Starship designs...

[taalismn]

I knew i had probably gotten the part on WZT wrong - i cut the "Yards" because i wasn't even sure if it supposed to be part of the name or reference to some literal ship-building yards - but the search function was a mess, so couldn't check to correct myself.

Anyway, thanks for clearing things up for everyone.

No prob, DarkMaxx originally created the name WZTechyards...what the 'WZ' originally stood for, I dunno. But it snowballed from there.

PS/ASI came in as the groundfighters looking for allies and trade partners to help out the homeland on Rifts Earth.. WZT had a galaxies-wide merchandising network selling spacecraft. They got together to mutually benefit each other and wound up nation-building. Happy story of corporations helping the people, not just their bottom line.

[taalismn]

Dultrex Corporation D-C90 ‘SkyTral’ Heavy Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Octopede’, ‘Sky-Crawler’)
“Beautiful old ships and right treats to fly in atmo, provided the antigrav is working. Stately in maneuver, though they can be quick to stabilize if the going gets turbulent. To get that performance, though, you better take extra care of the pylon articulators and the engine pod servos. ”

“Pirates used to call the SkyTral the ‘Shooting Gallery’, with their pilots trying to see how many of the engines they could take out in a single pass.”

The ‘SkyTral’ was the Dultrex Corporation‘s successor to the Dultrex C80 and was meant to cash in on the post-Automaton War reconstruction and expansion. Twice the size of the C80, with the same engines, only doubled up in number, over twice the cargo lift capacity, but only half again the maintenance cost, the D-C90 seemed slated to be a winner.
Indeed, with its large cargo capacity, and no less than eight pylon-mounted engine pods, the SkyTral was well-suited for delivering cargo to rebuilding worlds and expanding colonies, its multiple engine pods allowing it to handle well in turbulent alien atmospheres. For a time, the SkyTral was a common sight, hauling freight across the reconstruction zones and supplying the new colonies.
However, the D-C90 was in competition with the retooling military-industrial giants whose ships had won the Automaton War . Military-grade structure, engines, and shields made the new generation of heavy transport faster, more durable, and better-suited for the increasingly hostile frontier, as the Human Alliance in its new age of exploration made contact with new alien species. Post-war piracy was also on the rise, as many demobbed soldiers turned pirate or mercenary, of opportunists equipped with War-surplus military gear struck at unprepared colonies. The D-C90, as maneuverable as it was in an atmosphere, was especially vulnerable in its slow ponderous space speed and exposed engines to combat damage, despite an integral commercial-grade forcefield and the ability to mount extra weapons. Without escort, the lumbering SkyTral was an attractive target for bandits.
Denied the wild frontier, the SkyTral was relegated to cargo runs near the metroworlds, where its competition was the many short-run transports being pumped out by DC’s competitors. Dultrex soldiered on for another century, but never again regained the fire of its earlier days, though credit to the designer, the SkyTral trudged on for many years after Dultrex folded. Ironically the design would make a return to the frontiers that were once its roaming grounds, as metroworld companies sold their old transports to ship-desperate Rim operators . A number of SkyTrals thus tramp the Rim, laboriously(and lovingly) maintained by Rim shipyards, and taking their chances with the still-extant vulnerabilities.
The multiple redundancy of the D-C90’s engine nacelles allows the ship to fly on as few as four engines, provided symmetrical thrust is maintained. It is thus not unusual to see old SkyTrals operating with one or two outrigger pods missing.

Type: D-C90 ‘SkyTral’
Class: Heavy Interstellar Transport
Crew: 20, provision for up to 40 additional passengers.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 5,700
Bridge 1,000
Main Power Bloc 1,000
Engines(8 ) 960 each
Cargo Bay Hatches() 400 each
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 164 ft
Width: 300 ft main hull, 434 ft at outriggers
Length: 1,300 ft
Weight: 86,000tons
Cargo: 65,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 35-year energy life between reactor core replacements
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 5
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.5% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 195 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Exceptional Atmospheric Stability---The placement of the engines and inflight 3D vectoring systems gives the large freighter unexpected stability in atmospheric flight: +15% to piloting rolls maneuvering in atmosphere.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for up to 14 point defense mounts and 4 light or 1 medium weapons turret.

Auxiliary Craft: None standard; some operators convert a cargo bay into a hangar, in which case the bay can hold four light shuttles or 5 light fighters.

Variants:
A number of post-market variants exist, most being configured to handle vehicle or liquid/gas cargoes. The SkyTral is sometimes used as a support ship for gas-skimming operations or colonial weather control efforts.
After the Dultrex Corporation folded, nobody picked up the licensing rights to their designs, so they became common domain. In the centuries since, a few smaller, mainly Fringe-based, companies have built D-C90s, or at least SkyTral-inspired, ships, mainly for the atmosphere-skimming industry. At least one operator maintains a SkyTral as a tour-liner of planetary atmospheres, with the internal cargo bays reconfigured into cabin space accommodations for 500 passengers.

[taalismn]

*Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries-SC08DE---- Concord Destroyer Escort (Ship Variant)
(aka ‘Discord’, ‘DEScord’)
“Looks like an old flaking-hulled tramper on the outside, but has the workings of a pocket frigate on the inside. Calling them merchant-cruiser conversions is a mistake; they’re right proper warships with the gams and guns to prove it.”

“On paper, the Descord can outrun and outfight a Hunter-class destroyer...or at least the bog-standard old pre-upgrade models. But the Hunter’s got its own fighter coverage and is oriented towards the strike role, while the Concord-DE’s designed with a defensive posture in mind. Not that it makes much difference when a pirate in a third-hand Hunter or a Berserker knockoff sees one of these things charging at them out of a convoy formation, spitting fire. Typically the Discords will keep the wolves at bay, then let the Hauberks and Shepherds pursue and finish them off.”

“Pirates getting wise? Means we just have to up our game.”

Military variant of the Concord Light Freighter, building on the -SC08PG configuration, only more substantially modified as a destroyer escort . Armor, structural integrity, force-screening, and point defense have been upgraded, advanced fire control added, and military sensors mounted, at the expense of cargo capacity. The nose hatch has been capped with a longer more conical prow holding extra sensors and a heavy missile launcher, the heavy guns of the -SC08PG have ben moved to new locations on the hull, and added EW arrays mounted on the hull. The rear of the central cargo bay has been capped as well, and the internal space further partitioned with blast bulkheads to make room for an engine booster.
As with the -SC08PG, the -SC08DE still appears on most scanners as varying little from its civilian Concord cousin-designs, and standard deployment operations keep active military scanner activity and speed to a minimum during convoy escort runs, to trick potential attackers into range before the destroyer-escorts go to full power on the counterattack.
Given the sterling reputation established by the Concord, the Descord is already proving popular with Mercantlle Defense Force crews, many of who trained on Concords.

Type: PS/ASI-SC08DE Concord-DE
Class: Interstellar Destroyer Escort
Crew: 65 +10 man security contingent+1-30 passengers(typically additional security troops)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 5,500
Bridge 1,400
Radome Stack/Sensor Array 580
Medium Weapons Turrets(3) 360 each
Light Weapons Turrets(4) 250 each
Point Defense Turrets(8) 125 each
Heavy Missile Launcher(1, nose) 400
Secondary Missile Launchers(2) 380 each
Tractor Beam Projectors(2) 300 each
*(Retractable) Maneuvering Engine Nacelles(4) 800 each
Variable Forcefields--1,000 MDC per side, 6,000 MDC total

*Destroying two or more of the Maneuvering Engines will reduce the ability of the ship to manuever in atmosphere; -20% to Piloting rolls. The ship can still land, take off, and fly, but more or less only in a straight line; precision maneuvering will be rather more diificult.

Height: 75 ft.
Width: 110 ft
Length: 370 ft
Weight: 3,000 tons
Cargo: 500 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life. Some ships are TW-powered.
Speed: (Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Fully amphibious; can float on the surface or operate underwater at 25 MPH, maximum depth 3,000 ft.
Market Cost: 345 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard StarShip Systems, plus:
*Full Sensor Suite---Specialized sensor pallets include radiation detectors and counters, spectrographic analysis devices, gravitic sensors, electromagnetic activity readers, and optics packages.
*Long Range Radar---Phased Array Search and Early Warning Radars
Maximum Target Resolution: 200,000 miles
*Laser Targeting-------100,000 miles
*Communications Suite:---Long Range Radio and Video
*Laser Communications ---Tactical (i.e. ship-to fighter/shuttle).Range: 250,000 miles

*Optical Tracking Clusters----These are transparent blisters fitted with gimbal-mounted high-resolution visible-light/IR/UV optical telescopes that continually scan the arc of sky before them. Linked to the navigational arrays and other tracking sensors, and to a series of highly sophisticated near-AI search and discrimination software systems, these sensors attempt to detect objects that have low radar returns/sensor signatures, such as stealthed vehicles, iceballs, or asteroids. The high-tech equivalent of the man in the crow’s nest with a pair of binoculars.

*Military Sensors----Can track ships moving in normal space at 350,000 miles away, and detect FTL wakes at 10 light years.

*Fire Control---Linked to the sensors, this system gives the weapons a +4 to strike.

*Military Jammers---- Bundled standard ECM suite for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -5 to strike, scrambler field; confuses radio transmissions in an 80 mile(Kitsune: 8,000 mile) radius, particle beams do HALF damage, and 45% chance of deflecting standard missiles(i.e.; ‘dumb’ missiles).

*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.

*Lifeboats(8 )

*Tractor Beams(2)----Effectively each rated for 2,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. Both emitters are mounted in the prow.
Range: 5 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)
(Kitsune Values: 5,000 miles in space)

*(Optional) ORACLE Mk V---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics---A TW development of the SNARLS PPE Scanner, this system consists of a series of advanced Technowizardry scanner systems(TW optic mounts, static crystal PPE meters, and whatnot) stationed around the ship, feeding into a central computer system with special TW-derived interface program algorithms. The system is designed to detect incoming magical/paranormal attacks and alert the crew to them(hopefully in time to allow them to take defensive measures).
An increasing number of USAJC ships are being fitted with these sensor suites, as production becomes more widespread, especially in the aftermath of the Minion War incursion, and Infernal left-behinds and magically-enhanced threat groups continue to be menaces to interstellar travel.
? • See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.
? • See the Invisible Sensors: The ships has several special optical and other sensor systems with see the invisible on them. Same as spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Can see forces, objects, and creatures which can turn invisible, or are invisible. Can also see vaporous beings and astral bodies.
? • Sense Magic: The ship has sensors which the give the ability to detect active magic. Similar to spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) in space and 200 miles (320 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: detects the presence of magic if within detection range of ship and gives bearing on magic and basic range although not exact position. Detects active enchantments but will not generally detect spell casters in general.
? • Sense Rifts: Ship has sensors which effectively allow Rifts to be detected(requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 500,000 miles (805,000 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Detects the presence of Rifts (including those created by Rifts Drives) and unlike when detecting magic gives position very accurately.

Weapons Systems:
1) Main Guns(3)----The forward cargo bay has been refitted with a pair of fixed-forward medium starship laser cannons or particle beam projectors, with their own dedicated power supply. A third turret covers the rear arc. Can be fitted with any of the PS/ASI/WZT Medium Starship Weapons, but typically lasers or particle beams are carried.
a)Medium Laser Cannons
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Medium Particle Beam Cannons
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 7 miles in atmosphere, 7,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d4x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: 3 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Heavy Missile Launcher(1)---Mounted in the reconfigured nose and forward cargo bay, the new heavy missile launcher can hold 48 long range missiles OR 30 cruise missiles, volley strength of 1-6.

3) Missile Launchers(2) ---The lateral cargo doors have been replaced with modular missile launchers, now dedicated to anti-fighter ordnance; each launcher can carry and fire 120 mini-missiles OR 60 short range missiles, OR 30 medium range missiles, with magazine capacity of x3 for each station.

4) Medium Gravity Guns(3, one forward, and two aft)--Kinetics will always be a thing with USA designs, given their versatility.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per burst.
Can also fire chaff/fragmentation rounds that do 1d4x10 MD to 100 ft radius in space.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 300 bursts per cannon. New ammunition can be loaded from stores within 20 minutes.

5) Light Guns(4)---These are light PDS weapons in double- or quad-mounts for greater concentrated firepower. Only tachyon cannon cannot be bundled together like this.

6) Point Defense Turrets(8 ) --- The Discord uses the ASI/WZT standardized modular PDS system, but removes four turrets from the -SC08PG configuration.

7) Countermeasure Launchers(4)---These replace the four missing PDS turrets.
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: 48

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 18 swarm packs

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a pre-set pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 15 decoys are carried, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-3.

Auxiliary Craft:
4 Light Shuttles/Boarding Boats in semi-external docking divot-cradles along the upper hull.

[taalismn]

(Tyrell Industries and the Vortex fighter are the creations of Richard Jenkin and first appeared in Rifter #12)

Tyrell Industries T-F878 Vortex-3 Aero Space Interceptor
“With regards to the T-F870; as proud of the Vortex as we all were when it rolled out, I think recent events have dimmed that shine. Great as it was when we introduced it, it hasn’t aged well on a number of counts.
I think we underestimated how flexible the design of the Black Eagle turned out to be and how much less expensive it was going to become, once Galactic Armory began mass-producing it . We also overerestimated how useful the Null Drive was going to be to system defense forces. That rather priced our Vortex out of the range of a lot of defense forces looking to build up their numbers, especially as many need to rebuild their combat losses from the recent Minion War incursions.
And now that the Rim’s beginning to build their own respectable upper-tier starfighters, some of our prospective customers are looking at them as possible alternatives.
If we’re going to keep our hand in the defense of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds against the likes of the TransGalactic Empire---and you know how the Old Man feels about that----we need to up our game and make some changes. Aerospace is the front line, and either we sharpen our edge to stay on that line, or we should get out and leave it to others with a better grasp of what’s needed. ”
-Inner Office Memo, Tyrell Industries Corporate Headquarters, Rememberance.

The T-F870 Vortex Space Interceptor was a very good fighter when it was introduced, and had several innovative systems, especially its Null-Drive, but it was very lacking in many respects. Despite its apparent streamlining, it was a wholly dedicated space combat craft with no atmospheric capabilities whatsoever. This limited its abilities to use its Null-Drive to conduct planetary raids, while lack of atmospheric handling limited it to being based off carrier platforms and starships. The ship’s shield generator was also external to the hull and vulnerable to damage. The custom in-house produced fusion powerplant, which fed the energy-hungry systems, tended to fatigue rapidly, was prone to inefficiencies, and required major overhauls more frequently at cost to the buyer-operators.
However, the blistering Mach 18 speed and heavy armaments of the Vortex impressed many CCW members, and a growing number of metroworlds placed orders for the shiny new ships. The Vortex seemed poised to be both the CCW’s newest defender and a real moneymaker for Tyrell.
Then the Black Eagle rolled out and both the Forge and the Minion Wars erupted. The starfighter corps of many worlds were put to the test, in many cases their first real baptism of fire, and many lessons were learned or relearned, often at considerable cost.
The Black Eagle proved itself the CAF’s stalwart medium fighter of the hour. Though (slightly) slower in real space and FTL, the SF-101LR-variant Black Eagle was less expensive, more durable, more tactically flexible, and harder-hitting at range than the Vortex. And that was even before the Forge and the Minion Wars. Lessons learned during those conflicts led to improved models of the Black Eagle emerging. These new models would have been competition enough for the Vortex, but worse was to come; newly-emergent Fringe and Rim states began to catch up in their shipbuilding capabilities and began rolling out their own homebrewed aerospace fighters, some of which approached peer-level to the more sophisticated coreworld corps’ offerings.
William Tyrell rightly guessed that these developments would negatively impact sales of the Vortex unless something drastic was done. Doing some reorganization of the aerospace division, refinancing the operation, and going over the design with a major facelift and overhaul in mind, Tyrell saw a number of issues that needed to be addressed on the Vortex. Tyrell Industries worked to recapture marketshare by producing a number of variants of the T-F870.
The T-F870 itself would see several changes, thanks to advances in technology and techniques, and emerged from the reorganization and overhaul as the T-F871, with the following improvements:
-Main Armament--- The nose plasma cannon cluster benefitted from an improved cooling system; the overheating issue was fixed.

-Improved Powerplant----The Null-Drive was the Vortex’s biggest power drain, even in standby mode. While the Black Eagle used a matter/antimatter system, the Vortex used a nuclear RTG with a rapid-fatigue core life, that quickly broke down. Tyrell called in some favors and had a new fusion powerplant designed. The new engine now has a life expectancy of ten years and a much better power draw surge capability.

-Landing Capability----The T-F871 introduced the ability to land in an atmosphere/gravity field, though the ship was limited to straight landings and booster take-offs(at Mach 7!). This was made possible by several new software programs that modulated the variable forcefields into a streamlining ‘virtual skin’ and routed extra power to the engines when in atmospheric flight. This modification also necessitated stronger landing gear, but that was considered a small price to pay for more operational flexibility and a wider range of deployment theatres.

-Improved Avionics---Enhanced targeting systems give a +3 to strike with direct-fire weaponry.

-Electronic Countermeasure Package---A basic, but upgradable, EW ECM system was added. This automatic system provides active sensor jamming that interferes wth the active radiation(radar and laser) tracking/target-lock systems of most gunnery and missile systems and incurs a penalty of -2 to strike the fighter.

In general, the new T-F871 drew attention back to the Vortex and improved sales(an opening up of clientele and a new marketing campaign also helped). It also paved the way for the T-F875 Vortex-2.

“Light on the stick and zipper on the thrust; even with the cockpit g-baffles on, you can FEEL the overthrust when you open up the power! This babe’s got ergs to BURN!”

The T-F875 Vortex-2 was essentially a pared-down ‘economy’ Vortex, losing the Null-Drive, but keeping the high local space speed. This also extended the powerplant lifespan to 15 years. Other changes included an armored faring extension of the hull that enclosed the shield generator inside the main hull’s protective armoring. The deletion of the Null-Drive also eliminated the power issues to the wing-pylon PBCs, which now enjoyed effectively unlimited shots without needing to periodically recharge. The particle beam cannon mounts were also modified with swivels, allowing the cannons to cover the dorsal, ventral, and rear arcs of the fighter. Modifications to its long range missile launcher racks allowed the Vortex-2 to carry a pair of cruise missiles in place of the LRMs, making it a more potent shipkiller. The Vortex-2 was also less expensive; 62 million credits and it thus has sold very well to those clients wanting a simpler system defense fighter.

“The Vorthree’s still more expensive than the Black Eagle, but with its heavier weaponry and star-raking speed, most militaries consider it to effectively be a heavy strike fighter, which of course is going to be more pricey than a regular line unit. GIve it another generation, though, and Tyrell should be able to expand andstreamline their production processes such that the price will be brought down to something more affordable to a wider customer base.”

The ‘ultimate’ variant, the T-F878 Vortex-3 combined lessons learned from the T-F871, Vortex-2 and observations of other fighter craft. The fuselage was redesigned to be aerodynamic and to fare the shield generator into its protection; while not the most agile of atmospheric fliers, the Vortex-3 could at least operate in and from an atmosphere and do a decent job of holding its own. Tyrell Industries adopted the multipupose hardpoint systems becoming popular with aerospace fighter designers, as well as the countermeasure launchers also gaining popularity; two hardpoints under each wing, can hold a six-charge flare/chaff dispenser, 10-shot mini-missile launcher pod, three-shot short range missile pod, two medium-range missiles, or a single long-range or cruise-missile each. The T-F878 carries over the improved targeting systems of the T-F871, and even added an autodefence firing program for the wingtip swivel-mount particle beam cannons that could now fire three shots per melee per cannon without direct pilot-gunner input. The EW system has also been carried over, and upgraded to a system that gives active targeting systems a -3 to strike the fighter. The Vortex-3 also comes with the option of being fitted with either a more energy-efficient Null-Drive or a more conventional CG-FTL drive(speed of 2 light years/hour). The Vortex-3 carries the hefty price tag of 110 million credits each ship, but many CCW militaries consider the expenditure worth it after seeing the new fighter in trials.

Between the upgrades and the new variants, Tyrell Industries looks to be bouncing back from its financial slump and is poised to again be in the running with the big defense corps..

[taalismn]

Corianus-Typhen-Rosette League Shi-class Battlecruiser
(aka ‘Smite-Pipe’, ‘Shi-itter’, ‘Pave-Pipper’)
“These tubes look antiquated, but the remodeling’s made them virtually entirely new ships under the skin. The Corianians took some of the best the Alliance had to offer and took advantage to upgrade an already strong performer.”

“The refit Shis made a splash literally when they debuted with a bombardment of the Splugorth orbital defenses around Genahser. Their kinetics really did a number on the moonbase there and opened up near-space to the rest of the liberation force. What wasn’t shattered in the first salvoes was so blinded by the debris kicked up by even near-misses that the Splug gunners couldn’t get a lock on the follow-up barrages. ”

“The Shi is meant for ‘recon-by-fire’. They can go in to perform scans and support scout missions with the ability to stage a fighting retreat if things go sour. They also provide first contact missions with some visible clout to prevent the diplomatic teams from being ambushed or ‘detained’ by opportunistic locals. It helps that by curious coincidence they can sometimes be mistaken on long-range scanners for a Zaxus battleship. That’s helped our power projection image; a lot of potential troublemakers turn tail or go hide, thinking we got a lot more heavy firepower covering our sectors.”

“With the sheer number of secondary particle beam batteries and the point defense lasers going, there develops a faint aura of ionization around the ships, further enhanced by the anti-flash skinning on their hulls. The overall effect is of a saintly glow around these ships...well, saintly if you subscribe to the Church of Heavy Cosmic Firepower and you’re not the benighted heathen in the cruiser’s sights.”

The Shi-class battlecruiser served the Corianan Navy well during the Liberation of Rosette, but the design became long in the tooth overnight when contact was resumed with the Human Alliance and the CCW. However, the ships, being stoutly constructed, were evaluated as being suitable for refit with newer technologies, and there were enough spare hulls that a life-extension program could be economically sound, giving the Corianan Navy a good strong naval reserve, as well as allowing them to spread surplus units to their allies, while they evaluated the future prospects of the design.
As refit, the Shi-class is similar to the CCW Explorer-class cruiser, with a combination of anti-ship combat and ground support as missions. Unlike the Lindsay-class, which was stripped down(some critics say ‘flayed’) to be refit as dedicated exploation ships, the Shis kept their mass and heavy guns as fire support vessels. The refits are also more expensive, but the result has been a faster, more powerful, far-ranging unit.
Upgrades to the class include more efficient engines, expanded sensory capabilities, and . They retain a heavy armament and armor protection, but with the added bonuses of improved fire control and variable forcefields. While the CTRLN Shis were heavy on ammunition-dependent armaments, however, Expeditionary Force-conversion Shis have replaced half the rail gun mounts with energy weapons. They also retain their ability to carry four destroyer-sized parasite craft; in the Corianan Navy, these ae usually Hauberk-class DDs. Expeditionary craft will typically carry scout corvettes or jump-barges carrying networked FTL-sensor and -comm ‘black’ satellites to establish sector-wide early warning nets.
While the majority of refit Shis remain with the CTRL, a number of them serve on detached/option-to-buy loan to the United Systems Alliance. It is not uncommon to see the large ships as part of squadrons with their WZT/CTRL-CG-18 Duval Heavy Cruiser and PS/CTRL-SBGC01 Tarkas Battlecruiser cousins.
A number of Shis have been forwarded to the Milky Way Galaxy as exploration-support vessels because of their extended endurance and heavy protection. Though some critics have decried the ‘gunboat diplomacy’ deployments of Shis, others have lauded the cautious and confident projection of power, and expeditionary groups are more often than not happy for the protection these vessels afford them.
The success of the Shi conversion, thus far, has kept the option open for continued production of the type.

Type: WZT/CTRL-CE018 Shi
Class: Heavy Cruiser
Crew: 750 + 120 passengers+ 180 aerospace squadron/support(not including the crews of any parasite craft)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 70,000
Bridge 2,000
Main Engines 19,000
Auxiliary Engnes(2) 4,000 each
Docking Pylons(2) 3,600 each
Hangar Bays(2) 2,000 each
Heavy Kinetic Cannons(4) 1,000 each
Heavy Laser Cannon(8 ) 900 each
Secondary Particle Beam Cannon(21) 380 each
Multi-Mode Missile Launchers(8 ) 400 each
Point Defense Turrets(12) 360 each
Variable Forcefield* 10,000 each side(60,000 total)
*Variable Forcefields regenerate at 20% per melee
Height: 380 ft
Width: 400 ft , 900 ft ‘wingspan’ at the docking pylons
Length: 3,000 ft
Weight: 9 million tons
Cargo: 55,000 tons
Powerplant: Matter-AntiMatter w/ 50 year energy life
Backup Nuclear Fusion w/ 40 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 13
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.3% of light speed per melee)
Under auxiliary power, the Shi can move at Mach 7
Engaging both the main engines and the auxiliaries as supplemental boosters, the Shi can hit overdrive speeds of Mach 15, though this is only recommended for no more than 4 hours to avoid overstressing the power systems(each additional hour at overdrive speeds carries a cumulative 5% chance of incurring an engine shutdown requiring 4 hours of cooldown before the main engines can be brought back up to full power).
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not Possible
Market Cost: Estimated at 28 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Enhanced Sensors---In keeping with the Shi’s re-classification as an exploration type, the battlecruiser’s sensors have been upgraded. The ‘wing’ pylons double as mounts for improved wide-angle long range sensor arrays. Detects FTL travel up to 28 ly, and sublight vessels up to .96 ly.

*ORACLE Mk V---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics---A TW development of the SNARLS PPE Scanner, this system consists of a series of advanced Technowizardry scanner systems(TW optic mounts, static crystal PPE meters, and whatnot) stationed around the ship, feeding into a central computer system with special TW-derived interface program algorithms. The system is designed to detect incoming magical/paranormal attacks and alert the crew to them(hopefully in time to allow them to take defensive measures). Linkage to the Ectofiber Grid has increased the sensitivity and effectiveness of this system.
See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.
• See the Invisible Sensors: The ships has several special optical and other sensor systems with see the invisible on them. Same as spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Can see forces, objects, and creatures which can turn invisible, or are invisible. Can also see vaporous beings and astral bodies.
• Sense Magic: The ship has sensors which the give the ability to detect active magic. Similar to spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) in space and 200 miles (320 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: detects the presence of magic if within detection range of ship and gives bearing on magic and basic range although not exact position. Detects active enchantments but will not generally detect spell casters in general.
• Sense Rifts: Ship has sensors which effectively allow Rifts to be detected(requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 500,000 miles (805,000 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Detects the presence of Rifts (including those created by Rifts Drives) and unlike when detecting magic gives position very accurately.

*Docking Collars(4)----Four external docking collars with extending tubeways and system connections for servicing additional starships docked to the Shi. These are operationally used to carry smaller ships up to 15,000 tons in mass.

*Tractor Beams(6)--------Effectively each rated for 1,500 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass.
Range: 10 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)(Kitsune Values: 10,000 miles in space).

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Kinetic Cannons(4)---The direct-fire teeth of the Shis are these bow-mounted heavy rail cannon.
Range: 40 miles in atmosphere, 120 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 120 miles in atmosphere, 120,000 miles in space)
Damage:(Slug) 1d6x1,000 MD
(Fragmentor) 4d6x10 MD to a 1,000 ft radius
(Fusion) 1d4 x 1,000 MD to a 1 mile destruction radius
Can also fire the newly-developed Starshock, Ion Storm, Gravity Well, Solar Flare, and Nebula warhead rounds.
Rate of Fire: Once per three melees
Payload: 150 rds per cannon. Additional shells may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes

2) Heavy Laser Cannon(8 )--Secondary bow armament.
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 20 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 20 miles in atmosphere, 20,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x1,000 MD per single blast, 8d6x100 for six cannons firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee. Up to four cannons can be brought to bear on the same target simultaneously.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Secondary Particle Beam Cannon(21) ---Strong secondary battery of PBCs.
Range:7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per cannon
Rate of Fire: Each barrel can fire three times per melee; up to four cannon can be brought to bear on the same target simultaneously and fired in synch as one action.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4) Secondary Kinetic Cannons(10) --Standard USA KEWCs able to fire different warloads.
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 30 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 20 miles in atmosphere, 20,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per 80 rd burst, 2d4x100 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously
(Frag) 4d6 x10 MD to a 100 ft area, +2d6x10 +50ft per barrel
Rate of Fire:EGCHH. Up to three cannons can be brought to bear on the same target simultaneously.
Payload: 32,000 rds (400 bursts) per cannon, ~30 minute reload from stores

5) Multi-Mode Missile Launchers(8 ) -----The CTRLN has adopted modular multi-mode missile launch systems from the USAJC, replacing the previous mix of medium- and long-range launchers. Though the combined missile voley-strength is rather low, compared to other equivalent warships, the added ‘fire and forget’ long range firepower is still considerable. Can also fire probes and countermeasure decoys.
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: Long Range Missiles-- 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Medium Range Missiles--160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Long Range Missiles)Volleys of 1-4
(Medium Range Missiles)Volleys of 1-8
Payload:(Long Range Missiles) 60 LRMs per launcher, Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes.
(Medium Range Missiles)120 missiles per launcher, Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes.

6) Point Defense Turrets(12) -----The CTRLN has adopted the modular ASI/WZT PDS as standard.

Auxiliary Craft:
12 Aerospace Fighters
6 Shuttles
4 parasite craft up to 15,000 tons in mass each.

[taalismn]

Malon Industries “Angelus’ Medium Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Ceester’, ‘Crescent Crate’)
“Brush up on your air-foil skills if you want to get the most of your new Angelus. You can fly this thing through the soup on just aerodynamics if you have to, but don’t expect flitter-acrobatics; it’s a brick waiting to drop. So it’s good advice to keep the thrusters warm in case you need to power out of a drop-dive. Still, if you absolutely have to, you can glide to a landing if you know what to do. That’s a lot better than most anti-grav-dependent star-slabs buzzing around these days.”

“The Ceester’s got some good stable in-atmo handling characteristics, which will make it appealing to colonial development, but its space-handling is less agile. Extendable docking tunnels are a must with this thing in mating with an orbital, because the wings aren’t exactly narrow to fit some of the station slips out there, and the ship lacks a nose-mount docking hatch, which is rather unusual for a Malon design.
The main problem with the Angelus is, though it has better payload capacity than the Sunchaser, is that Malon, like a lot of other coreworld companies, is ‘locked in’ to its own inhouse engine suppliers and traditional subcontractors. There’s little potential in the design for ‘growth’ engines outsourced from non-Malon associates.”

“These ships making atmo-reentry cut a distinctive broad bow plasma shockwave that can’t be missed. Very unlike Malon’s military dropship designs, but forgivable in a civilian design. In fact, it’s touted as a aesthetic feature; part of the ‘light wave’ in the new rollout campaign’s name.”

Shortly after the shakeup in the CCW, Malon Industries launched an effort to gain (or regain) market-share against inroads in the commercial transport market by the emergent Rim aerospace companies. The ‘White Light Wave’(so-called because of the bright white color scheme of factory-fresh hulls), a series of new vessels aimed at the civilian market(Malon’s previous business was light transport contracts for the military), promises greater appeal to small businesses and civilian concerns.
In reality, the ‘White Light Wave’-series is little more than reworked older or previously-proposed designs, updated and modified with some new streamlining and a slick publicity campaign.
The ‘Angelus’ is a low-end medium interstellar transport notable for its broad and thick curved forward wing. The ship is a span-loader, the main cargo holds being in the wings, but a centerline docking port allows both bays to be serviced through the central hull when in space. A skinning of thermal-resistant material keeps the ship safe during repeated atmospheric maneuvering.
Malon’s experience with military craft shows through in that the ship is structurally tough, especially with the extra stresses imposed by the wing assembly, and has reliable, low-maintenance engine systems. Though this resilience comes with a higher price tag, the Angelus is still expected to get interest from small transport companies and branch local delivery services looking for reliable ships.

Type: MI-MIC027 ‘Angelus’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 5-8
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,200
Bridge 700
Engines 1,000
Wings(2) 800 each
Forcefield 1,000
Height: 48 ft
Width: 180 ft wingspan
Length: 230 ft
Weight: 2,000 tons
Cargo: 400 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
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) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 180 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. This covers the ENTIRE vehicle.
Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with up to four Point Defense Mounts.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
None yet, as Malon Industries is waiting to see how the new ships fare in the marketplace, but but Malon is reportedly working on a number of variants with larger wings and correspondingly larger cargo payloads. There has been, as yet, no move to address the most commonly expressed Fringe-line desire for an upgradeable propulsion system.

Malon Industries ‘Photan’ Light Interstellar Cargo Transport
(aka ‘Jepster’)
“This space-jetter’s not much more than an extended-frame runabout with a payload capacity that makes it barely economical to make interstellar runs. It’s the sort of ship they give newbies or the corp-exec’s son to make them feel useful doing milk-runs in secure space. ”

“Malon hopes with this new sales wave to inoculate the core and out-core markets against the Rim competition before the rimmies can start making serious inroads into the cores. Just as the Rim aerospace corps are appealing to local-built pride, Malon’s banking on reminding the metroworlds that core-built means quality and style.”

“Despite what everybody in the Core is saying, this thing isn’t going to displace sales of the Baskin any time; it lacks the sheer versatility of the Baskin and the Malon brand just doesn’t carry enough weight in the Rim to make potential buyers overlook the simple facts of that.”

