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Description
The image above was acquired via the Battlestar Galactica: War of the Colonies mod for Star Wars: Empire at War - Forces of Corruption
Disclaimer: The information below is not to be considered canon in Battlestar Galactica Lore and represents part of a "what-if" head canon scenario in my mind for an alternate universe, similar to the one created as the backstory for the "Battlestar Galactica: War of the Colonies" mod.

The 2CW Universe (Second Cylon War) is a what-if scenario where the initial surprise attack on the Colonies is mostly thwarted but not enough to prevent certain events from happening, like Laura Roslin becoming President via succession for example. The universe uses information from the series, Blood & Chrome, and Deadlock as well as several other fan works for inspiration.

Disclaimer: I am also aware that this design of ship was made by another user. I do not own this ship design. If you are the creator of this design, please message me below along with a link to the original and I will happily update with appropriate credit given.

...

Class: Athena Class Battlestar
Colloquially: Leisurestar, Medstar, Mercy Ship, Farmstars, Frakstar
Designer: Quade Design Collective
Function: Multi-role Combat Support
Armaments: 18 Battlestar Artillery Batteries, 16x Missile Tubes, 400x Dual Point Defense CIWS, Flak Batteries
Compliments: 50~150 Vipers, 15~25 Raptors, 20 Medical Shuttles (Medical Configuration).
Crew (Aprox): 750~1500, 100~200 Pilots

"The perfect blend of Wisdom and Warfare. The lives saved by these mercy ships will be instrumental in helping us win this war." - Pres. Laura Roslin

History:
Developed as part of Project Thermopylae, an effort to develop and deploy new Battlestars for the Colonial Fleet in the years before the outbreak of the Second Cylon War, the Athena Class Battlestar was developed alongside its sister class, the Ares Class Battlestar. The Athena was designed to act as the more armored equivalent to its Ares Class sibling and at the outbreak of the Second Cylon War, the Athena Class stood firm against a steady barrage of fire from the Cylon Baseships. The resilience of the Athena's honeycombed armor plating proved to be at the ship's advantage and it managed to drive the Cylon forces back a little before Colonial Reinforcements arrived. Afterwards, the Athena Class has assumed a recognizable space in the Colonial Fleet, providing much needed support to the Colonial Fleets while serving a variety of roles ranging from hospital support, to recreational, to freight hauling, and more.

The Athena Class however has been the subject of controversy among the colonies given its leisure configuration, with some suggesting its leisure configuration is unnecessary or exploitative, while others argue its necessity in keeping morale up during a stressful time of war. The source of this controversy was the addition of "Conjugal Centers." The Conjugal Centers amounted to Fleet Sanctioned prostitution on Leisure Configured Athenas. Civilian Women from the Twelve Colonies would be offered substantial rewards and benefits for serving in the brothels of an Athena Battlestar. Although there was no shortage of volunteers, it was a matter of heavy debate on the topic of legalized and state sanction prostitution. The Colonial Fleet representatives had to guarantee before the Quorum of Twelve that precautions would be taken to protect the women hired to serve on the ships. These precautions included regular medical checks, "panic buttons" to signal security if customers went too far, and contraceptives. Women could also request security cameras be installed on the condition that the footage only be viewed upon request pending legal proceedings. The crews of the Athenas were also not given preferential treatment and had to pay just like any other customer. With the discovery of Cylon "Skinjobs," some Leisure Athenas would receive the female Cylon POWs (Threes, Sixes, and Eights) and allow visiting crew access to them. The POW Cylon women were not given the considerations and precautions given to the Colonial women. Many Colonial officers turned a blind eye to this practice although some of the more moralistic Officers forbade the practice. One example was Admiral William Adama of the 75th Battlestar Group who would not permit such treatment to his own fleet's Cylon prisoner, a Number Eight model.

Information:
The Athena Class is designed almost identically to its Ares Class siblings and the two classes can be converted between one another in roughly a month if necessary. It's not uncommon to see an Ares with the Athena's honeycomb armor plating and A-shaped flight pods, indicating its conversion from an Athena Class. However the Athena Class does serve a vital role in the Colonial Fleet, acting as a well armed replacement for the unarmed Celestra class support ships used during the First Cylon War. Unlike the Ares Class though, the Athena is meant for a more multi-purpose role and have become the backbone of the Colonial Fleet.

