Starship designs...

[taalismn]

Cosmic Composites Ltd CCL-C04 Referret Light Star Freighter
(aka ‘Wingover’)
“It’s not entirely clear what market CeeCeel-El is angling for; the Refferet’s too pedestrian and utilitarian for a coreworld yacht, and too sophisticated to be a Rim bush-hopper. There’s some thought that the Wingover’s meant to appeal to the growing number of Fringe roamers with money, or the better-heeled adventurer set heading for the Fringe to seek their fortunes. ”

“Heh, those bandits didn’t expect a freighter to do a hammerstall and spin on climb-out! Especially a spin that just happened to bring our nose guns to bear on them! Gods, but I love the aeroflaps and wing jets on this wing-baby!”

The Referret is the creation of Cosmic Composites Ltd, a Human Alliance-based aerospace firm that started business only about seventy years ago, building terrestrial craft, aerospace shuttles and space structures using advanced nanoform materials. The company has begun expanding its stable to include light interstellar craft.
The Referret has a basic flying wing design, with a broad forward wing, with two engine bays flanking a thick central fuselage. The cockpit is well forward, the living quarters immediately behind, and the cargo bay takes up the rear two-thirds of the central fuselage. A large rear hatch with universal docking port allows for easy stern loading/unloading on a planetary surface or docked to a space station. The wings are thick enough near the fuselage that the engine bays can be accessed by service ways through the wings, which angle down at the tips to double as landing gear. The twin engines give a degree of redundancy, and the spacecraft can fly quite ably on one engine, though it works best with both working in synchronization(and it takes some extra maintenance time and effort to keep the engines attuned with each other). The FTL drive is faired into the central dorsal body, with power connections to both sublight engines/powerplants.
When first introduced, the Referret faced some skepticism thanks to doubts about its construction largely of crystal-foamed ‘buckysteel’, an exotic materials formulation premiered by Cosmic Composites Ltd. Though strong and lightweight, buckysteel was considered a dubious choice for starship hulls. CCltd, however, has repeatedly shown their data and tests proving that at least for small craft, the M-factor carbon crystal material is perfectly acceptable for building stout, tough spacecraft like the Referret.
The use of buckysteel has led to a near thirty-percent reduction in the weight of the Referret, as opposed to similar designs built using more conventional alloys and materials, which in turn means the CCL-C04 is more energy efficient thrust-to-mass ratio-wise. The material is also less prone to stress fractures, and so the CCL-04 handles that much better in atmospheric maneuvering, even fully loaded. The Referret has recieved high marks from crews for its handling in atmosphere and its simplicity of cargo operations.
The Referret comes standard with light commercial anti-particle forceshielding, but this is easily upgraded. The stock CCL-C04 comes unarmed, but has provision for several point defense weapons emplacements, and the cargo bay section can mount a heavier weapons turret and/or a rotary internal ordnance bay taking up some or all of the available space.
The only real complaints about the CCL-C04 are with regards to the choice of specially modified Supralumatronics Kato-ArcSeven cee-drivers as the main engines. Though CCltd has had a close relationship with Supralumatronics as their main engine supplier, the KA-7 is not an engine type in wide distribution. The shallow wing engine bays of the CCL-C04 cannot easily accept alternative powerplants in the event the designed engines aren’t available.
Despite Cosmic Composites Ltd’s growing reputation for innovative technologies and designs, the company is still fairly small, so its limited production capabilities make even the well-regarded Referret hard to come by outside the Human Alliance. Still, word is spreading about the design, and it is gaining a following with Runners and adventurers able to acquire the ships.

Type: CCL-C04 Referret
Class: Light Transatmospheric Interstellar Transport
Crew: 4+4 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,300
Bridge 600
Wings(2) 750 each
Engine Bays(2) 450 each
Rear Hatch 300
Forcefield 600

Height: 22 ft
Width: 180 ft
Length: 80 ft
Weight: 270 tons
Cargo: 90 tons or 60 passengers(on short haul flights)
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life(before core replacement/refurbishment)
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4.7; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 5.3
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.53% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 110 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Superior Atmosphere Handling Characteristics--- Maneuvering in atmosphere enjoys a +10% to piloting rolls.

*Damage Resistance---The various laminates, composites, and buckysteel components give the ship’s airframe and structure some’flex’, while the outer panels are to a degree self-healing and resistant to damage from kinetic strikes. Projectile strikes do 25% LESS damage to the Referret.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for mounting two point defense weapons in the nose, two on each wing, and up to a Light Weapon in the main fuselage.

Options:
Most Rim operators of the Referret upgrade the FTL drive to a Class D(4 light years/hour) or better. Upgraded variable forceshielding is also desireable.

Variants:
There are rumors that the CAF is testing a militarized gunship variant of the Referret that mounts military-grade variable shielding, a pair(or twin pairs) of g-cannons in the wings benefitting from the ‘Scorpion effect’ enhancement from the CG drives, a light pulse laser in the fuselage, countermeasure launchers/ECM in the wings, and a rotary missile launcher( 80 SRMs, OR 45 MRMs, OR 24 LRMs) replacing most of the cargo bay. Apparently inspired by the USAJC’s Derecho fighter-bomber, the military Referret is intended as a fast strike/ground attack ship.

[Borast]

Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4.7; transatmospheric.

Ironically, Terrestrial Escape Velocity, technically is slightly under M33, or about 11.2km/s.
But, if your Hover system is a-grav based...theoretically you don't even need any thrust...

Ignoring the RW stuff, love your work! Keep it up!

[taalismn]

Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4.7; transatmospheric.

Ironically, Terrestrial Escape Velocity, technically is slightly under M33, or about 11.2km/s.
But, if your Hover system is a-grav based...theoretically you don't even need any thrust...

Ignoring the RW stuff, love your work! Keep it up!

Yeah, that's always bugged me that in theory the real world Falcon 9 chemical rocket could beat a Phaseworld ship into orbit...but....slow start, going faster and faster, as long as you were remaining on an orbital insertion course, rather than a transatmospheric ;skip'.....

[taalismn]

Suraflite ‘Gamma-G’ Long Range Interstellar Shuttle
(aka ‘Gam-Gee’, Gamma-Go’, ‘Rub-a-Tug’)

“Don’t confuse ‘low-cost ‘ with ‘cheap’...’cheap’ gets you killed, ‘low-cost’ allows you to mak a modest living and keep on breathing. Gamma-Gees may be low-cost, but they’re nt cheap by a long shot.”

“You can still see a lot of Gamma-Goes in service on the space lanes if you look hard enough; a lot of operators discarded the old Defax drivers after Suraflite quit servicing them any longer and their tubes wore out, replacing them with all manner of alternative drives, including fission pile hot-squirts. So a lot of local space chuggers are bumping along with Gam-Gee hulls as their habitat pods, on account of them being so durable.”

The Suraflite Corporation, in its relatively long run as a spacecraft manufacturer, never made a serious splash in the aerospace market, but it did have the distinction of producing a number of more or less reliable and affordable small craft designs, many examples of which still fly to the current day.
Though not as utilitarian as its Model 590, Suraflite’s Gamma-G still had its strengths and the type enjoyed some small popularity in the Rim markets. The tubby little interstellar shuttles could never be called ‘stylish’ except by the most fashion design-blind, but they were resilient, reliable, useful, and, perhaps most important, low-cost, both in materials and operating costs. The engines, being mounted in a separate pod at the end of the oval main hull, could be easily serviced by maintenance crews, and even replaced with different power units. The downside was that they were more exposed to damage outside the protection of the main hull and more difficult to service in flight.
The Gamma-G saw fairly wide distribution during the first half of its production run, but the design never sold to the well-heeled clientele who were looking for something more aesthetically-pleasing and dynamically-exciting than the chubby and stodgy ‘Rub-a-Tug’. Its interior roominess aside, the Gamma-Gee was no looker, and so most of the production runs sold to lower-class operators. Eventually though, state of the art and changing market interest crept into even the lower economic brackets of space business, and the Gamma-Gee line was retired in favor of bolder, trendier, and more advanced spacecraft. Suralite discontinued the line aside from producing basic spare parts for them and the Gamma-Gee began its slide into obscurity. The design still survives, however, in the many examples still boosting around backwater systems, lovingly or grudgingly maintained by their operators.
The Vorarchy of Panmandu counted two Gamma-Gs amongst its ragtag ‘fleet’ of spacecraft; one of these made the long trip carrying their envoy party to the nearest USA outpost. Loaded as it was with functionaries, attaches, full brass band, and gifts of diplomacy(bribe material), it was fortunate that the Pandmanduans could go for weeks without water and hardly any food.

Type: SfC-GamG02 ‘Gamma-G’
Class: Long Range Interstellar Shuttle/Light Transport
Crew: 3+ 1-70 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,800
Cockpit 400
Engines 1,000

Height: 22 ft
Width: 35 ft
Length: 90 ft
Weight: 280 tons
Cargo: 24 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 40 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can operate from the surface of bodies of water, but cannot operate underwater unless specially modified(see Variants)
Market Cost: 37 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship/Shuttle Systems
Weapons Systems: None standard. Can be fitted with a single PDS or Light weapons system.

Options:
Most market options modified the accommodations and/or cargo space. Light defense shields are also a common add-on. Different engines, aerodynamic control surfaces, and FTL systems were also available to Gamma-Gee buyers.

Variants:
The Gamma-Gee’s been around long enough for a number of official variants to have come into existence:
* SfC-GamG02UC----Amphibious model aimed at the waterworld(er) market. The -UC variant adds extra bilge and ballast tanks(increase overall weight to 350 tons) and a secondary underwater drive system. Submerged, the -GamG02UC can make 45 MPH underwater, and operate down to a depth of 8,000 ft.
Though Suraflite quit producing the -GamG02UC when they retired from spacecraft manufacturing, the design has been licensed to a number of aquatic species. The QuimBek in particular managed to wrangle WZT a license to make them a variant of the -GamG02UC to service their growing interstellar trade and travel.

* SfC-GamATA G02---Tug variant, distinguishable by the large angular crossbeam ‘wing’ cutting across the ship’s fuselage. This structure has large grapples, spooled bucky-fiber tow cable, and powered winches in each side of the ‘wing’. The Tug can also carry a twelve-man team of engineers for performing damage assessment and emergency repairs. Besides spaceyards and salvage groups, the ‘Attaboy-gotoit’ did well in sales to Belter miners.

* SfC-GamG02De---A ‘tourist shuttle’ distinguishable by a large heavily-shielded (500 MDC)dorsal ‘greenhouse’ observation bubble. Though menat primarily for tours of particularly scenic star systems, a number have also become private space-yachts.

* SfC-GamG02G---’Big nose’ variant distinguishable by its particularly protruding(added an extra 10 ft to length) and bulbous nose housing deep radar and other geoscience sensors. It was aimed at planetary survey and Belter prospector operators.

[SolCannibal]

Suraflite ‘Gamma-G’ Long Range Interstellar Shuttle
(aka ‘Gam-Gee’, Gamma-Go’, ‘Rub-a-Tug’)

“Don’t confuse ‘low-cost ‘ with ‘cheap’...’cheap’ gets you killed, ‘low-cost’ allows you to mak a modest living and keep on breathing. Gamma-Gees may be low-cost, but they’re nt cheap by a long shot.”

“You can still see a lot of Gamma-Goes in service on the space lanes if you look hard enough; a lot of operators discarded the old Defax drivers after Suraflite quit servicing them any longer and their tubes wore out, replacing them with all manner of alternative drives, including fission pile hot-squirts. So a lot of local space chuggers are bumping along with Gam-Gee hulls as their habitat pods, on account of them being so durable.”

The Suraflite Corporation, in its relatively long run as a spacecraft manufacturer, never made a serious splash in the aerospace market, but it did have the distinction of producing a number of more or less reliable and affordable small craft designs, many examples of which still fly to the current day.
Though not as utilitarian as its Model 590, Suraflite’s Gamma-G still had its strengths and the type enjoyed some small popularity in the Rim markets. The tubby little interstellar shuttles could never be called ‘stylish’ except by the most fashion design-blind, but they were resilient, reliable, useful, and, perhaps most important, low-cost, both in materials and operating costs. The engines, being mounted in a separate pod at the end of the oval main hull, could be easily serviced by maintenance crews, and even replaced with different power units. The downside was that they were more exposed to damage outside the protection of the main hull and more difficult to service in flight.
The Gamma-G saw fairly wide distribution during the first half of its production run, but the design never sold to the well-heeled clientele who were looking for something more aesthetically-pleasing and dynamically-exciting than the chubby and stodgy ‘Rub-a-Tug’. Its interior roominess aside, the Gamma-Gee was no looker, and so most of the production runs sold to lower-class operators. Eventually though, state of the art and changing market interest crept into even the lower economic brackets of space business, and the Gamma-Gee line was retired in favor of bolder, trendier, and more advanced spacecraft. Suralite discontinued the line aside from producing basic spare parts for them and the Gamma-Gee began its slide into obscurity. The design still survives, however, in the many examples still boosting around backwater systems, lovingly or grudgingly maintained by their operators.

Variants:
The Gamma-Gee’s been around long enough for a number of official variants to have come into existence:
* SfC-GamG02UC----Amphibious model aimed at the waterworld(er) market. The -UC variant adds extra bilge and ballast tanks(increase overall weight to 350 tons) and a secondary underwater drive system. Submerged, the -GamG02UC can make 45 MPH underwater, and operate down to a depth of 8,000 ft.
Though Suraflite quit producing the -GamG02UC when they retired from spacecraft manufacturing, the design has been licensed to a number of aquatic species. The QuimBek in particular managed to wrangle WZT a license to make them a variant of the -GamG02UC to service their growing interstellar trade and travel.

* SfC-GamATA G02---Tug variant, distinguishable by the large angular crossbeam ‘wing’ cutting across the ship’s fuselage. This structure has large grapples, spooled bucky-fiber tow cable, and powered winches in each side of the ‘wing’. The Tug can also carry a twelve-man team of engineers for performing damage assessment and emergency repairs. Besides spaceyards and salvage groups, the ‘Attaboy-gotoit’ did well in sales to Belter miners.

* SfC-GamG02De---A ‘tourist shuttle’ distinguishable by a large heavily-shielded (500 MDC)dorsal ‘greenhouse’ observation bubble. Though menat primarily for tours of particularly scenic star systems, a number have also become private space-yachts.

* SfC-GamG02G---’Big nose’ variant distinguishable by its particularly protruding(added an extra 10 ft to length) and bulbous nose housing deep radar and other geoscience sensors. It was aimed at planetary survey and Belter prospector operators.

Cheap, rugged and antiquated enough to feel non-threatening.... Maybe it's my inner optimistic/fortune-seeker talking, but i think someone mass-producing it (along with some other models of Suraflite or other old standbies) once again in the right place could make a killing while bootstrapping the Central Alliance's almost non-existent merchant/civilian spaceship sector into full gear.

