CBS-70 Ptolemaios

CBS-70 Ptolemaios (aka Ptolemy) is the tactical mothership of Celestial Being in season 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The ship would later be succeeded by CBS-74 Ptolemaios 2.

Technology & Combat Capabilities
Ptolemaios is Celestial Being's (CB's) tactical mobile suit (MS) carrier. Like all CB-built units, it's reliant on GN Particles, however, it doesn't have its own GN Drive. It instead taps into a large internal particle storage tank that's periodically recharged by a Gundam's GN Drive. Because Ptolemy wasn't made to be a warship, it has no built-in weapons. While it may not be formidable in combat, it has its own defense systems and equipment to operate and survive in combat situations.

Externally, Ptolemy was built with a large rotatable peripheral docking ring. The ring itself has 4 docking ports. Each of the ports are docked with MS containers that contains units GN-001 - GN 005. Ptolemy was designed to be compact and economic of its size, therefore the Gundams utilize only a single linear catapult (a MS launcher that uses magnetics). The catapult's opening is on top of Ptolemy. Whenever a Gundam needs to sortie, the docking ring would rotate the specific Gundam on top and slide it down from the container to launch from the forward ship hatch.

Each of the MS containers were designed with their own propulsion system, powered by GN particles. While docked, they help provide additional propulsion power and siphon GN particles from the Gundams to help recharge Ptolemy. A power connector in each of the docking bays allows Ptolemy to connect to the GN Drives within the Gundams to recharge. When all 4 Gundams are launched from the ship, the amount of energy available is severely limited. It's why at least one Gundam must periodically return to dock to ensure particle reserves are optimal.

Defense-wise, Ptolemy's best defenses was its speed, stealth, and GN Field. Ptolemy was the fastest and most maneuverable ship of its time. The ship utilizes the MS containers and two large GN Engines for propulsion and steering. An unusual unexplained design feature is that all Gundams have propulsion systems give them omni-directional movement that's better than vector-thrusting, yet Ptolemy moves almost like a early generation spacecraft. It was never explained and only theorized that are engineering limitations when applying the technology to spacecrafts.

As a benefit to the GN particles it vents throughout its hull, Ptolemy is invisible to all sensors. The particles would disrupt any nearby sensors and communications to quietly slip away from enemy detection. The only way to detect Ptolemy is through the use of wide-area sensor networks. Because the ship could only disrupt a limited area of space, a vast sensor network that was designed to notice blanks in movement patterns would clue off the enemy where Ptolemy is located. Even when intercepted, the enemy can only see Ptolemy in line-of-sight and can't get too close to Ptolemy or risk a series of electronic failures, especially communications. When forced into combat, Ptolemy can vent higher concentrations of particles to deploy its GN Field (relative to its particle reserves); however it's not an absolute defense as it can still suffer hull damage from close range enemy fire and beam attacks (relative to destructive yield). After enemy forces had figured out ways to counter the effects of GN particles, Sumeragi (commander of the ship) had Ptolemy enhanced with new offensive equipment: GN Arms and the Assault Container.

The Assault Container works similar to the MS containers Ptolemy utilizes, but its main purpose is to enhance the combat capabilities of their Gundams. It's a self-contained miniature MS combat carrier, fully armed with missiles, beam guns, and it's own GN Field. The unit can dock onto Ptolemy's docking ring and become a stationary weapons platform for defense. However it's offensive capabilities are limited when stationary; being non-stationary is preferred when facing enemy targets. At least two were made and deployed during Operation Fallen Angels. The unit was designed with a counterpart to assist the Gundams, GN Arms.

At least two GN Arms were created, designed to enhance the offensive/defensive power of GN-001 Gundam Exia and GN-002 Gundam Dynames. In its fighter form, it has its own particle reserves and GN weapons to fight off Ptolemy's attackers. When greater firepower is needed, it can dock with its designated Gundam to become a mobile armor for advanced combat. When acting as a single combat unit, the GN Arms can dock at the rear of the Assault Container, fully integrating it into it's body along with the Gundam for heavy assault situations.

Internally, Ptolemy contains all the amenities of a advanced cruiser: a mess hall, living-quarters, conference room, observation decks, command bridge, sensors, medical bay, Veda terminal, Haros, and Karels. Due to long term missions, Ptolemy has quarters for the crew members to rest, a cafeteria for food, and a medical bay to treat injuries. For large scale debriefings, they have a large conference room to fit the entire staff with screens on all sides of the room to maximize visual displays and explanations over missions and plans. The command bridge also doubles as their CIC (Combat Information Center) for helm, system controls, and tactical advisement. Because their technology is tied closely to Veda, a terminal for their resident Innovade, Gundam Meister Tieria Erde, was installed for advanced network system applications. The ship is meant to support a large crew, but due to their lack of staff, maintenance bots like the Haros and Karels has been used to replace humans for 24/7 maintenance work. While overall an advanced ship, its lack of weaponry and its reliance on support units makes Ptolemy a vulnerable target.

First Battle
The HRL launched its most expensive operation in an attempt to hunt down and capture a Gundam for research. E-Sensors were laced throughout their area of space in a wide sensor network in an attempt to detect Ptolemy. The HRL knew Celestial Being's mobile units depended on GN particles for electronic interference and used this advantage against them by intentionally detecting large areas of electrical interference to find their vector. Ptolemy was discovered by HRL forces and Ptolemy used the Gundams and their GN Field for defense. Exia and Dynames defended the ship as Kyrios and Virtue/Nadleeh wiped out HRL opposition. The ship barely survived its first encounter with minor hull damage.

Operation Fallen Angels
After the formation of UN Forces, GN particle detection breakthroughs allowed them to hunt down Celestial Being. Ptolemy's GN particle stealth capabilities had become a liability and it couldn't effectively defend itself against the new enemy GN-X's. The maintenance drones and Haro's on board Ptolemy managed to keep the ship in working condition, but eventually their countermeasures were no longer effective.

Destruction
In episode 24, the ship was defending itself against the United Nations Forces as Exia, Kyrios, and Nadleeh attempted to eliminate remaining opposition. With the destruction of Gundam Dynames, the crew had only two Assault Containers and GN Field for defense. Ptolemy and the Gundams held out against UN Forces effectively until the arrival of GNMA-XCVII Alvatore. The mobile armor damaged the port and starboard sides of the ship and limited the ship's movement. The ship was eventually destroyed when a GN-X managed to fly right in front of the ship and fired point blank into the bridge. The ship idled for a while and had electrical failure that resulted in a secondary explosion the destroyed the ship.

Development of Ptolemaios 2
It's not clear if Celestial Being salvaged Ptolemy and rebuilt it, but hard lessons were learned from the final battle, resulting in the development of CBS-74 Ptolemaios 2. The variant is an overall improved version with as a capable, self-reliant ship. It is known the two remaining containers of the Ptolemy were used in the construction of the CBS Lab Transport