In combat, the Athenas are probably the lightest armed Battlestar of its size, packing slightly less firepower than the retired Artemis Class Battlestar, but what it lacks in firepower, its armor makes up the difference. Athenas tend to carry more Vipers than its Ares sibling to compensate for its reduced firepower. They also have double the number of missile tubes compared to the Ares class. The flight pods on an Athena are slightly larger than their Ares sibling to accommodate the larger amount of air traffic coming and going from an Athena. Athenas are also one of the few Battlestar models to incorporate Raptor Launch Tubes, and is the smallest Colonial vessel equipped with these tubes. Also like the Ares, the Athenas have a favorable thrust-to-mass ratio and are highly maneuverable for their size. But perhaps the Athena's greatest combat asset is its experimental honeycomb armor plating. Although not technically ablative hull armor, the honeycomb configuraion has proven more effective than more conventional armor plating, sometimes causing enemy weapons' fire to ricochet off the hull. Beneath the honeycombed armor is a layer of ribbed armor similar to the kind found on Jupiter Class Battlestars. This double-layering of armor has contributed greatly to the overall durability of the Athena Class.

What makes the relatively lightly armed Athenas so important to the Colonial Fleet is their highly reconfigurable "shell" on the top of their main hull. This "shell" area on the back of the Athena's main hull serves primarily as a multi-purpose area that can be easily configured to meet a variety of needs and comes in seven different configurations: Medical, Cargo, Agriculture, Passenger, Leisure, and Science. The two most common configurations are the Medical and Cargo configurations. The variety of uses for this "shell" area has made Athenas highly useful in maintaining the fleet's supply infrastructure and reduces the risk of having supply lines cut by Cylon forces, allowing the fleet to operate away from Colonial space almost indefinitely.

Medical Configuration converts much of the "shell" into an expanded hospital area designed to treat large numbers of patients. Medical Shuttles are often assigned to the Medical configured Athenas, allowing them to shuttle injured servicemen and officers to help take the strain off of other ships' medical crews. As such, Athenas are often found at the head of Search & Rescue operations. Medical Athenas are usually marked with a large red medical icon on the port and starboard sides of its shell, as well as on the upper "forehead" of its forward hull. Because Medical Athenas are meant as hospital ships, they often are kept at the very backs of Battlestar Group formations or kept to the mid-to-rear lines to keep them out of combat. Even though they're more than capable of defending themselves, it's discouraged that they enter combat. Standing orders for Medical Athenas is to have the FTL spooled up for an emergency jump if enemies get within weapons range. Most fleet commanders though disregard this protocol and keep their Medical Athenas close to the action, typically counting on their guns to help pick up the slack and deal with smaller Cylon capital ships.

Cargo configuration turns the "shell" into a large cargo storage area, allowing the Athenas to act as mobile ammo dumps and supply warehouses. In battle, Athenas can deploy supply raptors to other ships with a resupply on their armaments such as missiles, mines, and even nukes if the Athena has them in stock. While not in combat, they can still help to keep other Colonial warships stocked on other much needed supplies such as food, water, equipment, among other things. Cargo Athenas typically lack special markings on their hulls (shown above). Cargo Athenas are often seen along with the larger Hephaestus Class Forgestars, picking up the newly minted supplies for the fleet as well as being on hand to lend combat support in case of enemy attack.

Missile Configuration turns the "Shell" into a formidable missile assault platform, capable of barraging targets at long distances, effectively allowing the Athena Class to replace the retired Ranger Class Missile Cruiser of the First Cylon War while also replacing the Janus Class Heavy Cruiser. The Missile Configuration effectively doubles the number of missile tubes on an Athena to a staggering thirty-two tubes. Missile Athenas are considered terrors in the combat zone and in more than one instance, critically damaged if not destroyed a Cylon Basestar in a single volley with all tubes firing at once. However the drawback to the Missile Configuration is the inherited costs of stocking and resupplying so many missiles. As such the Missile Athena, while formidable, is simply not quite as cost effective for regular service so the missile configuration is often saved for mission specific operations.

Agriculture Configuration converts the "shell" into multiple aeroponics bays for growing large quantities of food to feed and supply the fleet. The ships don't carry any animals for meats though. The food grown in the Agriculture Athenas are then processed and stored for shipping to other Colonial ships in the fleet. Agriculture Athenas are similarly unmarked like the Cargo configuration. Agriculture Athenas are often referred to as "Farmstars" by Colonial crewmen.

