Paladin Steel Storefront

[Aramanthus]

I have a PS section on my computer. But it is a series of individual articles.

[abtex]

Ditto.
Put I have room for more.

[taalismn]

Should have a variety of stuff this weekend to clog up your computer memory...doing across the boards rewrites and new ideas to build up Small Arms, Aircraft, Land Vehicles, and Watercraft....Spacecraft and Biotech will take awhile...

[taalismn]

My thanks to Raven for his contributions(Kera-Tech) to this one...

Paladin Steel ‘Nova’ SPC-7 Particle Beam Assault Rifle

“This is the weapon we’ve been waiting for...powerful punch, good range, light weight, and the sensor package allows you to point and put all that damage right where it can do the most good. The video feed allows your squad mates to see what it is that you’re trying so hard to kill, and the laser designator allows your artillery support to rain in precision-guided munitions if it looks like you aren’t able to kill it on your own....this is the weapon for the frontline commando and ranger!”
---- Captain Sakura Illyvich, GNE Special Operations

“EMP grenade down the hallway to take out the security cams...then run down it firing low power particle beam shots at anything moving after that! Oh yeah...sounds like my kind of plan...subtle!”
----- Corporal Wanda DeGuerre, GNE Marine Expeditionary Force

The SPC-7 is Paladin Steel’s effort to produce a top-line particle beam assault weapon. Since PS(or most North American companies, for that matter) doesn’t have any previous experience with infantry-scale particle beam weaponry, it is suspected that the company had assistance in developing the SPC-7, most likely through its allies in the California Technology Enclave(CTE) who are rumored to have tenuous contact with the nations of far Japan.
The SPC-7 is a remarkably lightweight weapon for a particle beam weapon; the use of advanced composites and light alloys lend the weapon sound structural strength and easy portability. The weapon is also interesting, visually, in that the outer casing has few sharp edges or angles; the weapon seems to have almost organic curves of ceramaplast, the better to keep the weapon from hanging up on obstructions in close quarters(such as in a spacecraft). It is also noticeably shorter than other PB weapons currently available, the shorter length being deemed easier to handle inside a cramped transport or target craft. The weapon’s real secret, though, is the use of advanced space/zero-gee grown capacitor crystals and beam focusing elements, that hold the weapon charges and more efficiently contain and focus the particle stream prior to firing. The SPC-7 is also unique in that it offers a dual-mode particle beam; the weapon can either fiire a single long-distance beam in ‘sniper mode’, or a less-powerful, shorter-range ‘carbine’ shot that uses less power(for greater payload). Housed under the main weapon barrel in an ‘over-and-under’ configuration, is a shotgun-style mini-grenade launcher for added firepower. Clinching the package is a modified Kera-Tech-derived SG-3(c) ‘Star Eye’ smartgun sensor scope and fire control system.
All of this does not come without serious cost, however. The SPC-7 is so expensive and difficult to produce, owing to the special zero-gee-manufactured components, that only a few have been produced, and those have been issued as fast as they’re assembled to elite VFS and PS special forces units and Stelmarines.
(Post-110 P.A. Update: The SPC-7 is still a rare weapon, even with advances in streamlining the manufacturing process, but the weapon is now filtering down to Regular Army Ranger units and a few approved affiliates.)
Weight: 6.6 lbs
Range: (High-Mode) 1,500 ft
(Low Mode) 1,000 ft
(Grenade Launcher) 1,000 ft
Damage: (High-Mode) 1d4x10+10 MD per shot
(Low Mode) 6d6 MD per shot
(Grenade Launcher): Varies
(High Explosive) 4d6 MD, 3 ft blast radius
(Fragmentation) 2d6 MD to 7 ft blast radius
(Plasma) 5d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(Chemical) Varies
(Smoke)None; produces obscuring smoke in a 10 ft radius
(Shock-EMP)----Developed from ‘Flash’ ordnance acquired from the Orbitals, these weapons generate an intense localized electro-magnetic pulse and electrical shock; 3d6 SDC to a 12 ft radius(victims must save at 17 or higher, or be stunned for 1d4 minutes). There’s also a 60% chance of knocking out unshielded electronics and wiping unprotected computers.
(EMP2)---PS-manufactured version of the Kera-Tech KTX-15 EMP Grenade, this weapon does 1d4x10 EMP damage(no physical damage) to a 10 ft radius. The resulting percentage of the target location MDC is the chance of shutdown/disablement. All damage is cumulative. Damage in excess of 50% target MDC will require repair to make it functional; 75% or more damage will require replacement of the entire electrical system. Does double damage to non-shielded civilian systems. Bionics are -1 to dodge, roll, and strike for the affected limb/system, lasting 1d4 melees, non-cumulative, before the system resets itself.
Rate of Fire: (High-Mode) Single shot, ECHH
(Low Mode)Single shot , can fire 3 shot bursts
(Grenade Launcher) Single shot, ECHH
Payload: (High-Mode) Short E-clip gives the rifle 8 low-power shots, or 4 high-power shots(2 low-power shots equal 1 high power shot), long E-clip gives 16 low-shots/8 high power shots, while a special ‘canister’ clip gives 32 low-shots/16 high-shots
(Grenade Launcher): 4 shots
Bonuses:(From sensor package) +3 strike w/normal shots, +4 strike on called shots, +3 to initiative when attacking with the rifle(no other attacks possible)
Special Features:
*Laser Targeting(4510 ft range)
*Passive Nightvision(4500 ft)
*Passive Thermal Imaging (4500 ft)
*Ultrasonic Distancer(1500 ft)
*Video Remote Feed(so everyone else can see what you’re sighting on)
*Motion Tracking System(160-degree arc, 1,000 ft range)
*Laser Designator/Illuminator(8,000 ft/ 6 miles in space)---Paints targets for laser-guided munitions
*Combat Computer and ‘Expert System’ Algorithm System---Calculates distance and deflection for increased accuracy.
*Kirallian Scope(2,000 ft)-----PS insisted on adding this TW feature to the sensor package...if the scope is aimed at an object for a full melee, it will produce an aura image that will show whether or not the target is supernatural, and what sort of aura/supernatural power level it possesses, with 70% accuracy.
Cost: NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE!!! If a complete example of this weapon were to become available to the market, it could fetch 70,000 credits or more....

Options:

*Drum Grenade Magazine---This increases the payload of the underbarrel grenade launcher to 14 rds, but adds 3 lbs to weapon weight, and increases its encumberance.
Cost: 300 credits

*Long Range Laser Designator---This mod increases the range of the laser designator to 3 miles/18 miles in space).
Cost: 1,000 credits

*Forearm Clips---This allows the weapon to be clipped to the outside of a forearm EBA bracer or bionic arm, leaving the hands free, while still allowing the weapon to be fired, through either a palm control or direct cyberlink. However, the awkward positioning of the weapon means that targeting bonuses are reduced by HALF when using the rifle in this position. This feature is popular with GNE Stelmarine boarding teams, allowing them to have their hands unencumbered for working controls and finding handholds, while still being able to use their weapons on a moment’s notice.
Cost: 800 credits

[taalismn]

Somebody asked for high-tech walking sticks?

Here you go...

Paladin Steel Traveller’s Staff Module
(aka ‘Wunderstic’)

“Got Stick, Will Travel.”

The TSM is a modular device being marketted to outdoorsmen, Wilderness Scouts, and adventurers. Made of ultra-lightweight megadamage composites and alloys, the staff is tough and durable, and comes packed with useful features and tools for the outdoorsman. It can used as a walking stick, tent pole, grappling tool, boat hook, fighting staff, or a spear-weapon. It can be used as either a monopod, or can open up into a tripod for more stable seating on the ground. Comes in stainless white aluminum, basic black, white, or imitation wood pattern colors. You got a yearning to do some walking? Like maybe through the wilds of the Great White North, or the Outback of Australia? Well, this is the travel accessory for you!
Weight: 4 lbs
Size: 4-6 ft long, and about 2-3 inches in diameter
MDC: 35, and can handle as much as 700 lbs of pressure/weight without bending.
Damage: Used as a melee weapon, it does 2d4 SD
Features:
*Adjustable Carry Strap
*Ruggerized Exterior for no-slip gripping.
*Battery--Can be powered by an E-clip, small solar cell, or by a handcrank-powered battery.
*Multi-Mode LED Flashlight---Has narrow beam, intense beam, flashing strobe, and omni-directional illumination.
*Built-in LED Utility Panel---Displays temperature, humidity, air pressure, time, battery charge, and, by rotating the section, compass heading.
*Optical Monocule---Pop-out optical module. 1 mile range
*Laser Distancer---8,000 ft range
*Mini-Compartment---A small (2-3 inches in diameter, and about 5 inches long) internal watertight compartment that can hold small objects such as willow wand markers, pencils, fishing line, small change, and rolled-up documents .
*Mini-Tool Kit---Another small compartment holds a standard mini-tool kit with a wire-saw, Leatherman-style multi-tool, water purification tablets, first aide kit, fire-maker flint/lighter, fishing line, and hooks.
*Telescoping Sections---Can collapse to half its length(but doube the diameter) for easy stowage.
*Tripod Legs---The bottom section can open up into a tripod for stability.
*Pop-Out Boat Hook---Perfect for snagging objects. Useless as a weapon.
Options:
*NBC Sampler---A mini-sensor that constantly monitors the air for contaminants, including radiation, and sounds an alarm(both an auditory alert and flashing light) if dangerous contaminants are detected.
Cost: 900 credits.
*Mini-Camera/AV Recorder Module--Adds a mini-camcorder for those wilderness moments. Comes standard with low-light and panoramic lenses, and a micro-memory card that can hold up to 200 still shots or 30 minutes of video.
Cost: 900 credits
*Vibro-blade---One or two vibroblades can be fitted to either end of the staff; merely pop on a vibroknife. PS also manufactures a retractable 6-inch vibroblade that does 1d4 MD.
Cost: 700 credits.
*Mini-Laser---(Range: 300 ft, Damage: 1d6 or 3d6 SD, 1d4 MD, Rate of Fire: ECHH, Payload: 12 MD shots, 120 SDC shots)
Cost: 2,000 credits
*Micro-Missile Launcher---Can hold/fire up to four micro-missiles.
Cost: 1,000 credits for the launcher, missiles cost extra
*Micro-Winch--Comes with 100 ft Braided Atlas-Wire line. Line test strength is 60 lbs, but the mini-winch can pull about 250 lbs.
Cost: 2,000 credits
*Extra Telescoping Sections---Adds additional sections, adding weight(+ .5 lbs per 50% extension), but also allowing the staff to extend more(up to 200%, so a six foot staff would now be 18 feet long!).Cost: 120 credits for every additional 50% extension of length. For an additional 30 credits, the extra sections can be fitted with fold-out ladder rungs of high-strength ‘memory’ plastic.
Cost: 1,000 credits

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Liberty Ships

“Hey, this hulk’s more modern than she looks! There’s new armor plate under the plan...(Fitzzzzz)”
---Last report from Barracuda PB 74, after stopping and boarding a tramp steamer in the Gulf of Mexico.

“There it is! Starboard bow, maybe five miles away.”
“Sure about that? Sure it’s the same ship?”
“Heavy junk....corsair class, I’d say...She’s making good speed in these winds. That’s the ship, the same raiders who hit that coastal town.”
“And the brothel you were in?”
“Yeah, that too...almost killed me, if I hadn’t hit the water. Next time I’m packing more protection...like a pulse rifle!”
“You concur, Mister Oday?”
“That last port we hit confirms it...that’s the ship of the Reavers of Orucha...Nominally in the service of the local big-wig daimyo, but they’re pirates, enforcers, and slavers...”
“And Lieutenant Mav’s report?”
“His dogboys are adamant about that...they sensed old evil...not big powerful evil, but minor supernatural evil...all over that last place...They’re practically howling to get over there...something ancient and evil’s aboard that thing and they want to kill it.”
“Great, and we can bet that if that ship’s beholding to the local warlord, it’s also got a retinue of those mad-ass martial artist types aboard...”
“Sir?”
“We’re going after them... Nobody enslaves and murders innocent civilians with a unit of the Greater New England Navy nearby and gets away with it, even if it ISN’T our home waters!.... If we can take out a bunch of murdering pirates, that has to count in our favor in these waters...We take out some demon or whatever, that’s another point in our favor...The local warlord objects to that, we can make his life hell with whatever we can find out over there...Mister Long, sound red alert! All guns manned and ready! Mister Mav! Get your boarding teams ready! Get our flankers ready on the divots and for the water! Engineering, I want flank speed ready in fifteen minutes! Mister Plutono, ready your surgery for business! And call Mister Gleknikas up from the galley, and tell him to bring up the catch of the day; those samurai-ninja-whatevers may be good with martial arts and chi magic, but I doubt they’ve seen anything like Icthyfu in action! When we move, I want those ninja-wannabees to crap themselves when they see a freighter bearing down on them like a battlecruiser!
Let’s show these murdering bastards how Falcos do it!”

“You know, I thought you were kidding when you told me you’d got your ship to fly...And you say you can make it turn invisible too? ....Those technowizzers really are something, ain’t they?”

Even when deprived of a salt-water port and shipyard, PS Maritime Division was not idle. One of Vernon Boch’s current projects is to resurrect the old pre-Rifts Victory- and Liberty-ship designs. Though not particularly spectacular, these vessels are basic, relatively inexpensive, reliable, and are extremely tolerant of modification(which makes them ideal for PS’s purposes). Boch hopes that the programme will build on the Libertys’ strengths by updating them with new materials, proccesses, and technology, and one day give the Coalition’s designs some stiff competition.
One of the more interesting moves implemented by PS(and a logical one for them) has been to adopt the MDC-concrete hull-building system(a refinement of the “Stott System”), that speeds production and reduces cost. This system involves pouring MDC polycrete into hull forms(sometimes with a reinforcing plastic/composite fiber net), and letting the hull set (typically takes about 48 hours). This greatly reduces time and effort in production, and means more vessels can be turned out in less time.
Paladin Steel has designed the ship(or rather, adapted it) so that the ship can be easily modified to suit a variety of purposes, This includes the addition of extra weapons mountings, landing pads, alternate cargo arrangements, or alternate power plants(everything from sail to coal-fired and solar electric, though nuclear or TW-powered versions are rare...but pretty spectacular when available).
The PS Liberty Ship is much tougher than the equivalent Coalition mass-produced Supply-class transports because PS anticipates selling the ships to clients who don’t have the luxury of military escorts and convoys...the ships are a lot cheaper, too, because PS wants to sell these things in numbers, and make up profits selling accessory systems.
PS has already built ten of these vessels for Free Quebec, producing the sections at their Lake Champlain facilities, and moving them to the St. Lawrence and facilities they are currently renting from the Quebecis there, for final assembly. With the New Bath facility now well underway, PS hopes to have production up to five a month.
(Post 110 P.A. Update: The LIberty and Victory Ship programme is currently one of PS’s best sellers, though the breakup of relations with Free Quebec lost them a market....FQ is currently producing knockoff models at their own facilities....PS’s New Bath and New Seattle facilities are putting out twelve ships a month, and they are being snapped up by merchants as far away as South America and Europe. Venice, in the New Roman Republic, is reportedly negotiating for a manufacturing license to produce their own versions, and PSW is negotiating the construction of a GNE-modelled shipyard in Takamatsu to manufacture the ships there.)
NOTE: Paladin Steel also puts out a less expensive version, called the PS-GPF-SS-L1(E) Economy...also popularly known as the ‘Liberty Tramp’. The Economy model has only 400 MDC main body, but costs 12 million credits)
(Special thanks: L.A. Sawyer and W.H. Mitchell_The Liberty Ships_(2nd edition,) Lloyd’s of London Press, 1985)
Type: PS-GPF-SS-L1
Class: General Purpose Merchant Marine Freighter
Crew: 45-81, typically 20-30 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body/Hull 800
Bridge 250
Crane/Gantries (3) 55 each
Height: 37 ft(27 ft draft, 9 ft freeboard
Width:57 ft
Length:441 ft
Weight: 7,176 tons
Cargo: 5 holds(10,510 ton capacity)
(Tanker): 2,722,700 gallons
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel, Coal, or Nuclear(w/ 25 year energy life)
Speed:(Pre-Rifts) 11 knots(12 MPH)
Fuel Consumption: 30 tons/day(1,819 tons carried)
Range:17,500 miles
(Modern: Post-Rifts): 25 MPH
Range: 20,000 miles
Market Cost: 25 million credits for the basic ship, powerplant, and fittings(no weapons)
32 million credits for the nuclear-powered version
Systems/Features:(Standard)
Radio: 500 mile range
Radar: 10 mile range
Sonar: 5 mile range
Water Tanks: 188 tons
Water Distillation System: 6,000 gallons/day
Refridgeration Space: 1,918 cubic feet
Firefighting Systems----The Liberty’s emergency firefighting system is designed so that any point on the ship could be reached with a 50-ft hose. CO2 smothering systems are installed in engine spaces.
2x12 inch Searchlights
4 Lifeboats(2 25-person, 2 31-person)
3 steel masts(30 ton, 10 ton, and 15 ton-handling capacity respectively), 12 cargo booms(5-30 ton handling capacity), 1 50-ton boom, 10 cargo winches.

Weapons Systems:
None standard, but comes with five reinforced(100 MDC gun tubs) mounting positions for armament. (See Options)

Variants: Listing the number of possible variants on the Liberty Ship, especially in the post-Rifts era, is well-nigh impossible. Already, PS (and other shipyards) have seen proposals for all manner of special-purpose modifications and variants, from ships with extra hull inserts to lengthen the hull for more cargo space, solar-powered models, TW-powerplants(and leyline flyers), troop carriers, hospital ships, natural gas carriers, refridgerant carriers, escort carriers, amphibious warfare vessels, Q-ship pirate raiders, ECM and communications platforms, dredges, and research ships. Paladin Steel has recieved calls of interest on these types and many more.....
This is in addition to the numerous smaller modifications made by individual customers after delivery; most Liberty ships already in operation carry all-new sensor suites, enhanced sonar systems, even Techno-Wizardry modifications...
The following stats reflect just a few of the possibilities for Liberty Ships:
(TroopCarrier) 350 troops
(Hospital Ship) 600 patients(Crew: 123 regular crew, 17 doctors, 39 nurses, 159 attendants. +Special equipment: 160 ton/day distillation/desalination)
(Tanker) Carries 2,722,700 gallons of liquids(usually oil) in place of cargo


*Victory Ships:
Paladin Steel also markets the Victory Ship design alongside the classic Liberty(the two are often confused); a slightly larger and more robust vessel that can be readily distinguished by having a larger amidships superstructure and more angled bow.
In terms of options and general capabilities, the vessels are essentially identical:
Type: PS-GPF-SS-V1
Class: General Purpose Merchant Marine Freighter
Crew: 45-81, typically 20-30 troops
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body/Hull 1,000
Bridge 400
Crane/Gantries (3) 55 each
Heavy Gun Tubs(2) 200 each
Gun Tubs(6) 100 each
Height: 37 ft(27 ft draft, 9 ft freeboard
Width:62 ft
Length:445 ft
Weight: 10,600 tons
Cargo: 5 holds(10,850 ton capacity)
(Tanker): 2,75,000 gallons
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel, Coal, or Nuclear
Speed:(Pre-Rifts) 17 knots(18.5 MPH)
Fuel Consumption: 30 tons/day(1,819 tons carried)
Range:18,000 miles
(Modern: Post-Rifts): 28 MPH
Range: 21,000 miles
Market Cost: 29 million credits for the basic ship, powerplant, and fittings(no weapons). 36 million credits for nuclear.
Systems/Features:(Standard)
*14 cargo winches



Options:
(The following are a few of the more common, noteworthy options made available by PS)

*Engine/Speed Upgrade---By replacing or modifying the power plant, the speed of the vessel can be increased by up to 30%, while still preserving fuel economy.
Cost: 1 million credits per 10% increase in speed

*Hard Sail System
A rather interesting option system offered to Liberty Ship buyers, and as a retrofit package to other ship owners, is the Hard Sail. This system is based on designs tested preRifts(most notably the oceanographer Jacques Cousteau on his vessel _Alcyone_). The Hard Sail is an updating of the old sail concept, replacing the traditional mast and rigging with a rectangular assembly of slats and adjustable surfaces, mounted on a turntable to face into or against the wind as needed. By selectively owning shutters and slats in the Hard Sail, the degree of wind resistance can be controlled. In a real crisis, the entire Hard Sail can be hinged down and lashed to the deck.
Dubbed the “Venetian Blind” by many seafarers and “Idiot’s Sail” by more classic wind-rigged sailors, the Hard Sail is best used as a complement to an existing motorized vessel, deployed as primary propulsion when speed is not a factor, or to conserve fuel.
A typical Hard Sail is 25-30 ft tall, 8-20 ft wide, and has 20 MDC
Speed: The Hard Sail can typically push the ship at speeds of 12-16 MPH
Cost: 100,000 credits per sail and rigging; vessels of 80 ft or more will need two or more sails.

*Parasail System
An alternative to the Hard Sail is the Parasail System, which allows the ship to deploy a large parasail(50-100 ft wide) from the end of the ship by a cable(up to 900 ft long). It takes about 15 minutes to deploy/retract-furl the ‘kite’. It’s cheaper and easier to deploy, but is more readily visible from a distance, and more easily lost; wise captains pack extra sails for backup. Even in moderate winds, use of the sail-kite can extend fuel economy by as much as 30%.
PS has also discovered that the kites can be used to loft radio antennae for long range transmissions, sensor pods for observation, and weather instruments for more accurate readings.
Speed: The Parasail can typically pull the ship at speeds of 10-14 MPH
Cost: 50,000 credits per sail and rigging

*Air Defense Radar Array-------An enhanced radar system that can track up to 96 targets and ID them at 100 miles range. ADRA requires a dedicated sensor operator and a mast-mounted array(50 MDC).
Cost: 250,000 credits

*Advanced Fire Control:---A ship-wide linkage system between long range sensors and weapons stations that allows for better coordination of fire and quicker target acquisition. Requires a dedicated operator(or two) to run the central tracking system, but gives a +1-2 to strike for linked weapons.
Cost: 500,000 credits for +1 to strike, 800,000 credits for +2 to strike.

*Landing Pad and Hangarette
A fairly simple installation of a folding landing pad and fabric hangar assembly, large enough to accommodate a Grey Falcon Fighter Jet or Iron Trident Helicopter.
MDC of Pad: 120
The Hangarette, made of light, durable MDC plastic panelling and fabric, provides about 80 MDC
Cost: 200,000 credits

*Reinforced Hull
The hull of the Liberty Ship can be reinforced with the addition of armor plates, internal bracing, and internal compartmentalization. up to 1,600 MDC can be added(in keeping with the figures given for a light freighter in Rifts: Undersea), at a cost of 200,000 credits per additional 100 MDC. Particularly common with ice breakers and Q-ship type pirates and disguised warships
Cost: 200,000 credits per additional 100 MDC.

