[ARC] Report on initial observations of the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards

[DutchGunner]

Greetings to all on the IGS,

After the initial report ARC has travelled to Skarkon II to observe the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards.
This will be a short report on what has been observed, including some footage. ARC wishes to stress that it is too early to draw any conclusions as there are too many unknowns at this point in time.

Upon entering the system of Skarkon, ARC observers noted that there is a navigational beacon that highlights the location of the orbital shipbuilding complex over Skarkon II.
When travelling to this location, one can observe 3 ‘Towers’, 6 ‘Structures’ of unknown purpose and 4 fields of depleted asteroids.

‘Frontal view’ showing the depleted asteroid fields, ‘Towers’ and ‘Structures’

‘top-down-view’ showing the positioning of the ‘Towers’ and ‘Structures’

Observations with regard to the ‘Towers’
Each tower contains 5 singularities and is covered by a lattice of scaffolding. The scaffolding does seem to follow a general template and could indicate that each ‘Tower’ holds a multitude of what are likely to be shipyards or dockyards. Within the scaffolding, multiple ship hulls were observed in different stages of assembly or maintenance. There are also a large amount of navigational lights near the ‘Towers’ and shipyards or dockyards.

At this time it appears that each ‘Tower’ has 13 levels or floors and currently contains 36 shipyards or dockyards. That would put the current total number of observed shipyards or dockyards at 108. Observers have noted that each ‘Tower’ has enough room to add additional shipyard or dockyards.
Each level or floor has multiple points of entry and/or exit from the tower and each of these points is alligned with a shipyard or dockyard.

Upon close inspection of the ‘Towers’, observers noticed something that has the appearance of a message board of some kind. This messageboard can be found at the lower half of each ‘Tower’ and above the 2nd singularity from the bottom.

Besides this message board, another small structure has been observed. Each tower seems to have 7 of these small structures. Each small structure is located on top of a single shipyard or dockyard and at different intervals between the levels or floors. The function and purpose of these structures is currently unknown but they do seem to have 2 points of entry and/or exit .

Further observation is needed to learn more about the ‘Towers’, shipyards or dockyards, messageboard and the smaller structures.

Observations with regard to the ‘Structures’
The ‘Structures’ are something that ARC has not encountered before. Each ‘Structure’ has a singularity on one side and a possible point of entry and/or exit on the other side. Similar looking structures have also been observed at the Veles Clade Automata Semiosis Sobornost in the system of Wirashoda .

Further observation is needed to learn more about these ‘Structures’.

Zoomed in photo of the front and rear of the ‘Structures’, scaffolding that could be shipyards or dockyards and navigational lights

How to proceed
As mentioned before, there are a lot of unknowns with regard to the ‘Towers’ and ‘Structures’. ARC believes that there is insufficient information to draw any conclusions at this time and will therefore continue to regularly make observations of the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards. When sufficient observations and data is collected, an update on this initial report will be made.

Regards,

DutchGunner

[Arrendis]

@DutchGunner

Within the scaffolding, multiple ship hulls were observed in different stages of assembly or maintenance.

Did you guys get any good images of these?

[DutchGunner]

ARC has made another expedition into Pochven to observe the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards. The initial report has been updated with the following:

• The number of singularaties and shipyards or dockyards per ‘Tower’;
• The small structures that have been observed on top of multiple singular shipyards or dockyards;
• The sighting of similar looking ‘Structures’ in the Veles Clade Automata Semiosis Sobornost in Wirashoda.

@Arrendis

@DutchGunner

Within the scaffolding, multiple ship hulls were observed in different stages of assembly or maintenance.

Did you guys get any good images of these?

Here is a photo of a single shipyard and/or dockyard. At this point it is still speculation if each yard works on a single ship hull or multiple at the same time.

Here is a photo of multiple shipyards and/or dockyard with ship hulls in different stages of assembly

[Aria_Jenneth]

That is a lot of dreadnoughts. I wonder how long it takes them to construct one.

[Jamico_Toralen]

I’d imagine not as long as it takes capsuleers to replicate them, depressingly.

[DutchGunner]

Further observations have provided multiple insights and additional information.

The Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards provides a unique option to learn more about how the ships in that location are being build. It is common to see sections of exposed hull in addition to armor plating being moved into position for installment.

It is also possible to observe parts that are normally not visible on a fully constructed ship

Observers have also noticed that large sparks can be seen. It is assumed that those sparks are related to welding activities. It has also been noted that there are hulls under construction that allow a clear view on their interior.

While the size of the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards made it difficult, observers have also been able to confirm that that the hulls that are being constructed are of comparible size as the Zirnitra class.

While it is known that the Svarog clade is creating their own variant of the Zirnitra class, it is unknown if a single variant or multiple variants are being contstructed. In addition to the large number of hulls being constructed, it is another reason for concern.

[Makoto_Priano]

In a very real way, the difficulty the Collective faced in the Abyss was a hostile environment, one where gravitational collapses would result in loss of resources, personnel, etc., and so significant work had to be done simply to ensure the stability of pockets. Released of those constraints, and in an environment with easy access to resources, I’m certain that Svarog Clade is finding armaments production much easier.

I’d wonder, though, about Triglavian population growth. Recent population extraction from captured systems suggests the suborning of local populations by the Collective, which despite fervor about consent may be manufactured by creation of suborning troikas with supermajority already-indoctrinated infomorphs.

In its way, we may be seeing a divergence in Clade strategies to address population shortfalls; Svarog focusing on ships less likely to see catastrophic loss of crew, Veles increasing its cooperation with non-human infomorphs as a way to supplement limited human population, and Perun focusing primarily on the suborning strategy noted above.

Out of curiosity, Dutch, have you documented the Wirashoda structure?

[DutchGunner]

We have been observing the Veles Clade and Rogue Drone Structures in Wirashoda. Observers have made enough observations and collected sufficient data to write a initial report for the IGS.

[DutchGunner]

The fleet that entered Pochven to observe the VCASS in Wirashoda also visited the Svarog Clade Orbital Shipyards in Skarkon. While observing the Orbital Shipyards, there was one very noticable difference; there is a lot more visible activity throughout the site.

Just as in the VCASS, there seems to be a lot of what are assumed to be ships, drones or other vessels that are too small for classification. They do seem to be moving at a higher speed when compared to those within the VCASS. This has lead to the assumption that if drones are indeed being used within the site, they are not rogue drones.

The vessels can be seen moving within the Shipyards and close to the ‘Towers’. They seem to follow certain flightplans between the shipyards and the ‘Towers’ . This strongly indidates an increase of efforts into the construction of the Svarog Clade variant of the Zirnitra dreadnought. It is certainly something that could have massive ramifications in the (near) future and warrents ongoing monitoring.

The observers are also in agreement that the production process most likely starts with building parts of the ship close to the ‘Towers’. These parts are then assembled into segments and the segments are moved outwards from the ‘Towers’ for final installment in the Zirnitra hull. This implies that there are currently 108 dreadnought being build and that they are in different stages of their production. This, combined with the visible increased activity within the Shipyards certainly seem cause for caution and continued observation.

[Thadius_Faran]

Such a significant increase in activity and the quantity of dreadnoughts in production can surely only mean an escalation against known space is in the immediate future. I would not expect such production solely for Pochven patrol and subjugation.

We should be preparing accordingly.

[Aria_Jenneth]

Probably we should, yes, pilot. Although in fairness to the Collective we’re not its only (or even primary) opponent.

They might intend to take the battle to the Drifter hives.

(Though actually it seems more likely that they’ll move on Arshat, and maybe Athounon.)

[Annisir_Kaugan]

The one place the Collective fight shy of is Anoikis. It is not as navigable for them as it used to be and they would be fighting on the Drifter’s home territory so to speak. There appears to be movement towards collecting resources for T2 production as well as Zirnitra production. Its more likely that they are heading for Null in search of resources, although they may be able to source those through their existing agents.

[Kitaula_Kuusa_Jouhinen]

I know I’m stockpiling resources. I couldn’t do anything when the invasion started, but I’m not a baseliner anymore.

[Raven_Moore]

Only partly correct