[The Dark Backward]]) is filmed completely from Trance's viewpoint, showing that she "lives" through all alternate futures before choosing the right one.

[[Nietzschean]] crewman [[Tyr Anasazi]] makes his move at the end of the season. He implants his son [[Tamerlane Anasazi|Tamerlane Anasazi's]] DNA into his own body, and reunites all of the [[Nietzschean Pride]]s. They cede from the New Systems Commonwealth. The Season ends with [[Tyr Anasazi|Tyr]] betraying the Commonwealth.

===Season 4===
In season four, Dylan is nearly arrested by the New Systems Commonwealth. The [[All Systems University|Collectors]] who were originally the keepers of historical information allied with the [[Spirit of the Abyss]], manipulated the fragile government of the New Commonwealth in order to show [[Dylan Hunt]] in a bad light. The Abyss infiltrates the Commonwealth using many other agents as well.

Eventually the Collectors unite with Tyr and his newly united Nietzschean Prides. Tyr mistrusts the Spirit of the Abyss, but hopes to defeat it by working with it and discovering it's weaknesses. He tries to find a map to the [[Route of Ages]], a portal connecting all the universes together. The Abyss is weakened by passing through it, but Dylan gets the map instead and allows Tyr to follow Andromeda through the Route of Ages because Tyr knows more about the Abyss. He kills Tyr, because he tries to make a deal with the [[Spirit of the Abyss]].

Since the Route of Ages closes before the Andromeda can get back, Dylan has to use Trance's help. She reveals to him that she is the [[Avatar]] of a sun. Trance destroys the Andromeda and re-creates it in the right universe.

The [[Magog]] evolve and become more intelligent, and cunning. In the season finale their Worldship is rediscovered. It is heading towards the [[Arkology]], an old space station with a very pacifist population. Dylan frantically tries to convince them that they have to defend themselves, but the people of the Arkology hope to create a peace treaty with the Magog.

They pay dearly for that mistake, as the Magog never make peace with anyone. Andromeda tries to [[Battle of Arkology|defend the Arkology]] against the Worldship, but is horribly outnumbered. The Arkology is destroyed along with its millions of inhabitants, and Rhade, Beka, and Harper are left in dead end situations. Rommie explodes after being shot through her stomach while saving Harper from the Magog.

===Season 5===
After the [[Battle of Arkology]], Andromeda and her crew were stranded in the [[Seefra System]]. Andromeda was nearly drained of power and her Artificial Intelligence became erratic. But thanks to several power crystals, notably a cube that could turn matter to water, found on Seefra, Andromeda was restored to full power.

==Technical Specifications==

===Propulsion===
The Andromeda Ascendant, like every other ship in the galaxies, runs on Hydrogen and [[Antiproton]]s. A matter-antimatter reaction is created when these two substances are combined in controlled reactors. This reaction creates the power that runs the ship. An [[Antiproton Solenoid Valve]] is critical in regulating the flow of Anti-Protons to the fusion reactors.

The power created by the matter-antimatter reaction is used mainly for two purposes. The first is to keep the Gravity Field Generator running. Because the [[Gravity Field Generator]] reduces the effective mass of the Andromeda to just less than one kilogram, it is a critical part of the ship's mobility system.

The second main power draw on the Andromeda is the process of accelerating more hydrogen into a [[MagnetoplasmaDynamic Drive]]. The MPD uses the accelerated hydrogen to create charged hydrogen plasma. This plasma is then accelerated to near-light-speed and ejected into space. This ejection creates thrust for the ship with maximum efficiency. The fuel efficiency of the MPD is in direct proportion to the velocity at which the plasma is ejected.

Generally, most ships buy the Hydrogen and Anti-Protons they need to operate their GFGs and MPDs from drifts that produce it. All warships (including the Andromeda) have a [[Ramscoop]] that can be used to gather Hydrogen from the upper atmosphere of any gas giant planet. Aboard the ship, the Hydrogen is then purified and used to create Anti-Protons with the assistance of solar power from a nearby sun. Though on-board fuel processing is convenient, it takes a long time. Starting with full tanks, in battlefield conditions the Andromeda can operate for about 60 days without refueling. Decreased activity will prolong the period in which the Andromeda can operate without refueling, and increased activity will reduce it. If time is taken to process fuel aboard the ship, the Andromeda's operating time is unlimited.

The Andromeda has a max acceleration of approximately 500,000 m/s using her [[MagnetoplasmaDynamic Drive|MPDs]], which means she can reach her top speed in 239.83 seconds (4 minutes), and reverse direction and reach top speed again in 479.67 seconds, or 7.99 minutes, which is extremely impressive.

The official designation of her engines are ''"Mark VIII Slipstream Engines."''