[taalismn]

Well, WZT already has a license to produce one variant, and with that foot in the door and some good lawyers.... General Noldek could hint to some of his worlds that he's willing to offer incentives, bring WZT to provide technical assistance, and start a few production lines with WZT getting a small percentage, and the local lads and ladies doing the grunt work getting the name recognition and lions' share of the profits. Ungersol's doing good, StarForge is turning out warships, and Alliance Motors is turning out in-demand vehicles, so there would likely be a good number of worlds, seeing how those three start-ups under Noldek are doing so well, would be climbing over each other to get the next slice of pie....

[SolCannibal]

Well, WZT already has a license to produce one variant, and with that foot in the door and some good lawyers.... General Noldek could hint to some of his worlds that he's willing to offer incentives, bring WZT to provide technical assistance, and start a few production lines with WZT getting a small percentage, and the local lads and ladies doing the grunt work getting the name recognition and lions' share of the profits. Ungersol's doing good, StarForge is turning out warships, and Alliance Motors is turning out in-demand vehicles, so there would likely be a good number of worlds, seeing how those three start-ups under Noldek are doing so well, would be climbing over each other to get the next slice of pie....

Oh yeah, WZT already has a foot mightly well-placed in that particular door of opportunity, what should have been obvious in retrospect as they are some of the more successful makers of Suraflite knock-offs and variants in the tri-galactic market.

As an aside, has anyone ever tried to offer MoM technology or any variants of it to any 3 Galaxies' powers in general or the Central Alliance in particular?

[taalismn]

As an aside, has anyone ever tried to offer MoM technology or any variants of it to any 3 Galaxies' powers in general or the Central Alliance in particular?

My head canon is that at some point or another the Noro messed around with psylite-based psynetic-style implants, but ran into too many problems, so they discretely closed out the book on that venue of research (or so they claim) and no longer talk about it. Other species have likely tried brain-boosting of one sort or another, so I wouldn't be surprised if MoM tech(or facsimiles thereof) are known in the Three Galaxies. Likewise for Juicer-Tech.

[SolCannibal]

As an aside, has anyone ever tried to offer MoM technology or any variants of it to any 3 Galaxies' powers in general or the Central Alliance in particular?

My head canon is that at some point or another the Noro messed around with psylite-based psynetic-style implants, but ran into too many problems, so they discretely closed out the book on that venue of research (or so they claim) and no longer talk about it. Other species have likely tried brain-boosting of one sort or another, so I wouldn't be surprised if MoM tech(or facsimiles thereof) are known in the Three Galaxies. Likewise for Juicer-Tech.

Then, probably some examples of MoM, Psynetics and Juicer-tech should exist but are fairly niche or limited venue at present and no business has made a big splash with either of those things in the Three Galaxies. So far.

(Not to mention competition of Splugorth bio-wizardry, Kreeghor biotech and/or TW enhancements, Gene-Tech bio mods and creation among stranger things)

[taalismn]

Jerome Aeroastronautics APG-F08 Sun-Arrow Heavy Fighter/Patroller
(aka ‘Desk-carrier’)

“The Sun-arrow’s got really good sensors for its vintage...just not extraordinarily good sensors like the long range real-time sensors that the big SWACS platforms and cruisers carry, or the multi-node FTL comm capabilities those things carry . Still, it had good enough systems that a good number of wing commanders would use them as their personal rides, hoping to get closer to the action and feel one with their pilots. That worked out sometimes. Sometimes, though, it ended up with the fighter wing looking for a new commander.”

“There’s nothing mechanically wrong with the Sun-Arrow; it gets places and fast...it’s just that it can’t do much when it gets there.”

The ‘Sun-Arrow’ was one of Human Alliance world Solstice-based Jerome Aeroastronautics’ earlier designs, and it paved the way for the later and more successful Stelavian patroller.
The Sun-Arrow is a long-bodied aerospacecraft with twin engines, large wings, and crew accommodations split between a forward cockpit and a rear systems section, connected by a crawl-tunnel in the long narrow ‘neck’ necessitated by the need to keep the sensitive forward sensor arrays clear of interference from the engines. The forward cockpit generally handled piloting and gunnery, while the rear station handled engineering and sensors, and had enough room for crewmembers to rest and refresh themselves on long missions.
Despite the crawlspace connection between the two cockpits, communication between the fore and aft stations sometimes proved a problem. The large size of the Sun-Arrow also foreshadowed the Stelavian and its problems cutting it as a ‘carrier-compatible ‘heavy fighter’. Finally, for its size, the Sun-Arrow was lightly armed. Though its powerful sensor systems gave it both advance warning and accurate target information, the Sun-Arrow lacked the firepower to really make use of that data and distinguish itself as a ship-killer. The Sun-Arrow was thus frequently attached to squadrons of lighter, but more heavily-armed, fighters as a command ship. This only worked half the time, as opposition forces learned to target the larger Sun-Arrow, depriving the squadron of the ship’s advanced sensors and command coordination systems.
Though not enjoying the same success as the Stelavian, the Sun-Arrow nevertheless made some sales off Solstice to various operators. A few of the original JAa-built craft can still be found operating as security patrollers, scouts or rescue cutters, and there are several small garage-firms that hand-build new Sun-Arrows for those really wanting one.
The Sun-Arrow’s ultimate problem was that as a combatant, it was overtaken technologically by smaller, faster, and better-armed fighters.

Type: JAa-APG-F08 Sun-Arrow
Class: Heavy Fighter/Patroller
Crew: 7+ 1-2 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,800
Reinforced Crew Compartments(2) 300 each
Forward Sensor Array 300
Forward Laser Cannons(2) 100 each
Point Defense Lasers (4 ) 60 each
Wings(2) 460 each
Forcefield 900
Height: 23 ft
Width: 80 ft wingspan
Length: 100 ft
Weight: 380 tons
Cargo: 7 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30-year energy life between reactor core replacements
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9.6
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.96% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 175 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus;
*Enhanced Sensors---The Sun-Arrow can carry the sensor suite of a larger light starship, rather than that of a fighter. In general, the Sun-Arrow’s sensors are 40% better in terms of range and resolution than standard fighters’.

*Advanced Targeting----Sensor linkages between the weapons and the Enhanced Sensors give them a +2 to strike.

*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. Note that this applies only to the underside and leading edges of the airframe.

Weapons Systems:
1) Medium Lasers(2)---Mounted on the sides of the nose section is a pair of medium laser cannons. These are fairly short-ranged weapons(compared to what smaller ‘heavy fighters’ like the Proctor would carry); JAa wanted to mount more powerful types, but the weapons tested all interfered with the important sensor arrays that were the Sun-Arrow’s primary selling point, so they had to be content with the lower-powered weapons.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per single blast, 6d6x10 MD for both cannons firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Medium Range Missile Launchers(2)----Under the nose section are two small missile bays for MRMS. Despite benfitting from the +2 to strike bonus afforded the Sun-Arrow’s ranged weapons, the small magazine capacity of the launvh bays was always an issue, and some operators attempted to remedy this by adding semi-external missile pods( 120 MDC each) with capacity for 24 missiles each(48 total). but were more susceptible to damage and shifted the center of gravity too far foward(-5% on maneuverig/pilot rolls in atmosphere).
Range: By missile type(MRM)
Damage: By missile type(MRM)
Rate of Fire:Volleys of 1-4
Payload: 16 each(32 total)

3) Point Defense Lasers (4 ) ---These are four mini-turrets, normally retracted to sit flush with the fuselage until needed, when they pop up to offer point defense coverage to the sides and rear of the ship.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6 MD per single blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Variants:
Before they went ahead with what would become the Stelavian, Jerome Aeroastronautics tried several different configurations of the APG-F08. Almost all of these sacrificed the sensors and EW for firepower. However, as the Sun-Arrow was designed from the start around an integrated high-def sensor system, mounting extra weaponry in the electronics bays or rear compartment never proved satisfactory. None of the variants were produced in more than small batches and most ended up being returned to the manufacturer after field tests and being scrapped.
A few Sun-Arrows were converted into ‘Black Arrows’; Electronic Warfare craft dedicated to jamming and SIGNIT(signal intelligence ) operations. The rear compartmet was large enough to accommodate dedicated EW personnel and the missile bays were converted into electronics compartments for sugnal intercept and jamming systems. The ‘Black Arrows’ could be distinguished by additional aerial antennae juttng from the nose, wings, and tail. External decoy pods were frequently hung from the undereside of the main hull.
The most common after-market variant of the Sun-Arrow downgraded its military electronics, removed all its armaments but the PDS lasers, and modified its rear EWC compartment into space for 4 rescue jumpers and up to 10 passengers. This modification went into service as a rescue cutter with some operators.
Among the ‘small-builds’ produced by smaller aerospace yards, there is a greater variety of systems, including moving the missile launchers under(or atop) the main hull for better ballance, and the swapping out of the main lasers for more advanced and better insulated alternatives.

[SolCannibal]

Jerome Aeroastronautics APG-F08 Sun-Arrow Heavy Fighter/Patroller
(aka ‘Desk-carrier’)

Variants:
A few Sun-Arrows were converted into ‘Black Arrows’; Electronic Warfare craft dedicated to jamming and SIGNIT(signal intelligence ) operations. The rear compartmet was large enough to accommodate dedicated EW personnel and the missile bays were converted into electronics compartments for signal intercept and jamming systems. The ‘Black Arrows’ could be distinguished by additional aerial antennae juttng from the nose, wings, and tail. External decoy pods were frequently hung from the undereside of the main hull.

One more in the long line of localized 2nd and 3rd rate CCW business that WZT would collect designs of limited success from to then carve a competitive niche for themselves with in the Rim.


As an aside, thinking that the ‘Black Arrows’ enhanced Electronic Warfare capabilities could go very well with a drone complement filling the same role as attached squadrons of lighter, but more heavily-armed fighters did for the Sun-Arrow, though possibly in much more integrated form.

[taalismn]

I'll go into some greater detail about Solstice and its aerospace industries/star kingdoms in the worlds thread, seeing as I've had two aerospace companies hail from there.....I've roughed and statted the system out already...just need to throw in some interesting extra color to make it sing.......

[SolCannibal]

I'll go into some greater detail about Solstice and its aerospace industries/star kingdoms in the worlds thread, seeing as I've had two aerospace companies hail from there.....I've roughed and statted the system out already...just need to throw in some interesting extra color to make it sing.......

Yes, it's curious how two rival aerospace companies hailing from the world would eventually not only peter out and have their designs absorbed by the USA (through WZT) and the Deneva Comdomate (through a number of unnamed local corporations like the ones still producing the Bustard) rival star polities in the Rim.

[taalismn]

Yes, it's curious how two rival aerospace companies hailing from the world would eventually not only peter out and have their designs absorbed by the USA (through WZT) and the Deneva Comdomate (through a number of unnamed local corporations like the ones still producing the Bustard) rival star polities in the Rim.

Changing business markets/models, shifts of economy, restrictions on technology, scandals...plenty of reason why companies, even successful ones, can go belly-up or disappear....France and Italy used to be teeming with aircraft companies....onlya few survived to the modern era. others got replaced/superseded by newer more aggressive firms, or were squeezed out of the market by outsiders with slicker offers and shinier goods.

[SolCannibal]

Yes, it's curious how two rival aerospace companies hailing from the world would eventually not only peter out and have their designs absorbed by the USA (through WZT) and the Deneva Comdomate (through a number of unnamed local corporations like the ones still producing the Bustard) rival star polities in the Rim.

Changing business markets/models, shifts of economy, restrictions on technology, scandals...plenty of reason why companies, even successful ones, can go belly-up or disappear....France and Italy used to be teeming with aircraft companies....onlya few survived to the modern era. others got replaced/superseded by newer more aggressive firms, or were squeezed out of the market by outsiders with slicker offers and shinier goods.

Yes, yes, definitely can happen all too easily when the decades and up & downs of corporations from multiple nations meet ever higher scales and stakes of market competition. Part & parcel of the cutthroat cosmos of business.
The curious irony of fate is in the products of once rivals finding themselves being repurposed as tools into a another, even larger rivalry decades later.

[taalismn]

It's also what happens when you have a space opera setting where interacting cultures are only centuries or millennia apart in technological development, as opposed to geological time scales(one real world scientist said that First Contact would be more like archaeology than anything else) and certain technologies plateauing .....The current contra gravity FTL technologies seem to hit a wall in the 8-10 lightyear/hour range, beyond which you either have to be sneaky and use some other means like space folding, or you have to make a great leap in your culture's tech-rating/energy-utilization index.

It would also explain why designs last for a long time.....Once a design gets tired out with its parent culture, it often becomes open source/common property and gets snapped up by the lower-tech up and comer societies who find it easier to copy and adapt the castoffs of the cultures above them, than go to all the trouble of developing their own unique designs(David Brin's Uplift universe has this problem; it's easier to go the Great Library and copy a ship design with a million year history than it is to develop your own from scratch. The Terragens---that's us---only do this halfway, because we stubbornly want to know HOW the technologies work, but that costs us in the sheer power category...while giving us the advantage of a few tricks from not blindly and slavishly following the recipes in the book)...In real life, nations like India and Pakistan buy up the old factory tooling of aged/obsolete British(and other) automobile lines and tweak them to come out with their own 'new' designs, or assemble automotive frankensteins from imported parts, often from several different sources.
So a few high-tech cultures can dominate the design markets with their castoffs drifting in the common 'cloud' for centuries until somebody plucks them out and starts producing them again.

[SolCannibal]

It would also explain why designs last for a long time.....Once a design gets tired out with its parent culture, it often becomes open source/common property and gets snapped up by the lower-tech up and comer societies who find it easier to copy and adapt the castoffs of the cultures above them, than go to all the trouble of developing their own unique designs(David Brin's Uplift universe has this problem; it's easier to go the Great Library and copy a ship design with a million year history than it is to develop your own from scratch. The Terragens---that's us---only do this halfway, because we stubbornly want to know HOW the technologies work, but that costs us in the sheer power category...while giving us the advantage of a few tricks from not blindly and slavishly following the recipes in the book)...In real life, nations like India and Pakistan buy up the old factory tooling of aged/obsolete British(and other) automobile lines and tweak them to come out with their own 'new' designs, or assemble automotive frankensteins from imported parts, often from several different sources.
So a few high-tech cultures can dominate the design markets with their castoffs drifting in the common 'cloud' for centuries until somebody plucks them out and starts producing them again.

And so it is that the "second best" or third from some stellar power large or small may end up spreading descendants across a hundred or more star-nations, while the winner never leaves its nest - and sometimes disappears without sucessors along with it.

