Starship designs...

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:04 pm

As a heads up, I'm putting in effort to convert some more of Kitsune's work. I'm starting off with converting New Coventry's fighters into the new mainline CAF birds, give Bushido Industries some love, seeing if any of the remaining TMS craft are worth porting, take a look at the 'Mercenary' ground craft and the related Apex Defense Manufacturers, and end off poking the TGE and UWW again.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:45 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:As a heads up, I'm putting in effort to convert some more of Kitsune's work. I'm starting off with converting New Coventry's fighters into the new mainline CAF birds, give Bushido Industries some love, seeing if any of the remaining TMS craft are worth porting, take a look at the 'Mercenary' ground craft and the related Apex Defense Manufacturers, and end off poking the TGE and UWW again.

Ewww...bet there's going to be s fun story behind that.
More Shaw Initiative ripples?

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:53 pm

taalismn wrote:Ewww...bet there's going to be s fun story behind that.
More Shaw Initiative ripples?

More New Coventry not existing and me appropriating the designs for clean sheet efforts from Project Prominence.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:06 am

The TGE stuff came together faster. Again, go to Kitsune's site if you want to see the originals.

TGE Defiler Heavy Cruiser
“The Defiler is a bigger Smasher that focuses on the direct fire role, which was a massive weakness in their traditional line up. The Executioners were just way too damn big and expensive to use in most engagements, which forced the Smasher to pick up the slack. You can look in the history books for how that turns out.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

The first truly new ship design to come from the Block-50 program, the Defiler has quickly gained a reputation as being either a knock-off Warshield or Champion, and has also been called a ‘Doubled-Up Smasher’. While closer than the TGE would like to admit, the Defiler represents a major shift in the Imperial Navy’s doctrines, creating a capable battleline at the cruiser level, addressing the infamous fragility of the much smaller Smasher. The Smasher will continue to be the bulk of the Imperial Navy’s capital fleet, but it is intended that a fifth of the total hull count become Heavy Cruisers. The type’s brawling nature can be seen by its heavy point defenses, being the more powerful but shorter ranged type used on the Berserker.

Something of interest is the Defiler’s high strategic speed of 6 lightyears per hour. Half again that of the common Smasher, the exact decision chain that led to this being the design standard is difficult to pin down. It's most likely due to a number of reasons, with the relatively high investment cost of the base hull making it less painful an investment, and opening strategic possibilities. One of the more painful lessons of the abortive Forge Wars was that CAF task forces often casually outmaneuvered their Imperial counterparts, particularly if they lacked the older Hunters. The CAF’s new Predator promises to make this dynamic even worse, so something clearly needed to be done. Operationally, the Defiler is operated in pairs, and are only assigned an escort group if sufficient fast Berserkers are available; possibly an indication that the old habits of the Imperial Navy aren’t fully dead.

Spoiler:

TGE Black Claw Assault Ship
“The newest model Black Claw remains an overgrown Smasher, with the gains in capability being in aspects that don’t matter in a naval battle. They make a sort of fundamental logic in their despotic hellhole of a nation, but there’s no way in hell it would fly in an actually civilized navy. It should come as no surprise that the ISF operates a good sized fleet of them, and is likely first in line when it comes to replacements. As a note, if intel on the Doomsday Machine upgrades are true, they don’t need a ride down, so the Claw can unload in only 3 drops. If the PA are willing to go feet first, they can do it in 2, and that’s assuming they bother with the robots.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

The TGE, being a brutal despotic empire, has a constant need for invasion ships; both to acquire new territory and to suppress its current populace. Their primary troop transport since the First Great War is the Black Claw, strongly resembling an inflated Smasher Light Cruiser, with the latest block updating the various systems to the Block-50 standards. While most nation’s troop transports lack notable weapons, the TGE’s belligerent nature means that they both use theirs more often and in a far more aggressive manner, and are often mistaken for Smashers. Its armaments make it substantially more difficult for light forces, such as the Free World Council’s various irregular forces, to take them out with any consistency, which is the primary design goal. Against a true CAF formation the Black Claw would only last slightly longer than a Smasher, but a small flotilla with modest Berserker support can push aside most small planetary defense forces.

In terms of lift capacity, the Black Claw can carry a standard Imperial Assault Legion and required command facilities. Its weapons have a very strong secondary role in ground support, with its primary Energy Lance having additional support infrastructure for precision ortillery fire, and its missile magazines being at least half full of bombardment warheads. It has sufficient supplies to form a bridgehead for follow-on forces to exploit, but this leads to its major operational problem, the lack of support staff. While the Imperial Army has a surprisingly modest ‘claw to tail’ ratio, it lacks the accommodations for the various rear line personnel needed to keep a modern military force operational, greatly limiting the legion’s operational endurance. This is almost certainly intentional, as it prevents ambitious Ryclus from getting any ideas over where they belong in the hierarchy. However, this does leave it quite vulnerable to unexpected situations, which has led to disastrous results in several famous occasions.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 2:52 am

And here's the Scorpion replacement; Kitsune's Badger with a fresh coat of fluff paint and some tweeks. The Lighting (which I'm now calling the War Hawk for fluff reasons) needs an appropriately nice fluff with comparisons to the Super Tanto, Star Tiger II, and Star Fox-B, which is a work in progress.

Consortium Armed Forces CSF-4 Badger Light Fighter

(‘Honey Badger’)

”The Badger naturally gets compared a lot to the Starcross-A, and most think it comes out ahead. It has a more powerful (if less flexible) primary weapon, far more missile power, double the shield strength, and notably faster. On the other hand it's substantially more expensive, with the 35 Mill quoted being what it costs the CAF to make it in their effectively nationalized factory planets. If they offered it to IDFs, which they won’t for a century or two, it would cost something like one of the old Bomber-Scorps. They’ve had to come to an arrangement with WZT on the mounts though, but Forge knows what it is.”

“Captain McKenna may have stuck to the basic interceptor format, but that’s what everybody wanted. It simply does things BETTER than the Super-Scorp, and takes the crown for best mass produced light fighter, and to top it off its not that much larger in terms of pad space. It still has some maintenance bugs to work out, and it's not quite as maneuverable as the Scorp, but we’ve seen major drops in attrition rates from the wings that have switched over. It doesn’t hurt that it can actually fly worth a damn in an atmosphere.”

”While not unexpected, the Consortium’s new light fighter has proven to be a substantially better performer than our Sharktooth, with the handful of nominally equal engagements that have occurred between the two being lopsided routes for the CAF. Comparative industrial costs indicate that we can field two Sharktooth for every Badger however, and fighters have always been an attrition asset manned by lessers anyway. However, this does make it quite clear that we need to accelerate our career development program if we wish to field a strong enough screen to keep their strike craft at bay.“

The long desired replacement for the almost Automaton War vintage Scorpion, the Badger is a clean sheet design using all of the knowledge gained since then under the aegis of Project Prominence. The accidental Contra-Grav Harmonization of the original Scorpion has now been deliberately engineered, allowing far greater freedom to develop. With the old limitations thrown out the window, the power plant has been greatly expanded, allowing other improvements such as improving the shield system and adding a pair of flexible light weapons mounts. The mighty GR-1000 remains the primary weapon, with improved amplifiers increasing its acceleration significantly without a massive exposed housing. The primary missile power is provided by a pair of undercarriage bays, making up for their lack of physical depth by being quite wide. Unfortunately, this makes them unable to mount LRMs or CMs, but this is not considered a massive loss. On the plus side technological improvements have removed the need for the Scorpion Bomber’s expensive tuning arrays, making all Badgers capable of carrying CMs on their heavy pylons.

The Badger is not intended as a complete replacement for the Super Scorpion. Beyond the sheer logistical problems of such an undertaking, it lacks the Super Scorpion’s theoretical maximum strike potential, at least in the bomber configuration. But it is hoped that the old workhorse will be pushed to lower priority roles, with the hulls whittling away from the constant attrition over most likely centuries. The Consortium Assembly has already approved the necessary funding to fully switch over production, with the savings from the lack of an expensive bomber version persuading many.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:45 pm

And here's the Black Eagle replacement. I've taken Kisune's Lightning, slapped another name on it, and gave it more modular bays. The fluff intent is to make it the best medium ASF the CAF can mass produce, and I think it takes the crown in that category so long as TW isn't involved. I've also added a bit of fluff to the Badger at the bottom regarding its experimental predecessors.

Consortium Armed Forces CSF-6-A War Hawk Medium Fighter

(‘Hawk)

”While not quite the uber-fighter that some people were hoping for, the War Hawk is substantially better than what most people expected it to be. Most thought it would be a rehashed Black Eagle, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing, but the Hawk is a different beast entirely. Beyond being better in direct combat, the integral FTL unit opens up no end of tactical opportunities, and we’ve managed to develop and standardize a fair few of them since the original Eagle-SLR came out. The use of WZT modular bays tells us that there’s a firm legal agreement over them, which isn’t that surprising the Minion War and the Badger, and it's a good step forward.”

“The CG Harmonization stuff is naturally a state secret, but basic engineering tells us that the reason for the forward prongs is due to field interactions. The component layout is designed so that there’s only a partial overlap between the propulsion units, the gun, and the FTL core. If it was a normal arrow head design the overlap would have been almost total. I can sort of see why partial would be better than total, at least in principle, but the math and to figure out just how to actually apply it is stupidly complex. There’s a reason the Balanced Hammond Drive was so damn expensive to develop.”

“The FTL is a mix of good news and bad news from a maintenance perspective. While it is a non-trivial technical burden, McKenna and friends have earned their reputation as miracles workers by making it way less than it really ought to be. The Scorp was essentially flatlined if the booster broke, but the War Hawk’s systems can compensate on the fly via overcharging what’s left. This is why the -B model keeps the same performance figures despite only having a placeholder sustainer unit. On the downside, overcharging the other systems increases the maintenance burden on them enough to compensate for not having to deal with the FTL, so it's a wash in that regard.”

“All in all, the War Hawk is a bit better than the FTL- model of the Tiger II. Other than the lack of EWAR, it has an edge in most areas, and they’re almost at a head heat in firepower. Assuming they develop Jamming modules for the Ord bays, which is all but certain, they can get away with one bird in a flight mounting it. The Hawk is also about 3 tons lighter when fully loaded, which has some knock-on effects, and the profile makes it that little bit more convenient to house in a carrier bay. Best guess is that the relative price is 30 Mil in the Hawk’s favor, which you can almost entirely put down to that Harmonization of theirs letting them cut massive corners with the FTL drive.”

“One of the less documented features is that the Cyberlink and HOUND sensors are really closely tied together, so you can get away with not having a good datajack if you have telemechanics or an equivalent. You’ll need a fair bit of practice either way to make full use out of it, but it lets you out turn old school Scorpions, so it's becoming near mandatory to keep up. Fighter Pilot egos being what they are means that most are deciding to take the jump, generally picking up an additional internal aug or two to help them with the worst of the physical strain.”

“We made a deliberate design choice to not try to make a direct counterpart to ASI’s Star Fox, and made something almost a third the effective mass instead. There’s a few teams working on an equivalent, but for the War Hawk we wanted a true cutting edge mainline strike craft above all else, which meant something that could fit in existing organizational structures and launch bays, and without the maintenance nightmares of the Fox. The GSA has gotten us some additional talent to deal with the modularity aspects, and the Bushi are desperate enough for help that they licensed out the VFF in exchange for unstated assistance. Something to do with cultural pride not letting them accept complete charity, but it brought them on board.”

“The CCW’s recent foray into Techno-Wizardry has started no shortage of rumors having them make some limited edition super-craft for black bag work. The truth of the matter is that the various intel agencies have always had a modest pool of enchanted craft for various purposes, but the Battle of Altess Prime really brought it home that they can be game changers if you’re willing to accept the price tag. Smart money has the CAF having a wing or two of TW War Hawks for special forces use, which also makes them a potential counter against the TGE’s new Blooddrinkers.”

The crown jewel of Project Prominence, the War Hawk represents the apex of what the Consortium of Civilised Worlds can put into a mass production fighter. Applying the ‘Scorpion Effect’ to a cutting edge medium chassis, the War Hawk gains in all aspects, as well as coming standard with a modest FTL system. While naturally more expensive than the preceding Storm Eagle, the CG Harmonization effects make it cost substantially less than the FTL equipped -SLR model, which has proven to be far more tactically useful. The War Hawk is also much more maneuverable and has substantially greater firepower and durability, greatly reducing the expected attrition rate.

Naturally, the War Hawk is constantly compared to WZT’s Super Tanto and ASI’s Star Tiger II. The Super Tanto has substantially greater acceleration, but the Hawk’s cutting edge systems make it far more maneuverable. Durability is close enough as to make no difference, and overall firepower is decisively in the Hawk’s favor. The Star Tiger II on the other hand is much closer in overall performance, with the most recent model having a comparable VFF and substantially greater maximum firepower. Actually mounting that firepower is quite detrimental to acceleration however, and the physical hull is notably more fragile. The biggest difference is the comparative utility between the Hawk’s short range FTL unit and the Tiger’s EWAR capabilities, both of which heavily influence the tactics used.

Spoiler:

SolCannibal · Unread post by **SolCannibal** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:18 pm

Omegasgundam, i noticed some of the War Hawk's fluff seems to make references to some sort of crisis the Bushi Federation are going through. Have you or someone else already written on that or could you give us some clarification/details?

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:14 pm

SolCannibal wrote:Omegasgundam, i noticed some of the War Hawk's fluff seems to make references to some sort of crisis the Bushi Federation are going through. Have you or someone else already written on that or could you give us some clarification/details?

I'll answer that to the extent that I can:
Omegasgundam has suggested in our correspondances that the Bush Federation suffered a pass-through of its territory by a Demon Planet, that resulted in some damage and disruption that blew the normally smug and complacent mindset of the Bushi Oni out the airlock. How severe the damage and disruption was, varies on our respective Dramatic Narrative needs.

Perhaps this event was compounded by other crisis situations brought on or in addition to the Demon Planet passage. Omegasgundam may have other (developing) details on the BF crisis.

But one can consider a number of factors:
-The CCW, in Omegasgundam's writings, managed to kill a Demon Planet with Operation GutCutter, an effort that required pouring in massive amounts of manpower and resources in a literally visceral campaign.
-The Oni of the Bushi Federation have more advanced technology(and a bit more supernatural knowledge) than the CAF, but a fraction of the manpower(and great reluctance to call upon outside help to fight in the Ones' own backyard), so depending on whether they meant to drive off or outright kill the Demon Planet, and how intent said Mega-Infernal might have been to do damage to the annoying little pests bothering it, the Oni might not have fared as well as the CAF.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:41 pm

I'll be touching on it when I do the Bushido Industries craft. Among other things, their Scorpion equivalent is going to be the primary competitor of the Starcross-A, which will be a much bigger market than usual with the traditional Scorpion production firms switching to the Badger.

SolCannibal · Unread post by **SolCannibal** » Tue Nov 24, 2020 4:21 am

Thanks for clearing up things. Most interesting and informative indeed.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Nov 24, 2020 4:20 pm

Me and Talisman are still working out exactly the Bishi Federation's position is, but I've finished my conversion of Kitsune's work. At least two of their five planets have been ****** up, and their standing forces were all but annihilated, but they have managed to survive due to (campaign plot concession). But enough of that; this is the ship thread, and here's the ships.

Kitsune called his version the Tanto, but that’s already taken here, so I’m calling it the Chokuto. Use his image for the appearance.

Bushido Industries Chokuto Interceptor/Light Bomber

(‘****ikasi’)

”The distinct lack of fresh Scorpion frames is having shockwaves across the industry, and is pushing its previous contenders into the spotlight. The leaders are WZT’s Starcross-A and the BI Chokuto, and the latter has a notable upper hand when it's available. BI of old would have tried to muscle WZT out of the market, but the effective loss of two of the Federation’s five main planets means that they don’t have the strength to do it anymore. Their order logs are still packed solid years in advance, and their satellite factories across the CCW are still a work in progress. Another sign of BI’s desperation is that they aren’t playing games with side deals either, as far as we know anyway, which means that only a handful have shown up in criminal hands so far.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“It's almost certain that the Chokuto was in the works before the Minion War, likely hoping to grab even more CAF sales with what they would consider a second line product. They’re not in a position to do that now, but the Chokuto shows that technology was catching up to the benefits of the Scorpion Effect. The Super-Scorp still has some advantages, but it was already inarguable that the basic aeroframe had reached the end of its development potential. The Chokuto itself draws heavily from the bargain bin versions of the Katana that they export, so there’s logistical compatibility there for those that already operate them. I hear it's making major sales to IDFs that don’t want to resort to second hand Scorpions, which is most of them, so it’s a major driver of their recovery and subsidiary generation efforts.”
----Captain Harriet McKenna, CAF, Director of Project Prominence

”Make no mistake, the Chokuto is primarily a mass market design they export to drum up cash. The birds they use themselves (the Wasakasi) are close to the Badger in overall capability. They even make a joke about it in the name, with a Chokuto being the earliest form of swords that the early Japanese brought with them from China.”
----Anonymous, ASI Market Analysis Division

The first new product offered from Bushido Industries after the devastation inflicted on the Bushi Federation during the Minion War, the Chokuto is a classic light interceptor, with the Federation’s advanced technologies allowing them to achieve top notch performance without the ‘Scorpion Effect’. Drawing heavily from their previous export grade Katana, the Chokuto is built around its modular weapon pod, giving it far greater flexibility than the Super-Scorpion. Its hull is notably less durable, but the integral Variable Force Field is on par with the one on the Black Eagle, granting it more combined protection. It also has a notable edge in compactness, with the folding wing assemblies reducing its width by almost half, making it good for carrier operations. The other notable feature is the inclusion of an increasingly popular countermeasure launcher, equivalent to WZT models and compatible with some slight modifications.

The halt of new Scorpion production has pushed the Chokuto into prominence, with many IDFs desperate to acquire new aero frames. BI uses the Chokuto to both gain funds and political support, being unwilling to trust charity from Gaijins without an ulterior motive. While paranoia on their part, this has led to them accelerating their expansion of their satellite production network, helping further their economic recovery. BI has announced that they will soon release a replacement for the Katana called the Tachi, although details are scarce.

Spoiler:

Again, Kitsune has art for it.