The ‘Photan’ is a light interstellar transport recently introduced as part of Malon Industries’ ‘White Light Wave’ sales campaign of ‘new’ models meant to appeal to the commercial market.
The Photan has a short, lean, streamlined body, conical prow, bubble-canopied life-section, and finned rear propulsion section. Cargo is stored immediately adjacent aft of the life section in a series of vertical ‘wells’ sized for holding standardized cargo ‘cans’. The Photan is meant for short fast local runs; its propulsion and crew accommodations are ill-suited to longer flights.
Some regard the Photan as Malon’s effort to steal away sales from the WZT ‘Baskin’ light transport, but in reality the Photan is actually a reworking of a nearly forgotten older Malon design, the MI-LCF-03, a rather staid and unremarkable intersystem cargo mule. Malon has taken the old tender, added a streamlined nose and associated navigation sensors, shoehorned in a new engine, and given it a new bright paint job and name. The Photan lacks the Baskin’s modularity and versatility, despite a number of variants released by the company. In its defense, the Photan does have a near-military grade engine, allowing the otherwise unprepossessing small freighter to possess an acceleration/deceleration curve and higher maximum speed better than many other cargo craft.

Type: MI-LICcJ ‘Photan’
Class: Light Interstellar Cargo Transport
Crew: 3-4
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 900
Bridge 600
Engines 700
Tail Fin/Communications Array 400
Forcefield 800
Height: 40 ft(at tail fin)
Width: 35 ft
Length: 120 ft
Weight: 400 tons
Cargo: 72 tons (or six Standard Cans) in six top-loading ‘cells’.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 25% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 110 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. This covers the ENTIRE vehicle.
Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with a single Point Defense turret
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
* MI-LICcJ-B---This variant simply replaces the cargo ‘well’ section with a more conventional open space cargo bay. Side hatches( 200 MD each) provide access. It can carry 80 tons, but takes longer to load/unload using conventional equipment.

* MI-LICcj-L---This variant replaces the center section with expanded life support quarters, adds a few more fins, and a few internal amenities. The life support section can now carry an additional 12 passengers in comfort, or 48 cramped, plus 8 tons of cargo under the main deck. Some of the cargo well hatches of the baseline cargo model are refitted as sundome ports on the -LICcj-L . It’s rumored in certain circles that the ‘Photan-L’ is meant as Malon’s swipe at Nosan Corps’ deep segment cut of the low end interstellar yacht market

* MI-LICcJ-M---’Torpedo Boat’ aerospace militia conversion of the Photan, it replaces the cargo bay wells with missile launch cells( can carry a warload of 96 short range missiles, OR 48 medium range missiles, OR 18 long range missiles OR 12 cruise missiles), and adds associated fire control and target-acquisition sensors. A speed booster ups maximum speed to Mach 10. A high-end commercial forcefield with 1,200 MDC comes standard.
The MI-LICcJ-M seems a nod to Malon’s normal customer base in the military, as well as a hook to encourage customers to buy the ships as ‘light escorts’ and orbital/system defense boats. So far interest in the type has been lukewarm, but Malon hopes that the market will bite at this latest defense product.

Malon Industries ‘Novan” Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Power-sleigh’)
“The bright white skinning and smoothed-out curves don’t hide the blunt brute force lines and the big engine blocs on this cargo hyper-sled. It lacks the payload capacity of a standard merchantman, but it can get what it can carry there a lot faster. We're guessing it's meant to appeal to the operator who wants to feel like a runner, while remaining within the letter of the law.”

The ‘Novan’ is the largest of the new ‘White Light Wave’ ships from Malon Industries. It is a high-end medium interstellar transport that some believe is intended to compete with the ASI Carpathian. A stout structure, good payload, and large brute-force engines characterize the Novan.
The Novan has a lozenge-shaped hull with flanking engine nacelles at the rear. The bridge is in a heavily-glazed dome-cage with a good view of the forward arcs of the hull. Large central cargo bays load from a nose port, making for easy and quick docking with standard station porting. Armor protection is substantial, and the ship has the ability to be fitted with up to eight weapons stations, but speed is considered the ship’s best defense.
Factory-fresh Novans sport the blazingly-bright white paint scheme that is characteristic of the ‘White Light Wave’ ships, but many buyers have their own livery schemes painted in its place.

Type: MI-MIC029 ‘Novan’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 6-9 +8 passengers.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,000
Bridge 800
Engines 1,200
Secondary Engines(2) 800 each
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 35 ft
Width: 80 ft
Length: 320 ft
Weight: 3,800 tons
Cargo: 1,900 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(Auxiliary) Mach 6
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
Market Cost: 190 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. This covers the ENTIRE vehicle.
Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with up to 4 standard Light Starship Weapons and 4 Point Defense turrets.

Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
None, so far; the Novan’s still very new. However, recently plans purportedly to have been leaked through corporate espionage describe a possible gunship variant filling the internal cargo bay with a double-barrel medium-grade starship weapon, fixed-forward firing position and its own power supply, two 10-salvo medium range missile launchers with 50 additional missiles each, two point defense turrets, engine booster system(Mach 11 speed) and an upgrade to a variable shield system.

[taalismn]

AddisonTechnar AT-D17 ‘Cicalus’ Space Yacht
(aka ‘Dome-winger’)
“Thing looks like an oversized pre-space travel airbreather airborne radar platform, except that the radome’s got skylights and is the size of a fair-sized house, and the wings have spacedrive pods on the end. One of Addison’s loopier designs, but it seems to sell well.”

“Even if you’re not planning on landing anywhere and taking in the air and water, the Cicalus is perfect for just cruising in space, sunbathing in the light of the stars.”

The Cicalus is a popular space yacht design from CCW-based AddisonTechnar.
The Cicalus resembles a vintage airliner with a large radome perched atop its tail. Propulsion comes from a pair of wingtip-mounted engines; the dual drive offers redundancy. The dome houses the main quarters, while the lower aerodyne body houses secondary crew quarters, cargo bays, the mechanicals, powerplant and the main star drive.
Both the cockpit and the hab dome can eject from the rest of the ship and serve as lifeboat modules, though generally anything that would destroy/disable the ship would more than likely take out both modules as well. Still, the dual lifepods are touted as a major safety feature.
As a yacht, the Cicalus is not expected to engage in combat; it typically comes with a standard commercial forcefield and the option of being fitted with two point defense systems. Speed is considered the ship’s best defense, and the vessels have better than average acceleration profiles for civilian craft. They can also fly on one engine as well, though normal space speed will be HALF that of normal twin engine operation. Destroying the engine nacelles, however, will NOT disable the FTL drive, which is housed in the main body,
Cicaluses are best used on short flights of no more than a dozen of so light years’ range between neighboring systems; they lack the endurance for longer galactic voyages. If they must make long-range flights, it is advised that they be carried aboard a larger transport, or use an appropriate warp-gate/wormhole transit system.
Despite its odd appearance, the Cicalus is actually quite popular, with various cosmetic variations. It is becoming a common sight in galactic spaceport ‘marinas’ and ‘campgrounds’ within the more populous, well-traveled, and better policed regions of the Three Galaxies.

Type: AT-ISY-70 ‘Cicalus’
Class: Interstellar Space Yacht/Private Transport
Crew: 4+1-20 passengers(depending on accommodations)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,700
Cockpit/Bridge 500
Hab Dome 900
Wings/Engine Nacelles(2) 600 each*
Forcefield 1,000

*Destroying a Wing imposes a -15% to Piloting rolls in atmosphere. Destroying BOTH wings imposes a -30% penalty. The ship can still fly on contragravity systems, take off and land, but maneuvering will be clumsy and the controls will be stodgy.

Height: 64 ft
Width: 145 ft wingspan, hab dome diameter is 70 ft
Length: 152 ft
Weight: 270 tons
Cargo: 15 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 180 million credits for the basic model (not including customized fittings)
Systems of Note:
Standard Ship Systems, plus:
*Emergency FTL Distress Beacon--Most effective when within monitored (and well-trafficked) space where the authorities can quickly triangulate the position of the distress call and dispatch a response.

*Type-2 Recycling; Closed-cycle recycling of air and water with very little lost material. Can also produce basic nutrient rations and basic material stock(plastics, synthetic fabrics, patching, metal wiring) from recovered/recycled material, though the latter isn’t nearly as efficient and cannot produce M-factor(megadamage) materials.

*Lifeboat Cockpit & Hab Dome---Both the bridge/cockpit and hab dome have independent emergency life support systems, can be ejected from the ship, and have limited deep space maneuvering capability(mainly to make their way to an awaiting rescue ship or orient themselves for atmospheric reentry.

Weapons Systems: None, but comes with the option of being fitted with two point defense systems
Auxiliary Craft: None
Some operators will carry one or two small vehicles in the lower cargo hold for planetary travel jaunts.
Variants:
As with any yacht, a wide range of personal customizations have been performed, mainly cosmetic, especially in the design of the hab dome and wings. Anti-laser polish/chroming is popular both for its protective and aesthetic values. Installation of more powerful engines, star drive, light variable forcefields, and one or two additional weapons are common. Some have been heavily automated into singleships that can be managed by one crew member. All at extra expense to the buyer/operator.
Some especially radical variants outfit the hab dome with an emergency FTL drive, allowing passengers to make their own way to safety, light years away, if they have to.
It’s rumored that a number of security agencies have taken advantage of the Cicalus’s resemblance to an antiquated AWACS platform to outfit them as exactly that; converted ELINT craft posing as yachts, the hab domes crammed full of sensitive electronic listening equipment and passive sensors.
It’s rumored that one pirate gang used a tricked-out Cicalus to carry a large space-mine disguised as the hab-dome and attached it to a larger liner to extort ransom from its passengers.



Malon Industries “Angelus’ Medium Interstellar Transport
(aka ‘Ceester’, ‘Crescent Crate’)
“Brush up on your air-foil skills if you want to get the most of your new Angelus. You can fly this thing through the soup on just aerodynamics if you have to, but don’t expect flitter-acrobatics; it’s a brick waiting to drop. So it’s good advice to keep the thrusters warm in case you need to power out of a drop-dive. Still, if you absolutely have to, you can glide to a landing if you know what to do. That’s a lot better than most anti-grav-dependent star-slabs buzzing around these days.”

“The Ceester’s got some good stable in-atmo handling characteristics, which will make it appealing to colonial development, but its space-handling is less agile. Extendable docking tunnels are a must with this thing in mating with an orbital, because the wings aren’t exactly narrow to fit some of the station slips out there, and the ship lacks a nose-mount docking hatch, which is rather unusual for a Malon design.
The main problem with the Angelus is, though it has better payload capacity than the Sunchaser, is that Malon, like a lot of other coreworld companies, is ‘locked in’ to its own inhouse engine suppliers and traditional subcontractors. There’s little potential in the design for ‘growth’ engines outsourced from non-Malon associates.”

“These ships making atmo-reentry cut a distinctive broad bow plasma shockwavethat can’t be missed. Very unlike Malon’s military dropship designs, but forgivable in a civilian design. In fact, it’s touted as a aesthetic feature; part of the ‘light wave’ in the new rollout campaign’s name.”

Shortly after the shakeup in the CCW, Malon Industries launched an effort to gain (or regain) market-share against inroads in the commerical transport market by the emergent Rim aerospace companies. The ‘White Light Wave’(so-called because of the bright white color scheme of factory-fresh hulls), a series of new vessels aimed at the civilian market(Malon’s previous business was light transport contracts for the military), promises greater appeal to small businesses and civilian concerns.
In reality, the ‘White Light Wave’-series is little more than reworked older or previously-proposed designs, updated and modified with some new streamlining and a slick publicity campaign.
The ‘Angelus’ is a low-end medium interstellar transport notable for its broad and thick curved forward wing. The ship is a span-loader, the main cargo holds being in the wings, but a centerline docking port allows both bays to be serviced through the central hull when in space. A skinning of thermal-resistant material keeps the ship safe during repeated atmosperic maneuvering.
Malon’s experience with military craft shows through in that the ship is structurally tough, especially with the extra stresses imposed by the wing assembly, and has reliable, low-maintenance engine systems. Though this resilience comes with a higher price tag, the Angelus is still expected to get interest from small transport companies and branch local delivery services looking for reliable ships.

Type: MI-MIC027 ‘Angelus’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 5-8
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,200
Bridge 700
Engines 1,000
Wings(2) 800 each
Forcefield 1,000
Height: 48 ft
Width: 180 ft wingspan
Length: 230 ft
Weight: 2,000 tons
Cargo: 400 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
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) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 180 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. This covers the ENTIRE vehicle.
Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with up to four Point Defense Mounts.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
None yet, as Malon Industries is waitung to see how the new ships fare in the marketplace, but but Malon is reportedly working on a number of variants with larger wings and correspondingly larger cargo payloads. There has been, as yet, no move to address the most commonly expressed Fringe-line desire for an upgradeable propulsion system.

Malon Industries ‘Photan’ Light Interstellar Cargo Transport
(aka ‘Jepster’)
“This space-jetter’s not much more than an extended-frame runabout with a payload capacity that makes it barely economical to make interstellar runs. It’s the sort of ship they give newbies or the corp-exec’s son to make them feel useful doing milk-runs in secure space. ”

“Malon hopes with this new sales wave to innoculate the core and out-core markets against the Rim competition before the rimmies can start making serious inroads into the cores. Just as the Rim aerospace corps are appealing to local-built pride, Malon’s banking on reminding the metroworlds that core-built means quality and style.”

“Despite what everybody in the Core is saying, this thing isn’t going to displace sales of the Baskin any time; it lacks the sheer versatility of the Baskin and the Malon brand just doesn’t carry enough weight in the Rim to make potential buyers overlook the simple facts of that.”

The ‘Photan’ is a light interstellar transport recently introduced as part of Malon Industries’ ‘White Light Wave’ sales campaign of ‘new’ models meant to appeal to the commercial market.
The Photan has a short, lean, streamlined body, conical prow, bubble-canopied life-section, and finned rear propulsion section. Cargo is stored immediately adjacent aft of the life section in a series of vertical ‘wells’ sized for holding standardized cargo ‘cans’. The Photan is meant for short fast local runs; its propulsion and crew accommodations are ill-suited to longer flights.
Some regard the Photan as Malon’s effort to steal away sales from the WZT ‘Baskin’ light transport, but in reality the Photan is actually a reworking of a nearly forgotten older Malon design, the MI-LCF-03, a rather staid and unremarkable intersystem cargo mule. Malon has taken the old tender, added a streamlined nose and associated navigation sensors, shoehorned in a new engine, and given it a new bright paint job and name. The Photan lacks the Baskin’s modula

[taalismn]

Odina Federation ‘Plaschal’-class Heavy Transport
(aka “Banister’, ‘Tower-class’, ‘Jinga-ships’, ‘Wedding Cake Cruiser’, ‘Galactic Pogo-Stick’)
“The Plaschal looks like a space accident that’s still evolving; one or two starships that have collided with a depot station while docking.
“The Odinans are usually very conservative within their tech base, producing conventional pattern ships. Then they produce the occasional physics-defying design like this. There is absolutely no sane reason these ships should be designed like that. Conventional wisdom says that these ships should be tumbling end over end. Flying straight like they do should require constant rebalancing of the drives and more computer control than they do. Somehow they manage to get away with it.”

“The Plaschal’s designers seem to take it as a point of pride that they’ve managed to put one over on the haughty Galactics with a design that has the outworlders constantly scratching their heads as to why the ships aren’t constantly flying out of control. The things look one gyro failure short of an uncontrolled collapse. Even for a make-work design, the fact that they aren’t is impressive in itself.”

“It’s competition from those repurposed military shipyards in Cynocrean space that’s the problem. Our supposed ‘allies’ helped our old enemies rescue their post-Party economy and now they’re rolling out heavy transports that are KILLING us in the open ship markets! If we’d only held off on licensing the demilitarized Gemiyor designs and held them for ourselves, we might be faring better!”

“Say what you will about her looks, but the -Wyndlaire- is a right reliable science platform. She can hold station for a year or more if necessary without diminishment of her capabilities.”

The ‘Plaschal’-class is a civilian/commercial heavy transport from the Odina Federation. Development of the type began before the OdF established full re-contact with the greater Galactic scene, and production began just after the collapse of the rival Cynoceran Republic, when the Odinans were feeling flush with optimism and anticipating a boom in exploration and galactic trade without having to worry about a war with their belligerent neighbors.
Many regard the Plaschal as a civilian conversion of the Gemiyor heavy carrier/cruisers, as it shares many of the same characteristics as that warship. The Plaschal resembles a massively tall upright column stack of three large saucer sub-hulls on a central spindle. The topmost disc holds sensors and communications, the middle the main habitation and cargo holds, and the bottom is additional cargo, engineering and propulsion, with engines on the bottom-most end of the ‘pole’. The Plaschal is actually meant to fly laterally to its long axis, a design configuration that boggles outsider engineers. Nevertheless, the Plaschal flies well enough and crews reportedly find the design vice-free, performance-wise. However, it should be noted that the Plaschal remains an only child in the Odinan design stables; no similarly-configured classes have been produced to date.
The Plaschal is a ‘tail-sitter’, landing oriented upright, though it rarely lands, except in deep water. Instead, most Plaschals remain in orbit and rely on shuttles or stations to transport cargo and personnel to and from their destinations.
Despite a so-far unblemished safety record in operation, the size, operating costs, and odd configuration of the Plaschal has kept the ship from becoming more popular. The anticipated post-’Cynoceran Spring’ economic boom has been slow in revving up, and so far has mainly benefitted smaller ship designs that ape more mainstream designs. The majority of the Plaschals so far produced have been acquired by the Odinan federal government, which has fitted out several as science ships, military tenders and colony support vessels, and rents the rest out as transports to interested parties. A few are operated by Odinan corporations, and a smaller number bought by outside parties(including a spaceline and at least one eccentric billionaire), but in general, the Plaschal has not enjoyed much success as a marketable design. Nevertheless, the shipyards producing the Plaschal continue to take orders, albeit at a much-reduced and cautious rate.

Type: OF-AC140 Plaschal
Class: Heavy Interstellar General Purpose Transport
Crew: 1,200+ 9,000 possible passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body/Central Column 60,000
Bridge 1,000
Main Communications/Sensor Array 1,200
Hab Disk 14,000
Cargo Disk 10,000
Main Hangar Bay 1,000
Secondary Hangar Bays(2) 800 each
Engine Module 13,000
(Variable Forcefield) 2,000 each side( 12,000 total)
Height: 3,000 ft
Width: 1,000 ft(disk hull beam)
Length: 2,200 ft
Weight: 30 million tons
Cargo: 11 million tons cargo version, 4 million liner configuration.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year life.
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric(but rarely operate in an atmosphere).
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land and float in water, and taxi in deep enough water(requires at least 750 ft of depth, though).
Market Cost: 17 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Long Range FTL Radio Communications----The Plaschals have high-powered FTL comm systems capable of punching out signals at 50 light years/hour.

*Type-Two Recycling Systems---Extensive recycling and material recovery systems allow the Plaschal to recover and re-circulate its air and water, with very little material loss(closed up, it’s estimated the system will lose only a ton of material every five months) and can even produce basic rations and repair stock from recycled materials, as long the systems have power.

*Tractor Beam Projectors(10)-----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: 12 miles

Weapons Systems: None standard, but can be fitted with up to 18 point defense weapons.
Auxiliary Craft:
12-18 shuttlecraft in the main hangar bay
6 shuttlecraft in each of the secondary bays
Variants:
Liner-configuration Plaschals can carry 9,000 passengers.
Military Tenders and Research vessels sport medium weapons installations(eight for military vessels and four for science craft) and four medium range missile/probe launchers.





AddisonTechnar AT-D17 ‘Cicalus’ Space Yacht
(aka ‘Dome-winger’)
“Thing looks like an oversized pre-space travel airbreather airborne radar platform, except that the radome’s got skylights and is the size of a fair-sized house, and the wings have spacedrive pods on the end. One of Addison’s loopier designs, but it seems to sell well.”

“Even if you’re not planning on landing anywhere and taking in the air and water, the Cicalus is perfect for just cruising in space, sunbathing in the light of the stars.”

The Cicalus is a popular space yacht design from CCW-based AddisonTechnar.
The Cicalus resembles a vintage airliner with a large radome perched atop its tail. Propulsion comes from a pair of wingtip-mounted engines; the dual drive offers redundancy. The dome houses the main quarters, while the lower aerodyne body houses secondary crew quarters, cargo bays, the mechanicals, powerplant and the main star drive.
Both the cockpit and the hab dome can eject from the rest of the ship and serve as lifeboat modules, though generally anything that would destroy/disable the ship would more than likely take out both modules as well. Still, the dual lifepods are touted as a major safety feature.
As a yacht, the Cicalus is not expected to engage in combat; it typically comes with a standard commercial forcefield and the option of being fitted with two point defense systems. Speed is considered the ship’s best defense, and the vessels have better than average acceleration profiles for civilian craft. They can also fly on one engine as well, though normal space speed will be HALF that of normal twin engine operation. Destroying the engine nacelles, however, will NOT disable the FTL drive, which is housed in the main body,
Cicaluses are best used on short flights of no more than a dozen of so light years’ range between neighboring systems; they lack the endurance for longer galactic voyages. If they must make long-range flights, it is advised that they be carried aboard a larger transport, or use an appropriate warp-gate/wormhole transit system.
Despite its odd appearance, the Cicalus is actually quite popular, with various cosmetic variations. It is becoming a common sight in galactic spaceport ‘marinas’ and ‘campgrounds’ within the more populous, well-traveled, and better policed regions of the Three Galaxies.

Type: AT-ISY-70 ‘Cicalus’
Class: Interstellar Space Yacht/Private Transport
Crew: 4+1-20 passengers(depending on accommodations)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,700
Cockpit/Bridge 500
Hab Dome 900
Wings/Engine Nacelles(2) 600 each*
Forcefield 1,000

*Destroying a Wing imposes a -15% to Piloting rolls in atmosphere. Destroying BOTH wings imposes a -30% penalty. The ship can still fly on contragravity systems, take off and land, but maneuvering will be clumsy and the controls will be stodgy.

Height: 64 ft
Width: 145 ft wingspan, hab dome diameter is 70 ft
Length: 152 ft
Weight: 270 tons
Cargo: 15 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 180 million credits for the basic model (not including customized fittings)
Systems of Note:
Standard Ship Systems, plus:
*Emergency FTL Distress Beacon--Most effective when within monitored (and well-trafficked) space where the authorities can quickly triangulate the position of the distress call and dispatch a response.

*Type-2 Recycling; Closed-cycle recycling of air and water with very little lost material. Can also produce basic nutrient rations and basic material stock(plastics, synthetic fabrics, patching, metal wiring) from recovered/recycled material, though the latter isn’t nearly as efficient and cannot produce M-factor(megadamage) materials.

*Lifeboat Cockpit & Hab Dome---Both the bridge/cockpit and hab dome have independent emergency life support systems, can be ejected from the ship, and have limited deep space maneuvering capability(mainly to make their way to an awaiting rescue ship or orient themselves for atmospheric reentry.

Weapons Systems: None, but comes with the option of being fitted with two point defense systems
Auxiliary Craft: None
Some operators will carry one or two small vehicles in the lower cargo hold for planetary travel jaunts.
Variants:
As with any yacht, a wide range of personal customizations have been performed, mainly cosmetic, especially in the design of the hab dome and wings. Anti-laser polish/chroming is popular both for its protective and aesthetic values. Installation of more powerful engines, star drive, light variable forcefields, and one or two additional weapons are common. Some have been heavily automated into singleships that can be managed by one crew member. All at extra expense to the buyer/operator.
Some especially radical variants outfit the hab dome with an emergency FTL drive, allowing passengers to make their own way to safety, light years away, if they have to.
It’s rumored that a number of security agencies have taken advantage of the Cicalus’s resemblance to an antiquated AWACS platform to outfit them as exactly that; converted ELINT craft posing as yachts, the hab domes crammed full of sensitive electronic listening equipment and passive sensors.
It’s rumored that one pirate gang used a tricked-out Cicalus to carry a large space-mine disguised as the hab-dome and attached it to a spaceliner as a bomb ransom ploy.

[taalismn]

original ion rules courtesy of Henning Rogge)

Malon Industries ‘Shoknar’ Destroyer Escort
(aka ‘Mozzle’, ‘Shok-a-Mok’, ‘Poket-Shoket’)
“We slip in nice and neat and make like another merchantman, just like the ones around us. We’re a last minute addition, so any spies in port will have less time to figure out what we are and tell their buddies down the road what’s in this convoy. So if there’s any trouble on this trip, we should have the element of surprise.”

“The Berserker and the Amok have both been aroud long enough that copies of them are all over the place, most in the wrong hands. But the qualities are now pretty well known, it’s largely just place and numbers that make them so dangerous. It also means that by now a lot of defense contractors have a fiar idea of how to counter them. Malon’s response seems to be the Shoknar.”

The ‘Shoknar’ is the rude surprise of the new ‘White Light Wave’ ships from Malon Industries. It is a full-blown warship design that many suspect was the real reason for the new commercial ship campaign; to conceal Malon’s step up from building transports into warship production. Looking much like one of the new civilian ships in its(initially) bright white color scheme, the Shoknar looks deceptively like another nose-loading cargo transport when in reality it is a fast, hard-striking combat vessel.
The Shoknar is meant to counter the proliferation of older ex-TGE Berserkers and related Amok attack ships that have cropped up with various criminal organizations and pirate states. A powerful nose-mounted heavy ion cannon can knock out pirate vessels for capture, while a brace of heavy laser cannons and modular missile launchers provide lethal backup. Five point defense turrets offer a mix of photonics and kinetics to counter missiles, fighters, and boarding shuttles. Malon also apparently pulled pn its corporate contacts to get license for advanced targeting systems for its new warship, allowing for decisively accurate weapons fire.
The shortcoming of the Shoknar is that it lacks the troop and passenger capacity to thoroughly take advantage of a crippled enemy to board them. Nor does it carry a small craft complement such as fighters or shuttles. However, the Shoknar is not expected to operate alone, but as part of a coordinated escort group that ideally would include carrier craft and vessels with security troops to assault any pirates disabled by the Shoknars.
Having just debuted, the Shoknar has yet to see any serious test of its combat capabilities, but market watchers predict that with the proliferation of piracy post-Incursion, the Shoknars’ first real trial-by-fire is likely to come sooner rather than later.
So far, it has been bought by several security forces and mercantile security escort services affiliated with Malon Industries, but if the Shoknar acquits itself well in combat, interest and orders for the ships are expected to go up.

Type: MI-MDE031 ‘Shoknar’
Class: Destroyer Escort
Crew: 60
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 4,000
Bridge 1,000
Engines 2,000
Secondary Engines(2) 900 each
Nose Ion Destabilizer Cannon(1) 700
Medium Laser Cannons(2) 600 each
Modular Missile Launchers(2-3) 600 each
Point Defense Turrets(5) 150 each
Variable Forcefield 1,000 per side(6,000 total)
Height: 75 ft
Width: 230 ft
Length: 320 ft
Weight: 6,000 tons
Cargo: 175 tons internally
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
Market Cost: 270 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed originally for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. This covers the ENTIRE vehicle.

*Advanced Fire Control(All)----Improved avionics network the various hull sensors and fire control for more accurate targeting Advanced Targeting Bonus: +3 to strike for point defense systems, +2 to strike for long range weaponry.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Ion Destabilizer Cannon(1, nose)---Malon either copied or quietly licensed this weapon from PS/ASI/WZT(which has made no acknowledgement of either possibility). Mounted in the nose with a 30-degree arc of fire, the destabilizer cannon can wear down lighter craft, overload their electronics, and cripple them for capture.
Range:(Palladium)5 miles in atmosphere,10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space
Damage:1d4x100 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, the target vessel will be -1 to strike, parry, and dodge, ar least until an appropriate repair skill roll is made to bypass or correct the damage. 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: Five times per melee
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

2) Medium Laser Cannon (2)--Mounted further back in the hull on ‘wings’ bracing the main body are two powerful naval lasers.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per single barrel, 2d6x100 MD for two cannons firing simultaneously(counts as one attack).
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3)Modular Missile Launchers(2-3)---Malon took another hint from PS/ASI/WZT in mounting modular semi-external missile launcher modules that can be swapped between types as needed.
Each module can hold the following:
a) Short Range Missiles--- 120 per pod((volley strength of 1-20)
b) Medium Range Missiles--- 96 per pod((volley strength of 1-12)
c) Long Range Missiles---48 per pod((volley strength of 1-8 )
d) Cruise Missiles--- 30 per pod(volley strength of 1-6)

4) Point Defense Lasers(3)---Standard photonic PDS.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) Point Defense G-Cannons(2)---Malon, like many others, learned from watching the Fringe and saw the renewed importance of kinetics, so they fitted the Shoknar with a pair of rapid-fire G-guns. Interestingly, the G-guns are similar, if not a straightout knockoff, of the same weapons carried as point defense by the TGE Berserker(and its pirate-affiliated copies).
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per 40 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 8,000 rds/200 bursts per gun

Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
As the Shoknar has yet to see any major action, and Malon decides what the commercial future of the design is likely to be, no variants have yet appeared. Industry speculation, however, predicts that the most likely refits will involve replacing the Ion Destabilizer Cannon with some other weapon type, such as a heavy G-Cannon or particle beam projector. Additional mission-custom ordnance modules, such as decoy launchers or anti-mine gear seem likely as well.

[taalismn]

PS/ASI ‘Union’ Stations--Standardized Orbital Habitat Facilities
(aka ‘Hexadromes’)
“Right now, the Union’s being produced only for the Usa Alliance and its affiliates, so if you see one, it means the Usans got a presence, and more than a passing one, in that part of space. A lot of the pirate cartels, at least the smart ones, take that as a sign that it’s time to get out and seek safer hunting grounds. ”

“Getting a Union station means your outpost system just got an upgrade in status and the usa is willing to pump more investment into your part of the ‘verse.”

“The new stations all look so brassy and shiny now, but I figure it’s only a matter of time before the Usan lab-geeks figure out how to grow space-moss all over them.”

‘Union’-class spacestations are the next step up in standardized orbital outposts from the now nearly ubiquitous Plymouths produced by Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries for the United Systems Alliance and other customers, but not as large as the massive Orbis space colonies.
Union Stations resemble large central spheres(or hemispheres) at the center of a six-spoked ring. Despite their configuration, Unions are reliant on artificial grav-plating, rather than centrifugal spin, to provide primary gravity. Many do rotate, however, providing a back-up gravity generation capacity, but mainly to aide in sequential cooling.
Unions can be pre-assembled, then pushed to their final site by six command-linked Brunel tugs.
A lower ‘tail’ of additional rings and modules, similar to the Plymouths’, can be attached to the lower part of the station, expanding capabilities.
Though meant primarily as civilian or support facilities rather than battle pltforms, Unions can be quite heavily armed and armored, in keeping with their ‘frontier’ deployment postures, making them tough nuts to crack. Rather than a fixed armament configuration, Unions have benefited from the USA’s adoption of modular weapons mounts, allowing for swap-outs and rapid upgrades in defensive capability as needed. If ring segments are dedicated to hangar bays, they can host quite large complements of fighters and small combat craft. Heavy shielding is almost always standard.
Unions have the advantage of having larger capacity and greater protection than the smaller Plymouths, but aren’t as modular ‘plug and play’ as the larger Frontier Space City/Habitats. They typically are used as outdimension outposts and frontier stations, as their design also makes it easier to limit their detectable emissions and their size/capacity allows them to be largely self-sufficient.

Type: PSS-SPH-8 ‘Union’
Class: Multipurpose Spacestation
Crew: 60,000 capacity
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 600,000
Outer Hull per 100 ft area 400
Spokes(6) 50,000 each
Ring Segments(6) 60,000 each
Docking Pylons(6-18 per ring) each
Small Craft Bays(6) 1,000 each
Capital Weapons Mounts(6-12) 1,000 each
Medium Weapons Mounts(12-36) 700 each
Point Defense Mounts(18-54) 100 each

*Many Union-Habs will have heavy-duty forceshielding, even variable forceshielding.
A standard monoplanar forceshield will have an MDC rating of 50,000
Variable Forcefields 9,000 each side( 54,000 total)

Height: 4,000 ft typically, while additional ‘tail’ modules can stretch this out 2-6x
Width: Central Sphere is some 3,000 ft in diameter, while the outer ring makes it 5,000-6,000 ft in diameter
Length: Central Sphere is some 3,000 ft in diameter, while the outer ring makes it 5,000-6,000 ft in diameter
Weight: 12 million tons
Cargo: 1 million tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion supplemented by Solar, TechnoWizardry, and/or planetary electromegnetic.
Speed:(Station-keeping thrusters only)
(Atmosphere) Not possible
(Space) Station-keeping only, though some Unions have been moved between planets using slow Holtzmann-style orbits, assisted by ion thrusers and/or large solar sails. Effective speed of Mach 2
(Kitsune Values: 2% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.2% of light speed per melee)
Market Cost: 22 billion credits
Systems of Note:
*Full Sensor Suite---Specialized sensor pallets include radiation detectors and counters, spectrographic analysis devices, gravitic sensors, electromagnetic activity readers, and optics packages.
*Long Range Radar---Phased Array Search and Early Warning Radars
Maximum target Resolution: 4 million miles
*Laser Targeting-------100,000 miles
*Communications Suite:---Long Range Radio and Video
*Laser Communications ---Tactical (i.e. ship-to fighter/shuttle)Range: 500,000 miles
*FTL Radio:---Typical signal strength/speed is 80-100 light years/hour, with a 1,000 ly range.
*Optical Tracking Clusters----These are transparent blisters fitted with gimbal-mounted high-resolution visible-light/IR/UV optical telescopes that continually scan the arc of sky before them. Linked to the navigational arrays and other tracking sensors, and to a series of highly-sophisticated near-AI search and discrimination software systems, these sensors attempt to detect objects that have low radar returns/sensor signatures, such as stealthed vehicles, iceballs, or asteroids. The high-tech equivalent of the man in the crow’s nest with a pair of binoculars.

*Networked Fire Control----Unions typically mount military-grade fire control, giving any mounted direct-fire weaponry a +3 to strike.

*FTL Sensors---Many state-run large habitats mount (overtly or covertly)large sensor arrays for tracking space traffic, including long distance FTL drive events, as part of early warnig systems, or space traffic control(especially important in strategic systems, frontier regions, and trade hubs). The arrays may be under civilian control, or maintained and operated by the military. A typical long range array can track FTL transits up to 25 light years away(equivalent to the CAF Deployable Listening Array discussed in detail in Eric Fackler’s Galactic Tracer Starship Creation Rules, Rifter #34, but these arrays are MUCH larger and more brute force systems). Dedicated listening facilities can spot FTL transits as far out as 35 light years in real time.