[taalismn]

CCW PFFE-APG-12 Security Cutter
(aka ‘Brickwad’,’Piffers’, ‘Stone-sloops’)
“Mind you, the Brickbat still handles like a brick in atmo, but the added speed and power make it less of a WALLOWING brick and it’s a lot smoother in space. Don’t think you can jump from an assault shuttle to a cutter easy though; the two may look a lot alike, but the cockpits and controls are a lot different, as are the performance specs; the shuttle’s still a BOAT and the cutter’s inarguably a SHIP, so the hazing between shuttle-schleppers and starship-jocks is still going to continue.”

“Most of what we deal with on a routine solar patrol are incoming traffic emerging slightly off course, tramp freighters with faked maintenance clearance certificates blowing a coolant conduit, private space-yachters botching their manual navigation skills or burning out their navi-comps trying some damnfool maneuver, or the occasional would-be smuggler panicking because they had a misdemeanor amount of chark-weed aboard and decide to run for it. We’re usually able to run them down, or we sic the faster fighter patrols on them. Occasionally, though, we get a more...interesting....encounter, like the exo-pet that got loose aboard somebody’s transport, a plague-ship, or a narco-runner with a bad nav-calculator but plenty of hidden guns looking to buy time by dusting us before jumping back out.”
-CCW TVIA Junior Inspector Ralfar Geltz, CCW-APG345345 Arm of Olmann,

“Yeah, there are runners with faster drives and bigger guns than us, but we have the AUTHORITY backing us up. You might get away now, but we got your number, and sometime, somewhere, down the line, your luck’s gonna run out, and this ship or another, better shps, or more of us, are going to catch you.”

The PFFE-APG-12 was an interesting effort by Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering to turn the SAS-12 assault shuttle design into a full-blown customs cutter starship. Part of the reasoning behind this was as a Minion War expedient to free up Corrister corvettes and Scimitar patrol frigates for combat duty elsewhere. The other hope was that by using a fairly common design as the basis and a substantial commonality of parts, the new ship could use existing logistics with few additions, saving resources and money.
By reducing the troop carrying capacity, PFFE engineers were able to free up enough internal space for a larger engine and accessory forcefield generator. The SAS-12’s hull was deemed durable enough to handle the stresses of FTL travel, so a short-range FTL ‘hop’ capability was added(though jaunts of more than 5 light years are not recommended; the ships are typically transported by FTL tug for longer distances). The dual-setting particle beam cannons were dropped in favor of more precise energy weapon types. Improved sensors and fire control have also been added, extra armor protection mounted around the cockpit and a variable forcefield generation system, taken from LRF-25 Proctor spare parts stocks, has been installed. The rear hatch has been replaced by lateral airlocks with boarding apparatus. Internally, as noted, troop and vehicle space has been given over to engineering, and of necessity some onboard facilities for extended occupancy for the crew and complement, including ‘coffin bunks’ for the crew, fold-down bunks for passengers, two relief stations, and provision for preparing foodstuffs.
The PFFE-APG-12 can be distinguished from the SAS-12 by the former’s revised backside and the protrudent larger engine bell. Several extra lateral thrusters have been added to afford the vessel some agility, as compared to the brick-like maneuvering of the SAS-12 .
The PFFE-APG-12 didn’t -quite- turn out to be the cost-savings ploy that the thought it would be, as enough new design-specific parts had to be fabricated that hopes of using existing SAS-12 parts supplies for most repairs were dashed, but the PFFE-APG-12 is still fairly inexpensive to operate. This has led to it being adopted by a growing number of users, especially local space patrols and trade customs enforcement groups.

Type: PFFE-APG-12
Class: FTL Police Cutter/Corvette
Crew: 9+1-160 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,200
Bridge 500
Sensor Arrays(2)*300 each
Boarding Airlocks(2) 300 each
Engine Bloc 870
Auxiliary Stabilizer Jets(4)**. 250 each
Point Defense Laser/Missile Turrets(4) 150 each
Particle BeamTurrets(2) 100 each
Tractor BeamTurret(1) 150
Variable Forcefield 400 each side( 2,400 total)

*Destroying the Sensor Arrays negates the +2 strike bonus to the weapons.

** Knocking out two or more Stabilizer Jets causes the spacecraft to be -3 to dodge in space, and -4 to dodge in atmosphere.

Height: 70 ft
Width: 50 ft
Length: 260 ft
Weight: 1,300 tons
Cargo:
Depending on the mission configuration, the APG-12 can carry 250 tons of cargo, 100 regular EBA-suited infantry, or 50 power-armored troopers, or 160 evacuees under cramped conditions.
Powerplant: Anti-matter, w/ 40 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8.6
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.86% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 178 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Boarding Locks---These are reinforced airlocks with ‘universal’ attachment/sealing mechanisms, and inside interface breaching tools.

*Advanced Fire Control----Sensor linkages between the various ranged weapons gives them a +2 to strike.

*Stability Control—The added lateral thrusters negate the maneuvering penalties of the SAS012; the APG-12 lacks the penalties for dodging in space, atmospheric dodges are only at -2(it still has the aerodynamics of a brick), and the advanced fire control means that a successful dodge does NOT cause the gunners to lose an attack action that melee round.

Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Laser/Missile Turrets(4) ---These are unchanged from the original and provide good all-around point defense.
Range:(Lasers) 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by missile type(Mini-Missiles); generally 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 1d4x10 MD per blast
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by missile type(Mini-Missiles)
Rate of Fire:(Lasers) EGCHH
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1-8.
Payload:(Lasers) Effectively Unlimited
(Mini-Missiles) 32 per turret( 128 total)

2) Particle BeamTurrets(2) -----The security cutter version replaces the SAS-12’s dual-mode PBCs with longer-ranged and more accurate types, citing that while area-effect damage may be fine in securing a contested landing war-zone, police and security units require more finesse, especially when capturing live pirates or minimizing civilian casualties is an issue.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Tractor Beam(1)---Effectively rated for 1,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass.
Range: 5 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)
(Kitsune Values: 5,000 miles in space).

Variants:
Already a number of minor variants of the APG-12 have begun appearing, differing mainly in weaponry and sensor configurations. Sensor acuity is expanded by installing larger antennae arrays, or alternate ‘disabler’-type weaponry is mounted in place of the ‘disabler’ cannons are installed in place of the PBCs; an example of which follows:
*Ion “TKO” Cannon(2)---This configuration replaces the PBCs or tractor beam with a pair of high-powered ion cannons, used to incapacitate enemy vessels by knocking out their electrical systems, making them vulnerable to boarding and capture. These specific weapons were copied from Paladin Steel technology that they had in turn traded for with MacKenzie Arms.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere/ 5,000 miles in space)
Damage:(Special) 5d6x10 MD per blast, 1d6x100 MD Dual blast
Shields take 1/4 damage from ion blasts
Does NO PHYSICAL damage to hull, but attacks the electrical systems:
For every 10% of total main body MDC damage inflicted on a target by the Ion Cannon fire, the target will be -1 to strike, parry(if applicable), and Dodge. Acceleration will be reduced by 15%.
At 60% or more main body damage from ion blasts, the ship is disabled completely.
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload:Effectively unlimited

[SolCannibal]

One thing that kind of nags at me - why Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering? Is the group some CAF-related internal think tank producing designs from the military to the military or connected to some sector or associated star-nation fleet? The fact the Corporations thread cites them as "Catyr-owned shipwrights" tempts me to think possibly the second.

[taalismn]

One thing that kind of nags at me - why Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering? Is the group some CAF-related internal think tank producing designs from the military to the military or connected to some sector or associated star-nation fleet? The fact the Corporations thread cites them as "Catyr-owned shipwrights" tempts me to think possibly the second.

It's mainly a pretentious name for an ambitious military division of an aerospace company that wants to land military contracts. Though certainly local pride will cause the Catyr militia forces to buy Phizemann for their needs. However, Phizemann can(and likely does) also provide spare parts and components for the CAF, so the title isn't entirely bluster.
In fact, given Catyr radiation tolerances, the Catyr aerospace militia variant of the -APG-12 might skimp on radiation shielding around the engines and use the freed-up space for something else.

[SolCannibal]

One thing that kind of nags at me - why Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering? Is the group some CAF-related internal think tank producing designs from the military to the military or connected to some sector or associated star-nation fleet? The fact the Corporations thread cites them as "Catyr-owned shipwrights" tempts me to think possibly the second.

It's mainly a pretentious name for an ambitious military division of an aerospace company that wants to land military contracts. Though certainly local pride will cause the Catyr militia forces to buy Phizemann for their needs. However, Phizemann can(and likely does) also provide spare parts and components for the CAF, so the title isn't entirely bluster.
In fact, given Catyr radiation tolerances, the Catyr aerospace militia variant of the -APG-12 might skimp on radiation shielding around the engines and use the freed-up space for something else.

Now that's room for at least one major variant, then. I helped!

[taalismn]

Thing with names, is, I remember way back when traveling to summer vacation we'd pass a roadside company that had. a name like "Space Industries' or something, with 'space' in it. They even had a mockup(down to the access panels and ports) Sparrow AAM on a stand in their parking lot.....looked really aerospace-related and 'gee-wow' to a pre-teen kid obsessed with space....later on, as best I could figure, they made electric switches and the closest they ever got to space was maybe making electronics parts for missiles or maybe civilian aircraft...but this would have been the -79s and -80s. and 'space' was still a big seller if you could claim your company was involved in it, however peripherally... Not quite false-advertising, but certainly using buzzwords to generate interest(like 'Patriot Furniture').

[SolCannibal]

Thing with names, is, I remember way back when traveling to summer vacation we'd pass a roadside company that had. a name like "Space Industries' or something, with 'space' in it. They even had a mockup(down to the access panels and ports) Sparrow AAM on a stand in their parking lot.....looked really aerospace-related and 'gee-wow' to a pre-teen kid obsessed with space....later on, as best I could figure, they made electric switches and the closest they ever got to space was maybe making electronics parts for missiles or maybe civilian aircraft...but this would have been the -79s and -80s. and 'space' was still a big seller if you could claim your company was involved in it, however peripherally... Not quite false-advertising, but certainly using buzzwords to generate interest(like 'Patriot Furniture').

That's fair and sensible. But as an aside, it makes me think of whatever Catyr colonized world Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering is based upon has something of a Reagan Era jingoist spirit going on for them to go for that kind of gimmick, what can be an interesting contrast with some of the shades of Star Trek's Federation of the CCW.

[taalismn]

PFFE-APG-12 Variants(Expanded)
“If you’re buying a Piffer direct from the manufacturer, make CERTAIN you’re getting one of the types with full CCW-standard mandated radiation-shielding. The Catyr models are cheaper, and that may look REALLY tempting if you’re on a tight budget, but unless you’re as rad-resistant as a Catyr, your crews are going to fry slow or quick, depending on their tolerance. Make sure front and center with the Phisemann reps that you get the full-shielded powerplant models.”

“The Catyr-mods of this thing prove that if you stick enough power up a ship’s rear, you can get some blistering fast speed out of ‘em.”

“We were pinning our corporate plans on big shp projects like the Lancier, but with the orders for corvettes coming in, and then our light frigates, we may have to revise our business model.”
---Anonymous Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering officer

“Despite their light firepower, the fact that these ships are crewed entirely by Catyr can make a considerable difference in the field; we’ve seen these ships operate in radiological environments other ships can’t. We’ve seen them shrug off radiation weapons that would have killed other crews, and we’ve even seen the Catyr defense forces operating closely with the glowing VRUSK od all peoples!”

Though the assault-shuttle-turned-armed-cutter proved increasingly popular with crews across the CCW, Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering built a few versions specifically for its own local market. The Catyr, being more resistant to radiation than other species, had less stringent safety standards concerning radiation and thus could reduce the amount of radiation shielding on ships not intended for use by other species. While some parts of the design required CCQ-mandated shielding levels(electronics and weapons bays holding radiation-sensitive equipment and materials), other sections could be opened up.


*PFFE-APG-12C---This is the basic stock -APG-12 with less radiation shielding around the engine spaces. Instead, a more sophisticated heat-exchanger system has been installed, scavenging more energy from the ship’s powerplant and feeding it to the shields and engines. This improvement in performance, while at the same cost as a regular -APG-12 , makes them very popular with Catyr defense forces who like the fact that the locally-produced ships fit them ‘just right’.
Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
Variable Forcefield 500 each side( 3,000 total)
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
Note: The decrease in onboard radiation shielding makes these ships too ‘hot’ for most other species to use.

*PFFE-DFR-12D Phylyster Light Frigate
(aka ‘Phider’, ‘Brick-Sloop’, ‘Peeb-Hammer’)
“-Not as well-armed or armored as the ancient Corsiter, but a helluva lot lighter and faster. The explosion in piracy following the Minion War incursions has exposed a lot of holes in the star polities’ defenses that need to be plugged in a hurry. The Catyr won’t be able to fight off a dedicated real star-nation-backed foce with real warships with these ships unless they got numbers and a willingness to accept hard combat attrition, but the Caytr will be able to fend off the lesser scum and self-employed brigands that would otherwise mosquito-bleed and distract the Caty defense forces.”

This is a more radical starship conversion of the -APG-12, relying on decreasing amounts of SAS-12 and more on new parts and new work. The design has been compared in some circles to the USA’s ‘Minnow’ conversions of the ‘Barong’ corvette, in that both ships are based on older designs that have added lengthened and enlarged propulsion sections. The DFG-12D has a trailing rear propulsion section that can no longer fit inside the former troop bay, and adds over a third greater length to the ship. Troop capacity has been dropped altogether(only a minimal marine security squad has been retained) in favor of expanding the crew(allowing for several duty shifts), and greatly expanding the weaponry. Four particle beam cannons of the older dual-mode type have been fitted, the tractor beam has been dropped in favor of a heavier weapons mount, and the boarding looks and much of the troop bay have been replaced with twin rotary missile launchers and inboard magazines. The bridge been further reinforced, and forcescreening has been upped in resistance value.
The alterations have been enough to get the vessel reclassified as a straight-out frigate, albeit a light one. The -DFR-12D s are more expensive and less versatile than the APG-12s, but are more effective straightout warships in anti-spacecraft interdiction combat, and have earnd a reputationn as ‘pocket destroyers’. Often compared to the old(and obsolete) Corister-class frigates of the Human Alliance, the ‘Phylyster’ is lighter, more compact, less durable, and not as versatile, but also less xpensive and much more agile and faster.
Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering built the -DFR-12D during the Minion War as a systems defense craft to bolster the defenses of Catyr properties and territories. While the ships proved uncomfortable on long deployments due to the lack of onboard recreation facilities, as most assignments of these craft rarely take them far from port installations or support craft, this has seldom became an issue, and the ‘pocket destroyers’ are otherwise popular with their Catyr crews.

Changes/Modifications:
Type: PFFE-DFR-12D
Class: Frigate, Light
Crew: 25+1-20 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,200
Bridge 900
Sensor Arrays(2)*300 each
Engine Bloc 1,500
Point Defense Laser/Missile Turrets(4) 150 each
Particle BeamTurrets(4) 100 each
Missile Launchers(2) 400 each
Medium Weapons Turret(1) 700
Variable Forcefield 1,000 each side( 6,000 total)

*Destroying the Sensor Arrays negates the +2 strike bonus to the weapons.