Bushido Industries Naginata Heavy Fighter
”BI’s entry into the ‘Proctor Alternative’ market, the Naginata is less than half the mass and focuses on the fighter part of heavy fighter. Unfortunately, the only peer in its bracket is the damn Raiju II, so it loses hard in any head to head. On the other hand they’re actually available, and it only costs 25 Mil more than a base Proctor, so it wins out in that respect assuming you’re not doing something barmy with the cargo bay.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“There’s nothing particularly new with the Naginata other than the size. All of its capabilities are more or less spot on what you would expect a BI product in its weight class, and for some that’s just what they want. It’s internal accommodations aren’t any worse than the Proctor given its crew load, so it's at least somewhat functional as a patrol craft. The lack of a cargo bay really limits its non-combat flexibility, but it’s a strike craft above all else.”
----Captain Harriet McKenna, CAF, Director of Project Prominence

”They’re not joking when they say there’s not much modern in its weight class. The nearest equivalents are the WZT Raiju II and ASI Jatar, which are rarely available for various reasons. Anything else that comes close is some form of para-military shuttle craft. It’ll sell for that alone if nothing else, what with lots of IDFs moving to carrier platforms to provide more deterrence than planet or station bases.”

Released just prior to the Minion War, the Naginata is Bushido Industries version of the Proctor. At less than half the mass of the Proctor, the Naginata is naturally far smaller, making it much more practical to operate off carrier platforms. This does greatly limit its patrol and independent operation capabilities, as well as eliminate potential cargo launched ordinance, but this is considered a practical trade off. The Naginata has better than average maneuverability, matching the far smaller Flying Fang, meets modern standards for acceleration, and is only slightly less durable than the Proctor. Like the Katana, its base firepower is positively anemic, but this is easily solved with its quad modular weapon pods.

As it had only just been introduced, only a handful of pre-war Naginata survived the Minion War, making them highly valuable collector’s items. The near totality of its numbers have been produced since then, and it is an urban legend that the build quality on the earliest examples was substantially less than their predecessors. Unfortunately for BI, the nearest competitor to the Naginata is the WZT Raiju II, which places it in the awkward position of being considered the less capable but more economical substitute. While the internal use model can likely keep up, the mass market version is well behind the AJC’s heavy fighter of choice. On the other hand, the Raiju is also rarely available due to the AJC monopolizing production, and has far fewer headaches attached to it, making it dominate the IDF market for those seeking a craft in its capability niche.

Spoiler:

While the pic Kitsune has for it is low rez CG, he also has a floor plan for it.

Bushido Industries Bisento Light Corvette

(‘Shrunk-vette’)

”While it looks like a pipsqueak compared to its peers, the Bisento is a remarkable entry into the Light Corvette market. Most of the people that operate these sorts of craft fly them from planetary facilities, but enough of them do it from stations that a much more compact hull is useful. The ship’s lack of raw missile power is a lesser issue in normal patrols, and it has a few key advantages over the Proctor in the customs inspection role. The Thundercloud police forces have been buying them up for good reason.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“Joking aside, it's honestly impressive how much they managed to shoehorn into a hull this small. It doesn’t have the missile power of most of its peers, but that’s to be expected given its lack of internal volume to put it in. The only thing I considered questionable is the fixed CML in the nose, but it's also hard to come up with a workable alternative. I honestly want to call it a Cutter rather than a Light Corvette, but that’s the market term for it.”
----Anonymous, ASI Market Research

”The Bisento is effectively a Thundercloud exclusive, with other firms having the lead in Corkscrew and Anvil. BI has the home field advantage here, and the local firms aren’t up to building a competitor. Ross has its hands full in the Corkscrew CCW, and the steaming hot mess that is the CCW holdings over here has prevented them from trying to enter the market. WZT is also thinnest on the ground here, and all their production is going to the USA. ”

Originally intended as a Proctor equivalent, the Bisento suffered from feature creep until it reached the Corvette category. Efforts were then derailed by the Minion War, and would not be resumed until a year after. The post war reconstruction period made the Bushi Federation desperate for whatever funds they could acquire, and the emerging Light Corvette market looked like a strong opportunity. The Bisento was then dragged out from the dust bin and reengineered as a proper ship, resulting in the smallest entry in the field. It has since proven to be as popular as hoped, giving the Federation another revenue stream.

Like its more successful peers, the Bisento is a very small starship that flies like its a strike craft. This compensates for the normal targeting problems of the primary energy mount, and makes it much harder to hit by ship mounted equivalents. It also features substantial stealth and EWAR capabilities, improving survivability and tactical options. The only failings of the craft are its less than impressive shields and missile power, both of them due to the limited volume its designers had to work with.

Spoiler:

Bushido Industries Hekireki (Thunder) Destroyer
“The Thunder is one of the better pre-Minion War escort designs, as Bishi miniaturization allowed them to shoehorn substantially more into the hull than anybody else could, discounting the Aurora which is something of an unfair comparison. It has twice the beam power of a Hunter, a full Capital scale missile bay, effectively 12 PD mounts, and was pretty fast for the time. Unfortunately, Post-war standards have radically shifted, meaning that it's well behind the tactical curve causing them to start work on a locally produced version of the Predator. They’re still going to make the Thunder though, as it's much more cost effective at escort duty and it's a seller’s market for modern warships these days.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

The Hekireki (Thunder) was the Bishi Federation’s first attempt at an FTL capable warship, inspired by ‘acquired’ examples of the ancient Wolven Hunter. Increasing the mass by more than a third, the Bishi applied their expertise in miniaturization to further increase how much capability they could put into the hull, resulting in what many consider to be the best Pre-Minion War Escort. The twin 12cm Heavy Lasers give twice the effective firepower of the Hunter’s slow charging PBCs, and the full capital scale CM launcher gives it tremendous damage potential. Just as important was improvements in point defense, with Bushido Industries managing to mate the mighty GR-1000 with a Variable Focus PBC in a slightly enlarged defensive turret, providing both striking power and area of effect. Much of the remaining free mass was invested in drive improvements, making it faster than most contemporary heavy fighters.

The Hekireki would be produced in large numbers, serving as escorts for Bushido Industries convoys against raiders, who often sported Naruni Industries equipment. Its effectiveness against them was likely one of the driving impetus for the development of Espandon Frigate. Most would be lost in desperate defenses against the Demonic onslaught, but they took more than their fair share of Demon Furries with them. While suffering from massive facility losses, several of Bushido Industry’s satellite factories were capable of producing new hulls, partially compensating. About half of all production is being acquired by the Federation or retained for BI’s own needs, with the rest being sold at substantial markup to help fund recovery effort.

Spoiler:

Bushido Industries Raiden Light Cruiser

(‘Half-Shield’)

“The Raiden is something of a stripped down and shrunken Warshield, but it’s not quite that straightforward. The lack of secondary guns means it's in trouble in slugfests, but for the time it was introduced it was fast enough to play keep away. The VFF is almost full strength, which is a nasty surprise on something a bit over half the mass, and the hull strength is still better than the Smasher. Interestingly, it doesn’t use any of the advanced tech they’re known for, as most of it amounts to miniaturisation improvements. A Light Cruiser scale hull doesn’t have any need for it, with the biggest limitation being power supply, and they’re not ahead of us in that regard. This means that they could build up no small number of them in a hurry, which is likely one of the reasons the Demon’s didn’t smash them flat.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

Developed shortly after the Bushi Federation’s acceptance into the CCW, the Raiden was intended to serve as the primary heavy warship of their defensive forces. As the Oni had never built a warship this large before, they decided to take inspiration from the CAF’s Warshield, eliminating unneeded features and scaling back the overall hull to be more economical. The resulting craft has been described as ‘half a Warshield’ in terms of capabilities, and was distinctly lacking in long range patrol capabilities, but this suited the Oni’s strategic needs. The Federation acquired no small number of them prior to the Minion War, and while nearly all of them were lost during that conflict they sold themselves dearly. Their greater speed allowed them to evade the powerful Demon Stars, and the Demon Furies had already become infamous for their fragility against capital weapons. They were most often lost when forced to defend a fixed position, such as an inhabited planet.

The recovering post-war Federation has naturally placed reconstituting its military forces at a high priority, but resource demands means that they can only justify purchasing half of Bushido Industry’s reduced output. The rest is sold on the open market, with the drought of capital hulls allowing them to charge a higher premium than usual, which is promptly put back into reconstruction efforts. As BI has a far less toxic reputation than Naruni, it has become notably more popular among IDFs than the far larger Conquistador, which has its own bagage to say the least.

Spoiler:

Bushido Industries Hiryu (Flying Dragon) Light Cruiser
“The Hiryu is going to get a lot of comparisons to the Dauntless, if only because of the matching compliment, but again it isn’t quite that simple. The Dauntless is way ahead of the curve when it comes to capabilities, so the Hiryu is actually a high end design by reasonable standards. Sustained operational temp is better due to having more people and facilities due to having more than twice the mass to play with, even if it isn’t used quite as efficiently. Barring the usual Tachyon debate, the Hiryu is also better defended, and has more than twice the effective durability. The only bit of Oni miniaturization I can find is the sensor suite, which is admittedly not a minor feature. It's pricey at the 5 Bil they offer it for, but considering their situation they’re flexible in what payment they take.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

Once the Bushi Federation was able to begin a proper post-war analysis, it was found that the largest factor for their losses was the lack of strategic depth. While the CCW was being courted as a buffer state, its slow progress into the Creche Clouds meant that the Federation was still quite open to attack from most directions, and the CAF had been stretched so thin by the chaos that they were only able to provide a handful of battle groups for the entire region. The Demon World Pilvif was able to simply run over them, and nothing short of the Goldilox Defense Grid was able to stop such a beast from devastating a planet. The Oni had never dreamed that such lengths were necessary, and suffered tremendously when forced to defend their holdings from direct attack. Clearly a more proactive stance was needed.

Beyond setting more territory, the best way to provide strategic coverage is with parasite forces, with Carriers being the go-to method of force projection for most nations for a reason. The Oni had a very strong fighter force in their internal use models, and recent tactical developments has made them substantially more effective against capital ships than they have been for centuries. Thus, an economical light carrier was considered ideal, being small enough to be produced in meaningful numbers with their still rebuilding industrial base and still quite capable. They had additional utility in providing convoy escort, which was always a concern with the Naruni supported raiding groups. To simplify development and construction it was decided that an enlarged version of the Raiden hull would be used, itself also benefiting from the CCW’s investment into the Warshield design.

With the exception of the long range sensors, the Hiryu is quite conventional, being everything that’s expected out of a modern light carrier design. While naturally more fragile and almost unarmed compared to the Warshield, the Hiryu is above average for its type given its displacement, and is considered to be remarkably quick. The standout feature is the sensors, representing the Oni’s first successful attempt at miniaturizing FTL technology. Matching the performance of the larger Lasser, it can provide FTL detection out to 25 lightyears, giving the ship and its escorts hours to respond to incoming intruders. It has become a primary source of revenue for Bushido Industries, with the Federation acquiring a third of production and the rest being sold to IDF in exchange for reconstruction assistance.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Nov 27, 2020 9:15 pm

WTZ-UACV-SF012C 'Enryu-C' Aerospace Drone Fighter
"They still make the old model, as its going to take who knows how long for modern standards to filter down into the fringe and it more than enough to frustrate any pirate that draw their equipment solely from Python. The FDF has fully switched over though due to higher demands, and the more well off CHF have as well."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The standards of ASF combat have moved since the Enryu was first developed, meaning that it needed to change to keep up. WZT revisited the design with improved fabrication technology, reducing the cost of the higher end Antimatter powered version, and paired it with upgraded programming. Additionally, the nose has been redesigned to serve as a better high-speed ramming platform, allowing a full speed Enryu to hit with the force of an an Antimatter Cruise Missile. Now able to keep up with modern medium ASFs, the Enryu is used the same way previously, intercepting missiles, serving as a decoy, and harassing poorly defended targets.

Spoiler:

WZ-RS-053 'Wasp II' Heavy Fighter

('Super-Wasp')
"GA going belly up is a gift that keeps on giving. The new Wasp is effectively an AJC exclusive, but you wouldn't know it if you watched the news channels. A lot of people think that the USA's second greatest strengths after their ASFs is their absurd number of high-level hobo-parties, who have reputations good enough to stare down anybody short of an Alien Intelligence and get away with it. They have a lot of outright freaks of nature over there, and they're not afraid to set them loose."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

While extremely powerful, the Wasp was always something of a confused mess. The lack of an official datasheet led to countless speculative interpretations, many claiming performance that was impossible given the CCW’s level of technology. While it was certainly impressive in many aspects, it simply lacked the volume to mount some of the attributed features. WZT would have loved to have cleaned the confusion up and streamline the design, but the legal battles between them and Galactic Armory stayed their hand. And then the ‘Reltish Raid’ ended the core world firm as a corporate entity almost overnight, with nearly all of the upper leadership being found to be compromised one way or another by Infernal infiltrators. Suddenly, WZT had options.

It was an open secret amongst those that actually looked at the designs that the Wasp heavily influenced the larger Raiju, with much of the internals being scaled up to fit the later craft’s hull. WZT chose to let the process flow backwards, with several of the Raiju’s developments being transposed on its upgraded predecessor. While lacking the volume for additional internal EWAR equipment, both the hull and weapons could be upgraded to be slightly more refined. This allowed the offensive capabilities to be made fully modular, with the Raiju’s underwing mounts greatly increasing flexibility. In an impressive feat of engineering, the Wasp’s shields have been upgraded to match the same high regeneration rate that WZT’s other modern designs now sport, greatly increasing survivability.

While a very expensive design, the Wasp’s capabilities as a high speed stealth attack craft are unrivaled, making it highly sought after. The near totality of production has been sold to the AJC, and are handed out judiciously to those who can best make use of it. Half of them are in the hands of the AJC’s special forces units, while the other half have been gifted to the more exceptional Irregular forces, which often contain a Cosmo Knight or two. Like the larger Blackbird, the Wasp has become a symbol of the USA’s bands of heroes, catching the imagination of the public with tales of incredible skill and courage.

Spoiler:

WZ-HSI-027B 'Blackbird-B' High Speed Corvette

(‘Super-Bird’, ‘B3”)
”While the B3 is nominally a stealth design, the AJC gets a lot of use out of it as a showpiece. Its extremely photogenic, combined with its top notch performance makes it an ideal platform for high-profile hobo-parties much like the smaller Wasp. It’s really common for them to work together, which results in stunning headlines. They also use it for VIP transport, as it’s both safe and make for great photo-ops’
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

While the Blackbird is the ship that set off the Light Corvette craze, it was Vareesahn Amadi’s first attempt at a military design, and she would eventually grow dissatisfied with several of her choices. It didn’t help that it was one of the earliest designs to use Lucerin, which resulted in a number of frustrating inefficiencies. Amadi would pick it between commissions, but was always too busy to dedicate a large chunk of time to the project. The Minion War changed that, with the Luxury Yacht industry going comatose to produce war material and the usual buyers having more pressing needs. Suddenly her schedule was wide open, and improving the Blackbird became a high priority regardless.

Returning to WZT-Spiral, she was pleased to find that the engineers there had already put in time to develop more effective components, simplifying her problems significantly. The improved Lucerin reactor is now truly top of the line, matching any Antimatter plant you care to name, and the more efficient TachaWing IX engines provide substantially greater thrust. Just as importantly the shields were brought up to what was considered the standard for Corvettes, and further improved the regeneration rate. The new engine left just enough room to install a higher end FTL drive, granting it above CAF standard speed. The electronics also had room for improvements, with the EWAR suite from the still developmental Mammatan II fitting nicely within the allocated space.

This left the weapons suite, which was the largest technical headache. The fixed mounts could be made modular, and while the underlying infrastructure limited them to energy weapons this was not a major concern. The modular weapon pods on the other hand were, with it being exceedingly difficult to get the needed heat dissipation while maintaining the craft’s stealth properties. It ultimately took the assistance of a Oni Ninja tribe that had taken refuge in the USA to solve the various issues, and their expertise in morphic materials also allowed them to greatly increase the payload capacity of the missile options, as well as enlarging the hull mounted bays. A last minute addition would be the replacement of the underpowered grav gun option with ASI sourced versions, greatly increasing their effectiveness.

The new Blackbird-B would make waves immediately, with its even greater performance and firepower making it ideal for truely high end operations. WZT-Spiral was able to offer a refit program, and virtually all of its buyers jumped for it at the first opportunity. The majority of current production goes to various concerns in the USA, which has become home to a truly impressive number of small but extremely powerful and wealthy groups of adventurous individuals, and the AJC naturally receives a notable discount due to providing security for the yards in question.

Spoiler:

WZ-HMF-T31 'Meteor Storm' Heavy Missile Fighter/Bomber
”Just about every missile boat design has been picking up ECCM, and for good reason. While it's inconsistent at best, with the enemy having a say in the matter, it's the best way to get through modern ECM. The upgraded Meteor benefits from all the other changes to it, but the ECCM is what keeps it truly relevant. Its an ok-ish light attack corvette without it, but that’s not good enough for what the TmeR needs.”
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

With the reestablishment of the TME, it came time to upgrade the Regulator’s various bits of equipment up to modern standards, if only to give the TGE a bigger black eye when they attacked. The Meteor Storm was effective for its technological level, but the Regulators had gained access to a considerably better industrial base in the form of WZT yards since its development, leaving it well short of what it could be. Additionally, the 1-2 kiloton size bracket had recently exploded with viable designs, with the ‘Light Corvette’ becoming a hot niche. To keep up for both internal use and potential exports, the Meteor Storm needed to be upgraded.

The changes start by upgrading to a Lucerin-fuelled reactor, with the substance already being used in the mighty Cachalot and Demas, allowing for a dramatic increase in shield strength and as well as both sublight and FTL propulsion. The novel Forcefield Energy Sinks were removed as being of marginal utility, and the mass was used to expand the small LRM bays and increase armor protection. The main missile bay itself was radically altered to allow it to fire all forms of ordinance, including LRMs and Cruise Missiles. Making the energy weapons modular was a trivial exercise, giving the craft a bit more flexibility and logistical compatibility with the other modern AJC craft. Enough mass was left over to include an ECCM system, allowing at least a partial counter of enemy ECM.

While it’s greater speed and flexibility make the upgraded Meteor Storm more capable at patrol work, it remains at its best as an escort. Like other ‘Missile Boats’, its utility is greatly diminished if it is unable to use its vast ordinance bay, be it by circumstance or them being empty, requiring that it operate as part of a larger formation.