*TW Magic Sensors----Many Unions, especially those in regions of space known for significant magic activity/dimensional rifting, will be fitted with capital shipTW sensor suites.

*Limited Stealth----The design of Unions allows them to reduce their sensor signature by as much as 45%. This is handy for concealing their presence from nearby civilizations*especially low-tech planetbound ones) or setting up staging bases for anti-piracy actions.

Weapons Systems:
Varies: Each Ring Segment can mount 1 Capital-class weapon, 4 medium class weapons, and six Light or Point Defense weapons.
The Central Sphere/Dome can mount 18 PDS turrets, 12 medium weapons, and 6 Capital-class weapons

Auxiliary Craft:
Varies: The typical Union has provision for hosting 12 utility shuttles and 12 aerospace fighters, while each ring segment can dock a starship or sublight vessel. This can be expanded to three docking ports/slips per ring.
If a ring segment is dedicated to small craft bays, it can host up to 240 aerospace fighters, or a mix of fighters, shuttles, and small warcraft or small starships.

Variants:
No two Unions are exactly alike; some feature only a(heavily armored) hemisphere in place of the central sphere, while some feature two rings, attached at the poles of the central sphere. Some feature extended antennae, solar arrays, or ship-servicing ‘piers’ from the ring segments.
As noted before, Unions can also sport ‘tails’ of additional storage, docking, and service modules, greatly expanding their capabilities.

[taalismn]

Drop Mines---Robotic Weapons Platform Surface Landers
“We drop a cordon of ack-ack drop-drones fifty-eighty mikes out from the landing zone, so if they scramble any mud-birds and fly them nape so our orbitals can’t see them in the ground clutter, we can still smoke them from below.”

“Fedlow the Skink managed to get his paws on a military ay-ay missile package, smuggled it through orbital customs and dropped it on the grounds of his rival’s estate during her son’s wedding. Even got ahold of local Guard codes so it looked like an accident from a live fire exercise. Thing took out half the guests and catering before its racks went dry and it kamikaze-hopped into the parking area. Musta taken out over a third of Drallensport’s cartel families besides the old lady so it was an extra win for the Skink. Pity Gundor Snorf wasn’t on the guest list because he took out Fedlow before he could capitalize on the power vacuum. ”

Drop Mines are automated weapons stations similar to the Wellington Remote Missile Launcher Mines. Drop Mines consist of a robot lander base equipped with retrorockets and a top-mounted weapon such as a rail gun, ballistic mortar, or missile launcher with a supply of ammunition. Sensor arrays and even in some models complements of sub-drones provide targeting information to the onboard fire control computers.
Drop Mines are typically deployed into enemy territory from low orbit, and are programmed to ID enemy vehicles such as aircraft and warmachines, and open fire on them. Some models of drop mine can be repositioned, using any remaining power or fuel in their thrusters to ‘hop’ around the battlefield, further confusing any counterattacks on their positions.
Once their ammunition has been expended, or if compromised, drop mines switch to self-destruct mode, to keep their IFF codes and weaponry from falling into enemy hands. Some will use their remaining fuel to make a terminal ballistic leap-attack on an enemy postion wthin range, while others will simply blow up when enemy forces approach its position.
Some drop mines also load up with false sensor emission broadcasters, so as to deliberately announce their positions, but misrepresent what they really are.
DropMInes are used as area denial weapons to secure landing zones, decoy enemy forces from other fronts, and to provide nuisance attacks against enemy transport and infrastructure.
All of the major polities of the Three Galaxies use drop mines in planetary assault operations(and sometimes in planetary defense ops, to throw cordons around enemy landing zones), so there are many manufacturers. The Free Worlds Council also uses them, but problems of secure local manufacturing and supply mean they depend for the most part on foreign suppliers. Naruni Enterprises, followed by Hartigal Corp, are probably the largest open market suppliers of drop mines and unfortunately some of their product has ended up in the hands of pirates and other outlaw organizations.
The following example is the Naruni Enterprises’ NE-SASSML-14, a simple and popular dual-mode defense-suppression platform available ‘off the books’(because most polities regard it as an offensive, rather than defensive, weapons system) on the galactic arms market. Simple, short-use, and cheap(as these systems go), it has shown up in a wide range of combat theatres around the Three Galaxies.

Type: NE- SASSML-14
Class: Space to Surface SemiAutonomous Unmanned Defense Suppression Ordnance Lander
Crew: Nonel Robot Drone
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 150
Missile Launcher(top) 120
Height: 8 ft
Width: 6 ft diameter
Length: 6 ft diameter
Weight: 5 tons
Cargo: If not carrying an ordnance package, can soft-land 2.5 tons of cargo
Powerplant: Fuel Cell, good for 48 hours of continuous operation.
Speed:(Flying)(Space to Surface)Can make soft landings from low orbit
(Surface) Can make short hops of 1-5 miles using thrusters; can hover and can ccver up to 60 miles.
Market Cost: 600,000 credits(comes fully loaded with standard HE and fragmentation warheads, unless the customer asks for a specific custom warload).
Systems of Note:
Standard Robot Vehicle Sensors, plus:
*Mini-Radar----30 mile range
*Targeting Programming---The onboard computer is programmed with the sensor profiles of known enemy vehicles on the target world, or it can be set to fire indiscriminately on anything not broadcasting a ‘friendly’ IFF signal.
Weapons Systems:
1) Short Range Missile Launcher----Holds 30 SRMs and can salvo them in volleys of 1-10.

2) Self-Destruct----Does 3d6x10 MD to a 100 ft blast radius.

Variants:
The same lander bus-platform can be fitted with other payloads, such as a 40-shot mini-missile launcher or 7-shot medium range missile package. Stealth models with low-observibility casings and landing penetration aides also exist.

[SolCannibal]

Now i'm thinking of how similar units equipped instead with some powerful lasers might or not work as "parachuting drone artillery" of sorts among other "cheap bits" so to speak.

Or maybe some mining robot/railgun combo for an attempt at "endless ammunition automated artillery".

[taalismn]

You want to go cheap and expendable.
Admittedly, though, in the Shemarrian fan thread we have a robot centipede/rail gun that makes its own ammo by chewing up scrap metal(the EShemarrians dump a **** of the robot-critters in a Kittani shipyard and they shoot up the Splugorth counterattack while at the same time further swisscheesing the remaining shipyard structures).

[taalismn]

Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering ‘Deneken’ Heavy Aerospace Fighter
(aka ‘Twinder’, ‘Tu-Deth’)
“Uglier than even the Raiju, but pretty doesn’t get the job done.”

“The Raiju’s always going to be in the forefront because the usans have opened up such a lead that will take a generation to match. let alone beat, if their current technological curve continues. But it’s a big universe, the usans can’t be everywhere at once, and there’s plenty of room and demand for others to get a piece of the market.”

“The Deneken lies between the upgraded Proctor model variants and the Raiju in terms of performance and capability. It’s more combat-oriented than the Proctor, but less option-heavy than the Raiju.”

The post-Minion War period in the Three Galaxies afforded the aerospace industries a breathing spell to throttle back war-time production levels of designs they already had at the start of hostilities and re-evaluate the changes that were rippling through the civilizations and economies of the 3G. The emergence of the Fringe as a growing military and commercial aerospace producer was upsetting long-standing business practices and assumptions in the older core metroworlds. While some aerospace firms stubbornly resisted the changes, sticking to older tried and true designs that had served them well in the past, others saw change on the horizon and decided to meet the challenge by developing new ships. Some corporations did this in panic and haste, with predictable results, while others took a more measured approach.
Thus a number of coreworld companies looked to imitate the United Systems Alliance primarily, with its introduction or refinement of a number of concepts, such as heavy fighter-bombers and attack ships. Many star nations were re-arming, recouping losses incurred during the recent troubles, and arming against future conflicts, so there was market demand, and pressure to roll out product that the customers wanted, especially that which met the new parameters and trends in warfare.
In this charged-up market, Phizemann Fleet Force Engineering, a Catyr-owned company normally associated with larger warship construction, surprised many by debuting a heavy fighter design of its own, the Deneken.
The Deneken was arguably an attempt to compete with the WZT Raiju which proved itself a ship-killer and strikecraft of great proficiency. More than a few post-Incursion polities wanted Raijus or something very much like them to rebuild their militaries with, and Phizemann saw an opportunity to fil those demands before the USA could possibly loosen their trade restrictions and ramp up their production to accommodate new orders.
The resulting Deneken is a solidy-built and armored small strike vessel built around a pair of powerful x-ray laser cannons that take up nearly a quarter of the ship’s volume. These are backed by a pair of shorter-ranged rapid-fire particle-beam cannon, a missile bay with rotary launcher, and two accessory ordnance pods. The sensor suite systems are off-the-shelf from the Proctor, streamlining logistics.
The Deneken is propelled by a set of upgraded Phizen HorizonGrabber C17 fusion-powered engines, giving the fighter a respectable turn of speed. However, without lucerin-catalyzation like the Raiju’s available to them, Denekens cannot match the speed of the WZT craft, but can match the pre-upgrade Proctor. A Class-D FTL drive allows the ship to perform long range strikes, though the Deneken is not intended for long-duration patrols or transits. Internal accommodations are even more spartan than the Proctor’s, but definitely better than the Raiju’s.
Overall, the Deneken is a solid and well-rounded craft that suffers by comparison to its inspiration. The main criticisms of the Deneken are that the ship was designed with undue haste in an effort to get the biggest guns on a fighter-platform on the market as soon as possible. The Deneken lacks the versatility and the point defense capabilities of the Raiju, and its larger size has required some rearranging of hangar decks on available carrier platforms, but the Deneken provides heavy direct striking power to aerospace fighter formations.
First rollout Denekens were optimised for Catyr crews; later models incorporate better internal radiation protection for less radiation-tolerant crews.
The Deneken has so far seen only limited combat action, and than along the bushwar-line following the borders of Golgan space. There it has been proven capable of ‘one-shotting’ enemy fighters in direct battle.
The fighter derives its name from ‘Al’deneken’, a Catyr melee weapon of antiquity, described as a twin-bladed short sword made with special alloys that could be electrically heated to white-hot intensity, inflicting grevious wounds on opponents.

Type: PFFE-HSF-05 Deneken
Class: Heavy Aerospace Fighter
Crew: 3, plus room for one additional crewmember/mission specialist
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,500
Cockpit 250
Heavy Laser Cannons(2, nose) 220 each
Wings(2) 400 each
Wing Particle Beam Cannons(2) 150 each
Wing Ordnance Modules(2) 180 each
(Variable Forcefield) 400 each side (2,400 total)

Height: 20 ft
Width: 60 ft
Length: 90 ft
Weight: 450 tons
Cargo: Small 10 ft x8 ft x7 ft cargo bay
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 270 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Aerospace Fighter Systems
Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Laser Cannons(2)-----The Deneken’s main weapons system is a pair of heavy x-ray laser cannons that constitute a hefty percentage of the ship’s mass. Though slow-firing, they have a farther reach and greater damage curve than the Proctor’s laser cannons.
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 1,400 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast, 2d4x100 MD for a double blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: 3 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Wing Particle Beam Cannons(2)---Mounted in the wings are two rapid-fire PBCs.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Missile Bay--A central hull missile bay with a rotary launcher gives a degree of mission versatility depending on payload. Can hold 100 mini-missiles(volleys of 1-20), OR 50 short range missiles(volleys of 1-10), OR 25 medium range missiles(volleys of 1-5), OR 10 long range missiles(volleys of 1-2), OR 6 cruise missiles(volleys of 1-2)

4) Wing Ordnance Pods(2)---The Deneken sports modular wing ordnance pods, though not nearly the hardpoint capacity of the Raiju.
a)Mini-Missiles---- 25-shot pod(volleys of 1-25)

b)Short Range Missiles----12(volleys of 1-12)

c) Medium Range Missiles-----6(volleys of 1-6)

d) Long Range Missiles----3(volleys of 1-3)

e) Cruise Missiles------2(volleys of 1-2)

f) G-Cannon
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 4,000 rds(200 bursts)

g) Countermeasure Launcher(see below)

5) Countermeasure Launchers(2)---Expendable countermasure launchers are making a comeback, and the Deneken is no exception to taking advantage of this. Three different types of decoys can be deployed:
The first is simple sensor-reflective chaff and thermo-flares. These countermeasures are inexpensive and very effective against lower-end targeting systems and sensor equipment(such as that used by nations equivalent to the Coalition States on Rifts Earth), but are ineffectual against more advanced technology.
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: 36 per launcher

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 9 swarm packs per launcher

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a preset pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 6 decoys are carried per launcher, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-3.


Variants:
The Deneker is too new to have any major variants as yet. Likely future changes would be upgraded sensors and avionics.
* PFFE-HSF-05B---The ‘B’-model differs from the previous ‘A’ type only in having dditional radiation shielding applied around the cabin(the radiation-resistant Catyr being more tolerant of high radiation levels than other species), so the vessels can be used more readily by non-Catyr. Aside from a slight increase in production cost, the -B is otherwise identical to the base model.

[taalismn]

Ivoian ‘Skyder’-class Battleship
(aka ‘Snaker’)

“The Skyder looks exotic and mysterious, and therefore hints of danger....but the Ivoians designed it to radiate menace in place of the tech to back it up. They so desperately want technologies like antimatter production to give their military serious umph and allow them to carve up and out bigger chunks of the galaxy to satisfy their cravings for empire.”

“Large, but undergunned. The Ivoians still don’t really believe in a fighter doctrine, thinking smaller combatants are good only for in-atmo and station interdiction, so they don’t have nearly enough light point defense like other powers’ ships do. They rely on heavier guns and their kinetic shields to fend off smaller strikers and concentrated missile attacks. Their kinetics are actually pretty good, and if they can keep the range open, they can do some damage, but if an opponent can tank a few KE salvoes and close to heavy energy weapons range, they can pick those thin hull walls apart easily. ”

“The Serpent Fleet doesn’t look so invincible floating as a debris field in orbit of Solahm after the Botwhin got finished with their disarmament program.”

What the Ivoians refer to as a ‘battleship’ or even ‘dreadnought’ is regarded as a light-end heavy cruiser by the rest of the Three Galaxies. The Skyder is the Ivoians’ mainstay capital warship and makes up the backbone of their heavy squadrons. There are heavier and more powerful units in the Ivoian navy, but those tend to be one-offs or incorporate difficult/impossible to replicate alien technologies the Ivoians managed to scavenge. As terrifying as it is to less advanced polities, the Skyder is less well regarded as a peer opponent by the larger and more advanced cultures of the Three Galaxies.
The Skyder has a distinctive streamlined look, with broad curves, a narrow hull, pointed fore and aft, a beak-like prow, upthrust sensor and bridge ‘sail’ amidships, and a bulbous power section amidships. The overeall look is that of a predatory diving bird or long-necked striking reptile. It has been variously described by those more critical of it as a ‘poised pregnant fatsnake’, ‘over-inflated submarine’, ‘weathervane’ or ‘ a giant bathtub toy’.
Cheap, safe, mass production of antimatter still continues to elude the Ivoians, so M/AM power systems are generally reserved only for their most powerful units and long range interstellar traveler vessels. The Skyder falls in the middle of their vessel range, with homeguard and elite formation battleships being fitted with antimatter reactor systems, while colonial units are more likely to be found with bulkier and less powerful nuclear fusion systems.
The Ivoian offshoots of the Lucim Alliance fielded a substantial fleet of an earlier , but still fairly powerful, mark of the Skyder, until the Botwhin obliterated said fleet. As the Lucim lacked any antimatter production, these ships were of the older fusion-powered types.
‘Skyder’ translates from the Ivoian as roughly ‘leaping serpent’ or ‘striking reptile’.

Type: IIN-SB03
Class: Space Battleship(would be classed as a heavy cruiser by the Three Galaxies)
Crew: 795 + 400 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 50,000
Bridge 1,900
Primary Sensor/Communications Array 3,000
Engines 6,000
Secondary Engines 3,000
Heavy Mass-Cannon Arrays(2) 1,000 each
Secondary Mass-Cannon(6) 600 each
Heavy Missile Launchers(4) 700 each
Point Defense Turrets(8 ) 360 each
Hangar Bay 2,800
Forcefield 8,000
Height: 500 ft
Width: 480 ft
Length: 2,442 ft
Weight: 430,000 tons
Cargo: 60,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 15 year energy life or Matter/Antimatter w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6 (Fusion-powered models can only Mach 5)
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour (Fusion-powered models can only make 3)
Market Cost: 47 billion credits; rarely available
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Advanced Fire Control-----Networked sensors and fire direction gives the direct-fire weaponry a +3 to strike, as long as the Primary Sensor/Communications Array remains intact and operational.

*Kinetic Shields---Though Lucim/Ivoian energy shielding is fairly weak, they do posssess unique electrogravitic screens that reduce the damage from kinetic weaponry(rail guns/g-cannon/massdrivers and armor-piercing/fragmentation missiles) by HALF.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Mass-Cannon(10, 5 each side of the prow)---The Ivoians have a good deal of expertise with electromagnetics, and the main weapon of the Skyder is a cluster of heavy massdrivers in the nose. Their placement limits the arc of fire, however, as the ship must turn to present the weapons to bear on target. The range of these weapons is actually slightly better than many larger 3G polities’ equivalents, but the Ivoian cannons take up more space and hav a weaker throwweight of ordnance.
Range: 16 miles(64 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 64 miles in atmosphere/ 64,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per single shot, 5d4x100 MD quintuple cannon burst, 1d4x1,000 MD per ten cannon burst,
(Surface Attack) Do 4d6 x10 MD to a 100 ft wide area with an 80 rd burst, 6d6x10 MD to a 150 ft wide area double cannon burst, and 8d6x10 MD to a 200 ft wide area per triple cannon burst.
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee, per cannon
Payload: 400 rds per cannon

2) Secondary Mass-Cannon(6)---Six smaller-caliber kinetic weapons guard the rear arcs of the ship.
Range: 10 miles(40 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere/ 40,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 rds per cannon

3) Heavy Missile Launchers(4)--These ae lateral missile bays that use electromagnetic catapults to throw the missiles free of the ship before their propulsion systems engage. The Ivoians typically use these for surface bombardment. The Ivoians use ordnance effectively similar to Three Galaxies standard long range missiles.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 200 per launcher; additional missiles may be carried as cargo, and reloaded from storage.

4) Point Defense Turrets(8 )---The Ivoians use particle beams or rail guns for point defense.
a) Particle Beams
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per pulse burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Rail Guns
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per 60-rd burst; can only fire bursts
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 30,000 rds( 500 bursts) per gun; relaods from cargo stores within 30 minutes.

Auxiliary Craft:
7 shuttlecraft

Variants:
The Skyder’s basic hull is used as the basis of a number of variants, most fiddling with different configurations of weaponry. Few of these variants have been seen outside Lucim space.

*IIN-SB03---The Lucim Alliance until fairly recently, were large employers of this older model, the plans having accompanied their colonization fleet across the Anvil Galaxy. The Botwhin Char’chuga SAAPA enforcers dismantled them for the Lucim. A few examples still reside in Ivoian reserve yards and rear echelon units. Several have been handed over to surviving victims of Lucim aggression as reparations. The humans of Solahm, for example, have received three, one of them being the former Lucim military governor’s flagship and two salvaged from the Lucim homefleet after the Botwhin destroyed most of the rest.

It is not known if the Skyders in Solahman service will see any sort of modification or if their deployment is only a placeholder until the Solahmians either develop their own aerospace industries and designs, or acquire different equipment through the Botwhin Char’chugas’ contacts.

[SolCannibal]

What the Ivoians refer to as a ‘battleship’ or even ‘dreadnought’ is regarded as a light-end heavy cruiser by the rest of the Three Galaxies. The Skyder is the Ivoians’ mainstay capital warship and makes up the backbone of their heavy squadrons. There are heavier and more powerful units in the Ivoian navy, but those tend to be one-offs or incorporate difficult/impossible to replicate alien technologies the Ivoians managed to scavenge. As terrifying as it is to less advanced polities, the Skyder is less well regarded as a peer opponent by the larger and more advanced cultures of the Three Galaxies.
The Skyder has a distinctive streamlined look, with broad curves, a narrow hull, pointed fore and aft, a beak-like prow, upthrust sensor and bridge ‘sail’ amidships, and a bulbous power section amidships. The overeall look is that of a predatory diving bird or long-necked striking reptile. It has been variously described by those more critical of it as a ‘poised pregnant fatsnake’, ‘over-inflated submarine’, ‘weathervane’ or ‘ a giant bathtub toy’.
Cheap, safe, mass production of antimatter still continues to elude the Ivoians, so M/AM power systems are generally reserved only for their most powerful units and long range interstellar traveler vessels. The Skyder falls in the middle of their vessel range, with homeguard and elite formation battleships being fitted with antimatter reactor systems, while colonial units are more likely to be found with bulkier and less powerful nuclear fusion systems.
The Ivoian offshoots of the Lucim Alliance fielded a substantial fleet of an earlier , but still fairly powerful, mark of the Skyder, until the Botwhin obliterated said fleet. As the Lucim lacked any antimatter production, these ships were of the older fusion-powered types.
‘Skyder’ translates from the Ivoian as roughly ‘leaping serpent’ or ‘striking reptile’.


*IIN-SB03---The Lucim Alliance until fairly recently, were large employers of this older model, the plans having accompanied their colonization fleet across the Anvil Galaxy. The Botwhin Char’chuga SAAPA enforcers dismantled them for the Lucim. A few examples still reside in Ivoian reserve yards and rear echelon units. Several have been handed over to surviving victims of Lucim aggression as reparations. The humans of Solahm, for example, have received three, one of them being the former Lucim military governor’s flagship and two salvaged from the Lucim homefleet after the Botwhin destroyed most of the rest.

It is not known if the Skyders in Solahman service will see any sort of modification or if their deployment is only a placeholder until the Solahmians either develop their own aerospace industries and designs, or acquire different equipment through the Botwhin Char’chugas’ contacts.

Oh boy, the Ivoians and the "Limperium" dudes really can't catch a break, uh? I almost feel sorry for them. Almost.

One could hope the drubbing the Lucim - Imperium, not Alliance, if memory tricks me not - suffered from a people most unlike humans would serve as a wake up of sorts to the Celec Union (or other hypothetical Ivoian splinter groups) to stop wasting time barking at trees and actually learn about actual big dogs in the space around them, but time will tell i guess.

[taalismn]

Yep, the Lucim/Ivoians are one of those simmering nuisance conflicts that can flare up again because of boneheaded stubbornness on the part of the aggressors. Dangerous enough to the lower tier polities and one-planet low-tech cultures and tending to break out when the larger polities with the peacekeeping stomp ability will be distracted dealing with either greater conflicts or lots of other lesser fires that need to be put out.
Fortunately, the USA and the Botwhin aren't the only groups willing to be volunteer firefighters; a good number of the aforementioned smaller groups form mutual defense organizations if they can't join and get assistance from larger star-nations, thanks to either political apathy or distance. Of course, lacking the firepower and hulls to effectively deal with regional menaces in most cases, those smaller MDOs will often wind up acquiring equipment from outside sources; Naruni Enterprises if they're shading to unlucky, the CCW if they're polite, Hartigal if they gt the money, PS/WZT if they're lucky.

THere's a LOT of room for warship/fighter designs on the market as a result.

[taalismn]

Klittan Yards---Aerospace Firm (CCW)
“If you look a little harder beyond the big lobby glitz of Gee-Gee amd Gee-Es-Cee and Wolfpack, you’ll find companies like Klittan. Old, but still sturdy.”

Human Alliance-based shipwrights. Best known for general purpose transports, but has a past history in warship design with modest success.
Klittan Yards pre-dates the Automaton Wars, but didn’t make a real impact until afterwards, when the reconstruction and renewed expansion led to as surge in demand for transports of all mass ratings. Never as large or well-known as giants like General Galaxy, Galactic Ship Corporation, or even Stargazer Corp, Klittan Yards has nevertheless soldiered along producing staid and reliable general purpose commercial designs, and the occassional commission.
Though still based and headquartered in the Human Alliance, Klittan Yards has since expanded, with ownership of several faciliities throughout the CCW. The original founding Klittan family has long since passed on and out of the shipbuilding business, though the name remains on the corporation they built; KY is currently a publicly-traded stockholder-owned corporation.

Klittan Yards ‘Sydersee’ Light Corvette/Patrolcraft
(aka ‘Skiddoo’, ‘Flat-Iron’. ‘Shingle-ship’)
“Skimming atmo in a skiddoo without the gravs can make for a bouncy ride. The thing looks like an extra-large hovertank, but don’t treat it as one.”

“Honestly, this thing looks like it was shaved off one of Klittan’s bigger designs.”

The Sydersee-class patroller is a light combat spacecraft built by Klittan Yards, a company perhaps better known for its commercial transports, rather than combat aerospace. With a few large warship designs under its belt, the Sydersee presented a different challenge; that of engineering a smaller combat craft.
The Sydersee has a large triangular heat-shield/lifting body atop which is mounted its single large engine, crew fuselage, and weapons systems. The ship’s armor is heaviest on its underside, but that’s also where the ship is deficient in weapons coverage.
The main weakness of the Sydersee is the deficiency of point defense and sensors on the underside; the heavily armored underhull poses a large blindspot on the ship. Most ‘skiddoos’ also lack FTL drives, limiting their range to the solar systems in which they are based. Those looking for an interstellar craft can shell out the extra credits for an FTL drive system installation, though this comes at the expense of some of the internal space aboard the ship.
Nevertheless, the Sydersee is inexpensive enough to operate that a fair number of star systems have acquired the ships over a production run of over a century. This has generated enough continued interest and business that Sydersee production has kept Klittan Yards’ small and traditionally anemic ‘feast or famine’-prone military design division going through several corporate movements to dissolve it, and an attempt by the more military-oriented Devian Astron corporation to buy it out from Klittan.
Sydersees can be found in deployment with the aerospace militias of a number of worlds in the Mid-zones and Rim. Some operators use massdriver-sled ramps to catapult-launch the ships into orbit in short alert notice.

Type: KY-SDPF-07 Sydersee
Class: System Patrol Craft
Crew: 10
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Bridge 900
Main Turret 500
Forward Missile Launcher 400
Secondary Turrets(2) 300 each
Variable Forcefield 400 per side, 2,400 total
Height: 22 ft
Width: 40 ft
Length: 121 ft
Weight: 750 tons
Cargo: 3 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% 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: 95 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
*EW Suite---Basic frequency jumping and radar/IR jamming. Radar-guided weapons are -2 to strike the craft

*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory 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) Main Turret---Mounted between the bridge and the prow missile launchers is a turret holding a high-end light(usually double-barrelled) starship weapon. Regional variant fitouts have included locally-sourced plasma projectors, neutron screeners and even Golgan disruptor cannon.
a) Laser Cannon
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per pulse-blast, 1d6x100+20 MD per double-barrel pulse-blast
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 6,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD single shot
Rate of Fire: Three shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) Ion Cannon
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per pulse-blast, 1d4x100 MD per double-barrel pulse-blast, plus
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

d) G-Cannon---Though damage-wise weaker than the other types, this weapon has the advantage of doing kinetic damage. The recent boom in specialized ammunition types for kinetics has also meant that the G-Cannon can fire exploding fragmentation flak-rounds, and anti-sensor/missile chaff types if available.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6 MD x10 MD per 10 rd burst.
(Fragmentation) 1d6x10 MD to a 30 ft radius in space, 10 ft in atmosphere.
(Chaff)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.
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: 1,200 burst magazine

2) Foward Missile Launcher---The prow mounts a modular missile launcher; typically is fitted to carry medium or long range missiles.
a) Short Range Missiles----Volley strength of 1-20, magazine capacity of 240.
b) Medium Range Missiles---- Volley strength of 1-10, magazine capacity of 120.
c) Long Range Missiles----Volley strength of 1-5, magazine capacity of 60.

3) Secondary Turrets(2)---These two lateral light turrets are used for point defense and fitted with pinpoint defense starship weapons, usually pulse lasers or g-guns.
a) Laser Cannon
Range:3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH(or six shots per melee under computer control)
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonuses: The PDS have a +2 to strike

b) Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonuses: The PDS have a +2 to strike

c) Ion Cannon
Range: 2.5 miles in atmosphere, 5 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonuses: The PDS have a +2 to strike

d) G-Cannon
Range: 7,000 ft in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per 40 round burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 700 bursts per cannon
Bonuses: The PDS have a +2 to strike

Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
Enough Sydersees exist that there’s some post-market variation as regional militias tinker with configurations best -suited to their operational needs and resources. Most variants swap one or more of the weapons systems out for different types, but one buyer created an Electronic Warfare vessel that replaced the main turret and missile launcher with a powerful sensor jamming suite capable of bolluxing enemy sensor and weapons guidance systems.

[taalismn]

Klittan Yards Civilian Designs
“They look like space-blimps, or over-inflated meddie transports, but they’re roomy and reliable. There’s some thought that the usans’ Concord freighters might have been inspired by the soft lines of the Klitties, but it’s more likely it’s just happy coincidence. Though comparable in overall performance to the Concord, Klittans tend to carry a higher price tag, coming from the Mid-Rim and all. ”

In contrast to their stark-angled military designs, the more familiar KY civilian transport lines are broad-beamed, almost pudgy, and unintentionally whimsical in design, especially when flying in the orange-and-cream paint scheme of their civil aerospace division.
The Yalek are an especially large commercial customer of Klittan Yards, and have commissioned a number of special vessels from them. The ‘Terypen’-series of transports, with their turtle-like appearances, are a common sight around the Chomcha Merchandising Group(CMG) outlets that are the Yaleks’ biggest interstellar business. Though the Yalek rarely travel abroad, their influence has made the Klittan-manufactured Terypens a whimsical reminder of their success as investors and traders.

KY-MInsC105 ‘Kavenah’ Medium Interstellar Transport
“’Stubby, tubby, and adorable’ are hardly factors that should sell starships, but it seems to work for Klittan. The Kavenah just happens to have enough of the IMPORTANT factors like reliability, payload, and efficiency going for it that people attracted to the superficial looks can justify acquiring one.”

The ‘Kavenah’ can be considered typical of Klittan’s mid-range offerings. Broad-beamed, soft-curved, sporting an array of superficial sensor/radiator fins and a prominent dorsal bridge blister-tower, the ‘Kavenah’ looks like a collision or mating between a water-ship and a large spaceplane. The lower hull is a large reconfigurable cargo bay section, while the upper hull holds the crew and passenger quarters and main engineering. The Kavenah is more easily maintained than the ribbed-hull Merchantman(or ‘Merch’), but Klittan lacks both the marketing distribution and production output to match that ship-type in the spacelanes.
Stodgy, slow, but reliable, the Kavenah is still quite popular with mid-Rim operators. It was also a favored choice of Rim carriers, at least until the ASI Concord began eating marketshare.

Type: KY-MInsC105 ‘Kavenah’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 7 +1-40 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,600
Bridge 800
Lower Cargo Bay 1,000
Engine Block 950
Sensor/Communications Array 400
Forcefield 1,200
Height: 70 ft
Width: 90 ft
Length: 250 ft
Weight: 1,900 tons
Cargo: 900 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) The Kavenah can land on and take off from water surfaces and motor along the surface at 20 MPH.
Market Cost: 165 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard StarShip Systems
Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for 4 point defense or light weapons mounts.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
Depending on the buyer and their operational needs, the Kavenah has seen a large number of post-market variants. Most customizations reconfigure the lower cargo holds for different cargo or passenger carriage types. Other popular modifications include ugrading the propulsion and shields.
*KY-MInsCm105-----Klittan attempted to create a variant of the Kavenah with a modular swappable ‘pod’, allowing different cargo configurations to be more easily fitted. The effort wasn’t entirely successful, as Klittan discovered that the alignment of stresses along the hull tended to put undue strain on the pod attachment points. After several unintentional inflight detachments of the lower hull pod occured, Klittan went back to the fixed lower hull design.

KY-LInsC107 ‘Fisken’ Medium Interstellar Transport
“’’Utillitarian’, hell! I’ve had that lower cargo section-rehulled in transparatine and made over into some very nice luxury quarters. I was hardly in port a day before people started viz-mailing me asking if I rented for tours.”

The ‘Fisken’ light interstellar transport is a scaled-down ‘Kavenah’ medium star freighter, built along the same lines but is almost half the size and weight and constructed lighter in structure. It is meant to appeal to smaller operators, courier services, and private owners, though it is generally considered too ultilitarian to be attractive to star-yachters.

Type: KY-LInsC107 ‘Fisken’
Class: Light Interstellar Transport
Crew: 3 +1-12 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,700
Bridge 400
Lower Cargo Bay 600
Engine Block 450
Sensor/Communications Array 300
Forcefield 600
Height: 40 ft
Width: 55 ft
Length: 190 ft
Weight: 700 tons
Cargo: 300 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; 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) The Fisken can land on and take off from water surfaces and motor along the surface at 20 MPH.
Market Cost: 95 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard StarShip Systems
Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for 3 point defense or light weapons mounts.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
Like the Kavenah, the Fisken has seen a lot of post-market customizations. Many operators convert the lower cargo section into extra passenger space. At least one courier service has crammed in a Class-E, and even -F, FTL drive system.
Though the Fisken is not intended or recommended for combat, several examples have been customized as bountyhunter or antipiracy craft, with upgraded enginesm sensors, shields and the lower cargo hold/pod being swapped out for a weapons module. The most popular configurations hold two light or one medium starship energy cannon, and two missile launchers holding 25 medium missiles or 10 long range missiles each.