Height: 70 ft
Width: 50 ft
Length: 355 ft
Weight: 2,500 tons
Cargo: 120 tons
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 12
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.2% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 190 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Advanced Fire Control----Sensor linkages between the various ranged weapons gives them a +2 to strike.
Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Laser/Missile Turrets(4) ---Unchanged from the APG-12.
Range:(Lasers) 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by missile type(Mini-Missiles); generally 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 1d4x10 MD per blast
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by missile type(Mini-Missiles)
Rate of Fire:(Lasers) EGCHH
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1-8.
Payload:(Lasers) Effectively Unlimited
(Mini-Missiles) 32 per turret( 128 total)

2) Particle BeamTurrets(4) ---Rather than the single-mode PBCs of the APG-12 cutters, the -DFR-12D, restores the SAS-12’s dual-mode weapons, but with improved range more fitting for a starship weapon. And the -DFR-12D DOUBLES their number.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: (Beam Mode)4d6x10 MD per blast
(Spray Mode) 5d6 MD to a 25 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3)Medium Weapons Turret(1)---The tractor beam turret has been replaced with a station for a Medium-class starship weapon, typically a laser cannon in the 2d6x100 MD damage range.

4) Missile Launchers(2) ---Two semi-external missile launchers have been added, rotary models resupplied from magazines in the ship. Depending on the configuration, each launcher can hold 100 short range missiles OR 50 medium range missiles OR 22 long range missiles, OR 10 cruise missiles, with volley launch strengths of 1-20, 1-10, 1-6, and 1-5 each respectively.

Note: The decrease in onboard radiation shielding makes these ships too ‘hot’ for most other species to use.

[taalismn]

Kamasaugh Koishal-class Cutter
(aka ‘Carpship’)

“The Kamasauni don’t like war and don’t consider themselves warrior-types. They don’t build the wide range of military craft that other more aggressive cultures do. We’ve only observed two types of ships that could be considered dedicated warcraft; their system defense gunships and a smaller faster cutter-type, and those tend to be crewed by the equivalent of warrior-monks. The rest of their defense forces consists of various conversions of civilian hulls. Seems to work well enough for them, but that’s arguably because their home sector is so quiet. Still, one has to respect their engineering.”

“It’s your lucky day, xeno-san; we were able to spot you adrift after you were ejected from your ship, before it exploded! But then, Cutter-Dai-su-Sunfish has always been very lucky as a rescue ship! Lucky is in her steel!”

“Don’t bother sending any more ‘efficiency experts’ to the Kamasauni in order to improve their shipbuilding. They won’t listen to recommendations and they won’t budge on their practices. The ‘factory priest’ and ‘shipyard miko’ are fixtures of their industrial processes and telling them that it’s unnecessary overhead just alienates them. Besides, an increasing number of non-Kamasauni spacers swear that their Kamasa ships just seem a little safer-running for all the mysticism worked into them. Now, you may dismiss that as ‘spacer superstition’, but I would listen to the gut feelings of the starhaulers.”

The Koishal is a small local space aerospace cutter used by the Kamasauni Stellar Coalition. The Koishal is the tough equivalent of the CCW GSV-LRC-070-Nobska Light Rescue/Patrol Cutter, serving many of the same duties.
The Koishal is a large shuttle-style vessel that resembles a large carp, the fish being a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Kamasaugh culture. The traditional ‘skull prow’ common to their starships has been replaced with a skeletally-styled fishhead instead. The large lateral ‘fins’ serve multiple purposes; as heat radiators, aerodynamic control surfaces, and grapple-plates for attaching to other ships and objects.
The Koishal typically carries three squads of power armored security/rescue personnel for boarding ships or affecting rescues(though if SAR is the main duty, only one squad will be carried and the freed-up space allocated for carrying passengers/patients).
Koishals carry only token armament, but fairly tough ‘fish-scale’ armor and good (albeit of the monoplanar type) shielding.
Like larger Kamasaugh vessels, much tradition and ceremony is invested in the production of a Koishal . Though modern manufacturing methods are used in building the ships, fabrication and assembly of critical components and systems is almost always accompanied by a priestly blessing(for example, a silver coin is always incorporated into the hull metal, and the life support systems are inaugurated with vaporized holy waters being blown through the conduits to drive out any evil spirits who might seek to take residence in the ship).

Type: KSC-PISC01 Koishal
Class: Aerospace Cutter
Crew: 7 + 30 Marines (3 squads) or passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Cockpit 800
Engines 1,200
Wings (2 ) 450 each
Forward Lasers(3) 75 each
Missile Launcher Bay 200
Point Defense Turrets(2) 100 each
Forcefield 1,800

Height: 25 ft
Width: 40 ft, 100 ft wingspan
Length: 180 ft
Weight: 580 tons
Cargo: 10 tons
If not carrying a loaded missile bay, can carry an additional 7 tons.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 11
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land on and take off from water, but not operate under it.
Market Cost: 98 million credits for an unarmed civilian model, 125 million credits for a fully armed military model(rarely available)
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Advanced Armor---The Kamasaugh have developed an advanced composite ‘fish scale’ armor skinning that dissipates kinetic strikes and also helps absorb energy damage. Kinetic damage such as from rail guns/g-cannon, meteorites, and concussive explosives does HALF damage.

*Attachment Plates----The undersides of the wings feature drop-down molecular fusion and directional gravitational traction plates that are used to grip structures, ships, and space debris, allowing the Koishal to secure itself to a target vessel, or act as a tug.

Weapons Systems:
1) Forward Lasers(3) --Mounted in the nose of the ship and resembling a catfish/koi’s barbels are three short range laser cannons. Can target independently or fire in concert.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD single cannon blast, 9d6x10 MD for all three firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Missile Launcher---Mounted in a belly bay is a modular rotary missile launcher bay. The bay can hold the following:
a) Mini-Missiles---- 120 missiles, volley strength of 1-10
b) Short Range Missiles---- 54 missiles, volley strength of 1-9
c) Medium Range Missiles----27 missiles, volley strength of 1-9
d) Long Range Missiles---- 9 missiles, volley strength of 1-3

3) Point Defense Turrets(2) ---These dual laser-and-MML turrets are identical to those carried by other Kamasaugh spacecraft. They are mounted on the rear sides of the ship and able to shoot to the sides and rear of the vessel.
Range:(Lasers)8,000 ft in atmosphere, 16,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 3.5 miles in atmosphere, 350 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 1d6x10 MD per blast, 2d6x10 MD per simultaneous blast from both cannons on the same target
(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Lasers)EGCHH
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1-12
Payload:(Lasers) Effectively Unlimited
(Mini-Missiles) 48 mini-missiles per launcher

Auxiliary Craft: None

Variants:
*KSC-PISC01C---Civilian model, used by the ‘space seiners’ of Sojah to patrol and tend their massive nebula-filter nets. Most are unarmed though a few retain only the lasers in the PDS turrets for self defense. They are distinguished by the extra tail and wing fins that serve as anchor points for the deployable collector field-net grid antennae.

*KSC-PISC01D---Courier version, with an enhanced FTL drive system able to make 5.8 light years/hour. Passenger space is taken up by extended cabin space for the crew, and 14 tons of cargo.

*KSC-PISC01F---’Fire-Koi’. Rare experimental combat model that does away with the passenger capacity to hold more missiles(DOUBLE magazine capacity). The nose lasers have also been replaced with a heavy plasma cannon( 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 2.4 miles in space, 2d4x100 MD per blast).

[taalismn]

Jerome Aeroastronautics APG-F17 BlueRei Aerospace Law Enforcement Cutter
(aka ‘Blu-stic’, ‘Blaze-Wing’, ‘Kopstar’)
“The BluRei’s got enough coordinated firepower, even if it is in clustered lower-powered weapons, that if it can get within range, it can quickly flay off the defenses and chew through the armor of a pirate within a minute. -IF- it can get within range, that is, because the Blue’s seriously lacking in long range shot capability. Usually, you want to pair the cutter with something like a Stelavian or some other ship that’s packing heavier firepower for the crippler, before the skymarshals can land, secure, and start slapping on the cuffs.”

“If Jerome’s assembly division had held out longer, they might have been able to tap into the big law enforcement push on the Rim, what with various up-and-comer worlds looking to re-equip their expanded space cop units . Bringing law and order’s big now and those who can are outfitting their local space patrols professionally, and the BluRei fits in nicely with what most of them are looking for. But Jay-ayh-ayh’s execs figured there was more money in producing sub-assemblies. So what BluReis were produced have been snapped up, and everybody else is waiting to see what the Usan-corps that bought the rights to the design will roll out with, if they’re smarter and faster on the markets than Jerome was.”

“I bet that a lot of someones over at what used to be Jerome are kicking themselves now, because the market for the Blu’s taking off now...”

“No small secret as to why Jerome thought the Blu wasn’t going to do well; for the price of one of these ships, you get two better-armed General Galaxies’ Trogan corvettes with more capacity. About the only things the Blu has over that old but still worthy design is speed and mid-Rim appeal. Whoever’s got the license to build Blus now had better do some overhauling and price-slashing if they hope to compete in the system security-ship market.”

“I thought you said the space-cops in this system were only using modified shuttles! Then why do we have two...no, THREE, cutter-sized contacts heading our way on military drives?! AND already painting us with targeting beams!!!”

This was Jerome Aeroastronautics’ last major market-type before the corporation left the starship business. Larger than the Stelavian, the BlueRei was meant as an in-system interdiction customs cutter with limited FTL capability.
The BlueRei had a familiar Jerome layout; long central fuselage, forward bridge/cockpit, and large wings similar to a hypersonic atmo-bomber. However, the central main engine was divided up into four smaller thruster units mounted out on the wings. The placement of the engines outside the main hull made them more vulnerable to damage, but the use of swivel-venturis gave the BlueRei considerable maneuverability*.
Armament on the BlueRei is abundant for such a small craft, though consisting of multiple light(and short-ranged) point defense energy weapons and light missile launchers, especially effective in ground attack and anti-missile/fighter defense, though the ships lack offensive bite against heavier opposition. A substantial variable forcefield, adopted off the Stelavian, provides good protection.
The BlueRei was originally meant to carry a support pair of robot parasite fighters, but this was dropped from the final plans. However, another innovation made it into the production model; the BlueRei carries four boarding pods, each capable of carrying a six-man squad(in addition to the pilot). The pods double as lifeboats, and when attached to the main ship, also act as additional weapons turrets.
The BlueRei can carry a reinforced squad of skymarshals and one or two light vehicles. In boarding actions, the troops can deploy directly through a universal boarding lock on the underside of the vessel. On a planet or aboard a larger vessel/space station, a rear hatch-ramp provides access. Cabin facilities include a relief station, food storage/preparation area, and fold-down bunks, but the BlueRei is not recommended for deployments over a standard week if carrying a full complement of troops.
Though more modern than the Stelavian in many aspects, and even innovative in others, the BlueRei wasn’t enough to change Jerome Aeroastronautics’ ultimate course. After a limited production run of BlueReis, JAa began selling off the aerospacecraft end of its business in favor of consolidatng around the avionics and astrogation divisions that were more attractive to the future merger. The BlueRei was among several JAa designs to which the license copyrights were sold off, to concerns such as WZT and ASI, which has some in the aerospace market speculating that the USA-based firms may be soon resuming production, with their own upgraded version leading the way. Such a variant might be competition inhouse for PS/ASI’s existing PS-AAST-4 Condor/AASTFTL-4 Nighthawk transports, or complement them, allowing the latter designs to be more focused on stealth operations.

(*The BlueRei was orginally meant to carry two of its main thrusters as detachable AI-controlled auxiliary fighters, JAa having enjoyed some small success with parasite craft on its Stelavian. JAa’s executives thought they could improve on the idea with the BlueRei. However, with competitor Kalsiarc Fystar and several other companies developing similar semiautonomous AI weapons platform programs, the conservative government of Solstice began to get nervous about another Network outbreak. Rumors began to circulate that Solstice might begin enforcing some of the more stringent AI-research and production regulations in corporate-stock-breaking fashion. Rather than fight city hall, Jerome Aeroastronautics sunsetted its AI R&D division and others followed suit. The engine pod/fighter scheme was dropped, and JAa adopted a more conservative engine configuration for the BlueRei.)

Type: JAa-APG-F17 BlueRei
Class: Aerospace Law Enforcement Cutter
Crew: 8 + 30 passengers/troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Bridge/Cockpit 400
Double-Barrel Particle Beam Cannon(2, nose) each*
Triple-Barrel Pulse Lasers(2, nose) each*
Ion Pulse Cannon(2-4, nose) each*
Main Sensor Array**
Boarding Pods/Turrets(4) each
Quad Pulse Laser Point Defense Turrets(4) 100 each
Rear Defense Lasers(2) 80 each
Rear Hatch 360
Wings(2) 400 each
Engine Thrusters(4) 400 each
Light Missile Launchers(6) 90 each*
Variable Force Field 800 per side( 4,800 total)

*These are small targets and are -2 to strike

**Destroying the Main Sensor Array negates the +2 strike bonus for the turreted weapons.

Height: 22 ft
Width: 110 ft wingspan
Length: 145 ft
Weight: 890 tons
Cargo: 7 tons
If not carrying passengers/troops, the BlueRei can carry 140 tons of cargo. If the Breacher Pods are replaced with cargo modules, this adds an additional 16 tons per pod(+64 tons total)
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30-year energy life between reactor core replacements
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.0% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land on and take off from water, but cannot operate underwater.
Market Cost: 200 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems plus:
*Enhanced Sensors---The BlueRei can carry the sensor suite of a larger light starship, rather than that of a fighter. In general, the BlueRei’s sensors are 50% better in terms of range and resolution than standard fighters’.

*Advanced Fire Control----Sensor linkages between the various PDS weapons gives them a +2 to strike.

*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. Note that this applies only to the underside and leading edges of the airframe.