Spoiler:

WZ-MD-016R 'Blade' Light Missile Cruiser
"The improved Blade and Tungi solve the largest problem of the older versions, their painfully slow reloading process. While still far short of autoloading, I can see an argument for how they did it. The Kai'Shemi have also developed some good methods of ram boarding the Sorm carrier platforms, with the intent of rescuing the 'fresh meat' that the damn bugs keep around. Most people don't want to get up close an personal with minor supernaturals, but the bulls just love it. Helps that they're not stingy on the blast weapons if there's too many to duel."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

While running full tilt turning the Minion War, the Kai’Shemi shipyards did find time to develop improvements to their various products. The popular Blade and derived Tungi would see their hull forms moderately improved, shedding 2 kilotons of mass, slightly enlarging the hanger to host a full half squadron of medium ASFs, and see the all important missile bays be reconfigured to drastically expedite the reloading process. Additionally, the older shield generators on the Blade were brought up to WZT’s current standards of fast regeneration, an impressive feat considering that it still runs on a conventional fusion plant. The peculiarities of the hull allow for older ships to be refitted to the new standards in an economical manner, and the USA can use its various mobile factory ships to do it, ensuring a quick turn over. While still relatively fragile for their size, their primarily low technology nature means that they can be easily deployed and supported across the USA’s vast frontier, making up for the more limited deployments of the now Lucerin powered LaFayette class. The proscribed tactics remain the same as ever.

Spoiler:

WZ-MD-017R 'Tungi' Light Missile Cruiser
While the Tungi was a new configuration, it had used a distinctly obsolete pattern of Cruise Missile Launcher, which was as slow to reload as the older LRMs. The updated version replaced it with twin CAF-Pattern 32-silo models, with their 30 second reloading cycle more than compensating.

Spoiler:

WZ-MC-020B 'Daito' Missile Attack Cruiser
"The increase in the Daito and the Kardara's sustained output can't be understated. They've seen more use on the Sorm front than anywhere else, rolling up the escorts and cruisers with missiles before ram-boarding the carriers. One of the side benefits of the large hull is that the most of crew spaces are deep enough in that they're not vulnerable to the scale of rad guns the bugs use. They're also used to board hostile stations, and the few times they've gone up against an Infernal ship were said to be exhilarating for the Kai’Shemi involved."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

Just as the smaller Blade has undergoing revisions, the larger Daito saw meaningful alterations. The direct fire weapons were replaced with modular mounts to increase logistical flexibility, and the obsolete launchers were replaced with modern CAF versions. Like the smaller Blade, it remains powered by conventional fusion, allowing it to be dispatched to any location in the USA’s sprawling territory

Spoiler:

WZ-MC-021R 'Kardara' Missile Cruiser
As the Daito hull was more refined than that of the Tungi, it had less room to gain by switching weapons, resulting in the Karadara maintaining the same number of launchers as it had previously.

Spoiler:

WZ-CRZ-109 'Shiva' Heavy Missile Cruiser
"The old Shiva was a nasty surprise if you didn't know about it or had to tool to deal with it, but massed CM fire has become the default answer to energy resistant targets, and there's a lot more CMs with ECCM now of days. Technical problems with the hull construction would explain why it took them so long to fix it, but I would have started from scratch after the first few were made to not have to deal with it. The new weapons suite helps tremendously, and the MRMs reload fast enough that you can dedicated a good chunk of them to intercept duty."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The Shiva was the first capital ship that WZT designed with Syzite-Crystal technology, and it showed. The ship’s armaments were lacking for its mass to say the least, which meant that it was in trouble if it was used unwisely. It also predated the recent explosion in Cruise Missile capable strike craft, which made its lack luster point defenses all the more problematic. Efforts were made to address this, but the still crude understanding of Syzite-Crystal shaping made it problematic, forcing the various alternative configurations to sacrifice something to fit what was needed. While progress was made, particularly in regards to larger multi-megaton hulls, the much smaller Shiva would be a constant problem until a breakthrough was made in the middle of the Minion War.

The revised Shiva was finally able to make substantial changes to its hull form, providing far more internal volume to install badly needed equipment, and improvements in weight savings kept it at its original displacement. The problematic and slow loading missile launchers were replaced with CAF-style autoloading models, greatly increasing both burst and sustained firepower. Additionally, the point defense system was expanded dramatically, and the hanger was enlarged to host a CAF standard light ASF squadron. A full one hundred additional crew were added to keep the ship operational for longer periods and fill the various needs that had been unmet previously. As a near afterthought, the direct fire weapons were made modular, and the shield regeneration rate was brought up to WZT’s new standard.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:50 am

Good fluff will be added when I actually write it. There's an Oni influence in both of them to varying degrees.

PSVS-TAV-SFB-16X ‘Mammatan II’ Aerospace Strike Fighter-Bomber
"The improved Thunderhead is just as much of a ground breaker as the original, and promises to define the emerging ‘Intermediary’ ASF category as much as the Blackbird did the Corvette. I know Prominence is looking into it, but they have so much on their plate already that I don’t know when they can actually do work on an equivalent. Hopefully, they’ll be able to learn lessons from the inevitable crop of wannabes before they commit."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The Mammatan existed in a mass category that was essentially unpopulated by modern ASFs, with its only peer being the StarFox. This meant that there were very few accepted guidelines for what was possible, resulting in its developers being forced to get creative. Its heritage as a descendant of the Jal’Wan/Thunderchief II meant that its early configurations established it as a missile boat, but it's near near Black Eagle performance and voluminous hull opened no end of opportunities. Most of the configurations filled the bays with various ship grade weapons, with its maneuverability compensating for the normal difficulties against small and fast targets. But its primary claim to fame was its -EW configuration, which profoundly changed the dynamics of missile combat. All of these traits were desirable, and the Minion War era upgrade and refit programs were the ideal chance to improve upon them.

Similar to the StarTiger II, the improved Mammatad started with changes to the wings and fuselage, gaining 2 feet in height to provide additional volume. The main hull was modified to include the both the ORACLE equipped EWAR systems and its operators, with Lucerin powered advancements allowing more to be squeezed out of a somewhat more compact installation. The gain in the wings was devoted almost entirely to increasing the volume of the ordinance bays, which are now able to host modular ship weapons and the required infrastructure to use them without permanent modification, enabling it to emulate the G/H/I/K/M/R/P configurations with only 10 minutes of work. The overall craft gained a full 8 tons of mass, and while a good deal was used to improve the armor and shields, the rest was devoted to uprating the engines, which now come standard with the FTL drive of the -D.

While the large craft is quite expensive, the AJC considers it well for the cost considering its capabilities. Most dedicated carrier platforms have a pair in every 24 craft squadron, providing badly needed EWAR support for Super-Tantos and StarTiger IIs.

Spoiler:

ASI/WZT-SFB-0113 'Raiju II' Heavy Fighter
"The Raiju has always been a beast, and the upgraded model is even worse. I know ASI has put out a few TW versions, but I'd like to know where they put the added equipment. The hull is so cramped as it is that there's simply no room. My best guess is that they took a page from Thoth Industries and broke out the Pocket Dimensions, which would explain a few other things about them as well."
--- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The original Raiju was very much a brute force design, and despite all of its abilities had some notable and extremely frustrating inefficiencies. These could be glossed over during the Minion War, where it casually trounced the opposition the AJC went up against, but they needed to be addressed in the post-war environment. After the majority of the USA’s high intensity theaters died down, the Raiju’s returned to the factory for a comprehensive reconstruction, and emerged even more powerful than ever.

The first issue looked at was the propulsion systems. The previous installations were ripped out entirely, and replaced by cutting edge replacements that WZT had just put the final touches on. Sublight propulsion is now provided by an ingenious combination array of CG and fusion torch, saving a notable amount of mass and allowing it to function on auxiliary fusion power in all environments. The external FTL has been brought into the hull, and has been improved with the latest technology. To provide the needed volume, the hull has been extended a few feet. This left the matter of the weapons suite.

While the Raiju was used as an inspiration for the modular mount system that WZT and ASI developed, it still predates it, and as such does not take advantage of the improved options. Of the previous fixed weapons, the only ones left are the nose Ion Cannons, which were found to be too wrapped in the avionics to be made modular. Fortunately, the underwing pods had seen minor improvements during the war, and were thus fine as is.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:40 pm

And I've put in all the fluff. Take another look if you want.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:24 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:And I've put in all the fluff. Take another look if you want.

And good fluff and crunch it is.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 1:40 am

An Overview of the USA’s Civilian Ships
“Live as long as we do, and you see the same damn trends repeated over and over. While the USA as a whole may be on the novel side, the economics of the larger core firms leaving the extreme periphery to languish and being blindsided by later developments is an old, old story. The sad thing is that it's hard to blame them from a business perspective, as the prospective pay off to staying in the fringe market needs such a long time to pay off that doing so would disadvantage you against your real competitors at home for centuries. Just what ‘long term’ is defined as differs from group to group, and for the lesser races a mere few decades is effectively the limit. It gets frustrating at times, but at least it lets us predict where future markets are going to sprout up.”
--- Anonymous, Altess Sovereign Investment Fund.

While the AJC naturally gets the majority of the attention that falls on the USA, the developing nation would not be possible without the civilian vessels that make its economy function. The vast distances between its claimed systems means that it has need for higher speed designs than the core world standard, and the lack of the rule of law in the Fringe and Frontier means that they must often be at least marginally combat capable. This is quite different from what the major firms of the CCW offer, which is further exacerbated by them historically not caring about what happens in these regions beyond the occasional colonization wave. Thus, to meet its domestic requirements the USA has turned to sources attuned to the local needs, with Aegis Stellar Industries and the sprawling WizTech Yards stepping up to the plate. To say that they have been successful would be a comical understatement, with virtually the entirety of the USA using hulls constructed in their yards or one of their subcontractors. To illustrate this, let us go on an overview of the popular designs.

Naturally, the most common spacecraft design is the diminutive Sparro, costing less than 1 million credits by default. Most leave it in this configuration, but many of the lower end militias have started using it as an alternative to a variety of old non-attack capable atmospheric craft. These militarized versions are often offered as a larger package, and are generally equipped with twin nose lasers, a chin Railgun, an internal force field, and a choice of dorsal missile launcher. Not a spectacular craft by any means, it is quite cheap, easy to operate, and is generally competitive with low end paramilitary designs in atmosphere.

The next most common is naturally the Orbital Hare, which often replaces atmospheric ‘chattel-car’ designs, and after that the Roswell has been gaining ground due to recent upgrades. The most basic of which is a general weight reduction, bringing its displacement down to a flat 40 tons, and the optional removal of the EWAR equipment reduces the cost to 15 million. Its modularity and relatively small size compared to most other shuttlecraft make it a popular choice as a utility craft, filling in many roles where the Orbital Hare is simply too large, too inflexible, or too fragile. The militarized versions have been upgraded to come with Drive Boost Adjustment and Particle Scrambler Shield by default, and upgrade the defensive mounts WZT Medium Fighter grade. Refinements in manufacturing methods bring the cost of these more capable models down to 30 million.

The latest version of the old Skyver goes for 5 million credits, and includes the folding wings and GMR spar of the older variants. The weapon mounts have been replaced with twin WZT Light Fighter grade mounts and the countermeasure dispenser has been upgraded, but many leave them empty. It only sees significant use by those that have strict volume restrictions for hanger space, but within that niche it’s combination of reasonable performance and rock bottom price make it the default choice for fringe freighter captains. Those that are willing to spend a bit more cash for something more flexible get the agile Parus. While it requires substantially more maintenance, the list of options can make a very persuasive argument to many, particularly those that operate in more hostile sectors.

The dispersed Fringe means that there is no end to the need for personal FTL transportation, and there is no shortage of offers. The absolute bottom end is dominated by Aquarius stellacommutta, with its currently 3 million credit price tag being more than enough for its operators to overlook its problems. The larger Scobee has seen its price come down to 15 million, which is considered a tad low for its capabilities assuming you’re able to stomach the operational quirks. But the true gem is the compact Civis, being the same size as a hovercar are usable as such, making it an extremely popular ‘Captain’s Jig’ among larger ships. Many of the USA’s Irregular forces have also picked them up, with heavily upgraded versions hanging from the ceiling of their larger mothership being an extremely common sight.

Naturally, the simple and extremely flexible Kepler has become ubiquitous across the USA. For many systems, it is the first CG propelled craft to call it home, and its endless utility sees them remain in service until their spaceframe fails. For a CG using craft, it is almost painfully simple to operate and maintain, making it a good introduction to the technology for less advanced civilizations. Additionally, the cost of the lower end force field options has come down by nearly 50%, making them far more common. Those with a marginally need for FTL cargo capacity use the WZT Fenlock or the larger Auriga, both of which are considered surprisingly capable for such low end vessels.

Above that is the Concord and Carpathia, whose virtues have been waxed about endlessly. Most iconic in their use as assault ships during the Minion War campaigns, they have proliferated like wildfire across the fringe since then. They are only slightly less popular among Irregular forces as a mothership, with their large internal bays easily able to hold all but the most ludicrous arrays of equipment. The larger Nao shares all of these traits, and is perhaps even more aggressively simple. For shorter length trips, the WZT Komodo is ideal for non-pressing runs, although few enjoy using them.

Larger designs are proportionally rarer, with far fewer colonies in the Fringe warranting them. The more settled Frontier is most often serviced by the Light Cruiser sized Bering and Tsiolkovsky, with the later having finalized price of 500 million. The former is much more common on raw material runs, particularly if it involves hazardous goods, while the latter is superior for more time sensitive assignments and those that have a notable risk of interception. Truly large scale routes are generally handled by WZT’s economical Behemoth or ASI’s Brunel, and a growing number of the USA’s members have developed large enough economies to warrant the use of the Immense and Goethel. Additionally, the latest version of ancient Transol has seen a resurrection as a mobile base for Irregular forces, with WZT handing off production responsibility for it to ASI for a number of reasons. The developing nation’s industrial concerns make heavy use of Asteroid Cruisers and Brahmars, the former of which hold much of the USA’s antimatter production.

Beyond simple personnel and cargo transport, the USA has a need for various specialist designs. The WZT Quest has always been their default diplomatic transport, but has recently been supplemented by the photogenic Blackbird-B for high prestige events. With the Fringe and Frontier being so poorly survived there is a vast need for exploration vessels, and while small craft are often impressed for cost concerns they are predominantly led by WZT’s Piecemeal and Firestorm vessels, with no small number of the USA’s warships being on call for emergency support. Similarly, the dirspired nature of their holdings ensures a vast need for fast couriers, with the Hikyaku’s various traits making it ideal for the infrastructure poor reaches. Finally, the rising stability of the USA’s territory has led to the emergence of a small cruise line industry, with the novel Bel Geddes fast spear-tip small market and the more economical Roamer filling in to provide shaft.

As you can see, ‘the bases’ are very well covered, and the modularity obsession of ASI ensures that most minor niches can be filled in short order. With both ASI and WZT gaining reputations as ‘Frontier Local’, or sufficiently close for cultural purposes, vast swaths of the more independent minded operators of the Fringe and the Frontier have gained a strong preference to their designs, even when the traditional giants of the CCW might be more situationally appropriate. This is creating a virtuous cycle where the USA firms increase their distribution while almost accidentally muscling out their theoretical competition, making them more and more the only valid choice. Further helping this is the effective nationalization of Galactic Armory, which has sent the remaining big names in a scramble to claim portions of its far more profitable market share. As such, they have essentially conceded the Frontier market to the upstart firms entirely, which will have repercussions as the more viable members of the USA develop into fully functional galactic level worlds.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 2:51 am

My understanding of the Jatar and the Haizam are fundamentally expedient Minion War era designs, and thus are slightly subpar in the post-war environment. Here's some upgraded models for the reconstruction era.

PS/ASI-FB-26B ‘Jatar’ Strike Ship
“The original Jatar was an inflated knock off of the StarFox, developed by the same people, so that it could be fielded by bottom tier USA members. The -B is more of the same, but with more development time and a more rationalized logistical stream behind it. Overall performance, protection, and statistics are essentially the same, but the internal components are a bit more refined to be that little bit easier to maintain and the body profile has been changed a bit to increase internal volume. The big difference is the weapon options, with big turrets having the option to draw from the WZT Heavy Fighter Mount list, and the ordinance bays seeing a slight redesign to increase payload capacity. The bays can also fit Gun Mount if desired, and the chaff bays in the back have been updated to the modern heavy standard. Considering that these are all basically options, effective price is just a single mil more, which is fair bargain.”
---Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

“The Jatar-Nul was an unapologetic bitzer, meant to use whatever castoffs could be found to give a reasonably capable attack ship to 3rd or 4th string militias. It was really good at that, but it has some flaws. The engineers weren’t quite as optimized for bone head techs as they could have been, and the turret options worked from the premise that the old spares for the low tier marginal ASFs would be available. While that could work for a while, long term those designs were going to get phased out, so some future proofing needed to be done. The new mounts are that little bit more modular, which also allows them to use whatever substitutes local industries can put up, which can matter to people.”
--- Anonymous, ASI Fighter Design Bureau

“Considering how ‘aggressively colonial’ it is, the Jatar is damn capable. It’s dead meat of it runs into half its mass in modern ASFs, but considering its usual operating environment there’s good odds it's the most advanced strike craft in whatever sector it operates in by a substantial margin. But its starting to drift back into more developed regions, with a lot of small time mercs picking it up due to its cost, but it's still a good bargain on that front as well. For the same money as a pair moderately upgraded Jatars you can get five Hyena, and the Jatars would come out on top if they have decent crews.”
---- Captain Harriet McKenna, CAF, Director of Project Prominence

Spoiler:

PS/ASI-LCrv021B ‘Haizam-B’ Aerospace Patrol Cutter
(aka “Hazbe’)

“The Hazbe is one of the best low end Proctor-equivalents, focusing on the independent operation role to the exclusion of carrier capability. The people in it's target market don’t have carrier platforms, which makes its pad space requirements a non-issue, and the low tech nature of so much of it makes it easy to maintain. It’s agile enough to not be an easier target, and while it may lack the ship level firepower of many of its peers it is almost certainly going to take the crown in the low to no infrastructure regions that it flies in. Every one of its faults that I can think of are due to sticking to simplicity rather than efficiency, which has the side effect of making it quite reasonably priced. Hobo-parties are naturally drawn to it like flies to a carcase, and I can’t blame them. It doesn’t hurt that it looks a lot better than most ASI craft.”
---Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

“While it still flies a bit like a high end orbital truck, the new Haizam is easily the best craft you’ll see out in the boonies with any consistency. Being able to go up against modern military craft means that it’s the king of **** mountain out here, baring stupidly focused and theater optimized craft like the Jatar. Unlike the Jatar, the Haizam can usually be fully maintained by its onboard crew, and having an FTL engine by default makes a big difference. The only logistics problem is the need to import parts for the electronics, VFF, and FTL, but those are too important to cheap out on and are compact enough you can bring a good sized stash with you.”
--- Anonymous, United Systems Alliance Marshals’ Service

“If you're willing to make maintenance a pain in the neck, the VFF can be replaced with a larger but simpler model, and there’s enough knock-offs you’ll usually be able to just get a normal size equivalent anyway. Similarly, the FTL housing is able to fit a good range of similar knock-off components without making meaningful changes. You’ll need to do some serious rearrangement of the electronics bay to fit worthwhile substitutes however, and you’ll probably have to make the units yourself because they’re honestly rarer than ASI built spares. The guns would be a more serious issue, but they deliberately left enough room around the mounts to use Automaton War era models, so an engineer worthy of the name can fit the link ups to anything made in the last 7 centuries. If you have the money, TW mods are well worth it, and if you order it from the factory most of the labor intensive prep-work can be done before your Wiz gets his hands on it.”
--- Anonymous, USA Irregulars

A post-war revision of the successful Haizam, the engineers in Tenel had the luxury of time and no end of official resources to do a more thorough development, solving the origional’s various issues and improving upon its strengths. As the Tenel factories were overdue for an in depth overhaul regardless, it was considered an ideal time to refit the construction jigs for a new model. Additionally, a large chunk of the earlier version had already been written off one way or another, allowing them to wave off mandating backwards-compatibility, giving the developers a substantially freer hand. After 4 months of work, the first Haizam-B emerged from the factory floor to rave reviews, and was immediately drafted as part of the SICI project.

