DhAkael wrote:taalismn wrote:The good news is, I;m finally hammering along on four Shemarrian spacecraft designs...
The bad news, it was only three designs this morning...
I still haven't posted 'the story so far' from 2 sessions ago; we're even
Rushed through the shipyard(bless modular construction!)
Shemar Unipelta Transport Cruiser “Yeah, Two of those Shrimps just set down on our pads, with little or no forewarning, so we were understandably alarmed. What with the pods on those things, you can’t tell what they’re carrying. They might unleash a broadside of missiles, a barrage of those wild plasma firefries of theirs, a howling horde of warrior-women on their war-monsters, or they might be dumping their garbage off. This time they just showed up, demanded we have medical personnel come out to greet them, and popped their bay hatches. Next thing we know, there’s about two thousand or so stark naked people wandering out on the field, looking dazed and confused. Seemed the Shemar had popped a Splugorth cruiser and liberated its ‘cargo’, and they were now dropping them off on us.”
It is difficult to classify these ships; they are certainly capable light combatants, but their primary role seems to be as personnel transports and salvage craft.
Unipelta(from
Unipeltata, the suborder of Mantis-Shrimp. It is unknown what the Shemarrians call this design) bear some resemblance to Kittani ‘Mantis’ destroyers(further evidence, in the eyes of many, to some sort of Shemmarian-Splugorth connection), and to terrestrial mantis-shrimp in general, with a long, lean fuselage, prominent sensory clusters and armature-like weapons/tool mounts forward, multi-segmented midsection, and a flared tail aft.
The central section is actually a series of modular hull sections that be swapped out and reconfigured depending on the desired role of the craft. It is has been speculated that the Unipelta was originally developed as a more narrow-focused craft, but the addition of these modular bays has altered the original purpose of the design, giving it a greater versatility and thus, larger production than originally planned.
A common module is an armored bloc containing multiple cells, each capable of holding a fully armed and armored Shemar Warrior in stasis. Though this certainly saves on life support and entertainment of bored soldiers on long transits, many analysts question the state of preparedness ‘cold-stored’ troops would have entering a battlefield without time to respond to updated information. It is likely, though, given the observed bionic nature of the Shemarrians that they use some sort of linked Virtual Reality system to keep their warriors up to date, even trained in VR sim, while their bodies are asleep. The cells are equally capable of holding most humanoids in stasis; Unipelta have been known to transport liberated slaves, or scavenged bodies, in stasis.
Additional midsection modules include cargo bays, autofac pods, hangar space, and drop-pod bays.
The Unipelta is quite heavily armored for its class, and well-armed, in keeping with apparent Shemarrian tactical doctrine. These features come in very handy when the Unipelta is making troop drops or shifting through still-hot battlefields for salvage. Though not considered to be a front-line combat ship by the Shemarrians, the Unipelta comes armed for trouble, and can serve quite ably as a light combatant, especially if outfitted with the right modular bays. They are also extremely fast vessels, and can get in and out of trouble in a hurry on the power of their engines alone.
It is interesting to note that most Unipelta thus far encountered have been crewed by Male Shemmarrians. It has been speculated that given the assigned roles of these vessels as second-echelon ships, the matriarchal Shemarrians assign the transports to the socially lower-ranking males. However, Unipeltas also seem to be the favored personal transport starships of the ‘Spinster’ caste, and it is not unusual to encounter Unipeltas outfitted as traveling workshops for the technician-healers.
Unipeltas are primarily used for moving personnel and cargo about the unknowable limits of the SheMar realms. They are also encountered lurking around battle sites, salvaging useful items, and around resource-rich regions such as asteroids, mining them for metals and other minerals. They are also used to deploy troops to the field, though usually under the escort of heavier combat units. Occasionally they can be found acting as escorts themselves, or picket ships for the larger SheMar vessels. However, some clans assign particular tasks to these ships. The Blood Riders use their crimson-painted Unipeltas more heavily in combat roles, while the Wolf’s Path deploys more Unipeltas in a ‘missile boat’ configuration than other clans. The GhostRider clan in particular, seems to like using these ships to scavenge corpses(for whatever reason) from battlefields, earning them the nickname ‘Valkyries’. Dark Waters clan Unipeltas have been observed sporting more EW countermeasure gear and operating with more stealth systems, when they can be detected and observed at all.
Unipeltas can be encountered alone or in squadron strength in the Three Galaxies. They are a fairly common vessel in EShemar formations.
Type: ESheMar-LC-01-Unipelta
Class: Light Cruiser/Transport
Crew: 45(typically 70% Male Shemrrians, 30% ‘NeShemar’(including Re’Mar))
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 4,500
Bridge 900
Weapons Armatures(2) 1,200 each
Sensor Spikes/fins(12) 100 each
Midsection Modules(6) 500 each
Engines(3) 2,000 each
Point Defense Rail Gun/Laser Turrets(4) 160 each
Variable Forcefields---1,500 per side(6,000 total)
Height: 110 ft
Width: 150 ft
Length: 620 ft
Weight: 50,000 tons
Cargo: 1,200 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 16
(Kitsune Values: 65% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: Unique to the Shemarrians and not for sale. If made available, a fully-equipped and functional Unipelta might bring 650 million credits or more
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Sensor Baffling----The Shemar ships can partially mask their sensor spoor, making themselves difficult to detect at long range. This acts as Stealth(-70% to detect while stationary, -30% when moving)
*Tractor Beams(3)----Effectively each rated for 1,000 tons dead weight, but can be used for imparting small changes in momentum/direction to ships/structures several times that mass. One emitter is mounted in each claw, and the third is mounted in the tail.