*Reinforced Bow---
A reinforced bow, sometimes with a submerged ram or beak, designed for ramming or ice breaking, or running the ship up on beaches/reefs. Typically adds 200-300 MDC to the front of the ship.
Cost: 800,000 credits

*PPE Battery and Generator---Paladin Steel is proud to offer TW systems for buyers willing to add a little magic to their ships. While many sea captains and crews avoid such systems because they claim the presence of such equipment actually attracts the attention of the supernatural(and of CSN boarding parties), others have learned the effectiveness of having a few weather control spells, damage-control magic, and protective warding on hand. Stores and recovers PPE from the environment, and keeps all your TW gadgetry powered up!
Note: All PS-manufactured TW Generators are shielded by special Ley Line Protection devices, analogous to Faraday Cages, in order to prevent being disabled during ley line storms. During such events, all magical systems are turned off and secured, until the storm passes. Invariably, though, some damage is inflicted to peripheral systems that could not be shut down or drained in time, but at least the main generators will not be damaged.
PPE Capacity:(Light)----200 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 20PPE/hour at a leyline, 40 PPE/hour on a nexus
(Medium)-----300 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 10 PPE per hour, 40 PPE/hour at a leyline, 80 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Wizard’)----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
(‘Sorcerer’)--- 600 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 20 PPE per hour, 60 PPE/hour at a leyline, 120 PPE/hour on a nexus
Cost:(Light)----500,000 credits
(Medium)-----1 million credits
(‘Wizard’)----2 million credits
(‘Sorcerer’)---- 3 million credits

Weapons Systems:
Paladin Steel Liberty and Victory Ships come standard with six gun tubs for light weapons, and two heavy gun pits(one fore and the other aft) for heavier crew-served weapons. These gun positions are typically open(the crew having little more than a gunshield, armored parapet, and their own personal body armor for protection), but enclosed turrets are possible(especially for the heavy weapons) offering additional armor and some environmental protection(though most merhcant crews prefer to be able to abandon their mount in a hurry if so needed, and not get stuck inside a crippled or flame-engulfed turret). Additional gun positions are also possible(typically at 10,000 credits for a light weapons tub- mount with 100 MD of partial protection and 150,000 credits for a heavy tub with 200 MDC of protection), though their placement may interfere with normal ship’s functions and cargo handling.

*Ventral Turrets
Defending the underside of a ship from frogmen(both the human and supernatural kind) and other threats has always posed a problem for post-Rifts mariners; the hull is such a big blind spot. Now shipowners can have their ships defending with a watertight ventral turret, with 360-degree rotation, and 45-90 degree depression.
The problems associated with ventral turrets include the complexity of installation, the relative vulnerability to being damaged by collision with underwater obstacles, and the fact that the turret ruins the streamlining of the hull. Even a small turret can reduce the overall speed by as much as 5%, while a large turret can reduce speed by 10%. Retracting mountings and streamlined blisters can alleviate this, but at 2-4 times the base cost. Plus most captains dislike the thought of any additional holes in the ship’s hull under the waterline.
MDC: Small Turrets have 50 MDC, Large Turrets have 100 MDC.
Weapons: Small Turrets can mount a single small laser, ion weapon, rail/harpoon gun, or light mini-torpedo launcher. A Large Turret can mount multiple weapons barrels, or larger multi-tube torpedo tube banks.
Cost: Small Turret: 50,0000 credits Large Turret: 500,000 credits
Retracting turrets can cost 2-4 times that

The following are some of the more popular “off the shelf” weapons systems available from PS.
Other weapons also available from PS, but not described here, include the naval versions of the PS copies of the old Iron Heart Armaments 120 mm IH-B Auto-Cannon(200,000 credits), IH-100 Rail Gun(70,000 credits), 14mm machinegun(20,000 credits), Vulcan Laser Cannon(400,000 credits), IH-10RJ 30mm Ramjet Autocannon (140,000 credits), 200mm IH-B Auto-cannon(450,000 credits), and 8-inch Cannon(1.3 million credits).

Projectile Cannon:
The old-fashioned projectile cannon continues to be the weapon of choice for naval engagements due to their superior range and ammunition versatility. Their disadvantages are weight, ammunition dependency, and the need for large gun crews in the case of the heavier weapons. Modern technology, however, has improved such equipment with auto-loaders, powered mounts, more compact and sophisticated fire control systems, and the advent of massdriver/rail gun systems.
(Note:Because merchant ships lack the dedicated ammunition magazines and autoloading equipment of warships, the weapons must be reloaded manually...swapping out an ammo box or belt, manhandling an ammo drum, or loading a shell and discarding the cartridge. Larger weapons will require large gun crews to man them, but the wealthier outfits may purchase and program general purpose labor robots---such Northern Gun and Triax designs---as gun crew. Such automated magazine and reloading equipment CAN be added, but the cost of refitting the hull is likely to cost millions of credits and take a fair chunk of interior space)

*PS-HSGC-AAM-11 20mm Six-Barrel Super Vulcan Cannon---A proven system with good range and damage, but a tendency to seize up under protracted firing.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage:(Proximity-fuzed High-Explosive) 4d4 MD single shot (2 ft blast radius)
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
2d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst(but -1 to strike)
6d6x10 MD for a 40 rd burst(takes THREE attacks and is -3 to strike targets smaller than 20 ft long)
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 4,000 rd drum
Penalty: If more than 4 full 40-rd bursts are fired consecutively, there is a +10% cumulative chance per additional burst of the weapon overheating and seizing up....Takes 1d6 melees to purge the coolant system and unjam the mechanism. Firing multiple lower-volume bursts incurs NO penalty.
Cost: 250,000 credits


*20 mm Rapid-fire Cannon---A ship- mounted “Taskin” Rifle, and a favorite “light” weapon that can be set up and mounted just about anywhere. Typically pintle-post mounted, with a gun shield to protect the gunner. Typically operated by a two-man gun crew(gunner and loader). Can be mounted singly or in two-gun mounts.
A longer-ranged Model 2N for naval vessels has recently been introduced, with a longer barrel, more powerful propellants, and higher cost.
Range:(20mm)4000 ft, 7,200 ft for the Model 2N
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD per shell
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PSX-1) 4d4 MD single rd
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload: 1000 rd drum
Cost: 40,000 credits. 50,000 credits for the Model 2N

*25 mm Cannon
Originally developed for PS’s Greyhound IFV. A rather plain, generic weapon mass produced for the undiscriminating end-user. Typically mounted in a gun-tub with a gun shield. Can be mounted singly or in two-gun mounts.
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 1d4 x10 MD per HE shell ; blast radius 8 ft.
Fragmentation: 4d6 MD to 20 ft radius
Plasma/AP : 1d6x10 md to 3 ft radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 30 rd cassette drum
Cost: 10,000 credits

*PS-862 AC 30mm Anti-Aircraft Flak Cannon(Paladin Steel knockoff of the TriaxTX-862FC), Can be mounted singly or in two-gun mounts.
Range:10,000 ft
Damage:4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD six-round burst
Rate of Fire:EPCHH
Payload:800 rds, 400 rds per cannon
Bonuses:Independent laser and radar tracking system(range: 11,000 ft). +1 strike set on automatic against aerial attack, +2 strike fired by gunner
Cost: 500,000 credits


*Rapid-Fire 35 mm Cannon----This is an anti-aircraft-mounting, and is fed from two massive ammunition drums on either side of the cannon. Typically operated by a three-man gun crew(gunner and two loaders responsible for swapping out the ammo drums). Can be mounted singly or in two-gun mounts.
Range: 2.5 miles
Damage:(Proximity Fuzed Fragmentation) 3d6 MD to a 10 ft blast radius, 2d6x10 MD to a 30 ft blast radius per 10 rd burst.
(Armor Piercing Tracer) 4d6 MD single shot, 3d6x10+10 MD per 10 rd burst
Rate of Fire:EGCHH
Payload: Each drum holds 215 rounds(430 total)
With a trained crew in power armor, a fresh drum can be changed in 3 minutes
Cost: 180,000 credits

*PS/FA-A9 2-pounder (40mm)Autocannon---Typically operated by a three-man gun crew(gunner and two loaders responsible for swapping out the ammo drums). Single gun mounts can be emplaced just anywhere, but the larger 2-8 gun mounts require heavier mountings.
Range:(High Velocity Round)5,000 yards(15,000 ft)
Maximum AA altitude w/ HV shells: 13,300 ft
(Low Velocity Round) 3,800 yards(11,400 ft)
Damage:(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 6 ft blast radius
(High Explosive) (HV) 1d4x10+3 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
(LV)1d4x10 MD to 1.5 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: 120 rounds per minute(or up to 30 rds per melee)
Payload: box magazine of 200 rounds
Cost: 150,000 credits
High Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 200 credits apiece, 245 credits for HE
Low Velocity(Fragmentation) shells cost 180 credits apiece, 200 credits for HE

*40mm Autocannon----A popular anti-aircraft weapon, available in both single and two-gun mounts.
Range: 2.6 miles
Damage:(Proximity Fuzed Fragmentation) 3d6 MD to 15 ft blast radius
(Armor Piercing Tracer) 5d6 MD single shot
(High Explosive Tracer) 4d6 MD to 10 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 444 rounds
Cost: 300,000 credits(ammunition costs extra)

*3-Inch(76mm) Gun---A holdover from the classic armed merchantman. PS has updated the design with more modern MD alloys and ceramics for lighter construction, longer life, and easier maintenance, added more advanced fire control(and in some cases and auto-loader), and supplied the weapons with more advanced MD munitions and safer gun propellants. Originally, these weapons were serviced by a 10-man crew; modern automation has reduced that to a 4 man crew(Gunner, Layer, and 2 Loaders).Typically this sort of heavy weapon in mounted in the fore- and aft- heavy weapons positions.
Range:14,600 yards in a surface role, 29,800 feet in anti-aircraft mode
Damage:
(Fragmentation) 4d6 MD to 20 ft blast radius
(High Explosive-Armor-Piercing)2d4x10 MD to 8 ft blast radius
(Flare)Burns for 1d4 minutes, illuminating a 2,000 ft area
Rate of Fire: 20 rds per minute(5 shots per melee)
Payload: Single shot feed
Cost: 200,000 credits

*5-Inch(127mm) Gun---A holdover from the classic armed merchantman, improved by PS same as with the 3-inch weapon. Too slow to be effective as an anti-aircraft defense against modern jets and particularly fast moving monsters, it is effective against surface targets. Even Splugorth Slaver-craft have learned to respect old tube-artillery firing micro-tacnuke shells. Originally, these weapons were serviced by a 10-man crew; modern automation has reduced that to a 5 man crew(gunner, gun captain, layer, and three loaders). Can also be mounted in a fully-enclosed turret. Typically this sort of heavy weapon in mounted in the fore- and aft- heavy weapons positions.
Range:17,575 yards* in a surface role, 37,200 feet in anti-aircraft mode
(RAP/Rocket-Assisted Projectile) 23,770 yards
(*Note: It would take over a minute for shot to hit the target at maximum range...est. 68 seconds)
Damage:
(Fragmentation) 6d6 MD to a 35 ft radius
(High Explosive-Armor-Piercing) 1d6x10 MD to 12 ft blast radius
(Plasma)2d4x10 MD to a 30 ft blast radius
(Flare) Burns for 1d4 minutes, illuminating a 2,000 ft area
(Chaff Round)Spreads radar-disrupting chaff similar to Triax-type chaff
Rate of Fire: 3 rds per melee
Payload:Single shot feed
Cost: 360,000 credits

*PS-L-CIWS Vulcan Chain Gun(aka “Button Guns”)---This installation, introduced on the Type 9 Battlemover, then adapted as an air defense weapon option for the VW Camper Gunship, has been adapted for shipboard use as PS’s standard light maritime weapons system. The system is a very compact and neat installation that takes up little space, and has been compared to the pre-Rifts Russian ADMG-630 30mm Gatling CIWS that saw extensive service aboard Russian warships. The PS-L-CIWS is often called the “Button Gun” because of its squat, flattened dome-like turret.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst(can only fire bursts)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, as an automated defense system linked to a radar/sensor system, the “Button Gun” has a +2 to strike, and four attacks per melee.
Payload:8,000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost: 30,000 credits

*PS-OTO-CIWS Goalkeeper
Though the PS couldn’t acquire the plans for the Coalition’s C90R CIWS, they did acquire a similar, if less powerful, system from their European contacts; a modernized upgrade of the OTO Melara Goalkeeper CIWS. The PS-OTO is intended for larger vessels, and is rarely effectively mounted on smaller vessels.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per 60 rd burst
Rate of Fire: 6 attacks per melee
Payload: 12,000 rds per gun(200 bursts each)
Radar Targeting Bonus: +3 to strike
Cost: 200,000 credits

*PS-RC12 Rail Cannon---A straight adaptation/copy of the original rail cannons fitted to the old Triton boats. The PS-RC12 is reliable, well-known, and easily maintained. Single gun mount is standard.
Range:11,000 ft
Damage:3d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst; can only fire bursts.
Rate of Fire:ECHH
Payload: 8000 rd drum(200 bursts)
Cost:250,000 credits

Energy Weapons:
Naval energy weapons continue to lag behind projectile weapons in terms of range(even more important on open water where lines of fire are longer and unobscured), but have the benefits of greater accuracy, rate of fire, and payload.
(Note: Energy weapons will have their own batteries/capacitors....or may even have their own independent generators/mini-reactors to power them)

*Heavy Naval Laser Cannon
Range: 2 miles
Damage:1d6x10+7 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 120 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost:900,000 credits

*Pulse Laser(PS-RFL-25), the so-called “Prosek’s Gift’ thanks to its being derived from a reverse-engineered Coalition weapon!
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage:2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 150 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost:600,000 credits

*L-Ion Cannon--A lightweight weapon derived from the ‘Beach Stormer’ power armor rifle. It does more damage, but more importantly, is small enough to be mounted as a light weapon, and coupled in twin mounts on light gun positions, or in batteries of four on large gun-mounts.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10+10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost:230,000 credits

*M-Ion Cannon----A PS copy of the Triax TX-8841 Ion Cannon(sans MRM launchers, though some buyers have them fitted for installation in large gun mounts). PS has also managed to adapt its ion-weapons modification technology to further augment the M-Ion weapon
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:200 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost:200,000 credits
Options:*Ion Scatter-Shot Module---This is a barrel mod that turns the cannon into a short range shotgun with an area of effect blast. Reduce range to 2,000 ft, but does 5d6 MD to a 30 ft wide area. Cost: 10,000 credits
*Ion Booster Module---Another mod that boosts the range of the ion bolts, albeit with a small reduction in damage capability. Reduce damage to 1d4x10 MD, but boost range to 7,000 ft. Cost: 12,000 credits

*H-Ion Cannon---New Navy-derived heavy ion weapon.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 3d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: 4 times per melee
Payload:100 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost:800,000 credits

*Heavy Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload:80 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 950,000 credits

*RFL-42 Slayer Quad-Laser Cannon---The powerful PS-RFL-40, a new PS laser weapons system with better range and a redesigned coolant jacket.
Range: 6,000 ft(60,000 ft in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD short burst (four shots, one from each barrel), 4d4x10 MD medium burst (eight shots, two from each barrel in sequence), 4d6x10 MD long burst (takes two attacks), or 6d6x10 MD full melee burst (takes three attacks).
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 100 shot battery. Effectively unlimited if attached to a nuclear powerplant.
Cost: 4 million credits; rarely available


Missile Systems:
For merchies who can afford the cost of fitting the fire control systems and the cost of new missiles, missile systems offer serious range, bang, and volley advantages. Their cost, however, is prohibitive for struggling free-traders. On the other hand, the fire-and-forget capabilities of modern missile systems means that crews don’t always have to go eyeball-to-eyeball with charging monsters or incoming techno-raiders to do them damage, as in the case of direct-fire weapons like energy blasters or autocannon, and don’t have to constantly spot for fall of shot as with naval cannon. Reloading, though, can problematic.
(Note:Because merchant ships lack the dedicated missile magazines and autoloading equipment of warships, the launchers must be reloaded manually. Such automated magazine and reloading equipment CAN be added, but the cost of refitting the hull is likely to cost millions of credits and take a fair chunk of interior space)

*PS-MMLR-14 Mini-Missile Launcher ---One of Paladin Steel’s minor triumphs of reverse-engineering has been the knock-off of the Coalition’s CCT-M20 Missile Rifle,complete down to the light laser, but modified to take advantage of PS’s advancements in lighter weight composites and ceramics. Has the advantage of having a light laser for additional firepower. Can be mounted singly or in two-gun mounts.
Range:(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type(usually about 1 mile)
(Laser) 2,000 ft
Damage:(Mini-Missiles)Varies by Missile Type
(Laser) 2d6 MD per blast
Rate of Fire:(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
(Laser) ECHH
Payload:(Mini-Missiles)20 per launcher(10 per launch tube)
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited attached to an external generator, or 20 shots per standard E-clip/30 per long E-clip as backup.
Cost: 36,000 credits per launcher

*PS-AWD-MML-2 Mini-Missile Launcher
Weight: 900 lbs
Range: Varies, generally one mile
Damage: Varies By Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 4, 6, or 8
Payload: 40
Cost: 120,000 credits

*L-SAM ‘Black Talon’ Launcher---A light weapon mount RAM(rolling airframe missile) launcher adapted for shipboard use.
Range: 3 miles
Damage: 3d4x10 MD to 40 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3, or 4(all)
Payload: 8 per launcher
Bonus: +5 to strike, and gets TWO attempts to strike the target(agile enough to loop back on a target and try again)
Cost: 200,000 credits per launcher, 10,000 credits per missile

*Short Range Missile Launcher---6 shot launcher boxes can be mounted as ‘light weapons’, while larger 10-16 shot launcher boxes are considered heavy weapons.
Cost: 90,000 credits for six-shot launcher, 500,000 credits for the larger versions.

*Medium Range Missile Launcher---TYpically used to fire anti-ship missiles such as the Harpoon III. Counts as a heavy weapon
Cost: 800,000 credits for an 8 shot launcher

*Long Range Missile Launcher---It’s rare, but some merchants do like to max out on ranged missile weapons. PS offers a ‘strap-on’ missile launch canister for firing a single long range missile(such as a cruise missile). Generally, these weapons are not mounted in a reinforced gun tub, but carried on deck, covered and concealed until needed for action.
Cost: 2 million credits for a single-shot launch box and associated fire control

*Depth Charge Rack---The rear deck can be fitted with a depth charge rack.
Range: Can be set for down to 2 miles deep
Damage: 2d4x10 MD to 100 ft radius, and 4d6 MD to an additional 30 ft radius
Rate of Fire: Drops one a time
Payload: 18 depth charges
Cost: 28,000 credits. PS sells depth charges for about 4,200 credits each

*Torpedo Launchers---A variety of torpedo launcher types are available from PS. These weapons are generaly not mounted in the gun-tubs, nor integrated into the hull, but are emplaced on the decks, and use steam or hydraulic rams to fire the projectiles over the hull and into the water.
Range: Varies by Torpedo Type
Damage:Varies by Torpedo Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 3, 6, or 8
Payload: Varies by torpedo launcher type. Additional torpedoes typically must be manually reloaded from stores.
Cost: 50,000 credits for a 12-shot mini-torp launcher, 100,000 credits for a 6-shot short range torpedo launcher, 300,000 credits for a 3-shot medium range torpedo launcher, and 800,000 for a single shot long range torpedo launcher. Triple the cost for systems integrated into the hull(typically concealed below the waterline)

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Wave Runner Patrol Boat
“After them! AFTER THEM!!! Open her up, Mister Carlisyle! We’re gaining on the scoundrels!!!” Captain Verz shouted as his small patrol boat bucked and crashed over the light swell in its headlong pursuit of the two pirate jetskis, whose rooster-tails of spray were getting distinctly closer. “Betcha thought you were fast, didja? Thought you could just nip in and swipe those batteries and get away before anyone could catch ya, didja?! Guess again, sea-punks, ‘cause VENGEANCE II is faster, boyos!!!” The New Bather taunted as his Wave Runner thundered after the waterborne bandits. His men were just starting to unship their automatic cannon for some warning shots when...
Just then the two jetskis rounded the corner of the rocky island and around the prow of a massive warship that cruised across the patrolcraft’s path, the gun turrets and missile launchers swivelling to bear on the approaching pursuit craft...
“FREE QUEBEC FRIGATE!!!!”
“Hard a-port! Hard a-port! HARD A-PORT!!! GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!”
With spray whipping in a small tsunami, the little cutter practically flipped end for end as it slewed about and fled with equally impressive speed as missiles and cannon fire thundered into the water around it...