The first notable change is that the hull has been lengthened by a full 10 feet and that the upper ‘hump’ has been nearly flattened out. This was done to make serious revisions to the propulsion systems, with the FTL drive being brought into the hull, solving the common complaint of its vulnerability. This does make the drive slightly harder to service and requires minor modifications to potential replacements, but it can be done in the field with only the shipboard resources, maintaining the designs high deployability.

A careful inspection of the hull will reveal subtle but important changes in the hull form. This is because the fundamental aeroframe has been notably altered, and the armor support braces have seen substantial improvement. This allows the craft to carry more effective armor weight, which has fully switched to common formulations to reduce costs. More advanced materials could improve protection by 15%, but it would be quite expensive and be difficult to replace in the field.

Changes to the weapons were naturally extensive. The fixed forward mounts have been replaced with modular ones, allowing operators to choose whatever is most appropriate to their environment, with the default combination of quad GR-1000s and quad Heavy Lasers being slightly more common than alternatives. The rotating missile bay has benefited from the hull expansion, and can now store up to 18 CM equivalents across the six facets of its rotating drum, with MRMs being preferred by most operators. Finally, two of the Gannet’s defensive turrets have been restored, covering the rear arc.

The Haizam-B has readily replaced the previous version on the assembly line, and is if anything more popular. Despite all the improvements, it is as easy to service and operate as previously, making it a better choice overall. It remains substantially less expensive than nearly all worthwhile Proctor-equivalents, and its patrol ability is well beyond anything short of a Light Corvette. This also makes it popular as a low-mid range vessel for adventuring parties, having far more utility as a transport than nearly all Heavy Fighters and still being quite combat capable.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 4:30 pm

My current project is going through PS/ASI's various civilian designs and working out plausible post-war alterations/refinements, with the not so subtle intent of making the pricing at least somewhat consistent, so watch this space.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:06 pm

(okay, let's see how this flies)

PS/ASI-LCrv-29 Irpull-class Patrol Ship
(“DouBarb’)
“Looks like a double-barbed harpoon or grapple, and that comparison is apt. Get enough of them after you, they’ll stick it to you but good, hang onto you, and bleed you out.”

“We got a hot scramble on three big boogies entering the system. They look like carriers, because almost immediately after jumping in, they began spawning about a hundred smaller craft, and they don’t act like lifepods or tourist shuttles, so we’re assuming fighters. That, and they’re ignoring all hails. So our fighters and the batsats are going to mow the field for us while we carry anti-ship packages to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in no uncertain terms. And odds are, the enemy sees our bigger craft in amongst the fighters approaching them, they’re going to guess what we’re up to and start throwing some hard point defense our way. We’re likely going to be tanking shots on our shields all the way in, but that’s why we get the big birds with the big guns.”

“Rumor is, Aegis Stellar and the GNE are investing heavily in a new generation of patrol ships because they want to assign them to covering our colonies as a stopgap, while the heavy warships are pulled away to form an offensive reserve . Way things are shaping up in the Three Galaxies, Deep Space Command wants to have the means to be more proactive in defense, by taking the fight to the enemy, and that requires heavy iron, not skeet-fighters. But we still need to cover our obligations with regards to protecting our worlds. Basing strong forces of local space attackers isn’t an optimal solution, but it’s the best of a number of barely satisfactory ones.”

“I like having the star drives in, not because I anticipate starhopping, but because I get get across a star system that much faster, or pop that much closer to a target. Unless they got FTL sensors out and scanning, most pirates aren’t going to see me coming until I’m right up next to them, my guns already triggering, before they can even react.”

The Irpull-class was developed to provide PS/ASI spacestation facilities and space colonies with a light, fast, but heavily-armed local space patrol and policing craft. PS/ASI began to develop and deploy more and more patroller-class ships as an inexpensive means of shoring up escort units and system defense forces. PS/ASI’s decision to dedicate the facilities of several Shipdock-Asteroid Cruisers to producing small combatant craft shows the growing importance of the type to PS/ASI/GNE-Alliance deep space policy.
While other early entrants in the Systems Interdiction Craft Initiative are based around larger fighters, the Irpull is configured more as a small warship(though it was originally designated as ‘SFB-29’ on early PS/ASI office documents), having more mass, larger crews(and roomier crew accommodations), and more heft in the way of firepower. It retains some of its aerospace fighter roots in a good degree of responsiveness on the controls, which lends to significant combat agility. It does lack, however, the endurance of larger warships, and so is restricted in operations to range from a base or mothership/tender.
The Irpull follows a triangular forward hull attached to a fat cylindrical rear engineering section. The Irpull’s distinctive ‘double triangle’ forward fuselage suggest its name(after a swept-barb spearhead).
The Irpull’s main sensory systems and point defense weapons are mounted in the forward wings, while two modular weapons bays on the sides of the rear hull provide space for heavier weapons, additional avionics, or propulsion enhancements. As with many PS/ASI designs, the Irpull’s systems are designed around modularity, allowing for quicker repairs, upgrades, and mission/client customization.
The Irpull CAN be upgraded with an FTL drive(the engineering spaces have provision for an internally-mounted module) for longer recon missions and interstellar transits, but most operators leave the ship as an in-system patrolcraft or carrier-borne attack vessel.
Being a later-generation ASI vessel design, Aegis Stellar Industries was able to study existing designs on the open market, including General Galaxy and Galactic Armory designs, while drawing on the diverse experiences of Fringe/frontier hotrodders and runners in ‘chopping’ their ships for enhanced performance.
Though relatively new, the Irpull has already seen action in a number of small, but intense, conflicts, and has begun acquiring a reputation for being a stalwart combat unit. Though more expensive than the LRF-25 Proctor, the Irpull has several advantages in being a newer design with arguably more versatility, benefiting from recent advances in technology and construction techniques.

Type: PS/ASI-LCrv-29 Irpull
Class: Patrol Ship
Crew: 6 +1-3 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,200
Bridge/Cockpit 860
Wings(4) 450 each
Engines 1,200
Weapons Bays(2) 500 each
*Variable Forcefield 700 each side( 4,200 total)

*Shield Refresh Rate is 10% per melee

Height: 34 ft
Width: 80 ft
Length: 97 ft
Weight: 760 tons
Cargo: 2 ton capacity
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 12 ( Mach 15 for lucerin-fueled models)
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.2%/1.5% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not standard, but can be fitted(see Options)
(Underwater) Not possible

Bonuses: The Irpull enjoys a +1 to dodge, +1 to stroke, and +12% to piloting rolls, despite its ‘warship configuration’.

Market Cost: 295 million credits for the standard fusion-powered model. 300 million credits for lucerin-enhanced models.

Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Cockpit Ejection System---The cockpit can be entirely ejected from the rest of the craft, to serve as a lifeboat. The cockpit pod can make a safe atmospheric reentry, if necessary, with deployable parachutes, and can even float for a time on water, increasing the chances for crew survival.

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

*Cyberlink(optional): A late retrofit is this advanced cybernetic control system that allows the pilot 'jack in', if so equipped, to the plane, linking him with the plane as if by telemechanics. The pilot is so in tune with the plane and their environment that he instantly knows everything involving their plane and its operations. A series of tiny external cameras normally used for Virtual Environment Cockpits is tied into the cyberlink, giving them an uncanny 360 degree view around the craft, providing them a +1 to init and dodge, in addition to the normal cyberlink bonuses .

Weapons Systems:
1) Forward Laser Cannon(4) --Mounted in the nose are four powerful laser cannons, triggered by the pilot or copilot. The original plan was to have them modular, rather than fixed configuration, but the starship-class Medium Lasers proved a better fit than the other options in the system, with regards to the Irpull’s mass and energy budget.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per single cannon firing, 2d6x100 +200 MD for all four cannons firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Wing-Mounted Point Defense Turrets(4)--Each wing mounts a small weapons turret along its length, compatible with WZT/ASI -standard Medium Hardpoint Weapons. The x-configuration and angling of the wings gives the PDSes excellent arcs of fire.
a)Pulse Lasers
Range: 6,000 ft in atmosphere, 24,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

b) Particle Beam Cannon
Range: 12,000 ft in atmosphere, 24,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: : EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

c) Ion Cannon---Relatively low powered, but excellent effects against electronics
(ionization rules courtesy of Henning Rogge). As PDSes, they are particularly useful against guided missiles, knocking out their electronics.
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere, 16,000 ft in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast,
In addition to physical damage, the cannon does EM damage. Percentage of EM damage is determined in relation to target’s main body((damage/main body)x100=percentage). For every 10% of damage from main body in ion damage, target will be -1 to strike, parry, and dodge. In space target acceleration will be reduced by 15%, in atmosphere top speed will be reduced by 15%. Roll once on critical hit charts in Phazeworld or Conversion book as appropriate.
If target takes 60% of main body in ion damage, ship or vehicle will be disabled completely. All weapon, navigation, and other systems will shut down and need to be repaired/replaced to work again/reboot.
Does NO damage against non-mechanical/electronic targets.
The ion cannon is equally effective against bionics
Rate of Fire: Five times per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

d) PlasMag Projector---A weapon based on Paladin Steel plasma weaponry; it fires bolts of magnetically-packaged plasma that explode like mini-missiles.
Range: 8,000 ft in atmosphere, 32,000 ft in space)
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast(15 ft blast radius)
Rate of Fire: Four times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

e) PS-GXMG 20mm ‘G-Gat’ Gatling G-Cannon--A six-barrelled gravity-gun weapon, based on the PS-XMG 20mm Gatling Cannon, and modified for operation in space.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 4d4 MD single shot
1d6x10 MD per 6 rd burst
2d6x10 MD per 12 rd burst
6d6x10 MD for a 30 rd burst(takes 2 attacks)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 30,000 rd magazine

f) Rail Gun(PS-RFRG30)---Less damage and range than the PS-XMG 20mm, but easier to maintain due to its lower tech.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4 MD single rd, 6d6 MD per 30 rd burst.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 48,000 rd magazine per cannon

3) Modular Weapons Bays(2)---Mounted on each side of the main engine cylinder hull are two modular weapons bays that can mount WZT/ASI-standard SuperHeavy Weapons. In the alternative, the bays can be modified for extra avionics, such as forcefield boosters and jamming gear. Each one can accommodate ONE of the following:
a) Missile Launcher---Can hold 120 mini-missiles, OR 60 short range missiles OR 30 medium range missiles OR 8 long range/cruise missiles each.

b) Heavy Rail Gun
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per cannon,
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 500 bursts per gun

c) Medium G-Cannon
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD per 40-round burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 300 bursts

d) Medium Laser Cannon
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per cannon, 2d4x100 MD per dual blast from both cannon simultaneously(one attack)
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

e) Ion Cannon
Range: 1.5 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per single cannon firing
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

f) Particle Beam Cannon
Range: (Palladium) 3.5 miles in atmosphere, 7 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 3.5 miles in atmosphere, 350 miles in space
Damage: 2d4x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Two shots per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

g) Plasma Torpedo Launcher
Range: (Plasma Torpedo) 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage:(Plasma Torpedo) 5d6x10 MD to an 80 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire:(Plasma Torpedo) Four times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

h) Tachyon Cannon
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles (10,000 m) in space w/ 3 mile wide arc*
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
* Scatter width is reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per single cannon firing
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

i) Heavy Plasma Cannon---A Medium-class starship weapon mounted on a fighter
Range: (Palladium) 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited
Option:* Fusion Plumer ---This modification adds deuterium slush tanks , allowing deuterium ‘hotshotting’ of the plasma stream and increasing damage per shot by 50%. The Irpull is massive enough to absorb the recoil shock from the plasma expulsion. The fitting holds enough d-slush hydrogen for 50 shots.

j) Disruptor Cannon---A knockoff of Golgan weaponry(the Alliance trading with many splinter-worlds of the former Golgan territories).
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast, 1/4 that to a 20 ft radius
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

k) EW Jammers---Powerful electronic jammers, operated by a dedicated EW officer in the crew, Mounting two jammer modules does not add power, but provides redundancy.
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 -6 to strike.
*Radio/Communications Jamming---Can jam enemy communications with 95% effectiveness, over an 80 mile radius in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space.
*Radar Jamming---Can jam enemy radar into useless static with 85% effectiveness, over an 80 mile radius in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space. It can also attempt to ‘cloak’ itself and any other aircraft flying within 2,000 ft(5 miles in space) 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 ship’s EW operator 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.).

l) Engine Boosters--- BOTH modules must be fitted with these to take advantage of the boost of speed they can give to the ship. With boosters fitted, the Irpull can max out at Mach 17 in normal space, albeit at the expense of firepower.

m) Forcefield Generators--- One or both of the lateral modules can carry a supplemental power generator and forcefield generator, tied into the ship’s integral shield systems. Each pod adds +800 MDC to the total shield strength.

n) Sensor Pod---A specialized sensor pallet can be mounted instead.

4) Countermeasure Launchers(2)---Mounted on either side of the hull are two decoy countermeasure launchers. Each is capable of mounting one of the following countermeasure types:
a)Chaff/Flare Launchers---Standard radar-reflective strips and thermal flares
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) Nano-Pods-----The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 18 swarm packs

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

d)X-Ray Laser Air/Space Countermeasure Mines
Payload: 24 per launcher

Options:
The Irpull is still too new to have much in the way of options,a side from those integral to its design, but likely future offerings include PPE sensors( ORACLE Mrk IVF), defense aides, and avionics upgrades.

*FTL Drive---Standard fitout allows for speeds of 5 light years per hour. Unlike the Jatar and some other vessels that can be fitted with accessory FTL ‘sled’ drives, the added mass of the Irpull’s FTL drive module does NOT diminish its normal space speed, nor does the refit require an external drive housing. Cost: 50 million credits

Variants:
* PS/ASI-LCrv-29D---’D-Demolisher’, an experimental variant that restores the original modular scheme to the forward guns and replaces them with WZT/ASI-standard SuperHeavy hardpoint weapons. This increases forward firepower, and gives the ship a particularly bristly appearance, lending it nicknames like ‘morningstar’, ‘painstar’, and ‘flying cannon’. The extra firepower taxes the fusion powerplant, however, so only the lucerin-powered models have the full rate of fire available to the larger weapons.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:12 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:An Overview of the USA’s Civilian Ships But the true gem is the compact Civis, being the same size as a hovercar are usable as such, making it an extremely popular ‘Captain’s Jig’ among larger ships. Many of the USA’s Irregular forces have also picked them up, with heavily upgraded versions hanging from the ceiling of their larger mothership being an extremely common sight.

This is actually more amusing than you know; I based my general idea of the Concord on the roll-on/roll-off car ferries of the Cape Cod Steamship Authority(the Star Islander, which appears earlier in this same thread is another 'based-on' design). Some of those ferries had drop-down ceiling decks for carrying additional cars hanging above the main car deck. I had to ride in them twice, and I would NOT want to have a full load in heavy weather.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:47 pm

I will go over the Irpull latter, for now, I'm reposting my alternative prices to the other thread.

For those that think the PS/ASI Catalogue Price for its Phase World offerings are all over the place, have an alternative list for something that's a bit more consistent.