Weapons Systems:
1) Double-Barrel Particle Beam Cannon(2, nose)---- Mounted flanking the nose are two twin-barrel PBCs.
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 2.4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2.4 miles in atmosphere, 240 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per single blast, 2d4x10 MD double blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Triple-Barrel Pulse Lasers(2, nose)----Mounted on winglets flanking the nose are forward-firing swivel tri-laser arrays.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD per single blast, 8d6 MD double blast, 1d6x10+12 MD triple blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Ion Pulse Cannon(2-4, nose)----Mounted on pods on the winglets flanking the nose are pods for ion cannon. These have the advantage of overloading the electrical systems of ships and other vehicles, and incapacitating them, ideally long enough for boarding.
Range: 2.2 miles in atmosphere, 4.4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4.4 miles in atmosphere, 440 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
In addition to physical damage, the cannon does EM damage. Percentage of EM damage is determined in relation to target’s main body((damage/main body)x100=percentage). For every 10% of damage from main body in ion damage, target will be -1 to strike, parry. and dodge. In space target acceleration will be reduced by 15%, in atmosphere top speed will be reduced by 15%. Roll once on critical hit charts in Phazeworld or Conversion book as appropriate.
If target takes 60% of main body in ion damage, ship or vehicle will be disabled completely. All weapon, navigation, and other systems will shut down and need to be repaired/replaced to work again/reboot.
Does NO damage against non-mechanical/electronic targets.
The ion cannon is equally effective against bionics
Rate of Fire: 6 blasts per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Quad-Barrel Pulse Lasers(4, wings)---- Each wing mounts two quad-barrel laser turrets.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD per single blast, 8d6 MD double blast, 1d6x10+12 MD triple blast, 2d4x10 +16 MD quadruple blast. All four wing turrets can be synchronized to fire on the same target in the appropriate fire arc, doing 8d6x10+64 MD (counts as one attack).
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) Light Missile Launchers(6)----Mounted two in the nose and two under each rear wing are light missile launchers. Each can hold 24 mini-missiles or 12 short-range missiles, and fire them in volleys of 1-4.

6) Rear Defense Lasers(2)----Flanking the rear hatch are two small light pulse lasers; they are used for rear arc point defense and for covering the embarkation/disembarkation of troops.
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD per single blast, 8d6 MD double blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Auxiliary Craft:
x4 JAa-BP03 Breacher Pods----These are small parasite craft for boarding other vessels. They are stubby cylindrical short range craft meant for deep space operations, although their contragravity engines allow them to fly(albeit sluggishly) in atmosphere. They sport basic forcefield protection and a single nose-mount energy weapon. BP03s double as lifepods and as defense turrets on the BlueRei ‘mothership’. BlueRei operators will often use them to deploy boarding teams to multiple locations on a suspect spacecraft/station, disabling key systems and (ideally)outflanking any defenders.
- Crew of 1, + 6-10 passengers, 250 MDC + 300 MDC forcefield, 11 ft in diameter, 25 ft long, weight of 8 tons. Can fly in space at Mach 4, less well in atmosphere---maximum speed of 550 MPH. Mounts a nose-mount laser or particle beam cannon/cutter with 60 MDC, 6,000 ft range in atmosphere, 12,000 ft range in space, and doing 1d6x10 MD per blast in cannon mode, 2d6x10 MD per full-melee cutter mode(). Cost: 11 million credits.

Variants:
* JAa-APG-F17x2---Similar to the detachable ‘fly-away’ cockpit section of the Stelavian, JAa experimented with a detachable nose section for the BlueRei, which would act as a supporting fightercraft. The rear section would be piloted from a second cockpit amidships. The thinking was that target craft/facilities would be further confused by the approaching cutter suddenly splitting into multiple harder-to-hit attackers, or that the nose could serve as an aerial gunship covering the landing of the troop transport rear section. The nose section/fighter would have a space speed of Mach 9 , its own forcefield(800 MDC), and all the forward armaments.
Several prototypes were produced and tested, but ultimately the scheme was abandoned as being too complex and expensive for limited versatility. Parallel plans to develop the intended nose section/fighter as a separate fighter line were abandoned as Jerome Aeroastronautics closed out its spacecraft production operations.

* JAa-APG/LAOE-F17-----The BlueRei reformatted as a support tender vessel for other small security craft. In this case the troop compartment is replaced with tankage for additional transferable fuel stocks and cargo containers. The wing armament turrets and missile launchers are replaced with hardpoints for carrying external cargo pods(Class-2 ‘Standard’ cargo cans), and the parasite craft replaced with extendable EVA repair pods/refueling hookups. A few dozen of these conversions were assembled before Jerome ended production.

* JAa-ATS-F17----- Salvage and Rescue craft. The wing turrets and missile launchers have been replaced with light tractor beam projectors and tool extensor arms, the troop bay with an emergency medical treatment bay, and the breaching pods replaced with rescue launches or EVA work pods.

* JAa-MCS-F17-----Mine Countermeasures Support craft. Two of the wing turrets are replaced with sensor arrays and tractor beam projectors, the parasite craft replaced with sensor drones, and the internal troop bay converted into space for deployable sweeper gear and rear-launching decoy pods.

*WZT- JA-APG-F17-----Though specific details haven’t been released yet, a WZT/PS/ASI version of the BlueRei would seem inevitable, now that they have the license. Such a rollout would feature upgrades, including the replacement of the weapons mounts with modular types compatible with the WZT/ASI aerospace armament system. WZT model Countermeasure Launchers would also be added.
Another more speculative upgrade might be the reinstatement of the original AI-auxiliary fighter scheme, given the USA’s more liberal outlook on AI.
Likely Changes/Modifications:
-Price---WZT/ASI’s more innovative manufacturing methods and existing widespread parts inventories are likely to result in a 20% overall price reduction, even with the expected modifications.

-Countermeasure Launchers---- 2-4 standard ASI/WZT 12-shot countermeasure launchers would seem likely.

-Pod Hardpoints---Outfitting the breacher pod hardpoints to accommodate other appliances would be right in with WZT/ASI’s modularity philosophies. The hardpoints could be modified to carry Standard Cans, cradles for drones like the Enyri(3) or microfighters like the WZ-PFS-1 Personal Compact Fighter System(3) or WZ-LF-203 Angel Light Fighter, deployable satellites, or various jammer or sensor pods.

-Modular Weapons----The wing turrets would most likely be replaced with modular swap-out slots for up to WZT/ASI Heavy Weapon Mounts. There has also been some discussion of going as far as Super-Heavy fighter-class weapons mounts. This includes the PS-RFL-42 Slasher Quad-Cannon.
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space )
Damage: 2d4x10 MD single shot, 4d8x10 MD quad burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
The nose and winglet weapons stations might similarly be replaced with swap-out hardpoints, likely with Medium fighter-class mounts.

-Drive Booster----Draygon Industries may have made the biggest splash with booster systems, but they weren’t the only ones developing such systems, or else they were shamelessly knocked off by others. PS/ASI developed a scaled-up system using a combination of fusion thrusters and gravitic rams with a larger fuel/power reserve. Once engaged, this booster system can ramp the ship’s maximum speed up to Mach 20 for 16 minutes, after which the system must cool down/recharge for 4 hours.

-Improved Variable Force Field 1,500 per side( 9,000 total)

-Improved Fusion Powerplant---A lucerin-injection system, though expensive to support on a large scale, is a possibility. Such an improved power system could easily bring the BluRei’s speed up to Mach 12 or 13, and shield strength improved by 50%.

-TW Systems---Naturally, technowizardry enhancements are a possibility, or replacing one or more of the breacher pod docks with a starship multiplexor module.

*WZT-JAa-BP03 Breacher Pod----Likewise, a modified version of these seems very likely. A Light or Medium fighter-class weapon mount would be installed in the nose, an improved forcefield likely, and additional penetration aides, including a possible TW Shield-Breacher system, would be on most law enforcement teams’ wish list .

[taalismn]

PS/ASI Aurora Upgrade Programmes
“Now that everybody’s paying attention to us...not all of it good...we have to be on the ball now more than ever. We can expect more trouble to come gunning for us, if only because others are seeking bragging rights.”

“Typically upgrade additions tend to ruin the clean lines of the original design, but the new auric-one sensor arrays on the Aurora just add extra spines and fins to the draconic appearance of the ships!”

“Totally worth the extra cost to keep our blades sharp and our footwork faster.”

PS/ASI may have performed a relative miracle in designing the Aurora-class destroyer, given how it’s been held up as a new standard in ship design, and copied(with varying degrees of success) by several other star nations, but they know better than to rest on their laurels and let themselves be surpassed. The Aurora shipbuilding program is seen as a living thing, and PS/ASI designers are constantly working to improve on their work.
The latest Aurora Upgrade Initiative Contract(AURIC-1) has installed improved fire control systems on new construction, with refits to older hulls likely if the AURIC-1 performs as hoped. Though relatively minor in scope, AURIC-1 aims to make the Auroras more accurate and less vulnerable to the confusion of the mdoern electronic battlefield.
AURIC-2 is another upgrade program that works to upgrade the Auroras’ missile capacility by upping their capacity. For a negligble increase of mass and no decrease in performance, the missile bay layouts have been reworked to add a third more magazine capacity.
Chages/Modifications:
(AURIC-1)
Systems of Note:
*Enhanced Fire Control----Several new sensor arrays, improved software and sensor linkages between the various PDS weapons gives them a +4 to strike, and primary weapons gain a +2 to strike.
*Enhanced Electronic Countermeasures---Improved EW systems give the AURIC-1 ships a +10% to defeat electronic signal and sensor jamming.

Cost: AURIC-1 costs are estimated at +16 million credits

(AURIC-2)
Weapons Systems:
2) Heavy Missile Launchers(2)---Payload is now 85 long range missiles or 42 cruise missiles each bay, The odd number remainder shots that cannot be bundled in a full volley are typically devoted to ‘special’ missiles such as probes, decoys, or special-attack ordnance. .

Cost: AURIC-2 costs are estimated at +22 million credits

[SolCannibal]

Kamasaugh Koishal-class Cutter
(aka ‘Carpship’)

Oh, Koishals, nice to see these kids getting the spotlight too after their citation back in the Tolkeki's entry.
The civilian variants also tells us a bit indirectly about the Kamasaugh's trade and business interactions with other polities in the 3 Galaxies.

Though modern manufacturing methods are used in building the ships, fabrication and assembly of critical components and systems is almost always accompanied by a priestly blessing(for example, a silver coin is always incorporated into the hull metal, and the life support systems are inaugurated with vaporized holy waters being blown through the conduits to drive out any evil spirits who might seek to take residence in the ship).

Not gonna lie, though something quite improbable - not to say almost counter to pacifistic and nonconfrontational ethics of their culture and spiritual practices - of coming from the Kamasaugh, i'm now thinking of the potentials in a series of drones engineered to draw any evil spirits into might seek to take residence in the unit, for that extra bit of maliciously combative mojo....

[taalismn]

[
Not gonna lie, though something quite improbable - not to say almost counter to pacifistic and nonconfrontational ethics of their culture and spiritual practices - of coming from the Kamasaugh, I'm now thinking of the potentials in a series of drones engineered to draw any evil spirits into might seek to take residence in the unit, for that extra bit of maliciously combative mojo....

If Angrar Robotics ever decides to expand into aerospace design, you can bet they'd design something along those lines.

[SolCannibal]

[
Not gonna lie, though something quite improbable - not to say almost counter to pacifistic and nonconfrontational ethics of their culture and spiritual practices - of coming from the Kamasaugh, I'm now thinking of the potentials in a series of drones engineered to draw any evil spirits into might seek to take residence in the unit, for that extra bit of maliciously combative mojo....

If Angrar Robotics ever decides to expand into aerospace design, you can bet they'd design something along those lines.

Now that is true, though i imagine Angrar Robotics having a very bad rep in some not insignificant parts of the 3 Galaxies considering how much of their hardware has that "evil stench" of trouble that a number of psychics or people of magic are able to detect.

[SolCannibal]

(*The BlueRei was orginally meant to carry two of its main thrusters as detachable AI-controlled auxiliary fighters, JAa having enjoyed some small success with parasite craft on its Stelavian. JAa’s executives thought they could improve on the idea with the BlueRei. However, with competitor Kalsiarc Fystar and several other companies developing similar semiautonomous AI weapons platform programs, the conservative government of Solstice began to get nervous about another Network outbreak. Rumors began to circulate that Solstice might begin enforcing some of the more stringent AI-research and production regulations in corporate-stock-breaking fashion. Rather than fight city hall, Jerome Aeroastronautics sunsetted its AI R&D division and others followed suit. The engine pod/fighter scheme was dropped, and JAa adopted a more conservative engine configuration for the BlueRei.)

Twists of fate. When everybody in a sector pursues a tendency so hard a major client or group of interest gets leery and the whole thing backfires just as hard in an all-around colapse of the little dominoes.

As an aside, that's also a lot of AI R&D division personnel getting transfered to other sectors if not the victims of massive layoffs. I would be very interested, if not worried, about checking out where all that specialized brain power might end up in the search for new work, if i were some bigwig in Solstice's halls of power. What may possibly count as another big oof when it comes to Solstician leadership thinking of long-term consequences of their decisions.


And on a little unrelated note....

It has it's purpose, and for its price its hard to get a better sensor suite. FTL is also very good for a civilian craft, but it makes sense for its role. I feel it could use more berthing space for various purposes, such as maintenance and additional experts. The crew is likely stretched doing all the needed tasks.

WZT can probably fix that problem by grafting on a larger bridge section and life section, now that it has even more shipyards to play with(like Taakulum). Could even do it as a refit to existing ships at the cost of some normal space speed/acceleration.

Where and what is Taakulum exactly? Just got it in one of my back-tracking binges.

[SolCannibal]

And the biggest bath toy of all for the Eyeball of Atlantis. This is just the intended form when construction starts, and there will likely be a few minor changes due to the length of time it will take to finish.
Pride of Splynncryth

Considering the scale of the project and what resources he has to work with on Rifts Earth, Splynncryth is quite understanding that constructing the ship will take more than a decade, and that time will allow him to figure out how to best use it. If nothing else, its sheer presence will serve to further awe those that come to Splynn, and as a marketing gimmick it is remarkably practical. The first step is to build a secure yard in which it can be built, and work is underway to set up the dome under the Preserves’ inland sea (aka ‘The Bathtub’). Assembly of the components is expected to begin in late 119 PA, and the ship will be ready in 129 PA, after which Lord Splynncryth will have to decide now to test it. In the meantime the Alien Intelligence is working up other aspects on his plan to regain market share, and at the very least will be able to stem the bleeding.

Spoiler:

Type: Gortha II-Class

Class: Dreadnought Battleship

Crew: 850 crew, 400 Rune Statues, at least 20,000 ABW-5 Advanced Work Drones, up to 1000 passengers (usually High Lords), and 20,000 slaves (generally loyal)

Troops: Up to 10,000

M.D.C By Location:

Combined Hull-----------------1,200,000

Main Body---------------------450,000
Bridge/Citadel-----------------175,000
Secondary Hulls (13)----------25,000 each
Engines (5)--------------------50,000
Systems and Components

Hangar Bays (8)---------------20,000 each
Prisoner Cells (1000)-----------500 each
Weapons

Mega Ion Disruptor (1)--------60,000
Heavy Mass Drivers (4)--------9,000 each
Hyper-Slicers (9)--------------6,000 each
Fusion Beam Cannons (20)----1000 each
Point Defense Turrets (110)---600 each
CM Launchers (10)------------1,200 each
MRM Launchers (20)----------450 each
Variable Force Field------------30,000/side (180,000 total)
Magical Force Barriers---------60,000

The ship is under the effect of multiple overlapping Metropolis spells, meaning that its hull regenerates at a rate of 1D6x100 MD every 15 minutes. It is lost if the main body takes more than 75% damage.