Passenger Configuration is typically used to ferry new crews and officers between the Colonies and fleets operating on the front lines or from one zone to another. This configuration is seldom used as the need for such massive crew transfers is very low. Like the Cargo and Agriculture Athenas, passenger Athenas are unmarked.

Leisure Configuration is perhaps the most appreciated by the rank-and-file Colonial forces. In Leisure Configuration, the "shell" is converted into a multi-leveled luxurious recreational area for visiting crew. The facilities offered often include two to three full pyramid courts, two bars for enlisted personnel and an Officer's Club, a simulated park and biological habitat on the upper levels of the "shell," movie theaters to show first-run films, and enough room for visiting crew to stay the night. Some of the Leisure Athenas were equipped with the controversial Conjugal Centers as well. Leisure Athenas are usually marked with symbols associated with Aphrodite.

The Seventh and final configuration is the Science configuration. The Science Configuration is arguably the rarest as the "shell" is modified with highly tuned sensors and upgraded DRADIS equipment to allow for deep space scientific research. The interiors are often full of civilian research labs that are rented out by research firms to conduct their research in the field. In some cases, the enhanced DRADIS of the Science Athenas make them unusually effective survey and scouting ships. Their upgraded communications arrays also grant them the ability to pick up signals from unusually long distances. Some of these Science Athenas are dispatched as listening posts meant to try and spy and intercept Cylon signals from a distance. Science Athenas are typically marked with blue scientific markings.

A technical Eighth configuration exists in the "Prison" configuration. However this configuration has only been used once. The prison configuration is the most drastic of the configurations in that the Athena is stripped of all weapons and ammunition, and carries only unarmed Raptors and shuttles with their FTLs removed. The Prison Athena's own FTL Drive is passcode locked, a passcode known only to the CO and XO. The "shell" is then configured similarly to the passenger configuration but with varying levels of security. Prison Configuration is reserved for POWs and for Colonial servicemen found guilty of tribunal offenses. Only one of the Prison Configured Athenas exist: the Battlestar Tartarus, located near Virgon, and is escorted by four Apollo Class Gunships.

Description
The image above was acquired via the Battlestar Galactica: War of the Colonies mod for Star Wars: Empire at War - Forces of Corruption
Disclaimer: The information below is not to be considered canon in Battlestar Galactica Lore and represents part of a "what-if" head canon scenario in my mind for an alternate universe, similar to the one created as the backstory for the "Battlestar Galactica: War of the Colonies" mod.

The 2CW Universe (Second Cylon War) is a what-if scenario where the initial surprise attack on the Colonies is mostly thwarted but not enough to prevent certain events from happening, like Laura Roslin becoming President via succession for example. The universe uses information from the series, Blood & Chrome, and Deadlock as well as several other fan works for inspiration.

Disclaimer: I am also aware that this design of ship was made by another user. I do not own this ship design. If you are the creator of this design, please message me below along with a link to the original and I will happily update with appropriate credit given.

...

Class: Athena Class Battlestar
Colloquially: Leisurestar, Medstar, Mercy Ship, Farmstars, Frakstar
Designer: Quade Design Collective
Function: Multi-role Combat Support
Armaments: 18 Battlestar Artillery Batteries, 16x Missile Tubes, 400x Dual Point Defense CIWS, Flak Batteries
Compliments: 50~150 Vipers, 15~25 Raptors, 20 Medical Shuttles (Medical Configuration).
Crew (Aprox): 750~1500, 100~200 Pilots

"The perfect blend of Wisdom and Warfare. The lives saved by these mercy ships will be instrumental in helping us win this war." - Pres. Laura Roslin

History:
Developed as part of Project Thermopylae, an effort to develop and deploy new Battlestars for the Colonial Fleet in the years before the outbreak of the Second Cylon War, the Athena Class Battlestar was developed alongside its sister class, the Ares Class Battlestar. The Athena was designed to act as the more armored equivalent to its Ares Class sibling and at the outbreak of the Second Cylon War, the Athena Class stood firm against a steady barrage of fire from the Cylon Baseships. The resilience of the Athena's honeycombed armor plating proved to be at the ship's advantage and it managed to drive the Cylon forces back a little before Colonial Reinforcements arrived. Afterwards, the Athena Class has assumed a recognizable space in the Colonial Fleet, providing much needed support to the Colonial Fleets while serving a variety of roles ranging from hospital support, to recreational, to freight hauling, and more.