Alternative Phase World Ship Prices
Atmospheric Non-Combat----Cost-----Why
LAMPV-17 ‘Yellow Jacket’---3 million---combat capable
CGS-70 GravHawk------------3 million---relative performance
GMRCHV-15 Kerlun-----------5 million---relative performance
SO-200 Skymaster II---------6 million---relative capability and novelty
GMR-C200 ‘Cavorite’-------12 million---relative fragility and performance
GMRD-VTOL-CT-1 ‘Moth’---20 million---relative capability
GMR-C57 Nantucketer------25 million---relative capability to complexity

Sublight Civilian------------Cost--------Why
LSTS-CTAV-10 ‘Sparo’-------.9 million---fine as is, Space Cessna, mill spec plant would cost millions
WZ-PT-0001 ‘Silver Fish’----1.3 million---fine as is, options are the cost
WZ-PT-0008 ‘Orbital Hare’--2 million---absolute minimalist, low capability
WZ-MPU-003 ‘Scarab’-------3 million---fine as is, has equipment
AAST-7 ‘Skyver’--------------5 million---low tech, relative capability
ASST-9 ‘Parus‘----------------6 million---but much higher maintenance
LAT026 ‘Roswell’------------15 million---stripped of EWAR
LAT025 ‘Cosgrove’----------35 million---relative capability
CGILT-C400 ‘Kepler’---------40 million---relative capability, better maintenance

Smallkin Craft -------------Cost-----Why
McSOHV-06 ‘Asterite’---.7 million---close to the Sparo
McSFR-01 ‘Arabella’------4 million---very low performance
McSFR-02 ‘Veterok’ -----5 million---better, but still low
McSFR-03 ‘Hector’-------6 million---stealth premium
McSFR-04 ‘Belisario’-----15 million---close to galactic

Small FTL Capable---------Cost-----Why
LInstelAAT-02 ‘Heston’---4 million---relative capability
LInstelAAT-04 ‘Aquarius’-7 million---relative capability
LInstelAAT-09DX ‘Civis’---7 million---fine as is
LInstelAAT-03 ‘Scobee’---15 million---relative capability

Actual Ship-------------------Cost---------Why
WZ-UFTLF-3244 Fenlock----45 million----lowish performance, but a good hull and shield
LInstel-SC27 ‘Auriga’--------50 million----moderate performance
WZ-ISF-105 ‘Komodo’-------90 million----lowest performance by far, expandable
MInstel-SC08 ‘Concord’----150 million---decent performance
MInstel-SC11 ‘Carpathia’---230 million---substantially more capable
WZ-MCF-100 ‘Behemoth’---240 million---minimalist design and low performance
MInstel-SC07 ‘Nao’----------275 million---relative capability and performance
WZ-RS-087 Dampier---------290 million---pays for speed
LInstel-DS15 ‘Hikyaku’-----300 million---ultra high spec
WZ-ESS-2235 ‘Piecemeal’--480 million---high spec and science equipment
WZ-MDS-0556 ‘Quest’------600 million---mass and high spec

Big Boys-----------------------Cost----------Why
SC420 ‘Roamer’--------------300 million---more capable than the Nao, but not much
FA-STM-070 ‘Transol (II)’----300 million---bigger than the Roamer, but less stuff
FA/MC-317 ‘Bering’---------400 million---cargo to speed ratio
SC08 ‘Tsiolkovsky’-----------700 million---relative performance to simplicity
HInstel-SC717 ‘Monmra’----800 million---mass, performance, and passenger space
WZ-MCF-500 ‘Immense’----1 billion------shear capability
LHAOE-07 ‘Brunel’----------1 billion------mass, decent spec, and tug rarity
LHAOE-08 ‘Goethals--------2.4 billion----mass, decent spec, and tug rarity
WZ-ESS-2258 ‘Firestorm’---5 billion------mass, high spec, and lots of science

All assuming internal use costs, with no export surcharge like the CAF
Atmo Only--------------------Cost-------Why
F102 ‘Fang’ -------------------5 million---scrub tier, but can shoot and bomb
TAV-SF-5 ‘Tercal’--------------7 million---almost entirely the military powerplant
F-28 Kingbird------------------7 million---bomb truck
F-24 Bateleur-----------------10 million---better bomb truck that can try to shoot back
F-8 SkyTiger I-----------------18 million---combat capable
VTOL-08G “Dragonfly IIG”---35 million---VFF and capability

Fighters----------------------Cost-------Why
SF09-103 Gandiva-----------20 million---relative performance to the Scorp
F200A Rhino-Buffalo--------20 million---could be lower
TAV-SF-08 Hesperia---------30 million---relative performance
TAV-SF-14 Almar-------------35 million---relative performance
AFB-29 Chimbane-----------50 million---size and relative role
TAV-SF07 Star Tiger I-------55 million---fine as is
TAV-SFB-16 Mammatan I---92 million---fine as is

Mil Transports-----------------Cost---------Why
AAST-8 Wyvern----------------35 million---par with an old Higgins with ??? mods
LTTAV-17S ‘Kunai’ ------------48 million---Stealth premium
AAST-4 'Condor'----------------50 million---par with a militarized heavy shuttle
VTOL-081SF3 'Dragonfly III'---50 million---fine as is
AAST-6 ‘Gannet’--------------100 million---loses out to the CAF Assault Shuttle

Combat Ships-----------Cost---------Why
DDC09 ‘Barong’---------300 million---early corvette with problems
Crv018 ‘Windfola’-------300 million---early corvette with problems
DDS-01 ‘Sangu’---------300 million---early Hunter competitor
DDGS-04 ‘Falx MII’------350 million---early Hunter competitor
SFG25 Blackjack---------380 million---deliberate equivalent to the Scimitar, and I think it does a better job.
DDES-05 ‘Masakari II’---400 million---early Hunter competitor
DDE019 ‘Bullet’---------450 million----flack barge using old tech
CGS-07 'Javelin’---------800 million---early missile cruiser
CV-08 ‘Sagadag’--------800 million---early decent carrier
LHDOE-09 ‘Shoup’------1.2 billion----the only thing high end is the FTL
CGG-08 ‘Assegai’--------1.6 billion----decent early CL

I’m not going to touch ground combat platforms. Lets say there’s a stupid standard military surcharge because reasons.

Omegasgundam · Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:01 pm

taalismn wrote:(okay, let's see how this flies)
PS/ASI-LCrv-29 Irpull-class Patrol Ship
(“DouBarb’)
“Looks like a double-barbed harpoon or grapple, and that comparison is apt. Get enough of them after you, they’ll stick it to you but good, hang onto you, and bleed you out.”

*Strokes imaginary beard*

hmmm.... hmmmm..... yes... yes....

Very much a different breed than the others. This is meant for legit developed worlds, as replacement for the Barong and possibly Windfola (although it lacks the missiles for that). It operates in a different environment than the Jatar and the Haizam. They fill the same overall role, but they are sold to very different markets.

I want to think of it as a larger Raiju, or possibly an alternative with the mass being the fusion tax. It is actually SMALLER than the Raiju. You might want to think about that, but I can see it the how it could work.

You may want to up the mass a bit as well. Noticeably under-priced as well, but I'm having a hard time pinning down by how much. The lack of FTL does notably compensate.

EDIT: 350 Mil (with FTL) vs 475 mil for the Raiju II. The Raiju has far more ordinance, better (if slightly less ranged) gun power, a SUBSTANTIALLY better (CCW bleeding edge) FTL, less overal MDC (but much less pass to spend it on), a better recharge rate on the shields, full EWAR built in, an ORACLE set, and the complexities of dealing with Antimatter. Looks damn close to me. Make the Lucerine version the standard without the faster sublight? Mach 17 seems a bit high for a PW cutter, and the everything else seems a bit much for normal fusion.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Nov 30, 2020 11:58 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:[q
You may want to up the mass a bit as well. Noticeably under-priced as well, but I'm having a hard time pinning down by how much. The lack of FTL does notably compensate.

Upped the mass a third to 760 tons, if that helps. I'd think that any heavier and it could be used a a giant APDU warhead...

Omegasgundam · Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:53 am

taalismn wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:[q
You may want to up the mass a bit as well. Noticeably under-priced as well, but I'm having a hard time pinning down by how much. The lack of FTL does notably compensate.

Upped the mass a third to 760 tons, if that helps. I'd think that any heavier and it could be used a a giant APDU warhead...

That should do it. My only remaining problem is a general dislike of all the relatively high speeds you give everything. PW was deliberately made with a substantially lower Mach numbers (and upper end weapon ranges) than AtB or Aliens Unlimited, so importing that sort of mentality makes the locals look REALLY bad. Easy enough to head canon, but still a gripe I have. I will pretend that it's Lucerine by default, and uses the Mach 15 number.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:03 am

Omegasgundam wrote:[
Upped the mass a third to 760 tons, if that helps. I'd think that any heavier and it could be used a a giant APDU warhead...

That should do it. My only remaining problem is a general dislike of all the relatively high speeds you give everything. PW was deliberately made with a substantially lower Mach numbers (and upper end weapon ranges) than AtB or Aliens Unlimited, so importing that sort of mentality makes the locals look REALLY bad. Easy enough to head canon, but still a gripe I have. I will pretend that it's Lucerine by default, and uses the Mach 15 number.[/quote]

I'l try to rein in my leadfootedness in future designs so the greyhounds of relativity don't become a problem.

With that in mind, I've lowered the speeds to 12 and 15 respectively.
As it is, I was edging into Shemarrian'We're 'bots and can take the higher acceleration' realm, but damn, that boxy little Scorpion going Mach 18 with the auxiliaries kicking in makes it tempting to rev up newer designs!

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:31 am

taalismn wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:[
As it is, I was edging into Shemarrian'We're 'bots and can take the higher acceleration' realm, but damn, that boxy little Scorpion going Mach 18 with the auxiliaries kicking in makes it tempting to rev up newer designs!

The Scorp was explicitly fluff as having that speed as its only real defense, and one of the top end designs in that regard. Even the Altess top out at 20.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:43 am

Omegasgundam wrote:[
The Scorp was explicitly fluff as having that speed as its only real defense, and one of the top end designs in that regard. Even the Altess top out at 20.

Which is why I'm topping out the Irpull's booster option now at Mach 17....still fast enough to allow it to chase down couriers if it has to. Scorpion-Like light fighters are still a problem, but hopefully the ship would have enough sensor early warning to deal with any heavy ordnance(like cruise missiles) that something that light might be able to carry. Need to go faster? Get an over-engined brute like the later models of Chimbane and Gandiva(and I got some remodeling going on on the latter) or use your CG FTL to micro jump(difficult, but not impossible, as long as you're not deep in a. gravity well).

Jastas would still be a problem for the fusion-powered models, but again, enough early warning, and enough flak, and the shieldless Jasta becomes metal shavings.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:03 am

Mach 17 with boosters is fine. Its what boosters are for after all. I'm assuming that the Irpull is functionally a brick (or tube) with fins that lacks surfaces big enough (or in the right shape) to serve as hard points.

And while I'm up, have some upgrades for PS/ASI's various bottom end civilian ships. Because.

PS/ASI LInstelAAT-02B Heston ‘Heston’ Mini-Star Shuttle
“So, other than the weight, does the new Heston have any actual changes?”
“The NavComm’s easier to reprogram if you have too, although it’ll still take a few hours.”
“So some safety improvements. Cost still leveled out at around 4 mill?”
“Yup”
“Eh, decent budget buy”
---An overheard conversation in a USA Spacer Bar

As Paladin Steel’s understanding of FTL technology improves, it has reason to revisit its older designs to improve them. The simple Heston was one of the first successful extreme low end Stellacommutta, with its absolute shock bottom price tag shocking those that actually noticed the market. But its developers were convinced they could do better, and just prior to the Minion War they produced another shocker by successfully refining the design enough to reduce the cost by almost half. The Heston promises to be a major money maker for the intermediate future, with most of the CCW’s relevant firms switching over to more profitable ASF construction in the meantime, leaving the market fallow for new production. Thus, more reluctant agencies and independent contractors are forced to take a risk with this budget buy for lack of any other option, and were pleasantly surprised by its capabilities.

Weight:

Market Cost:

PS-TAV-40/AAST-7E ‘Skyver’ Light Orbital Shuttle
“An important trick to know is that the Skyver isn’t picky about what it throws out with the jets. You can fill it with any garbage liquid, and you can also use it as an emergency drinking water tank if need be. You’d be surprised how often both come in handy in the outer fringes.”
---Anonymous, Free Trader

The latest revisions of the Skyver (and likely the last) partially switches the drive system to contragravity and replaces the old plasma jets with far more efficient models. This allows tremendous reduction in reaction mass storage, allowing the craft to shrink significantly. The CG engine is very modest, and has a number of operational constraints due to its economical nature, meaning that it takes over half an hour to ascend to orbital altitudes on it alone, and the performance in orbit isn’t much better. Thus, the plasma jets are used to provide needed speed bursts, leaving the CG to handle slow speed maneuvers and similar. While needing to store reaction mass for extended operation, maintenance demands are very low, and the relatively compact size and rock bottom cost ensure that it is quite popular amongst commercial freighter captains as a basic utility craft.

Spoiler:

PS/ASILInstelAAT-04B Aquarius Light FTL Space Pod
“The new Aquarius the same deal?”
“It’s gained a small mini-head and it's not QUITE as much of a pain to get in”
“Sold. Assuming I had a need for another small craft and had 11 mill to spare.”
“7 now actually.”
“Hot damn.”
---An overheard conversation in a USA Spacer Bar

The Aquarius sold surprisingly well, even if it was a pain to use the entry hatch at times. Still, it was of similar vintage as the Heston, and shared many of the same fundamental systems, meaning that there was room for improvement. The improved version also added a few quality of life features, which went over quite well with the independent operators primarily used them. In a fit of irony, it now competes in the same price range as the Civis, with the diminutive craft having notably less performance. However, the Civis is also much more practical to store in the corner of a small bay, and is simply far more of an enjoyable experience to use, so the near-hovercar reigns supreme as a ship launched jig.

Weight:

Market Cost:

PS/ASI-ASST9B ‘Parus’ Zippercraft
“Well, at least it can keep up with a Proctor or old school Fang in a straight line now.”
---Anonymous, MEF

Improvements in technology have allowed engineers at ASI to address the popular Parus’ major problem; its engines. While agile, the Parus was quite slow by ASF standards, and the frequent engine overhauls were a constant annoyance. While notably more expensive, the -B model uses more refined components to address these faults, and to those that are already willing to spend substantial coin on improving their craft the switch is a no brainer. A surprising number of purely civilian concerns don't however.

Spoiler:

PS/ASI LInstelAAT-03B ‘Scobee’ Light FTL Space Pod
“I’m assuming the Scobee is more of the same.”
“Yup. Down to 15 Mill and has a few QoL features. Cargo is now a full 3 tons, and the NavCom can be rigged up in an hour if you have too.”
“So it's a better mini-van. Has its uses, and it's not like there’s much worth noting in its weight class.”
“No kidding. The only one close that I know of is the Khunnutti, and the Scobee runs RINGS around it. And how it's cheaper too.”
“Not like there being made anymore, what with Ghendii being in receivership and most of its workforce getting… well...”
“**** Infernals.”
“**** Infernals.”
---An overheard conversation in a USA Spacer Bar

Like all of its other light FTL craft, ASI’s Scobee had room for improvement. While it was already extremely popular as a short range transport for contract workers and similar, the upgraded model was ever more so, with its 40% price reduction seeing tremendous sales. The craft is also noticeably more comfortable to use, which is particularly noticeable to those that lack experience in zero-g environments. The Scobee has also seen a major uptick in use by Irregular forces, being a practical ‘short-bus’ for casual excursions from their main transport. It doesn’t hurt that the cargo bay is now large enough to hold a pair of light or medium sized power armors and a notable supply of munitions.

Weight:

Cargo:

Market Cost:

PS/ASI-LAT026E ‘Roswell’ Light Aerospace Transport
“Don’t know why they included the Particle Shield as standard, but more than half the Roswells-Nulls I knew had the Drive Boost. Simply getting out of a tricky situation was a lot easier when you had some serious speed behind you, and not fighting was generally the best option. The weapons are convenient to be sure, but almost anything that’s going to attack you won’t be discouraged by one or two decent fighter guns. It's a different story if you’re part of a flock dumped off by a Ramey though.”
---Anonymous, MEF

The Roswell-E is a post Minion War revision of the original design, using more refined technology to improve it in a number of ways. Both the -E and the -F benefit from a number of gains in weight saving components, reducing the mass to a flat 40 tons without notably impacting price. The defensive PD Array has been modified to accept WZT Medium Fighter mounts, although most leave them as Light versions if they equip them at all. The -F also removes the EWAR components, reducing the price to a quite reasonable 15 Million. But the -E retains them and incorporates the formerly optional Drive Boost Adjustment and Particle Scrambler Shield, with a better drive design reducing the total cost to only 30 Million.

Spoiler:

PS/ASI-LAT025B ‘Crossgrove’ Light Aerospace Transport
“It's actually impressive how significant the height reduction is. You would not believe the number of frontier hangers that it opens up. The mass decrease is also convenient, as it allows it to latch onto a lot more surfaces of a larger ship for transport. The CG engines aren’t QUITE as aggressively simplified as the Kepler’s, but they’re still distinctly ‘colonial’, so you don’t need a particularly good crew to keep them working. It’s as much a slow moving target as ever, and the plates are a bit trickier to working when they get damaged, but that just means more labor time rather than material. All in all, it's way more practical for ship use than a Kepler.”
---Anonymous, Free Trader

The latest model of the reasonably successful Crossgrove is a simple refinement, but the gains are considered quite significant. Beyond weight savings, the ‘neck’ section of the control tower has been removed, with its various systems reallocated across the hull. Additionally, the landing jacks have been radically upgraded and can now serve as hull clamps, allowing the ship to be carried through FTL on a larger ship. This dramatically increases its utility, with the larger Kepler needing special accommodations to do the same.

Spoiler:

PS/ASI LInstel-SC027A Auriga Light Interstellar Transport
“They didn’t make all that many of the old monsters before they switch over to the less crude ones, but I remember having to spend hours and hours fiddling with various bits to keep them at their best. The Auriga is overbuilt enough that it wasn’t absolutely necessary, but its peak performance was mediocre enough that nobody wanted to get into a potential fight with one that did even worse. I hear they eventually got seconded to DimCorps for use in some galaxy where they were more convincing. Whatever that means.”
---Anonymous, GNE Irregulars

Paladin Steel was pleasantly surprised that they had been unduly pessimistic with what level of material it could expect to work with in most fringe and frontier ports, meaning that they could significantly improve upon the Auriga’s greatly overloaded frame. The entire ship was redesigned to use less brute force engineering to function, substantially reducing the number of maintenance hours required. It is most often found as a short range supply transport and orbital finance, and is regularly found as a host ship for beginning Irregular units.

Weight:

Market Cost:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Tue Dec 01, 2020 5:19 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:Mach 17 with boosters is fine. Its what boosters are for after all. I'm assuming that the Irpull is functionally a brick (or tube) with fins that lacks surfaces big enough (or in the right shape) to serve as hard points.

Got that right....Rather streamlined and angular, but still a brick, with its option hardpoints its winglet turrets and lateral bays.
(original visual aspect was actually inspired by two street lane arrows of different years superimposed on one another...the result looked distinctively 50's/60's space rocket icon...hey, inspiration is wherever you get it)

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 9:00 pm

Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries ‘Mizner’-class Cutter
“Fragile as drinking straws, cheap as lice, useful as an omni-tool. I can’t count the number of times I’ve ridden in one, been carried in one, even piloted one, and been glad one was available. You might wish you had a better ship when all you have is a Mizner, but you’ll never wish you DIDN’T have one.”

“Soon as the Founding Fathers saw the peaks of the Godawfuls, they knew some damned fools would try to climb them...and get stuck in the process. Peaks are too high for air breathing rescue craft to safely reach, and Space Guard refuses to bring down their shuttles that low from orbit to pick up damnfools . Fortunately we got a few Mizner cutters that can do the job of search and rescue on those atmosphere-piercers. Still takes a lick of training to maneuver in the winds around those peaks, but the Miz is a forgiving craft, unlike the Godawfuls.”

“Anybody who thinks satellite-servicing is a dull job, never did a tour fixing sats in the Edge. I’ve seen pirate-tampering, booby-traps, and zero-gravity free-space organisms that make me GLAD of military-grade shielding and ‘unnecessary’ weapons mounts. Creepiest one though, was responding to a deep space flit-comm rig auto-request for maintenance, and finding a dismembered arm clutching one of the antennae.”