A small, fast, and relatively inexpensive patrol/torpedo boat design put out by Paladin Steel, intended as an affordable coastal picket and patrol craft for waterfront communities. The Wave Runner uses a special air-injection system under the hull to produce a limited hovercraft-like effect, allowing for high-speed movement. The vessel can be considered to be a hydrofoil-hovercraft hybrid, with the speed of one and the stability of the other. Armament in the standard configuration is limited to projectile weapons; two turret mountings, one fore and aft of the deckhouse and antennae tower, and two missile launcher boxes/tube-clusters on the fantail. The hull is a straightout prefab megadamage plastic composite, produced by fast-press VEC(Virtual Engineered Composite) proccess, a procedure that’s been in service with PS for nearly a century...a VEC mini-fac cell can pop out a fully formed Wave Runner hull in about an hour, while other VEC cells simultaneously churn out the decking and other one-piece fixtures....Vernon Bach figures his shipyards can turn out a Wave Runner, from raw materials and spare parts, to seaworthiness in 24 hours on a single-cell line(and New Bath has about twenty or more VEC autofac-cells alone dedicated to forty-footers).The Wave Runner is liquid-fuel powered(Liquid hydrogen, fuel cell, or alcohol); PS does not believe that the limited range Wave Runner merits the expense of a nuclear powerplant, given its intended role as a coastal defense picket. This economy-move also keeps the cost and complexity of the craft down, making it that much more attractive to smaller communities and buyers without a great deal of cash and trained support personnel on hand to keep them running.
The Wave Runner is a common vessel in the harbor security forces of New Bath, and is becoming a favorite among smaller navies, brigands, and privateers.
Type: PS-PB11
Class: Light Patrol Boat
Date of Introduction: 103 PA
Crew: 10
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 300
Reinforced Crew Compartment 200
Radar Tower 90
Medium Range Missile Launchers(2) 25 each
Rail Gun Turrets(2) 50 each
Height:15 ft
Width: 15 ft
Length: 40 ft
Weight: 60 tons
Cargo: Can carry 10 tons of cargo/additional ammunition/weaponry
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel or Electric(HOx Fuel Cell)---800 mile range
Speed: 30 knots(35 MPH)
Market Cost: 500,000 credits
A nuclear-powered model with a 10-year energy life would cost about 2 million credits.
Systems/Features:
*Long Range Radar---60 miles
*Long Range Radio--- 100 mile range
*Sonar-------30 miles
*Limited Life Support---The main crew compartments can be sealed airtight and supplied with air conditioned tanked air for up to 48 hours, or filtered external air for 4 days.
*Internal Fire Control----Inert gas/foam fire extinguishing system protects engineering spaces.
*Two Inflatable Life Rafts(20 MDC plastic)
Weapons Systems:
1) Medium Range Missile Launchers(2, fantail)----The primary heavy weapons of the Wave Runner are these aft-mounted launch tubes for heavy anti-ship and surface bombardment missiles. Paladin Steel recommends using PS Harpoon IIIs, Free Quebec’s AmExorcet IV, or Triax’s Black Skua sea-skimmer missiles, all of which have excellent performance in both the anti-ship and anti-monster roles.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, or 4
Payload: 8, 4 per launcher

2) Twin CIWS Rail Gun Turrets(2, one forward on main deck, one aft on deckhouse)---- PS-L-CIWS Vulcan Chain Gun(aka “Button Guns”)---This installation, introduced on the Minotaur Battle Robot, then adapted as an air defense weapon option for the VW Camper Gunship, has been adapted for shipboard use as PS’s standard light maritime weapons system. The system is a very compact and neat installation that takes up little space, and has been compared to the pre-Rifts Russian ADMG-630 30mm Gatling CIWS that saw extensive service aboard Russian warships. The PS-L-CIWS is often called the “Button Gun” because of its squat, flattened dome-like turret.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per 20 rd burst(can only fire bursts)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, as an automated defense system linked to a radar/sensor system, the “Button Gun” has 3 attacks per melee
Payload:8,000 rd drum(200 bursts)

Options: Some buyers will add additional weapons to the patrol boats, such as pintle-mounted light gun mounts, light/mini-torpedo launchers, battery-powered energy weapons, or depth charge projectors. Other options include anti-mine trawls and towed sonar arrays. Buyers going to the expense of installing a nuclear powerplant frequently add energy weapons that can tap the nuclear power system for unlimited shots.

Alternate Main Armament Fitouts(replace CIWS turrets):
a) Two Twin Rail Gun Turrets(PS-862 FC Interchangeable, Recoilless, Anti-Aircraft Flak Cannon(TX-862FC))
Weight:4.5 tons
Range:10,000 ft
Damage:4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD six-round burst
Rate of Fire:EPCHH
Payload:800 rds, 400 rds per cannon
Bonuses:Independent laser and radar tracking system(range: 11,000 ft). +1 strike set on automatic against aerial attack, +2 strike fired by pilot

b) Mini-Missile Launcher---A traversable box launcher. This installation lacks an auto-loader, and must be reloaded by hand(typically two missiles per minute)
Weight:2.5 tons
Range: Varies by Missile Type
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, or 20
Payload: 20 total

c) Short Range Missile Launcher---A traversable box launcher. This installation lacks an auto-loader, and must be reloaded by hand(typically one missile per minute)
Weight:5 tons
Range:Varies by Missile Type
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:Volleys of 1, 2, 4, 6, or 10
Payload: 10

d) Twin Autocannon---This is a bomber-style twin-cannon ball turret fitted with two light autocannon firing explosive rds
Weight:1.5 tons
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage:(20mm) 1d4 MD single shot
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst
1d4x10+4 MD per 10 rd burst
(PSX-1) 4d4 MD single shot
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
2d6x10 MD per 10 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload:500 rd box

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel FALSTAFF(Friendly Artifical Lifelike Servobot, Technical Assistant, FurriForm)

“Dogs are Man’s best friend---Unless you’re an engineer, in which case they’re drooling, nose-poking, hair-shedding nuisances---Well, that changes now...”

“Good Boy! Now go fetch me a wrench!”
“Fetch your own wrench, fumble-fingers, can’t you see I’m doing all the real work here!?”
----Gordie Anslew and ‘Pugslie’(FALSTAFF#6265224)

“Does it leave little piles of nuts and bolts behind it?”
“No, but I just might be inclined to chew off your leg if you don’t shut up!”
“EEEK! It TALKS!”
“AGH! It LISTENS!”
----Corporal Donovan Hesh and ‘Buttugly’(FALSTAFF#75734) meet for the first time

“No...for the last time, we are NOT putting in the optional sealant sprayer and paint gun between its rear legs! That’s just making it TOO lifelike for sales!”

The rather convoluted acronym of FALSTAFF is the tag given to a series of small, canine-form robotic engineering droids, introduced by Paladin Steel. The company felt that the market was ripe, and the technology ready, for a dedicated semi-autonomous mechanical engineering robot that could carry out fairly sophisticated repairs on its own. Though maintenance roboids had long been part of the PS stable most maintenance and reapir work was done ultimately by living staff. What was wanted, with the expansion of the PS organization into space and other distant realms, was a machine that was reliable enough to carry out extended maintenance duties and conduct engineering tasks for crews and teams that couldn’t always have a competent live mechanic along, but who needed one nentheless. Taking a cue from several of its d-bee members whose species had extensive experience with similar technical-assistance robots, a series of new design proposals were solicited and developed, It’s been rumored that the FALSTAFFs were developed by a renegade Munro d-bee engineer, who believed that the quadraped design was ‘the most practical for serious engineering work’.
The FALSTAFF is a short, squat, four-legged robot that appears patterned after a bulldog, with a stocky, muscular build, broad face with slightly protrudant eyes, and a large, heavy collar around its neck. Four concealed micromanipulator arms can extend from this collar, each one fitted with a veritable Swiss Army Knife’s worth of mini-tools. The jaw is heavily reinforced, able to clamp down and hold objects as firmly as a vise, or to snip through them as precisely as a machine press-cutter.
The small size of the FALSTAFF means that it can crawl into quite narrow spaces and maintenance tunnels, getting between walls, into ventilation shafts, and under heavy machinery and vehicles.
FALSTAFFS are programmed with a laconic, no-nonsense, ‘eager to please’ persona---they are very loyal, 100% dedicated to the job at hand, but tend to express themselves tersely and in to-the-point fashion----”Reactor Breach, am repairing the leak”, “Short in Number Five A-11 Electrical Trunk, need to bypass”, “Change the oil”, etc, are fairly typical of FALSTAFF conversation. Over time, the rudimentary biochip neural net may evolve minor personality quirks, especially impatience, intolerence for others’ meddling in their work, and a certain territoriality when it comes to their workplaces and duties. Some owners complain that their FALSTAFFs often evolve rude personalities, though the drift of their rudeness often seems to be cautionary in nature....”Don’t bother me! This is dangerous work!” or ‘Bugger off! I’m a professional”. This seems to be particularly true of FALSTAFFs working in heavy machinery areas and materials reclaimation centers, where an unwary visitor is in danger of being caught up by moving machinery or sliding heavy debris.
FALSTAFFs are not designed for combat, though they can defend themselves or their work if so ordered....Indeed, many FALSTAFFs, particularly those assigned to city service tunnel maintenance, often encounter such dangers as mutant rats and sewer slugs in the course of their work, and their owners will frequently program and equip them with a secondary exterminator role in mind.
Despite the ‘FurriForm’ in their designation, most operators/owners of the FALSTAFF dispense with the artifical fur covering, which quickly becomes ragged and filthy after a few hours of hard work. Most FALSTAFFs are thus encountered in the blistered plastic overarmor of work robots, doing away with the ‘FurriForm’ aspect of their designations(of course, some wags insist that the first ‘f’ in the ‘bots’ name-acronym...for ‘friendly’, also be removed, given the robots’ acerbic personalities, and simply be called ALSTAs).

The greatest complaint about the FALSTAFF series so far is that the little ‘bots lack the mass and strength for serious heavy duty repair work, such as heavy construction and repair. For this reason, it is advised that FALSTAFFs be teamed with stronger robots when heavy work is anticipated.
Since their introduction in 106 PA, FALSTAFFs have become extremely common in and around PS/GNE facilities, ships, and factory installations. They are especially popular with remote observation posts and research facilities, deep space patrols, and specialized applications such as the ‘HALO’-class surveillance/communications/navigational semi-satellites.
Given the sometimes abrasive personalities of many FALSTAFFs, there has been voiced some speculation on plans to produce a variant. modelled after the more affable Scotts Terrier....The ‘Scotty Project’ has been gaining support from many engineers, except a vocal minority who are demanding that the name be reserved for an enhanced model ‘Second’ humanoid android programmed for similar engineering tasks.

Type: PS-FALSTAFF (Series 1-8)
Class: Technical Engineering Robot----Friendly Artifical Lifelike Servobot, Technical Assistant, FurriForm
Date of Introduction: 106 P.A.
Intelligence Type: Robot Intlligence(Biochip enhanced)
S.D.C./MDC by Location:
Main Body 100
Head 30
Legs(4) 20 each
Manipulator Arms(4) 10 each
Height: 1.5 ft
Width: 11 inches at shoulders
Length: 3 ft
Weight: 120 lbs
Cargo: None, aside from what they may carry
Physical Strength: Manipulator arms have a Robotic P.S. of 10
Powerplant: Nuclear fusion mini-pac power cell w/ 2 year energy life.
Speed: (Running) 20 MPH
(Leaping) Can leap up to 8 ft up/12 ft across
(Climbing) Fair Climber, equal to a skill of 70%
(Swimming) Unless specially fitted with flotation devices(in which it can dogpaddle at 3 MPH), the ‘bot sinks like a stone. The FALSTAFF is pressure-resistant down to 1,000 ft.
Market Cost: 900,000 credits
Systems of Note:
*Basic Robot Optics
*Thermo-Imaging Optics
*Infrared Optics
*Low-Lite Optics
*Magnification(x100)
*Basic Robot Audio
*Enhanced Hearing---Can hear ultrasonic aberrations in a turbine or iron filings in flowing lubricant
*Molecular Analyzer---This allows the ‘bot to sniff out and locate leaks, spills, and other hazards
*Radiation Detector---Detects and identifies radiation
*Universal Headjack
*Power Takeoff---A plug-in, allowing the ‘bot to serve as an emergency generator or to run portable power tools.
*Micro-Manipulator Arms(4)---Mounted around the neck in the oversized ‘collar’. Each arm has a reach of 3 ft, PS of 10, and has the following tools built in:
*Clamp---Grip strength equiv. Robotic Strength of 50
*Power Wrench
*Chisel
*Micro-Drill
*Sander/Abrasion Tool---Does 1d6 SDC as a weapon(takes off skin)
*Micro-Manipulators
*Micro-Measure Calipers
*Ratchet Tongue---Inside the mouth is a universal adaptor ratchet attached under the false ‘tongue’ of the’bot.
*Molecular Grippers-Built into the feet, these allow the ‘bot to clamber about ship hulls and up the sides of machinery more easily.

Weapons Systems:
1) Eye Laser---Actually designed to be a cutting and welding tool, at short range it can be a lethal blaster as well...
Range: 500 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD for one eye, 6d6 MD for simultaneous blast from both
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Bonus: +2 to strike

2) Mechanical Jaw----The FALSTAFF’s jaws are powerful enough to snip through thick cabling and cut armor plate, and can deliver a sharp nip or an arm-amputating crush-squeeze to anyone stupid enough to get close.
Range: Melee
Damage: 4d6 MD

Hand to Hand Combat:
Actions/Attacks per Melee: 4, or 6 non-combat engineering actions.
Strike:+2
Dodge: +2
Roll: +2
Disarm: +2
Programming:
Basic Programming:
Understands/Speaks/Reads:
American English (98%)
Techno-Can(98%)
6 different additional languages(all at 98%)
Computer Operation 90%
Math: Basic and Advanced 98%
Navigation: Land 80%
Radio: Basic 90%
Electronics: Basic 85%
Basic Mechanics 90%
Automobile Mechanics 80%
Basic Repair & Maintenance 90%
Salvage 75%

Additional Skill Slots:
The FALSTAFF comes with 6 additional skill slots to be filled at the buyer’s convenience. Most buyers add specialized Mechanical, Electrical, or Technical skills.

Options:
*Artificial Simulant Flesh/Fur Covering---An overcoat of false fur and muscle padding, designed to disguise the FALSTAFF as a bulldog or other short, ugly, dog.
Cost: 25,000 credits

*Hazmat Inertite Covering---The same armor used on Hazmat cyborgs, this teflon-like material is resistant to all acids and corrosive chemicals(do NO damage), allowing the FALSTAFF to swim through concentrated hydrocloric acid if necessary. However, it also prevents paint from sticking to the robot, so the ‘bot can only be the same color as the Inertite---a dull black...
Cost: 90,000 credits

*Amphibious Operations Kit----This waterproofs the whole FALSTAFF and fits it with a ‘doggie life preserver’ flotation pack, that allows the ‘bot to float and swim(Spd of 5 MPH).
For an additional 2,000 credits, the vest can be fitted with special neutral bouyancy packs and a mini-thruster, allowing the ‘bot to dive and swim faster underwater(moves a speed of MPH)
Cost: 5,000 credits

*Zero-Gee Maneuvering Pack---This requires the JetPack and EVA skill slots(part of the package) and fits the FALSTAFF with a mini-MMU for jetting around space stations and spacecraft. Has 8 hours of fuel/reaction mass, and allows the robomutt to reach speeds of 20 MPH.
Cost: 10,000 credits

*Tool Harness----A special harness of megadamage fabrics and light plastic plates that fits over the FALSTAFF, and is used to hold additional tools and materials(has up to six pockets on each side, and one medium backpack-bag), just within easy reach of the robot’s collar arms.
MDC: 10
Cost: 500 credits

[NMI]

I have a PS section on my computer. But it is a series of individual articles.

could you zip them and email them to me?

[abtex]

Should have a variety of stuff this weekend to clog up your computer memory...doing across the boards rewrites and new ideas to build up Small Arms, Aircraft, Land Vehicles, and Watercraft....Spacecraft and Biotech will take awhile...

They have arrived. Shopping may begin.

doing across the boards rewrites

If you rewrite things that you have already posted you will tells. Please.

[taalismn]

Should have a variety of stuff this weekend to clog up your computer memory...doing across the boards rewrites and new ideas to build up Small Arms, Aircraft, Land Vehicles, and Watercraft....Spacecraft and Biotech will take awhile...

They have arrived. Shopping may begin.

doing across the boards rewrites

If you rewrite things that you have already posted you will tells. Please.

Will you be preferring paper or plastic bagging for your purchases?

By rewrites I mean stuff I haven't posted yet, but which requires some/lots of re-working...I've changed my attitudes in some cases, some up with better systems in some cases, or realized how munchkin some equipment is, and have decided to tone it down a bit to make it plausible...other equipment descriptions need some refined descriptions to better fit into my idea of PS and its place in the Megaverse...and some designs I realize could use more options...

If anything already posted needs a major overhaul, it will be re-released as a 'second edition' or 'market special', just like automobiles....

And maybe I should start thinking of holiday specials...

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel TBA-5 ‘Cormorant ‘ Submersible Torpedo Bomber
( AKA ‘Platty’, ‘AmphAard’, ‘NoseDive’)
(Thanks to Raven for Kera-Tech )

“Good Lord Avatar of Vishnu, look at the SIZE of that hellspawn!”
“Seagull Eight to Beach House , we have target in sight, Herbert Junior heading sixty degrees northeast from Saltville at twelve knots... repeat, Herbert Junior heading northeast at twelve knots...request instructions....(pause)...Acknowledged.....Seagull Eight out.... Seagull Eight to Seagull Seven...Morris, look alive...we are engaging in four! Donavan, prep our Skuas for launch...”

“I was stuck in the Platty fleet during the openning stages of the Pacific War, and even though our ships were brand spanking new, alot of us had reservations about the Cormorant...for one thing, we’d all heard of the wonderful new mechs and aerocraft from PS, and seen the New Navy flying its Manta-Subs around Montro Bay, and we sorta figured we’d be getting something like that, and instead we got this glorified kazoo these new guys up in Nu Seattle said would do the same job...alot of us thought we were getting a dud bird they hadn’t worked all the bugs out of yet...
Well, we were part right....the Cormorant skipped like a rock across moderate swell, and left a rooster-tail of spray behind it that negated any advantage hugging the waves may have given us avoiding radar....thing steered like a moose, and if you weren’t careful, you could drag a wingtip bad and flip the whole plane over...stall the engines, and the thing doesn’t swim..it sinks...
But on the plus side, the Platty had alot of armor, and had a whole hunka throwing weight...if you timed it right, you could wiggled and turn at high speed, hiding behind your own spray tail and still get close enough to a target to loose your payload and skedaddle away while your target was still dealing with your fish and or birds...And when two Plattys managed to sink a Horune Raider off the remains of San Fran, by layin’ doggo behind a drowned skyscrapper then popping up and tossing a full salvo of sea-skimmers as the bad guy passed, alot of us began to respect the Cormorant....Of course, we’d altready lost ten ships and crews by then, but the fact that we COULD win some of our own back with the ‘kazoo’ made us pay more attention to our rides’ strengths,a nd not whine about its weaknesses...”
---Captain Gozo Marielllez, California Technological Enclave Coast Guard Air Patrol, from an interview for SEAPOWER! vidmag’s Summer 118 PA issue, “Historical Perspectives on the Second Pacific War”.

The TBA-5 Cormorant is an early effort by Paladin Steel to emulate the flying submersible attack craft that its engineers observed during trade meetings with the New Navy at Montro Bay. Amphibious aircraft assumed a whole new priority during the Pacific War, when the CTE found itself shorthanded in terms of naval hardware and multi-environment vehicles that could match the Horune fleet’s ability to operate both on and below the water.
Though it drew its inspiration from the New Navy Manta Ray, the Cormorant looked nothing like that saucer-like craft. The Cormorant is a fairly large aircraft, resembling an oversized air-launched cruise missile with a large dorsal air intake at the back, swept back stub wings sharply angled down at the ends, and a cockpit-slit set back from the slightly duck-billed nose. Propulsion is provided by an airbreathing turbo-fan(powered by either a fusion mini-pac, or liquid fuel engine), and a high-speed hydro-jet, providing a good turn of speed in the air, on the water(skimming along hydrofoil-style on the down turned wingtips), or below the waves in full submarine mode. Armor is ample, but not heavy, as is armament; a large ventral bomb bay, two nose mounted lasers, and a retractable weapons turret behind the cockpit.
As a first attempt, the Cormorant was about as good as could be realistically expected. Crews found the craft sturdy and long-ranged , but sluggish on the stick, and its stub-wings made sharp maneuvering difficult. It lacked ample defensive armaments, and the set-back cockpit had visibility problems,especially during landings. Despite these shortcomings, and due to the mounting need for combat and maritime patrol craft, the Cormorant was rushed into production by Paladin Steel West, and over a hundred aircraft were produced before the War ended. In service, the Cormorant acquired such affectionately derisive names as ‘NoseDive’, ‘AmphAard’(after ‘Amphibious Ardvark’....owing to its similarity to the pre-Rifts F-111 ‘Aardvark’), and ‘Platty’(or ‘Platypus’....a ’rather mixed up beastie’). Nevertheless, the craft acquired its share of detractors and fans in its wartime service.
After the Pacific War, production was sharply scaled back and the majority of the surviving Cormorants were deployed to coast guard patrol duties, but about several dozen were stripped of their nuclear powerplants and converted to liquid-fuel for sale to the black market. About a dozen were retained for use as marine warfare testbeds for testing new systems, and system configurations, while PS attempted to see what changes could, or should, be implemented and applied to the design before full-scale production can resume.
The Cormorant was /is used by all the members of the CTE as a coastal patrol craft, as well as Paladin Steel West which deploys their squadrons of Cormorants with modified merchantmen escort-carriers modified as acting as ‘motherships’, resupplying the aircraft at sea, greatly extending their range of operations.
Type:PS-STB-5
Class: Submersible Airborne Torpedo Bomber
Date of Introduction: 106 PA
Crew: 2 (Pilot, co-pilot), with provision for 1-2 additional crewmen
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 400
Reinforced Crew Compartment 150
Wings(2) 100 each
Tail 100
Height: 21 ft at tail
Width: 32 ft wingspan
Length: 74 ft
Weight: 89,000 lbs
Cargo: Small 4x4x3 ft space behind cockpit for personal possessions and survival gear.
If bomb bay is converted to carry cargo, can carry 32,000 lbs
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel(3,000 mile range) or Nuclear Fusion w/ 15 year energy life.
Speed:(Underwater) 40 MPH. maximum depth 1 mile
(Hydrofoil Mode) 150 MPH
(Air) Mach 1.2 (800 MPH), Maximum altitude 23,000 ft
Cost: Liquid Fuel models cost about 7 million credits, nuclear versions cost about 12 million
Systems of Note:
*Life Support---Robot vehicle standard
*Ejector Seats
*Optical Sensors---Include long range optics, thermo-imaging, low-lite, image enhance capabilities. Includes a tail-mounted periscope(7 ft extension).
*Long Range Radio and Laser Communications---Radio range: 1,000 miles, Laser(Blue-Green) range; 100 miles, Scrambler/Signal Decryption standard
*Medium Range Radar---Includes EM detectors, terrain-following, IFF, low-altitude discrimination; range 80 miles
*Sonar---Effective range 50 miles
*Laser Rangefinding/Targeting---10,000 ft range, +1 to strike w/ ranged weapons

Weapons Systems:
1)Blue-Green Pulse Lasers(2)---Mounted in the nose were two BG pulse cannon
Range: 4,000 ft in air/underwater
Damage: 4d6 MD per single blast, or 1d4x10+8 MD double blast
Rate of Fire: Six times per melee
Payload: 600 shot battery if conventionally powered; effectively unlimited if nuclear powered

2) Internal Bomb/Torpedo Bay---Aventral ordnance bay for deploying missiles, torpedoes, mines, or depth charges.
The bay could hold the following(or any combination there of):
8 LRMs/Heavy Torpedos, OR 16 MRMs/Medium Torpedos, OR 32 SRMs/SRTs, OR 64 Mini-Missiles/Mini-Torpedos.
16 Heavy Mines/Bombs(same damage as LRMs, double the blast radius), OR 32 Medium Mines/Bombs, OR 64 Light Mines/Bombs, OR 128 MIni-Mines/Bomblets. Can also be configured as depth charges.
OR 5 Captor Mines(basically a LRT capsule with sensors) OR 4 MSAUWs(Captor MIne firing 4 MRTs), 6 MSAUWS(fires 5 SRTs), or 8 MTSAUWs(fires 6 MMTs apiece)

3) (Optional) Retractable Weapons Turret---Hidden just behind the cockpit, in front of the jet air intake, is a small retractable weapons turret. Can mount ONE of the following:
a) Pulse Laser----4,000 ft, 6d6 MD per blast, 600 shot battery if conventionally powered; effectively unlimited if nuclear powered
b) Light Rail Gun----A copy of the Coalition’s own C-200 ‘Dead Man’ rail gun.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 4d6 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload:600 rd drum(30 bursts)
c) Ion Cannon--- 2,500 ft range, 5d6 MD per blast, 1,000 shot battery if conventionally powered; effectively unlimited if nuclear powered

(Optional) Tail-Gun Turret--Some Cormorants were fitted with a rear-facing remote-controlled weapons turret at the base of the tail, part of an experiment to protect the vulnerable rear. Identical to the dorsal turret.