===Navigational Thrusters===
The Andromedas [[Navigational Thrusters]] are her main sources of sublight propulsion. They are fueled by her [[MagnetoplasmaDynamic Drive]] system, and are be used in a variety of situations. They can be used to maneuver her with extreme accuracy so that she can dock securely with [[Drift]]s and other space stations, as well as move her swiftly through combat zones. However, they are also utilized to propel her at speeds so fast that she almost is traveling past the speed of light. They are located on the sides of her main [[Slipstream]] runners.

===Weapons===
The Andromeda is, as every ship of her class, designed to be an extremely powerful ship with a multitude of weapon systems, offensive and defensive. She is a heavy cruiser and flagship of the [[Systems Commonwealth]], and is supposed to be the representation of the power held by the Commonwealth.

Andromeda's standard missiles have a 40 megaton yield, and reach speeds of 90+ [[PSL]]. They also have a 1 kg mass, which is approximately the size of a human fist.

She can fire 8 mps (missiles per second) from each of her 40 [[Electromagnetic Launch System]] missile tubes, giving her a total rate of fire of 19200 missiles per minute. With this kind of firepower, she is able to depopulate a planet in under 2 minutes.

====Defense====
Andromeda has layered defenses, which are designed to be extremely effective at protecting the ship herself from any attack. Her outer layer consists of 16 ES-115 Oracle heavy sensor/attack drones and 8 ES-14 Janus light sensor/attack drones, which are constantly on patrol and are capable of sacrificing themselves by taking a missile hit instead of Andromeda. The next layer is followed by a second wave of 76 (not all active all the time, and almost exclusively during combat) [[Type 2 Arc Light Slipfighter]].

Next come the 12 50 mW [[Point Defense Laser]]s (which have a maximum effective range of 75 [[Light Second]]), and after that her 6 Radiating Counter Measure Generators. The RCMGs fulfill the dual purpose of projecting passive and full-spectrum active sensor jamming, as well as projecting multiple Anti-Gravity fields to deflect incoming projectiles off their course if they come too close. All these are mounted on the hull, and are the last but powerful line of defense.

If any missile or projectile makes it through all the layers of the defense network, it impacts Andromeda's fullerene mesh hull. The form of the Andromeda is designed to have large, gaping areas between structures such as the [[Slipstream Runner]]s and the main hull, as the spread out form is designed to allow the missile to actually pass through the hull which seems to be counterintuitive, until one realizes that a missile or particle weapon will do less damage if it is allowed to pass through the hull than if the Andromeda had tons of armor. This is because armor doesn't help in the event of a massive impact, and actually makes things worse. Armor plating that is dozens of meters thick will not absorb the kinetic energy from a 1 mT missile impacting at over 90 [[PSL]] or lessen it's effects to all but a slight degree. Armor could make things worse by providing more material to vaporize into plasma and more of a path for the shockwave to flow along (i.e., straight into the hull and delicate interior spaces). [[Battle Blade]]s help improve the AG deflection for objects (like missiles) coming in from directions other than straight ahead. But their primary usage; and what they are designed to do, is to reduce the damage done by a missile. When a missile hits a battle blade it vaporizes, as does the local area of the battle blade that was hit. However, a Battle blade can be easily repaired and it is well worth the damage to the external structures than damage to an internal area. The plasma created by a direct hit and the vaporization of material can be deflected by the generated AG field so that it either misses the hull, or strikes a glancing blow off of the sides (missing critical system spaces such as the engine room, or [[Antiproton]] storage tanks and hitting less critical systems such as crew quarters which are empty at the time of battle because everyone is at general quarters). Unfortunately, the speed of the plasma and the short distance make deflection very difficult, and if the momentum of the missile was carrying it directly towards the center of the ship, then the missile will hit the central hull and do more damage than just a glancing blow because there is less chance or ability to deflect the momentum away at an angle.

When a missile hits at 90 [[PSL]], the standard speed for a kinetic weapon, it imparts huge amounts of kinetic energy onto the ship and causes lots of damage (nuclear bomb size blasts). The missile and everything in its path (including air) instantly vaporize into a plasma shooting though the ship like a blowtorch at near light speeds. So the ship's design doesn't fight this energy and instead lets almost all of the energy flow with the plasma out the other side of the ship into open space. Allowing most of the plasma and energy to pass through the ship minimizes the potential damage. Other systems and structures will be affected because concussion waves are going to radiate outward at the speed of sound (and sound travels extremely fast though a solid structure) from the point of impact. The single entry point is expanding in a narrow cone though the ship doing significant damage. Heretofore designers make the ships spread out (rather than in one tight ball) so that fewer systems are destroyed. Also, all ship systems must be redundant so that any single hole though the ship is survivable. To minimize the hydrostatic shock (i.e. the shockwave) the ship areas (docking bays, magazines, crew spaces, reactors, thrusters, other engineering areas, etc.) shouldn't have any air in them. This greatly reduces the effect of damage in combat by venting all areas, where there is no crew, to vacuum. Androids and nanites can be used anywhere, and occupied areas (like command) are still pressurized for the organic crew. Because of this very little of the missile's energy through momentum is transferred to the ship’s hull: preventing catastrophic damage. Instead it passes cleanly through the hull, leaving only a hole and some damage to the surrounding areas. Andromeda's nanite and android repair crew usually immediately begin repairing the hull: even in the middle of a battle.