Mizner-class cutters are small aerospace vessels meant as auxiliaries; local space patrol and interdiction, search and rescue, planetary survey, and utility work. They’re larger and faster than runabouts, but lack the mass and power of larger corvettes, and the speed and armament of patrollers, but are still very affrodable to build and operate.
The basic design is straightforward and simple, based on the long-lived ‘Kelse’-class built by WZTechyards. Though comparable in size and mass to the CCW’s Proctor Heavy Fighter, the Mizner lacks the heavy throwweight of ordnance(Mizners sporting such armaments are post-market modifications), agility, and range(most Mizners lack FTL capability) of the CAF craft. The hull is a simple shallow teardrop shape with a long cylindrical engine housing at the rear. External podded gear can be mounted around the front and midpoint ‘waist’ of the vessel, but such mounts run the risk of interfering with the Mizner’s streamlining and in-atmo maneuverability. Mizners typically carry only light, energy-based armaments for self-defense.
The Mizner is meant to be inexpensive and affordable by smaller star-nations and planets wanting some aerospace policing ability. The elongated rear engine housing makes servicing the propulsion a simpler matter, as well as allows a variety of powerplants to be fitted. Nuclear-fission powered models can be easily identified by having a distinctive bulging radiation shield midway between the forward compartments and the engine pod.
The United Systems Alliance uses a large number of Mizners as police and utility craft. Belters and space prospectors like cutters when they can get them, and a few outfit theirs as one-man operation ‘singleships’. Some spaceliners carry cutters as communciations and inspection craft, and, in event of an emergency, to shepherd up ejected lifepods and provide extra support. Though not recommended as combat craft, Mizners have inevitably seen their share of combat in the many worlds of the Rim.

Type: PS/ASI/WZT -SLPB18 Mizner
Class: Aerospace Cutter
Crew: Can be piloted by as few as two crewmen, but recommended crew is 4, with room for up to 10 additional crew/passengers(though many utility cutters will cram up the passenger space with extra cargo and equipment).
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 960
Reinforced Crew Compartment/Bridge 250
Engine Bloc 350
Height: 16 ft
Width: 20 ft
Length: 85 ft
Weight: 180 tons
Cargo: 5 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fission(w/ 15 year energy life), Fusion(w/20 year energy life), or Matter/Anti-Matter(w/30 year energy life)
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 40 % of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible(See Variants)
(Underwater) Not possible(See Variants)
Market Cost: 10 million credits for Nuclear Fission, 13 million credits for Fusion, or 16 million credits for Matter/Antimatter
Systems of Note:
Standard Spacecraft Systems
Weapons Systems:
None standard, but has provision for being fitted with up to 3 point defense-weight weapons stations(use WZT/ASI Light Weapons Hardpoints).

Auxiliary Craft: None
That having been said, some cutters will carry one or two zero-gravity ‘sleds’ for assisting in inspection and utility work, or A-G platforms for SAR missions.

Options:
Depending on the operator, Mizners are often found outfitted with different sensor suites, comm gear, utility armatures, tool systems, tow line attachments, and other gear.
Other add-ons include extra reaction mass tanks, solar panels, maneuvering thrusters, extra AG pods, and even atmospheric stability wings.

*Forcefields---Depending on the role the cutter was expected to serve, Mizners could be fitted with low-power magnetic and anti-radiation field projectors, or heavier battle-strength(rarely more than 200 per side) forcefield generators. Fission-powered models rarely have the power output to supply the heavier shields.

Variants:
* -SLPBC18(FTL)---FTL-capable courier/scout model. This type typically has higher-end fusion or antimatter power, powering courier drives capable fo 5.5 light years/hr.

* -SLPB18UV---Amphibious model; the contragravity system has been tuned to propel the cutter underwater at speeds up to 35 MPH, while the hull has been reinforced to tolerate crush depths of 1.8 miles. Typically carries sonar and MAD sensor pods, and any armaments will include blue-green lasers, sonic cannon, and/or torpedo-launcher pods. Popular on waterworlds like Vivisanda and Atium, and on ice moons with liquid core-oceans.

There are also plenty of after-market local kludge-variants, typically born of bored mechanics tinkering with a personal or hangar-pool ship and a salvage-yard’s worth of spare parts. This has led to a number of ‘hot rods’ using exotic propulsion configurations, some of which have attracted the interest of corporate or goverment officials.
*’Pearly Sceptor’----Mizner plated in laser-reflective mirror armor and using a lucerin-fueled engine capable of pushing the ship at speeds up to Mach 19. Though the mechanics who customized this chrome-staff got an offical reprimand for misappropriating the lucerin power system, they were quietly transferred to a propulsion research outpost, and Pearly Sceptor has appeared as a corporate entrant in several Rim spacecraft races.

*’Boston Boomstick’---Antimatter-powered mod with the added and unexpected feature of the antimatter reaction exhaust being a directable weapon(effective range of 15 miles in space, doing 1d6x100 MD per blast, one blast per melee).

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 9:18 pm

Looks more or less right, but there will always be this little voice in the back of my head complaining about engine costs and how mass would relate to them.

EDIT: For a bottom grade ship, its a bit fast. Mach 6 would be what I would expect, assuming the Cargo Tug listed in Fleets is generally respectable. Although I can see it being 8 with some asterisks that would make very mad with you if you actually use.

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 12:46 am

Mach 6 it is.
Hotrod it at your own expense, folks.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:43 pm

I've finally gotten around to doing the TGE's new Battlecruiser/ship, and its alternative Carrier config. As usual, thank Kitsune for most of it, you can go to his site to see the art for it. I'm currently on a Rift's Earth kick, but when I come back the Phase World I'll work on the CAF's replacement for the Packmaster and likely their own equivalent Battlecruiser.

TGE Eradicator Battlecruiser
“Based on our best intelligence, the ‘Eradicator’ is an attempt to shoe horn as much of a Doombringer I’s direct combat power into as small a hull as economical. Best guestimate for its displacement is between 16 and 20 megatons based on historical ship building methods, but they’ve been making meaningful advances in that field recently, so I would not be surprised if they get it down to 14 megs. Overall durability is also mostly speculation, but there’s no way it's going to be more fragile than the Executioner, and the shields are likely to get a 20 something percent bump. The overall troop compliment will be effectively non-existent, but they do jack **** in a void fight anyway so no loss there. The biggest question is the cost, as the higher end weapons and reactors to run them are not going to be cheap.”
----Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“Overall costs are unfortunately higher than those of the older Executoner, even the refitted version, but this is an unavoidable consequence of equipping them with such a powerful weapon suite. It’s combat power is naturally far greater, making it a far more valid combatant against the CAF’s Protectors. It is also far better protected from missiles and hostile ASFs, which have become a very substantial concern in recent decades. A more well rounded craft could be constructed of a meaningful amount more, but it would be less efficient in its role and would not fit our doctrinal standards. The need to switch production for several components will delay initial construction rates, but we hope that streamlining the number of different weapons in our logistics system will ultimately provide dividends. A speculative carrier version of the hull would not need these systems, which will allow us to produce them substantially faster and with far fewer headaches.”
--- Minutes of TGE High Command

“The only things that are downgrades from the Executioner are the total ASF compliment and maximum range on the sensors. The latter is an unavoidable consequence of the ship’s smaller mass and much higher energy output, but the former is a notable failing. I know that High Command intended to provide cover via the related Gore Nest, but I feel that it can be attributed to the lingering ‘Doombringer Problem’.
--- Anonymous Executioner Ryclus.

While the Executioners are currently clogging the construction slips with their badly needed refits, the TGE has been hard at work developing its replacement. Various factors have led the current Kreegor Emperor to be more confident in his control over the Imperial Navy, and is thus willing to allow them more capable vessels to fulfill their duties. One of the recent proposals that roused his interest was a greatly cut down version of the powerful Doombringer Dreadnought, removing all of the features not suited for naval engagements and putting them on the most cost effective hull possible. As the primary historical threat of the Doombringer was it’s wide spectrum capabilities, a much more specialized equivalent would be much easier to keep in line, and the Minion War proved that the Imperial Navy needed something modern to serve as the bulwark of an integrated capital battleline.

The resulting ship makes full use of various industrial improvements that the TGE has seen since the First Great War, using far less material than the Executioner for far greater effect. Its distinctive new full form is far simpler to fabricate and maintain than the coral mess that is its predecessor, and allows for substantially greater internal volume. This volume is needed, as the Eradicator must house an antimatter reactor not far short of that of the much larger Doombringer I, with its energy battery being almost the equal to the older configuration of the first modern Dreadnought. As it weighs just under a seventh of that mighty ship, it is naturally far less durable, but it remains superior to that of the Eradicator. Mindful of the problems that the larger Doombringer has with strategic readiness, the Executioner retains a substantial crew, which will hopefully be enough to stay on top of maintenance tasks even with the overall low skill level of the Imperial Navy’s enlisted.

While a pair of hulls are under construction for testing and refinement, full scale production will wait until the large numbers of Executioners have finished their refits. Thus, by the time any meaningful number of the new ships the Imperial Kreegor will have already been commissioned, which promises to be all but invulnerable to lesser ships. This explains the Emperor’s faith in the stability of his position as well as his willingness to allow the Navy craft that could theoretically allow ambitious Trontons to start questioning their place in the hierarchy. It is expected that overall production will be heavily limited by the reactors and Horn Lasers, but an alternative Fleet Carrier variant will allow the full use of hull production.

The CAF has learned the broad strokes of these plans, and countermeasures are being discussed. In the meantime, production of the Protector Battleship will remain at its current all time high, and many of the now much younger and aggressive CAF Admiralty are pushing for a proper Battlecruiser of their own, as opposed to a intermediary support ship like the Araneae or a glorified science ship like the Explorer.

Spoiler:

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:37 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:I've finally gotten around to doing the TGE's new Battlecruiser/ship, and its alternative Carrier config. As usual, thank Kitsune for most of it, you can go to his site to see the art for it. I'm currently on a Rift's Earth kick, but when I come back the Phase World I'll work on the CAF's replacement for the Packmaster and likely their own equivalent Battlecruiser.

TGE Eradicator Battlecruiser

Statistics:
Height: 610 feet (185.9 meters)
Width: 855 feet (260.6 meters)
Length: 3,720 feet (1,133.9 meters)
Weight: 14.3 million tons (12.88 million metric tons) fully loaded

Variants:
*Gore Nest Fleet Carrier:
The Gore Nest removes the primary and secondary weapons to mount extensive hangar bays, resulting in a far more bulbous middle and lower sections. It is able to carry 720 Sharktooth Interceptors, but the expected mix will be 360 Sharktooth and 240 Flying Fang Upgrades. ...

Given the listed dimensions of your Sharktooth... The ship can't carry that many, unless you have them stacked like cordwood. You're going to need twice it's height per deck of hangers, and at least 150% of it's width and length to account for the ability to load/launch/land...then there is the possible separate ejection systems to get rid of interceptors with unstable M/AM reactors...

Heck, even the Battlestar Galactica only has 80 Vipers (40 per pod.), and it is about 2000m long (with each pod being about 1000m long).

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:10 am

Omegasgundam wrote:I

TGE Eradicator Battlecruiser

"-This- is why we have a 'capital ship obsession', as some have called it. A beast like this can punch the light cruiser divisions protecting most of our worlds new ******** with hardly a hard breath. And if the TGE every bring them to our doorstep in squadron strength with a properly configured fleet make-up, all our light throw-weight of heavy iron's going to get brushed aside, and our worlds chewed up by ships like this. Maybe we can swarm or snipe a few in combat, but sometimes the only way to break a battle-axe is with another battle-axe, which we do not have currently. And if the TGE gets seriously about rebuilding their fleets with mass-production of ships like the Eradicator, they might just feel, once they have enough of them, to start deploying them to secondary theaters of operation, like our own borders with them, where the temptation to see what their new toys might prove altogether too much for some ambitious cren or cressak to resist."
---Anonymous officer, United Systems Alliance Joint Command.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 3:08 am

taalismn wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:I

TGE Eradicator Battlecruiser

"-This- is why we have a 'capital ship obsession', as some have called it. A beast like this can punch the light cruiser divisions protecting most of our worlds new ******** with hardly a hard breath. And if the TGE every bring them to our doorstep in squadron strength with a properly configured fleet make-up, all our light throw-weight of heavy iron's going to get brushed aside, and our worlds chewed up by ships like this. Maybe we can swarm or snipe a few in combat, but sometimes the only way to break a battle-axe is with another battle-axe, which we do not have currently. And if the TGE gets seriously about rebuilding their fleets with mass-production of ships like the Eradicator, they might just feel, once they have enough of them, to start deploying them to secondary theaters of operation, like our own borders with them, where the temptation to see what their new toys might prove altogether too much for some ambitious cren or cressak to resist."
---Anonymous officer, United Systems Alliance Joint Command.

Its going to be more than a decade before the meaningful production begins. The AJC has immediate fires to put out before it can refocus.

EDIT: They can also do things, like, develop various bits of infrastructure to actually make a good multi-megaton gun focused warship. Developing right size guns, figuring out how to make the FTL drive, getting the armor compressors to make a think enough product, the various bits needed to make a reactor system that can actually power all of is. Things like that.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 6:50 pm

Borast wrote:Given the listed dimensions of your Sharktooth... The ship can't carry that many, unless you have them stacked like cordwood. You're going to need twice it's height per deck of hangers, and at least 150% of it's width and length to account for the ability to load/launch/land...then there is the possible separate ejection systems to get rid of interceptors with unstable M/AM reactors...

Heck, even the Battlestar Galactica only has 80 Vipers (40 per pod.), and it is about 2000m long (with each pod being about 1000m long).

Its a Palladium Clown Car. You try telling me that most of their Carrier/APC/IFV/Troop Transports can actually fit what they say they do.

Borast · Unread post by **Borast** » Thu Dec 17, 2020 10:51 pm

Omegasgundam wrote:
Borast wrote:Given the listed dimensions of your Sharktooth... The ship can't carry that many, unless you have them stacked like cordwood. You're going to need twice it's height per deck of hangers, and at least 150% of it's width and length to account for the ability to load/launch/land...then there is the possible separate ejection systems to get rid of interceptors with unstable M/AM reactors...

Heck, even the Battlestar Galactica only has 80 Vipers (40 per pod.), and it is about 2000m long (with each pod being about 1000m long).

Its a Palladium Clown Car. You try telling me that most of their Carrier/APC/IFV/Troop Transports can actually fit what they say they do.

Don't know if they can or can't... Haven't looked at the source material in question in some time...presuming I have the book.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 1:59 pm

Borast wrote:
Omegasgundam wrote:
Borast wrote:Given the listed dimensions of your Sharktooth... The ship can't carry that many, unless you have them stacked like cordwood. You're going to need twice it's height per deck of hangers, and at least 150% of it's width and length to account for the ability to load/launch/land...then there is the possible separate ejection systems to get rid of interceptors with unstable M/AM reactors...

Heck, even the Battlestar Galactica only has 80 Vipers (40 per pod.), and it is about 2000m long (with each pod being about 1000m long).

Its a Palladium Clown Car. You try telling me that most of their Carrier/APC/IFV/Troop Transports can actually fit what they say they do.

Don't know if they can or can't... Haven't looked at the source material in question in some time...presuming I have the book.

The phenomenon is similar, if nowhere near as extreme, as the Battletech Infantry Clowncar, where the standard bay size assumes you're shoe horning in an entirely platoon. The worst example I can think of is the canon CAF Emancipation, because you try telling me it can fit its compliment with the art given.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:25 pm

And here's the delayed Packmaster replacement.

Consortium Armed Forces 'Saratoga’ Fleet Carrier
”The Packmaster’s basic design was always held back by the need to use it as both an ASF Carrier and an Assault Transport, even if it wasn’t doing both at the same time. This imposed some quite notable design trade offs, which were worse considering how old and crude so much of the ship was. The Saratoga is the focused clean sheet design they should have done centuries ago when the old Human Alliance hulls were retired, with the best modern additions that can be squeezed in. It doesn’t have a place on the battleline, but it can survive the attention of a battleline, which was a far more common occurrence than anybody hoped it would be. While the lower theoretical maximum strike package does hurt it, it was an absolute nightmare to make that happen with the old beasts, so in effect their typical hitting strength is about the same.”
---- Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“I was consulted for the flight deck arrangements of the new carrier, and I have to say we came up with a much better floor plan than the Packmaster. Overcrowding is a massive problem for constant ASF operation, and the Packmaster was at the point where it was inevitable due to how many birds it could hold vs how many it could actually launch at a time. The sortie rate was just over half of what it should have been, which crippled the ship in its primary role. By the end, most of the carriers were only flying with around 70% of their paper strength, as that resulted in more missions over the same timeframe. The new fighters we’re about to introduce are notably larger, so they’d have the same problem.”
---- Captain Harriet McKenna, CAF, Director of Project Prominence

“The Saratoga is about half again as expensive as the Packmaster, but considering all of the improvements it's well worth it. The Packmaster is also honestly cheap for its mass, but that’s due to all the obsolescent components such as the sublight engines and armor. It lacks any sort of heavy anti-capital firepower, but when those were in play it was often a sign that things had gone sideways. The ‘Toga’s massed intermediary guns do a far better job warding off fast sub-caps like the Berserker-50, and the PD array is a lot more intimidating to incoming birds.”
---- CAF Admiral of the Fleet Janice Nikola

The lessons of the Minion War for the CAF were many and far reaching. The Packmaster proved to be quite fragile once under direct fire, and was simply too slow to get away from any reasonably modern capital ship. These factors were the overwhelming cause of losses, and the post-war analysis demanded that a replacement be made. The resulting design would be the Saratoga class, which sheds almost 6 million tons of mass and substantially reduces the overall hull dimensions to take advantage of the various improvements in ship technology since the Packmaster’s birth as part of the Wolven Empire almost a millennia ago. Compared to its predecessor, the Saratoga has more than twice the armor protection, 50% stronger shields, and weapons far better suited for use against modern sub-capital ships and massed ASFs. Speed in both sunlight and FTL have also been improved, with the former allowing it to at least try to keep the range open and the latter greatly improving strategic mobility and force projection.