KY-YCOMC-MInsC-08 “Bowlin’ Medium Interstellar Transport/Tug
“Besides the Yalek contracts, Klittan scored big with the Bowlin after the Gunchi Network began using the ships’ likeness for the hero-ship of the ‘Cosmik-Yorti Galaxy Adventure’ holo-simmies. Now the real Bowlins are nowhere near as capable as Cosmik-Yorti’s ship, but Gunchi’s subsidiaries have made fortunes using the ships to sell merchandise across several galaxies.”

The “Bowlin’ is typical of the Yalek-commissioned Terypen-series, but the one that most resembles a terrestrial turtle, with a distinctive beady-eyed bow-‘head’ and large prominent leg-fins. They are heavily-armored and shielded(as befits a tortoise-inspired design), though they typically mount only light point defense weaponry. The fact that the ships are amphibious too is a plus for operators.
Bowlins are good armored cargo transports, but they can also serve quite ably as tugs, A ventrally-mounted tractor beam can be used to tow objects, or the ship can belly-lock itself to another ship or cargo module and carry it into FTL transit.
The Yalek are the main customers for the Bowlin line, but the design has caught on with other operators as well.

Type: KY-YCOMC-MInsC-08 “Bowlin’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 10 +1-30 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 6,000
Bridge 1,200
Engine Block 1,800
Field Generator Fins(4) 400 each
Dorsal Sensor/Communications Array 500
Tractor Beam(1, belly turret) 500
Variable Forcefield 500 each side(3,000 total)
Height: 70 ft
Width: 120 ft
Length: 650 ft
Weight: 13,000 tons
Cargo: 6,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
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) The Bowlin can land on and take off from water surfaces, motor along the surface at 23 MPH, and even dive underwater(depth tolerance of 1.2 miles) and cruise at 15 MPH.
Market Cost: 145 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard StarShip Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory 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.

*Tractor Beam(1, belly turret)-----Effectively rated for 3,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass.
Range: 10 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)(Kitsune Values: 10,000 miles in space).

Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for 6 point defense or light weapons mounts(2 head/bow, 2 dorsal, and two lateral mounts).
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
Most Bowlin variants are internally reconfigured for various different cargoes, Privately-owned Bowlins vary in cosmetic details.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Gunchi Network’s Bowlin corporate transport , decorated to look like the iconic flagship of the ‘Cosmik-Yorti Galaxy Adventure’ series, is fitted as a traveling studio, and does NOT have concealed capitalpgrade weapons or an ultra-fast Promethean drive system, as depicted in the popular simmie-series.
Some armored transport versions replace the belly tractor beam mount with a missile launcher(usually medium-range missiles; volley strength of 1-10, 100 missile payload).
Reportedly, a Golgan form has begun producing knockoffs of the Bowlin. Kasori Osostella Dynamics has apparently broken with their long tradition of developing their own solid designs to copy others’ work, with the current state of Golgan hostilities shielding KOD from direct legal action in the galactic courts. Naming their copy the ‘Odlong’ after a Golgan creature of myth, Kasori sells the vessel to Golgan markets and their satellite states, though the Argosy, desperate for hulls as the Kultural Revolution campaigns grind into their reserves, has acquired a number of the ships as well for supply duties.

[taalismn]

Corianus /WZT Lindsay-class Exploration Cruiser
(aka ‘Exo-Poles’, ‘Chandeliers’)

“Meet the Piecemeal’s and the Firestorm’s big brother.”

“Those big explorers are just another way of getting even more knuckle-headed stick-pokers into trouble in bigger lots.”

“We’re like a flying university on some of these expeditions, complete with stuffy-headed academics, eager-beaver students, ambitious interns, and gung-ho adventurer-professors. Sometimes it’s a real education looking over their shoulders, other times it’s a sanity-testing struggle to keep them in line. I’ve had crew pick up new interests as a result of some trips, while other times I’ve had to brig crew-members to keep them from tossing the eggheads out the airlocks.”

“While the Lindsays may carry a largely defensive armament in the space-to--space category, it’s no secret that many of the captains load their probe bunkers with a few ‘advanced radiological/gravitonic planetary terminal evaluation packages’ in case they have to put down some planet-based threat their surveying accidentally stirred up.”

The Lindsay-class Exploration Cruiser is a post ReContact reconstruction of a CTRL heavy cruiser class, the Haymakers. These ships were built using cruder, bulker, technologies than those available to modern CCW shipwrights, so the ships tended to be much larger and massier than their mainworld contemporaries. Like the Tarkas-class battlecruiser, the Haymakers, in addition to being main battle units, were also tasked with carrying a large complement of non-FTL parasite craft into theatres of operation.
Post ReContact, the Haymakers were downgraded as newer technologies rendered them increasingly obsolete, and several ships were converted to fleet tenders while the others were mothballed in orbital boneyards. With increasingly close trade and military ties with the United Systems Alliance, and a post-Minion War expansion of exploration efforts both in the Three Galaxies and extradimensionally, the CTRL began using the mothball fleets as a source of hulls suitable for conversion into exploration platforms.
Unlike the Tarkas-class conversion, the Haymakers were stripped of much of their armor and capital armament. The result is a ship that though a third larger than the CCW’s Explorer-class, proportionately masses less due the hull being distributed over a larger area. The newly-renamed Lindsay-class still carries a fairly heavy armament, but with anti-ship and point defense in mind, the better to hold off opponents until the ship can gather up its probe teams and make its escape. However, the Lindsays’ best defense is forewarning and speed; it it can spot trouble early enough, it will seek to avoid it altogether.
A distinct feature of the remodeled vessels are three large ring-shaped sensor arrays that encircle the axis of the ships, These were copied from the WZT Firestorms and afford the Lindsays superior all-around arc of sensor coverage. The rotating arrays, which are normally locked in place during hard maneuvering, are also used to fling out sensor probes and satellites.
The massive fusion torch and ion engines have been replaced with more compact and efficient systems, especially a powerful matter-antimatter reaction drive, and the cumbersome Alcubrie-Meadows FTL generators replaced with a heavy CG-F-class drive unit. It has been rumored that manufacture of even faster class-G drives and even Phase-drives has been facilitated by Promethean assistance, given other rumors of the USA being granted a substantial portion of Center’s Level Eight and sightings of a USA factory planetoid lurking near Phaseworld. These rumors remain unsubstantiated
The Lindsays retain the ability to carry parasite craft, of quite large size. Thus it is not uncommon to see Lindsays piggybacking such ships as Firestorm exploration cruisers, and acting as module tenders and supply craft for groups of Piecemeal probe ships, providing both smaller ships with spare science and supply pods. The sight of all three ship-types, docked together, their glowing rotating crystalline grav-rings churning away, has led to nicknames such as ‘chandeliers’, ‘hypno-spinners’ and ‘neon-rolligans’.
Lindsay Explorers are in service with both the Corianus-Typhen-Rosette League and the United Systems Alliance. The Lindsay-class sees use mainly in the Thundercloud Galaxy and extragalactic regions where its speed and range are best suited to the long distances and durations involved. A number of the large ships have also been deployed to the extradimensional scene and Greater New England’s ‘back yard’ in the Milky Way galaxy.
With demand for exploration ships ramping up, the Corianus shipyards have foreseen running out of old, but still space-worthy, hulls to convert, and so has resumed a limited production run of new purpose-built Lindsays, with licensed construction to start up at converted civilian yards in the USA.

Type: WZT/CTRL-CE-16 Lindsay
Class: Heavy Cruiser, Explorer
Crew: 800 +450 aerospace complement, 200 security troops, and 1-600 passengers(science personnel)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 90,000
Bridge 5,000
Hangar Bays(4) 7,000 each
Sensor Array Rings(3) 18,000 each
Main Engines 30,000
Auxiliary Engines(2) 10,000 each
Heavy LaserTurrets( 8 ) 1,000 each
Heavy Missile/Probe Launchers( 12) 500 each
Medium Weapons Turrets(12) 400 each
Point Defense Turrets(18 ) 250 each
Variable Forcefield* 10,000 each side(60,000 total)
*Variable Forcefields regenerate at 20% per melee

Height: 360 ft main hull, rings are 460 ft in diameter
Width: 360 ft main hull, rings are 460 ft in diameter
Length: 3,000 ft
Weight: 9 million tons
Cargo: 90,000 tons internally
External cargo racks can carry up to 120,000 tons in deployable probes, sensor platforms, and cargo modules.
Powerplant: Matter-AntiMatter w/ 50 year energy life
Backup Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Not Possible; cannot land
(Sublight) Mach 14
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.4% of light speed per melee)
Under auxiliary power, the Lindsay can move at Mach 8
(FTL) 6.5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not Possible
Market Cost: Estimated at 34 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Enhanced Sensors---The ‘ring’ pylons double as mounts for improved wide-angle long range sensor arrays. Detects FTL travel up to 30 ly, and sublight(gravitic-drive) vessels up to 1 ly.

*Planetary Science Sensors---Amplified geoscience sensors for scanning solar systems and planets.

*ORACLE Mk V---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics---A TW development of the SNARLS PPE Scanner, this system consists of a series of advanced Technowizardry scanner systems(TW optic mounts, static crystal PPE meters, and whatnot) stationed around the ship, feeding into a central computer system with special TW-derived interface program algorithms. The system is designed to detect incoming magical/paranormal attacks and alert the crew to them(hopefully in time to allow them to take defensive measures). Linkage to the Ectofiber Grid has increased the sensitivity and effectiveness of this system.
See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.
• See the Invisible Sensors: The ships has several special optical and other sensor systems with see the invisible on them. Same as spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Can see forces, objects, and creatures which can turn invisible, or are invisible. Can also see vaporous beings and astral bodies.
• Sense Magic: The ship has sensors which give the ability to detect active magic. Similar to spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) in space and 200 miles (320 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: detects the presence of magic if within detection range of ship and gives bearing on magic and basic range although not exact position. Detects active enchantments but will not generally detect spell casters in general.
• Sense Rifts: Ship has sensors which effectively allow Rifts to be detected(requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: 500,000 miles (805,000 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Detects the presence of Rifts (including those created by Rifts Drives) and unlike when detecting magic gives position very accurately.

*Docking Collars(9)----Nine external docking collars with extending tubeways for servicing additional starships docked to the Lindsay. These are operationally used to carry patrolcraft, science barges, or small transports, but can carry a full-sized and fully-loaded Merchant-class cargo vessel(all 15,000 tons) in an emergency situation.

*Tractor Beams(9)--------Effectively each rated for 2,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass.
Range: 10 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)(Kitsune Values: 10,000 miles in space).

*Advanced Fire Control(All)----Though the number of weapons has been cut back, fire control has been improved to compensate. PS/ASI-initiated upgrades are becoming increasingly common refits on Alliance ships, greatly improving weapons accuracy, and the Lindsays are no exception. Improved avionics network the various hull sensors and fire control for more accurate targeting, a must when dealing with small agile targets such as fighters and missiles, and for tying in the long range sensors to the long range heavy batteries. Advanced Targeting Bonus: +4 to strike for point defense systems, +3 to strike for long range direct fire weaponry.

*Modular Sensor Pallets---Large sections of the sensor rings are deliberately modular to allow for quick substitutions and upgrades of specialized sensor systems. This also allows for the installation of special equipment such as Reality Anchors, Gravity Baffles, and Hyperspace Boundary Layer test gear.

*Type-Two Recycling---Using advanced nanotech and chemo-synthesis systems, Lindsays can recycle onboard materials with only a 7% loss of materials if the systems remain closed. Water, air, and recyclables can be kept recovered, purified, and returned to service. Basic foodstuff bases can also be produced. Additional nanofacs and TW equipment supplement the technological systems. It’s estimated that a fully loaded and crewed Lindsay can go as long as 9 years without external resupply on internals alone.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy LaserTurrets( 8 )----Though individually less powerful than a CCW Explorer’s main battery, the Lindsay packs more of them. Single barrel mounts, though up to four can be brought to bear on the same target simultaneously.
Range:(Palladium) 30 miles in atmosphere/ 100 miles in space
(Kistune)100 miles in atmosphere/ 100,000 miles in space
Damage: 1d4x1,000 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Heavy Missile/Probe Launchers( 12, four on each sensor ring) ---Multipurpose heavy ordnance launchers.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 120 per launcher; additional missiles may be carried as cargo, and reloaded from storage.

3)Medium Weapons Turrets(12)---A secondary armament of medium-class weapons is mounted. Up to six can be brought to bear on the same target simultaneously.

4) Point Defense Turrets(18 )-----The CTRLN has adopted the modular ASI/WZT PDS as standard.

Auxiliary Craft:
36 Aerospace Fighters
12 Shuttles
9 parasite craft of up to 15,000 tons mass each

Variants:
Given the generalist nature of Lindsay hulls, no major variants have yet emerged. When specialized functions are needed, Lindsays are typically accompanied by other specialist ships such as Brunel tugs or Bradford heavy transports.

[taalismn]

N’Dak Oroslon “Cydron’ System Defense Ship(CCW/Noro)
(aka ‘Corkscrew Cruiser’, ‘Wind-Sniper’)
“Another variation on the ‘point and shoot, big gun-small ship’ theme that periodically crops up every now and then, especially when the bean-counters take ascendancy come military budget time. Disproportionately large weapons systems on smaller hulls seem to be seen as an alternative to bigger multipurpose ships, but most such experiments fall by the wayside fairly quickly. The Cydron’s a little better than most, because Klittan and Devian both smelled bigger contracts for a good showing, but it remains to be seen if the development and procurement effort lasts past the next budget committee shakeup...or armed incursion on the frontier, whichever comes first.”

“The Cydron’s an effort to cram the direct combat capabilities of a Hunter into an even smaller frame, suitable for colonial defense. There’s little in the way of new technology, which is surprising given the big drive to modernize post-MInion Incursion, but I understand budget constraints, probably because of the big fleet modernization projects, was part of the requirement here. A single Cydron’s not going to be able to fend off a planetary invasion all by itself, but enough of them, supporting an organized and operational orbital defense net, can certainly take a big chunk out of an invasion force. And a single Cydron can drive off low-end predators nicely, provided it’s not badly outnumbered. ”

The ‘Cydron’ SDS is a Noro-designed corvette that, interestingly enough, is not manufactured by any Noro-operated aerospace company, production instead being done by two subcontractors in what seems to be a budget-inspired experiment in procurement.
The Cydron was designed by the Noro shipwright-firm N’Dak FTM, to the specifications of the Noro Colonial Affairs Office, that was looking for a defense ship to defend new colonial properties. The NCAO was under budgetary constraints for a small vessel procurement order, and so could not engage the usual go-to sources for ships(General Galaxy and Wolfpack Armaments being top among them).
The decision to farm the ship order out to specifically two companies, Klittan Yards and Devian Astron, especially as both companies were then engaged in legal wrangling(DA making a regular bid to assimilate Klittan’s small military division) caused all sorts of legal controversy as to whether it was legal or wise. Harkening back to the original limited budget the NCAO laid out for the order, however, N’Dak FTM may have been looking to test the waters by putting the design out to two competing companies, to see who could deliver the better variant at a lower cost, before the Noro government would place larger ship orders.
The Cydron, as specified, is a light starship embodying the curving lines of Noro architecture, under which is a fairly basic ship wrapped around a large spinal energy weapon mount, backed by several light secondary point defense weapons turrets and missile racks hidden in the hull-curves. In keeping with the need to be maintained by colonial militia resources, little new technology is incorporated into the design, though enough was included to give the small ships an exceptional degree of agility, useful for dodging enemy fire and remaining in a fight. Both Klittan Yards and Devian Astron were obliged to use the same powerplant, the Falber Grinson FP1200 of Noro manufacture, variants of which are common enough in the Noro aerospace militia that a substantial amount of common spare parts and technicians familiar with them are readily available throughout Noro space . Other systems, such as the point defense systems, use off-the-shelf units common to the CAF. A modular missile launch system is new, but is intended to make use of whatever stocks of ordnance are locally available.
Though intended as a systems defense ship, the Cydron is fitted with a Class-D FTL drive, allowing the ship to conduct deep system patrols and move between adjacent star systems, though its onboard accommodations are not suited to long-duration missions.
The biggest complaint about the ‘Cydron’ is its lack of versatility(it cannot carry security troops/marines, fighters, or substantial cargo), a relatively slow speed that prevents high-speed pursuits, and its reliance on a primary weapon that requires the maneuvering of the entire ship to bring it to bear on target.
Both Klittan Yards and Devian Astron have produced small numbers of these ships, which have been acquired by the NCAO. However, a few preproduction vessels have been farmed out to other CCW affiliates for field-testing.

The name ‘Cydron’ comes from the name of a venomous cone snail-like carnivorous mollusk native to the Noro homeworld. The cydron hunts with a harpoon-like poisoned barb at the end of a fast-extending tendril and is used to bring down prey larger than the snail.

Type: N’DK/KY/DA- SDPF-11 ‘Cydron’
Class: System Defense Corvette
Crew: 16(typically runs two 8-man shifts)+1-4 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,600
Bridge 1,000
Spinal Energy Weapon Mount 700
Point Defense Turrets(4) 300 each
Missile Launchers(4) 450 each
Engines 2,000
Variable Forcefield 1,000 per side, 6,000 total
Height: 75 ft
Width: 76 ft
Length: 220 ft
Weight: 5,000 tons
Cargo: 200 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life

Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9.5
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.95% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 280 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus;
*Advanced Maneuvering System----The many fins on the hull conceal multiple thrusters and contragravity-repulsors: the ship actually gets a +10% to piloting for evasive maneuvering and a +1 to dodge.

*Ejectable Bridge/Lifeboat Module—The entire bridge section can detach in an emergency to become a fully functional lifeboat, with the means to propel itself to possible safety. As the Cydron is expected t operate close to a colonial settlement, that would be the most likely destination of he crew. In addition, the four gunnery positions also double as life pods. .

Weapons Systems:
1) Spinal Energy Weapon Mount---The main weapon of the Cydron is a medium-class laser cannon taking up the central axis of the ship. The entire ship must be aimed to bring the weapon to bear on target, but it can deliver a powerful punch. The laser actually outranges the particle beams of the Hunter-class destroyer, and the single weapon damage is comparable, but lasers are more easily countered by various defenses and armoring materials, so the lower-cost ‘sniper’ weapon is a tradeoff.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Point Defense Turrets(4)---Four PDS turrets, a mix of particle beams and rail-cannon, provide cover from fighters and missiles.
a) Particle Beams
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Rail-Cannon
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 per 80 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 32,000 rds(400 bursts ) per gun

3) Missile Launchers(4)---Hidden among the curves and flanges of the hull are several missile bays. In a concession to the growing trend favoring modular missile systems, these bays can accommodate different configurations of missiles.
a) Short Range Missiles---- 200 missiles, Volley strength of 1-20.
b) Medium Range Missiles----120 missiles, Volley strength of 1-12.
c) Long Range Missiles---- 18 missiles, Volley strength of 1-6.
d) Cruise Missiles---- 8 missiles, Volley strength of 1-4.

Auxiliary Craft: None

Variants:
While both Klittan Yards and Devian Astron were contractually obliged to stick to the rigorous specifications laid down by D’Nak, there was (deliberately) enough wiggle room for each company to make their own modifications to the design.

*KY- SDPF-11a----Klittan Yards stuck to the original plan, but loosened the cabin parameters, giving the crew slightly more room to live in. Improvements to the ship’s cooling and radiator system also make the ship more comfortable and incidentally make the ship -15% to be detected on long range sensor scans.

*DAs- SDPF-11b----The Devian variant mounts a more sophisticated integrated sensor and fire control system, giving direct fire weaponry a +3 to strike. It also includes a powerful EW suite that makes the ship -3 to be struck with sensor-guided weaponry. The price tag, however, rises to 300 million credits per unit.

If the Cydron procurement experiment proves a success, other variants, mainly swapping the main laser cannon for other energy weapon types, may follow.

[taalismn]

Denger Aeronauta---Aerospace Company
“Flying a Dee-Ay’s like flying a really smooth-handling eggshell. They’re fragile compared to other light ships...can’t take more than a hit or two with a serious fighter weapon, but in the soup they’re really sweet rollers and dodgers. I’ve flown and fought denger-darts on both sides of the line and I can say this; they flame easy but if you’re fighting them never forget that they mass more than the average starfighter, and if they’re desperate enough, militia pilots WILL ram you if it means taking you out before you can set foot on their sacred turf.”
---Anonymous Rim-pirate

“Denger ships exemplify the look of -speed-. Style and Speed, that won’t break your budget.”
-Denger Aeronauta sales brochure

Denger Aeronauta is a LedowConsortium-based aerospace firm that dabbled briefly, out of necessity, in military design. Unsuccessfully trying to compete long-term with more established corporations like Galactic Armory and General Galaxy, Denger ultimately sold its military divison to WZT and turned to focus on the civilian market.
Denger Aeronauta‘s designs typically resemble aerospace craft, especially oversized spaceplanes. Streamlined hulls, sharp prows, and lots of fins are typical of DA design, ranging from single-seater racers and stellacommuttas to large twenty-seater interplanetary shuttles and star-tourers. The Denger catalogue features literally hundreds of variations on a theme. More outrageous custom orders have included double-body hulls, pylon-mounted engines, and oversized propulsion units.
For a time Denger Aeronauta dominated the small space-yacht market, until rival Nosan Corp began undercutting them with cut-rate pricing and cutthroat business tactics. They’ve since slipped in market share, but still command a hefty chunk of civilian sales and have a loyal following of spaceyachters and aerospace enthusiasts. Their franchises also continue to be more widespread than Nosan Corp’s, keeping the Denger Aeronauta brandname up in the eyes and minds of civilian spacers.

Example Denger Aeronauta Space-Flier(DA-LFTL-PIT09)
(aka’Pit-9’, ‘Pitz Dart’, ‘Das-Nine’, ‘Nine-Dasher’)
“Fragile as hell, but easy on the eyes, and right treats to fly in-atmo. You’ll see a lot of these space-flits gracing grass landing fields and hardtop pads outside a good number of country estates in the metroworlds and Mid-Rim.”

Many consider the majority of Denger Aeronauta designs as just ‘hopped up hyperthrusters’, but they are sold across the width and breadth of the CCW and are a ubiquitous presence at civil spaceports.
The ‘Pit-Racer-Nine’ is typical of Denger designs. It is sleek, aerodynamically streamlined, and fast, and has excellent in-atmospheric handling capabilities, but it is structurally rather fragile and short-ranged. It has an FTL drive, making it nominally a starship, but is not suited for long-duration galactic voyages. A light commercial forcefield provides protection from matter-collisions at the speeds the pacer-rated engines are capable of. A heavily-automated control system makes piloting easier for civilian pilots, but is not well-suited to the extremes of un-controlled aerospace outside an established navigation and traffic-control network.
Though the -PIT09 can be armed, and has been used as a militia aerospace defense ship in some sectors, the Pit-Nine is not an ideal weapons platform(and having sold its military design bureau, Denger wants to emphasize its civil focus).

Type: DA-LFTL-PIT09
Class: Medium SpaceYacht/Personal Interstellar Transport
Crew: 3+1-6 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 800
Cockpit 200
Wings(2) 300 each
Tail Fins(4) 120 each
Engines 270
Forcefield (Light Commercial) 500
Height: 23 ft
Width: 90 ft wingspan
Length: 75 ft
Weight: 120 tons
Cargo: 6 tons, mainly consumables for the crew and passengers.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 6; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 2 light years per hour
(Underwater) Some variant models can land and take off from water surfaces, but cannot operate underwater.
Market Cost: 29 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship/Shuttle Systems, plus:
*Enhanced Atmospheric Performance--- Handles especially well in atmospheres; +13% to Piloting rolls when in ‘the soup’.
Weapons Systems:
None standard, but two PDS or Light-grade weapons can be installed in the nose, and two missile launchers added to the wings.

Auxiliary Craft:
None standard, but typically a light terrestrial vehicle is carried in the ventral cargo bay for offworld excursions.

Options:
Luxury interiors and custom paint schemes are the most common, as are engine tweaks or replacements to maximize performance, but a few buyers invest in more extensive control automation, laser-reflective skinning, heavier commercial shielding, and better navigation and sensory systems.

Variants:
It’s joked that pretty much every ship in the large Denger catalogue is just a variant on the same basic aerospaceplane design, differing only in engine rating, paint job, interior fittings, and price-tag. Most variants are post-market customized racing yachts or executive starshuttles.
That having been said, there have been a few exceptional variants; when faced with an imminent major pirate attack and no time for reinforcements to arrive in time, the resort world of Colonus hastily drafted the large private yacht fleet into militia service, and converted a large number of older Dengers(including mothballed ships in local ship brokerages and barely-functional boneyard decommissions awaiting scrapping) into a force of armed drones, assisted in part by a large local hobbyist club and military retiree community. Though no match individually for even the pirates’ third-hand Scorpions and Vulpines when they arrived, the unmanned ships caught the pirates offguard with their kamikaze fearlessness and destroyed two of the pirates’ three cruisers with ramming attacks. This broke the pirates’ morale and sent them packing in retreat. Afterwards, the official aerospace militia of Colonus has supposedly spent some real money(rumored to have been raised by donation) to commission more powerfully armed and programmed combat drones based on Denger hulls, and secreted them in ship boneyards and storage facilities against future trouble.

[taalismn]

WZT Cynoceran ‘Krenno’ -class War Cruiser Derivations
“Okay, I’ve seen the new jay-rams in action with their refitted Krennos. I know we used to call those things ‘pisspots’, ‘krapcans’ and ‘bedpans’, but I doubt for much longer. The new ships look much the same, but they’re a lot better, A LOT better. Build quality’s gone up and they’re getting all-new galactic systemry installed. A Snark would have a harder time taking out one of these things, let alone five of them.
And I know that a couple of years ago we were looking across at the crews from Thelheim and Vanderland and the like and just filing them under ‘just more black-jacket Cynoceran goons’, but we shouldn’t any longer. They all severed their ties to the old Central Party and started asserting new identities. New uniforms, new self-identity, new attitudes and they’ll correct you in a second if you pigeonhole them with the thugs crouching over at Cynocera Prime. Start calling them by their homeworld names or, if you must group them together, call them ‘usans’ since those worlds fell in with the United Systems Alliance. They may be a little less discipline-strict than the old black straitjackets were, but the usan jay-cee exchanges train them to a lot higher standard these days.
All told, we’re talking about SIGNIFICANT differences between then and now. It's a good thing then that these people are at least marginally allied with us, but just in case, don’t mess up and confuse these folks with the old Cynoceran Republic steel trap.”
---Midshipman Harl Gallace, Odinean Federation Navy

The collapse of the authoritarian Cynoceran Republic was a windfall for WZT and the then-nascent United Systems Republic. Hundreds of demobbed warships, dozens of shut-down war material factories and shipyards, megatonnes of usable techno-scrap and millions of unemployed skilled workers became available to WZT clean-up crews. And with several former CR worlds applying to join the USA, there was impetus to reform and prop up those planets’ failing economies. lest they slip into disorder. Keeping the shipyards producing was a major lynchpin in the economic reforms, but Cynoceran technology was several generations behind the Galactic standard, and modernizing Republic-era factories would take time. Fortunately, however, though outdated, Cynoceran hulls were still structurally sound, provided one didn’t push them over their limits, and they could be modified easily enough to new purpose.
The Krennos, being a very common war-design available throughout the old Cynocrean Republic, became the workhorse of the regional defense forces of many of the ex-Republic worlds. And with the restoration and rennovation of the massive ex-Cynoceran military shipyards on the new USA member worlds, the Krennos is, despite having to shake off a checkered reputation during its Cynoceran Republic service, becoming the basis of a number of important variants in use both at home and abroad.


*WZT-CR ‘Kovenic’ Rescue Cruiser
(Aka ‘Rescue-Pot’)
“The expanse may be considered stabilized usan territory, but there’s still a lot of danger in the region; the Cynocerans weren’t exactly accommodating about making detailed charts of their space openly available, so there’s a lot of anomalies and hazards that don’t appear on the general charts. Of course, with the Central Party withdrawn to their holdfast worlds, the Odineans have been pretty bold about zipping around what was for several generations enemy territory. That means more often than not they’re running into the aforementioned hazards and getting into generous anounts of trouble. Until the new regional USAn governments can thouroughly re-chart their space, the lifeguards have to be extra-vigilant and responsive when some tourist blunders into a collapsium field or an old Central Party military minefield, and starts screaming for help.”

“Commander Calenos used to patrol this region of space back when he was part of Tenth Fleet, and his knowledge of the space and the gravitic shoals has proven invaluable to our rescue and tender work. He’s steered us on the good ship Lovepat on the fastest courses to a distress call without foundering us ourselves, though occasionally he will direct us around certain areas without tell us why and what for...given some of the redacted parts of his service record, I am contradictively both curious and frightened of what he might know.”

The ‘Kovenic’ is a civilian application conversion of the Krenno-class War Cruiser, once a mainstay of the infamous Central Party regime of the Cynoceran Republic. The Odina Federation was somewhat nervous about their trade partners upgrading old Cynoceran warhulls right out of the yards, so WZT and the USA decided on a balanced ‘swords to plowshares’ approach, with an equal number of military hulls being converted to more peaceful uses. With increased interstellar trade going into the formerly embargoed Cynoceran region of space, an increase in accidents was expected, so an expanded interstellar rescue service was warranted. The ubiquitous Krenno hull was seen as a good basis for a rescue ship.
The ‘Kovenic’ recycles older, but still spaceworthy, Krennos that have been pulled from military duty. They are instead refitted for ‘lifeguard’ duty and post-positioned throughout the USA-Cynoceran space.
The large articulated mounts for the main laser batteries have been refit as sensor and grappler mounts, while the main missile launcher has been removed entirely and replaced with a rescue docking ‘porch’ and small hangar bay equipped with tractor beam projectors. The marine quarters have been converted into space for an enlarged infirmary and housing for an SAR team. Only the point defense armaments have been retained of the original weaponry.
The Kovenics are doing yeoman service as ship tenders and rescue-responders throughout USA-Cynoceran space. They are also providing employment for older ex-Cynoceran military spacers and training for younger cadets in the new Regional Aerospace Militias and civilian merchant-marine. Besides Odina Cluster space, the Kovenic design has been sold to other USA affiliates.

Type: WZR-CR-CFGGC04A Kovenic
Class: Interstellar Rescue Frigate
Crew: 50+ 20 medical staff, 30 SAR personnel.
Can carry up to 350 passengers. An additional 100 can be carried in hibernation capsules.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 7,000
Bridge 2,000
Sensor Dome* 800
Engines** 3,000
Grappler Arms(4) 300 each
Tractor Beam Projector Turrets(3) 200 each
Point Defense Turrets(4) 150 each
Hangar Bay 500
Variable Forcefields 1,000 per side, 6,000 total

*Knocking out the main sensor array imposes a -2 to the lasers(which can subsequently only be fired under individual control) and missiles to strike.

**For purposes of critical damage, Krenno engines are -3 to target and hit.

Height: 120 ft
Width: 400 ft
Length: 300 ft
Weight: 19,000 tons
Cargo: 6,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
Market Cost: 290 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:

*Advanced Fire Control----Alliance-supplied advanced fire control; the point defense turrets are networked and coordinated, and all get a +4 to strike.

* Tractor Beam Projectors(3)---Two tractor beam emitters are mounted in the upper hull, while a third is mounted in the lower hangar bay. Each tractor beam projector can handle 1,000 tons, and has a range of 25 miles

*Grappler Arms(4)---These are extendable(200 ft reach) powered articulated grapples with an individual Robotic Strength of 60. They aren’t fast or agile enough for mecha-/power armor-style hand to hand combat(limited to three actions per melee), but can still deliver a 2d6x10 MD strike and pry/tear for 2d4x10 MD. The grappler arms are fitted with various adhesion devices, and can be detached via explosive bolts in an emergency.

Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Turrets(4)--- WZT has replaced the old Central Party-era PDS rail guns and lasers with standard ASI/WZT PDS systems.

Auxiliary Craft:
3 small rescue shuttles


*WZT-CR-FGG04B “Kasonus’ System Patrol Frigate
(Aka ‘Sounder’, ‘Kos-Mode’, ‘Kettle-ness’)

“We did have a group of hardline Cynoceran old-regimers try to ‘jack several patrol-conversion Krennos from a Space Guard base, with the intent of running false-flag opereations and re-igniting hostilities with the Odinans, but they were still trying to work around the safeties on the new systems while they toddled outsystem that we caught up to them easy, boarded while they were still messing with the new sensor array protocols, and took them all into custody. A properly trained crew with a shakedown cruise under their belts wouldn’t have been caught out like that, but these guys hadn’t done any practice with the upgraded equipment beforehand.”

“My uncle, who was with the old Thelheim Darkstrikers Squadron, tried to cram-teach me everything he knew about Krennos operations when he learned I was going into the service and assigned aboard a refit cruiser. While some of what he imparted to me was handy, so much has changed aboard the new ships that it took a greater effort on my part to UNlearn what he’d told me in order to get the most out of the new systems.”

This is a WZT refurbishment of the Krenno-class War Cruiser, once the work/warhorse of the Cynoceran State. Once an ominous presence along the long shared border with the Odina Federation, the ships became increasingly outclassed by the Galactic-tech-enhanced ships of the Odina. Still, in the absence of anything better coming down the pipe from their own shipyards, the Cynocerans kept grinding out Krennos, hoping to overwhelm quality with quantity.
When the Cynoceran Republic collapsed and broke up into a rump state, several Odinan reversions, and several states that elected to join the United Systems Alliance, the USA inherited hundreds of Krennos and the shipyards that produced them. Fearing a local economic crash if they scrapped both ships and shipyards, the USA set WZT and PS/ASI to adapting the ships to their own use.
A number of Krennos were repurposed as system defense frigates, in order to deal with increased pirate(and Central Party insurgency) activity. Initially, these ships were restricted ti existing systems and armaments as per the conditions set by the Odinean Fderation on military-application technologies that their trade partners in ASI/WZT could provide them.
However, as the situation in the breakaway Cynoceran worlds stabilized, and those ex-Central Party worlds joining the United Systems Alliance became more entrenched with their new host-polity, WZT began recalling the newer-construction hulls and refitting them with newer technologies being made available to the Thelheim and Tarkulaam yards. The overhauls took advantage of more compact Galactic technologies to automate several crew functions and open up more space in the hulls. More major changes include the installation of forceshielding, greatly increasing the protection of these ships. Advanced fire control allowed the improved armament to be used to better advantage, especially with regards to anti-missile/fighter defense.
The ships retain their ability to carry troops, allowing them to be used as personnel and light assault transports. This has made the ships useful in securing border outposts in the USA-affiliated territories and has also made the ships attractive to prospective buyers looking for light multipurpose warships.
The new Kasonus-class frigates began deploying with the USA-Cynoceran Regional Aerospace Militias*. The Kasonuses’ first blooding, in fact, was a response to an attempt by forces beholding to the old Central Party attempting to seize a uranium mining station in a bordering desert system. The responding RAM units surprised the older-pattern Krennos of the raiders with the accuracy and range of their fire and quickly drove off the invaders in short order.
Besides the USA-C RAM. several other USA-affiliated worlds have acquired, or have on order, Kasonus frigates from the Thelheim shipyards.