The VFF regenerates at 20% per melee (6,000 per side, 36,000 total)

Maintaining the Force Barriers consumes 1,200 PPE per 30 minutes of operation. The Impenetrable Wall of Force-based spells powering the Barrier, however, are vulnerable to neutralization/penetration by Dispel Magic Barrier and Negate Magic spells.

Statistical Data:

Height: 4,000 ft
Width: Roughly 10,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Length: Roughly 10,000 ft in diameter; the central sphere is 4,000 ft in diameter
Weight: 100 million tons
Cargo: 35 million tons

Powerplant: Exotic TW Power Source/unknown energy life.

Speed:

Underwater: 30 MPH, and depths up to 8 miles.
Atmosphere: Hover to Mach 1; Transatmospheric
Sublight Mach 8

(Kitsune Values: 60 PSL; Accels at .8 PSL per melee)
CG FTL 8.6 Light Years per hour
Emergency Wormhole FTL 1D6x15 light years in a random direction, 900 PPE.
Phoenix Light FTL 30 light years an hour for 30 hours, 1000 PPE but requires full concentration of Lord Splyncryth, and he usually has more valuable things to be doing with his time.

Cost: The value of the components that went into it defy calculation. The only way anyone will ever acquire it is over Lord Splyncryth’s dead body, and it almost certainly has a ‘spite bomb’ of truly epic proportions for that event.

Systems of Note:

Standard (PW) Dreadnought Systems, as well as the following;

*Long Range Sensors: Detects FTL travel up to 50 ly, and sublight vessels up to 1.8 ly.

*ECM Systems: Comm Jamming 90K mile range, 98% vs civilian, 90% vs military. Missiles and sensor guided weapons are -6 to strike.

*Ectofiber Insulation Grid: Magical Attacks do HALF damage/effect, and removes the additional difficulty of installing TW features on a modern conventional platform.

*TW Sensors: On par with the best the UWW has.

*Circles of Protection: +3 to save against magic (including anti-magic cloud and other forms of dispelling magic), +1 save against psychic attacks and a bonus of +2 to save vs Horror Factor. Permanently active

*Tractor Beams (20): 2,500 tons dead weight. Not usable in atmosphere. Up to 20 miles in space (Kitsune 20K miles)

*Extensive Dimensional Pockets: Any effect that would result in the ship’s reactor or weapons to catastrophically fail instead results in them being disabled. Additionally, the first normal disabling effect to any critical system is ignored, and is reset upon repairs.

*Mystic Link to the Lord Splyncryth: Lord Splyncryth has a level of awareness and control over the ship that is deeper than any familiar link, becoming effectively part of his own body. While initially quite distressing, after he got used to it he found he quite enjoyed it, and can now take his multitasking ability to legitimately deific levels. Additionally, thanks to its data banks he has 15th level proficiency in all spaceship related skills, making him an exceptional captain to say the least.

Weapons Systems: 85K+112K=192K forward

1) Superheavy Ion MegaCannon: As on the WZT Cachalot, but has a 5 minute recharge time

2) ‘Grand Death Lance’ Heavy Mass Drivers (4, forward): Has anti-ship (below) and anti-planet (normal) firing modes.

Range: 15 miles in atmosphere, 120 miles in space

(Kitsune Values: 150 miles in atmosphere, 120,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2D4x1000 M.D.C. each (critical on natural 18+)
Rate of Fire: 2 per melee
Penalty: -4 to strike beyond half maximum range
Payload: 160 ready projectiles per gun for 640 projectiles total. Usually has 30 anti-planet shells due to infrequent use.

3) Hyper-Slicers (9): As on the Servitude, but have a range of 100 miles in space (Palladium) and fire 1/melee. Their mounting balls in the secondary hulls gives them near 360 degree rotation, blocked only by the main hull.

4) Double Heavy Gauss Cannons (20): QZT/ASI Standard, but 4x the ammo. Splynncryth found the irony delightful.

5) GR-1000/MRM PD Turret (90): Taken directly from the Block II Emancipation.

Rate of Fire: (GR-1000) ECGHH

(MRM Launcher) 1, 2, 4, 6, 8
Payload: (GR-1000) 1000 bursts each

(MRM Launcher) 120 each

6) PD Tachyon Scatterguns (20): Scattered across the hull for maximum coverage.

Range: 3 mile in atmosphere, 12 miles in space w/ 6 mile wide arc.

(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 120 miles in space)
*Range and width are reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
Damage: 2D4x10 M.D.C. each.
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee each
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

7) CM Launchers (10): CAF pattern 32-silo autoloaders, 19 reloads

8) LRM Batteries (20):

Rate of Fire: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32
Payload: 960 LRMs per launcher, 19200 total.

9) Magic Attack: The prior options had little use in space combat, but several quite powerful void use spells have been developed since then. If relevant, count as a 15th level caster, and the origin point can be 2 miles away from the hull.

Planetary Attack

*Summon Ley Line Storm: Affects a 5 mile area.
*Summon and Control Storm: 2x range, 15 mile area, 600 PPE, 18 hours.
*Blight of Ages: Affects 10 mile area, 2x cost.
*Mystic Quake: 10x range, 2x cost.
*Metropolis: Permanent requires sacrificing a mage.
Space Use: May be cast at twice cost for 10x the normal range.

*Space Dust: 300 PPE
*Summon Ion Storm: 300 PPE
*Summon Meteor Shower: 300 PPE +50 per additional intensity
*Asteroid Strike: 550 PPE
*Solar Flare: 500 PPE
*Create Nebula: 1000 PPE
*Summon Comet: 2000 PPE
*Nexus Space Warp: 755 PPE
*Create Gravity Well: 1100 PPE

Active Techno-Wizard Features: 15th level equivalents

The massive PPE generators produce 12,000 P.P.E. per hour / 50 P.P.E. per melee round, and can hold up to 100,000 PPE in storage. It can also drain up 4,000 slaves at a time in an emergency (providing roughly 4d6x1,0000 PPE in additional power)

*Dimensional Teleport Chamber: The D-Chamber has the spells Dimensional Portal (600 PPE to operate for 10 minutes), Circle of Travel (default portal to the Gortha’s homeport), and Dimensional Teleport (400 PPE to operate for single-person teleports).

*Impervious to Energy: 720 PPE to activate, 30 minutes per activation.

*(Improved) Hull Regeneration: 1120/3360 PPE to activate, 10 hours or permanent. The use of mystically conductive materials in the organic hull allows for the regenerated MDC to be at full strength, but still only recovers 5% of the overall total per cast. It does not replace systems or weapons.

*Shadow Meld: 320 PPE to activate, 45 minutes per activation. Other craft are -6 to strike and -4 to dodge the ship unless it is directly illuminated against something. This is nullified by See the Invisible and similar.

*Invisibility Superior: 720 PPE to activate, 45 minutes per activation.

Aux. Craft:

720 Kittani K-TRF-M Transformable Robot-Fighters.
720 Kittani K-SF-M Starfighters.
20 Marauder Assault Shuttles

Considering the builiding shipyards will be, if i'm understanding things right, a dome at least partly underwater, how much of a factor could the Naut'yll be from a negative (sabotage and other interference) or positive (slave labor, stolen arcane know-how in coral techwizardry) perspective to the equation?

[taalismn]

[

Where and what is Taakulum exactly? Just got it in one of my back-tracking binges.

.
It's Tarkulaam, actually, one of the former Cynoceran Republic worlds that broke away and joined the USA. They have massive formerly military shipyards that WZT took over and kept running to keep the locals in yards. The facilities are being gradually updated as a whole; currently they're kept busy producing refits of old Cynoceran warships, lower-tier ASI/WZT designs, and lots of civilian hulls and spare parts.

[SolCannibal]

[

Where and what is Taakulum exactly? Just got it in one of my back-tracking binges.

.
It's Tarkulaam, actually, one of the former Cynoceran Republic worlds that broke away and joined the USA. They have massive formerly military shipyards that WZT took over and kept running to keep the locals in yards. The facilities are being gradually updated as a whole; currently they're kept busy producing refits of old Cynoceran warships, lower-tier ASI/WZT designs, and lots of civilian hulls and spare parts.

Duh, mystery solved, thanks a lot. Reminds me a bit of the Deneva & co incident.

Now i'm thinking of some people in the 3 Galaxies, either a trader, businessperson, tourist or "adventurer" of any sort, missing a place or ending in the wrong one, due to some translation or pronunciation to writing confusion or other.

[taalismn]

Now I'm thinking of some people in the 3 Galaxies, either a trader, businessperson, tourist or "adventurer" of any sort, missing a place or ending in the wrong one, due to some translation or pronunciation to writing confusion or other.

"Is that an accent mark over that vowel or a glottal stop or is it an ink stain on the copy? And who did this translation?!"

"Right corridor is to the guided tours. Left corridor takes you to the assisted suicide annex."

[SolCannibal]

Now I'm thinking of some people in the 3 Galaxies, either a trader, businessperson, tourist or "adventurer" of any sort, missing a place or ending in the wrong one, due to some translation or pronunciation to writing confusion or other.

"Is that an accent mark over that vowel or a glottal stop or is it an ink stain on the copy? And who did this translation?!"

"Right corridor is to the guided tours. Left corridor takes you to the assisted suicide annex."

"Casa D'Aragon at left, Casa Dragon at right."

[taalismn]

"Casa D'Aragon at left, Casa Dragon at right."

Dragon: "Damn, they spotted the typo on the sign! Guess I have to order using Grubhub from now on, until I think of something else."

[taalismn]

Golgan Republik Chalness(‘Havoc’)-class Destroyer
(aka ‘Gol-aura’,’Fudnik’)

“Just because these things are larger half-baked clones of our ships doesn’t make them any the less dangerous; the Havocs are still better than the majority of Argosy units we’ve seen on the fronts. And we expect the Argosy to assign their better veteran crews to them. You encounter these ships, report their presence immediately; it can indicate a major offensive underway. Paper tigers or not, we’d best be on guard against any tricks the Golgans have yet to play in this conflict.”

“The new ‘super’ destroyers use extensive automation that’s allowed them to operate more efficiently with a smaller crew complement. However, Golgan-grade automation of that sort is still rather bulky. The result is a whole lot of ship for a little amount of crew to handle. Don’t tell me that isn’t going to come back to bite the Golgans at some point in the future.”

The Battle of Altess Prime was a hard blow to the Golgan Argosy; an almost certain victory and triumph of planning and opportunistic timing was smashed by a handful of defense ships, an understrength CAF sector fleet, and a gaggle of Rim-navy warcraft. Yet they nearly obliterated the newest and best Golgan warships in the Argosy. Few Golgan ships escaped the battle, and those with scant comprehensive hard data on evereything that had gone wrong, but Argosy Naval Intelligence was able to, using those records and subsequent chatter by other witnesses to the fight, glean a few undeniable facts. Among them was that the ‘backwards Rim-barbarians’ were deploying new ships of exceptional design, chief among them a new destroyer that everybody was talking about; the so-called ‘Aurora’.
Subsequent reports indicated that the CCW, the Altess, and the UWW were so impressed with these vessels that they set out to copy the Auroras(and then Cambrian Yards rolled out their own version before everybody else). Looking at the dismal showing of their long-in-the-tooth Auntins and other escort vessels, the Golgan Argosy gauses wanted their own Auroras too. Or something as close as possible to it that would close the gap in capabilities between the Argosy and its enemies. However, developing a new warship design and the new technologies associated with it, let alone the technowizardry integral to the Auroras, in the middle of a war, by a star nation already hard-up for industrial capacity and resources is not the best foot to start out on. Nevertheless, Golgan shipwrights gamely went to work to fulfill the gaus-admirals’ demands. When they encountered problems, it was suggested by contacts in the admiralty and Assemblage that the engineers consult with the A.I. citizens of Mekanik.
Even with the Mekanikans’ assistance, the project was difficult and has reportedly had many setbacks. Initial radical plans to power the new ships with antimatter systems were shelved after an early testbed exploded. Several other experimental systems had to be dropped in view of the need to make the new ship suitable for mass production. Cutbacks and delays in delivering needed resources to the project, over the needs of other war-critical industries, delayed scheduled program benchmarks. As the program stumbled along, the stalemating war ate into the Argosy’s resources, and pressure from Argosy High Command increased, even the Mekanikans began to exhibit frustration with the lack of progress. Finally, though, metal was cut, and ships began to be assembled, with the first of the new class finally slidding out of their yard-slips. It’s been joked that the ‘chaos’ implied in the new ship’s name was as much about the furor and frustration surrounding their development as it is about the chaos it’s hoped the ships will wreak on the enemies of the Republik.
The Chalness is undeniably a sleek, angular, deadly-looking warship with swept-forward wing-pylons and a sharp multi-tined prow . It breaks several conventions of Golgan design in having only fairly-light weaponry facing the rear(though rear armament was still a consideration). Extensive automation reduces crew headcount and makes for smoother, more efficient operation. The original concept of the Chalness was to shoehorn the firepower of an Auntin into a smaller, faster, more agile platform with a smaller crew. Instead, the resulting warship was a third larger than either the Aurora or the Auntin. At least, however, the new warship is faster than the Auntin, mounts improved firepower, and requires a smaller crew to operate.

As an attempt to copy the source Auroras, the Chalness must be regarded as a failure; they are too large, too expensive, and overthought. Overall, though, the Chalness is still fast, well-armed, and the largely energy-based armament configuration and small crew complement would lend itself well to a long-range raider.

The weaknesses of the new design are attributable to the Golgan limited tech-base and the need to mass-produce the new ships using that tech-base. The Chalness lacks any sort of the integral technowizardry of the original Auroras, the Golgans’ Ultrovian mage-allies not being up to par with either the USA or the UWW. The new warships are also more expensive per unit than the Auntins. Still, however, the Argosy high command is enthusiastically optimistic about the new ships, though they’ve cautiously only used them to spearhead raids in Golgan-controlled territory to blood them in action.

Though the Chalness comes nowhere near equaling the United Systems Alliance’s Auroras, nor the new CAF, UWW, and Altess versions of it, the Chalness is still a better ship than average for the Argosy and would be a great addition to their capabilities. The problem is that of time; there are too few of the ships produced so far, and even those are arguably preproduction models, each with experimental tweaks and changes, and a list of bugs not yet ironed out. Furthermore, Argosy-wide logistics supporting the new vessels have been slow in being set up.
Still, the Argosy is making much of the new vessels, though whether this is to build morale among their own forces or to mislead adversarial intelligence services (several of the divisions said to be using the new ships have turned out to exist only on paper), remains unclear. So far, the Chalness has only appeared in a few theatres of the Revolution, particularly those in largely Golgan-controlled space where there’s little chance of encountering peer-level opposition.