While having a nominally smaller aerospace wing than the fully carrier fit Packmaster, the Saratoga is much more able to actually use it in practice, with limited launch facilities and over-packed hanger decks greatly hampering the older ship’s operational tempo. Simulations and real world testing has proven that a Saratoga can keep up an equal size compliment on a consistent basis, and plentiful stores allow for replacement craft to be drawn from reserve in short order. The Saratoga’s bays are too short to house the CAF Assault Shuttle, but the Consortium is moving towards using dedicated assault ships even in peace time rather than be forced to deal with the ‘worst-of-both-worlds’ mix that the Packmaster has become infamous for. This has a subtle economic effect as well, as the CAF had a great deal of trouble finding enough strike craft to fill all of its carrier fit Packmasters during the war, which was one of the factors that prompted Operation Gut Cutter.

Funding for reconstructing the CAF is in no short supply, with much of the Assembly’s leadership gaining their positions due to the murder of their predecessors at the claws of Demons, and public support is if anything even stronger. There is no intention of outright retiring the Packmasters, as they can be converted to serve no small number of important auxiliary roles and there is thought that construction of a striped down version can be used as a mobile shipyard, but it is hoped that the various Carrier Battlegroups can be replaced within a decade or two. Logistically, it is anticipated that the more balanced deck-to-craft ratio will enable the CAF to fill the hangers of all of its new Saratogas, as even with the dramatic increase in ASF production it is expected that attrition will be quite severe in a true full scale war against the TGE.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:42 am

And now its time to show the Protector's eventual replacement. I'll go over the Emancipation again some time, but with this I've replaced the entire canon usable CAF naval inventory in the construction slips. The canon Emancipation was insane in a bad way, and the Araneae is also a hot steaming mess. For my purposes, the horificly flawed test beds have been replaced with Champion hulls that drop the capital energy weapons for an interdiction field that doesn't blow itself too often to ever be accepted into formal service anywhere. Seriously, the boom chance is so bad that you can't train with it, and if you can't train with it you can't use it period.

Consortium Armed Forces 'Paladin’ Battleship
”Yes, it's really just a bigger Protector, but don’t mess with success. A lot of the criticism people put on the Emancipation was that two Protectors were generally thought of as being superior to a Doombringer, so the shear expense of the Balanced Hammond Drive project and the resulting prototype made them start in a deep credibility deficit, and the jumbled mess of the test configuration made it even worse. Now that the TGE is putting out a new version that has sufficient guns for its mass it's a different story, but the Paladins will roll up the refitted Executioners and new Eradicators without much trouble.”
---- Captain-General Vicen Trancluw, CAF

“The Emancipation is due to a major revision due to the changes in doctrine and technology, but it's currently sitting at three times the price of a Paladin. It has more firepower than three Paladins, but far less net durability. On the other hand it brings 10 full wings of ASFs to the party, which are honestly way more expensive in total when you do the math, and would outnumber the Paladin’s parasites by a factor of more than 6. They’ll probably tone that down for a number of reasons, but 5 wings should be practical.”
---- Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

“The current naming scheme for them is the simple ‘Famous Capital Ships’ format for now, but once we work through the list of ones that aren’t already in use we’ll likely go to major naval officers that got the Assembly Medal of Honor for things people remember. If the construction schedule stays on track, we might even have one named after Shaw while he’s still alive, which would be a sight to see.”
---- CAF Admiral of the Fleet Janice Nikola

One of the latter additions to the CAF’s rebuilding efforts was the development of a new Battleship, taking advantage of the lessons learned over the Protector’s centuries of service. Heavily influenced by the Restoration upgrade package, the Paladin has a quite similar but larger hull, using the gained volume and mass for various improvements. Politically, the most notable change is the substantial increase in automation, requiring less crew than even the original Protector, emblematic of the collapse of the anti-AI stance of the Human Alliance since the discovery of the Foghakle Contingency Bunker on Goldilox. This is regarded as the second greatest shift in CCW politics, after the ‘Shaw Reformation’ and before the reverberations of the Infernal’s almost completed ‘Soul Havest’ campaign of genocide against the T’Zee.

The most notable gains are in its firepower, with the double barreled primary and secondary weapons becoming triples. Closer range intermediary guns have also been increased, with no less than 8 of the revised ‘Lasser’ Lasers and a full dozen dual Heavy Gauss Cannons providing anti-escort protection. The non-Tachyon point defenses guns have also seen a 50% increase, and have been joined by a number of MRM launchers for longer range interception capabilities. The number of Cruise Missile Launchers has been increased from 4 to 6, increasing salvo density significantly. The number of LRMs has remained consistent, but the MRMs are thought to compensate.

Protection has also seen a major increase, with both more armor and stronger shields being mounted. The Paladin was the first CAF vessel to be equipped with ‘Quad-Regen’ Variable Force Fields by default, with the technology being too effective in the hands of the USA’s forces to ignore. It is time consuming to retrofit older ships with them, but it is considered well worth the effort. It helps that the other new designs were developed with their eventual inclusion in mind, which makes the refit process much less painful for the Champions and Saratogas. The smaller Predator and Dauntless are small enough to make such measures unnecessary.

The Paladin uses a multi bay arrangement as is now common, with many capital ships suffering operation problems due to accidents or deliberate action somehow disabling single bays. Being a late addition to the effort meant that the Paladin started off with the cutting edge Badger and War Hawk ASF, and the hangar bays have been optimized for their use. Beyond featuring two squadrons of each, the ship also hosts a half squadron of EWAR-fitted Proctor IIs, in addition to the usual flock of small non-combat utility craft.

The CAF has firmly stated that it has no intention of replacing the Protectors, and plans on using them until their space frames give out. The Paladin has simply replaced them in the production slips, and have proven to not have a meaningfully longer construction time thanks to modern methods. As usual, the largest limitation is the very finite number of foundries that can produce the power plants and engines needed to get a multi-megaton vessel moving at a combat useful speed, and the FTL components are as finicky as ever. However, the gutting of the CCW’s bureaucracy has made the expansion of these multi-trillion credit complexes much faster than previously, and the confiscated funds from millions of discovered corruption schemes are funding them.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:58 pm

(Magic sensors courtesy of Kitsune)

Aegis Stellar Industries ‘Derecho’ Heavy Attack Ship
(aka ‘Lawnmower’, ‘Devil’s Dorito’)
“A flying wing that has trouble flying in-atmo? What the hell did you idiots model it after, a turkey wing?”

“We took a helluva hammering going in, we laid a helluva hammering down on our way through, and we took a hammering on the way out. Good thing this ship’s built tough, and able to turn around after some repairs, and do the same thing over again tomorrow.”

“’Have I ever deployed city-buster nukes on a Derecho mission?’ That’s a loaded question, and the sort I imagine internal security baits aircrews with to see who’s got loose lips. I can certainly say I’ve CARRIED WMDs on occasion, but used them in anger? Can’t say. You wanna talk hypotheticals and rumor though? Out on the rim and out in the Meg, things aren’t quite as...let’s call it CIVILIZED...as in the coreworlds and the outliers. Lot of nasty things lurking out there. Sometimes somebody kicked something over or played with something they shouldn’t have touched at all. Sometimes it was just waiting to pounce. And reason and half-measures won’t work to put things back in the bottle. You know the saying about sleeping at night knowing rough people are ready to do violence on your behalf? That’s true of the Fleet: I imagine there are flight crews with the Fleet who have gone out with WMDs loaded and not brought them back.”

The Derecho started out as ASI’s attempt to create a heavy, hard-hitting, attack craft that could compete with the popular Naruni ‘Fire Eater’ on the battlefield(and the marketplace). In that, it is something of a disappointment in that the Derecho looms in size over the Fire Eater, masses more, and is more expensive. However, it brings an arguably obscene amount of firepower to the field. It is arguably best deployed as a surface attack ship, blasting entrenched incursion forces on allied worlds, or striking targets on opposition territority, with a secondary role as a patrol ship and anti-fighter picket.
The Derecho is a large, broad, flying wing broken by various weapons and sensory pods. From a distance, it resembles a scaled-up ‘Hesperia’ fighter. Two rear-mounted engines provide a good turn of speed, and the ship is structurally tough to handle repeated atmospheric reentries and exits.
Though PS/ASI would offer a variety of modular options for the Derecho, allowing operators to ‘mix and match’ according to their needs and desires, the main configuration is built around a combination of heavy lasers, massdriver cannons, and missile launchers. The sheer volume and violence of firepower the ship could throw out in its forward arc earned it the nickname ‘derecho’(after highly damaging thuderstorm winds) when the New Stratford production plants introduced the hastily-completed design to supply customers cut off from the other PS/ASI worlds and factories by the Minion War crisis(and fears that the Infernals would use the GNE Portal network to attack).
The Derecho suffers from a number of problems; in order to carry the massive throwweight of ordnance and armor, the ship is bulky and heavy; and it has problems fitting in the restrictive hangar space of many ships(though the expansion of the USA’s AJC has meant a growing number of larger carriers). Another shortcoming is that though it’s easily the size of a CAF Proctor, the Derecho lacks that ship’s FTL capabilities(this would be later addressed, at the expense of some armament, in several variants). Despite its clean flying wing lines, early Derechos also had some problems maneuvering in atmosphere, due to the ship’s hasty introduction under wartime conditions; fortunately no fatalities occured and PS/ASI was quickly able to use field reports to provide refit patches to surviving units, and redesign new production, to correct the instability issues). These instability problems gave the Derecho something of a bad reputation, but PS/ASI has been working to rebuild their brand reputation with subsequent positive press about the fixed design. Ironically, most of the handling problems originated with adjustments made to the Derecho to respond to the harsh and turbulent weather of New Straford where the aerospacecraft was flight-tested; the same ‘all-weather’ changes tended to make the Derecho overcompensate in less tempestous atmospheres, and the aircraft handled just fine in BAD weather. The patches and alterations to the system, taking all the previous problems into account, ultimately made the fixed FB-27 EASIER to fly inatmo, contributing to the Derecho’s quick rebound in the eyes of its operators. However, the early teething and poor test pilot reviews may have cost the Derecho the slot of prefered heavy strike craft of the United Systems Alliance, a role that has increasingly gone to the WZT-produced Raiju. Still, though, the Derecho has seen limited deployment with the USAJC, sortying off larger carrier platforms like the Zhuge Nu, Joshua Norton II or Tychan SC/CV10. Some USA system defense forces, with multiple in-system multi-world assets, have acquired wings of Derechos to give them strike capability in event any of their other holdings are invaded.

Type: PS/ASI-FB-27 Derecho
Class: Patrol Ship/Atmospheric Strike Ship
Crew: 5; 1-2 passengers can be crammed in the back
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 2,000
Reinforced Crew Compartment 600
Engines(2) 600 each
Variable Forcefield 300 per side (1,800 total)
Height: 20 ft
Width: 106 ft
Length: 95 ft
Weight: 560 tons
Cargo: Small 4 ft x4 ft space behind the crew seats
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 30 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 4; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) None standard(See Options & Variants)
Market Cost: 230 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Aerospace Fighter/Spacecraft Systems, plus:

*Ejectable Crew Cabin---The crew cabin is a complete, self-sustaining, crash-armored module that can be jettisoned in an emergency to become a lifepod with limited spaceflight/atmospheric reentry capability.

*Superior Atmospheric Handling---Once the initial teething problems were ironed out, the Derecho has proven quite easy to handle in atmospheric flight: +10% to Piloting rolls when operating in an atmosphere.

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy HI Laser Cannons( 2 )---A Medium-class starship weapon mounted on a fighter
Range: (Palladium) 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 5 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per shot, 2d4x100 MD for both weapons firing simultaeously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

2) 100mm Massdriver Cannons(4; 2 each wing)
Range: 36,000 ft (7.2 miles) miles in atmosphere, 15 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 7.2 miles in atmosphere, 720 miles in space)
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 per melee
Payload: 100 rds per gun

In the alternative the following can be mounted:
b) G-Cannon(6, 3 each wing)---Experience with the Haizam taught PS/ASI that not everything they’d produced on their own was preferable to what was already available. In this case, GR-1000s, three of which could be mounted quite easily in the bays allocated fro the 100mm massdrivers. However, unlike the mountings on the Haizam, the Derecho could take advantage of the proximity of the cannon bays to the contra-gravity engines to effectively ‘supercharge’ them equivalent to the GR-1000s mounted in the CAF’s Scorpion fighters, giving them better range(though not QUITE to the same degree, especially with three cannons around each drive node, the boost is still welcome).
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 800 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per 20-round burst , per single gun. A full hex-array burst would do 24d6x10(or 2d6x100+200) MD(!)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 500 bursts per cannon

3) Missile Bays(2) ---Buried in each wing is a large missile bay that can be outfitted to fire a variety of ordnance.
a) Mini-Missiles---80 MMs per launcher
b)“S-Sting” ‘Smart Mini-Missile -----80 MMs per launcher
c) Short Range Missiles----50 SRMs per launcher
d) Medium Range Missiles----30 MRMs per launcher
e) Long Range Missiles----15 LRMs per launcher
f) Cruise Missiles---8 CMs per launcher

4) Rear-mounted Laser Cannons(4)---Two rear defense lasers are mounted on the fantail, and another two are wingtip-mounted to cover the side arcs. Though 3G-available HI-Lasers were the first choice of the fitouts, it was discovered that the same mounts and power conduits could handle the superior PS-RFL-25, which has been fitted to many later models, once more-widespread production of the RFL-25 could be established in the Three Galaxies. With the arcs of fire of the tail and wingtip turrets overlapping, it’s joked that being behind a Derecho is nearly as deadly as being in front of it.
Range: 4,000 ft in atmosphere/2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere /200 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH, or auto-fire; 6 attacks per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

b) Pulse Laser(PS-RFL-25)
Range: 6,000 ft in atmosphere/2.1 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2.1 miles in atmosphere /210 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) Countermeasure Flare/Chaff Launchers(2)---Located on the fantail are two countermeasure launchers.
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

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

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

Variants:
*PS/ASI-FB-27B---FTL version----Sacrifices two massdriver cannons(or 4 g-cannons) for an FTL propulsion unit capable of pushing the Derecho at 4 light years per hour.

*PS/ASI-FB-27C---FTL Courier model, stripping out two massdriver cannons /4 g-cannons and two missile bays for a more powerful FTL drive unit capable of 5.7 light years/hr on longer jumps. The crew accommodations have also been expanded for ‘hotbunk’ sleeping facilities for the crew, restroom and a small kitchenette.

*PS/ASI-FB-27EW/ELINT----Electronic Warfare variant. It strips out the heavy lasers and massdrivers, halves the size and capacity of the missile bays, but retains the point defense turrets. The displaced systems are replaced with a dorsal sensor dome and electronics bays, while the weapons officers’ main area of responsibility is now managing the EW systems.
Changes/Modifications:
*Jamming Systems---A powerful EW suite that effectively blanket-jams enemy communications and command-directed munitions with 80% effectiveness, Civilian-band communications are 98% jammed, while military communications bands suffer 80% degradation in effectiveness. Radar systems are similarly degraded....they can pick up the emissions, but cannot pinpoint the exact location of the source within the area of disruption. Area of effect: 90 mile radius in atmosphere, 90,000 miles in space.
*EW Suite---The -FB-27EW/ELINT carries a powerful radar and communications jamming suite, and attendant EW officer/operator, in order to allow it to penetrate enemy air defense nets more effectively. Enemy sensor-guided weapons are -8 to strike.

*PS/ASI-FB-27S---Taking advantage of the Derecho’s resemblance to old flying wing stealth bombers, the -S variant is also similarly configured for stealth operations. It usually devotes a quarter of its payload to decoy pods and penetration aides.
Changes/Modifications:
*Stealth Features----Stealth sheathing and emission-reduction measures give the an 80% chance of evading detection at all ranges.

*PS/ASI-FB-27 TW----Technowizardry model, outfitted with PPE Powerstones and ectofiber wiring. Ironically, it would help in the development of PS/ASI’s TW variant of the Raiju.
Changes/Modifications:
Market Cost: 242 million credits
Powerplant:
+x2 ‘Wizard’-rating Powerstone PPE Generators----400 PPE battery capacity; recharges at 14 PPE per hour, 50 PPE/hour at a leyline, 100 PPE/hour on a nexus
Spell Systems:
*Forcefield---Provides 50 MDC per 10 PPE/20 ISP pumped into the system; lasts 10 minutes per 10 PPE/20 ISP.

*Impervious to Energy---5 minutes per 20 PPE.

*Overdrive/Full Throttle---Increase maximum speed by 40% for 3 minutes, but -5% to piloting rolls(-20% for trick manuevers), 10 PPE per activation.

*Doppleganger-Cloak----This amplification of the Multiple Images Spell allows the aircraft to project multiple ‘ghost’ images of itself(up to 3 separate images). These multiple images can carry out a series of pre-programmed aerial maneuvers(can also simulate weapons fire/gun flashes, but only if the mothership is also firing at the same time), but must remain within a mile of the the projecting aircraft(or they vanish without a trace). Also note that the images don’t show up on radar or thermo-imaging, and cannot be used to fool homing missiles, though they DO give off a PPE trace similiar to the projecting aircraft.
Range: ‘Ghosts’ can be projected up to 5,000 ft away
Duration: 5 minutes per activation
PPE Activation Cost: 20 PPE per activation

*Flicker-Dodge---A special capability, and an application of the Astral Hole spell. This allows the aircraft to quickly dodge out of sight/reality, for a few seconds, or move up to 2000 ft sideways, up, down, or backwards, with a +2 to dodge while doing so. Typically, an aircraft can engage this system 6 times before needing to recharge the system on a Ley Line(takes about 24 hours), or the pilot can pump in 120 PPE per “flicker-dodge”.

*Spell Projection Multiplexors(2): Wing-mounted spellcard systems, fitted with range boosters, and usually fitted with area of effect magic. Each multiplexor can hold three spellcards. Selections typically include the following;
-Micro-Meteors(20,000 ft range/Kitsune range 400 miles, doing 2d6x10 +50 MD to a 100 ft radius, for a full 15 seconds, for the expenditure of 28 PPE per shot. Can only be used in space)
-Meteor Swarm(12,000 ft range/Kitsune range 200 miles, doing 2d4x100 MD per melee to a 10,000 ft area, for a full 20 melees/5 minutes, for the expenditure of 195 PPE per shot. Can only be used in space)
-Shadow Meld ----10 PPE for 30 minutes’ duration.
-Invisibility: Superior----20 PPE for 3 minutes’ duration.
-Star Light----20 PPE for 3 minutes’ duration.
-Nova Blast---- 2,500 ft range in atmosphere, 5,000 ft range in space/Kitsune range, 1d4x10 MD in atmosphere, 1d4x100 MD in space, 15 PPE per 15 melees of blasting
-Anti-Magic Cloud(70 PPE, 10 mile range, 1,000 ft radius, 50 minute duration)
- Summon & Control Storm(250 PPE, 10 mile range, 10 hour duration)
- Summon & Control Ley Line Storm(250 PPE, 10 mile range, 10 mile area,, 75 minute duration)
-Summon & Control Rain(100 PPE, 100 mile range, 10 mile area, 10 hour duration)

-Steel Rain(?)---It’s rumored that some Derechos have been deploying this Spell of Legend.(100 PPE, 100 mile range, 10 mile area, 10 hour duration)

* TW Missile Bay Compatibility---The missile bays can accommodate PS-made TW Rockets or Missiles. 120 TW Light Mini OR 80 Heavy Rockets each.

