Battlestar Profile 017 : BSG 177 Nightstar Class Battlestar Nightshade

One of the smallest Battlestars in service it is also one of the newest, the Nightstar is primarily designed for rapid intervention and surgical strikes.  Designed to strike deep into enemy territory, the Nightstars are lean vessels, devoid of the extended supply and manufacturing facilities found on most other Battlestars.  Although outclassed by many other ships, they carry a substantial supply of nuclear weapons to deal with any enemy threat.

The Nightstar generally favours speed and mobility over firepower and is equipped with the latest in Jump drives allowing this Battlestar to make several jumps in rapid succession, making it hard to track down and able to strike enemy targets in a guerilla-type fashion.

Despite its size, the Nightstar's extensive automatisation and small crew, living conditions are more spacious than expected, though no square cm of the ship is left idle.  Able to carry up to four squadrons in wartime, the number of fighters is reduced under normal conditions to keep maintenance levels to a managable levels since the repair facilities are somewhat limited and could be swamped by larger numbers.

As for armament, the Nightstar is lightly, but adequately armed with 9 turrets, two of which act as forward batteries.  Two more light forward batteries in the flight pods give it a firepower boost.  The missile silo holds 12 warheads capable of firing class D and C warheads.  Like the Valhalla class the Nightstar can fire smaller missiles through its turrets.

The Nightshade is the second ship of her class and has the distinction of having had four commanders in her brief career.  Commander Hague died when a fighter collided with his Raptor transport.  Commander Thark died of a freak electric accident in his stateroom, while Commander Regan was killed by a mentally unstable bridge officer, though fourteen people were injured, Regan was the only fatal casualty.  Finally Commander Bennington suffered a fatal stroke only three months after taking command.  The current Commander, Bennington's former XO, Commander Carter has managed to survive longer than any of his predecessors and hopes he has broken the chain of bad luck surrounding the Nightshade and put her reputation as an unlucky ship to rest.

Commander : Commander Magnus Carter
XO : Colonel Kara Shamak
CAG : Captain Silas Falk
Complement : 2-4 squadrons of fighters, up to 10 Raptors
Armament : 2 double forward batteries, 7 twin turrets, 300 Derlam CIWS.  12 missile bays.