The entire defensive web is coordinated by the ships central Artificial Intelligence to maximize its effectiveness, as an organic brain is never able to assimilate and process so many events in several milliseconds.

====Offense====
Andromeda has thousands of offensive strategies to deal with any tactical situation from attacks that vary from Slipfighters to [[Nietzschean]] capital ships. The strategies for the smaller ships and smaller numbers of enemies are usually extremely simple and usually involve precise amounts of great concentrated force, while the strategies for the more powerful enemies are proportionally complicated.

The Andromeda’s offensive strategies, just like her defensive strategies, are tiered. Her offensive systems are designed to operate around a staggered system of extremely powerful and diverse systems that are optimized for the single purpose of destroying whatever the target is under any condition, whether the target is on a planet, an asteroid, a [[Nietzschean]] fleet, or the Magog World ship.

Her weapons have variable yield that can be adjusted by either adjusting the size of the kinetic warhead, as more mass in a warhead is proportional to the amount of energy released when it hits a target, or by using missiles that have reduced payloads. She uses slipfighters, OM-5 kinetic missiles, Star Arrow missiles, PM-6L Strategic Star Arrow smart anti-ship missiles, and PM-6LII Strategic Star Arrow MIKV variants (multiple independent kill vehicle) to reach targets within her furthest targeting distance, as the kinetic missiles have an extremely long range due to the speeds at which they travel (~90 PSL), and the actual missile that is fired is just another part of the delivery system; the missile actually breaks up into several dozen smaller missiles, each with a smart independent program that targets any enemy ship around them. MIKV's also have an extended range, with the weapons themselves being able to coast after they reach their maximum speed. Those missiles are used to try and cause damage to ships approaching the Andromeda so that by the time the ship or ships get into range of her more powerful weapons they are sufficiently weakened. As the Andromeda moves into a closer weapons range, or as ships move into range, she has a much broader array of weapons that she uses. She uses, drones, slipfighters, SAPM-6III Strike Arrows, [[Offensive kinetic kill missile|OM-5 standard missiles]], and 12 [[Point Defense Laser]] 50MW turrets to destroy anything that gets into a closer range, with the particle weapons like [[Point Defense Laser]]'s and [[Antiproton Cannon]]s as point defense weapons.

The Andromeda is usually the command vessel in a [[Heavy Cruiser Battle Group]]. She would be stationed in the center of a rough sphere-like formation of additional friendly vessels, surrounded by concentric spheres of [[Deep Stand-off Attack Ship]]s, [[Pride of Kaldera Class]] frigates, and [[Eternal Vigilance Class]] surveillance ships. Andromeda serves as the general command and control platform, and although she is the command vessel of the overall group, because of communications lag over 3-4 [[Light Second]]s, individual asset commanders are allowed to operate independently.

===Sensors===
The Andromeda has several extremely powerful passive and active defensive systems, and a dedicated sensor suite on her bridge. Because she is a heavy cruiser, she needs very good sensors to tag and target enemy vessels, and to discriminate friendly vessels during a fight. She also requires very precise targets and proportionally accurate sensors, because her rate of fire is several tens of thousands of missiles a minute and in order to avoid any collateral damage Andromeda’s Artificial Intelligence needs a huge amount of data to properly acquire and fire upon enemy ships.

She uses a [[PAS-37Q System Search Sensor (Phased Array)]] when there is no point to be stealthy, and she uses that system to gain an extremely data-rich image of the surrounding area for her [[Artificial Intelligence]] to extrapolate firing solutions from and to also create strategies involving the newly seen image of the battlefield. During a firefight, or a large battle where a very fast, continual data sweep needs to be sustained, she uses her [[AIS-117M Advanced Imaging Sensor]], and in a close-up situation she uses her [[ES/A-9R Electronic Support and Attack Measure Suite|Electronic Support and Attack Measure Suite]] to jam enemy sensors and enemy fighters sensitive control system.