(Optional) Wing Hardpoints(2)----Another experiment to augment the armaments and versatility of the Cormorant was to mount hardpoints for additionalweaponry on the wings. However, tests with hardpoints slung UNDER the wings proved less than satisfactory, as any ordnance slung in that position tended to be broken off when making a sudden submergence, or else tended to be badly buffetted by spume when in hydrofoil mode. When the hardpoints were moved to the TOP of the wings, results were somewhat more promising, though the mounts did interfere with the optimal airflow over the wing(-5% to Pilot Jet Aircraft rolls). As a result, Hardpoints were made optional to individual crews/operators, rather than become standard issue.
Each Hardpoint can carry 1 MRM, OR 3 SRMs, OR a 5-shot mini-missile pod.

Variants
SPBY-5---This was simply a Cormorant with the bomb-bay converted into a cargo and passenger bay, turning the ship into a light transport. Enterance and exit was through a roof hatch where the weapons turret was. The SPBY-5 was used during the Pacific war occasionally to deploy SEAL teams to distant islands. Nearly a third of post-War Comorants were converted to this standard for use as Coast Guard and SAR (Search And Rescue) craft with a retractable gurney winch/crane, and provision for carrying medical equipment and injured.

STB-5D---The ‘D’ stands for ‘Destroyer’---the STB-5D was an experiment upgunned by Kera-Tech into a gunship. The nose sported no less than EIGHT rapid-fire ion cannons, four in the nose, and two dual-cannon blisters on either side of the cockpit. The dorsal turret was a fixed roof blister, mounting two rapid fire KTH-65 32mm Assault Rail Guns. Bomb-bay capacity was cut by HALF to accomodate the cannons’ ammunition drums and ion blasters’ auxiliary generator. Six STB-5s were converted to the ‘D’ configuration, and used for strafing attacks on Horune warships.
1) Ion Cannons(8)
Range:2,600 ft
Damage: 6d6 MD per single blast,
or a whopping 1d6x48 for all eight cannon firing at once(takes 1 attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited(STB-5Ds mount a separate micro-pack fusion powerplant to power the forward weaponry.

2) KTH-65 32mm Assault Rail Guns(2x1) (Raven)----A favorite of PS engineers and armorers, the KTH-65 has been licensed to PS.
Mega-Damage: Varies by shell type
Shell Types:
APFS-DU (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized, Depleted Uranium) - 5D6x10, no
blast radius
HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) - 5D6 MD plus 5D6 SDC to the person(s)
inside the object(most effective against power armors).
HE (High Explosive) 1D6x10 to a 5 (16ft) radius
HEG (High Explosive, Guided) - 2D6x10 to a 2m (7ft) radius
Rate of Fire: single shots, EGCHH
Maxium Effective Range: 1600m (1 mile) in atmosphere/ 3,000 ft underwater
Payload: 60 rds per gun(120 rds total)

STB-5D2B---The post-War successor to the STB-5D experiment, the STB-5D2B continued the idea of adding more firepower, but with an eye towards increasing the range, after observations of the ‘Destroyer’s’ shortcomings. The 5D2B replaces the ion cannon in the nose and side blisters, with four ion pulse cannons copied from the New Navy’s ‘Manta Rays’ for greater range and damage. About a dozen Cormorants have been converted to the new standard as ‘patrol gunships’.
1)Ion Pulse Guns(4)
Range:4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per single burst,
or a whopping 4d6x10 for all four cannon firing at once(takes 1 attack)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited(STB-5D2Bs mount a separate micro-pack fusion powerplant to power the forward weaponry).

[taalismn]

Again my thanks to Raven for being a sport and letting me use some of his toys...

Paladin Steel/Kera-Tech PB-2005ST ‘Wayfarer’ Long Range Heavy Airlifter/Surface Effect Airborne Ship(SEAS)
(Based on concepts and statistics in the article “Needed: A Quick-Respone Logistics Transport” by Horace J. Alter, Proceedings (of the U.S. Naval Institute) August 1981, pg. 94-98)
(aka ‘Mars’)

“What’s worth hauling several thousand miles across demon-infested waters? Ain’t toilet paper, I can tell you that much....
Though I understand that toilet paper’s bringing in ten credits a roll in the Vonderburgh Enclaves....Those High Elves have more money to spend on luxuries...and softer asses....”
-----Captain Retta Welsh, VFSEAS ‘Columbus III’, Northwest-TransPacific Trade Alliance.

“I got a bad feeling about this...”
“Oh, quit whining already!”
“I think we should just dump this whole load of bad news in the ocean....we shouldn’t be transporting this!”
“Look...this is only the third trade exchange we’ve had with the Republic...It’s only natural that they’d want to feel out our markets to see what it is that we’re looking for from each other...so we can expect to be trading some strange stuff until everyone gets an idea what it is that they’re really after! So quit complaining and finish loading the last of it!”
“I still think they’re pulling a fast one on us...we oughta complain to the ambassador about this...” The junior officer muttered as he looked over the multi-ton palletized consignment of ‘Digital Pets’ filling the cavernous cargo bay.

When Kera-Tech representatives landed a small high-performance seaplane in Lake Champlain back at the formative beginnings of the Pan-American corporate alliance, the transcontinental crossing was reason enough for celebration...and more than a little speculation by PS engineers who regarded the small ship floating in Burlington’s waters with no small amount of challenge on their minds. So when Montro Bay began hinting at their contacts across the wide expanse of the Pacific, those same PS engineers decided the time was ripe to spring a design proposal for an improved ‘puddle jumper’ to their allies. With the prospect of trade openning across the far larger expanses of water between North America and South America, Asia, and far Australia, PS knew that larger craft, with more armor and carrying capacity, stood a better chance of survival and mission accomplishment, than smaller, slower, more vulnerable craft. While Kera-Tech endorsed their more advanced contra-gravity drives, and the PS GraviMagnetic Resist teams touted their massive Foss-class air freighters, the Aviation Division thought that conventional aircraft still had promise, and better economy, in the long haul, over-water routes.
What PS proposed was a massive flying wing aircraft, based on recovered pre-Rifts design proposals, duplicate study-files of which had been recovered from both Area 51 and Paladin Steel West's Boeing Works ruins. By using more conventional drive systems, the aircraft’s overall cost could be kept down, while water landing would allow the vehicle to service coastal tradeports more easily. When reports of the Coalition’s use of a similar giant seaplane/flying boat in their campaign against Tolkeen reached both companies, there was also an incentive to ‘close the flying floating fortress gap’ as one official put it.
Nicknamed the ‘Mars’ after the pre-Rifts Martin PB-1M flying boat, the PB-2005ST is a massive flyiing wing nearly four hundred feet in wingspan, the two sides swept nearly forty-five degrees back. The wings are downturned at the ends, with large angled ‘winglets’ angled down, while the wings in cross section have a thick, teardrop shape. The entire wing assembly is supported by two boat-like hulls, each twenty-five feet in thickness, whose bows stick out oi fhte leading edge of the wing. These hulls reemerge from the wing at the rear to rise into two vertical stabilizers, joined at the top by a single horizontal stabilizer. At the nose of the chevron-shaped wing, is the smaller protruding cockpit module, flanked on either side by two loading doors in the rolling leading edge of the wing.
The thick wing is important because, unlike conventional aircraft, the Wayfarer is a span-loader, meaning that cargo is loaded and carried in the thick wings, rather than in the relatively small main fuselage(s). With a full load, the Wayfarer can carry over four hundred tons of men and equipment., that can be disembarked through either the front ramp-hatches, or doors in the ends of the squared-off wings( although in flight operations the outer 50-70 ft of space are left uncluttered, to cut down on the risks of inadequately secured cargo shifting and disrupting the aircraft’s center of balance).
The cockpit is mounted high in the center of the aircraft, just above the central body ‘bridging’ the two boat-hulls. The cockpit is fairly similar in appearance and layout to a conventional jet airliner’s. Directly behind the cockpit is an upper deck, with a dedicated passenger cabin(capable of seating up to thirty people), radio/navigation charts room, a small galley, and restroom(two small toilets are also available on the lower decks for any additional embarked passengers). A small ‘sleeper’ cabin at the rear of the upper deck has bunks for up to ten people, for long duration flights. The upper deck can be accessed by a ladderway from the lower cargo holds. Because the Wayfarer may encounter hostile conditions over water, provision is made for several inflatable MDC plastic escape boats(60 MDC each) and supply pods, which can be deployed by the crew in a ditching situation.
The massive craft is propelled by three clusters of tandemed jet thrusters on the upper surface of the wing. The unusual shape of the craft is intended to take advantage of Wing-In-Ground(WIG) effect in which air is trapped between the wing(and prevented from spilling out the sides by the angled winglets) and the water, allowing the giant craft to ‘bow-ride’ on a cushion of air, just above the surface of the sea. In a conventional, liquid-fuelled aircraft, this mode of travel would have allowed the craft a greater fuel economy, while maintaining a high speed and massive payload far greater than conventional aircraft. With the use of a nuclear fusion powerplant, however, such economy is minor, but the economy of construction and operation allows the Wayfarer to compete nicely with more expensive heavy lift aircraft like the Halbard HLV, Foss Flier, or Hercules II. The Wayfarer can still power up and rise up above the ocean to high altitude, to avoid storms and sea monsters, but if conditions permit, the craft descends to about ten feet above the ocean’s surface, and races across it like a giant hovercraft.
Though skeptical at first about the giant wings, the people of Montro Bay humored their east coast brethren as they assembled the craft with imported material and local labor, and patiently watched the sea-trials, which proved the design’s economy and viability. PS immediately rushed to construct five of the ships for Pacific Rim trade and exploration. The Wayfarer was just entering the lineup of craft slated for the expected TransPacific route with Japan, when the Pacific War broke out and the giant cargo craft were pressed into surface as troop ships, shuttling men and equipment to beleagured communities along the long stretch of coast between Montro Bay and Paladin Steel West, and modifications were made to arm the ships for the anticipated invasion of the Hawaiian Islands. When the threat of Kera-Tech nukes resolved the issue without a wholesale ground assault, the craft were returned to their trade and exploration roles.
By 112 PA 5ST has seven of these mammoth craft in service on the West Coast of North America...five operating under GNE/CTE auspices, and two rented out to various private concerns. Besides trade and raw materials transport, the Wayfarers are used to set up outposts, garrisons, and colonies along the coasts. Three more Wayfarers are regularly employed for trade with South America and Europe, across the Atlantic.
The Wayfarer would ultimately inspire the larger and faster KTPSTT-PBY-18 ‘Great Fulmar’ which would have more speed and cargo capacity, but less overall armor and heavier armament.

Type: PS/KT-PB-2005ST
Class: Long Range Surface Effect Airborne Ship
Date of Introduction: 104 PA
Crew: 12 minimum
Has provision for 1-30 passengers(w/provision for bunking in flight)
Main Cargo Bays can be modified to seat additional passengers(consider 1 ton to equal 4 passengers, seating, and 150 lbs of luggage apiece)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Reinforced Crew Compartment/Bridge 300
Wings(2, outboard of float hulls) 500 each
Tail Assembly 360
Engines(6) 110 each
Height: 31.6 ft at tail (Wing thickness) 10.5 ft
Width: (Wingspan) 375 ft (Hull diameters) 25 ft each
Length: (Main Hull) 196 ft (w/tail) 296 ft
Weight: 900 tons
Cargo: 800,000 lbs(400 tons)

Powerplant: Nuclear fusion with 20 year energy life
Speed:(Cruise) 220 MPH
(Maximum) 320 MPH at high altitude(500 ft or higher)(can only maintain this for 3 hours before needing 4 hours of lower speed flight to cool down the engines)
(Cruising Altitude) 10 ft
(Maximum Altitude) 23,000 ft
(Takeoff distance)(assuming sea state 3) 2,000 ft
Can cruise and land in sea state 6 conditions
Cost: 65 million credits
Systems of Note:
*Long Range Radio---1,000 miles
*Long Range Radar---200 miles
*Short-Range ‘Look Down’ Radar---Range: 6 miles. This system scans the ocean surface and can look just below the surface for submerged vessels , islands(a good navigational aide) and lurking supernatural beings(like Reachers, about to burst up through the water).
*Inertial and Astronomical Navigation---The Interface and the destruction(?) of the old GPS networks has meant that globehopping is much more difficult...but not impossible. Fortunately, the Interface doesn’t prevent accurate navigation by the stars and other(stable) astronomical objects(unless one happens to be within a leyline storm or area of dimensional instability), and the long-range aircraft have been fitted with automated star-trackers. PS is planning on extending its network of stealthed LeyNet ‘Dark Star’ Semi-Sats that could be used to accurately guide vessels about the Pacific(some say they already have), but to date, there has been no issuance of TW-GPS terminals for the fleet...
*Life Support---Pressurized Cabin and air filtration systems
*Passenger Deck has reclining seats, ten-bed ‘sleeper’ cabin,mini-sickbay(basic and paramedic treatment facilities), three toilets, a kitchen/galley, water filtration/decon system(ultra-violet irradiation and charcoal filtration) and a small condenser/distillation unit(can produce about 30 gallons a day).
*Cargo Deck has built-in powered conveyor belt(s)/roller way in the floor, overhead chain-sling for cargo, and typically will have a light power armor or mini-forklift for cargo-handling.
*Internal Fire Suppression System
Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Lasers(2)---Mounted along each wing, and firing to the sides and rear, is an early model of the CIDS ‘las-strips’ that are so popular on PS spacecraft.
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage:2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Point Defense 12.7mm Rapid Fire GatlingTail Cannon in twin-mountings (4x2, one each side, one nose-mounted, one tail mounted, firing between the tail booms)
Range:4000 ft
Damage:1d6x10 MD per 40 rd burst
2d6x10 MD for a simultaneous double burst from both guns.
Rate of Fire:EPCHH. Can only fire bursts.
Payload: 120,000 rds per gun(2,000 bursts)

3) Mini-Missile Launchers(2)---Two mini-missile launchers are mounted in the wings
Range: Varies by Missile Type
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-12 per launcher
Payload: 72 per launcher

4)Chaff/Flare Countermeasures Launchers(4)
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is nuetralized
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 fy into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 20 per launcher, 40 total.

Variants
*PB-2005ST-CGS---Three PB-2005STs were fitted with the Kera-Tech KT-PB-122 Heavy Particle Beam Cannon(from the cancelled PS Besieger superheavy tank programme), itself a derivative of the KT-PB-120, as part of the anticipated invasion of Hawaii---these craft sacrificed some of their cargo capacity(about 50 tons) to mount the massive laser cannons, and serve as assault support craft. The ‘Flying Cannon’ saw limited use during the campaign, and continue in service with the Coastal Command.
MDC of Cannon and Central Turret: 350
Range: 6.7 miles
Damage: On a roll of 12 or less: 3d6x10+50 MD
On a roll of 13-16: 3d6x10+120
On a roll of 17 or higher: 3d6x10+350
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*PB-2005ST-CLL---This is the designation given to a proposed cruise missile launcher variant that would outfit both cargo hulls with dorsal launch bays with retractable rotary launchers feeding from modified cargo bays/ordnance cells, for the launching of LRM/cruise missiles. The CLL has been proposed, in the wake of the Pacific War, as a less expensive fast missile launch platform to cover the overstretched Grav-Ship fleets. So far only one Wayfarer, nicknamed ‘Double Barrel’, has been so modified.
MDC of Missile Launchers(2): 250 each
Range: Varies by Missile Type(Long Range Missiles)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-18 per launcher
Payload: 72 per launcher bank(9 rows of eight missiles each). 144 total

[taalismn]

Kera-Tech/Paladin Steel ‘Great Fulmar’ Heavy-Hauler Long Distance Sea Plane

“A typical trade mission takes us, weather permitting, across and down to Takamatsu, avoiding Otomo along the way...there we can negotiate passage to the Republic...get clearances and smooth the way through their defense forces..In the meantime, we can expect to trade some hardware and take on a few tons of medicinal herbs that gets shipped over from the north...Empire doesn’t do any business with us directly, but they can’t say anything about free traders dealing...Though some of them have been rather preachy of late, especially to any of the crew who look Asian, so I suspect they’ve been authorized to ‘convert’ us...Then we hop over to the Republic and drop off the bulk of our cargo. If Ichto’s feeling friendly, they’ll flag down our agents in Takamatsu and arrange for us to drop in and do a little trading with them....Sometimes we get to hit both Ichto and Hiroshima in the same trip.....We trade new hardware to the Republic for nanotech, Ichto for electronics, then we fly back to Takamatsu, with any spare room in our cargo bays with cargo for the island...There we empty it, and pick up anything that arrived that we arranged for on the way in, like Imperial tea, Taka Power Stone, and China silk, and with a full belly we make the Long Hop back to the West Coast...Sure, it ain’t as easy as it sounds, but a round trip can earn a crew a few hundred thou of profit, more often than not a cool million for the high-end goods we’re shipping....And there’s damn few folks who are trading over those sorts of distances these days...”
----Supercargo Chen Gulik, PSW-Free Trader Wingship ‘Silk Road’

“Five hundred miles out of Hiroshima, halfway back across the Pacific with a cargohold full of Asian treasure and what the hell happens? One of the ‘religious statues’ a bald-headed priest fobbed on us comes ALIVE and begins ripping the hell of my plane! Chews up a supercargo and almost makes it to the flight deck before my flight engineer gave it an enema with a flare gun! After that, it ripped open a hatch and jumped out, sparks coming out its arse, damn ape!”
Between the Reachers popping up and grabbing off planes like a lizard slarping down flies, those damn Gorang air pirates blazing out of the sun, and religious nuts on the ground trying to sabotage us, I’d say let those damn nippies KEEP their side of the ocean....I’m sticking to safer trade routes, like dodging the Coalition on the Montro to New Bos run!”
----Captain Johnny Hackitt, ‘Hackitt’s Smiling Air Service’

The ‘Great Fulmar’ is a relatively new design to come from Paladin Steel’s Western Division and is intended to exploit the openning markets in the Pacific Rim area. Though travel through the Pacific is particularly dangerous owing to the presence of the Lord of the Deep and Horune, the existance of the New Navy, Tritonia, and developing Pacific Rim nations like Japan and others, have encouraged a tentative interest in communications and trade among these various ‘friendly’ powers(If only to cultivate potential military allies). While semi-ballistic transports can move faster and often carry more cargo, smaller, less sophisticated aircraft such as Kera-Tech’s various seaplane designs are more economically attractive for smaller ‘jumps’, local cargo routes, and smaller operators. The ‘Great Fulmar’ came about to meet the upper end of this intermediate market in transport, following close on the heels of the smaller ‘Wayfarer’/’Mars super-flying boat which had showed the economic feasibility of large-scale flying boats. Paladin Steel was primary contractor for the new design, as part of a payment plan for Kera-Tech’s help in developing the PS space program and other projects. The design was developed in conjunction with Kera-Tech’s Maritime Transport Division, which contributed its own expertise(especially important, since Montro Bay and its satellite communities would be needed ports of call and supply/repair depots).
The Great Fulmar is based on a pre-Rifts European concept for a seaplane freighter, the French CG1000-400(lending to the rumor that the Great Fulmar is actually a fourth-hand design from PS’s contacts in the New Roman Republic). This advanced seaplane layout has a dual parallel-body catamaran hull, with the cockpit on the bridging hull/wing section between the two, four high-mounted wings (two fore and two aft) spanning out and ending in upturned winglets, a conventional tail-fin, and eight armored engine nacellles. Four of these engines are on the forward hull, abreast the cockpit, and channel engine thrust under the center body wing surface, providing lift. The four rear engines sit astraddle the tail, and provide primary forward thrust. The Great Fulmar comes with two choices of propulsion; a liquid-fuelled version that utilizes low-level WiG(Wing in Ground) flight(essentially acting like a high-level hovercraft) for greater long-range fuel economy, and a more expensive nuclear-powered model.
Like the Wayfarer, the Fulmat boasts a large upper deck behind the cockpit, dedicated to passenger and crew comforts on long transoceanic voyages, including a bathroom/show, galley, sleeper compartment, navigations and communications room, and emergency escape gear(deployable escape pods/MDC liferafts). The lowwer cargo bays can be accessed from the central passenger deck by ladderways. Typically, the ship will carry a small hover launch(essentially a GEV motoboat) for tug duty and getting around at foreign ports, and one or two light power armors/exoskeletons for cargo loading and defense.
The Fulmar boasts great range and a large internal cargo capacity, and its speed of Mach 0.72 is respectable for a large transport of its size, and is higher than that of the massive PB-2005ST Wayfarer that preceded it, but its overall speed and maneuvarability make it an attractive target for faster airborne opponents. To guard against bandits and monsters, the Fulmar mounts a more than fair amount of advanced composite armor, and multiple weapons stations for self-defense. Though far from being a warbird, the Fulmar can serve as a maritime recon/patrol craft and troop transport if necessary(as was the case in the CTE/PSW Pacific War).
Type: PS-PBY-18
Class: Long-Range Heavy Seaplane Freight Transport
Day of Introduction: 110 PA
Crew: 10 (Pilot, co-pilot, Communications, Flight Engineer, and six gunners/cargo handlers).
Has provision for 1-50 passengers(w/provision for bunking in flight)
Main Cargo Bays can be modified to seat additional passengers(consider 1 ton to equal 4 passengers, seating, and 150 lbs of luggage apiece)
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,500
Reinforced Crew Compartment/Cockpit 350
Weapons Turrets(10) 150 each
Wings(4) 400 each
Tail 320
*Engines(8) 120 each
*The aircraft can fly with as few as four engines still functional
Height: 60 ft at tail-fin
Width: 230 ft
Length: 230 ft
Weight: 1.2 million lbs
Cargo: 880,000 lbs
Powerplant: Liquid Fuel (5,400 mile range)or Nuclear w/ 25 year energy life
Speed: 520 MPH, maximum altitude of 24,000 ft.
Using WiG , the Fulmar typically travels 10-100 ft off the ocean surface at a speed of 250-350 MPH; for conventionally fuelled aircraft, this can extend the effective range by as much as 30%.
Cost: 60 million credits for conventionally fuelled, 68 million credits for nuclear powered
Systems of Note:
*Long Range Radio---1,000 miles
*Long Range Radar---200 miles
*Short-Range ‘Look Down’ Radar---Range: 6 miles. This system scans the ocean surface and can look just below the surface for submerged vessels , islands(a good navigational aide) and lurking supernatural beings(like Reachers, about to burst up through the water).
*Inertial and Astronomical Navigation---The Interface and the destruction(?) of the old GPS networks has meant that globehopping is much more difficult...but not impossible. Fortunately, the Interface doesn’t prevent accurate navigation by the stars and other(stable) astronomical objects(unless one happens to be within a leyline storm or area of dimensional instability), and the long-range aircraft have been fitted with automated star-trackers. PS is planning on extending its network of stealthed LeyNet ‘Dark Star’ Semi-Sats that could be used to accurately guide vessels about the Pacific(some say they already have), but to date, there has been no issuance of TW-GPS terminals for the fleet...
*Life Support----Pressurized Cabin and air filtration systems
*Passenger Deck has reclining seats, ten-bed ‘sleeper’ cabin,mini-sickbay(basic and paramedic treatment facilities), three toilets, a kitchen/galley, water filtration/decon system(ultra-violet irradiation and charcoal filtration) and a small condenser/distillation unit(can produce about 50 gallons a day).
*Cargo Deck has built-in powered conveyor belt(s)/roller way in the floor, overhead chain-sling for cargo, and typically will have a light power armor or mini-forklift for cargo-handling.
*Internal Fire Suppression System
Weapons Systems:
1)Weapons Turrets((6, one under the cockpit/nose, one on the front of each of the cargo hulls, one on the dorsal side, one ventral gun tub, and a tail gun station). All of these weapons may be of the same type, but a mix of different types is recommended for weapons capability balance.
The (primary) weapon of choice on the West Coast is the Kera-Tech KTRG-40 Dual Brarreled Rail Gun System(introduced on the KTV-17 Simrek Dropship) , but PS versions will often replace these with their own PS-RFL-25 Rapid-Fire Laser.