Type: RAADD-V1.9
Class: Heavy Destroyer
Crew: 100 + 20 troops/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 6,000
Bridge 2,000
Heavy Disruptors(2) 700 each
Heavy G-Cannon(2) 600 each
Wings*(2) 900 each
Wing Disruptors(2) 600 each
Rear Disruptors(2) 500 each
Particle Beam Cannons(4) 150 each
Weapons Module 1,000
Hangar Bay 1,000
(Variable Forcefield) 3,000 each side(18,000 total)

*Destroying one of the wings will impair the ship’s cooling system; reduce G-cannons’ rate of fire to six blasts per melee and Heavy Disruptors’ ROF to two shots per melee. If BOTH wings are destroyed, reduce the G-cannons’ rate of fire to 3 bursts per melee and Heavy Disruptors’ ROF to one shot per melee.

Height: 90 ft
Width: 400 ft
Length: 630 ft
Weight: 13,000 tons
Cargo: 300 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 12
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.0% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 380 milllion credits to produce; none have become available for sale.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Improved Crew Interfaces----An idea of the Mekanikans to optimize the crews’ workstations to make fuller use of the Golgans’ more extent senses. The system isn’t entirely bug-proof; efficiency varies from station to station and between individual users, but Golgan crewmembers get a +1d10% to skill rolls such as Communications, Piloting, and Pilot Related related to the operation of the ship.

*Advanced Targeting System---The robots of Mekanik have added a tie-in between the sensors and the weaponry that gives a bonus of +1 to strike with ranged weaponry.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Disruptors(2)---The main foward armament of the Chalness is a pair of heavy seige disruptors. The orginal plan was to use available stock weapnry from the Auntin supply pools, but the Argosy admiralty insisted on better weaponry for the new warship, and the Mekanikans agreed, This has given the Chalness an improved direct-fire ‘bite’, but the ship-specific weapons have increased logistical issues.
The close bundling of the main energy armament in the nose together with the G-cannons has led to some cooling system problems; if the wing radiator connections are destroyed, the main weaponry can only operate safely at a reduced rate of fire.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 15 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 15 miles in atmosphere, 15,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x100 MD per shot, plus 25% of baseline to a 16 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) G-Cannon(2)---Two heavy G-cannon are mounted alongside the Heavy Disruptors, providing a ‘machine gun’ effect to the heavier energy weapons. The rapid rate of fire and placement of the cannons, however, has led to cooling problems, only partally remedied by routing coolant lines to radiators in the wings. If the wings are damaged or destroyed, the loss of efficient cooling can cause the G-cannons in the nose to suffer loss of rate of fire.
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 18 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 18 miles in atmosphere, 18,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per 120-rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 36,000 shots per cannon( 300 bursts)

3)Wing Disruptors(2)---These cannons can also swivel to fire into the rear arcs, doubling the rear firepower(and incidentally allaying the fears of the traditionalist offiders in the Argosy who feared the loss of a powrful tail armament).
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 18 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 18 miles in atmosphere, 18,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per shot, plus 25% of baseline to a 7 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Six times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Rear Disruptors(2)---These are identical to the wing-mounts, but fire in the rear arc..

5) Particle Beam Cannons(4)---Standard Argosy PDS
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

6) Weapons Bay---Taking a cue from observations of USAJC craft, the Golgans have fitted the Chalness with a modular weapons bay or pallet, mounted on the upper hull, though it’s rumored that this is only until the Argosy finds an optimal weapons configuration to standardize, after which the modular aspect will be dropped.
a) Missile Bay--- 1,440 short-range missiles (1-36-shot volley strength), OR 480 medium-range missiles (1-24-shot volley strength), OR 100 Nuclear Torpedoes(1-20-shot volley strength)

b) Kinetics Bay---Double-barrel heavy G-Cannon( 1,000 MDC)
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 18 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 18 miles in atmosphere, 18,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x100 MD per 120-rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 36,000 shots per cannon( 300 bursts)

c) Laser Bay---Mounts two double-barrel laser turrets( 700 MDC each).
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per single blast, 4d6x100 MD per dual blast
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d) Disruptor Cannons---This loads up the destroyer on seige disruptors, adding two additional turrets identical to the wing-and-aft mounts.
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 18 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 18 miles in atmosphere, 18,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per shot, plus 25% of baseline to a 7 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Six times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

e) Particle Beam Cannons---- Three heavy particle beam cannons( 600 MDC each)
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast, 4d6x100 MD for all three cannons firing in the same target at once
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

f) Cargo---An additional 350 tons of cargo can be carried.

g) Troop Module---Barracks for up to 100 additional troops(some intel sources have the troop module as a separate independentally mobile assault lander). It could also concievably be used to accommodate flag quarters and a forward command center.

h) Electronic Warfare Module---Though this hasn’t been seen(and frankly most Golgan EW efforts have fallen well short of their upper-tier opponents’ systems), defense analysts have not ruled out that the Chalness could carry an Electronic Warfare suite of no small power, using brute force, if nothing else, to blanket a battlefield in jamming static. This would be particularly useful in formations of the ships, with dedicated ECM carriers shielding the rest of the combat units. A jamming suite gives the craft a -2 to be struck by radar-guided weaponry.

i) Space Mines---Space Mines generally come in two varieties: ‘loitering’ missiles or explosion-pumped energy weapons. The Chelness’s modules cannot lay large or dense fields, but can lay ‘nuisance’ fields. Can typically carry 40 short-range missile mines (1-36-shot volley strength), OR 20 medium-range missile miness (1-24-shot volley strength), OR 10 Nuclear Torpedo mines(1-10-shot volley strength) OR 10 bomb-pumped laser mines(single shot, 20/20,000 mile range in space, 5d6x100 MD, plus 25% of baseline to a 32 ft radius)

j) Magic Module(?)---Some intel sources suggest that if Ultrovian technowizardry develops anything along the lines of TW starship weaponry, the Chalness will likely carry a module dedicated to it.

Auxiliary Craft:
4 shuttles

Variants:
The Chalness is too new to have any major variants, though the barely-out of preproduction state of the first ships produced so far, arguably makes them all variants in small ways. The modular weapons bay is also a variant-maker.

[SolCannibal]

And there goes the gaus-admirals’ demands, with more insecurity and ego than practical sense and understanding of limits to the lot of them, setting up the Republik as a whole for a VERY hard fall with even greater overspending of their already stretched industrial infrastructure and technological bases.... so much brain and monetary resources wasted trying to cover up lines of development completely outside their standards while their mainstays are left fallow and ever more outdated.

A military without the logistics and strong economy to sustain it is a white elephant languishing because its keepers can't feed it properly. But well, if Binjo ever were a pragmatic person he would have done something completely different from the saber-rattling extravaganza that is this Kultural Revolution of the golgans anyway....

[taalismn]

Yah....I'm going to go into essay-length later on the progression and status of the Great Golgan War, but it boils down to: they set up their strategy on bad advice(the window of opportunity to take over Altess Prime and hold them to ransom) and in (this universe at least) failed miserably. To attempt to recoup prestige and material, they went to their secondary objectives, but without Altess ransom money, they lack the staying power without resorting to all-out piracy tactics.
Now they're just flailing around, making small gains here and there, but losing the big game because their enemies with the resources are shoring up any easy targets.

[SolCannibal]

Yah....I'm going to go into essay-length later on the progression and status of the Great Golgan War, but it boils down to: they set up their strategy on bad advice(the window of opportunity to take over Altess Prime and hold them to ransom) and in (this universe at least) failed miserably. To attempt to recoup prestige and material, they went to their secondary objectives, but without Altess ransom money, they lack the staying power without resorting to all-out piracy tactics.
Now they're just flailing around, making small gains here and there, but losing the big game because their enemies with the resources are shoring up any easy targets.

Honestly, even if there was not the degree of opposition they met in the GNEverse and the Golgans somehow won thanks to timing and luck, taking over the Altess would still be a terribly stupid way to spend one's resources.

Now you have to rule the Dynasty, that was already economically shaken by the loss of one of its major worlds, while finding the vast majority of the Altess as people, whom you have just given the most massive case of hurt pride ever suffered in millenia, turned against you tooth & nail every step of the road. That's pratically making one's own FWC, mega-damage super soldier edition - and that without even going into how many golgan breakaway states would just love so bad to support an anti-golgan Altess insurgency in all kinds of ways, or the degree of Naruni gear the Altess could call upon by simple virtue of being one of its largest groups of shareholders in the 3 Galaxies....

What brand of insane desperation could have convinced Binjo such an idea was anything but the most atrocious sort of advice i honestly fail to grasp...

[taalismn]

Well, Hitler actually had plans to invade Switzerland...though it can be argued that the reason he didn't was because the Swiss proved too handy(and -complicit-) in laundering all that European loot the Nazis grabbed.

But yeah, it was a stupid, opportunistic plan...and I suspect that the Golgans at the future end of the antitelephone were a bunch of drunken jerk fratboys messing with the oldtimer.
Really, what was going to happen next, if they got a payoff from the Altess? Go on a massive spending spree? Buying from who? I don't see the Altess revealing to their conquerors that they have a major shareholding interest in Naruni. Or would the Golgans, upon learning that, assume they also got Naruni Enterprises to obey them?

In the GNEverse, the Golgans are floundering, but then again, the Golgans are at their most dangerous when their backs are to the wall....so future hardware developments are going to reflect that....Expect a sort of trench warfare ingenuity to cut in when member worlds lose their mobile defense fleets to service the front line squadrons...

[SolCannibal]

But yeah, it was a stupid, opportunistic plan...and I suspect that the Golgans at the future end of the antitelephone were a bunch of drunken jerk fratboys messing with the oldtimer.
Really, what was going to happen next, if they got a payoff from the Altess? Go on a massive spending spree? Buying from who? I don't see the Altess revealing to their conquerors that they have a major shareholding interest in Naruni. Or would the Golgans, upon learning that, assume they also got Naruni Enterprises to obey them?

Honestly, the whole thing about the Golgans trying to exploit the Altess' debacle to conquer them always sounded like "Profit!" memes at work for me.

Why hit a neutral power when there are loads of breakaway satrapies you could take major infrastructure-related parts back into your fold?
Or if you need to punch someone tough but not in its prime at the moment why not Splugorth kingdoms, that everybody hates and won't lift a finger to help? Damn, they might get some major goodwill points with lots of mid- to minor star kingdoms out of that (alongside with the potential hoards of bio-wizardry, stone magic and other related loot).

In the GNEverse, the Golgans are floundering, but then again, the Golgans are at their most dangerous when their backs are to the wall....so future hardware developments are going to reflect that....Expect a sort of trench warfare ingenuity to cut in when member worlds lose their mobile defense fleets to service the front line squadrons...

Until some of those member worlds losing their mobile defense fleets feel so backed to the wall that secession feels like a better option - and then all that trench warfare ingenuity turns upon itself in flames.

[taalismn]

[

Until some of those member worlds losing their mobile defense fleets feel so backed to the wall that secession feels like a better option - and then all that trench warfare ingenuity turns upon itself in flames.

Nasty thought: Angrar Robotics finds a happy new hunting ground, selling to the Republikan Guard....

[SolCannibal]

[

Until some of those member worlds losing their mobile defense fleets feel so backed to the wall that secession feels like a better option - and then all that trench warfare ingenuity turns upon itself in flames.

Naty thought: Angrar Robotics finds a happy new hunting ground, selling to the Republikan Guard....

Now THAT is some severe level of escalation indeed. Now i'm thinking if Ahriman could use tectonic entities and machinery instead of just demons to create some really technomagic Angrar gear....

[taalismn]

We'll know if there are any outbreaks of demonic troops behind Golgan lines.

Frankly I think that the Ultrovians are going to emerge as the most put-upon, battle-bloodied, and hard-used of the Golgan allies; they're going to be asked to work miracles, push their technowizardry and arcane knowledge to the limit and beyond, and prove they're as good s they think they are time and again. Many will be tempted by shortcuts to power, and others will have to put out the dumpster fires those who fall to darkness create.
Being the Court Magicians or Mystic Sages isn't going to be so attractive when the life expectancy goes down. As a nation, tye may emerge hardier than before, but at the cost of a good percentage of a generation or two.

[SolCannibal]

We'll know if there are any outbreaks of demonic troops behind Golgan lines.

Frankly I think that the Ultrovians are going to emerge as the most put-upon, battle-bloodied, and hard-used of the Golgan allies; they're going to be asked to work miracles, push their technowizardry and arcane knowledge to the limit and beyond, and prove they're as good s they think they are time and again. Many will be tempted by shortcuts to power, and others will have to put out the dumpster fires those who fall to darkness create.
Being the Court Magicians or Mystic Sages isn't going to be so attractive when the life expectancy goes down. As a nation, tye may emerge hardier than before, but at the cost of a good percentage of a generation or two.

Yes, not to mention some peculiarities of the Ultrovians physiology when it comes to storing PPE or wielding that from the enviroment can REALLY get in the way of their making an effective arcane infrastructure such as that of the UWW or USA, to further complicate things.