*USA-Cynoceran Regional Aerospace Militias---Though the worlds of Thelheim, Saveoresc, Tarkulaam , Vanderlund and Orsessn independently made their own decisions to split from the disintegrating Cynoceran Republic and subsequently join the United Systems Alliance, they retained enough of the Cyoceran organization in common and good relations with each other that they quickly created joint mutual defense treaties and formed the Regional Aerospace Militias(sometimes called the JOINT Regional Aerospace Militias or ‘J-RAMs), which act as combination Homeguard and Frontier Defense Forces under the USA tent oragnization.

Type: WZR-CR-FGG04B Kasonus
Class: Frigate
Crew: 80+ 300 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 7,000
Bridge 2,000
Sensor Dome* 800
Engines** 3,000
Heavy Missile Launcher 600
Laser Cannon(4) 300 each
Point Defense Turrets(5) 150 each
Variable Forcefields 1,000 per side, 6,000 total

*Knocking out the main sensor array imposes a -2 to the lasers(which can subsequently only be fired under individual control) and missiles to strike.

**For purposes of critical damage, Krenno engines are -3 to target and hit.

Height: 120 ft
Width: 400 ft
Length: 300 ft
Weight: 19,000 tons
Cargo: 3,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 330 million credits .
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:

*Low Emission Drive---Halfway through their long production run later models of the Krenno would be fitted with the Sikaasci-G pulse engine, which burned fuel more efficiently internally and produced less emitted radiation, and their exhaust plumes cooled and dispersed more quickly. Sikaasci-G drive units are -20% to Read Sensory Instrument rolls to detect and track. These systems have become standard on new-construction Kasonuses.

*Advanced Fire Control----Alliance-supplied advanced fire control; the point defense turrets are networked and coordinated, and all get a +4 to strike. The main cannon gets a +2 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Mssile Launcher System (1, front)--- The original heavy armament of the Krennos was a heavy anti-ship torpedo launcher mounted in the prow of the ship. ASI/WZT refits have made this system modular and compatible with more compact and efficient Galactic technologies and projectiles.

a)Long Range Anti-Ship Torpedoes ---These were the original armament of the Krennos and the breakaway worlds retained enough surviving ammunition stocks and their production facilities that the USA-Cynoceran Regional Aerospace Militias elected to keep the heavier weapons in reserve. Howeve, for general operations, LRMs or cruise missiles are prefered.
Range: 500 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 500 miles in atmosphere, 50,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d8x1,000 MD for fusion warheads, though other warheads were available, including conventional high explosive(6d6x10 MD to 100 ft blast radius), hypervelocity kinetic penetrator( 1d6x100 MD to a 100 ft radius and can penetrate up to 250 ft of loose soil/100 ft of rock or concrete), chemical (effects vary; usually nerve agents), sensor probes, and, it was rumored, enhanced radiation neutron warheads.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 60 torpedoes

b) Long Range Missiles---These are the smaller pattern LRMs more commonly available to Galactic polities like the CCW. Individually they do less damage than the old CCR fusion warheads, but more can be carried and vollied in greater numbers.
Range: (Palladium) x4 in space
(Kitsune)3400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,89700 km/9.7 light seconds) in space
Danage: Varies by Missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-12
Payload: 120

c) Cruise Missiles
Range: (Palladium) 1,000 miles in space
(Kitsune)8000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space
Danage: Varies by Missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-8
Payload: 80

2) Heavy Lasers(4)---WZT has replaced the old bulky laser systems with more compact types(many of the older lasers would wind up with planetary and orbital defense installations).
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast, 2d6x100 MD per dual blast from two cannons (counts as one attack), and 4d6x100 MD for all four cannons firing on the same target at once(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee maximum
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Point Defense Turrets(5)--- WZT has replaced the old Central Party-era PDS rail guns and lasers with standard ASI/WZT PDS systems, and added a fifth turret as well, tying all into the improved fire control system.

Auxiliary Craft: None.

Variants:
*WZR-CR--FGGM04B ---This sub-variant brought back a missile-cruiser variant concept tried by the Central Party. It removes the troop capacity to place a second heavy missile launcher, doubling the volley throw-weight, and expanded magazines(50% more) in the lower hull.

*WZR-CR-FGG04C--A sub-variant meant to address the mediocre speed of the Kennos. The -FGG04C adds two auxiliary engine booster blisters(2, 500 MDC each) that, working in concert with the main engine, can boost the ship’s normal space speed up to Mach 9.6, but the ship loses its reduced emissions profile while boosted. The -FGG04C is still undergoing field-testing with six ships deployed with the Thelheim RAM.



*WZT-CR “Krokus’ System Defense Cruiser
(Aka ‘Croaker’, ‘Toadstool’, ‘Mudpot’)
“The ex-Cynoceran worlds who have aligned with the United Systems Alliance have shown a staunch determination to fight for their new identities and their new star nations. Even ignoring newer designs in development, existing refits of older Centralist Republic-era warships are proving rsilient and stodgy defenders of the free worlds.”

A system defense monitor conversion of the old Krenno-class War Cruiser, the ‘Krokus’ is meant as a backstop-tier to the FTL-capable Regional Aerospace Militias.
Being non-FTL, the Krokus relies on FTL heavy tugs or piggyback tows from larger starships to move it to interstellar deployments. However, the removal of the bulky old Republic-era FL drive systems frees up a considerable amount of space in the hulls.
A major change has been the replacement of the old main laser batteries with more compact and powerful weapons clusters, bundling paired medium laser cannons with a G-cannon. Point defense has been improved to USA standards, and fire control avionics upgraded.
Annother major change has been the replacement of the troop deployment bays with a small hangar, allowing a light complement of aerospace fighters to be embarked.
Forceshielding has also been boosted, doubled in strength. An additional skinning of ablative aror has also been added, increasing mass but substantially improving material protection.
Besides the ex-Cynoceran members of the United Systems Alliance, several other USA-associated worlds have acquired Krokuses for system defense.

Type: WZR-CR-MCG04D “Krokus’
Class: System Defense Monitor
Crew: 80+ 16 hangar bay/aerospace personnel
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 8,000
Bridge 2,500
Sensor Dome* 800
Engines** 3,500
Heavy Missile Launcher 600
Heavy Cannon Clusters(4) 500 each
Point Defense Turrets(5) 180 each
Variable Forcefields 2,000 per side, 12,000 total

*Knocking out the main sensor array imposes a -2 to the lasers(which can subsequently only be fired under individual control) and missiles to strike.

**For purposes of critical damage, Krenno engines are -3 to target and hit.

Height: 120 ft
Width: 400 ft
Length: 300 ft
Weight: 19,000 tons
Cargo: 3,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible
Market Cost: 340 million credits .
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:

*Low Emission Drive---Halfway through their long production run later models of the Krenno would be fitted with the Sikaasci-G pulse engine, which burned fuel more efficiently internally and produced less emitted radiation, and their exhaust plumes cooled and dispersed more quickly. Sikaasci-G drive units are -20% to Read Sensory Instrument rolls to detect and track. These systems have become standard on new-construction Kasonuses.

Note: Oda Cluster sensor systems generally lacked the range and accuracy of current 3G systems, having 25-30% less range and resolution capability. The Odina Federals had slightly better sensors than their Cynoceran counterparts.

*Advanced Fire Control----Alliance-supplied advanced fire control; the point defense turrets are networked and coordinated, and all get a +4 to strike. The main cannon gets a +2 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Mssile Launcher System (1, front)--- The original heavy armament of the Krennos was a heavy anti-ship torpedo launcher mounted in the prow of the ship. ASI/WZT refits have made this system modular and compatible with more compact and efficient Galactic technologies and projectiles.

a)Long Range Anti-Ship Torpedoes ---These were the original armament of the Krennos and the breakaway worlds retained enough surviving ammunition stocks and their production facilities that the
Range: 500 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 500 miles in atmosphere, 50,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d8x1,000 MD for fusion warheads, though other warheads were available, including conventional high explosive(6d6x10 MD to 100 ft blast radius), hypervelocity kinetic penetrator( 1d6x100 MD to a 100 ft radius and can penetrate up to 250 ft of loose soil/100 ft of rock or concrete), chemical (effects vary; usually nerve agents), sensor probes, and, it was rumored, enhanced radiation neutron warheads.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 60 torpedoes

b) Long Range Missiles---These are the smaller pattern LRMs more commonly available to Galactic polities like the CCW. Individually they do less damage than the old CCR fusion warheads, but more can be carried and vollied in greater numbers.
c) Cruise Missiles

2) Heavy Cannon Clusters(4; 2x2 Laser, 2x1 G-Cannon)---WZT has replaced the old bulky laser systems with more compact types(many of the older lasers would wind up with planetary and orbital defense installations). In the Krokus, this installation has been enlarged, bundling a medium G-cannon firing co-axially along with the lasers. While this makes the weapons more vulnerable to a strike taking out the added weaponry, it also increases the available firepower. The ability to fire fragmentation rounds also helps in defense, especially against the smaller Galactic-pattern missiles and finders now becoming more common in Cynoceran/Odinan space.
a) Medium Lasers
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast, 2d6x100 MD per dual blast from two cannons (counts as one attack),
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee maximum
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Medium G-Cannon
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per cannon 20-rd burst
(Fragmentation) 4d6x10 MD to anything caught in a 200 ft wide cone/’cloud’----Targets are -2 to dodge the ’shotgun spread’
Rate of Fire: Each barrel can fire four times per melee
Payload: 10,000 rds(500 bursts)

3) Point Defense Turrets(5)--- WZT has replaced the old Central Party-era PDS rail guns and lasers with standard ASI/WZT PDS systems, and added a fifth turret as well, tying all into the improved fire control system.

Auxiliary Craft:
4 Aerospace Fighters(these, of necessity, are of foreign design, as mone of the Odina Cluster nations have yet developed their own Three Galaxies-pattern starfighters)

Variants:
*WZR-CR-MCMG04---Though the ex-Cynoceran USA worlds generally subscribe to ‘open skies’ policies, they have seen fit to invest in mine warfare vessels, to clear their space of orbital mines, or to lay area-denial minefields if necessary.
The MCMG04 differs from its stablemates in having advanced sensors for scanning for ‘black bodies’, EW suite for projecting sensor ‘ghosts’, a pair of tachyon spray cannon replacing two of the heavy laser cannons, and a lower hull mine countermeasures/deployment bay capable of laying mines or operating minesweeper drones.. There’s also an effort to make the hull stealthier and less likely to to set off the triggering systems of mines. This raises the cost of the specialist vessels to just abve that of a standard FT:-equipped cruiser, but as there are relatively few of these craft in the arsenals of their operators, the overall cost balances out.
Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
Tachyon Cannon Turrets(2) 400 each
Tractor Beam Projector Turrets(3) 200 each
Market Cost: 370 million credits .
Systems of Note:
*EW System---- EW Module can project sensor ‘ghosts’ mimicking ships’ energy signatures...or can make the ship resemble a much larger vessel(up to cruiser class) on long range scans, with the ultimate intent of fooling space mines into triggering premaurely and giving away their position or wasting their shots. The ‘ghosts’ can be projected with a displacement of 1d6x1,000 miles, and 1d6 additional sensor signatures can be generated. Accurate sensor readings are at -70% outside that range, -40% outside a 100 mile range.

* Tractor Beam Projectors(3)---Two tractor beam emitters are mounted in the upper hull, while a third is mounted in the lower hangar bay. Each tractor beam projector can handle 600 tons, and has a range of 25 miles

*Stealth Hull---The hull of the Krokus-MCMG04 is skinned in sensor-nullifying materials meant to reduce the ship’s sensor signature and ideally not trip any mines’ sensor-trigger threholds. Passive sensors are -30% to detect the craft.

Weapons Systems:
4) Tachyon Sprayer Cannons(2) ---Though fairly short-ranged, these weapons have an area of effect that’s hard to avoid, making them attractive for sweeping areas of space for stealth-mines and intercepting incoming missiles.
• Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space w/ 6 mile wide arc*
? (Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 5,000 miles in space)
? *Width are reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
• Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast
• Rate of Fire: EGCHH
• Payload:Effectively Unlimited

5) Mine/Drone Bay---Replaces the hangar bay. Has enough room for 75 heavy mines or 60 coumter-mine drones.


*WZR-CR-MCG04E---A sub-variant requested by the free world of Saveoresc. The miners there have less experience with fighters, so they requested a monitor that replaces the hangar bay with a second heavy missile launcher or heavy G-cannon instead.
Changes/Modifications:
MDC/Armor by Location:
Heavy Weapons Battery(lower hull) 600

Weapons Systems:
4) Lower Hull Weaponry:
a)Heavy Missile Launcher(Identical to the one in the upper hull)
b)Heavy G-Cannon---Triple-barrel array taken directly from Aegis Stellar Industries designs.
Range: 10 miles(40 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere/ 40,000 miles in space)
Damage:1d4x100 MD per 80 rd burst, 2d4x100 MD double cannon burst, 3d4x100 MD per triple cannon burst
(Exploding/Fragmenting Fletchette): 2d4x10 MD to anything caught in a 120 ft wide cone/’cloud’----Targets are -2 to dodge the ’shotgun spread’
Rate of Fire:ECHH
Payload: 32,000 rds(400 bursts) per cannon before needing reloading from stores(takes about 30 minutes)

[taalismn]

Saphian Royal Confederation ‘Langos’ Medium Amphibious Interstellar Transport
(aka “Big Stur’, ‘Fiship’)

“Looks like something you’d expect to see mounted on a gamefisherman’s trophy wall.”

“Gotta admit, you got the ugliest damn catfish on this planet, and they fly too!”

The Langos is a medium interstellar transport starship of Saphian design.
The Langos has been often accused of being ‘unnecessarily ornamental’ even for a Saphian design, in reference to its uncharacteristically organic-looking and embellishment-looking hull features. The Langos has been variously described as a ‘cross between a snout-nosed armored hunchbacked sturgeon-fish and a twin-jet airbreather air transport’, with its bill-like nose, twin eye-like forward observation/cockpit blisters, flat bottom, fin and fluke control services, dorsal empennage, and twin engine pods at the rear, clad in flourishes of heavy scaled hull sheathing. Sliding side hatches allow access to its internal cargo bays.
As might be expected from the dual-form aquatic Saphians, the Langos is fully amphibious, able to operate very effectively underwater.
The Langos is available on the open market, but has not sold well with most carriers, who feel its price tag for extras is too much for its relatively small cargo capacity. Runners don’t like the ship because it is too distinctive and prone to attracting attention in public places. For a few Rim-operators, however, the Langos’ amphibious capabilities make it handy for serving the more exotic worlds, or landing at out-of-the-way locations. The ships are very popular in the Saphian Royal Confederation both as utility vehicles and as private yachts.
The Free Worlds Council has somehow acquired a handful of these ships that they use in special operations on TransGalactic waterworlds, usually smuggling weaponry to rebel cells and performing surveillance from overlooked ocean depths.

Type: SC-MUS12 Langos
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 6+ 1-160 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 4,500
Bridge 900
Observation Blisters(2) 900 each
Wing Fins(2) 700 each
Dorsal Communications Array 500
Tail Assembly 1,100
Engines(2) 1,000 each
Height: 58 ft
Width: 60 ft, 120 ft wingspan
Length: 400 ft
Weight: 5,000 tons
Cargo: 2,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/40 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can drive underwater at 25 MPH, maximum depth tolerance of 2.3 miles.
Market Cost: 124 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Sonar----100 mile range
*ElectroMagnetic Anomaly Sensors---The nose mounts EM sensors

Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision to be fitted with up to four light starship weapons.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Options:
Most after-market options fit the Langos with better shielding, sensors or weapons. Faster FTL propulsion is also a common upgrade for the ships.
The Langos is also easily converted into a runner with the installation of a more powerful drive system(max 50% of light). Some smugglers(and freedom fighters) appreciate the amphibious capabilities of the ship, its ability to land on unprepared sites and hide underwater.

Variants:
A few customized Langos yachts replace the standard hull armor with crysteel and diamond-glass sandwich to provide passengers with excellent views of the ships’ surroundings.
Saphian marine engineers and WZT/ASI technicians have collaborated on a number of limited edition ships incorporating technowizardry, including various magic hull protections and enhancements.
The FWC has a few second- and third-hand Langoses outfitted for amphibious combat operations.

[taalismn]

Idjit’s Guide to Space Naval Classifications

“Battleships
‘Battleship’ is an over-abused term used to describe the heaviest, in terms of armor and armament, capital vessel in a given navy’s fleet inventory. The current standards of warship classification are unofficially set by the major polities of the Three Galaxies, but not everybody publicly subscribes to them to describe their own forces. Nobody wants to admit that the pride and joy of their space navy, and the sinkhole of a good percentage of their GNP, is considered little more than a medium cruiser or a gun-scow by the bigger boys and girls. So you hear ‘battleship’ bandied around the rim and second- and third-rate worlds a lot.
In general, battleships tend to be the biggest, most heavily-armed and -armored vessels around....exact performance may vary, and the benchmark by which humongous amounts of firepower are measured, but unless you’re flying a first-class galactic dreadnought, it’s a good idea to stay away from obvious battleships, even the older ones.

“Battlecruisers
The term ‘battlecruiser’ has always been fraught with controversy. Any wet navy historian can tell you the concept of battlecruisers has never fared well in the long run. That’s because battlecruisers are essentially cruisers mounting battleship armaments, running at destroyer speeds, and carrying the armored protection of a light or medium cruiser. Battlecruisers are supposed to be offensive weapons, but only if the captain is willing to throw caution to the wind and wade into the thick of fire with an under-armored fire-magnet. On the defensive, which means the moment the enemy starts to return fire, battlecruisers tend to fare less well.
However, ‘battlecruiser’ is a word to fire the imagination, catch attention, and draw funding. It’s photogenic, and the term is just plain sexy to the military and public minds; it implies a proactive, aggressive attitude of always being on the move, swift on the attack, and dishing out damage in copious quantities.
It sez nothing about engines running redline, shields gasping for power, fire control overworked dealing with EVERY missile platform in range taking a shot at you, and heavy cannon salvoes ripping through under-protected structure.
Oh, there are a few designs out there that actually manage to be something worthy, but they tend to use exotic technologies and are-or expensive as hell. They really are really well-designed heavy cruisers or pocket battleships to be honest.
Still, battlecruiser has entered the common lingo, so the term and concept isn’t going away any time soon.


‘Cruiser
Cruiser is one of the most generic terms for a warship out there. Anything that isn’t obviously big enough to be a battleship and too big to be a corvette, gets tagged as a cruiser, even if they’re just large frigates or destroyers. Cruisers are generally too heavy to be good pursuers, but heavily-armed and -protected enough to b able to go a few rounds with the bigger battlewagons while frantically running the engines to what they hope is escape velocity. If they have the money for it, most polities go for cruisers to fill out the necessary heavy ranks. Cruisers also have enough onboard room to be versatile in that they can act as carrier platforms of a sort, so those who can’t afford both gun-carriers and fighter-carriers in the same fleet spring for dual-purpose cruisers that do neither job particularly well. At last cruisers can tank a few shots and soak up some damage, while throwing out enough return fire that the enemy has to work for the kill.
Everybody likes cruisers, because cruisers look sufficiently badass enough to be scary, while generally not breaking the bank when it comes to fleet budgets. And ‘served on a cruiser’ looks real good on a spacer’s resume.


‘Destroyers
Destroyers do just about every grotty job in the fleet. Military accountants love destroyers because they can build a lot of them for less, and cover a lot more ground with squadrons of them. Career officers like them because they’re actual warships and a step up the promotion ladder from flying a tender or a tanker. Fleet captains like them because they’re more likely to get a warship assignment aboard one than a rarer post to a heavier unit. Fleet admirals like them because they can surround their precious battlecruisers, battleships, and carriers with walls of ablative ships like destroyers. Politicians like them because they look impressive in their numbers in fleet reviews and they’re plentiful enough that the politicos can score points by petitioning to have them named for voting districts or local heroes.
Destroyers get nearly as much media glamor as battlecruisers; they’re fast, hard-hitting, and tend to be foolhardy and reckless, in cinematic hero-type action. What the popular media DOESN’T portray is that destroyers tend to get wasted like meat-nuggets at a carnivore buffet. They sponge up fire meant for larger ships, capital warship weaponry can pop them open after a few strikes, and heavy fighters can take them out if the fighter-jocks are aggressive enough.
‘Frigates’ are nearly as bad, but don’t have the cool aggressive-sounding name. Doesn’t save them from being blasted same as the destroyers. Frigates wind up getting in the way of as much fire as the DDs.

‘Monitors
Monitors are system defense non-FTL warcraft. Their job is to squat in a star system and defend it from hostile comers. Some are essentially heavily armored and armed space stations with enough big thrusters to boost them at not-sneezable speeds across a solar system. Many are old warships that have been retired from FTL service and their jump drives removed, as much extra armor as the frames can stand piled on, and the remaining space stuffed with as many extra weapons as can be scrounged up, usually obsolete missile systems. Others are custom-built warships, often built by the natives of the star systems the ships protect.
Few monitors possess FTL propulsion of any note, and that mainly for ferrying them to their stations.
Often dismissed by most Fleeters, but loved by security-nervous and budget-conscious system defense planners, monitors are typically regarded as buttmonkeys by anybody with working stardrives on the assumption that a supra-light drive warship can run circles around the sublight plodders.
Monitors also don’t get a lot of love from Fleet planners and lobbyists, who don’t want to spend new money on ships that are tied down to one system, instead of being able to be moved around the deployment maps. Most monitor-building programs are effectively afterthoughts to military budgets and, as mentioned before, are often built using hand-me-down old warships and boneyard-seconded equipment.
In reality, in a gravity well where CG-jump drives don’t work, the battlefield favors the sublight warship. And for single-system polities that aren’t going to pull up stakes and run away, monitors are a good way to build up their defenses without worrying the neighbors that their naval construction program is building an invasion fleet.


*“Gunships’
‘Gunship’ is a term used rather ambiguously throughout modern military terminology. Typically any mobile aerospace platform mounting weapons is a ‘gunship’ and it’s often applied to light armed auxiliaries in the planetary aerospace militias, the ships too light be called ‘monitors’.
The more serious jargon-heads will tell you that proper gunships are aerospace craft heavier or slower than a fighter or bomber, meant for ground attack. The reasoning is, a heavy platform with the legs and powerplant to fly between planets or solar systems, can certainly power some hellacious air-to-ground firepower and mount the sensors to make the most accurate use of it. So gunships lie in the flexible realm between aerospace fighter-bombers and ortillery-capable capital units.
As such, most gunships are light tender-class spacecraft mounting lots of rapid-fire guns, short- to medium-range missile launchers, and maybe even bombs. They can range in size from copter-sized to corvette-mass. They’re not really good at antispacecraft work, but they can churn up landscape pretty awesomely and a lot more accurately than an orbital bombardment can. Defensively, they’re used to blast enemy landing zones and weed out enemy fighters, while offensively, they’re brought in to reinforce beachheads and provide heavy tactical fire support and local airspace suppression. Some even carry troops to exploit the mess they’ve hopefully made of an enemy position. When not engaged in all-out war situations, gunships are typically used in planetary security for peacekeeping, colonial patrol, and fire support for police actions.
Big polity military fleets like the CAF generally don’t use gunships because they have enough fighters and strike ships to fill the tactical support role, with the big capital units providing orbit-to-surface heavy artillery when necessary. Regional defense and garrison forces on the other hand, like gunships because they’re cheaper to acquire and maintain than dedicated warships; a lot of ‘gunships’ are armed commercial hulls that get fancily renamed warships to make the local militia look good on paper. However, there are a good number of well-designed keel-up designed gunships that do their job of tactical support very well.
‘Gunship’ will never sound as good as ‘battleship’ or even ‘destroyer’ , but that’s no consolation if you’re a unlucky groundpounder who just got swept by a sub-capital laser cannon.

[taalismn]

Trada-Wzoclaw Designs(CCW)
“Tra-Woz designs can be spotted immediately by their tripartite hulls. Without a sense of scale it can be hard to figure out if you’re looking at a small interstar shuttler or a big hyper-plow transport and this often extends to sensors as well. And Trada’s been around long enough that their ships are all over the place, and that’s not counting the knock-offs. I’ve known a few people who have gone simian-shrek because they can’t stand seeing the same hull design over and over again. ”

“I’ll fly nothing but Trada-Claws, thank you. They’re reliable and tough and can take a beating. And the smaller ones at least are quite stable in atmosphere. I’ve lost engine power in a Trad and still had enough aerodynamic lift to make planetfall. and nothing bellies down to a safe skid landing better than a Trada.”

Trada-Wzoclaw is a prolific CCW-based aerospace company producing both civilian and military designs, though they have yet to land a major CAF contract. They are a transplanted Wolfen company, but have since become an openly traded corporation and become culturally more diverse.
Though Trada-Wzoclaw has dabbled in various custom and commission work, they are best known for having found what they considered a winning design configuration or ‘golden ratio’ and have seemingly endlessly produced multiple reinterations of it, scaled down to single-seat stellacommuttas and up to hundred-person cruisers. Though they have never scored a major warship contract, Trada-Wzoclaw still enjoys considerable business connections to the CCW’s armed forces, owing to many of their designs serving in support roles, and because of production of subsystems for various CAF projects.
Trada-Wzoclaw’s iconic design is a flattened wedge flanged by two contragravity generator nacelles that provide more efficient CG-field generation and redundancy, with a rear main engine providing primary thrust. The robust design has earned the ships nicknames like ‘sleds’, ‘skids’ and ‘triangles’.
Tr-W designs are known for being reliable and resilient, but the same design configuration makes the mounting of lateral hull systems, such as armaments, problematic, as flux from the field generators can interfere with many weapons types. The twin generator nacelles also require constant adjustment to remain in synch with each other, and each step in size up or down requires recalculation of the software algorithms used to accomplish that. Trada-Wzoclaw’s avionics software division is nearly as large as their design bureau and has spun off several aerospace software sub-companies writing programming for other industries.

Example Ships:
Tr-W Type IV Scoutship
(aka ‘Ivan’, ‘Tee-Four’, ‘Bub-top’)
“Tee-Fours aren’t deep-range heavy probeships, but you’d be apalled at how much trouble they can get into, just snooping around the local neghborhoods. I think only deep-space tug crews get into more sticky situations.”

A small agile aerospace scout vessel, the ‘Type-Four’ has been a consistant seller for over a century for Trada-Wzoclaw.
Type-Fours have the characteristic Trada-Wzo ‘arrowhead’ lifting body hull, with flanking engine nacelles and dorsal bubble-top cockpit. The ships are stubby, but aerodynamic, remarkably stable in flight, sturdy and reliable. Though their design limits the size and sophistication of the sensors they can carry, they can still mount military-grade sensors good enough for planetary geo-survey work. Internally, the ships are hardly roomy, but not uncomfortable(accommodations have generally been described as ‘snug’), though the three-man crew typically has to hot-bunk for long missions, especially if the extra bunks are used to store additional supplies. A basic fresher-stall and compact food console-cabinet round out the cabin furnishings.
The Ivan uses Trada-Wzoclaw’s signature dual-nacelle and stem engine array; two lateral generators shape the contra-gravity field around the ship, while the rear unit focuses it, leading to an efficient and responsive propulsive fold around the ship. Performance is on a par with high-end military drive systems. while using a lower-rated engine. Such performance comes at the cost of higher maintenance turnovers between mission-stints, however, and though the Type-Four is quite reliable, it requires regular and thorough attention to keep that reliability.
Besides being structurally tough, the Ivan’s engine configuration also bolsters the strength of the integral forcefield system, making it stronger than that of a more conventional installation of larger size on a larger ship. This allows the Type-Four to take a considerable amount of punishment to its shields before damage ever reaches the physical hull, giving the vessel opportunity to evade and escape. As the Ivan can carry only light armament, avoiding combat is the crew’s only real recourse if they come under fire(though this hasn’t stopped many operators from using the Tr-W -IVan as an aerospace militia combat scout) .
Most Type-Fours wind up as Belter and free-ranger singleships, but a good number end up as ship’s boats. Despite its many positive handling attributes, the design fares less well as a militia ship, its light armament capability making it little better than a light fighter.

Type: Tr-W -IVan
Class: Interstellar Scoutship
Crew: 3
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,800
Cockpit 700
Engine Nacelles(3) 500 each*
Dorsal Fin/Communications Array 400
Forcefield 1,800**

*Destroying an engine nacelle reduces overall speed by 30% and drops shield refresh rate to default 5% per melee. .

**Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 22 ft
Width: 40 ft
Length: 80 ft
Weight: 120 tons
Cargo: 3 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land on and takeoff from water, but are not ordinarily submersible.
Market Cost: 48 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus;
*Military-Spec Sensors----Can detect ships in normal space at 250,000 miles, and FTL drives at 10 light years. Science sensors include surface-mapping radar(500 mile range), radiation detectors, and magnetometers.

*FTL Radio---The Ivan has a compact FTL radio for a ship of its size, that can send out a signal at 42 ly/hr.

*Agile Handling---The arrangement of the propulsion system makes for a responsive craft that’s quick to recover: +1 to dodge and +18% to Piloting skill.

Weapons Systems: None standard, but can mount a Light Starship weapon in the nose and a small missile launcher(60 mini-mssiles, volley strength of 1-15, OR 30 short range mssiles, volley strength of 1-10, OR 18 medium-range mssiles, volley strength of 1-6) in a ventral faring.

Auxiliary Craft: None

Variants:
Besides the interstellar scouts, there are numerous post-market civilian transport versions.
The most common variant removes the FTL jump-drive and expands cargo capacity to 7 tons. This version is most commonly used as a larger ship’s runabout.
Other popular variants include the ‘Long Nose’ version, which extends(6-18 ft) the nose sensor fairing to accommodate an expanded sensor suite. Variants on the ‘Long Nose’ have also used the extended faring to attempt to address the firepower issue, with soem field-mods fitted with 6-shot long range missile launchers.
Attempts to improve FTL speed typically involve adding an enlarged engine housing to to the rear(usually extending vessel length some 8-12 ft). The larger FTL engine can reach speeds of up to 5 ly/hour, but operators have noted that the changed gravitic dynamics reduce engine efficiency by as much as 25%.

The ‘Ivan’ is commercially successful enough that Nosan Corp. tried to produce a knockoff of it, but failed to take into account the unique engine-balancing algorithms necessary to run the engines safely. After a disastrous production run that resulted in several near-fatalities and subsequent well-hushed-up out of court settlements, Nosan Corp. aborted the effort and ceased production. Trada-Wzoclaw, which had reportedly been in the process of preparing a copyright lawsuit, smugly declined to pursue the case and instead ‘coincidentally’ released a new publicity campaign emphasizing ‘Accept No Imitations!’. However, a few hundred ex-Nosan-made hulls, hastily re-engined with less-efficient powerplants, are still circulating on the market, having been sold backroom by Nosan to lesser aerospace contractors, in an effort to recoup losses from the fiasco.

NT-Tng ‘Nettang’ Medium Transport
(aka ‘Neteight’)
“Don’t rely on your gunnery to get you out of trouble on a Nettang; focus on your piloting skills. Shields may be tougher on a net-eight, but they also weaken your own bite.”

The ‘Nettang’ is a popular medium-weight interstellar transport design from Trada-Wzoclaw. It shares the same iconic triangular nacelle-fitted hull plan endemic to Trada designs, only scaled to medium transport dimensions.
The Nettang is popular with operators because it is fast and has strong shielding without straining the main engine powerplant, thanks to Trada-Wzoclaw’s ‘trident’ engine configuration. The same system allows the transport to achieve higher performance without using a higher-rated engine, keeping down construction and operating costs.
The downsides that keep the design from being more popular and versatile are that the engines require more attention to detail when they do need regular maintenance. The forcefields also tend to generate enough gravitic flux that mounted weapons suffer in performance firing through the flux-’froth’. That nixes their use as armed vessels in combat roles.
Still, the Nettang is popular with freight-carriers needing fast delivery.

Type: Tr-W- NT-Tng08 ‘Nettang’
Class: Medium Interstellar Transport
Crew: 36
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 6,000
Bridge 1,200
Engines 2,500 *
Engine Nacelles(2) 2,200 each *
Hangar Bay 400
(Optional) Light Turrets(1-8 ) 500 each
Forcefield 3,000**

*Destroying an engine nacelle reduces overall speed by 20% and drops shield refresh rate to default 5% per melee. Destroying the main engines reduces speed by 70%(can still pull on the nacelle-auxiliaries).

**Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 78 ft
Width: 180 ft
Length: 700 ft
Weight: 17,000 tons
Cargo: 8,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 35% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
Market Cost: 185 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems
Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for mounting 8 Point Defense or Light Starship Weapons.

Note: The signature ‘Trada-Trident’ engine configuration also produces enough gravitic flux that shipboard weapons are affected; energy weapons suffer a 30% reduction in damage, and projectile weapons such as rail guns and g-cannon lose 20% of their damage and are -1 to strike due to the gravity turbulence throwing off their aim. Missiles are unaffected.