a) KTRG-40 11mm Dual Barreled Rail Gun System---A proven system with moderate damage, but excellent range and reliable operation.
Range: 5,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD to a 5 ft blast radius per 30 round burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 6,000 rounds per gun(200 bursts)

b)Paladin Steel Laser Pod-----This is the PS-RFL-25, the so-called “Prosek’s Gift’ thanks to its being derived from a reverse-engineered Coalition weapon!
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage:2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2)Short Range Missile Launchers(4)---These are air defence launchers for AAMs. Two are mounted forward, just behind and outboard of the forward gun turrets, and the other two are lateral mounts firing to the sides and rear of the aircraft. PS ‘Black Talon’ LSAMs are the preferred missile for these launchers, but they will accept any standardized SRM.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 30 missiles each launcher(120 each)

3)Chaff/Flare Launchers(4)---Mounted on either side of the tail, and under each wing, are decoy countermeasure launchers.
Flare/Chaff Launcher
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: 24 per launcher, 48 total

4)(Optional) Underwing Hardpoints(4)---The rear wings mount four hardpoints(two each wing) for carrying additional countermeasures, cargo pods, or weapons pods.
Each Hardpoint can carry the following:
a)Flare/Chaff Launcher
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: 24 per launcher

b) Cargo Pod---Can hold an additional 5 tons of cargo

c) EW Pod---A powerful radar jammer and targeting system spoiler; good for confusing sensor-guided weapons; -3 to strike

d) Missile/Torpedo Pod---Can hold 4 LRMs/Torpedoes, OR 16 MRMs/Torpedoes, OR 32 SRMs/Torpedoes, OR 64 Mini-missiles/Torpedoes, OR DOUBLE the number in equivalent mines.


*PS-PB-2008ST ‘Albatross’----PS has a variant of the Wayfarer, the PS-PB-2008ST ‘Albatross’ which is slightly smaller and more compact(overall width of 300 ft), and is distinguishable by having a large T-tail, no wings outboard of the larger ‘catamaran’ hulls, but is, in all other respects, IDENTICAL to the ‘Wayfarer’. The ‘Albatross’ hull was an alternate design for the ‘Wayfarer’, and was developed in parallel. So far, only three ‘Albatrosses’ have been constructed.

[abtex]

Should have a variety of stuff this weekend to clog up your computer memory...doing across the boards rewrites and new ideas to build up Small Arms, Aircraft, Land Vehicles, and Watercraft....Spacecraft and Biotech will take awhile...

They have arrived. Shopping may begin.

Will you be preferring paper or plastic bagging for your purchases?

No, Liberty Ship.

Somebody asked for high-tech walking sticks?

No it was....

On a side note, does PS offer a Hiking Stick, that combines the Multiplexor Weapon and features of the ‘Pummeler’ Urban Melee Weapon together so people can safety hike the trails. In no way would this be a Mage's staff with custom designs being available with optional Scrambler Shelter.

But the walking sticks will do for starts.
Do the PSA series have a enlargened version of 'Pummeler' for close combat or back up?

[taalismn]

Well, we can probably have several stick lines and maybe a custom wand shoppe based on Magic Oak rods...

[abtex]

Paladin Steel Wave Runner Patrol Boat

....(and New Bath has about twenty or more VEC autofac-cells alone dedicated to forty-footers).
<snip>

Length: 80 ft

Is New Bath building 40- and 80- footers?

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Wave Runner Patrol Boat

....(and New Bath has about twenty or more VEC autofac-cells alone dedicated to forty-footers).
<snip>

Length: 80 ft

Is New Bath building 40- and 80- footers?

Yep...they're making great strides in automated reinforced megadamage composite/polymer casting technology for making boat hulls..

However, in this case, you are correct in your implied question...the Wave Runners ARE 40 ft long, rather than 80 ft...
That has been corrected...

Of course, now I'll have to come up with a few 80 footers...

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel/ Howletts Bionics ‘Roo Borg
(aka ‘CyberRoo’, ‘Kangaroo Jack’, ‘Tin Hoppy’, ‘Kango’)

“Wow! Look at that bugger go! He’s OUT of here!”
“Yeah, that’s astonis--HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING GAPING?! AFTER HIM, YOU FOOLS!!!!”

“Not that I don’t appreciate being saved from certain death by sacrificial blade....But this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I wanted to swept off my feet and carried to safety by a knight in shining armor.”
“Yeah, I kinda got that impression when you threw up on me after the third bounce.”

“I got my tail fitted with a Beach Stormer ion cannon with bayonet, got two secondary arms fitted up front, and filled my pouch with grenades!...I get right in the thick of things, in and over it! I’m a regular high-bouncing, big-bombing, bad momma!”

Dissatisfied with the reception of his local animal-inspired cyborg designs in Free Canada, Doctor Calvin Howletts has decided to look further afield to market his designs, while keeping his factory/workshop firmly entrenched in the PanAmerican corporate alliance nations of North America. Taking advantage of the ‘Tag-Along’/’Get Away Special’ incentive programs promoted by Paladin Steel’s intercontinental(and extraplanetary) transport and exploration efforts to increase trade, especially by small business, Howletts has decided, for some reason, that newly openned Australia has potential as the next great ‘Borg market. Accordingly, he has rushed a new design off the drawing boards and into the pre-production stage in anticipation of marketting demos and the flood of sale orders sure to follow.
The ‘Roo, or CyberRoo as it is also called, is a full-conversion cyborg frame with a heavy duty chassis, particularly wide and reinforced on the pelvis and legs for sustained shock, lighter upper body, long neck, snouted head/faceplate, and long semi-prehensile tail for counterbalance. The most obvious feature is the wide hips and long legs, specially articulated for long-range leaping and kicking, though the peculiar jointing of the legs and feet gives the ‘borg an odd, awkward, waddle when walking. The head also features prominent radar ‘ears’ for mapping out terrain and helping the ‘borg plot a safe course through any obstacles.
The RooBorg is light on standard weapons, but heavy on mobility. The legs are powerful and backed by integral jet boosters. While the large legs actually make the cyborg rather slow in normal walking, once the cyborg opens up on open ground, it get going harder and faster than a Triax Terrain Hopper(in part due to the fact that the integrated cyborg doesn’t have to worry about the sort of internal buffeting that bangs a power armor pilot around inside their armor).
In order to make the design more attractive to adventuring parties, the CyberRoo’s cargo pouch can also be converted into a carrier harness for a fellow adventurer, to be carried, joey-style, strapped to the cyborg’s torso. The tough armor-weave harness covers the passenger’s legs(though they can hit a quick release that dumps them free in an instant) and torso with medium MDC protection(50 MDC), but leaves the arms and head free and exposed. This option hasn’t proven all that effective, however; aside from the sheer indignity of being toted around like a baby in a sling, many riders complain that the high speed leaping and bounding of the CyberRoo jars and slams the passenger something fierce, courting serious whiplash.
Nevertheless, while the Australian market has yet to materialize(and likely never will), the design has garnered enough interest in the American bionics circles that PS carries the Howlett Bionics line through its regional outlets. The design has gotten some attention from cybercouriers and recon-borg outfits for its fast speed. Whether this will satisfy the eccentric Doctor Howletts remains to be seen, though.
Type:(PS)HB-FC-12
Class: Full Conversion Borg -Heavy Machine
Crew: One human volunteer
M.D.C. By Location:
Hands(2) 30 each
Arms(2) 90 each
Legs(2) 150 each
Tail 100.
*Head 100 .
**Main Body 270 .
*Destroying the head of a Cyborg will kill the character!
However, the head is a small and difficult target to hit. The attacker
must make a called shot and even then he is -3 to strike. The hands, and
forearms are also difficult targets to hit and are -4 to strike on a
called shot.
**Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will effectively
destroy the artificial body, but emergency systems will keep the brain and
vital organs alive for 36 hours. Recovery of the severely damaged body
will enable doctors to place the character on life support systems that
will keep him alive until a new bionic body (same style or other) is
available, for full conversion. Failure to find the damaged Borg within 36
hours means the character dies.

Note: The RooBorg CAN be fitted with additional armor, but is limited to LIGHT Cyborg Armor

Speed:
Running: 40 mph max . However the act of running does
not tire the operator out and the maximum speed can be maintained
indefinitely.
Jumping: The powerful robotic legs are strong and capable
of leaping 100 feet high or 150 ft lengthwise. A jet assist adds 300 ft to
distance/height. Going flat out this way, the cyborg can hit speeds of 190 MPH!
Flying: Not possible without a jet pack
Underwater: The RooBorg CANNOT swim, but sinks like a rock

Statistical Data:
Average Height: 8 feet ,
Width: 3.6 ft feet
Length: 3 feet , and the tail adds another 6 ft
Weight: 1500 lbs.
Power System: Nuclear
Physical Attributes: Equal to Robotic PS. 35, PP. 24,.
Bonuses: Standard cyborg bonuses of +3 save vs magic, impervious to
bio-manipulation
+4 initiative
+5 strike/parry
+6 dodge
+1 Automatic Leap Dodge
+3 Roll With Fall or Impact
+3 Pull Punch
Penalties: Touch/tactile sense is 50% of human norm.
Prowl penalty: -20%

Special Skills/Training---Use standard 'Borg, Salvage Expert, or Headhunter OCC.
Black Market Cost: 7 million credits with all standard features, weapons, and sensors.

Standard Bionic Features
Note: These features are all found in the bionic and
cybernetic section of the Rifts RPG.
1. Bionic lung with gas filter & storage cell
2. Built-in language translator
3. Built-in radio receiver & transmitter
4. Clock calendar
5. Gyro-compass
6. Modulated voice synthesizer
7. Multi-optic eyes
8. Built-in loudspeaker
9. Universal headjack with amplified hearing and
sound filtration systems.

Special Features:
*Terrain Mapping Radar---Micro-radar and range-finding lasers that constantly scan the ground ahead, allowing the cyborg to plan accordingly, and even adjust its trajectory to land and rebound safely. Range: 600 ft

*Cargo Pouch---The lower front torso sports a large cargo compartment that can be sealed air-tight. Can hold up to 120 lbs of cargo and can expand to roughly 3 ftx3ftx3 ft(so a person could be carried, if they were curled up, but if made airtight, they’d only have 5 minutes of breathable air).

Weapons Systems:
1)Forearm Weapons---The RooBorg can mount any cyborg forearm weapon option, such as retractable blades and/or forearm blasters.

2)Tail Weapon---The RooBorg can mount a fairly heavy weapon, such as a light to medium rail gun, heavy energy rifle, or grenade launcher in the large tail. The tail is flexible enough to bend around to point to the front, over the shoulder, and can deliver a powerful swat(augmented by any spikes or vibroblades the cyborg may elect to have installed in the tail...blast studs and anklosaur-like vibrospikes are particularly popular).

3)Foot VibroBlades(Retractable)---+3d6 MD to a kick

4) (Optional) Use of Handheld Weapons---The RooBorg can use its hands to pick up and use any available infantry hand weapons, if so desired.

Hand to Hand Combat
Restrained Punch 1d4 SDC
Full Strength Punch 1d6+20 SDC
Power Punch( 2 attacks) 2d4 MD
Kick 2d8 MD
Power Kick 3d8 MD
Leap Kick(2 Attacks) 4d8 MD
Judo-Style Throw/Flip 1d4 MD
Body Block/Ram 1d6 MD
Tail Slap 1d4 MD

Options:
The RooBorg can be fitted with any of the standard cybernetic and bionic features in the Rifts books

[glitterboy2098]

"nice one skippy"

then again, it seems to be a common trait of that particular aussie wildlife....

[abtex]

Well, we can probably have several stick lines and maybe a custom wand shoppe based on Magic Oak rods...

Be a nice step from the norm.

[taalismn]

"nice one skippy"

then again, it seems to be a common trait of that particular aussie wildlife....

I feel vindicated in my silly idea already...

[taalismn]

Well, we can probably have several stick lines and maybe a custom wand shoppe based on Magic Oak rods...

Be a nice step from the norm.

Diverse product lines are always a good idea...

[Aramanthus]

Excellent additions Taalismn! I'd be happy to assemble those for you NMI. I Just have one small problem due to my stupidity when I first started collecting the PS stuff. I created long names for the early things. I have go and rename several dozen files before I can send them. These long names seem to prevent the files from being sent. It can be quite a pain on the place you sit down. I definately see the Federated States buying several of each of these latest material from PS.

My email addy is [url]Aramanthus@aol.com[/url]

[taalismn]

Egad...I have second-party retailers!

[Aramanthus]

Well there is a market for it! And apparently that customer can't get the material because of problems. Most likely the CS.

[taalismn]

Works for me...just try not to pad the retail price TOO much, okay?

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PSPBW-7 Particle Beam Weapon
(Aka ‘Kurang’)

“The Kurang’s one of the few PS weapons that isn’t lightened with plastic construction----they can’t, the thermal leakback from the particle discharge would boil off any polymer they used, especially in space, where the thermal differential between the hot gun barrel and open space would crack the casing if it weren’t made of good old metal and high-temp ceramic. So the Kurang’s heavy...and ugly as sin...built tough, and the big muzzle assembly can be a wicked damn weapon if you pistol whip somebody with, which you do alot of in ship-to-ship boarding actions.
The Kurang’s also got one of the highest shot-to-kill ratios of any PS sidearm, because it’s so powerful. And if pistol mode isn’t enough to do the job, you can screw on the rifle extension in less than a minute, and start firing anti-armor bolts....
Power usage is off the scale, of course, but you gotta expect that from a particle beam weapon, and it’s the only flaw in an otherwise perfect weapon.”
---Sakura Illyvich, Vermont Free State Special Forces

This extremely powerful hand weapon is the result of collaboration with the CTE and their own contacts with Japan, specifically the Republic of Japan.
The PSPBW-7 is one of PS’s most powerful handweapons to date, and their smallest particle beam weapon yet. The rugged-construction, long-barreled heavy pistol bears a passing resemblance to a classic heavy six-shooter, giving this ultra-modern weapon a decidedly ‘antiquated’ look. Construction is metal and heavy ceramic, while the handle is covered with a molding of high-grip embossed bakelite plastic.
The added bonus of the design is that the pistol can be modified with the addition of a shoulder piece that clips to the weapon like a pistol shoulder-stock. This clip-on features added e-clip capacity, additional accelerator elements, and a conformal bracing, and converts the pistol into a more powerful particle beam assault rifle.
The ‘Kurang’(named for a famed Ogre slave pit-warrior and later GNE freeman soldier) was first issued to the Vermont Free State Jump Infantry and Stelmarine Corps, where the new handgun met with enthusiastic approval from those who field-tested it. The weapon is expected to enter large-scale production for the GNE armed forces shortly, though inevitably a few weapons are likely to turn up in the hands of GNE-affiliated mercenaries and the Black Market.
Date of Introduction: 110 PA
Weight:(Pistol) 5.2 lbs
(Rifle) 8 lbs
Range:(Pistol) 1,400 ft
(Rifle) 3,000 ft
Damage:(Pistol) 6d6 MD per shot
(Rifle) 1d6x10+20 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload:(Pistol) 12 shots per e-clip
(Rifle) 6 shots from pistol clip; adds 12 full power shots per long e-clip in rifle butt(18 full power shots total)
Bonuses: +1 to strike from the laser spot sight
Special Features:
*Detachable shoulder stock and rifle energy pack
*Laser ‘red spot’ sight
*LCD energy gauge display
*Hardened MDC Ceramic and Alloy Construction: 15 MDC Pistol, 40 MDC Rifle
Cost: Currently limited to GNE and affiliates; if a fully functional PSPBW-7 were to be made available to the Black Market, it could fetch 45,000+ credits or more for the pistol, 80,000+ credits for the complete rifle.

Paladin Steel PSPBW-8 ‘BlueBolt’ Heavy Particle Beam Rifle
(Aka ‘Long Gun’, ‘Slingshot’)

“At last, an infantry particle beam weapon that allows you to blow the enemy’s head off without waiting until you can see the whites of their eyes, if they have any!”

The BlueBolt is PS’s continuing effort to create a high powered infantry-scale particle beam weapon that could take away the particle beam market share from Northern Gun. In particular, PS studied various alien weapons recovered by their OTAR agents for ideas, but really hoped to find a way of upping the damage and retaining the long range(manportable PBCs being notorious for lousy range), but using a more conventional technology. That work has finally borne fruit in the powerful PSPBW-8, arguably the most powerful manportable particle beam weapon available on the planet, period.
The PSPBW-8, as it has been finalized, is a handsome, angular, if rather large and heavy weapon, with clean, rectangular lines. A standard pistol grip is located near the rear of the weapon, with an e-clip slot just ahead of it, and a larger canister-clip port in the stock. A simple laser sight scope is mounted on top, though this can be replaced with other scopes as warrented/desired. An optional side handle can be added to the forestock, making for easier handling, especially with a shoulder sling. The weapon is roughly four feet long, making it awkward for smaller beings to manhandle, but it can be comfortably slung by larger beings and augmented soldiers.
Internally, the PSPBW-8 has three internal tubes running the length of the weapon; an initial accelerator element that uses a series of cylindrical magnetic elements aligned in series to create, after being energized by the e-clip, a rapidly accelerating high-energy particle path that travels the length of the magnetic element in a tight spiral, back and forth until the particle speed reaches trigger threshold, whereupon it is shunted to the end of the second tube, which is a solid pipe of heavy metallic cesium-viritalium alloy. The high speed particles ‘push’ on the unstable alloy, ‘knocking off’ heavy atomic particles at relativistic speed off the other end. These particles are caught by the final accelerator element tube at the muzzle, wrapped in a ‘magnetic coccoon’ similar to PS’s ‘Magbolt’ weapons, given a corrective course ‘tweak’, then given one last kick of acceleration as they leave the weapon. The two rods appear as twin barrels firing from the end of the weapon, when in fact they are firing as one, combining effect. The cesium-alloy ‘source’ rod is rated as good for 3,000 firings before needing replacement(easily enough done with a snap-open, snap-out, snap-in, snap-shut design).
The secret of the new weapon lies in its combination of Magbolt technology and the new viritalium particle source. Viritalium(its ‘tradename’) is a new synthetic element(the secret of the manufacture of which is a closely-guarded PS company secret), normally liquid in the laboratory conditions in which it is produced, and normally breaks down rapidly from its pure form, but alloyed to another metal, like cesium, it becomes stable at room temperature, though it continues to be an excellent propogator of heavy, high-energy particles. Though viritalium is a new, and hard to come by, material, being produced exclusively by PS, it is far cheaper and less exotic than some of the other alien power sources and particle emitters under consideration, with its short-duration intense energetic fusion reaction. PS already uses viritalium particle sources in their material processing industry...using ‘particle fountains’ to bombard and atomically transmute materials on an industrial scale. The use of this limited-life particle source has raised some concerns among soldiers, but PS engineers point out that even robust designs like the Northern Gun NG-P7 rarely go over 500 shots without requiring extensive teardown, servicing, and replacement of major internal elements like the accelerator magnets and insulation packing.
The BlueBolt gets its name from the distinctive blue flare of its particle packets as they are launched. The name caught on before PS and the VFS Regular Army could assign the name of an armed services hero, as they usually do for such, and the ‘BlueBolt’ entered the common usage as the name of this weapon.
The PSPBW-8 has only recently begun to be deployed with the VFS military, but already some infantrymen have begun modifying their weapons, slinging grenade launchers(the eight shot rotary PS AGL-14C is a favorite), micro-missile launchers, or vibrobayonets under the muzzle and forestock.
PS is reportedly working on a larger, more powerful version of this weapon for cyborgs and power armors. Also, inspired by reports of more powerful exotic particle beam weapons circulating in certain interdimensional markets, PS is reportedly at work on enhanced neutron- and meson-beam versions of the ‘BlueBolt’.
The introduction of the ‘BlueBolt’ has reportedly triggered a fierce round of debate and argument between its proponents and those who favor the lighter ‘Kurang’ particle beam weapon, sparking more than a few ‘shoot offs’ to determine which is the better weapon.
Date of Introduction: 112 PA
Weight: 17 lbs
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast, but on a strike roll of 18 or more, the weapon does 2d4x10+10 MD!
Rate of Fire: Single shot, ECHH
Payload: 20 shots from a long E-Clip
Bonuses: +1 to strike from the laser spot sight.
Special Features:
*Telescopic Optical Sight
*Laser Sight
*LCD energy gauge display
*Hardened MDC Ceramic and Alloy Construction: 55 MDC
Cost: 180,000 credits

[abtex]

Paladin Steel PSPBW-7 Particle Beam Weapon

Paladin Steel PSPBW-8 ‘BlueBolt’ Heavy Particle Beam Rifle

Nice new ideas.