The Athena Class however has been the subject of controversy among the colonies given its leisure configuration, with some suggesting its leisure configuration is unnecessary or exploitative, while others argue its necessity in keeping morale up during a stressful time of war. The source of this controversy was the addition of "Conjugal Centers." The Conjugal Centers amounted to Fleet Sanctioned prostitution on Leisure Configured Athenas. Civilian Women from the Twelve Colonies would be offered substantial rewards and benefits for serving in the brothels of an Athena Battlestar. Although there was no shortage of volunteers, it was a matter of heavy debate on the topic of legalized and state sanction prostitution. The Colonial Fleet representatives had to guarantee before the Quorum of Twelve that precautions would be taken to protect the women hired to serve on the ships. These precautions included regular medical checks, "panic buttons" to signal security if customers went too far, and contraceptives. Women could also request security cameras be installed on the condition that the footage only be viewed upon request pending legal proceedings. The crews of the Athenas were also not given preferential treatment and had to pay just like any other customer. With the discovery of Cylon "Skinjobs," some Leisure Athenas would receive the female Cylon POWs (Threes, Sixes, and Eights) and allow visiting crew access to them. The POW Cylon women were not given the considerations and precautions given to the Colonial women. Many Colonial officers turned a blind eye to this practice although some of the more moralistic Officers forbade the practice. One example was Admiral William Adama of the 75th Battlestar Group who would not permit such treatment to his own fleet's Cylon prisoner, a Number Eight model.

Information:
The Athena Class is designed almost identically to its Ares Class siblings and the two classes can be converted between one another in roughly a month if necessary. It's not uncommon to see an Ares with the Athena's honeycomb armor plating and A-shaped flight pods, indicating its conversion from an Athena Class. However the Athena Class does serve a vital role in the Colonial Fleet, acting as a well armed replacement for the unarmed Celestra class support ships used during the First Cylon War. Unlike the Ares Class though, the Athena is meant for a more multi-purpose role and have become the backbone of the Colonial Fleet.

In combat, the Athenas are probably the lightest armed Battlestar of its size, packing slightly less firepower than the retired Artemis Class Battlestar, but what it lacks in firepower, its armor makes up the difference. Athenas tend to carry more Vipers than its Ares sibling to compensate for its reduced firepower. They also have double the number of missile tubes compared to the Ares class. The flight pods on an Athena are slightly larger than their Ares sibling to accommodate the larger amount of air traffic coming and going from an Athena. Athenas are also one of the few Battlestar models to incorporate Raptor Launch Tubes, and is the smallest Colonial vessel equipped with these tubes. Also like the Ares, the Athenas have a favorable thrust-to-mass ratio and are highly maneuverable for their size. But perhaps the Athena's greatest combat asset is its experimental honeycomb armor plating. Although not technically ablative hull armor, the honeycomb configuraion has proven more effective than more conventional armor plating, sometimes causing enemy weapons' fire to ricochet off the hull. Beneath the honeycombed armor is a layer of ribbed armor similar to the kind found on Jupiter Class Battlestars. This double-layering of armor has contributed greatly to the overall durability of the Athena Class.

What makes the relatively lightly armed Athenas so important to the Colonial Fleet is their highly reconfigurable "shell" on the top of their main hull. This "shell" area on the back of the Athena's main hull serves primarily as a multi-purpose area that can be easily configured to meet a variety of needs and comes in seven different configurations: Medical, Cargo, Agriculture, Passenger, Leisure, and Science. The two most common configurations are the Medical and Cargo configurations. The variety of uses for this "shell" area has made Athenas highly useful in maintaining the fleet's supply infrastructure and reduces the risk of having supply lines cut by Cylon forces, allowing the fleet to operate away from Colonial space almost indefinitely.