Auxiliary Craft:
2 shuttlecraft

Variants:
As with other Trada designs, the NT-Tng08 has seen a variety of variants, most cosmetic in shaping the hull to the desired aesthetic of corporate operators, or in the arrangement of the cargo holds to handle various different payloads.

[taalismn]

Klittan Yards DravShip---Hunter/Patrol Ship
(aka ‘Hookship’, ‘Batty’)
“Atmocuddas are big...they size up to carrier-big...and they’re fast, damn fast. Surprisingly fast for something that big that evolved on a gas giant...supposedly. There’s rumors that they might be the result of some Ancient bio-engineering. Anyways, they’re big, they’re fast, and they’re tough. An adult atmocudda can bring down a gas-siphon suspensor rig like a berzerk gutting a merchantman. You need something fast and tough to go after them, especially when they dive to the lower layers. And they can turn on you right fast if you’re not on the ball. Regular aerospace fighters can’t cut it, even if gov-regs would let us have military equipment configured for anti-ship work. You need specialized gear to go after the big ones.”

“We at Klittan Yards have since become a little leery of eccentric commission work. We;ve lucked out with the few we’ve taken, and especially with the ‘odd hook’, but that was a near disaster. Will we take the next one that comes along? That’s up to the Senior Board.”
---Anonymous Klittan Yards employee

“The folding wingfoils are a constant pain to service; the articulation requires careful maintenance to keep in operating order, and the wing material itself requires special equipment to patch up. And we’re constantly replacing entire wing assembles because some moron will do a deep atmo-dive without properly folding the wings, and they tear right off in the slipstream. There’s since been several FBW patches that automatically tuck in the wings, several reinforcement brace kits issued, and mods to the forcfield generators to provide virtual shape aeroshell coverage, but we still get people with the earlier sale models that haven’t been updated.”

Dravships were the result of a commission done of Klittan Yards. They are also arguably the most eccentric of any of the ships produced by Klittan Yards.
Dravships were commissioned by the Bighton Combine as huntships, initially to keep the large predatory atmocudda lifeforms native to Byssos IX from attacking Bighton Combine’s gas-harvesting platforms. Later, this expanded into an effort to start a hunt-tourism trade when it was discovered that the four gas giants of the Byssos system teemed with the ferocious creatures.
Bighton Combine’s foray into gas giant safari tourism collapsed when a CCW court ruled the Byssos atmolife protected species, and actions against them sharply restricted. BC’s plans folded, but not before nearly a hundred huntships had been constructed and completed. Klittan Yards found itself with an inventory of ships the original buyer was no longer allowed to use, and subsequently did not want. The shipyard began looking for other sales venues to dispose of the excess ships before committing to scrapping the production run.
Dravships (named for an old ethnic Sahginian word for ‘tracker’ or ‘hunter’) are immediately distinguishable by their ovoid hulls, upcurved pointed ‘fishhook’ prows, topped by a conical sensor faring, and folding ‘batwing’ airfoils. They are fairly agile, especially in atmosphere, with tight gravitic control. Mounts for two energy cannon flank the main hull, and a ventral hold can deploy capture nets, probe drones, or missiles. The hull is also reinforced to handle the inclement weather conditions in the upper atmospheres of gas giants. Internally, the ships have enough room to comfortably accommodate observer groups or hunt parties. An open market-sourced commercial forcefield comes standard.
Interestingly, though the dravships were meant for gas giant expeditions, Bighton Combine sprung for the added expense of equipping the vessels with Class-C FTL drives, possibly to allow the ships to serve double-duty as near-system light interstellar transports. This classifies the dravships as proper starships.
Though the original commission fell through, Klittan Yards did find buyers for the design in aerospace militias, who found the dravships made exemplary patrolcraft. Even the United Systems Alliance (at at least several members before joining) acquired examples of the design. Gas giant exploration groups have also found the ships to be good platforms for in-person expeditions and even tourism(although of the non-hunt kind). Several bountyhunters and skiptracers have adopted the dravship as their ride of choice, forgoing the anonymity of more common and generic transprt for the better performance and distinctive looks of the dravship. This continued interest in the design has kept the ‘odd duck’ dravship on Klittan’s catalogue, with periodic limited production batches issued as demand warrants.

Type: KY-PGC09 ‘Drav’
Class: Light Interstellar Transport/Patrolcraft
Crew: 4+1-14 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Bridge 900
Wings(2) 500 each
Engines 1,400
Forcefield 600
Height: 32 ft
Width: 50 ft, 200 ft wingspan with airfoils fully extended.
Length: 120 ft
Weight: 550 tons
Cargo: 35 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 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
Market Cost: 67 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Light Starship Systems, plus:
* Advanced Sensors----Hard-beam radar and other powerful sensors were considered necessary for finding elusive prey through thick atmosphere and powerful electrical storms of gas gaints. And with vast expanses of atmosphere to search through, dravship sensors possess better range ‘in the soup’ than other ships’. Sensor acuity is +10% to Read Sensory Instrument rolls to see through atmospheric interference, and range in-atmo is 50% greater than regular sensors.
.
* Targeting Sensors---Direct-fire weaponry gets a +2 to strike.

* Thermal Resistant Skinning---The hull takes 1/4 normal damage from heat- and plasma-based attacks.

*Variable Wingfoils---These give the dravships a +10% to Piloting rolls in an atmosphere. +2 to Dodge and Roll in Atmosphere.

Weapons Systems:
1) Energy Cannon Mounts(2)---Mounted on either side of the hull is a mount for a medium starship weapon. Modulated lasers are the most common. Later patrolship conversions upgrade the lasers to proper longer-ranged starship weapons.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD per pulse-blast, 1d6x100 MD per double-barrel pulse-blast
Rate of Fire: ECGHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Ventral Bay---A ventral bay can be used to hold cargo, but its original intent was to deploy capture nets, harpoon probes, sensor drones, or missiles( 240 mini-missiles, volley strength of 1-20, OR 84 short-range missiles, volley strength of 1-12, OR 36 medium-range missiles, volley strength of 1-6, OR 9 long-range missiles, volley strength of 1-3).

Auxiliary Craft: None, though the ventral bay can accommodate a couple of hovercars or a dozen hoverbikes.

Variants:
Proper patrolship conversions of dravships will typically upgrade the forceshielding to variable models( 400 MDC per facing, for a total of 2,400), add 1-2 point defense turrets.

[taalismn]

(I seem to be on a months-long starship posting jag, to the detriment of my other threads)

Stasenhauser-PM ‘Vythis’ Corvette
“Inexpensive to build, easy to operate, well-armed for its class, and with the right options, the whole ship can be operated by a crew of two. Sounds great, but the fact of the matter is the Vythis is sucker-bait for desperate planetary militias and PMCs that don’t know any better. The design is shot through with well-documented exploitable flaws that a smart opponent can take advantage of. The number of these ships that have been destroyed or fallen into the hands of pirates far outweigh those operating successfully. “

“The Vee-One-Oh-Eight space-hull was produced when Stasenhauser knew what it was doing, what markets it was serving, and what limitations it could realistically operate within. The decision to militarize it was made by a newer corporate generation that was made overconfident by the company’s previous successes and that was managing at a remove from their core and from the markets they -thought- they understood. The old guard of the company wouldn’t have made the decisions the new management made and would have gone about things more methodically. But desperation led to hasty decision-making, and it showed in the Vythis.
As a defense boat operating close to other defenses or under the wing of better units, it’s okay as extra guns in space, but as a patrol or escort ship, it’s a calamity waiting to happen.”

“You sent those two girls off in a shatting -VYTH- to pull a repo-raid on the Kingba Mafia?! Even with a full crew, a Vythis would be hardpressed to overwhelm one of their ships! You just sent those kids off to their deaths, or worse!”

The ‘Vythis’(‘Venomous Reptile/ ‘Viper’) is a military conversion of the Stasenhauser V-108 Atmosphere Trawler. The aerospace firm of Stasenhauser produced a number of good solid designs, the V-108 being one of them, but the company itself was poorly placed in the marketplace and failed to meet necessary financial growth-goals before it was forced into receivership, leaving behind a large inventory of unsold ships and designs up for grabs.
The V-108 is a fairly standard general purpose medium interstellar transport design with marked atmospheric performance. It was intended for commercial duty on worlds where it would be required to make landings on land or water to facilitate loading and offloading. Stability in atmosphere and reliable performance in a variety of environments were thus requirements, as was plenty of reconfigurable space aboard that could be modified for cargo or passengers. The upper hull even has an open deck with guardrails for crew and passengers when hovering in atmo or landed. The design proved quite successful with small operators and safari-tours, for example, and V-108s can still be found operating in this capacity across the Three Galaxies.
The Vythis was an effort to take advantage of the reliability and then-widespread distribution of the sturdy V-108 frame, to produce a local space defense ship and patrol corvette on the cheap. A then-floundering Stasenhauser, with new management and desperate to increase corporate markets, drew up plans to foray into low-end military markets with modifications of designs that had proven profitable in the past. Cargo and passenger space was cut back to install several weapons systems and their support equipment, a milspec sensor system was installed, some extra armor was placed around critical areas, and a higher-strength forcefield system added.
Though Stasenhauser went out of business over a century ago, its designs have been picked up by others, and both V-108 and Vythis conversions continue to dribble onto the market from smaller shipyards.
While popular with low-budgeted system defense forces and security organizations desperate for ships, more astute paramilitary professionals regard the Vythis as sorely lacking in a number of aspects. The design lacks adequate point defense, the nose-mounted sensor systems, though giving a wide scan area ahead, are blocked to the rear, and furthermore the placement of a large cooling/gas collection tower interferes with arc of fire for the main armament. The knockoffs that have since appeared are even worse in build-quality. Underpowered engines are an all-too frequent problem, as, even with modification, the original civilian Stan-Rover Gravodyne engines are hardpressed to deliver on rapid acceleration.

The biggest problem with the baseline Vythis was the large rear-amidships cooling/gas collection tower that was a holdover from the original atmospheric trawler. Using a unique for its time compact compression and filtration system, the large intake could take in atmospheric gases, then channel them through a large vertically-postioned radial centrifuge that would spin-separate the gases, the desired gases being compressed for storage and sale, or circulated around the engine and radiator systems for cooling. In the excursion model V-108s this was used to extend fuel supplies and endurance and it was hoped and advertised in the Vythis that use of this system would extend its patrol range by ‘living off the land’(i.e. dipping into the atmosphere of various worlds). Instead, the tall and vulnerable radiator/collector tower proved a liability; it both blocked the arc of the top-mount particle beam turret, interfered with rear sensors, and a damaging strike to the tower could send shockwaves and shrapnel from the centrifuge into the engine, potentially shutting it off. When this problem began showing and (surviving)clients began complaining, Stasenhauser tried various fixes to the problem, including uparmoring the vulnerable tower, but the best solution seemed to be redesigning the cooling system, removing the tower altogether, and overhauling the engines. Only a few prototypes, which were for all intents and purposes new designs, were tested before Stasenhauser collapsed into bankruptcy, and the ‘Vythis II’ never reached production status. The necessary improvements, while making the Vythis much less vulnerable and much more effective, also would have been more expensive to implement, and would have negated the cost savings from using the V-108 frame.

It is some small consolation that the Vythis is just as common with low-end outlaw organizations, who have just as little luck with the design as the frontier defense forces and security organizations they frequently prey upon. Yet the design keeps popping up and clients keep buying(or stealing) the ships.

Type: Stash-APG-109 Vythis
Class: Aerospace Corvette
Crew: 10, but can modified to run with as few as two people and plenty of automation.
Can carry up to 30 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,400
Bridge 750
Engines 1,000
Radiator/Gas Collector Tower** 800
Dorsal Turret 450
Lateral Turrets(2) 360 each
Nose Turret(1) 180
Large Ventral Missile Bay(1) 400
Medium Range Missile Bay(1) 300
Variable Forcefield 1,000 per side, 6,000 total

*Destroying the radiator-tower has a 40% chance of shutting down the engines after 1d6 minutes.

Height: 54 ft at top of radiator tower
Width: 80 ft at widest point
Length: 183 ft
Weight: 800 tons
Cargo: 150 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land and takeoff from the surface of a hydrosphere, but cannot operate underwater.
Market Cost: 325 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus;
*Atmospheric Control Surfaces---The Vythis retains the gravity-well stability of its Trawler origins, is very stable in an atmosphere and enjoys a +15% to pilot and +1 to dodge/roll in atmosphere.

Weapons Systems:
1) Dorsal Turret----Mounted dorsal-center on the hull is a turret mounting two light-end particle beam cannons. While they enjoy a good arc of fire to the front and sides, the turret is blocked to the rear by the cooling/collector array.
Range: 1.3 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 3,000 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD single barrel, 1d6x100+60 MD for both cannons firing simulataneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, but limited to four shots per melee if automated.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Lateral Turrets(2)---Two lateral double-barrel energy weapon turrets are mounted amidships behind the bridge. They cap what were the loading ports of a traverse cargo hold. The turrets can traverse to fire to the front, dorsal, ventral, and rear-arcs. Much of the traverse cargo bay they replace is taken up with the capacitators and support equipment for the older and more massive energy weapon systems. High end short-range lasers are the most common weapons fit, but occasionally particle beams were fitted, trading range for damage punch.
(Lasers)
Range: 1.8 miles in atmosphere, 3.6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3.6 miles in atmosphere, 3,600 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD single barrel, 1d6x100 for both cannons firing simulataneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, but limited to four shots per melee if automated.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Nose Turret(1)---A turret has been added under the nose, usually fitted with a light G-Cannon(more a point -defense weapon) that can throw bursts of projectiles that can shred incoming missiles. Other operators replace this weapon with a high-end light laser, particle beam cannon, or ion projector, ideally with scatter-shot capacity and/or longer range.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 bursts per gun before reloading

4) Large Missile Bay(1)---A large ventral cargo bay has been turned into a missile bay. Some variants don’t retain this conversion, but instead use it in its original cargo bay capacity to transport valuable cargoes, a move that most professionals see as a mistake, as it robs the ships of the best long range fire-and-forget weapons.
a) Short Range Missiles----360. Volley strength of 1-20
b)Medium Range Missiles----240. Volley strength of 1-12
c) Long Range Missiles----84. Volley strength of 1-6

5) Dorsal Medium Range Missile Bay(1)--Atop the main hull just behind the bridge is a flush-mount six-cell VLS(Vertical Launch System) MRM launcher, taking up space originally used for passenger cabins in the civilian V-108. These are typically used for anti-fighter/anti-missile defense.
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 120 missiles. Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes

Auxiliary Craft: None

Variants:
With the V-108 and Vythis being picked up by post-Stasenhauser copycats, there have been a number of variants, most differing in the exact armaments, due to what is available to the manufacturers and their customers. Some have made the effort to increase the ships’ speed with improved engines(with a normal space speed of Mach 9 being the best achieved goal).
A few organizations that still retain Vythis patrol craft have tried increasing their survivability by fitting them with EW jammers and coutermeasure launchers. Another common fix is mounting a sensor array on the backside of the radiator/collector tower, in order to more effectively cover the rear arc of the ship.
The most common and useful Vythis variant, most experts agree, has been the conversion of Vythis gunships into light space tenders, when their militia operators have acquired better ships.


Nagana-Toyetz Grama ‘Kingyaze’ Armored Transport
(aka ‘Fin-tail’, ‘Grayback’)
“Thing looks like a submarine trying to be an airplane, especially with that high tee-tail. They were obviously designed by somebody who never studied serious space combat.”

“It’s not too bad as a light combat transport if you’re flying with escort, as the armored hull can tank quite an amount of damage, but against a serious threat with multiple attackers, it’s a waddling target.”

“Can the Kingba syndicate get any more feckless?! They paint the generic skull insignia of pretty much every pirate organization in the Arm on the prow of their corporate flagship? Okay, it’s a joke in poor taste, a jibe about them being corporate pirates, an incredible act of chutzpah hiding in plain sight...or, more likely, a serious case of moronic posturing. Okay, everybody knows the Kingba are pirates, but do they have to be so OBVIOUS?! Though the fact that the ship in question is a Kingyaze and they’re not shy about advertising that they fitted it with a pair of heavy photonic cannon in open violation of a dozen milspec armaments restrictions, nearly makes it a respectable show of machismo...or something.”

The ‘Kingyaze’ is an effort by the Naganan aerospace zaibatzu Toyetz Grama to break into the Galactic markets with a general-purpose light warship.
It’s believed that the Kingyaze was derived from an earlier atmo-capable large transport design, and it shows in the spacecraft’s streamlined design, side-swept wings and high T-tail(which have been dual-purposed into sensor arrays), necessary to raise the sensors above the engine efflux. The hull is well-reinforced, and the bridge sits in an armored amidships dorsal ‘sail’ reminiscent of a submarine’s.
The Kingyaze’s main strengths were a good turn of speed(for a civilian transport), reliable and well-protected engines, good armor protection, a large troop/cargo capacity, and a large forward turret capable of mounting medium starship weaponry. It was hoped that the ships would be effective light troop transports and patrol craft once fitted with proper military equipment.
The Kingyaze’s weaknesses were an only modest turn of speed(for a warship) and a lack of overall defensive armaments in the design’s vulnerable blind spots. This made for an impressively armored vessel with poor active defenses and which would require escort to avoid being chopped down by faster attackers able to exploit the ‘null zones’ in the ship’s defensive coverage.
Predictably, the Kingyaze was rejected by the CAF(who was already looking at a derivative of the Scimitar as a light troop transport) and other polities(who had betetr options). Nagana’s failed bid to join the United Systems Alliance also closed off potential markets and military contracts for the design, especially as the USA’s ASI/WZT power-duo were producing several much more effective designs at discounted cost to themselves. To recoup its losses developing the ship, TyG was forced to continue to produce the ship and sell it as an armed merchant transport. However, its small payload(for a civilian hauler) has not made it economical to operate as a regular cargo transport, compared to other dedicated freighters of similar mass.
As a formal warship and as a general freighter, the Kingyaze’s a bust, but as am armoed freighter and PMC transport it’s enjoyed a second life, selling to mercenaries, security firms, and less lawful elements...which, it is suspected, were Toyetz’s intended markets all along.

Type: TyG-Fg03 ‘Kingyaze’
Class: Light Multipurpose Armored Interstellar Transport
Crew: 45 +200 passengers in troop transport/passenger carrier mode
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 7,000
Bridge 1,000
Main Turret 400
Medium Range Missile Launcher(1, bow) 350
Light Cannon Mounts(3) 200 each
Wings(2) 500 each
Engines(2) 600 each
Tail Comm/Sensor Array 500
Rear Tail PDS 180
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 81 ft
Width: 100 ft wingspan
Length: 350 ft
Weight: 3,250 tons
Cargo: 900 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6.8
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.68% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Can land and take off from water, but cannot operate underwater, despite its appearance.

Market Cost: 800 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus;
*Combat Command Communications Center---Nodding to its intended role as a military combat transport, the Kingyaze has a larger than standard communications chamber adjacent to the bridge that can be fitted with multiple tactical display screens and data feeds from the various hull-mounted antennae. Most civilian operators use this space as extra engineering storage, but more sophisticated merchants use the room and capabilities to monitor market communications and trade reports. Corporate flagship vessels use the room to track economic data and coordinate business activity.

Weapons Systems:
1) Medium Cannon Turret(1, dorsal, forward)----Mounted submarine deck-gun-style forward of the bridge sail is a turret that can mount paired medium starship cannon. The most common configuration is a pair of laser cannon.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD single barrel blast, 2d4x100 MD double barrel blast(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Light Cannon Mounts(3)---These are typically particle beam cannons, copied from the same weapons used on the CAF Scimitar-class frigates.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Medium Range Missile Launcher(1, bow)---Mounted under the bow is a medium-range missile launcher. Though meant for nti-fighter and ground suppression, the launcher can volley its missiles in heavy enough numbers to threaten other starships.
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 120 missiles. Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 30 minutes

4)Tail Point Defense Turret--Looking like the tail gun position on an old atmo-bomber, this rearward defensive mounting was originally slated to be filled by another particle beam cannon, but most operators have chosen to fit the turret with a lower-powered, but longer-ranged rapid-fire laser cannon or ion projector with ‘spray’ capability. Reportedly, Toyetz Grama has been looking to acquire tachyon projector technology which would give superior ranged spray fire.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
Damage: 4d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Auxiliary Craft: None

Variants:
A number of variants of the ‘Kingyaze’ have appeared, most being post-market modifications. Most have been aimed at upgrading the ships’ defenses, with additional weapons being mounted and variable forceshielding installed. Some have swapped the medium range missile launchers for heavier missiles.
Supposedly Toyetz Grama has drawn up plans for an extended-hull Kingyaze version fully fitted out with additional heavy turrets, milspec-shielding, and boosted engines, and they’re just waiting for a lapse in a half-dozen restriction treaties to put the design into production to rival the Scimitar frigate, but a necessary agreement with the government to subsidize the line may collapse given Nagana’s recent economic troubles.

A number of Kingyazes have been encountered fighting on both sides of the Golgan Great War; it is not known if these ships were sold by Toyetz Grama or, as it has been rumored, the Golgans are producing a knockoff of the design(including a variant with full amphibious capabilities).

[taalismn]

(TW sensors courtesy of KItsune)

ASI/WZT ‘Beneficent’ Deep Space Search and Rescue Ship
(aka ‘Benny’)
“In many ways the Benny’s an updated version of Klittan Yards’ old Neevis, what with the extendable airlock modules and a multipurpose internal layout. It’s a much faster ship, though, given the distances it often has to cover to reach a ship in distress.”

“We had a precog on the ship I was assigned to...the Bliss; it was named for somebody, not the emotion, though it was a happy ship. I was just out of the academy and had no real experience with psychics, so I really didn’t place much store in psionic scrying. Especially not when he had us park the ship cheek to jowl with an old warp-gate. We were just sitting there for nearly a day, at all-hands stations and ready-alert, and I was starting to think we were watching durallex oxidize on some spinhead hunch when the gate sudden flared open and a ship flew through. Well, half a ship...okay, pretty much the cockpit section and even that was in bad shape. Tractor beams snagged that flitter right quick and we had the wreck snugged up into our ventral bay just as that ship’s cockpit windshield gave way. Bay jumpers had the breach foamed and sealed, however, before the pilot could be sucked out or asphyxiated, the bay was locked up and pressurizing and the med team was already cutting its way in. After that, I never doubted the precog’s ‘hunches’ again.”

“A smart and lucky crew can take measures to extend their survival until help reaches them. However, not everybody’s smart OR lucky, and many times we get that special combination of both misfortune and stupidity that proves fatal most of the time. We’re still obliged to do what we can to reach and help the stupid ones before they kill themselves, however.”

“It’s not paranoia to have a security team ready with guns hot when we crack the hatch on an unknown and unresponsive drifter. Med teams are always eager to help sophonts in distress, but sometimes what comes through the airlock’s not friendly or looking for assistance, but more for a meal of lured-in prey. Experience has taught us to be prepared for ANYTHING and that’s helped us solve a number of mysteries because we survived to tell the tale.”

“Blessed be, when those rescue ships came into view. Just when we thought we’d been abandoned and the universe was going to kill us.”

As the worlds of the United Systems Alliance grow stronger economically and trade flourishes on the Fringe, the need for rapid response deep-space rescue craft as grown. Normally this task has been taken care of by a variety of older demobbed warship hull conversions and vessels such as Nao-conversions, Carpathia transport, Sangu refits, Brunel heavy tugs, the Barong Corvette, Spenser and Shepherd Light Cruiser, but there has still been plenty of room for dedicated interstellar rescue craft, especially among clients who do not want to use ex-military hulls identifiable as USA craft. The Beneficent -class was developed with this in mind.
The Beneficent -class uses the basic frame of the ASI BlackJack frigate, but masses a third less. This has allowed the boosted milispec engines to push the ship faster in normal space. The Beneficent is also fitted with a Class-F FTL drive, able to hurl the ship across the vastnesses of the Fringe that much faster in response to distress calls.
Key to the success of the Beneficent is a Large central bay that can be quickly outfitted to hold a large passenger section, expanded sickbay, or workshop for servicing navigational satellites.
The Beneficent mounts less armor than the Blackjack, but carries milspec variable forceshielding. Integral armament has been cut down to a quartet of point defense turrets, but the Fringe still being very dangerous, the Beneficent can mount four external weapons pods capable of holding medium-class starship weaponry.
Since its introduction, the Beneficent has caught on with many solar ‘coast guards’ of the USA and outside it, with sales looking good for the new ships. Unfortunately, the ships’ speed and versatility have also reportedly made it a target for acquisition by pirates, and several vessels responding to distress calls on the Rim have been ambushed by aggressors looking to capture the ships.

Perhaps because of many similarities between the Beneficent and the Klittan ‘Neevi’, or as a sign of the agreeable business contacts between the two companies, Klittan Yards has obtained a limited license to produce Beneficents. Thus, the ship has begun appearing in sectors of the Three Galaxies not associated with the USA.

Type: ASI/WZT-AR09 ‘Beneficent’
Class: Medium Interstellar Search and Rescue Frigate
Crew: 47+25 person rescue/medical team. Can accommodate up to 250 passengers, plus an additional 250 in stasis/cryo.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,000
Bridge 900
Engines(2) 3,500 each
Main Communications/Sensor Array 700
Docking Pylons(2) 800 each
Hangar Bay 900
Point Defense Turrets(4) 100 each
Tractor Beam Turrets
(Optional) Medium Weapons Modules(1-4) 800 each
Variable Forcefield 1,000 per side, 6,000 total

Height: 90 ft
Width: 160 ft(docking pylons boost this to 240 ft when fully extended)
Length: 350 ft
Weight: 10,000 tons
Cargo: 500 tons internally in the main hull
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 50 year energy life

Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 11
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 6.5 light years per hour
Market Cost: 270 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Enhanced Sensors----The Beneficent retains the Blackjack’s milspec sensor suite that is slightly more powerful than those typical of its class, and has 25% better range(effective -Fleets of the Three Galaxies- range of 320,000 miles)

*Extendable Docking Modules(2)---- In place of winglets, the Beneficent has twin extendable docking modules that can projected from the main hull on telescoping access ways. Each ends in a large multi-chambered docking module and universal docking collar. The modules are large enough to hold a triage/quarantine ward (up to 20 human-sized patients) and the entire assembly can be jettisoned from the main ship in event of a biohazard or security breach problem.
Tender versions fit these modules with satellite servicing gear.

*Tractor Beam Emitters(2)---- Effectively rated for 2,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. Range: 25 miles

*Sickbay Facilities---Regardless of version, Beneficents are fitted with better-than-average sickbay facilities, with assisted-regeneration autosurgeon modules, medical ‘bots, and triage stasis equipment.

*TW Sensors-----An increasing number of ships of ASI/WZT manufacture are benefitting from having technowizardry sensors installed as production ramps up and costs lower. While not all the features of an expensive and comprehensive ORACLE system would be ioperationally relevant to a rescue cruiser, it was felt that some of the sensors could be of use. The Beneficent therefore has a See Aura system and attendant PPE powerstone(200 PPE capacity) aboard.
See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.

Weapons Systems:
1)Point Defense Turrets(4)---These are mounts for the by-now familiar and standard ASI/WZT PDS systems.

2)(Optional) Medium Weapons Modules(1-4)---These are external-mount weapons modules each able to carry a Medium-class starship weapon. In a dire situation, these can allow the rescue ships to be refitted as system defense ships.
a) Energy/G-/KKC Cannons----Any of the standard ASI/WZT capital medium-class weapons can be fitted.
b) Missile Launcher--- Short Range Missiles( Payload 240, volley strength of 1-20), OR Medium Range Missiles( Payload 120, volley strength of 1-10), Long Range Missiles( Payload 60, volley strength of 1-6),

Auxiliary Craft:
Two light shuttlecraft/rescue skiffs
Typically a complement of 10-20 space-capable power armors.

Variants:
*KY-AR09 ------The Klittan Yards licensed copy of the Beneficent differs only in a few cosmetic details and some internal equipment changes(lacks the TW sensors). It is otherwise identical in performance to the WZT vessel.

[taalismn]

Flan’Loure Productions FLP-SF025 ‘Aeostati’ Starfighter
(aka ‘Slipfish’)
“Flan’Loure Productions tried again to get it right with this one. There’s some thought that they wanted to undercut Aegis Stellar Industries with a combat vehicle that could double as a personal aerospace flitter, because this thing’s got the lines of a luxury grav-car and some well-executed aerodynamics. At least with the grav-car styling, Flan was working on familiar ground, because the Aeos is a right sleek number to look at. It’s still too expensive for a ‘light’ starfighter, and all because they’re charging too much for the Flan’Loure name and the old Charmane-line badge on the hull.”

“Mechanically, this ship’s just fine. Concept-wise, it’s a disaster. It’s too expensive to equip cannon-fodder with, too lame to give to more experienced crews. It’s armed eye-candy for fat-walleted weekend warriors.”

“Caught those bandits by surprise; they thought they were pulling down a local aristo with a high ransom potential jetting about in their shiny strato-coupe. Then they caught a terawatt laser in their faces.”

To the disappointment of many who thought that Flan’Loure Productions’ Masakaui starfighter would be an only child, the company recently rolled out the Aeostati.
Flan’Loure has seemingly reached back to its origins as a grav-car manufacturer, because the Aeostati has the lines of a contragravity sedan, plus variable incidence wings. Propulsagen reaffirmed their association with Flan’Loure by turning out a compact and particularly cool-running version of their SolaPulsa powerplant to fit in the small Aeostati airframe.
Following complaints about the Masakaui’s very powerful, but slow-recharging and fixed position main armament, Flan’Loure downgraded the main weaponry to a single rapid-fire laser, and mounted it in a retracting ventral swivel-turret with greater arc of fire.
It is not quite certain -who- the Aeostati is meant to be marketed to, but, despite the many criticisms of the design, Flan’Loure has actually been making sales of the ships to planetary security and law enforcement forces. A few independent operators have picked up the design as a runabout and light shuttle, but most experienced PMCs will have nothing to do with the Aeostati.

Type: FLP-SF025 Aeostati
Class: Starfighter
Crew: One+1-3 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 290
Reinforced Crew Compartment 100
Wings(2) 120 each
Laser Turret(1, underside) 80
Height: 7 ft
Width: 10 ft. 29 ft wingspan
Length: 35 ft
Weight: 6 tons
Cargo: Minimal; small space in cockpit for survival pack and sidearm
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 22 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starfighter Systems, plus:

-Advanced Handing----The Aeostati has pilot-assist AI that improves handling; +15% to Pilot rolls. However, when the system is on, the onboards will fight instability; -2 to dodge unless the auto-assist is turned off.

Weapons Systems:
1) Ventral Pulse Laser(1)---- Flan’Loure decided to drop the very powerful, but slow-firing, Mecrolite Jil400 medium laser cannon of the Masakaui in favor of a lighter, but faster-recharging, pulse laser. The weapon is also located in a retracting ventral ball-turret with a greater arc of fire.
Range: 3.5 miles in atmosphere, 7 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 7 miles in atmosphere, 700 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per single blast, per pulse-burst.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Options:
*Laser-Reflective Chroming---Aesthetically pleasing AND functional, this mirror-coating reduces laser damage by HALF, but requires near-constant attention to resurfacing and buffing to maintain its protective properties.
Cost: 1.3 million credits

*Countermeasure Launcher-----The fighter can be fitted with a countermeasure launcher identical to those becoming common in the Three Galaxies.
-Flare/Chaff
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.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 12 per launcher

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 9 swarm packs

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a preset pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 6 decoys are carried, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-3.
Cost: 300,000 credits + decoy cost

*Forcefield Generator----A light forcefield generator can be shorhorned into the Aeostati, at the cost of passenger capacity. Damage capacity rating of 200 MDC.
Cost: 1.2 million credits

*Missile Launchers(2)---Short wing pylons can be added, allowing the fighter to carry missiles; 12 mini-missiles per wing, OR 3 short-range missiles, OR 2 medium-range missiles.
Note: The missile-launchers impose extra drag; reduce speed in atmosphere by 10% until the missiles are expended/jettisoned.
Cost: 500,000 credits

Variants:
The Aeostati is still new enough that no major variants have yet appeared. Numerous cosmetic variants, however, exist depending on the buyer/operator.
There are rumors of a more expensive and client-exclusive ‘SF026X’ ‘superstar-sedan’ featuring advanced targeting , a modular weapons mount, boosted engines, and improved all-around combat agility, but this is suspected of being a Flan’Loure testbed, rather than a prototype production model.

[taalismn]

Chukta Star Empire ‘Tuom-Magor’ Battlecarrier
(aka ‘Wrecker’)

“From horizon to horizon the world was fire, our armies and our cities burning, while above shone malign stars none of our astrologers ever forecast.”
---Alebian observer, during the conquest of Alebia, from hidden records recovered by Zyganian archaeologists following the Liberation.