Do they come in a model between the pistol and rifle? Say a Personal Defense Weapon (PDW).

"What did she hit you with? Rhino-Buffalo?"
"No, Doc. Rifle-Bu tt of her new PS rifle. Wanted to see what kind of damage it would do?"

*Hardened MDC Ceramic and Alloy Construction

Does this type of Construction give the weapons a better Melee combat value?

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PSPBW-7 Particle Beam Weapon

Paladin Steel PSPBW-8 ‘BlueBolt’ Heavy Particle Beam Rifle

Nice new ideas.

Do they come in a model between the pistol and rifle? Say a Personal Defense Weapon (PDW).

"What did she hit you with? Rhino-Buffalo?"
"No, Doc. Rifle-Bu tt of her new PS rifle. Wanted to see what kind of damage it would do?"

*Hardened MDC Ceramic and Alloy Construction

Does this type of Construction give the weapons a better Melee combat value?

We don't recommend that you use superhuman or supernatural strength to use your very expensive firearms as clubs unless you absolutely have to...they're designed to take a beating in field conditions, and even in some cases, being devoured by supernatural beasts(you'd be surprised how many adventurers have had to shoot their way out of digestive cavities and stomach tracts), but if you're looking for melee weapons, we suggest our Melee Weapons Catalogue Section...or we can provide you with some lengths of megadamage rebar at a good price.

That having been said, we DO manufacture some of our weapons for extra durability, especially when they mount bayonets, shock prods, or are designed for close quarters work, where the chace of close encounters with an opponent are that much greater...

[Aramanthus]

Nice weapons. I think we can swing buying several hundred cases of both of them.

[taalismn]

Our accountants noticed the deposit...

[Aramanthus]

But of course. And as for padding the prices. The Federated states don't approve of that. We only tack on a five percent fee over what we pay.

[taalismn]

Sounds reasonable...yeah, we can live with transport and storage overhead..

[taalismn]

MY thanks to Raven for his Kera-Tech and cadmium-telluride plasma weapons...

Paladin Steel PSPPR-9 TriBarrel ‘HeatWave’ Gatling Plasma Cannon
(aka ‘Vapinator’, ‘Vap-Gun’, ‘FirePot’)

“You have to be real careful with the Vapinator...like any other projectile weapon, if you don’t carefully maintain the ammo feed mechanism, the weapon can jam...and in this case the cartridge can cook off inside the weapon...it’s a lot more hazardous than picking at a jammed round with a tool or blade...If the gun jams, the C-T round USUALLY remains inert...Fortunately the way the rotating ignition chamber is designed, it shears the ammo belt from the next ready-round, and the closure is designed, in event of a premature round cook-off, to blow the rest of the belt out of the way, so you don’t get a chain-fire.
Trust me, we went through plenty of test-weapons to make sure this works, but don’t trust in just the design; keep the works maintained properly and the Vap will rain hell for you faithfully through many a battle.”
---Geldar Movalin, Paladin Steel Advanced Weapons Division

“Watch your ammo when you’re going full-out...at max feed rate, the Fire-pot matches your own trigger pull rate, so it’s entirely possible to burn through a whole standard ammo-can in fifteen seconds. If what you’re shooting at isn’t dead or at least seriously worried by then, you better change ammo boxes FAST.”
---Sergeant Digger Dunbine, 2nd Division, GNE Regular Army, on the New York Frontier Zone.

The PPR-9 is the result of Paladin Steel’s continuing tech-exchanges with Kera-Tech Industries, specifically plasma cartridge generation technology. Seeking to duplicate Naruni’s famed plasma cartridge technology, KTI developed a similar system based on single-use, single-shot cadmium-telluride components that acted as both a disposable e-clip and a source of gas for the excited plasma. The result, ideally, is a lighter, more powerful weapons system than a continuous-draw ‘heat element’ weapon, as well as one that can be used in environments where there is no available suitable gas-medium to draw upon(like hard vaccum or underwater). Of course, the cartridge system has its own problems, including the hazards of storing and properly igniting the high-energy storage cells, feeding the ignition chamber, clearing it of spent cells, and cooling(ambient-substrate plasma generators can often cool themselves in the process of drawing in outside gas for the next shot).
PS sought to capitalize on these qualities by adapting a multiple-barrel ‘gatling’ approach, rapidly swapping firing chambers in succession to maintain a high rate of fire, while allowing the weapon to cool down and avoid meltdown. The PPR-9 ‘HeatWave’ is their first operational weapon built on this basis.
The PPR-9 uses a snub-nosed tribarrel configuration, with the barrels made of high-temperature-resistant poly-ceramics lined with heat super-conductive alloy ‘wicking’. An electric motor feeds a disiintegrating plastic belt of cadmium-telluride power cell ‘cartridges’ into the presented ignition chamber, a small laser-igniter(cold-started by battery power and then charged for subsequent shots by a thermocouple attached to the heat radiator assembly) fires off the self-consuming charge, and as the barrel is rotated out of firing alignment, the rear portion of the cartridge, banded in slower-evaporating material, expels any cadmium-telluride residue as a gas jet. It is configured as a crew-served weapon served by a three-man crew, each member of which carries one of the components(gun, tripod, and ammunition boxes), using the same mounting tripod as for the ‘Arden’ autocannon, but it can be configured for vehicle pintle-mounting, power armors, or handheld-use by exceptionally strong or augmented soldiers.
As a first-generation weapon using this technology, the PPR-9 is rather heavy, suffers from short range(compared to other heavy weapons), and the snub-nosed design means accuracy suffers(there’s a lot of collateral ‘spatter’ to the fire-footprint, but many crews profess to like this ‘shotgun’ effect). The weapon is also rather ‘dirty’, with a large heat blossom signature and visible exhaust gas cloud at high rates of fire.
The PPR-9 first appeared in GNE Regular Army hands in the summer of 108 P.A and saw extensive use against Coalition forces beseiging the Great Lakes ports. The weapon was first seen as an infantry heavy weapon and mounted on vehicles such as the Rattlesnake APC and Black Bear MBT.
Weight: 120 lbs
Range: 3,000 ft...Maximum range for a six-shot burst drops to 2,500 ft with a 6-ft wide ‘spread’, and for a twelve-shot burst to 2,000 ft with an eight-foot spread.
Damage: 5d6 MD per single blast, 2d4x10+10 MD per three-shot burst, 3d6x10 MD per six-shot burst(2d6x10 MD beyond 2,500 ft out to its maximum range), and a whopping 6d6x10 MD for a twelve-shot burst(4d6x10 MD beyond 2,000 ft out to its maximum range)
Rate of Fire: Single shot, three, six, or twelve shot bursts
Payload: 60 round box standard
Special Features:
*Corrosion-proof all-weather composite ceramic construction
*Standard Issue tripod ground mount(18 inche elevation) w/ 45-degree elevation, 30 degree depression pintle.
*Simple grip and button electronic trigger, suitable for a variety of manipulatory appendages
*Standard low-slug tripod features ground spikes with simple twist-screw activated retractable ‘ground hooks’, and spade backtrail. Snap-on seat pad optional.
*Can be rigged for remote firing and operation
*Smart-ported for sensor pack- and cyberlink- hookup

Cost: 45,000 credits. Cadmium-telluride cartridges cost 45 credits each(but the price is expected to come down as production ramps up to meet demand)

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel PSPBW9 ‘FlareHammer’ Particle Beam Weapon
(aka ‘Murtalizer’)
“I am soooo glad to see you all gathered here tonight....I have waited long to thank you all for making me what I am, so I may take this moment to announce my revenge on you all! Notice my wonderful girls? My charming mind-controlled assassins? With one thought I can unle*SIZZLE*”...-splash- THUD
“What are you all looking at? Think I shoulda let her finish that sentence?”

When customers wanted something in size and power roughly between the PSPBW7 and PSPBW8, Paladin Steel came out with the PBW9. Roughly the size of a folding-stock shotgun, this weapon can be handled two-handed by most people or singled-handed by the exceptionally strong. Rugged ceramic and alloy construction makes for a durable weapon that can handle a lot of abuse, while advanced particle generation technology cuts weight without sacrificing power. The PBW9 is short ranged, but it packs a wallopin a compact package and is simple enough that a whole lot can’t go wrong with it . It might not have all the bells and whistles as the other weapons, but as yet PS has found little it can do with particle beam technology, so they’ve decided to focus on power and reliability, both of which the PBW9 has. The weapon gets its offical reporting name from its distinctive muzzle-flash and high damage on target.
The PBW9 was first issued to GNE urban defense garrisons as a short-range anti-armor weapon,but has since become available for sale to PS and GNE affiliates.
Weight: 10 lbs
Range: 1,500 ft
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 4 shots from a short e-clip, 9 shots from a standard e-clip, 12 shots from a long e-clip
Special Features:
*Detachable shoulder stock and forehand grip
*Laser ‘red spot’ sight
*LCD energy gauge display
*Hardened MDC Ceramic and Alloy Construction: 45 MDC
Cost: 29,000 credits


Pscillitron Psi-Detector

“Okay, just to keep this game fair, I’m puttin’ this here psi-crystal right here....it lights up even once, I’mma gonna know one of youse rotters is cheatin’ and they’s gonna get the contents of this here shotgun up their lyin’ noses.”
“But Dirty Bob....You know I’m a Mind-Melter, Regonald’s a psistalker, Baxter’s a DogBoy, and Joachim’s a Psyex...How you gunna know which one of us it is?”
“...we’ll cross that bridge if we getz to it...Now DEAL!”

Pscillitrons are small cubes of crystal about three inches square that hold a balanced ecosphere of water and psi-sensitive algae inside. If psionic powers are used anywhere in a ten foot radius of the cube, the algae begin bioluminescing in a distinctive pattern. Beyond that, holders of the pscillitron will be unable to tell what the psionic power being used is, how powerful it is, or whether the holder or people in the immediate vicinity of the pscillitron are the target of the power.
On the plus side, pscillitrons are cheap(or were, initially) and low maintenance; aside from the need for an hour’s exposure to bright light every 24(a good heat lamp will do the trick) the cube has no moving parts to break or foul. That makes them popular with people who fear psionics and psychic spying and/or can’t afford more sophisticated countermeasures or psychic agents of their own.
Pscillitrons have become the rage in the Black Market since they first appeared three years ago, and demand and the price have soared(as well as rumor about their capabilities). Complicating the issue is a flood of counterfeit glass and plastic pscillitrons hawked at hiking prices to the impressionable.
Paladin Steel is happy to announce having obtained a substantial supply of genuine and tested pscillitrons that it is making available through its outlets and catalogue.
Cost: 2,000 credits in places like Psyscape(where they’re seen as merely interesting toys), five to ten times as much in places like the Chi-Town ‘burbs.
Palladin Steel is offering their stock at 2,500 credits.

[abtex]

Nice. I bet PSA-11 jocks love to mount ‘FlareHammers’ on their suits.

I think that I know some HoverCycle pilots who can use them mounted on their rides, as well. They like small rifle grade shot-ters and large payload pistol ammo firing weapons about PDW size. That they can hand carry as well. A couple have even had a rifle barrel and a PDW fitted together can as they snipe at long range. Most have inceased ammo payload setup as well.

Any more PDWs in the works?

[NMI]

Nobody has these wonderful creations compiled?

[taalismn]

Nice. I bet PSA-11 jecks love to mount ‘FlareHammers’ on their suits.

I think that I know some HoverCycle pilots who can use them mounted on their rides, as well. They like small rifle grade shot-ters and large payload pistol ammo firing weapons about PDW size. That they can hand carry as well. A couple have even had a rifle barrel and a PDW fitted together can as they snipe at long range. Most have inceased ammo payload setup as well.

Any more PDWs in the works?

Hoping to do some heavier vehicles before doing more small arms work..."You can't stop a demonic storm with just side arms alone."

[taalismn]

Nobody has these wonderful creations compiled?

Too busy creating more of 'em(type,type, type)
Can't stand still, gotta keep moving...

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel Advanced Nuetron Weapons(‘ANWeps’)
“That mighta been the local equivalent of a housecat, you know...”
“I don’t care WHAT it was...it was spiney, furry, and bloodsucking and F&&*#ng jumping for my throat! So I blasted it!”
“’Is’”
“What?”
“’Is’ , as it is still whatever it is...I think it’s still alive.”
“Gimme your Anwep, Kelso...*ZERSH*ZERSH*ZERSH*....now it’s a ‘was’.”
“It most certainly is....”

Being wedged in the American NorthEast with MadHaven and the monster-rich forests of the East to the south of them, and the Splugorth haunting the coast, the GNE has a great respect for the supernatural. The echoes of the demon plagues of the Chaos Years still haunt the racial memories of those human and former d-bee descendants who call the region home. Though both the GNE and PS have embraced a ‘combined arms approach’ that includes mundanes and supernaturals in the quest for security and prosperity, all admit that the supernatural has a quantity all its own when up against even the stiffest conventional technological resistance. Supernatural flesh that is resistant to even the heaviest weaponry, and can heal in moments before shocked eyes, has allowed many powerful demons to shrug off wounds, to continue their campaigns of carnage and terror.
Paladin Steel has been looking into ways of modifying particle beam weaponry(beyond longer ranged and more powerful) along many of the same lines as its laser, ion, and plasma weapons lines, to diversify the technology and make the weapons more effective against more exotic(and thus dangerous) foes. Looking at similar programs in Europe, especially Triax’s U-round and DU-round techniques, PS saw that in many cases, radiation was a useful countermeasure against supernatural and superhuman regenerants. However, radioactive ammunition came with its own share of problems; safe handling and storage of the projectiles for one, and lingering collateral damage to the environment afterwards. While PS could easily turn out its own versions of U-Rounds for the many weapons it had provided the GNE military, spewing such ammunition around the forests and cities of the GNE was an unacceptable health risk(except, arguably, in the most dire ‘Masada’-style last-ditch defense). Other solutions had to be found, and PS looked at irradiation beam technology as a possible acceptable avenue of research. If particle beams could be modified to produce an enhanced radiation stream, like a directed neutron bomb, it might be possible to temporarily negate the rapid generation qualities of many supernatural beings. The beam could be more tightly controlled, and the temporary effect would limit collateral damage and long-term health concerns.
PS has currently devised a modified version of many of its existing particle weapons lines that enhances the nuetron stream properties of the PBPs. A limited production of ANW-versions of existing weapons such as the PSPBWs 7-9, for field-testing distribution to select Regular Army, horror-hunter teams, and approved affiliates has been done by PS to test the effectiveness of the technology. These first generation weapons suffer from some shortcomings; they do HALF their normal damage, the weapons are 25% heavier, and 25% pricier, but range and payload are unaffected.
The same technology has also been applied to heavier vehicle- and robot-mounted particle weapons(again, same penalties apply), assigned to select units.
Effects of ANW:
ANWeps do cumulative irradiation damage proportionate to their actual blast damage; for every 2 points of PBP damage done, the regenerative abilities ‘superhealers’ are negated for 1 minute(round down). During that duration, supernatural, superhuman,and magical healing CANNOT be effectively performed. Even psionic abilities like Healing Touch and Bio-Regeneration(Self) and (Super) are HALF as effective.
Note that the damage applies only wounds inflicted by the PBP strikes; other damage may be healed as normal, but the particle beam wounds will continue to bleed, gape open, and cause problems.
Example: Baragon the Snow-Lizard unwisely attacks a GNE patrol, one member (Corporal S’Nee) of who is carrying an ANW-modified PBW9...in the insuing combat S’Nee manages to get off three hits on Baragon, doing 20, 20, and 30 MDC respectively, for a total of 70 MDC....For a being used to regenerating 1d10 MD per MELEE being unable that 70 MD for 35 minutes can prove deadly, especially if S’Nee’s buddies can stay ahead of Baragon’s ability to heal the rest of the damage.

[taalismn]

(Thanks to Raven for his original thoughts on this)

Paladin Steel Magic Disruptor/Anti-Theron Projectors

“Gun?! You call THAT a gun?! THAT’s a glorified flashlight! Now, THIS is a GUN! Genuine Triax issue pulse ion rifle, modified by Glory and Steinheim’s to produce an extended pulse burst, balanced for superior single-handed operation, and they squeezed in an extended E-clip for more rapid-fire shots! You’ll be glad of that when you’re hiding behind me! Now let me go kill us some monsters! Haha!!!”
(Three Black Fairies and a haunted house later....)
“Ah....not my fault those things all had energy deflection spells...nope....hey, maybe they were really more powerful critters in disguise!....Just one more shot, I woulda had them!.....ah.....where can I get one of those things you have...?....”

“I don’t think of myself as turning against my own kind by devising this weapon...I think of myself as helping clean the world of all the bad ones that are ruining it for my kind...”
----Pascali Draden, Mage and co-developer of the Anti-Theron weapons system.

“Gentlemen, you will note that each of your weapons has been fitted with an additional housing alongside the main magazine and barrel...should your position be overrun and you are forced to abandon your weapon, you are under orders to deploy the contents of the package...simply peel back the adhesive on the end and slide the switch underneath...then run like hell.....You have ten seconds before the demolition charge destroys your gun....We have no desire to let the Coalition or anyone else have the Disruptor technology, and you will be held responsible for the weapons and technology issued to you!”
-----SpecOps Briefing, Fort Ti, Greater New England.

Anti-Theron Weapons are the first results of a large-scale PS/KTI collaboration project designed at developing weaponry aimed specifically at countering magical creatures. The project has been controversial from the start, as many ‘pro-mythicists’ have accused PS of taking a ‘Coalition-style’ approach to dealing with the supernatural. PS PR officials have countered that the companies involved have long had a good relationship with regard to supernatural and magic-using residents of the respective nation states, and that the current lines of research are aimed at preventing the sorts of tragedies caused by the MALIGN sorts of magicks and paranormal evil, that threaten BOTH the magic- and non-magic-aligned parts of the populace.
Anti-Theron Magic Disruptors are a product of several joint Paladin Steel/Kera-Tech research initiatives into producing more effective defenses against supernatural beings, projects that only recently have begun to show progress. The Type 1 Disruptor is the first of these projects to reach production and deployment status, and was first mounted on the Ghost Adder variant of the Dragonfly VTOL.
The introduction of Magic Disruptor weaponry has caused an uproar in the mage community, who fear that the technology, in the wrong hands, could be used to eradicate and exterminate magic users and magical beings. GNE is still engaged in massive PR spins to assure the magic-using public that this simply isn’t the case, but it has delayed the widespread deployment of the Type-1 Disruptors and their spinoffs until PS is assured that the technology is secure and CANNOT be duplicated. More to the point, Magic Disruptors provide a ready defense for personnel and communities where and when magic users aren’t, or aren’t able to act, owing to local limitations or spell-manna fatigue.
Disruptors work by causing a spontaneous disruption of magical energy, forcing it to manifest out of its P.P.E.(POTENTIAL Psychic Energy) or ‘static’ state into an uncontrolled ‘free’ state for an instant. This effect is achieved by exciting a closed container(variously called an ‘ATC’, ‘Bio-Battery’, ‘Ecto-Pack’, or ‘EE-Clip’) of specially genetically-engineered transgenic bacteria that have been infused with key nega-psychic DNA sequences, to create a stream of ‘anti-therons’(from the Elven word ‘theron’ for ‘threads’ or ‘magical stream’) that interact with magic, resulting in an internal ‘anti-magic’ reaction and spontaneous, uncontrolled, release of energy. For magic users, the effect is like causing a gunslinger’s unfired ammunition magazines to explode prematurely.
The technology of the Anti-Theron Projector is a closely guarded secret. Though Paladin Steel business reps claim that the technology is just one of several collaborate projects with tech-trade partner Kera-Tech, neither PS or KTI have shown in the past the level of expertise in genetic engineering to make this a wholly Terran effort, leading many to speculate that PS actually traded for the technology from some other source(suspects including GeneSplicers, the Arsenal Dimension, the mysterious forces of the Cambridge Jungle, or some other culture stumbled across by PS’s extradimensional exploration teams). Likewise, the supply and disposition of these weapons is very carefully monitored and controlled.
Disruptors have a number of shortcomings, however. They are expensive to produce, difficult to maintain, and the bacteria culture can only be excited for a limited number of shots before they die off(note that the anti-theron bacteria are designed to be unable to reproduce, a further safeguard against technology theft...also, any attempt to open the canisters to take a sample will cause the anaerobic bacteria to die and quickly decay upon exposure to air/oxygen...Ironically, however, PS would later discover that the Coalition had independently engineered their own strains of virulent anti-magic DISEASE organisms), requiring their replacement.

PS has continued research into refining and diversifying anti-theron weaponry and similar magical disruption technology. Research into negating spells more effectively, temporarily neutralizing magical abilities without doing damage, and producing area of effect anti-theron effects that can be packaged into grenades and other ordnance are priorities for development. Supposedly, a side program has also begun looking into aerosol deployment of anti-theron producing bacteria that could be used to infect and degrade the PPE-enriched fungus and ‘sludge’ foodstuffs consumed by the Xiticix hordes, in an effort to starve the monsters to death, especially during their vulnerable developmental stages. However, this line of research is fraught with controversy already, owing to the general public revulsion concerning, and erratic performance of, bio-weaponry.