Range: 5 miles in space(NOT usable in atmosphere)(Kitsune Values: 5,000 miles in space).
Weapons Systems:
1) Modular Weapons Armatures(2)--The two claw-like armature pylons tucked to either side of the bow are modular weapons mounts with two slots(4 total) each for mounting heavy weapons. Each slot (unless otherwise noted) can hold ONE of the following:
a)Medium Laser Cannon
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
b) Plasma Cannon
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
c) Plasma Torpedo Launcher
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 50 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 50 miles in atmosphere, 50,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD to a 100 ft blast radius per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4 plasma bolts per pod. Three volleys per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
d) Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d46x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Three shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
e) Heavy G-Cannon
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH(4-6)
Payload: 2,000 bursts per cannon
f) Short-Range Missile Launcher
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-30
Payload: 300 missiles per launcher
g) Medium-Range Missile Launcher
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 220 missiles each launcher
h) Long-Range Missile Launcher
Range: Varies by Missile Type (Long Range)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-10
Payload: 60 missiles per launcher
i) Cruise Missile Launcher
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-5 each launcher
Payload: 10 each launcher
j) Robot Armature---A giant folding robotic arm, typically used in mining work, but occasionally in boarding actions. It can extend 100 ft, has a Robotic P.S. of 65, and can do 2d6x10 MD on a punch/claw.
2) Medium Range Missile Launcher(1) ----Mounted just behind the ‘head’ is a dorsal missile launcher, typically used for self-defense/antimissile counterfire.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 200 missiles
3)Point Defense Rail Gun/Laser Turrets(4)---Standard Shemarrian-pattern rail gun/pulse laser combo. One turret is mounted in front just under the ‘head’, one is mounted on each dorsal ‘shoulder blade’, and the last is mounted under the tail.
Range: (Rail Gun) 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
(Laser) 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: (Rail Gun)4D6x10 M.D. per blast
(Laser) 3D6x10 M.D. per blast
Rate of Fire: (Rail Gun)EGCHH(4-6)
(Laser) EGCHH (4-6)
Payload: (Rail Gun) 2,000 rd drum. Additional ammunition can be stored as cargo, but will take 45 minutes to reload from stores.
(Laser) Effectively Unlimited
Auxiliary Craft:
*2 small shuttles
Options:
The modular cargo bays and outrigger weapons arms give the Unipelta a degree of modularity that few other Shemarrian(or even other Three Galaxies) ships enjoy.
Modular Bays:
-Passenger Module---This is a sleeper car-style module with fairly comfortable accommodations(bathroom, diner/kitchenette, airliner-style seating, small lounge/recreational area) for 40 awake and moving passengers.
-Hiber Transport---Filled with hiber-cubicles, each pod can hold 80 fully armed Shemarrian warriors, or 30 with Warsteeds, or 80 human-sized passengers in cold sleep(320 if stacked four to a hibercell---not advised unless special precautions are taken)
-Cargo Pod---Can hold 200 tons of materials each
-Drop Pod---This specialized module holds conventional cargo ‘cans’ and the equipment needed to eject them from the ship for low-space/high-atmo drop missions. The cans are held upright and ejected along their long axis. Each pod can hold four ‘Giant’ cans ready to drop, or 40 ‘Standard’ cans.
-Hangar Pod---Each pod has a hatch port/starboard, and can hold 4 small shuttles/light fighters, or 2 larger fighters(Black Eagle-sized)
-Missile/Mine Pod---Each pod can hold 300 short range missiles (volleys of 1-10 each launcher), OR 160 medium range missiles (volleys of 1-8 each launcher), OR 80 long range missiles (volleys of 1-4 each launcher), OR 60 cruise missiles(if available). Double those numbers if conventional space mines instead.
-Plasma Torpedo Pod---Features port and starboard plasma ejectors. ---A cross between a missile launcher in terms of volley capability and area of effect, and energy weapons in terms of range and recharge capability, these weapons fire veritable storms of plasma pulses similar to ball lightning. Against massed fighters and larger ships, these weapons can prove particularly devastating.
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 50 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 50 miles in atmosphere, 50,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x100 MD to a 100 ft blast radius per missile
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-4 plasma bolts per pod. Three volleys per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
-Other observed/inferred modules have included dedicated EW/Countermeasure/Jamming modules, autofac asteroid mining pods, laboratory/science modules, prison/big cell blocs, and sensor pods.
Variants:
Aside from the configurations possible with the main armaments and modular midsection, the only variants of note of this class are cosmetic; individual Shemarrian clans tend to give the ships in their fleet(s) individual touches that identify clans and even individual ships. The Hawkmoon fleet Unipeltas have had their various fins and sensor appendages made to look like feathered wings or outstretched talons, the Silvermoon clan favors fins in the shapes of crescents and half-crescents, the Skullcrushers favor hull colors akin to bleached or yellowed bone, etc. However, just as many Unipeltas have been observed in ‘generic’ hull livery, giving no clue as to their clan affiliation/registry.
Yay...
aww...
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