“It’s rather telling of the Chuktas’ rapaciousness and past successes with their technological advantages in tearing a swath across the sector that as their main fleet entered the Mazos system, we intercepted comm-traffic that the shiplords of their battleships were already jockeying for position to be the first to commence planetary bombardment. There’s supposedly great honor in being the first to put one’s foot on a fallen opponent’s neck and crushing them into submission. We haven’t learned yet if the Chukta have a specific term for the accolade given to one who has an opponent rear up and tear one’s leg off, but we expect that if such a term exists, it was generously handed out that day to the Chukta battleship squadrons. ”

The fact that the Chukta were able to build a spacefleet capable of conquering several other worlds in their sector can be seen as a dark miracle of sorts; Chukta society is, by its nature, not inclined to great technological feats of ingenuity or especially of cooperation. Nevertheless, with the help of an abandoned Golgan fleet depot and the prospect of new territories to conquer, the normally competitive Chuktan bulls set aside their differences to build a warfleet. However, for the sake of expediency, the Chuktan fleet development program focused on only a half dozen basic designs filling most space combat and planetary assault roles.
The Tuom-Magor is the largest of the Chuktan designs, fulfilling the role of battleship/carrier in the conquest fleets’ ranks. These massive ships led Chuktan conquest fleets, seeking new territories for the bulls to take over.
Configuration-wise, the Tuom-Magor bears more than a passing similarity to the Golgan ‘Vlax’ Colonial Warship, suggesting that examples or plans were part of the ancient Golgan fleet depot discovered by the Chukta, and used as models for their heavy warships. The ‘Vlax’ may not have been a first-rate warship even in its heyday, but it was more than adequate for pacifying less technologically advanced subject worlds for the Golgan Republik at the height of its colonialist expansion. The Chuktan derivation of the Vlax proved even better at subjugating the low-tech worlds that were the Chuktans’ neighbors. Species and cultures who weren’t even aware of other life outside their solar systems fell beneath the searing beams of battle lasers and nuclear radiation projectors.
The Tuom-Magor is longer and broader than its Vlax ancestor, due to some chopping and grafting to add larger (and more) hangar decks and accommodations for troops. The Chuktan warship lost its amphibious capabilities in the process(unusual and unfortunate, given that the Chukta are like the Golgans in being amphibians). The prow has noticeably been reshaped to accommodate a larger sensor suite, both because the Tuom-Magors are intended for extrasolar operations(while the Vlax was meant for system defense/policing) and the less sophisticated and bulkier Chuktan electronics. The result it is said resembles a Chuktan continence somewhat, so the battleships are commonly named for past Chuktan Conclave Emperors and major political figures.
Tuom-Magors, being considered elite combat units, warrant the tremendous material and logistical investment of being powered by matter/antimatter reactor systems. This gives the ships plenty of power, though the Chukta don’t fully or efficiently utilize the power output of the M/AM systems.
The main strengths of the Tuom-Magor are heavy particle beam cannon batteries and missile bays. Strong secondary laser batteries provide back-up. Interestingly enough, the Chukta chose pulse lasers for point defense over the Golgan -pattern particle beams that would become standard PDS for their other warships and heavy transports.
The Tuom-Magors’ weaknesses are a lack of secondary kinetic weaponry for defense(even though they had copied good G-cannon designs as the primary weapon of their attack ships), slow speed, and weak forceshielding. Sensors are also no better than other contemporary warships’, and the Tuom-Magors rely on their own complement of embarked fighters and scouts for long range sensor warning and data gathering. However, these were not seen as deficiencies at the time, as the Chukta had yet to encounter peer-level opposition.
Tuom-Magors became the terrors of worlds such as Alebia, Haplo, and Poltan, destroying resistance within a matter of days, and beginning the process of destroying all structures not immediately useful to the Chukta in their occupation of aforementioned worlds. The battleships subsequently served as orbiting guillotines to mercilessly punish any further resistance while the new Chuktan overlords settled in. Flag rank on a Tuom-Magor became a much-sought-after position among Chuktan bulls, as it was seen as a stepping stone to the near-ultimate prize of lord-governor of a newly conquered territory.
Impressive as the Tuom-Magors were at burning planetary armies and cities from orbit, the Chuktans found themselves in a different situation when they attempted to seize Mazzerhine...and discovered resistance in the form of the Zyganian Empire and the Semeten Dominia, a tri-world compact formed to resist Chuktan expansion. The Zyganians were long familiar with Golgan warship technology and knew the weaknesses of the Vlax, and were not intimidated at all by a knockoff of the design. The Zyganian Imperial StarForce, with the assistance of such allies as the Sendeshalans, overwhelmed and shattered the Chuktan conquest fleets at Mazzerhine, destroying most of the Tuom-Magors and their flag-officer bulls. A separate campaign by a cosmo-knight wiped out a pair of Tuom-Magors orbiting Alebia, and weakened the Chuktan presence there enough for a subsequent Zyganian taskforce to free the planet.
The few remaining Tuom-Magors pulled back(and in some cases LIMPED back) to the Chuktan homeworld and the protection of its near-orbit defenses. There they huddled against follow-up actions by the Semeten Dominia compact. Though the Chukta lost several more warships thanks to daring raids and a fireship attack, the defensive laager strategy largely worked, thanks to the alliance-compact being at the time unwilling/unable to stage a costly invasion of the Chukta homeworlds. However, the effective blockade kept the Chukta from venturing forth and resuming offensive campaigns. The orbit-locked Tuom-Magors became expensive stages for Chuktan political warfare, as bulls jockeyed for power.
The Chukta have made several attempts to rearm, and constructing new battleships has been part of that effort. During the chaos of the Forge and Minion Wars, the Chuktans attempted to stage breakouts, seeking to exploit perceived weakening of the forces blockading them.
For the Semeten Dominia and other forces opposing the Chukta, destroying a Tuom-Magor is considered a grail target. And when the Golgan Republik again returned to the sector of space, they were even less happy to see the Chuktan knockoffs created in their absence. The Golgans generally regard the Chukta as a Zyganian problem and distraction, but when the Chukta started making deep probes in the direction of Golgan space, the Republik took exception to heavily armed warships roaming their space looking for plunder. The one encounter between a Chuktan heavy battlegroup and a Republik border fleet saw the Chukta almost losing one of their precious battleships.

Type: Chu-BB/CV-01 Tuom-Magor
Class: Space Battleship/Carrier
Crew: 2,000, + provision for 500 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 29,000
Bridge 5,000
Main Engines 12,000
Communications Arrays(4) 1,000 each
Heavy Particle Beam Turrets(2) 1,000 each
Secondary Laser Turrets(16) 700 each
Long Range Missile Launchers(4) 900 each
Point Defense Laser Turrets(10) 150 each
Hangar Decks(4) 3,000 each
Variable Forcefields----3,000 each side(18,000 total)

Height: 700 ft
Width: 900 ft
Length: 2,400 ft
Weight: 1.2 million tons
Cargo: 150,000 tons
Powerplant: Matter/Antimatter w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 24 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems
Weapons Systems:
1)Heavy Particle Beam Turrets(2) ----The Chukta could not duplicate the Golgans’ Mega-Disruptors, so they made do with massive particle beam cannons. The Chukta DID add an enhanced radiation component similar to Kittani neutron disruptors. While modern starship shields and armor can insulate easily enough against the secondary radiation effects of these weapons, few surface targets are so well-protected, and the Chukta have shown little compunction(indeed, they have shown great enthusiasm) about using the main batteries on subject worlds, such as Alebia and Vascard.
The wildly variable radiological ‘footprint’ of these weapons and the eagerness with which the Chukta have used them have led to them being labeled as Weapons of Mass Destruction and their use designated as war crimes.
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 70 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 6,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x1,000 MD per blast. Also irradiates a 1d10x1,000 ft radius around the point of impact: those without radiation shielding or EBA must roll versus lethal poison or take 2d6 Hit Point damage(megadamage constitutions do NOT take this extra damage), and will be -9 to initiative, -7 strike/parry/dodge, and reduce Speed, APMs, and skill performance is HALF. Effects last until the damage is healed. MDC organic beings failing the save will be -4 to initiative, -3 strike/parry/dodge, and reduce Speed, APMs, and skill performance is HALF for 2d6 minutes after a radiation strike, while their bodies cope to the shock. Effects are cumulative from multiple strikes.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Secondary Laser Turrets(16) ---These are unchanged from the original Vlaxes.
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 18 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 6,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast, 2d6x100 MD per double-barrel blast
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Heavy Missile Launchers(4) ---Unchanged from the original Vlax systems, save for slightly different projectile sizes and guidance interfaces.
The Chukta were known to use enhanced radiation and EMP warheads to cripple and terrorize planetary populations, softening them for invasion.
Range: Varies by Missile Type(double range in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type. At the time the Vlaxes came into service, the standard was nuclear(1d6x100 MD) warheads, but later reloads saw the introduction of ion(fusion) torpedoes.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-25
Payload: 1,000 missiles each launcher, 4,000 total; additional missiles may be carried and loaded from cargo, but will take at least 30 minutes

4) Point Defense Lasers(10) ---The Chukta have replaced the Vlax’s PBC point defense with more easily serviced lasers.
Range: 1.5 miles in atmosphere, 4.5 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4.5 miles in atmosphere, 450 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

Auxiliary Craft:
8 shuttlecraft
40 Aerospace Fighters or Scouts

Variants:
The Tuom-Magor went largely unchanged during its production up until the Battle of Mazzerhine. Surviving battleships have been observed to have their damage repaired with substitute systems, either to make up for equipment no longer available from the liberated/cutoff colonies, or in an attempt to upgrade them with more powerful(and mostly experimental) systems.



Chukta Star Empire Takla Heavy Fighter/Attack Ship
(aka ‘Frog-pad’)

“-Saw these attack ships swarm over a city on Vascard and burned it...the whole city!...down to the ground. Then they started spreading out and burning everything else in a spreading radius of the city they’d just killed! I barely got away with my vid-pack. Damn things were lording it over the landscape, blasting anything that moved.”

“If they had armor proportionate to their mass, they’d be trouble to bust open. As it is, they got tissue paper for protection for all their size. Big as a bomber...as flammable as a tanker.”

“Mind you, be careful around the big terror-fliers. They may look and be big and clumsy, but a musketball can still kill you if you’re not careful and if you get pinned in a formation of these bastards, they can still pound you to pieces with massed fire before you realize it. Use your tech advantage to rip the Chukkers, but don’t rely on it to cover your mistakes and carry the day every time. Don’t let the Chukta get comfortable around you by being predictable. The Chukta grew up in a society of competition and rivalry; given half a chance, they’ll spot a weakness on your part and ruthlessly exploit it, no matter what you’re flying.”

The Takla is an aerospace attack ship roughly equivalent to a heavy fighter, that is the mainstay of the Chukta Star Empire’s aerospace forces. Variants of it are used by both the Chukta elite and their vassal forces.
The Takla is roughly saucer-shaped, with an engine module protruding from one side of the saucer, and extendable crescent winglets on the sides. It bears some resemblance to old Golgan Pulwar Aerospaki designs. They are propelled by anti-gravity thrusters, powered by quite large power cells and a fusion reactor.
Several variants of the Takla exist, the common frame streamlining logistics and speeding development and production. Two major variants exist, the Takla-Kronig and the Takla-Sadarm.
The Takla-Kronig is the model issued to Chukta crews. Advanced automation allwo them to be operated by one Chukta, but a dedicated weapone or electroncis specialist is typically carried.
The Takla-Sadarm is a stripped-down mass-production model that is meant to be used by vassal world conscripts, namely Coltoff. These ships require a two-man crew and lack the more sophisticated electronics and defensive systems.
Taklas have gained a bad reputation(similar to that of WW2 Stukas) for their actions in the Rodan Sector; Takla wings were regularly sicced on planetary populations, destroying local defenses and indiscriminately bombing communities. During occupations, Taklas routinely patrolled the skies and strafed anything that looked suspicious. Their forcefields rendered them seemingly invulnerable to the weak and primitive technologies of the subject worlds.
Against nonspacefaring peoples, the Takla proved a near-invincible terror. Against the other starfaring polities of the Rodan Sector, the Takla was still a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. Rustollan point defense railguns and laser mines ripped Takla formations to shreds, and Afran corsairs regularly outmaneuvered and outgunned them. Even the light Wolfen fighters like the Fax Sculpinam despite their light armament, could make multiple hit and runs against the larger Taklas and worry them to pieces. Zyganian Starcrosses and SkyRivvers reaped entire squadrons of Taklas at Mazzerhine.
In the aftermath of Mazzerhine, a number of Taklas were captured and distributed to the various alliance members for evaluation. Some ultimately were donated to the Mazzerite Belter space militia.

Type: CSE-HF01 Takla
Class: Heavy Aerospace Fighter/Attack Ship
Crew: 1-3
MDC/Armor by Location:(-Kronig*/-Sadarm)
Main Body 500
Cockpit 200*/130
Engine 300
Dorsal Turret 200
Secondary Turrets(3) 80 each
Wings(2) 125 each**
Forcefield 400*/200

**Destroying a wing adversely affects control in atmospheric flight; -10% to piloting rolls. Losing BOTH wings forces the pilot to rely on gravitics; -20% to piloting rolls inatmo.

Height: 28 ft
Width: 60 ft
Length: 60 ft
Weight: 250 tons
Cargo: 3 tons internal capacity
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 15 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible(See Variants)
Market Cost: 45 million credits after the Battle of Mazzerhine, when a number of captured/salvaged examples became available.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starfighter Systems.
Weapons Systems:
1) Dorsal Cannon--Mounted in a large turret on the top of the ship is a heavy G-cannon. In the alternative, the turret can be fitted with an enhanced radiation projctor.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 5,000 rds(250 bursts)

( ‘Irradiator’ Particle Beam Cannon)
Some versions sport a radiation projector, a scaled-down version of that carried by the Tuom-Magor battleships. These weapons had the advantage of unlimited shots and radiation ‘burn’, making them ideal terror weapons against ‘soft’ targets, but at the cost of shorter range and less immediate damage than the G-cannon. The weapon mounting also required extra shileding insulation between it and the cockpit of the Takla, as it was prone to leak radiation harmful to the crew as well. ‘Irradiator’-equipped Taklas are almost exclusively used by conquest and occupation forces, but fared poorly against space supremacy combatants.
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast. Also irradiates a 1d10x10 ft radius around the point of impact: those without radiation shielding or EBA must roll versus lethal poison or take 2d6 Hit Point damage(megadamage constitutions do NOT take this extra damage), and will be -9 to initiative, -7 strike/parry/dodge, and reduce Speed, APMs, and skill performance is HALF. Effects last until the damage is healed. MDC organic beings failing the save will be -4 to initiative, -3 strike/parry/dodge, and reduce Speed, APMs, and skill performance is HALF for 2d6 minutes after a radiation strike, while their bodies cope to the shock. Effects are cumulative from multiple strikes.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Blaster Turrets(3)---Mounted on the ventral nose and sides are three energy weapon turrets. These are generally slaved to fire on the same targets in the forward arc of the ship, but the side turrets can be independentally pivoted to cover the side arcs of the ship.
a) Disruptor Cannon
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 8,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 120 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD pulse burst, plus 25% of baseline to a 2 ft radius.
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Lasers
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD pulse burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Bomb Bay/Missile Racks(2)----Hidden on the underside of the saucer are two ordnance bays. Taklas were also known to carry nuclear and bio/chemical ordnance.
Range: Varies by Missile/Bomb Type
Damage: Varies by Missile/Bomb Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6 missiles
Payload: 32 mini- missiles, OR 16 short-range missiles, OR 8 mediun-range missiles, OR 3 long range missiles OR 6 bombs; take the equivalent missile warhead and DOUBLE the blast radius

Variants:
*Scout---This variant sacrifices all armaments save for a single blaster turret in place of the G-cannon turret, in favor of advanced sensors, jammers, and an FTL drive. The Scout is almost always piloted by a three-man Chuktan crew and has provision for carrying a four-person scout squad.
A number of FTL Scouts were acquired by high-rank Chukta as personal conveyances; many of these saw use as escape ships for flag officers following the defeats at Mazzerhine.
Changes/Modifications:
Crew: 3, +1-6 passengers(usually a 4 peson scout team and up to 2 prisoners)
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 35% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Systems of Note:
Standard Starfighter Systems, plus:
* Sensor Jammers---A rather basic, by modern 3G standards, EW jammer suite; -3 to strike with radar-guided weaponry, -60% to detection with 20/21st century radar tech, -20% to be detected with modern(CCW, TGE, GR) tech.
*Enhanced Optics---The lower hull has several blisters holding multi-spectral optics for surveying targets. Other sensors include radiation detectors, atmospheric samplers, mapping radar and laser scanners.
* Electromagnetic Detectors----The Scout can ‘see’ active radio and radar radiation signals.

Weapons Systems:
1) Blaster Turret(1)---The dorsal G-cannon has been replaced with a single light weapon identical to the original three light turrets.

2) The Blaster Turret mounts have been fared into the main body and replaced with sensor gear.

3) Bomb Bay/Missile Racks(2)----These now typically hold sensor probes and surveillance gear.

Chukta Star Empire Sothan-class SuperHeavy Transport-Carrier
(aka ‘Frog-zep’, ‘Ledzep’, ‘Phallie’, ‘Zucchinor’)

“They haul space rocks to the factories of Chenitz and Orevv. They dropped rocks on Alebia. The governor on Sevgetti wanted to do the same to clear jungle on that benighted planet. These things are more than utility platforms, they’re moving war and ecocide crimes.”

“Look like big zeppelins and steer like ‘em too. Sidewall armor’s not much thicker than a gasbag’s either.”

The Sothan-class is the Chukta Empire’s primary heavy space trasnport. Variants of it include troop transports, fighter carriers, fleet tenders/tankers, and planetary bombers.
The long elliptic shape of the Sothan brings to mind early Golgan space transports, and it is believed the design is based in part on superheavy freighter plans and frames found in the Golgan fleet depot discovered by the Chukta.
Sothans became fairly ubiquitous in the conquest zones of the Chukta Star Empire, moving troops, war material, supplies, and tribute(including slaves). Their high capacity made them ideal for interstellar transport and for conversion to a number of support roles.
The major shortcomings of the class are that they are derived from rear-echelon freighters. Despite their size and imposing appearance, they lack the speed and protection of proper warships, despite their substantial light armament. They are exceptionally thin-walled and their forceshielding is weak. Against modern Three Galaxies warships and starfighters, Sothans are sitting targets. Even the Coltoff managed to nuke one during the Chukta invasion of Orevv, but the Chukta did little to change the design in response to the losses. Mazzerhine showed they should have. So easily destroyed were the Sothans that only one ship was captured intact; the others were destroyed in action or scuttled by their crews as Semeten Dominia forces closed in.

Type: CSE-CV02 Sothan
Class: SuperHeavy Interstellar Transport/Carrier
Crew: 770 + 860 man aerospace group
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 11,000
Bridge 900
Hangar Bays(4) 1,000 each
Main Engine Bloc 4,000
Point Defense Particle BeamTurrets(10) 150 each
Medium-Range Missile Launchers(10) 150 each
Forcefield 2,000

Height: 400 ft
Width: 400 ft
Length: 3,000 ft
Weight: 1.9 million tons
Cargo: 500,000 tons. If wholly loaded with cargo, and not small craft or troops, can carry 900,000 tons. (See Variants)
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 50-year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 5
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.5% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 31 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:

*Heavy Tractor Beam---Located between the tail drive pods is a projector for a heavy tractor beam that uses part of the engine grav-flux to assist in towing heavy payloads. 5 mile space range and 100,000 ton towing capacity, without loss of speed.

Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Particle BeamTurrets(10) ---Though abundant in number and reasonably effective against fighters and missiles, these weapons are too short-ranged to be useful against heavier warships.
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Medium-Range Missile Launchers(10)---These launchers are somewhat more effective against warships, especially if launched en mass, but like the Golgans, Chuktan ‘smart’ missile technology is lacking, and thus long range accuracy is off.
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-5
Payload: 100 missiles each launcher; 5,000 total. Additional missiles may be stored in the cargo holds and reloaded within 10 minutes

Some Sothans have replaced their MRMLs w/ Golgan-pattern nuclear torpedo launchers:
Range: 500 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 60 missiles each launcher

Auxiliary Craft:
(Carrier configuration) 300 Takla attack ships
12 heavy shuttles
Variants:
*Dedicated Tanker conversion, with the hangar bays replaced with large liquid- and gas-media storage cells. It’s been noted that they have a tendency to explode quite spectacularly when critically hit(Optional GM rule: a Critical Strike on an unmodified 18-20 does TRIPLE damage, and a single strike that does in excess of 3,000 MD to the main hull has a 70% chance of triggering a cascade sequence explosion that will destroy the ship within 1d6 melees).

* Fleet Tender---These ships carry some fuel mass to top off other ships’ tanks, but also lots of machine shops and supplies to rearm and repair fleet ships. Fortunately, they seem to be rare. The ZE/SD alliance captured a Fleet Tender at Mazzerhine; after studying and evaluating it, the vessel was turned over to the Mazzites.

*Troop Transport---Carries 18 heavy shuttles, 6,000 troops, and 50 vehicles.

*Slave Transport ---Carries 18 heavy shuttles, a security contingent of 300-500 troops, and up to 18,000 involuntary transportees.

* Missile Ship(?)-----Some long range scans of activity around Chernitz and Orevv have suggested that the Chukta may have converted some of their Sothans into massive missile carriers, in imitation of the Rustollan ‘nuke barge’ warships they encountered at Mazzerhine. These ships go beyond simply replacing all the MTMLs with heavy nuclear torpedo tubes, but stuff the large hangar and cargo bays full of torpedo launchers, carrying hundreds, possibly thousands, of missiles and warheads . This is seen as a possible sign of desperation, to ‘missile spam’ any approaching invasion fleet, but another concern has been raised that, depending on what starcharts the Chukta inherited from the Golgans or stole from others, the Chukta might attempt to find their enemies’ home systems and use these ‘arsenal ships’ to make retribution fire-raids.


Chukta Star Empire Efkar Destroyer
(aka ‘Sligmander’)
“Just seeing one of these ships obliterate their entire orbital defense force and satellite-based nuclear arsenal was enough to drive the Alebians to despair. I understand that the Chukta captain of that particular ship got a nice fancy title and a harem for his actions.”

“I frankly see enough of those Golgan left-behinds stinking up the slips of the stations back home. Seeing somebody else’s intrepretation of themtrying to act like it rules the spaceways makes me psychicly ill. Let’s just gut those damn things and push them into the sun.”
---Anonymous Zyganian destroyer captain

The ‘Efkar’ is identifiable as an adaptation of the ancient Golgan Republik Moffed-class Colonial Destroyer, examples of which were found at the abandoned Golgan fleet depot on Homdon in the Chuktan home system. Working off the Moffeds as examples, the Chukta developed the Efkar. The ship is slightly larger than its ancestor, has a less efficient drive system, and has a number of other changes ncessitated by the Chuktas’ difficulty in replicating even early Golgan technology, but the ship is still very effective, especially against the weaker and less advanced cultures that were the Chuktas’ stellar neighbors.
The Efkar was a workhorse of the Chuktan domination fleets, serving as heavy scout, picket, raider, escort, and courier-transport for the larger vessel formations.
Efkars spearheaded the invasions of the Chuktas’ first conquests, overwhelming the weaker resistance those cultures put up. The Efkar fared less well against the gathered forces at Mazzerhine, where their only real contribution was to soak up missile fire that otherwise would have struck heavier units. The Zyganians already discerned the providence of the destroyers and their shared weaknesses with the Moffed and broke the Chukta destroyer squadrons with relative impunity.
A number of these ships were captured by the Semeten Dominia and pressed into service, after repairs and modification, with the sector forces opposing the Chukta. The Zyganians have offered technical advice on modifying the ships, based on their own experiences developing their Monkar-class Missile Frigate from Golgan garrison Moffeds.

Type: CSE-DD04 Efkar
Class: Destroyer
Crew: 180, plus 50 troops/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Bridge 1,800
Midships Engine Ring 1,000
Point Defense Turrets(12) 200 each
Nuclear Torpedo Launchers(3) 300 each
Medium Range Missile Launchers(5) 300 each
Hangar Bay 800
Forcefield 4,000

Height: 155 ft
Width: 300 ft
Length: 780 ft
Weight: 39,000 tons
Cargo: 1,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 55% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
(Underwater) Limited; 50 MPH, maximum depth 2,000 ft
Market Cost: 350 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems.
Weapons Systems:
1) Light Laser Cannons(4, 2 forward, ventral and dorsal, 2 aft, ventral and dorsal)---The Chukta retain the original light laser cannon of the Moffeds. While good enough for police duties and for overwhelming the low tech of backwater worlds, these weapons leave much to be desired when facing off against more advanced opposition.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 4,000 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

2) Point Defense Laser Turrets(12 )----The Chukta didn’t anticipate the small agile, forcefield-equipped starfighters of the modern galactic era, but they did expect missiles, so the Efkar carries a plentiful complement of point defense lasers.
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD pulse burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Nuclear Torpedo Launchers(3)-----The original Moffeds predated the modern standard cruise missile, so the Golgans used heavier SLBM-sized nuclear-tipped missiles. The Chukta adapted their own similar design to fit the Efkar.
Range: 500 miles in atmosphere, 1,000 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-3
Payload: 36 missiles each launcher

4) Medium Range Missile Launchers(5)----These are identical to those fitted aboard the Sothans. These launchers are somewhat more effective against warships, especially if launched en mass, but like the Golgans, Chuktan ‘smart’ missile technology is lacking, and thus long range accuracy is off.
In the alternative, the missile launch bays can be refitted to fire heavier missiles. Indeed, the Chukta introduced the types with the invasion attempt on Mazzerhine, and after their crushing defeat there, the Chukta began hurriedly refitting their remaining destroyers with heavier ordnance in anticipation of a followup invasion by their new enemies.
a) Medium Range Missiles
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-5
Payload: 100 missiles each launcher; 500 total.

b) Nuclear Torpedoes----Same as 3) above, only each converted missile bay can only hold 18 heavy missiles.

Auxiliary Craft:
3 Shuttlecraft
4 fighters or scouts

Variants:
The Chukta didn’t produce many variants of the Efkar until post-Mazzerhine, when they began cramming any weapon they could fit on their available hulls. The all-big missile conversion was the most popular, but other sub-types replaced with the main laser batteries with heavier weapons like the secondary batteries on their battleships, and swapping some of the point defense lasers with G-cannon turrets off the Takla fighters.
A blockade runner variant also exists that trades the hangar bay, two heavy torpedo bays, and all but 2 of the medium range missile launchers for 900 tons of extra cargo capacity.

The one pre-Mazzerhine variant of note was a communications surveillance/relay ship that replaced four of its MRM launchers with extendable radio antennae and directional laser communications arrays. Acting in concert with larger Sothan-cpnversion communications ships, these vessels helped coordinate Chuktan battleforce actions, but also proved a weak link at Mazzerhine, when several were destroyed or captured and subverted.

A recently observed variant is a clear attempt to break the blockade of the Chukta coreworlds. This variant guts the central hull and hangar bay to install a massive heavy particle beam, apparently developed using captured alien technology,
The so-called ‘Burner’ variant is an attempt to wedge as much direct firepower as possible into a small frame, with the intent of decieving interdiction ships into thinking they are facing a regular Efkar blockade runner up until they get hit by the powerful PBC.
Apparent problems with the ships, though, are that the giant PBC systems spike in power and heat, quickly burning out, limiting the ships’ endurance to short combat runs, in efforts to open up holes in the blockade and let other follow-up ships break through. Poor radiation shielding around the overcharged engines and the axial cannon have led to rumors that the ships are crewed largely by slave technicians and Chuktan bulls either too low in status or too injured to bred, and captained by bulls of fallen herd-clans. Duty aboard a ‘Burner’ is thus regarded as suicide assignments, with post-mortem redemption of the officers’ clans dangled as a reward for service.
*Axial Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 20 miles in atmosphere, 55 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 20 miles in atmosphere, 20,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x1,000 per blast
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited, bit generally limited to 20+2d6 shots before spiking radiation and heat levels force the main weapon to be shut down to cool for 30 minutes before resuming firing. Pushing the rate of fire beyond that has a 45% chance per additional melee shot of causing a catastrophic explosion, doing 1d6x100 MD internal damage.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries*FInstel-11XCX-’Gleam’---Light FTL Aerospace Fighter
(aka ‘Silver-Sled’, ‘Lazer-boggan’)
“I’m not sure that competing, or being seen as competing, with Flan’Loure, especially in the currently dubious field of light starfighters, is a good idea, but as an experiment, having personally taken several of the prototypes out for some balls-to-the-wall speed maneuvers, it’s sure proven FUN!”

“It’s not the star-taxi the Civis is, but the Gleam’s a right agile performer in the light strike role. Its compact size makes it good for an onboard defender against low-tier bandits. One incident we already have on record, the pirates thought the merchantman they’d overtaken was dumping his cargo of hovercars...only to have the ‘jetsam’ light up drives and starting shooting them in the face.”

“This thing’s the sort of high-price toy that’s sure to appeal to the USA’s freelance adventurer crowd. No doubt there will be tinkering and a whole lot of daredevil shenanigans that will set professional military minds’ teeth on edge, and bigger splashes than the concept is tactically worth, but there’s some thinking that extra publicity was calculated by the Paladins’ marketing department. ”

“Street-legal starfighters would give local law enforcement conniptions anywhere but the Fringe. And the few times somebody’s managed to get one of these on a metroworld, the results have been a fruit-stand massacre, a media flash-frenzy, a police publicity nightmare, and a legislative ****. Even if it was a criminal cartel leader who got drilled on the transit lanes, it tends to stir up attention and anxiety that the shiny zip-toy parked on the curb is hiding a military aerospace powerplant and combat projectors under its hood.”

The ‘Gleam’ is arguably an attempt to make a light aerospacefighter out of a stellacommutta, the popular LInstelAAT-09 ‘Civis’ line. Perhaps encouraged by partner WZT’s success with their Atom and Personal Compact Fighter System ‘minis’, PS/ASI sought to try their hand at making their own light starfighter.
The program takes the frame of the well-proven -09FX variant, adds some structural reinforcement, replaces the five-seat sedan cabin with a more conventional in-line two seat cockpit, fills the extra space with engine boosters and maxes out on weapons options.
The ‘Gleam’ retains the Civis’ road-worthiness, making it especially versatile as a combat car. This also streamlines operations, as the ‘star-car’ requires little in the way of hangar and stowage space/facilities.
Though too expensive and specialized to be adopted by budget- and resource-conscious aerospace militia forces, the Gleam seems aimed at well-heeled adventurers and the eccentric Irregulars common and popular in the USAn worlds. For a niche market-filler, the ‘Gleam’ is expected to sell very well to its intended target-clientele.

Type: PS/ASI- FInstel-X11FX ‘Gleam’
Class: Light FTL Aerospace Fighter
Crew: 1+1 additional crewmember/passenger. Conceivably, a third person can squeeze in the backseat, but conditions will be cramped.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 670
Laser Headlights(6) 25 each
Anti-grav Hubs(4) 120 each
Lateral Thruster Pods(2) 180 each
Height: 53.5 in./ ft
Width: 68.7 in./ 6. ft
Length: 17. ft
Weight: 2,860 lbs
Cargo: 4 cubic feet
Powerplant: Lucerin Crystal-catalyzed Nuclear Fusion w/ 15 year energy life before refueling.
Speed:
(Hovercar Mode) Hover to 250 MPH. Typically hovers 1-6 ft off the ground
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; 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, but limited to jumps of 35 light years in a jump, before needing to drop out and recharge for three hours.
(Underwater) Not possible unless modified(see Options)
Market Cost: 10 million credits in the Three Galaxies, x2 to x4 that in places like Rifts Earth

Systems of Note:
*Radar: Range(effective) 100 miles in atmosphere/1,000 miles in space and can track up to 30 targets at once. A special ‘smart’ verbal interface menu allows the pilot to selectively view the respective targets by preset criteria(‘highlight friendly targets’, ‘highlight known enemy targets’, ‘highlight objects on intercept or near-intercept courses’, etc....) to avoid ‘signal jumble’.
*Radar/EM/Laser Radiation Detection
*Radiation Detector
*Standard Video Optics plus:
Thermo-Imaging
IR/UV Optics
Telescopic/Image Enhancement Optics
Low-Light/Nightvision system
*Combat Computer: The Gleam is equipped with an advanced combat computer. Data collected by the combat computer can be fed directly to the pilot via Head Up Display or cyberlink (see below), which allows the system to display large amounts of data to the pilot and even highlight enemies and missile attacks with overlaid graphics. The combat computer tracks and identifies specific enemy targets, and has a database of over 10,000 images stored in memory. The computer can identify and track up to 100 targets simultaneously.
*Motion Detector/Collision Warning System: (particularly useful for
maneuvering in close quarters) 500 foot warning alarm.
*Radio/Video Communications: Wide band and directional, radio and video transmission capabilities with a 500,00 mile range.
*Laser Communications--- 700,000 mile range
*Laser Targeting: +2 to strike with ranged weapons.
*Audio/Visual Flight Recorder
*Heat & Radiation Shields
*Independent Oxygen & Circulatory System - Sufficient for 6 days, and
includes full radiation and environmental shielding.
*Head Up Display---Modern dashboard HUD displays road conditions, systems status, and available options(including weapons targeting)

*ECCM system: A semi-automatic system that uses electronic encryption and frequency jumping to (attempt to) negate jamming systems. The system has a 25% chance of negating radar or communications jamming (non-magical) on its own, or a +5% if the pilot has a Read Sensory Instruments or Radio: Scramblers skill and devotes a full melee to operating the system(no other attacks/actions are possible).
Having an Electronic warfare Skill gains a +15% bonus to operating this system.
Note that this only applies to received communications (the system filters them out from the jamming clutter) and sensory data received by that unit alone (other units cannot make use of it, unless they have an unaffected datalink/info-share with the ECCM equipped unit. Magic/psychic jamming is NOT affected by this system.

*Emergency FTL Distress Beacon

*Molecular-Seal Hatch---When activated, the hatch uses molecular bond technology to thoroughly seal the capsule. Once sealed, only a command from inside(unlikely if the occupant is in stasis) or a close-ranged coded command signal from outside will unseal it.

*Thermal Resistance----When buttoned up, the Gleam effectively becomes IMMUNE to extremes of heat. Only coherent radiation, like a directed plasma blast or laser, will damage the pod, and even then they only do 1/4 their normal damage.

*Drive Booster----- Can supercharge the engine to hit speeds of Mach 20 for as long 15 minutes, but then cannot engage the system for another 2 hours, without incurring a 30% chance per activation of overstraining the engines(dropping top speed by 75% until the engines can be overhauled).

*Crash Control/Safety Restraints/Fire Control System---Reduces the damage that passengers take in a crash by HALF.

*Advanced Flight Controls-----PS/ASI applied advanced piloting computer systems seconded from earlier light starfighter programs, providing the following bonuses: +1 to Strike and +2 Dodge. (+1 to initiative if using a Cyberlink), and +5% to Starfighter piloting skill.