Effects of Anti-Theron Weaponry:
Damage: Varies according to the weapon type, but ALL anti-Theron weapons use the following guidelines
Depending on how much PPE is present and how essential it is to an organism’s survival, damage varies:
Techno-Wizardry Devices(including TW generators), enchanted objects, rune weapons, and other magically-infused(but INANIMATE) objects are NOT affected and take no damage.
Non-magical beings. psychics, and ‘mundanes’ are unaffected and experience nothing aside from a slight tingling sensation, mild sunburn-like symptoms, and a passing feeling of nausea from a Disruptor strike.
Magic Users and other beings who have ‘learned’ or artificially acquired magical abilities(including tattoos and bioborg implants), but who can otherwise survive without magic present are affected, but the effects aren’t as dramatic. They do NOT get a save versus the disruption because all of their effort has gone into OPENING themselves to the supernatural and embracing their magical potential. They take normal damage as for the weapon’s damage rating.
Supernatural Creatures who possess some small measure of magical ability will suffer a greater degree of damage/injury. ...normal damage x1.5. Gargoyles, Brodkil, Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters(including Nightspawn), Possessees, Shifters, and Witches, are all examples of beings in this category. Note that if these beings were to possess bionics or other conditions that NEGATE their magical abilities(like Brodkil bionics) they lose this vulnerability, and are NOT affected, taking damage only as normal. These beings do NOT get a saving roll versus the PPE disruption.
‘High’ Supernatural Beings with a high level of, and reliance on, PPE will suffer greatly, taking DOUBLE damage. This includes Dragons, Angels, Demons, Splugorth, Faerie Folk, Demi-Gods. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save HALVES the damage done to them.
Creatures of Pure Magic that cannot survive without magic are the most seriously affected, and take TRIPLE damage. This covers ghosts, possessing entities, Undead, Elemental Beings, Alien Intelligences, and god-beings. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE(same as save vs magic) versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save NEGATES the damage done to them.
Golems, Iron Juggernauts, and other magically-powered automatons/automations will be effectively STUNNED, being paralyzed for 1d4 melees per shot, and will be unable to move or defend themselves, as magical energy shorts out and storms over them.

Other Effects:
*Magic Disruption----Each blast NEUTRALIZES HALF the number of PPE points that it does damage...these points are temporarily lost to the magic user/creature until it can regain them normally(by rest or drawing on other sources).
*Magical Forcefields take 1.5 normal damage.
*Invisible beings will be revealed by an anti-theron burst and will remain visible for 2d4 melees(gradually fading) as a result of residual anti-therons causing them to fluoresce and become visible to the naked eye.


A-Theron Hand Disruptor
“...oh...loooookkkk attheprettyyy littllle streetmages, cooommmme to sspppyy onn littttle ol’ meeeee...You eveennn brought mee lunnccchhh!!! Tellyooouwhhhaaatt...throwww the girrrlll to meee first and I maay leeet youuu have a feewww exxtraaa mmoments of liifffeto make ppeeace withyourgods!”
*****SIZZZLE*****
GGGGYYYYAAAAHHHHHHITTTTBURNSITBURNSITBURNITBURNNNYYYAAA!
“Out the back NOW, Ceta!”

The smallest A-Theron weapon, in a pistol form. This weapon has a decidedly ‘soft’ look, with rounded angles, a wraparound handguard, and a rounded translucent bulb in place of the traditional gun barrel. However, the innocuous appearance conceals a powerful Anti-Theron blaster, capable of stinging supernatural beings with their own mystical energy.
The biggest complaint about the first-model A-Theron Pistols was their limited power, and that many soldiers feel uncomfortable about carrying a weapon that is only effective against magical beings and shows no substantial damage on its target; soldiers are concerned about grabbing the wrong weapon in the dark and discovering their shots are having no effect on a ‘mundane’ enemy. To allay these fears, PS redesigned the gun, bundling it with a light laser weapon(actually the modified workings of the PS Asp LLP), giving it some stopping power against regular foes. This has calmed soldiers’ concerns somewhat, though the A-Theron Pistol Mrk II is still rather underpowered in a straightout firefight.
Date of Introduction: 113 P.A.
Weight: 3 lbs
Range:(Anti-Theron Burst) 300 ft
(Laser) 400 ft
Damage:(Anti-Theron Burst)Does 2d6 HP/MDC damage(based on what the creature is)
(Laser) Two Modes: 4d6 SDC or 3d6 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Standard
Payload:(Anti-Theron Burst) 15 shots per EE-Clip
(Laser) 15 shots (100 SDC shots per MD shot)
Bonuses: +1 to strike
Special Features:
*Integral laser targeting/ laser spot-sight
*Wraparound hand guard
Cost: Currently available only to GNE military units; but could be expected to fetch 50,000+ credits if a fully charged example were made available to the Black Market


A-Theron Rifle
“Make sure you got somebody watching your back with a regular weapon if you’re going hunting with an A-T rifle; especially in those close, dark places where evil things like to lair. Not every ghoullie or ghastly is going to reel back in shock when they discover their magic powers are hurtin’. Some just go berserk and will go right for your throat. And even those vibro-prongs on the front of the long barrel aren’t going to do squat to stop them crawling up your gun to get at you.
Just so you know.”
The A-Theron Rifle is the grunt-gun, a rugged, heavy-duty weapon designed to survive the rigors of field combat. PS designed the tough, heavy, ruggerized casing of this large rifle, with snap-out tri-blade vibrobayonet blades, wrap-around hand guards and triggermount, and snap-open targetting display, to handle the sort of manhandling and environmental extremes infantrymen regularly expose their weaponry to. The long, heavy, weapon is also stoutly constructed enough to be used as a good clubbing weapon, soldiers found out, allowing them to knock down and keep down the witch or warlock they just pulled the magic plug on, or to defend themselves against that mutant animal which turned out NOT to be magical in nature. The A-Theron Rifle also comes with an integrated SNARLS-type PPE-sensor and targeting package, allowing troops to know what’s safe to blast, and what’s not.
Date of Introduction: 113 P.A.
Weight: 15 lbs
MDC of Rifle: 50
Range: 2,000 ft
Damage:Does 4d6 HP/MDC damage(modified effects based on what the creature is)
Vibroblades do 3d6 MD stabbing damage.
As a club, it adds a +1d6 to blunt force damage(P.S. -based)
Rate of Fire: Standard, ECHH
Payload: 25 shots per EE-Canister
Bonuses: +1 to strike from laser/scanner targeting system
Special Features:
*Integral mini-SNARLS PPE Sensor System with flip-up video flatscreen display. Thanks to PS’s micro-chip engineering expertise, PS has managed to get the size of the system down to compact enough to fit into the scope module. The sensor has a 200 ft range(out to 400 ft with 50% error in determination), 60-degree arc, and can detect invisible entities. Othe penalties similar to the Japanese SNARLS system(on which it is based.....see Rifts: Japan, pg. 116).
*Rugged Construction: Rifle has 50 MDC
*Integral Snap-Out Tri-Vibroblades
*Underbarrel Bayonet or Grenade Launcher Attachment Socket-rings.
Cost:Currently available only to GNE military units; but could be expected to fetch 90,000+ credits if a fully charged example were made available to the Black Market

Type 1 Disruptor Cannon

“The Type One was initially designed for airborne use, but almost immediately, it bacame clear that it could easily be fitted to any of PS’s tanks, which already had modular main armaments. But the big surprise was how it caught on with the Navy; a destroyer could mount one or two as secondary armaments without compromising on other weapons mounts, and the disruptors gave them a major surprise punch against supernaturals at sea. Put them on Skuld-class ACCs, and they had themselves an excellent platform for patrol work along the monster-infested coast. The Navy’s also experimenting with using them to break apart magically-called up storms and other mystically-charged phenomenon, but that work is still classified.”
-------Midshipman Natalllie Ossar, Greater New England Navy, 1st Fleet(Atlantic)

The FIRST Anti-Theron Weapons System to be produced, the Type One first saw service on the Ghost Adder Aerodyne, Big and cumbersome, it did prove the technology operationally, and is expected to be refined and deployed on other vehicles as well. This weapon is the size of a rapid-fire automatic cannon, but fires anti-theron bursts instead of shells.
Date of Introduction: 112 P.A.
Weight: 600 lbs
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: Does 6d6 HP/MDC damage(based on what the creature is)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: The Ghost Adder’s twin PS/KT-MDEC-04s each have a gallon-sized anti-theron cartridge that’s good for 200 shots before needing replacement. Naval and ground vehicle emplacements may have larger payloads or extra cartridges immediately at hand.
Cost: EXCLUSIVE to 5ST, not available for sale

A-Theron MagnaBlaster

With a thundering rumble, the massive multi-ton bulk of the Metzla came crashing down , the giant floating supernatural predator now little more than a giant lump of steaming chowder-stock.
From behind the nearby sand dunes, the giant dun-colored figures of a squad of heavy robots stalked forward, shouldering their massive anti-theron cannons. Two of the metallic warriors unlimbered huge chain-blades and advanced on the still bulk embedded in the beach.
“And that,” The squad commander noted with no small amount of satisfaction as the chainblades bit unresisted into the dead-still monster, and quickly sliced the beast into unregenerating chunks. “Is how you deal with mystically-charged shellfish with attitudes.”

This is the largest production Anti-Theron weapon to date, the ‘big daddy’ of current development, and is intended to be used by mecha for dealing with large-scale paranormal enemies, like demon lords, vampire intelligences, and large infestations of magical monsters. The MagnaBlaster resembles a massive shoulder-mounted thirty foot-long bazooka, with a cluster of three spheroids near the butt-end; these are the 5-ft diameter tanks for the anti-theron bacteria. As a mobile weapon, it is typically configured as a giant shoulder-mount bazooka for use by the larger robot vehicles like the Patriot or on heavy tanks like the ShadowFist. It can also be static-mounted in armored turrets for fortress defense or shipboard deployment.
The MagnaBlaster is a true monster; it can de-energize a horde of Brodkil in one shot, blast a Master Vampire to dust, and do big-time damage to normally invulnerable beings like the Metzla. However, the MagnaBlaster is also big, cumbersome, and can fire only a limited number of shots before requiring recharging and replenishment. The MagnaBlaster is most common with the GNE Armed Services, where it has first been issued to Moljinar and Patriot robot regiments, and where static defense installations now mount batteries to protect the major cities of the NorthEast from magical attack.
Date of Introduction: 113 P.A.
Weight: 3.5 tons
MDC of Shoulder Model: 300
Range: 12,000 ft
Damage: Does 1d4x100 HP/MDC damage per shot(based on what the creature is)
Can also do a ‘spread shot’ doing 4d6x10 HP/MDC to a 60 ft wide swath
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: 20 shots
Special Features:(Bazooka Model)
*Integral Generator Pack---Powers onboard electronics
*Targetting Sensor and Fire Control Interface Package----PPE Sensor, Radar, and Laser Targetting give a +2 to strike
Cost: EXCLUSIVE to PS, not available for sale

[Aramanthus]

Some more very nice devices. We here at the Federated States are working on our own anti-magic weapons. But most of that falls under several classified projects.

[taalismn]

We try to be bleeding edge at Paladin Steel, even as we remain practical...

[NMI]

Nobody has these wonderful creations compiled?

Too busy creating more of 'em(type,type, type)
Can't stand still, gotta keep moving...

Excuses are shields for weak men to hide behind!
Zip what you got and send the file on its way.

[The Raven]

(Thanks to Raven for his original thoughts on this)

One of the many projects I never went forward with.... I really need to get back to writing...

The technology of the Anti-Theron Projector is a closely guarded secret. Though Paladin Steel business reps claim that the technology is just one of several collaborate projects with tech-trade partner Kera-Tech, neither PS or KTI have shown in the past the level of expertise in genetic engineering to make this a wholly Terran effort, leading many to speculate that PS actually traded for the technology from some other source(suspects including GeneSplicers, the Arsenal Dimension, the mysterious forces of the Cambridge Jungle, or some other culture stumbled across by PS’s extradimensional exploration teams). Likewise, the supply and disposition of these weapons is very carefully monitored and controlled.

Paladin Steel still does not know the full extent of Kera-Tech's transdimensional holdings... If I didn't have my left hand in a brace holding my wrist together, I might actually get some writing done...

[The Raven]

Excuses are shields for weak men to hide behind!
Zip what you got and send the file on its way.

So NMI, why the great interest in Paladin Steel and Talis's wonderful works?

[Aramanthus]

Well get better quickly Raven. We'd like to see this info you are hinting at!

[taalismn]

Nobody has these wonderful creations compiled?

Too busy creating more of 'em(type,type, type)
Can't stand still, gotta keep moving...

Excuses are shields for weak men to hide behind!
Zip what you got and send the file on its way.

I am weak. I hide.
I have many excuses.
Have another.
I am also a Mac User writing in Appleworks...
My shield is strong.

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel “Dragonfly” Assault VTOL

“Well, looks like hardened fortifications, at least 10 feet of dressed stone and reinforced concrete, three-sixty degrees of fire, emplaced weapons, and probably watched at all times...yep...you wanna get those slaves out, you’re going to have to take out that tower first, ‘cause it’s covering all avenues of escape.. And you’re going to have to do it fast, before the Kittani catch on and open up on you, or the slave pens. ”
“Not a problem...we got Dragonflies”.
---- Guardsman Cho Nola, Sidhe Liberation Army, and Captain Hamish McDaniels, Black Eagles Airborne, Nova Scottia Ops Zone.

“The Dragonfly is one of those dream machines that is still in the process of shakedown...the basic systems like the airframe and engines work just fine, as do the standrads like missile launchers, but all the electronics that they’ve plied the beastie with...they may be the most effective whizzbangs on this boat, but when they’re aboard, your ground crews can expect to spend three times, if not more, the time they’d ordinarily spend on say a Grey Falcon, servicing the things. This makes the Dragonfly one of those aircraft that either flies like a fantasy, or sits in a hangar taking your cursing ‘cause the damn thing’s got ‘cross the board system flukes and complaints. Maintaining one of these things requires the patience and acceptance of a Zen master...so all you techies out there be warned...read the manuels and be prepared, or your air crews will hate you forever for screwing up their flying carpet...”
------Chandra “MechMaster” Tkolka, PS Operator, addressing atraining class on servicing the Dragonfly.

“Tell me again why we’re doing this!?!” Screamed Malcory as the Dragonfly stood up on its tail and accelerated into a near vertical climb.
“Because we’re being pursued, by what...what did you think they were, Jody?”
“F-16Js, I’d think, Jud, judging from their targetting radar signatures,” replied thescout-borg and resident historian in the back compartment.”Probably upgraded with conformal fuel tanks and carrying gen-two Amraams, if pre-rifts history applies here as home...”
“Gen-two Amraams? is that good or bad?Hel...MISSILE WARNING!!! THEY’VE LAUNCHED!!!”
“Firing countermeasures! Taking evasive maneuvers!”
“Bad, I think”
“NOW TELL ME WHY WE’RE BEING CHASED ACROSS THE SKIES OF AN ALTERNATE EARTH BY JAPANESE F-16S AND BEING SHOT AT!??”
“Because Flego here just had to rescue someone from a maximum security prison! ******’ assshole was supposed to OBSERVE, not play HERO!!!” snarled the bug-eyed masked mage in the rear compartment, gesturing at the Alsatian-like Dogboy strapped into the acceleration seat next to his.
“Well, Groton, they were going to execute her for being a terrrorist!” stuttered the Dogboy.
“Then why in the hell did you get involved!? ****!!! That was too close! We execute terrorists at home!!!”
“Well she was INNOCENT!!!”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW!?” yelled Groton.
“BECAUSE I PROBED HER, ...I mean telepathically!!!”
“Damn I wish we had a Prime Directive on these damn Window missions!” moaned Groton.
“Wouldn’t do any good, you know how Flegan is about protecting human life.” sagely replied Jody, regarding the young woman, still in handcuffs and orange prison overalls, who stared helplessly and speechlessly from her acceleration couch at the lunatics who’d dropped out of nowhere and saved her from the executioner’s blade, and were now hauling her across the sky in some weird aircraft at supersonic speed while missiles flew past them. “But I think we can scratch this dimension, or at least this country, off for consideration as an ally!”
“Speaking of protecting human life, Groton, can you cast any sort of spell on our pursuers?” asked Jud, as he flipped the Dragonfly through a series of rolls.
Once his stomach stopped rolling with the aircraft, Groton managed to gasp out: “NO ! I CAN’T! This damn place has so little ambient magic it’d take me a week to get up enough reserves to gate us home if I do anything now!”
“You might want to start getting that gate ready...those guys got reinforcements coming up with more missiles!” Malcory shouted from his sensor station.
“I’M ON IT!!!”
“So we’re taking our new friend with us?” inquired Jud, as he tossed the aircraft into another wild evasive pattern.
“Looks like it...She don’t look too grateful, though”
“She’s passed out, that’s why!” reported Flegan
“I just hope she appreciates being hauled to hell..and that I NEVER get assigned with you on another out-dimension mission!” avowed Groton as he started chanting and making hand gestures for the gate-openning.
“Not so fast, Grot...command might want us to come back to help the other observation team.” cautioned Jody.
“WE GOT MORE BIRDS IN THE AIR!!!” sang out Malcory, as Jud snapped the Dragonfly through a near-necksnapping end-over-end and triggered the forward lasers, blasting the salvoed missiles and sending the ship into a screaming dive at the oncoming pre-Rifts vintage jets ....
(Interpreted from the recorder transcripts for GNE ‘Project Doorway” Window 315 MIssion...Team One Alpha-Blue)


The Dragonfly is an attempt to build a next-generation air vehicle combining the best aspects of a light utility aircraft and a jet fighter/air combat vehicle. Work on the Dragonfly was started relatively early in the GNE alliance, but work was delayed on it when the rapidly-growing Aviation Division was curtailed in favor of the New Bath Project. With the stabilization of the Northeast, PS again returned to aviation designs, including the Dragonfly, as the need for dedicated high speed combat aircraft became more pressing. Another factor was the overburdening(task-wise) of the GyreFalcon light fighter, which PS engineers thought was a fine design, but which lacked the throw weight of ordnance to make it effective as a ground attack aircraft or stand-off interceptor. The design of the Dragonfly was changed accordingly, to emphasize a stand-off long-range missile attack capability, while retaining acceleration and speed comparable to known Coalition fighter designs.
The Dragonfly draws heavily from pre-Rifts technical data sources recovered by PS tech-recovery and acquisition teams, specifically air support tactical transports deployed by NEMA and the U.S. military(the FQ Glitterboy Transport is a good example of these vehicles). Superficially, the Dragonfly resembles a delta-headed spade with a sharp handle-tail and twin V-tail. The engines are mounted overhead in the main body, drawing air through intakes faired into the upper wing, with armaments bays mounted outboard in the thick delta wing. A streamlined weapons turret tucks up under the nose/’chin’, but can drop down to deploy for greater arc of fire. Forward gun pods provide fixed-forward direct fire, four retractable ordnance modules add heavy firepower capability, and a ventral bay can carry a squad of troops, cargo, additional ordnance, or special mission modules. The Dragonfly is a more combat capable machine than PS’s older Osprey II Tilt-rotor, but is also more specialized and expensive; nuclear engines are standard for the Dragonfly, so it isn’t likely to cut into PS’s Tiltrotor sales. However, the Dragonfly is far more agile, possesses a higher turn of speed, and retains the signature Paladin Steel multi-option capability with a multiple configuration module bay in the main body, wing pods, and forward weapons modules.
Dragonflies in GNE service typically sport a khaki green, off-gray, or matte black color scheme.

The Dragonfly first saw action against Splugorth Slavers along the Eastern Seaboard, and has since become the standard “heavy” of the newly formed Vermont Free State Air National Guard, and has quickly become nearly ubiquitious as the ‘signature’ of Paladin Steel engineering, and GNE military might. The Dragonfly is the workhorse of light tactical transport, ground attack, and air interdiction and appears in GNE Air Force, Regular Army, and Navy air wings.

(Post 110 P.A. Update: The Dragonfly has indeed become the workhorse of the GNE, and as mass-production and technological confidence increased at PS, the design has phased out the older Tiltrotor in both production and deployment. With the bomber- and space shuttle variants in service, the Dragonfly is one of PS’s more important combat and utility vehicles in military service, and additional variants are under develoment)

Type: PS-HST/VTOL-08
Class: Assault VTOL
Crew: Three + 10 passengers(or 6 troops in light power armor, or 4 heavy power armor[Glitterboy or PSA-12-size])
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 350
Reinforced Crew Compartment 100
Main Thrusters(2) 120 each
Lift/VTOL Thrusters(4) 50 each
Tail 150
Wings (2) 150 each
Landing Gear(4) 25 each
Height: 18 ft
Width: 50 ft
Length: 72 ft
Weight: 21 tons
Cargo: Can carry up to 5 tons in the ventral bay, or a light armored vehicle(such as the PS Greyhound or Super-Bug).
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion, w/ 20 year energy life
Speed: Hover to Mach 2(1340 MPH), Maximum Altitude: 45,000 ft
Bonuses: +2 to Dodge, +4 to Dodge at speeds over 300 MPH
Market Cost: Currently available only to Paladin Steel and their affiliates, but can be expected to cost 40-50 million credits

Systems/Features:
Standard Robot/Aircraft Systems, plus:
Radar: Range 500 miles and can track up to 96 targets at once.
Collision Warning System: 1000 foot range, sounds an alarm to warn the pilot of impending collision.
Radio/Video Communications: Wide band and directional, radio and
video transmission capabilities with a 300 mile range.
Standard Video Optics plus:
Thermo-Imaging
IR/UV Optics
Telescopic/Image Enhancement Optics
Low-Light/Nightvision system
Laser Targeting
Headlights/Spotlights: 300 foot range.
Ejector Seats
Heat & Radiation Shields
Independent Oxygen & Circulatory System
Combat Computer: The Dragonfly is equipped with an advanced combat computer that can store and analyze data during combat with hostile forces. Data collected by the combat computer can be displayed on the virtual environment cockpit of the mecha (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 250 targets simultaneously.