[taalismn]

Corianus-Typhen-Rosette League “Dallenger’-class Heavy Starfighter
(aka “Punch-Dagger’)

“The Dallie’s surprisingly agile for its size, but only because it brute forces its way against the laws of physics. Between the main engine and the lateral thrusters, every time you initiate maneuvering, you can FEEL the mounting gees, even with the gravitic baffling. Even with the fusion generator powering gravity lenses and not impulse drives, the ship eats fuel at a gnarly rate. Fortunately, Crown packed plenty of tankage into the design, so it’s not likely you’re going to suddenly go dry in the middle of combat and find yourself going solely ballistic.”
---Captain Halu Ninsmith, HAFN Procurement Office, on test flight evaluations of the Dallenger XHPF-03,

“-Crown Aerospace’s decision to pull up their roots and go haring off to the unknown seems rather cynical; they couldn’t stand up to all the competition here, so they’re going off with the colonists to where they’ll likely be THE aerospace establishment without any competition, at least for a while. Well, good riddance to them; if they can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.”
-Anonymous HAFN memo on Crown Aerospace’s withdrawal from the Human Alliance, following the LRF competition

“The opposition forces investing the Rosette moon system may deploy aerospace assets that are both lighter and more agile than our own, but it’s a testament to both our air crews and our industry that more of our ships return home after an encounter than theirs.”
---Addendum to afteraction report, CT-Taskforce Fleur de Astra, Rosette Relief Expedition

Traditionally the primary starfighter of the CTRL, the Dallenger has its origins back in the Human Alliance, prior to the leaving of the Corianus colonization expedition to the Thundercloud. One of the founding and sponsoring organizations behind the expedition, Crown Aerospace, was at the same time one of several corporations bidding to build the next generation heavy starfighter for the Human Alliance Forces Navy. Competition was fierce, with several very good designs being entered, but ultimately the General Galaxy-developed LRFX-20 design that would become formalized as the Proctor would be chosen over all the others.
The original Dallenger was rejected by the HAFN for being too primitive, compared to the promise shown by the much more advanced and versatile antimatter-powered Proctor design. The Proctor was longer-ranged and more versatile; the Dallenger was seen as too limited in range and mission-scope. Crown Aerospace’s entry was dropped from consideration and the General Galaxy design went on to mass production and fame.
Rather than try to sell their own proposed design on the open market, as many of the other also-rans would do in the coming centuries, Crown Aerospace dedicated all its efforts to the Corianus expedition, its design team and planners deciding to join the migration. Crown Aerospace would formally fold into the Corianus Development Corporation on the launching of the colonization fleet. The design would not be heard of again for several centuries.
The Dallenger would re-emerge centuries later when the Corianus colony needed new combat craft after encountering some of the dangers of the Thundercloud. The design would see a number of refits over the next couple of centuries, with the first major one being after Corianus reestablished contact with its sister-colony Typhen, in time to participate in liberating Rosette.
The Dallenger as originally configured has a flattened cylindrical main hull, a needle prow at one end and the main engine at the other, blending out into two wing-nacelles fronted by modular missile launchers and backed by the ship’s secondary thrusters. The Dallenger is powered by a fusion system, rejected by the HAFN as too primitive and short-ranged, but much more suited to the needs and resources of the Corianus expedition. The main thruster system is powerful, and is backed by two wing-mounted secondary thrusters, giving the ship surprising speed and maneuverability. Originally armament was fairly light, consisting of a pair of powerful nose-mounted lasers and a pair of wing-mounted missile launchers. Later refits would add a third missile launcher and a ventral projectile weapon pack.
The Dallenger served as the main small combat spacecraft of the CTRLN until contact was re-established with the Corkscrew and Anvil Galaxy cultures, when technology exchanges began reshaping the CTRLN aerospace fighter corps along lines more familiar to the Three Galaxies’ major polities. However, the Dallenger is far from done as a design; another major refit program is updating the design to fill the role it was orginally rejected for; long range FTL scout and patroller. On the squadron level, as the CTRLN acquires more modern single- and dual-seat starfighters, the Dallenger is being assigned as a missile-bomber and heavy support unit to the smaller fighters.

Type: CTRLN-HPF-03 Dallenger
Class: Heavy Starfighter/Patrolship
Crew: 4
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,600
Reinforced Cockpit 500
Missile Launchers(3) 100 each
Main Engine 900
Secondary Engines(2) 200 each
Forcefield 1,000
Height: 28 ft, 36 ft w/ dorsal missile launcher mounted
Width: 50 ft
Length: 96 ft
Weight: 625 tons
Cargo: 1.2 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9. W/ auxiliary thrusters engaged, can hit speeds of Mach 12
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 2 light years an hour(original model) w/ a maximum endurance per jump of 9 hours.
Market Cost: 18 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard spacecraft systems, plus:
*Crew Ejection Pods---Each crew seat/position features an all-enclosing lifepod(250 MDC) that protects the passenger from debris strikes, reentry, and ideally light weapons fire upon evacuating from the ship. The pod floats in most liquid environments, and has emergency life support for up to 8 days.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Laser Cannons(2) ---Mounted on both sides of the nose is a powerful laser cannon. Initially these were fixed -forward firing, but later models, starting with the -C, introduced ‘eyeball turrets’ allowing the lasers free play in the forward arcs of fire.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per blast, 8d6x10 MD per dual blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Missile Launchers(3)---The original Dallenger was fitted with only two missile launchers, one on the front of each wing nacelle, but it was discovered that a third launcher could be mounted atop the main fuselage, set back from the cockpit.
a) Mini-Missiles--- 40 per launcher
b) Short Range Missiles--- 16 per launcher
c) Medium Range Missiles---8 per launcher
d) Long Range Missiles---3 per launcher
e) Cruise Missiles---2 per launcher

3) Rail Guns(2) ---Two rail guns are mounted under the nose in a fixed forward-firing position. Problems with electromagnetic interference fouling the stator assemblies would lead to these weapons eventually being replaced with g-cannon when the technology became available.
Range: 6,000 ft in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per 40 rd burst, 2d6x10 MD for a dual synchronized burst(counts as 1 attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 300 bursts per gun

Options:
* Flare/Chaff/Decoy Launchers(1-3)
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
In space, anything flying at high speed through the cloud will take 2d6 MD +1d6 MD per every 100 miles of speed over 670 MPH.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 18 per launcher

* Laser-Reflective Armor---Lasers do HALF damage to this sheathing. Cost: +3 million credits

Variants:
* CTRLN-HPF-03EWC--Electronic warfare version, replacing the missile launchers with EW gear and signal jammers.
-EW Jammer---Communications Jamming and Cloaking....Jams enemy communications(radio band) in a 5,000 mile radius in space, 50 mile radius in atmosphere, civilian band communications with 80% effectiveness, military bands with 50% effectiveness(or use the EW officer’s skill rolls). 45% chance of confusing guided missiles(especially ‘beam riders’ or radar-guided types).
-Enhanced ECM Suite----- The -03EWC has a powerful ECM suite for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -6 to strike

* CTRLN-HPFB-03---- Bomber w/ replacing the missile launchers with toss racks for freefall and ‘smart’ ordnance. Each nacelle can hold 5,000 lbs of deployable ordnance
*250-lb Bomb----2d4x10 MD to 50 ft blast radius
*500-lb Bomb----4d4x10 MD to 60 ft blast radius
*750-lb Bomb----4d6x10 MD to 65 ft blast radius
*1,000-lb Bomb----1d4x100 MD to 70 ft blast radius
*2,000-lb Bomb----2d4x100 MD to 80 ft blast radius
*5,000-lb Bomb----4d4x100 MD to 100 ft blast radius

*Light Kinetic Penetrator ---Works similar to a WWII ‘Earthquake Bomb’. Kinetic weapons have the advantage of leaving little or no radiation to contaminate a battlefield or potential postwar acquisition.. Each RV does 1d6x100 MD to a 100 ft radius and can penetrate up to 250 ft of loose soil(100 ft of rock or concrete). 4 can be carried per launcher.

*ElectroMagnetic Pulse Weapon---Designed to knock out unprotected electronics and power distribution networks, exploding at high altitude for maximum effect. One EMPW can be carried per launcher..
Damage: 5d6x10 MD to 100 ft blast radius
EM effects: Used against unshielded power grids(such as cities and towns), the particle blast has a 99% chance of knocking down electrical systems, including vehicles, in a 100-mile radius of the point of detonation. Unprotected computers and other hardware not protected by surge protectors, and hooked into the common power grid, may still be affected up to a hundred miles or more away by power surges through the power lines.
The EMP is less effective against shielded systems such as those on space structures(25%) and military systems(10% for surface military vehicles), which are hardened against radiation.


* CTRLN-HPF-03G2----Technology exchanges with the ASI/USA/WZT have led to a major facelift for the Dallenger:
Changes/Modifications:
- Armor Upgrade----- Increase MDC to all hull positions by 20%
- Reduce Crew Requirement to 3.
-Main Laser Upgrade---Laser range now matches the Proctor’s;
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
-Drive Booster---Draygon Industries may have made the biggest splash wth booster systems, but they weren’t the only ones developing such systems, or else they were shamelessly knocked off by others. Once engaged, this booster system can ramp the ship’s maximum speed up to Mach 20 for 5 minutes, after which the system must cool down/recharge for 4 hours.
- FTL Upgrade--- 3.6 light years per hour
- Lateral Point Defense Turrets(2)---A pair of light pulse laser turrets are added to the outside of each wing nacelle. These lasers are similar to the USA’s Star Tiger II’s tail defense lasers and can be manually controlled or computer-fired.
Range: (Palladium) 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 8,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values)4,000 ft in atmosphere, 80 miles in space
Damage: 3d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, or 5 shots per melee in auto-defense mode
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
- Dorsal Weapons Pack Expansion---A revised cruise missile launcher for the upper dorsal launch pod can now hold 4 cruise missiles.
- Flare/Chaff/Decoy Launchers can now use any of the ASI/WZT decoy/countermeasure options.
-*Variable Forcefield 300 each side( 1,800 total)
*Forcefield regenerates at 10% per melee

[taalismn]

Androbar Slaver Barge(Happy Harvester)
(aka ‘Black Cart’, ‘Flying Longhouse’)
“Ocklah! What a good haul of pretties sleeping in our hold we’ve caught this trip! The Masters be pleased with me for adding to their coffers and pleasure pits! Pleased enough that they won’t notice me taking a few for my own!”
--Io’desh, second-to-latest Captain of the slaver Happy Harvester

“...I cringe at the possible reactions of the lowtechs who speculate that the extraterrestrials they’ve had in their skies are some sort of enlightened superior lifeforms flying fantastically advanced starships, if they ever learned that they were being raided by barely literate neobarbs flying patched-up cargo scows.”

This is typical of the sort of tramp-raider vessels based on the darkport world of Androbar, and the particular example showcased here is the Happy Harvester, owned by the Tolska House slaver cartel on Androbar. However, the ship can be regarded as representative of the lower tiers of bandit vessels found throughout the universe.
The Happy Harvester would be recognizable(barely) by a knowledgable Three Galaxies spacer as a still-flyable Strolkar Gensi Heavy Cargo Lighter, an ancient design built by a pre-CCW fringe polity and long out of date, but still occasionally found in backwater systems and rotting away in old used spacecraft lots. The Happy Harvester is one of a dozen similar vessels operating out of the main port city on Androbar.
These vessels are pathetic combatants by Three Galaxies standards, but more than adequate to knife through the defenses of the low-tech worlds accessed by dimensional gateway from the Adrobar system.
The Happy Harvester is exceptional only in a few pieces of installed gear. It sports sensor jamming gear that allows it to elude the radar sensors of most of its target worlds, a bio-scanner sensor system capable of picking out good prospects for acquisition, and a tractor beam system for hauling them in. It isn’t exceptionally fast but mounts an FTL drive capable of getting it to the dimensional nexi that allow it to fly to target systems and back in reasonable time. It mounts a forcefield that has shed antiaircraft fire and missiles, and carries a trio of turreted particle beam cannons for point defense and terrorizing the ‘savages’ of the low-tech worlds the ship frequents.
The Happy Harvester has been in service to Androbar slavers for over a century, and once was part of a fleet of similar vessels serving the same cartel. However, attrition has thinned the ranks of the original fleet, and several changeovers and takeovers have dispersed the original contingent across several warbands. The Happy Harvester and several of its original fleet-mates serve the Tolska House slaver cartel. Though the Happy Harvester is regarded as one of, if not THE, best ships in the cartel’s fleet for its reliability in bringing back a profit on its missions offworld, the turnover of captains of the ship is high. The ship is considered a plum assignment in the cartel, and unsuccessful captains are typically terminally dismissed for their failures. SUCCESSFUL captains either become arrogant in their status and fall victim to their enemies, or else they are knocked off by status-seekers looking to open up the captaincy for another new captain. The ship’s current captain, Galgo Lavaran, has held the position for sixteen years and is approaching the previous record for a captaincy, and is painfully aware of the sharpening of many knives around him, not least for the draconian methods he’s used to keep his position for all those years.
One of Happy Harvester ‘s sister ships, the nearly identically-outfitted Farglin’s Delight, while doing the same run of the worlds as Happy Harvester , would be surprised by the United Systems Alliance patrol frigate Dempsey. Despite evasive maneuvers and enthusiastic gunnery, Farglin’s Delight was swifty overtaken, disabled and boarded. Its crew and logs would provide invaluable data about Androbar and lead the USA to the world.

Type: Strolkar Gensi(Modified)
Class: Space Freighter/Slave Raider
Crew: 35 + 1-200 troops/security
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,700
Bridge 1,000
Particle Beam Turrets(3) 120 each
Forcefield 2,500

Height: 50 ft
Width: 90 ft
Length: 400 ft
Weight: 39,000 tons
Cargo: 8,000 tons or 2,000 slaves
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ listed 50-year enerhy life between core replacement(it’s gone 60 years and in the past has gone as long as 120 years between overhauls.)
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land on water, and take off, but not operate underwater.
Market Cost: The Happy Harvester might sell on the galactic black market for 17 million creditsm sans its ‘special’ technology.
Systems of Note:
*Bio-Scanner----The barge can quickly scan a community or city for life signs and a programmed protocol can identify specific undividuals and their traits(gender, age, body mass, general health, vitality) with 80% accuracy(effective range of 50 miles). However, forcefields, magic wards, and even thick walls can interfere with the accuracy and effectiveness of the scans. This sensor device is believed to be Ancient technology uncovered on Androbar or else traded for from a passing dimensional traveler.

*Active Cloak---Using active jamming, the slaver barge can conceal itself from the radar and lidar systems of most ‘primitive’ cultures. It is less effective at masking the ship against technology such as that at the Galactic level(as that employed by the CCW. Golgan Republik, TGE, USA, Atorian Empire, TMC, etc.). 90% chance of going undetected by 20th-century Earth tech, but has only a 45% chance of being unnoticed by Golgan Republik/CCW/TGE standard sensors.

*Abductor Beam----A gravitic ‘vacuum cleaner’ able to pick up and loft up to 5 tons at a time, making possible mass abductions. Effective range of 1,000 ft.

*Slave Hold---The cargo hold is set up to receive prisoners. In additional to sealed and locked hatches, the hold features various mechanisms to stun, incapacitate, and disrobe abductees, keeping them unconscious until they can be processed for sale.

*Curse---Some say the ship is cursed by its own success and that the ship’s masters are regularly sacrificed to that success.

Weapons Systems:
1) Particle Beam Turrets(3)---These weapons would be considered popguns by Three Galaxies’ standards, but are more than adequate for impressing the hell out of less advanced societies, reducing missiles and aircraft to vapor within milliseconds and blasting through naval warship armor in seconds. They’re also considered among the more powerful weapons in the arsenals of the guilds and gangs of Androbar, which is why, by ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ and the threat of massive retaliation in kind, they are not used in the intergang warfare that is common on the outlaws’ planet.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per pulse burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Auxiliary Craft: None standard, though sometimes the slaver carries teams of raiders on a dozen hovercars or several dozen hoverbikes.

[SolCannibal]

One of Happy Harvester ‘s sister ships, the nearly identically-outfitted Farglin’s Delight, while doing the same run of the worlds as Happy Harvester , would be surprised by the United Systems Alliance patrol frigate Dempsey. Despite evasive maneuvers and enthusiastic gunnery, Farglin’s Delight was swifty overtaken, disabled and boarded. Its crew and logs would provide invaluable data about Androbar and lead the USA to the world.

System found by an actual star nation - oh boy, looks like some slaver cartels are in for literal worlds of trouble very soon.