*EM Jammers---Great for blasting through radar traps. Radar-guided weapons are -6 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1) Laser Lights(6; 4 forward, two rear)----The Gleam maxes out on the Civis’s laser headlight options. Four are mounted in the front, and two in the rear.
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 12,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values) 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 80 miles in space
Damage: Variable settings; 1d6, 2d6, 3d6, 4d6, or 6d6 MD per projector. x2-4 for synchronized forward firing, and x2 for both cannons firing at once.
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

2) Heavy Cannon(1)---Mounted center-body under the hood is a slot for a heavier weapon, and can accommodate an ASI/WZT Light Weapon Mount(starfighter).

3) Countermeasure Launchers(2)-------- Three separate sorts of countermeasures are available:
The first is simple sensor-reflective chaff and thermo-flares. These countermeasures are inexpensive and very effective against lower-end targeting systems and sensor equipment(such as that used by nations equivalent to the Coalition States on Rifts Earth), but are ineffectual against more advanced technology.
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: 25 bundles are available per pod

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 12 swarm packs are available per pod

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a pre-set pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 10 decoys are carried, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-2.

4) (Optional) Missile Pods(2-4)---Up to four small missile pods can be mounted on the ‘Gleam’; 2 each side and two on the upper rear body.
a) Micro-Missile Launcher---50 shot twin-cassette. Cost: 30,000 credits for the launcher.
b) Mini-Missile Pod---1x19 shot pod per hardpoint. Cost: 95,000 credits for the launcher.
c) Short Range Missile Pod---3 per hardpoint. Cost: 90,000 credits for the launcher.
d) Medium Range Missile---One per hardpoint
e) “S-Sting” ‘Smart Mini-Missile -----The S-Sting(for ‘Space Stinger’) is an attempt to adapt the guidance systems and accuracy of the ‘Black Talon’ L-SAM to a space-based missile. The missile resembles a rather stubby cylinder with a blunt-nosed optical cluster and protruding verniers(extend after launching), owing to the fact that the vacuum of space negates the need for streamlining the weapon.
Note that the ‘S-Sting’ has only limited effectiveness in an atmosphere....HALF bonuses in a thin atmosphere and weak gravity well like Mars’, and NO bonuses, and HALF range in a thick atmosphere and standard gravity like Earth’s.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 32 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD to a 15 ft blast radius
Bonuses: +7 to strike
Cost: 10,000 credits per missile

Options:
*FTL Drive Upgrade----Upgrades the CG-FTL to 5 light years an hour, but retains the same 35 light year limit. Cost: + 40 million credits.

*Morphing ‘Armadillo’ Armor---Enfolds the ENTIRE vehicle in articulated armor plates, increasing armor protection, but effectively immobilizing the car when grounded. It can also serve as reentry protection, especially during uncontrolled atmospheric reentry. Can only be opened from the outside by special electronic passcode(included in cost)
MDC: +200 MDC when deployed
Cost: 300,000 credits; 100,000 credits for four Glitterboy-style laser pylons that drive into the ground and anchor the vehicle to the ground(takes a Robotic PS of 40 or greater to uproot the vehicle)

*Submersible---Fits the vehicle for amphibious and underwater operation; watersealing, reinforced hull, sonar, depth gauge, and a powerful hydrojet thruster are all standard with this package.
Speed: 30 MPH, maximum depth of 1,000 ft
Cost: 200,000 credits

Variants:
Production numbers of the Gleam being low-batch as of the time of publication, there aren’t any major variants of the car-fighter as of yet, although considerable cosmetic, by-commission, and post-sale modification tinkering with the design is anticipated.
Given the large amount of technowizardry options available to the Civis, it is anticipated that a TW-empowered/enhanced model of the ‘Gleam’ is very likely in the offing.

[taalismn]

(Okay, here’s something for SolCannibal)
Yoncatech/Hadeysvalith Commonwealth Lamentation-class Frigate
(aka ‘ Lamenter’, ‘Black Rook’)

“These copies of the Demons’ ships are to be watched; currently they’re most typically used to hunt dow Infernals, but if and when the supply of those runs low, the Hadeyvales may look for other targets to use them on, and these ships are just as nasty as the ones they’re based off. Yoncatech’s been busy little tentacle-tinkers. That, and Yonc’s let his Kittani off the leash to come up with new stuff, so the situation bears close monitoring.”
---Anonymous United Systems Alliance Defense Intelligence Analyst

“If the Usans are worried about these ape-copies of demon-ships, so should we.”
----Captain Jack Kelso, CCW

“Let not our tears blind us, let our sorrow not weaken us, instead let the cries of the lost move us to seek VENGEANCE! Let our tears BURN our enemies! Let the weight of our rage bear them down to the deepest levels of their infernal hells to suffer! Let our Woe become our Wrath, until even demons will Lament their crimes against us when our judgement has fallen upin them!!”
----Drygar Souldarcen, High Priest of Hadeysvalith, Densen’s World, upon the annual Blessing of the Commonwealth Fleet.

The Lamentation, or Lamenter, is a Yoncatech copy of the Demon Fury Frigate, commissioned by the Hadeysvalith Commonwealth. The Lamenter follows the same general plan and configuration as the demonic vessel, but has a much more streamlined hull design reminiscent of Kittani lines, and substitutes Infernal systems with other weapons.
The Dark Energy Cannons are replaced with either ‘Slicer’ cannons, fusion cannons, heavy g-cannons, or Golgan-style siege disruptors. Demonic enchantments on the hull have been replaced with more advanced materials to compensate, so armor values are generally the same.
Though lacking the magic teleporting Mystic Portal system of the Demon Fury, the Lamentation is conversely warded against such attacks. As the Hadeysvalithans cannot reproduce the UWW’s high-efficiency PPE generation systems, even with captured rogue UWW vessels to study, and certainly not willing to imitate the Infernal practice of sacrificing prisoners and draining the life-force of victims to power their ships, the Commonwealth has had to make do with a variety of other substitutes or cannibalized systems.
The Lamentation has a high performance CG-drive delivering the same high speed as the Demon Fury’s Phase Drive, but lacks the Rift-jump. It compensates in having a faster conventional CG-FTL propulsion system and a Kittani ‘jump-drive’.
The Lamentation’s high performance comes at higher material expense; the ships cost more than a brand-new Scimitar, and even more than a low-end Demon Fury(though with none of the nasty Infernal strings attached. This hasn’t stopped prospective buyers from linig up, though currently the Lamentation is deployed only by the armed forces of the Hadeysvalith Commonwealth in securing their borders and hunting down Infernals. Yoncatech has (sadly) replied to prospective buyers that their contract with the Commonwealth allows for no side-sales without the expressed permission of the Commonwealth, permission that isn’t likely to come any time soon as the Hadeysvalithians currently enjoy the advantages of having a first-rate fighting vessel to themselves.

Type: YT-HC-Fg01 Lamentation
Class: Frigate
Crew: 80+ 160 troops/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 9,000
Bridge 5,000
Lower Hangar Doors(2) 1,000 each
Main Cannon(2) 1,800 each
Secondary Plasma Batteries(6) 600 each
Cruise Missile Launcher 1,500 each
Point Defense Turrets(12) 250 each
Forward Accordion Docking Tube 300
Variable Forcefields 1,500 per side, 9,000 total

Height: 120 ft
Width: 260 ft
Length: 625 ft
Weight: 15,000 tons
Cargo: 1,500 tons
Powerplant: Matter/Antimatter w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 7; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 15
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.5% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
The backup ‘Jump Drive’ can make 4 instantaneous jumps of 6-20 light years per 24 hour period.
Market Cost: Currently available ONLY to the Hadeysvalith Commonwealth, but is estimated to cost roughly 600-700 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Advanced Fire Control---Kittani-designed integrated fire control systems give the ship’s weapons systems a +2 to strike, and point defense systems get an extra (+1 ) attack per melee.

*Splugorthian Warding---Sensor-guided weapons are -3 to strike, missiles are only 40% able to strike with the first volley; subsequent volleys adjust to the sensor baffling. The warding also incidentally renders the ships impervious to Mystic Portal attacks.

Weapons Systems:
1) Main Gun Turrets(2x2)---The Dark Energy Cannon have been replaced with a choice of weapons; ‘Slicer’ cannons, fusion cannons, heavy g-cannons, or Golgan-style siege disruptors. Their outrigger positions give them excellent arcs of fire.
Bonus: +2 to strike
a) ‘Slicer’ Gravimetric Cannon---These are stepped-down versions of the weapons found on the KS-CH ‘Servitude’ Cruiser.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per blast, 4d6x100 MD from a double-barrel blast(counts as one attack), 8d6x100 MD for all four cannons firing simultaneously on one target.
Rate of Fire: 3 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: Does Critical/DOUBLR damage on a Natural “To Strike” roll of 19-20.

b) Fusion Cannon
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

c) G-Cannon---Despite its dependence on ammunition, the g-cannon is popular because it is useful against targets protected by Impervious to Energy spells, and because its shells can be customized. While the Commonwealth has heard of magic-affecting ‘Eldrencher’ and similar munitions used by both the USA and UWW, they haven’t yet been able to learn the secrets behind those concoctions, but have learned an earlier version of the so-called ‘Geek Fire’ based on the Hellfire spell.
Range: 20 miles in atmosphere, 40 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere, 40,000 miles in space)
Damage:(Kinetic Slug): 2d6x100 MD per cannon
(Hellfire): 4d6x10 MD to a 500 ft cloud, targets -2 to dodge. Magically-charged/imbued hulls BURN, doing 6d6x10 MD per melee for 2d6 melees.
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: 100 rds per cannon

d) Siege Disruptor----Copied from Golgan weaponry.
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast. + 25% to a 30 ft radius from the point of impact
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Plasma Cannons(6)---These remain unchanged from the originals
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: +2 to strike

3) Cruise Missile Launcher(1)----This remains unchanged, but for the replacement of Hell Fury missiles with more conventional warheads, or Kittani ‘Splinter’ micro-singularity torpedoes!
Range: Varies by Missile Type in atmosphere, x4 in space
(Kitsune Values: 8,000 miles in an atmosphere and 4 million miles in space.)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 100 missiles

4) Point Defense Lasers(12)---These remain unchanged from the originals
Range: 1.2 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH (+1 from automated fire control systems)
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Bonus: +2 to strike

5) Ram Prow---This also remains unchanged. Does 2d4x100 MD at speeds of Mach 6 or less, 3d6x100 MD up to Mach 12, and 6d6x100 MD up to Mach 15. Generally, however, boarding attacks are done at Mach 7 or less.

6) Magic Systems---The Commonwealth and Yoncatech have been hampered by a lack of ability so far to duplicate the higher efficiency PPE-collection/generation systems available to the UWW(and the USA for that matter) and won’t even, for various reasons, consider the sacrificial systems employed by the Infernals and some Splugorth, but they have managed to put together some rough equivalents of the magic systems found on Demonic and Warlock vessels.
*PPE Generators-----Can generate 500 PPE per hour, and store 2,000 PPE

*Impervious to Energy---Costs 80 PPE for 30 minutes duration

*Shadow Meld---Costs 40 PPE for 30 minutes duration

*Hull Regeneration---The Lamentation is at the upper limit of size that conventional TW Hull Regeneration systems will work on. The system can regenerate up to HALF the main hull’s total MDC. Costs 25 PPE per 450 MDC of the hull mystically auto-repaired.

*TW Sensors(Courtesy of Kitsune)---Yoncatech’s TW sensor systems are a lot bulkier than their UWW and USA contemporaries, but they deliver similar performance:
• See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: Starship Mount: 1,000 miles (1,610 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.
• See the Invisible Sensors: The ships has several special optical and other sensor systems with see the invisible on them. Same as spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Starship Mount: 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Can see forces, objects, and creatures which can turn invisible, or are invisible. Can also see vaporous beings and astral bodies.
• Sense Magic: The ship has sensors which the give the ability to detect active magic. Similar to spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Starship Mount: 200,000 miles (322,000 kilometers) in space and 200 miles (320 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: detects the presence of magic if within detection range of ship and gives bearing on magic and basic range although not exact position. Detects active enchantments but will not generally detect spell casters in general.
• Sense Rifts: Ship has sensors which effectively allow Rifts to be detected. The system can be (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Fighter Mount: 50,000 miles (80,500 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere. Starship Mount: 500,000 miles (805,000 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Detects the presence of Rifts (including those created by Rifts Drives) and unlike when detecting magic gives position very accurately.

Auxiliary Craft:
9 aerospace fighters

Variants:
Yoncatech has reportedly been gleefully experimenting with the Lamentation, trying out new weapons systems and enhancements. Avenues of research include duplicating the Rift Drive of the UWW, stealth systems, and improved self-repair capabilities.

*’Dark Lament’---A ‘stealth’ frigate sheathed in alchemistic materials that, while not as effective on the larger ship than on the smaller Kittani Raider Assault Shuttles, still reduces the ship’s sensor signature by as much as 30% when moving, and 70% when standing relatively still/powered down. It's also rumored to incorporate an Invisibility: Superior system.

*”M-Gunner’----A project to fit a Lamentation with experimental Meteor Shower cannons. Other TW weapons are being discussed/developed/sought, using the extra PPE capacity of the generators.

[SolCannibal]

A very good first showing indeed Taalismn - specially useful for someone like me with little to no experience designing or balancing out ships for Phaseworld.

My main idea is that while seeing value in the basics/classics, Hadeysvalith does not believe in "tried and true", being willing to scavenge - or at least put his minions to study and pilfer - a bit of everything it comes across.

Right now the focus is recycling the remnants of its new subjects' past infrastructure for short term (with some biowizardry & TW extras to patch vulnerabilties and beef up things), while reverse-engineering as much as the Magogs and other minions of a more technological or techno-magical bent can from "salvaged" demonic or rogue warlock navy ships.

Unavoidably, A LOT of experimenting will happen along the way as the Magogs and other artificer-technicians tinker with whole new ways to mix and match components from the plethora of equipment they are getting out of the industries of half a dozen minor star kingdoms that were absorbed into the Commonwealth's formation. Not to mention Hadeysvalith itself occasionally putting a personal touch - either directly or because something particularly curious popped in the veritable psychic data cloud of the collected memories and brain power of the millions of witch-priests of several races beholden to it.

(Bottled Demon tech is something that they might have already replicated, though its artificers use other sort of summoned creatures instead of Infernals. While not having Ectofibre per se, they do possess woods much like those found in Lothrain and its biowizardry not far behind the biomancers in skills. Through experimentation with a number of bivalve and coral-analog species, they HAVE created something like the Naut'Yll's Korallyte and a subset of bio-wizards equivalent to the Koral Shaper O.C.C. - both from Rifts: Underseas).

[taalismn]

I'm already working on the Yoncatech versions of the Demon Carrier and Dropship, while working within the lines of Kitsune and my previous material.

I also have a half-dozen Yoncatech designs of varying levels of sophistication in workup.

I'll/we'll have to draw up a list of the sort of modifications you mention as applicable as 'after-sale upgrades' to the aforementioned Yoncatech ships.

I'm in the beginning stages of sketching out a body armor system for the Magog, similar to the Pogtal Dragonslayer armors from Rifts South America.

And of course, your mention of korallyte reminds me that I have to go back to my WIP of a Korallyte Dragon...a marine creature who has symbiotic growths of the stuff bulging out of its body(I was inspired by a tree in my front yard silhouetted against a gray sky).

Dang, progress for me is one step forward an-"SQUIRREL!"

[taalismn]

Ship Update:
PS/ASI-C56 Naegling Armored Cruiser Refit Program
“Regardless of how you look at it, it’s essentially a missile-boat refit of the old Warshield. Not everybody has Battlerams, so using that forward bay space for extra ordnance makes sense. Still better than a Usagi, though.”

“THAT CRUISER JUST EXPLODED!!! GOOD HIT!!! GOOD HIT!!! AFTER THE REST OF THEM NW!!!”
“Your Excellency, that isn’t expanding debris! It’s missile exhausts and plasma masses! Sensors count over four hundred separate energy signatures coming right at us!!! Point defense has locked up! There’s just too many of them!!!”

“We thought we’d have to replace the old Fessland before she became too decrepit to make FTL jumps...she barely made the trip out here when we bought her from a Dunesean broker and she could barely catch Racken Jacken’s raiders when she WAS insystem. We figured she was due to be converted to an orbital...or taken apart for recyclables...before she could be destroyed outright. But the Aegis folk said not to scrap her just yet, and they took her into the shipyard and practically remade her. She’s virtually a brand new ship now and having taken her on a few action cruises, I would confidentally take her into combat again on the strength of her improved performance. We’re getting two more Warshields with the same treatment, that will give us a good element of cruisers in our neighborhood now.
--Captain Jonna Seward, Paloiian Royal Navy, United Systems Alliance

“Serving on the old Nag, one got the impression that she was happy to be a full-on warship again hunting pirates. I bet she’s even happier now that her sisters are getting upgraded too. A lot of old iron’s coming back out of the ‘yards with a new lease on life.”

The Naegling was originally a one-off re-conversion of an old Warshield transport conversion recaptured from pirates and turned into an armed Q-ship for hunting more pirates. The ship also served as a guide and testbed for PS/ASI engineers working on Three Galaxies starship systems, with an eye towards landing maintenance and upgrade contracts on the widely distributed Warshield cruisers with the CCW. The Naegling was initially thought an only child, as refitting and new construction to the same spec was, in those days, considered too expensive a proposition to apply on a service-wide scale.
However, the Naegling’s usefulness as a Q-ship was bound to end sooner or later, and it was when Network Omni News ran a story on pirate-hunters that the Naegling’s cover was blown, but not until after a very successful run of takedowns. However, PA/ASI was able to turn the security leak into a corporate windfall by announcing that they could and would do Naegling-style refits to older Warshields in service to the various sub-polities of the CCW, thus extending their operational lifespan.
By this time, PS/ASI and WZT, backed by the growing economic engines of the United Systems Alliance worlds, could perform the normally expensive and time-consuming refits, even and especially in the case of ‘bell refits’(wherein a ship’s bell or nameplate is unscrewed, hoisted up, and an essentially wholly new ship slid into place under it) much faster and much cheaper than originally thought. Because of the coverage showing the performance of the Naegling in action, many worlds of the USA jumped at the opportunity to have their old Warshields upgraded to similar prowess.
There’s now also enough shipyards in the USA with the capability, if not the license, to build whole new Warshields from scratch. PS/ASI is hedging though that they can make the case for the Naegling being sufficiently different from the still under-license Warshield models that they can get away with new construction hulls. And, of course, there are other similar shipyards elsewhere in the CCW to which the design could be licensed.
To that end, an open-market refit, minus the proprietary technologies such as the plasma torpedo launchers and advanced fire control, is also available to non-USA worlds and organizations. This version replaces the PTLs with conventional cruise or long range missile launchers. It costs less than the USA model, and is even more popular with second- and third-tier users of the old CCW design.

Type: PS/ASI-C56 Naegling
Class: Cruiser, Armored, Refit Program
Crew: 260 +70 troops and a 40-man aerospace contingent
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 50,000
Bridge 13,800
Hangar Deck 13,000
Plasma Torpedo Launchers(4) 500 each
Long Range Missile Launchers(6) 500 each
Kinetic Kill Rail Cannons(3x2) 500 each
Ion Cannon Turrets(4) 400 each
Rail Gun Turrets(8 ) 300 each
Point Defense Turrets(8 ) 200 each
Tractor Beam Turrets(6) 250 each
Main Engines(4) 12,000 each
*Variable Forcefields 6,000 per side(36,000 total)
*Shield Refresh Rate is 5% per melee

Height: 150 ft
Width: 280 ft
Length: 660 ft
Weight: 125,000 tons
Cargo: 10,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion, w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 2; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8.6
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.86% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 2.7 billion credits for new construction, 1.2 billion credits for a refit.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*EW Jamming Systems--- Communications Jamming has a 10,000 mile range, is 90% effective against civilian systems, and is 65% effective against more sophisticated channel-jumping military communications suites. Missiles and sensor-guided weapons are -4 to strike.

*COMPASS-FURY 4 Advanced Fire Control----Improved avionics networks the various hull sensors and fire control for more accurate targeting, a must when dealing with small agile targets such as fighters and missiles. Advanced Targeting Bonus: +4 to strike for PDS systems, +2 for heavier weapons turrets.

*Tractor Beams(6)----Four are rated for 500 tons dead weight, and two are rated for 1,000 tons, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. They also assist in the initial aiming of the plasma torpedoes.
Range: 5 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)
(Kitsune Values: 5,000 miles in space).

Weapons Systems:
1) Plasma Torpedo Launchers(4) ---PS/ASI doesn’t like to advertise that they have the technology for this weapon, believed to have been developed by the Shemarrian Star Nation, in part due to the fact that they don’t want to jeopardize the still tentative relationship with the SSN(in fact, it’s the other way around; the SSN got the basis for the PTL from PS/ASI, from research into Mechanoid plasma weaponry!).
The Naegling mounts four battery-launchers of this potent weapon.
Range: 25 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in atmosphere, 100,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD to a 100 ft blast radius per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-8 plasma bolts. Three volleys per melee.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Heavy Laser Cannons(2)---Restored from the original design.
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per single blast, 8d6x100 for both cannons firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Long Range Missile Launchers(6)---PS/ASI has replaced the cruise missile launchers with long range missile launchers, saving the hard to get CMs for faster and more agile ‘torpedo-boat’ style heavy fighters and light combatant platforms.
This sustem has actually been upgraded from the original Naegling modification, with a greater salvo strength, more magazine capacity and faster snoother reloading automation.
This has been retained as part of the refit program, for operators without access to reliable suppies of cruise missiles.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-32
Payload: 64 missiles per launcher, 384 total, plus the magazines can be reloaded from the cargo holds within 6 minutes

4) Kinetic Kill Rail Cannons(3x2)---Mounted in main hull turrets positioned on either side of the former Battleram bay, and kept concealed behind armored shutters, these kinetic weapons have prove quite effective. Their versatility also allows them to fire fragmentation rounds for anti-fighter/anti-missile suppression-flak fire.
Range: 10 miles(40 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere/ 40,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per 80 rd burst, 2d4x100 MD double cannon burst, 3d4x100 MD per triple cannon burst
• (Frag) 4d6 x10 MD to a 100 ft area, +2d6x10 +50ft per barrel
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 32,000 rds(400 bursts) per cannon before needing reloading from stores(takes about 30 minutes)

5) Secondary Ion Cannons(4)--Given the nature of the Naegling’s anti-piracy deceptions, PS/ASI decided to replace the secondary laser batteries with high powered Ion Destabilizer cannon, with a better chance of disabling ships for capture. This has proven popular with USA members and the armament was carried over to the official refit program.
Range:(Palladium)5 miles in atmosphere,10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space Damage: 1d4x100 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: Five times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

6) Point Defense Turrets(16 )---PS/ASI engineers decided to replace the Rail Guns, particle beam cannons and PDS mini-missile launchers with the now-common modular PDS turrets.

7) ) Countermeasure Launchers(2)---Two small bays are dedicated to deploying countermeasures, caopied from the ‘Ranger’-class task-cruisers. Though decidedly crude by Three Galaxies standards, these decoy systems can still prove effective, or at least distracting at critical moments.
Range: Typically launch out to 10 miles or more from the ship under the initial expulsion charge.
Damage/Effects:
-Ballute Decoy---This is an inflatable metallic balloon-form meant to be highly visible to enemy radar and optics. A small maneuvering drive (equivalent to a heavy Manned Maneuvering Unit) gives the decoy some capacity to micmic a ship’s normal movement.
-Wild Weasel---A more maneuverable version of the above, but the WW relies not on passive sensor reflection but on active emissions to fool enemy sensors. The WW is more robust, and can ape a more vigorous range of maneuvers on the part of the ship it’s supposed to be imitating. Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).

-Smart Chaff--- Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.

-Laser Aerosol---Laser Aerosol Clouds are chancy; they impede the lasers of the ship they’re supposed to be shielding as readily as those of the attackers, and the cloud does not move with the ship if maneuvers are necessitated(it will continue moving and expanding in a straight line until it completely dissipates).
Rate of Fire:
Payload: Each CM array holds 50 Ballute decoys, 20 maneuvering decoys(“Wild Weasels”), 100 ‘Smart Chaff’ canisters, 50 laser aerosol canisters

Auxiliary Craft:
10 Aerospace Fighters
20 Power Armors
4 Shuttles

Variants:
* PS/ASI-C56B---This variant replaces the Heavy Laser Cannons with even heavier Lasser ‘Intermediates’, a class of weapon that was going out of favor with the major Galactic navies, but which has seen a revival in the Fringe, where the smaller navies have gotten the older cast-offs and learned to produce their own. The larger cannons draw more power(but still within the capacity of the improved powerplants), required some changes to the power distribution and cooling systems, and give the ships a longer ‘two-horned’ look(the joke is that the ‘B’ stands for ‘Buxom’)
Changes/Modifications:
Weapons Systems:
1)Heavy Laser Cannons(Replaced with Lasser ‘Iintermediates’)
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 20 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 20 miles in atmosphere, 20,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x100 MD per single blast
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

* PS/ASI-C56C---This is the open market version, without proprietary technologies. Despite this, it sells well to non-USA members.
Changes/Modifications:
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*EW Jamming Systems--- Removed. Most buyers install their own systems.

*COMPASS-ABLE 2 Advanced Fire Control----Earlier fire control system, since surpassed by the COMPASS-FURY 4 system, but still effective. Advanced Targeting Bonus: +3 to strike for PDS systems, +1 for heavier weapons turrets.

Weapons Systems:
* Plasma Torpedo Launchers(4) ---These are replaced by either Cruise Missile Launchers(volley strength of 1-32, magazine capacity of 32 per launcher, reloads in 2 melee rds) identical to the original CMLs. or additional Long Range Missile Launchers identical to those described above.

Market Cost: 2.4 billion credits for new construction, 1.1 billion credits for a refit.

[taalismn]

WZ-TmR-Crv-02 Rufus-class Corvette
(aka ‘Dome-bo’)

“Tub looks ancient, but it’s a combination of refined modern technologies. Nt so modern, though, that it’s hard to maintain. It’s built tough for a corvette, heavier than a lot of destroyers in fact. And it can start shooting at raiders at better than average ranges.”

“For a corvette, the Rufus outguns the Hunter...then again, just about everything outguns the first-gen Hunters by now. The old -seventy-fives still have an edge in speed and maneuverability, and their fighter complement gives them an edge tactically, but fleet planners should look at either seriously updating the old Hunter or replacing it with something with more room to grow upgrades into, before they get outstripped by the newer designs coming from the indie yards.”

The WZ-Rufus-class escort corvette is a modern remake of an unrealized Tmelain design. The Rufus was one of several designs that were being rushed through development when both the shortcomings of the Actyan IV frigate became apparent and the TransGalactic Empire’s future designs on Tme space were becoming more apparent and actionable. The Tme needed more ships and fast, and projects for small easily-produced warships like the Rufus were rushed towards production.
The Rufus shares a similar oval main hull, albeit scaled down, with the Actyan line, but mounts a dorsal sensor dome, two stiff-bar wings and weapons sponsons, and a rear ‘spoiler’ sensor and radiator array.
Though looking antiquated with its rough-textured hull crisscrossed with energy dissipation conduits, the Rufus was actually quite modern for the TmeR, and would have become an effective combatant had time allowed for the bugs in the design to be worked out. It was hoped that a production model Rufus could be produced in enough numbers to compensate for the failings of the Actyan IV in the combat role, but only a handful of preproduction ships were produced before the TGE overran the Tme Republic, and of those, only an even smaller number escaped with refugee fleets; the rest were destroyed.
A single example of the Rufus, a testbed vehicle converted into a light transport, accompanied the exodus fleet that would later settle on Lakye and establish the Second Tme Republic/Tmelain-in-exile. A complete library of research and blueprints also accompanied the fleet.
With shipyards of their own again, Tmelain shipwrights looked over their old design notes to see if any designs-on-development could be worth building, given access to more up-to-date Galactic technologies. The Rufus made the first cut, and approval was given to resume development and ultimately move to the new hardware stage, as an engineering exercise, if nothing else.
Comparable to the old Corister-class corvettes, the Rufus lacks that ancient HA ship’s modularity, but is faster, sturdier, and carries a more modern armament. More efficient systems can run off cheaper fusion power, rather then expensive antimatter, The modern sensor suite shows considerable improvement over the old Actyan IV’s cumbersome COLLEX-7 array. A faster-regenerating variable forcefield has also been installed,
The notable weaknesses of the design are its large size, necessitated by the bulkier materials used in its hull to soak up damage, and a lack of onboard marine and fighter capacity. The ship cannot be used in multiunit scouting missions or boarding actions due to its lack of small craft.
The new Rufus has a lot of in-house competition for the corvette role in the USAJC, so widespread adaptation of the design seems unlikely. There is, however, strong interest from many smaller polities in an easy to operate and maintain system defense ship, and some of the larger shipping concerns are interested in it as an escort.
Since its introduction, though, Tme crews have fallen in love with the home-brewed design, and it is increasingly seen on escort duties between Lakye and the newly reclaimed(and acquired) colony/resource worlds. In time, it may become available to other USA members and customers, given the positive reviews already enjoyed by the in-service vessels.

Type: WZ-TmR-Crv-02
Class: Corvette
Crew: 45 +15 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 5,500
Bridge 1,400
Primary Sensor Dome 1,000
Heavy Cannons(2) 500 each
Forward Missile Launchers(2) 600 each
Point Defense Turrets(4) 400 each
Engines 2,800
Variable Forcefields* 1,500 per side(9,000 total)

*Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 80 ft
Width: 180 ft
Length: 360 ft
Weight: 7,000 tons
Cargo: 600 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour

Market Cost: 390 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Ship Systems, plus:

*Advanced Sensors---Shipboard sensors are on a par with a heavy destroyer’s or light cruiser’s, rather than a corvette’s, with an effective radar range of 7 million miles, and FTL sensors of 11 light years’ range.

*Targeting Array---- Alliance-supplied advanced fire control; the point defense turrets are networked and coordinated, and all get a +4 to strike. The main cannon gets a +2 to strike.

*EW Suite---Basic frequency jumping and radar/IR jamming/ECM suite for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -4 to strike. It can also project an offset ‘ghost’ sensor-cloud to decoy missiles.

*Thermal Resistant Armor----The armor sheathing is particularly resistant to heat damage thanks to advanced thermal-dissipation conduits; plasma (including plasma explosives) and heat-based weapons do only 1/3 damage to the physical hull. The coduits also lower the ship’s thermal signature; attempting to detect the ship using only thermal sensors are made at -25%. With its engines off and running ‘cold’, this is reduced even further to -30%.

Weapons Systems:
1)Heavy Cannons(2)---These are mounted in the wings with wide arcs of fire to the front, sides and rear. The semi-external mountings of the cannons leave them vulnerable to damage, so they are sheathed in armored barrel-nacelles. As with the similar ‘penholder’ main cannon mounts on the ex-Cynoceran Krennos frigates, the pivot actuators require substantially more maintenance to keep in working order.
The original rebuild plan was to carry Lasser Heavy Lasers on the mounts, but an alternative was surprisingly found in the salvage yards of the Arnoth, and 10-cm laser cannons were soon being traded to the Tme to outfit the Rufus.
In the alternative, a pair of ‘intermediate’-class HGCs can be mounted instead, trading ammunition independence for kinetic kill versatility.

a) 10cm Medium Laser Cannon---An Arnoth development of an old stock Golgan weapon that wound up being first deployed on the Scazer defense corvette. Excellent range, modest damage, and a slow rate of fire, but Tme engineers modified the weapons to draw on the Rufus’s more modern and larger powerful power systems for faster recharge between shots.
Range: 45 miles in atmosphere, 70 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 70 miles in atmosphere, 70,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2D6 X 100 MD per blast.
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Heavy Gauss Cannon: Though based on an early model PS KEWC, these can also throw proximity-fused fragmentation rounds, allowing them to ‘sandblast’ missiles and fighter swarms.
? Range: 20 miles in atmosphere, 40 miles in space
? (Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere, 40,000 miles in space)
? Damage:(Frag): 5d6x10 MD to a 500 ft cloud, targets -2 to dodge
? (Penetrator): 2d6x100 MD per cannon
? Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
? Payload: 200 rds per cannon, reloading from the cargo hold takes 2d6 minutes (300 tons ammunition storage, 1 ton of cargo per 12 rounds)

2) Forward Missile Launchers(2)---Two forward launch bays can be fitted to fire medium-, long-range, or cruise missiles. Volley strength is stronger than a Hunter’s, and magazine capacity is roughly equivalent.
a) Medium Range Missiles---Volley strength of 1-,8 payload: 96
b) Long Range Missiles---Volley strength of 1-4, payload: 64
c) Cruise Missiles---Volley strength of 1-3, payload: 51

3) Point Defense Turrets(4, 2 dorsal, 2 ventral) ---Standard modular ASI/WZT PDS systems.

4)) Countermeasure Launcher Bay---Located in the central ventral hull is a bay for launching countermeasure pods.; three different types of decoys can be deployed:
The first is simple sensor-reflective chaff and thermo-flares. These countermeasures are inexpensive and very effective against lower-end targeting systems and sensor equipment(such as that used by nations equivalent to the Coalition States on Rifts Earth), but are ineffectual against more advanced technology.
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: 108

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 27 swarm packs

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a preset pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 18 decoys are carried, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-3.

Auxiliary Craft: None

Options:
Sensor upgrades, including TW sensors as they become readily available, but seem most likely .

Variants:
The Rufus, for an ‘old’ design, is too new to have spawned any operational variants, but preproduction hulls used as testbeds have reportedly been fitted with an extra pair of PDS turrets or TW main cannon and attendant PPE generators.
There has also been some discussion of refitting one of the missile bays as a troop carrier for a 20 man squad of stelmarines or a squad of ten power armor for boarding actions, but this has not met with much enthusiasm with prospective crews, who dislike the idea of losing any missile firepower.