*Virtual Environment Cockpit: This cockpit layout, now favored by many pilots, was designed originally for the PS NextGen Fighter Programme. It has been subsequently modified and adapted for use in aircraft . Wrap-around flat-screen monitors with holo-modelling programming provide in-depth coverage around the pilot and co-pilot.
This wide view in addition to the combat computer's cockpit overlays gives the aircraft a +1 to dodge and initiative rolls in addition to any other bonuses.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy 30mm Chain Gun----This is the same weapon mounted on the Iron Eagle Attack Helicopter and the Osprey II Combat Tilt-rotor. A proven and reliable weapon.
This weapon is mounted in a “drop-down” turret snugged under the nose, with 60-degree declination/20-degree elevation, and 240-degree traverse; when in high-speed flight, the cannon is retracted up under the body, and can only fire in a fixed-forward position.
Range:3000 ft
Damage:3d6 MD single rd
2d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 4000 rd drum(200 bursts)

OR...b) PS-LRFC-B30D 30mm Autocannon--- As with the Cheyenne III programme , Paladin Steel discovered after the fall of IHA that they had several superior weapons in their own shops, rather than use license-copied IHA hardware. The PS-LRFC-B30D, with a more powerful propellant cartridge, better recoil control, and better accuracy, became the new standard autocannon for GNE units, and aircraft previously mounting the earlier model weapon were refitted.
Range: 6,500 ft
Damage:4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 220 rounds

OR.. c) Alternately, the Dragonfly can carry an IHA-44L spec Vulcan Laser. This gives the Dragonfly a recoilless main weapon with effectively limitless ammunition supply, and frees up nearly a ton of space(devoted to the ammo drum) to additional avionics.
Range:4000 ft
Damage: 3d4x10 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: Up to six times per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

OR...d)Heavy PS-XGECAL 50 “Ripkiller” Vulcan Chaingun ---A new weapon, based on the pre-Rifts .50 caliber GECAL 50 Six Barrel Machine Gun. This weapon fires high explosive shells(based on the Wellington Industries Heavy Explosive shells) over three miles, to devastating effect.
Range: 19,000 ft!
Damage: 1d4 MD single shot, 1d4x10 MD per 12 shot burst(1 attack), 2d4x10 MD per 24 rd burst( 1 attack ), 4d4x10 MD per 60 rd burst(3 attacks), 1d4x100 MD per 120 shot burst(takes ALL attacks that melee)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 6,000 round drum (50 full-melee bursts)

OR..e)Pulse Laser(PS-RFL-25), the so-called “Prosek’s Gift’ thanks to its being derived from a reverse-engineered Coalition weapon!
Range: 6,000 ft
Damage:2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited


2))Forward Light Weapons Bays(2)----Mounted in two ventral trays on either side of the fuselage, just behind the cockpit, are option spaces for fixed-forward weaponry, typically under teh control of the pilot. The Dragonfly will typically mount two pods of the same type. One of the following configurations can be fitted.
a) Light Laser Cannon(2)---The engineers at PS gave the Dragonfly these forward firing energy weapons so the aircraft could keep on fighting even with empty ammo racks.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage:3d6 MD per laser, 6d6 MD for two cannons firing simultaneously, 1d6x10+20 MD for four firing on one target
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Unlimited

b) Rail Guns(2)---Standard-pattern gauss machine guns.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD 60 rd burst
2d6x10 MD for both cannon firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: 12,000 rd drum(200 bursts)

c) 20 mm Autocannon(1)----PS loves the 20-mm weapon format; good punch, excellent rate of fire, easy maintainability, and excellent range.
Range: 21,000 ft
Damage:(20 mm) 1d4 MD per shell at 7,500 ft or less, 1 MD per shell up to 21,000 ft
4d6 MD per 5 rd burst(1d6 MD at maximum range)
Airburst does 1d4 MD to 2 ft blast radius(single shot)
(20mm PSX-1)4d4 MD per shell(1d4 MD per shell up to 21,000 ft)
1d6x10 MD per 5 rd burst
Airburst does 4d4 MD to 3.5 ft blast radius(single shot)
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 300 rds

d) 30 mm Autocannon(1)---Based on the Triax model TX-862FC
Range: 10,000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single round, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD per six-shot burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 200 rds

3) Weapons Pods (4)--- The Dragonfly mounts four semi-retracting weapons bays on its thick ‘wings’, with the hatches openning dorsally and ventrally on each wing in ‘over and under’ configuration. For ease of loading and replacement, the ends of the wings can be unbolted and swung forward(or up), allowing both bays to slide out sideways and be carried/serviced by robot or vehicular stevedores. Each bay can hold ONE of the following configurations:
a)Micro-Missiles----84 each!

b)Mini-Missiles---36

c)Copperhead Anti-Armor Short Range Missiles---16
Range: 1 mile
Damage: High Explosive 2d4x10 MD, (6 ft blast radius)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, or 4
Payload: 12
Bonuses: +5 to strike

d)Short-Range Missiles---18

e)Medium-Range Missiles---9

f) Long-Range Missiles---4

g)Bombs(available only on the two lower racks)----Equivalent to missiles in numbers, but DOUBLE the blast radius

h)PS-AWD-DBPBC-2------Based on the Mechanoid Exterminator Double-Barreled Particle Beam Cannon.
Weight: 1,000 lbs
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 1d4x 10 MD single blast
2d4x10 MD double blast
Rate of Fire: Three Times Per Melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

i)PS-AWD-MTL-1 Tri-Laser-----Based on the Mechanoid Brute weapons package.
Weight: 2200 lbs
Range:6000 ft
Damage: 4d6 MD single blast
1d4x10 +6 MD double blast
1d6x10 +10 MD triple blast
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

j)PS-AWD-PC3------Based on the Mechanoid Brute Plasma Cannon
Weight: 2500 lbs
Range: 4000 ft
Damage: 1d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire:
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

k)Plasma Torpedo Launcher---Developed from the smaller Nimro and Seraph weapons, this modified plasma cannon fires ‘bolts’ of plasma in rapid-deterioration megnetic-vortice ‘wrappers’, before exploding with missile-like force and area of effect.
Range: 7,000 ft
Damage: 1d6x10+10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

l)ECM/Radar Jammer Pod---5 mile range. Jams radars and radar targetting systems with 60% effectiveness. Radar-guided weapons are -6 to strike. Note that this affects friendly systems as well unless they are set to specific, per-arranged, non-jammed frequencies(that it may be possible for the enemy to discover). Carrying extra jammer pods does NOT increase the range or effective bonuses of the system, but may provide redundancy and multi-wavelength coverage.

4) Chaff/Flare Launchers(2)
Triax-Style chaff-launchers, 2 in the main body on the tail
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is nuetralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will aslo temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 24 chaff clusters(12 per launcher)


Option Systems:

*Tail Gun---The Dragonfly prototyped the auto-defense airborne laser system that would later be used on other PS craft; this consists of a small pulse laser and targeting system installed in the tail, with a full 180 degree arc of fire.
Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: 3d6 MD single blast, 6d6 MD in pulse fire mode.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, or 5 attacks per melee in auto-defense mode
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*Anti-Aircraft Configuration---Optimised for aerial interception, the Dragonfly carries a rotary missile launcher coupled to a more powerful nose radar for long range attacks. The favorite weapon for these dogfighters and aerial sharpshooters is the AIM-79 ‘Impaler’ super-smart missile, but the launchers are also compatible with the new PSFlashfire AAM, the Paladin Steel copy of the Coalition’s AMRAAAM(See Rifts: Coalition Navy), and which is just now becoming available in quantity to the frontline air units of the GNE elite security air forces.
Range: 80 miles
Damage:2d6x10 MD to 20 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, or 4
Payload: 20 missiles
Bonuses: +7 to strike

*Scatter Bomber Configuration: Rather than carry troops/passengers, or cargo, the Dragonfly can be configured to act as a bomber. On either side of the body, aft of the weapons pods/wing assemblies, two laterally-mounted short-range bomb-missile launchers are installed. Concealed by armored shutters when not in use, these “missile-shelves” tilt open to deliver their munitions. The launchers can fire either rocket-propelled heavy bombs or conventional short-range missiles.
Range: 1 mile(or can carry short-range missiles instead)
Damage: Varies: equivalent to medium-range missiles
(or can carry short-range missiles instead)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2, 3,4, 8, 9, 18, or 26(all)
Payload: 26 per side, 52 bombs total

*Conventional Bomber Configuration: Replaces the Cargo Bay with a rotary dispenser for conventional “iron” or “smart” munnitions. This payload configuration uses the rules for ‘Smart’ bombs from Rifts: Mercenaries(pg. 115)
Range:About half a mile from the drop site
Damage: Varies, same types and damage as the missiles of the same weight class, but triple the blast radius.
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 4, 5, or 10 bombs at a time(or 20, 50, mini-bombs).
Payload: 10 Heavy Bombs, OR 20 Medium Bombs, OR 50 Light Bombs, or 100 Mini-Bombs
Bonuses for ‘Smart’ munitions: Hitting a large stationary target like a buiilding, bridge, or large immobile vessel/vehicle is automatic! To hit a moving target, roll to strike(with a +6 to strike), A volley can target one target, or separate to attack several targets.
Alternately, the Dragonfly can carry 10 “Highball”(5d6x10 MD) or one “Upkeep”(1d4x100 MD) bouncing bomb, or one “Tallboy”(5d6 x10 MD) ‘Earthquake Bomb’ in a semi-exposed external mounting(See Rodney Stott’s material at //www.altnews.com.au/hadrian/palladium/technology/index.htm/)

*Cannoneer Confguration: An anachronistic ‘big gun’ conversion that mounts two forward-firing massive 100mm massdriver cannons in the belly bay. Special venting and actuated counterweights in the pod prevent the recoil of these weapons going off from stalling the Dragonfly in forward flight.
Range:(Direct Fire APFSDSDU) 27,000 ft (5.4 miles)
Damage: High Explosive(HE)---- 1d6x10 MD to 20 ft radius
High Explosive Anti-Tank(HEAT)---- 2d6 x10 MD to 10 ft radius
Fragmentation--- 2d6x10 MD to 30 ft radius
Plasma-----3d6x10 MD to 35 ft radius
(APFSDSDU)(Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium) 4d6x10 MD out to 11,000 ft, 2d6x10 MD out to maximum range
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: 30 rds per gun, 60 total

*Magnetic Anomaly Detector---Can mount a ‘stinger” appendage in the tail for carrying a MAD (Magentic Anomaly Detector) sensor; particularly useful in ASW operations.
Range: 5 miles, and has a 70% chance of detecting submerged vessels(-20%) for non-metallic objects, and no chance of detecting organics).
Cost:40,000 credits

*EW Suite----Replaces any cargo in the dropbay with an electronic warfare module and station for two EW specialists/communications technicians. This system is superior to the standard jamming pods carried aboard most aircraft.
Bonuses:
*Can record and trace radio emissions, as well as perform onboard analysis(determine type of emission, and display transmission for decryption and interpretation).
*Radar-guided weapons are -7 to strike.
*Radio/Communications Jamming---Can jam enemy communications with 95% effectiveness, over an 80 mile radius
*Radar Jamming---Can jam enemy radar into useless static with 85% effectiveness, over an 80 mile radius. It can also attempt to ‘cloak’ itself and any other aircraft flying within 100 ft of it with 70% effectiveness(they just don’t appear on radar). Roll every three melees when entering enemy radar zones(or roll ECM skill +15% for more realism).
*Sensor Jamming---If caught by an enemy search/target-lock radar, either from a manned position or a missile, the Dragonfly can attempt to break the lock. In the case of missiles, the ecmtechs can attempt to take over the missiles’ systems and divert them away(roll on ECM skill to jam....roll again at -15% to take control of the missile and direct it elsewhere...roll each time the ecmtech is attempting to direct the missile through a specific action...i.e. turn 180 degrees...lock on target...switch to second target, etc.).
Cost: NOT FOR SALE! EXCLUSIVE TO PS!

*Recon Configuration---- Makes provision in the cargo bay for a heavy sensor module and photo-recon equipment. Sensors include wide-angle, panoramic optics and cameras, thermo-imaging sensors, IR/UV optics, PPE sensors, and even radiation and molecular analyzer samplers(for detecting hydrocarbon and industrial pollutant emissions). The optics systems on this package have such high resolution that they can make out the lettering on a postage stamp from a mile up under hazy conditions!
The recon Module also includes a flare rack for dropping low-burning parachute illumination flares(10 flares, that burn for 1d4 minutes)
Cost: 2 million credits

Variants:

*PS-HST/VTOL-09 Dragonfly II---This is the Next Generation Dragonfly that is just entering field-testing. The Dragonfly II is slightly larger(75 ft long, and 22 tons), and has a more robust airframe(450 MDC Main Body). It is also stealthier, with -15% applied to enemy Read Sensory Instrument rolls to detect it. More advanced control software gives it a +1 to Dodge/Roll, and +5% to piloting rolls.

*PS-HST/VTOL-08AWACS---Airborne Early Warning version sporting a saucer radome on its back, EW station and bay in its belly, and stealth armor. The chin turret typically mounts a point defense laser, and a tail gun position has been added. The stealth armor and other features(such as active jamming) means that the AWACS is -20% to detect, and radar-guided weapons are -8 to strike. AWACS typically mount air defense, HARM, or countermeasure options in their weapons bays.
The radome has 120 MDC, and its radome system has a 600 mile range, and the ability to simultaneous track 125 targets. The EW station bay has a three man crew, and can also conduct ELINT and jamming operations(effective range of communications jamming is 100 miles, sensor jamming 60 miles). The onboard decrypt computers have a 55% chance of unscrambling signals, or add +10% to existing Cyptography skills, and add +15% to attempts to defeat enemy comm jamming. Communications transmission range is raised to 1,000 miles.

*PS-HST/VTOL-08H Ghost Adder
The Ghost Adder variant has been specifically configured to combat supernatural threats. The enlarged nose radome, tail sensor array, and ventral avionics blisters hold an advanced PPE sensor system for detecting and locating paranormal phenomenon at long range, similar to the Magnetic Anomaly Detector ‘stingers’ on many maritime patrol aircraft. Mounted in the ventral bay of the ship are twin heavy PPE disruptors, capable of doing considerable damage to supernatural creatures. Besides the cannon, the Ghost Adder has the usual fitout of Dragonfly missiles and guns, though it is typically loaded with heavy TW missiles and anti-magic weaponry. The Ghost Adder is heavily armored in layered composite scale armor cladding, allowing it to survive close encounters with toothsome airborne monsters, and light weapons fire.
Although the Ghost Adder is still tagged as an experimental aircraft, GNE deploys over six squadrons of these craft already, mostly in theNorthwest. These aircraft are typically engaged in anti-monster sweeps, operating in flights of three, with a Dragonfly II as fourth member and heavy fire support.
The Ghost Adder has already caught the addition of one notable potential customer group, a race of interdimensional horror-hunting lycanthropes calling themselves the Sumi. The Sumi hail from a homeworld that suffered several paranormally-induced ecological disasters, severely damaging their ecosystem and destroying much of the native avian life, making birds rare and revered, to the point that the Sumi attempt to decorate all their air vehicles with some sort of bird motiff or feature. When a small group of Sumi came to Rifts Earth to study the various monster-hunting methods and technologies of the natives, as well as participate in several actions, they were impressed by both the performance and the raptor-like design of the Ghost Adder, when it was demonstrated to them. The Sumi have recently submitted a formal request for production licensing of the Ghost Adder design, as well as advance purchase of the subsequent production runs, once trials are finished. What the Sumi are offering in payment is unknown.

Changes/Modifications:

*Main Body MDC---400

*Long Range PPE Sensors---An avionics development of the Army’s SNARLS and the Navy’s ORACLE systems, this advanced Kirillian-optics and ethermetrics sensor system allows the Ghost Adder to detect supernatural phenomenon at a distance. Though it isn’t as precise, nor as useful in tracking, as a Dogboy or a Psi-Stalker, the sensors can still warn the crew of supernatural danger.
Range: 4,000 ft

*(Optional)Magestone PPE Power Generator w/Multiplexor----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
*Hull-Mounted Multiplexor w/ the following spells:
* Impervious to Energy(5 minutes per 20 PPE )
* Impervious to Fire(10 minutes per 5 PPE )
* Protective Energy Field(50 MDC per 10 PPE, 10 minutes per 10 PPE)
*Leyline Booster(enables 50% increase in speed on a Ley Line)
*3 additional Spellcard slots

*Cross Spotlights(2)---Theventral illumination bays mount powerful scanning cross-covered spotlights that provide both illumination and a nasty surprise for vampires.
Range: 200 ft
Damage: Does 1d4x10 H.P. damage to vampires, plus a Horror Factor of 18
*’Pixie Duster’ Launchers(2)----A modified flare/chaff launcher firing canisters of ‘pixie dust’, actually flakes of stabilized ectoplasm(another spinoff of Ectoplasm research). This fine particulate settles on objects and glows when in contact with magical energy, meaning that supernatural beings masking themselves with magical invisibility, magic-users in disguise, and normally intangible beings like spirits, entities, and ghosts, are illuminated by a faint dust halo-glow. The effects persist for up to a half-hour before the flecks evaporate, and the material is nearly impossible to wash off.
Range: 200 ft
Damage: Covers a 20 sq. ft area , and fluoresces in the presense of magical energy.
Payload: 12 canisters

*Bay-Mounted Weaponry:PS/KT-MDEC-04 Magic Disruptor Cannon(2)---What look like twin EW antennae on either side, just behind the cockpit, are really two powerful Disruptor Cannon, capable of chewing apart the PPE-matrix of an entity in just a few quick blasts.
Magic Disruptors are a product of several joint Paladin Steel/Kera-Tech research initiatives into producing more effective defenses against supernatural beings, projects that only recently have begun to show progress. The Type 1 Disruptor is the first of these projects to reach production and deployment status.
The introduction of Magic Disruptor weaponry has caused an uproar in the mage community, who fear that the technology, in the wrong hands, could be used to eradicate and exterminate magic users and magical beings. PS is still engaged in massive PR spins to assure the magic-using public that this simply isn’t the case, but it has delayed the deployment of the Type-1 Disruptors until PS is assured that the technology is secure and CANNOT be duplicated.
Type 1 Disruptors work by causing a spontaneous disruption of magical energy, forcing it to manifest out of its P.P.E.(POTENTIAL Psychic Energy) or ‘static’ state into an uncontrolled ‘free’ state for an instant. This effect is achieved by exciting a closed container of specially genetically-engineered transgenic bacteria that have been infused with key nega-psychic DNA sequences, to create a stream of ‘anti-therons’(from the Elven word for ‘threads’ or ‘magical stream’) that interact with magic.
Type 1 Disruptors have a number of shortcomings, however. They are expensive to produce, difficult to maintain, and the bacteria culture can only be excited for a limited number of shots before they die off(note that the anti-theron bacteria are designed to be unable to reproduce, a further safeguard against technology theft...also, any attempt to open the canisters to take a sample will cause the anaerobic bacteria to die and quickly decay upon exposure to air/oxygen...Ironically, however, PS would later discover that the Coalition had independently engineered their own strains of virulent anti-magic DISEASE organisms), requiring their replacement.

Range: 4,000 ft
Damage: Does 6d6 HP/MDC damage(based on what the creature is)
Depending on how much PPE is present and how essential it is to an organism’s survival, damage varies:
Techno-Wizardry Devices(including TW generators), enchanted objects, rune weapons, and other magically-infused(but inanimate) objects are NOT affected and take no damage.
Non-magical beings. psychics, and ‘mundanes’ are unaffected and experience nothing aside from a slight tingling sensation, mild sunburn-like symptoms, and a passing feeling of nausea from a Disruptor strike.
Magic Users and other beings who have ‘learned’ or artificially acquired magical abilities(including tattoos and implants), but who can otherwise survive without magic present are affected, but the effects aren’t as dramatic. They do NOT get a save versus the disruption because all of their effort has gone into OPENING themselves to the supernatural and embracing their magical potential.
Supernatural Creatures who possess some small measure of magical ability will suffer a greater degree of damage/injury. ...normal damage x1.5. Gargoyles, Brodkil, Lycanthropes, Shapeshifters(including Nightspawn), Possessees, Shifters, and Witches, are all examples of beings in this category. Note that if these beings were to possess bionics or other conditions that NEGATE their magical abilities(like Brodkil bionics) they lose this vulnerability, and are NOT affected, taking damage only as normal. These beings do NOT get a saving roll versus the PPE disruption.
‘High’ Supernatural Beings with a high level of, and reliance on, PPE will suffer greatly, taking DOUBLE damage. This includes Dragons, Angels, Demons, Splugorth, Faerie Folk, Demi-Gods
However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save HALVES the damage done to them.
Creatures of Pure Magic that cannot survive without magic are the most seriously affected, and take TRIPLE damage. This covers ghosts, possessing entities, Undead, Elemental Beings, Alien Intelligences, and god-beings. However, these beings DO get a roll to SAVE versus their own PPE backfiring on them. A successful roll to save NEGATES the damage done to them.
Golems, Iron Juggernauts, and other magically-powered automatons/automations will be effectly STUNNED, being paralyzed for 1d4 melees per shot, and will be unable to move or defend themselves, as magical energy shorts out and storms over them.

Other Effects:
*Magic Disruption----Each blast NEUTRALIZES HALF the number of PPE points that it does damage...these points are temporarily lost to the magic user/creature until it can regain them normally(by rest or drawing on other sources).
*Magical Forcefields take 1.5 normal damage.
*Invisible beings will be revealed by an anti-theron burst and will remain visible for 2d4 melees(gradually fading) as a result of residual anti-therons causing them to flouresce and become visible to the naked eye.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: The Ghost Adder’s twin PS/KT-MDEC-04s each have a gallon-sized anti-theron cartridge that’s good for 200 shots before needing replacement.

*(Optional) Wing Bay Ordnance(ventral launchers only)) 2000 lb(x8; 4 per launch bay) Spirit Warhead Bomb---This is a ‘smart’ TW weapon fitted with Paveway-style guidance, and designed to deliver a powerful one-shot spell to a wide area of effect. The Paveway seeker head has been designed to take targetting information from the Ghost Adder’s sensor systems, then ride a laser guide-beam to the general area area of the target. The modified sensor head can thrn switch to PPE-homing terminal guidance, using a miniature SNARLS seeker to home on the largest PPE concentration for optimal detonation effects.
The standard practice of Horror-Hunter teams is to carry at least one Anti-Magic Bomb(equiv. to a 10th level spell) for neutralizing magic usage in a target area. Although this prevents the attackers from using magic of their own(with the exception of magic weapons, including multiplexors), it tends to level the playing field temporarily, and deprive supernatural beings of the ability to fight or escape using magic.

*PS-HST/VTOL-08SF---SpaceFighter
When the Shawshank Initiative began showing promise of putting Rifts Earth Paladin Steel in Earth-Orbit in force, PS began developing a space-operations version to act as a heavy fighter.
The 08SF does away with the ability to carry any troops or vehicles(no cargo bay) in favor of using the capacity and mass for a reaction drive. The -08SF is slightly heavier (20%) than the atmospheric Dragonfly; though it can still fly in an atmosphere, the -08SF enjoys only a bonus of +1 to dodge normally, and +3 to dodge at speeds over 300 MPH. The -08SF is distinguishable by the upper ‘hump’ containing a scramjet air-to-space booster, lower ventral retractable air intakes, prominent tail jets, and multiple manuevering verniers(+2 to Dodge/Roll in zero-gee) around the hull. Heat-resistant thermal tile plates the underside of the ship(takes HALF damage from plasma and fire-based attacks aimed at the underside), and the hull armor is laser-ablative(lasers do HALF damage).

*PS-HST/VTOL-081SF2--
When Paladin Steel began experimenting with crude contra-gravity drive systems developed from its GMR research, upgrading many of its space vehicles with the promising new technology took priority. The -081SF2 is the upgraded -08SF; the inclusion of the GMR device allows the shaving of some weight(-10%), and the elimination of penalties for operating in an atmosphere. The -081SF2 regains the belly bay, which is typically used for ordnance modules. However, the -081SF2 is also some 30% more expensive to construct.