Medical Configuration converts much of the "shell" into an expanded hospital area designed to treat large numbers of patients. Medical Shuttles are often assigned to the Medical configured Athenas, allowing them to shuttle injured servicemen and officers to help take the strain off of other ships' medical crews. As such, Athenas are often found at the head of Search & Rescue operations. Medical Athenas are usually marked with a large red medical icon on the port and starboard sides of its shell, as well as on the upper "forehead" of its forward hull. Because Medical Athenas are meant as hospital ships, they often are kept at the very backs of Battlestar Group formations or kept to the mid-to-rear lines to keep them out of combat. Even though they're more than capable of defending themselves, it's discouraged that they enter combat. Standing orders for Medical Athenas is to have the FTL spooled up for an emergency jump if enemies get within weapons range. Most fleet commanders though disregard this protocol and keep their Medical Athenas close to the action, typically counting on their guns to help pick up the slack and deal with smaller Cylon capital ships.

Cargo configuration turns the "shell" into a large cargo storage area, allowing the Athenas to act as mobile ammo dumps and supply warehouses. In battle, Athenas can deploy supply raptors to other ships with a resupply on their armaments such as missiles, mines, and even nukes if the Athena has them in stock. While not in combat, they can still help to keep other Colonial warships stocked on other much needed supplies such as food, water, equipment, among other things. Cargo Athenas typically lack special markings on their hulls (shown above). Cargo Athenas are often seen along with the larger Hephaestus Class Forgestars, picking up the newly minted supplies for the fleet as well as being on hand to lend combat support in case of enemy attack.

Missile Configuration turns the "Shell" into a formidable missile assault platform, capable of barraging targets at long distances, effectively allowing the Athena Class to replace the retired Ranger Class Missile Cruiser of the First Cylon War while also replacing the Janus Class Heavy Cruiser. The Missile Configuration effectively doubles the number of missile tubes on an Athena to a staggering thirty-two tubes. Missile Athenas are considered terrors in the combat zone and in more than one instance, critically damaged if not destroyed a Cylon Basestar in a single volley with all tubes firing at once. However the drawback to the Missile Configuration is the inherited costs of stocking and resupplying so many missiles. As such the Missile Athena, while formidable, is simply not quite as cost effective for regular service so the missile configuration is often saved for mission specific operations.

Agriculture Configuration converts the "shell" into multiple aeroponics bays for growing large quantities of food to feed and supply the fleet. The ships don't carry any animals for meats though. The food grown in the Agriculture Athenas are then processed and stored for shipping to other Colonial ships in the fleet. Agriculture Athenas are similarly unmarked like the Cargo configuration. Agriculture Athenas are often referred to as "Farmstars" by Colonial crewmen.

Passenger Configuration is typically used to ferry new crews and officers between the Colonies and fleets operating on the front lines or from one zone to another. This configuration is seldom used as the need for such massive crew transfers is very low. Like the Cargo and Agriculture Athenas, passenger Athenas are unmarked.

Leisure Configuration is perhaps the most appreciated by the rank-and-file Colonial forces. In Leisure Configuration, the "shell" is converted into a multi-leveled luxurious recreational area for visiting crew. The facilities offered often include two to three full pyramid courts, two bars for enlisted personnel and an Officer's Club, a simulated park and biological habitat on the upper levels of the "shell," movie theaters to show first-run films, and enough room for visiting crew to stay the night. Some of the Leisure Athenas were equipped with the controversial Conjugal Centers as well. Leisure Athenas are usually marked with symbols associated with Aphrodite.

The Seventh and final configuration is the Science configuration. The Science Configuration is arguably the rarest as the "shell" is modified with highly tuned sensors and upgraded DRADIS equipment to allow for deep space scientific research. The interiors are often full of civilian research labs that are rented out by research firms to conduct their research in the field. In some cases, the enhanced DRADIS of the Science Athenas make them unusually effective survey and scouting ships. Their upgraded communications arrays also grant them the ability to pick up signals from unusually long distances. Some of these Science Athenas are dispatched as listening posts meant to try and spy and intercept Cylon signals from a distance. Science Athenas are typically marked with blue scientific markings.

A technical Eighth configuration exists in the "Prison" configuration. However this configuration has only been used once. The prison configuration is the most drastic of the configurations in that the Athena is stripped of all weapons and ammunition, and carries only unarmed Raptors and shuttles with their FTLs removed. The Prison Athena's own FTL Drive is passcode locked, a passcode known only to the CO and XO. The "shell" is then configured similarly to the passenger configuration but with varying levels of security. Prison Configuration is reserved for POWs and for Colonial servicemen found guilty of tribunal offenses. Only one of the Prison Configured Athenas exist: the Battlestar Tartarus, located near Virgon, and is escorted by four Apollo Class Gunships.