The Thunderchild-class battleship was commissioned from Upwell by the New Eden Common Defense Initiative while the organization was still a counter-Triglavian strategy group headed by Provost Marshal Kasiha Valkanir. When EDENCOM was officially announced as the new central command for the defense of New Eden in YC122, the research and development of a line of ships capable of bearing radical new weaponry was widely rumored following Triglavian raids on Upwell development facilities. The Upwell Consortium had been working on adapting Arcing Vorton Projector weaponry to a ship-based form since the success of the technology as an anti-fleet weapon on Keepstar Citadels. The first Triglavian invasions in mid-YC121 spurred that effort on even before EDENCOM underwrote the project, providing access to scientists and engineers from the secret weapons programs of the four core empires, and even the SoCT. The Thunderchild-class was conceived as the striking fist of counter-Triglavian fleets when commissioned by EDENCOM. This battleship is oriented around maximum firepower with high-output, rapid-charging Arcing Vorton Projectors delivering a blizzard of arc strikes against squadrons of enemy ships.