===Life Support===
The life support systems of the Andromeda are flexible and adaptive. The life support systems on board are designed to operate in several different ways: in concert so that they entire atmosphere of the ship can be changed, or smaller, individual sections of the ship can be controlled by a localized life support system. The adaptability of the systems serve to help the ship in a variety of ways. The atmosphere of the ship can be vented to kill all intruders, as has been done with [[Magog]] and other troops, as well as an access denial tool, so that the entire ship except for a crew quarters and vital sections are depressurized so that enemies cannot board. The venting becomes valuable because it can also be used to flush out a pathogen or other infectious agent. It can also be utilized so that sections of the ship that might be opened to vacuum during battle or because of the stresses of the local environment, such as the outer decks, can be depressurized so that any damage that might be caused can be either averted or dissipated.

==Interior==

===Color Scheme===
The interior of the Andromeda has an overall blue and black theme.

===Command Center===
*[[Command Center]]

===Hydroponic Garden===
*[[Hydroponic Garden]]

===Observation Lounge===
It is one of the larger decks on the ship. It is located on Deck 5.

===Secure Storage===
*[[Artificial Intelligence eraser]] ("[[The Knight, Death, and the Devil]]", "[[Day of Judgement, Day of Wrath]]")
*[[Deep Midnights Voice]] ("[[Deep Midnight's Voice]]")
*[[Engine of Creation]] ("[[In Heaven Now Are Three]]", "[[Machinery of the Mind]]")
*[[File-D]] ("[[Harper/Delete]]", "[[The Torment, The Release]]")
*[[Nova bomb]] ("[[To Loose the Fateful Lightning]]", "[[The Widening Gyre]]")
*The bones of [[Drago Museveni]] ("[[Music of a Distant Drum]]", "[[Una Salus Victus]]", "[[Pride Before the Fall]]")
*Vase of Rimni ("[[The Shards Of Rimni]]")

===Slipfighter Simulator===
*[[Slipfighter Simulator]]

===Slipstream Core===
*[[Slipstream Core]] and [[Exotic Matter Pulsar]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Andromeda Ascendant's Beam Weapon S04xE10 Exalted Reason, Resplendent Daughter.png|Beam weapon
slipfightersinformation.jpg|Slipfighter honor guard escorting the Andromeda Ascendant to [[Tarazed]] orbit
andromedaenginecore1.jpg|Andromeda's [[Slipstream Core]] and [[Exotic Matter Pulsar]] in the center.
sideviewofandromeda.jpg|Side view of the Andromeda Ascendant. The [[Slipstream Runner]], prong, and bussard are visible
Perim.jpg|Perim, the first to command Andromeda.
Andromeda Offensive Missles.gif|Andromeda and her [[Offensive kinetic kill missile]]
theandromedareleasingdebrisintoslipstream.png|The Andromeda releasing debris from cargo holds 5-7 into slipstream.
Slipfightersimulator.jpg|[[Tyr Anasazi]] using the Simulator
andromedapdlturretmoving.gif|Andromedas' [[Point Defense Laser]] turrets deploying
tranceshydroponics.jpg|Trance standing before one of the entrances to the Garden
corridorandromeda1.jpg|Gaheris Rhade in one of the corridors
andromedacargobaydoor.png|Andromeda’s open cargo bay doors
obsdeck.jpg|Observation Lounge
andromedaorbitdelta.png|Andromeda in a Delta-v orbit
Birin in orbit.jpg|Andromeda in planet [[Birrin]]s asteroid belt
opendatapanelwithharper.png|Andromeda’s open data conduits
DSAS3withandromeda.png|A triumvirs flagship in the background next to the Andromeda
battleoffoutainhead5.jpg|Nietzschean fleet being attacked by Andromeda
andromedaorthographicside.jpg|Orthographic image of Andromeda’s side
andromedaorthographicfront.jpg|Orthographic image of Andromeda’s front
andromedaorthographicback.jpg|Orthographic image of Andromeda’s back
andromedaorthographictop.jpg|Orthographic image of Andromeda’s top
andromedaorthographicbottom.jpg|Orthographic image of Andromeda’s bottom
Ganglia Drift2.jpg|The immensity of the Andromeda compared to a drift
nietzscheancruiserfiringonandromeda.png|A Nietzschean Cruiser firing an EMP on the Andromeda Ascendant
emptyslipstreamcore.png|An empty [[slipstream]] core from a Glorious Heritage class vessel
andromedaslipfightertubes.png|Andromedas slipfighter launch tubes, [[Electromagnetic Launch System]]
andromedaorbit.jpg|Andromeda in low orbit
vlcsnap-2010-12-04-21h56m47s31.png|Andromeda refueling with her [[Ramscoop]]
Andromeda Offensive Missles.gif|Andromeda missile launch
Andromeda Ascendant leaving slipstream.jpg|Andromeda leaving slipstream
</gallery>

{{Navbox Glorious Heritage Class}}
{{Navbox Andromeda Ascendant}}

[[Category:Glorious Heritage Class Ships]]

[[de:Andromeda Ascendant]]
[[uk:Висхідна Андромеда]]