Invictus

The Invictus is an ancient, legendary, derelict Imperial military jumpship. It became central to Phara Keaen's plans of vengeance against the Galactic Empire in response to their orbital bombardment of her homeworld.

Characteristics

Invictus was a massive warship comprised of three concentric rings around a central void armed with powerful weapons systems. By 12,102 Era Imperial, the age of the Invictus meant that it had several technological differences from contemporary jumpships. Its propulsion systems included an older model jumpdrive that necessitated being maintained by liquid coolant.^[1] Its navigation systems were built before the existence of Spacers. This meant that an augmented navigator, in conjunction with a sophisticated onboard artificial intelligence, was necessary to navigate through the jump. The crew also had to use jump cradles to be sedated for the jump, with an automated countdown warning how long the crew had to reach the cradle before the jump itself.^[4] The Invictus had weapon systems that were powerful even by contemporary technological standards. It possessed external rail guns that could hit targets over the size of two meters, and an internal defense system which consisted of turreted weapons and internal energy fields that disintegrated non-authorized personnel.^[1]

History

The Invictus was considered to be the "crown jewel of Emperor Taurelian's fleet" circa seven hundred years before 12,102 Era Imperial. It was said to be the most powerful Imperial weapons platform of the era.^[1]

Becoming a ghost ship

Seven hundred years ago, the crew somehow lost control of the ship's propulsion systems, leading the ship to sporadically jump at random. Since the ship could reach limitless distances instantaneously, the ship and the crew ended far beyond communications range with Imperial forces. Soon, supplies ran out and in desperation the crew turned on and killed one another. After the crew killed themselves off, the ship continued its random jumps to random places, giving rise to a "ghost ship" legend.^[1]

Anacreon Rediscovery

Invictus ship image1 — The *Invictus* in the Anthor Belt.

The ship was discovered adrift by the Anacreons in the Anthor Belt who wished to salvage the ship to launch a strike on Trantor and "bring the Galactic Empire to its knees", gaining revenge for the neutron bomb bombardment of their homeworld, by using the ship to wreak a similar fate upon the throne-world. Previous attempts to board and salvage the ship failed due to the Invictus still having active defense systems which destroyed two Anacreon corvettes.^[1]

Quickly formulating a new strategy, the Anacreons, led personally by Grand Huntress Phara Keaen, took over the Foundation's colony on Terminus for the sole purpose of gaining the expertise from the Foundation's scientists. The Anacreon people lacked the knowledge to recover and refurbish the ship, so Phara Keaen assembled a group of experts from among the populace consisting of astronautic specialist and Foundation director Lewis Pirenne, propulsion expert Akiva Lee, and chief environmental engineer Jacenta Rov. Salvor Hardin and Hugo Crast were brought along to fly the Beggar's Lament to the Invictus. As part of their plan to salvage the ship, the Anacreons also lured a contemporary Imperial jumpship, the Aegis, to Terminus in an effort to capture a senior Imperial officer. The Aegis was destroyed by a ground-based flak cannon and Commander Kray Dorwin was taken prisoner in order to gain access to the nanobots within his body which would in turn allow the Anacreons access to any Imperial ship, including the Invictus.^[1]

Later Service and Legacy

After the acquisition of the Invictus, the Foundation began to study its systems and planned to create new ships using their discoveries. Hugo Crast was appointed as the first Foundation commander of the Invictus.^[2] The warship remained in orbit of Terminus.^[5]

The reverse-engineering of the Invictus's technology allowed the Foundation to create whisper-ships which contained a new type of jumpdrive technology that did not require the assistance of Spacers but instead utilized an organic computing device^[6] known as a neuro-drive.^[7] The Foundation managed to build a fleet of whisper-ships, which were deployed alongside the Invictus during the Battle of Terminus. During the battle, the Invictus was disabled by a squadron of Imperial switchbacks commanded by Glawen Curr. With the vessel disabled, Emperor Cleon XVII ordered General Bel Riose to use the Shining Destiny's weapon systems to force the wreck into Terminus where its singularity consumed the planet.^[3]