* ORACLE Mrk IVF Magic Sensors---Though the hope is to give most, if not all, PS/ASI heavy aerospace fightercraft the ability to carry TW magic sensors, the sheer demand has led to priority on limited supplies being provided to units expecting to fight supernatural opponents. The -FB-27 TW qualified.
• See Aura: Slightly different than the spell in that it can scan an entire target such as a ship or station. The enchantment can be used to target a single individual but only have one tenth normal range when being used in that matter. Costs 60 P.P.E. per activation due to extended range. Range: Fighter Mount: 100 miles (160 kilometers) in space and 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Gives an approximate count of the number of life forms onboard. Gives the average level of experience, highest level of experience, and lowest level of experience [Given in these terms: Low (1-3), medium (4-7), high (8th and up).] Tells if there is any magic onboard. Gives if there are any psychics onboard (Mind Block will prevent detection), Gives a general count on the amount of P.P.E. the target has (basically the P.P.E. of the crew and any devices which store P.P.E.). Detects if there is any kind of possession. Finally sees if the crew or ship has any unusual aberrations.
• See the Invisible Sensors: The ships has several special optical and other sensor systems with see the invisible on them. Same as spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Fighter Mount: 200 miles (320 kilometers) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere. Effects / Abilities: Can see forces, objects, and creatures which can turn invisible, or are invisible. Can also see vaporous beings and astral bodies.
• Sense Magic: The ship has sensors which the give the ability to detect active magic. Similar to spell and used at will (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Fighter Mount: 20,000 miles (32,200 kilometers) in space and 200 miles (320 km) in an atmosphere.
• Sense Rifts: Ship has sensors which effectively allow Rifts to be detected. The system can be (requires no P.P.E. to activate). Range: Fighter Mount: 50,000 miles (80,500 kilometers) in space and 500 miles (805 km) in an atmosphere.

*TW Hull Protection/Ectofiber Insulation Grid---Magical Attacks do HALF damage.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Sun Dec 27, 2020 4:58 pm

Pocket Review from Captain Jacky Kelson
SLPB18 Mizner: Different enough from their other modern intermediary shuttlecraft to have its own niche, with the price point and rock bottom operation requirements being its strongest points. While the proverbial ‘any ship’ that is better than ‘no ship’, as long as you don’t expect anything resembling performance it’ll serve well. It's also cheap and flexible enough to have some really barmy custom mods, but at least they’re done to something cheap that won’t be missed if they go wrong. Barring a fundamental upset in what defines low end utility craft, it’ll be around for centuries with little realistic complaint.

FB-27 Derecho: Disregarding the teething issues, this flying wing is a simple sledgehammer, and is something of a pocket attack corvette when you look into how it's used. The kinetic cannons are useful in ground attack, they’ve pieced together enough about CG tech to get some use out of the Scorpion effect with the GR-1000s. Missile bays are bit short for what we expect now of days for its mass, but the gun power easily compensates. The only remaining faults as I see them are the slightly under powered shield and the sub-light acceleration, both of which are below modern standards. On the other hand it uses a normal fusion plant, so sacrifices have to be made somewhere, and so long as it doesn’t run into the real modern designs it’ll be ahead of whatever it goes up against. The biggest issue is the usual deployment problems with non-FTL heavy fighters, but the AJC has plenty of experience with the matter.

LCrv-29 Irpull: Objectively, it's a higher end version of the Haizam for their more developed territories. Performance is exceptional for its mass, on par with the Black Eagle with the higher end power plant, but it pays for it with a lack of external ordinance. It’ll still clobber anything you’d actually expect to see anywhere near their holdings, and while it doesn't have the cargo bay of most of the heavy patrol fighters it's not a massive concern of its intended operators. Assuming you can somebody else handle the direct law enforcement bits, it's good garrison craft. Its primary competitor is the BI Bisento, which costs notably more and is only really available in Thundercloud, so I expect it to do very well.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 7:57 pm

Now I'm going to give some of taalismn's earlier work some love.

Vrusk ‘Devgo II’ Fighter-Bomber
(aka ‘Rad-Sprayer’, *NECRON REE SOUNDS*)

"On one hand, by all rights they should be a war crime, and they’re not that great against anything modern either. On the other hand, there are no end of outright monstrous species that have crawled out of the woodwork which the scholars of Noro-Gor have declared to be effectively unsalvageable, and this rad spewing monster is ideal for forcing many of them to run back to their holes. We need to keep a close eye on them, but as long as they stay in their new niche we likely won’t have any problems based on the Vrusk’s sociology. It's not like anybody sane will want their toys, so it's only the usual suspects to worry about."
----Anonymous TVIA Inspector

“Basically all of the mass and cost increase went into improving the drives and shield, which are admittedly not minor things. The increased speed lets it actually try to engage things with it’s guns, which really ups its effectiveness, and you don’t even want to know just how much work had to go into getting the shield to function. Both of them combined demanded that a way better fission pile design be used, which we had to set up a cutting-edge factory for. Sprucing up the P-Beams was chump change in comparison.”
----Anonymous EvLaumCo Engineer

*Sounds of unmitigated horror and trauma*
---- every Necron Warrior that ever sees or goes up against such an absolutely vile abomination

During the Minion War, the radiation spewing nature of Vrusk ships became an asset, and there was some thought among the Vrusk Aggressive Threat Management Agency to add Infernal Hunting to their resume. Fortunately, somebody pointed out that their vessels were honestly mediocre to outright trash (pardon the pun) in more than a few aspects, so EvLaumCo reached out to external sources for assistance in developing a more capable version of their Devgo fighter. The local CAF forces were frantic in their efforts to drum up assistance in holding off the Demon fleets, and gave them no end of resources to push things along. The development of the Devgo II took only six months, but bug tweeking for the various added systems would continue for years. However, this mostly consisted of the normal radiation-related maintenance problems that the Vrush have become numb to, so it was not considered a major problem.

The Devgo remains based on the Fire-Eater, but the chassis has been inflated in its diagonal dimensions to provide room for a much more capable power plant and drive systems. This increased speeds to match that of the Flying Fang, which is a significant accomplishment for a fission powered craft. Just enough room was found to install an improved forcefield system and the needed radiation shielding, but it would still be the primary source of maintenance headaches. A particle shield and extensive EMP resistance would be added to improve its effectiveness against Demon Bone Fighters, and the missile targeting system received tweeks to make interception barrages easier to manage. The mounted weapons would also be improved, gaining range and reliability.

While not regarded as outstanding craft, they Devgo II would prove extremely frustrating for Bone Fighters to go up against, and would be a constant threat to Bone Maw Carriers and Demon Stars. But their great claim to fame would be against the techno-phobic Necrons, whose reactions to the radiation spewing craft would become the stuff of legend. While the post-Minion War punitive campaign would be relatively brief due to the multiple sector fleets involved, the containment efforts will continue until the CCW and UWW decide what to do by the Witch controlled species. As such, a large portion of the Vrusk ATMA has been stationed in the proximity of Necrosis to respond to breakout attempts, which have been growing more frequent as the Nacrons expand their ship breeding farms in the system’s gas giant.

Spoiler:

Vrusk ‘Tuu-Baa’ Gun Cruiser
(aka ‘Rad Horn’, ‘Tuba of Death’, ‘Necron Horror Show’)

"Other than the Necron Quarantine Zone, the other use for those war crimes is monster hunting. Beyond the anti-regeneration factor, those neutron beams also interfere with most organic forms of FTL, which cuts down on the ‘cat-and-mouse’ that needs to be played. It's simply out of the question to assign a TVIA attache, so we always have an escort of at least one up-engined Warshield to watch over them. Fortunately, the Vrusk are happy to wait at a fleet depot until called in by somebody with a flag rank, so they’re not wandering around on their lonesome. Thank the Forge they don’t work in an atmosphere, because people would be tempted to use them there."
----Anonymous TVIA Inspector

“They also see use in blasting appart Star Hives, as they can cook entire sections of them from a safe distance. After the Wasps have been dealt with, they can move in and burn a hole all the way to the core, allowing the followup forces immediate access to the entire construction. Our robots and PA can easily handle the residual radiation, and we’ve managed to cut the average operation time and unit requirements down to a forth what it used to be. We only need to send a Packmaster and a Den Mother to assist their usual flotilla of a pair of Tuu-Baa and a pair of Tuu-Clo, which is important considering how many Hives have shown up over the last six months.”
---- Grand Admiral Horace Shaw, CAF Anvil Galactic Task Force

"The primary problem with the Tuu-Baa’s is that they need constant rebuilds of their power plants due to the strain they’re put under when firing the HNCs, which is why it's advised to only use half of them unless you're shooting at something big. They’re designed that they can be done underway, but it's still a constant headache. Full FTL only uses about 80% of the overall system, so we cycle them as we put them back together. The 50 year claim is how long they can go before the whole section needs to be ripped out, which is about as expensive as a normal reactor replacement job. The Tuu-Clo’s naturally don’t have to deal with it, but they have to keep the sensors of their parasites from being fried so it mostly compensates."
---- Anonymous Vrusk Engineer

With the Tuu-Bou having no end of failings as a warship, Scrubbell Industries decided to start from scratch in designing a purpose built warship. The Minion War-era CAF was desperate for help, provided a great deal of technical assistance (over a communications link), and the peculiarities of the Naruni Conquistador caused a great many to end up in Vrusk hands. The resulting Tuu-Baa is thus a far more effective ship, with greater protection for its weapons, faster sublight propulsion and FTL, and a number of improvements to make it more effective against living vessels. Making them all work with the extremely radioactive nature of the ship was a major engineering challenge, and led to several delays.

Beyond improvements in the propulsion and shields, the largest change is in the weapons. The fixed forward 60cm Particle Beams of the Tuu-Bou have been replaced with proper Neutron Beams based on those of the Conquistado, with the Vrush’s physiology allowing them to cut many corners in engineering to improve them. Now far smaller and more energy efficient, the already highly radioactive systems allow them to maintain their beam for up to 6 minutes, but it is rare that any target needs more than 2. The nature of the beams also means that it is easy to keep on target, allowing the particle streams to hit their intended target consistently. Secondary weapons consist of a number of smaller and faster firing neutron cannons and a number of the successful Nuclear Pellet Cannons, and point defense is covered by U-Round firing Rail Guns and Variable Focus Particle Beams. The conspicuous lack of missile weapons is due to the ship’s emissions interfering with their sensor heads, and it was felt that the CAF would be happy to provide long range support when needed.

While entering service too late to take part in the fight against the Demonic Fleets, the Tuu-Baa would find its niche against the omnicidal Necrons. While being greatly out ranged by their Gore Cannons, it had the shields to tank the notoriously slow firing weapon and the engine power to close the distance, and once within range their Neutron Cannons tore the living ships appart in less than a minute on average. With additional fighters provided by the similar Tuu-Clo carriers, they were readily able to force their way through the Posh fighters and get to their prey. Simultaneously, the Minion War caused many monsters of galactic myth to come out of hibernation, resulting in the CAF Galactic Task Forces to have a continuous need for an anti-biological focused capital ship. While the TVIA naturally watches the Tuu-Baa’s like hawks, they have proven to be all too necessary in the current galactic environment, resulting in continued production.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:59 pm

The irony of it is that the Vrusk clean up the sort of toxic and radioactive threats to ecologies that the Neurons are too chicken$#!+ to go near. It's like blaming gut bacteria for the smell in your bathroom.
Broadly speaking, the Vrusk can be considered bioremediation macrobes that fly starships.

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:40 pm

The Cambrian system and its ships belong to Kitsune's imagination. I am reimagining their fluff and bits of their crunch to fit the PS setting.

The Cambrian Yards

What was old is new again

The Cambrian system is one of the old Human Alliance ‘Outer Colonies’, and was founded to serve as a local industrial node for their expansion. During the Automaton War it served as the largest available shipyard for the human resistance, and most of the fleet that would push onto Goldilox and end the war was built there. However, its post-war role would be much reduced, with the reconstruction demanding more generic civilian material and the founding of the CCW encouraging the military industrial complex to focus on Goldilox and the other racial homeworlds. Cambrian would remain a major civilian shipyard however, and the CAF had long subcontracted production of many of its warship components to its heavy industrial parks. Combined with being overlooked in the early stages of the Minion War, it was in prime position to reenter the warship construction business, and it would find itself home to a number of talented naval architects that found new uses for the various components that were sitting in the local stockpiles.

While they initially produced small runs of Hunters and Scimitars, there was always a feeling that they could do more. After the Battle of Altess Prime, the design staff came together and produced the Implacable, which would be the first successful warship inspired by the Aurora. They would later follow up on it with the much larger Tristan, intended to protect merchant convoys from the piracy epidemic, and would prove itself to be more than a match for the comparable Huntress. The final design would be the small Vespa Scout Carrier, which was for the time one of the lightest military-grade carrier platforms available, and remains the most popular among rebuilding IDFs. Most of the design team would find themselves recruited by the CAF, and would be some of the more critical in creating the Predator and the Dauntless.

Cambrian Yard ‘Implacable’ Destroyer
“The Implacable is the first of the Aurora knock-offs that are actually good, predating the Predator by several years. While naturally inferior to either, it stands above the rest of the pack in that it actually functions in its intended role, and it still clobbers the lesser competition. It is also distinctly not on any restricted lists, using mostly off the shelf technology other than the modified Cap Laser (which is honestly downgraded) and the MRMLs, which they developed themselves. Not the GREATEST, but that’s honestly not reachable without ASI’s literal magic. I’d take it over a Hunter without any reservation.”
---Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The first design produced by Cambrian, the Implacable is an unapologetic attempt at copying the Aurora. While naturally falling short of Paladin Steel Aerospace’s crowning achievement, they came far closer that any of the Minion War era contemporaries, and influenced the CAF’s later Predator. Its armaments revolve around its centrally mounted capital laser, which has had its range reduced to be less taxing on the ship’s slightly borderline power distribution system. As this is the sole anti-ship energy weapon, its lack of a turret can be distinctly problematic, but the actual firing arc is on par with the older Hunter. Its offensive missile armament is a choice of either Cruise Missiles or LRMs, with most IDFs going for the later for flexibility. Defensive weapons consist of a pair of double strength MRM launchers and the now common mix of GR-1000s and Variable Focus Particle Beam Cannons.

Compared to the Hunter, the Implacable has better effective firepower, more effective protection, slightly higher sub-light and FTL capabilities, and has proven to repeatedly trounce the Espandon in head to head matches. This made it quite popular early on, and even with the introduction of the Predator demand for it from IDFs is unabated. A notable number of copycat designs have naturally popped up, but without Cambrian’s existing production infrastructure they either fall short or are substantially more expensive. While the use of older components holds it back in overall capabilities, it makes it much more deployable than most other modern designs, with much of the CAF’s massive stockpiles of spares now being notably obsolescent and available at a good discount. Until the Predator becomes available for member worlds, the Implacable is likely going to be the best domestically produced destroyer available to IDFs, and this is expected to last for more than a century.

Spoiler:

Cambrian Yards ‘Tristan’ Escort Cruiser
“The Tristan is a Huntress done seriously by people that actually have a naval design degree, and it shows. The AM power plant really opens up room for improvement, the most important of which is the dramatic expansion of the missiles. It's now actually viable as an escort ship, and it has all the features you’d expect from a modern design. It’s in deep trouble if it runs into something larger, but it does a good job against the sorts of ships pirates get.”
---Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The Cambrian Yard’s second product would be the Tristan Escort Cruiser, which is called by many people to be ‘a Huntress done right’. Even a basic visual inspection would reveal the similarities, but also show the differences. The relatively bulky and underpowered fusion plant has been replaced with a modern Antimatter design, greatly increasing free internal volume. These savings are promptly sunk into improving its lack of secondary armaments, greatly expanding its LRM capacity and gaining a quartet of the 16-silo MRM launchers developed for the Implacable. When combined with the substantial boost in engine power, armor protection, and the upgraded Point Defense weapons the Tristan is far more able to actually engage peer opponents and survive.

Secondary capabilities have also been improved, with the most important being the default inclusion of a full cruiser grade sensor suite. No longer near blind, it is a far harder target to pick off, and the changed hull shape makes it harder for Phase Cannons to kill the entire command and engineering crew. The hanger has seen a notable shift in focus, now hosting a half squadron of light ASFs and a dozen space use Power Armors. While the crew count has gone up, the advised distribution greatly increases overall long term efficiency on patrols. It's not able to go toe to toe with a proper Light Cruiser, but it can handle small groups of frigates and destroyers easily.

Spoiler:

Cambrian Yards ‘Vespa’ Scout Carrier
“While it's naturally going to be compared to the Dauntless, the Vespa is a more traditional design. It’s naturally better protected having more than twice the mass, and the Dauntless is honestly a bit flimsy for a CAF vessel. The Dauntless makes up for it by being faster and having a freakishly large aerospace wing that it can run around the clock, but the Vespa is still on the high side of mass to flight deck ratios. The Vespa trades the secondary guns for LRMs, which is reasonable considering its operational profile. The larger crew makes it more of a pain to man, but it also makes longer term deployment easier for forces with lower skill levels.”
---Captain Jacky Kelson, CAF

The largest ship that Cambrian intends to produce for the foreseeable future, the Vespa falls into the underpopulated category of ‘Scout Carrier’, which has recently been joined by the CAF’s Dauntless. Based on an old Human Alliance design, the Vespa substantially larger than the Dauntless, and is thought of as being quite heavily protected for its mass and role. Its conventional bay design means that it can host less ASFs, but it is far more familiar with most operators, and can maintain a good operational tempo with less experienced deck hands. Overall crew numbers are on the high side, but are optimised for use by sub-CAF levels of capability, allowing extended patrols without too many problems. Its primary failings are the lack of a flag bridge, hindering its ability to act as a flotilla command ship, and modest refit and repair facilities available for its aerospace wing. As it is primarily operated by IDFs who keep it close to home, these are not considered major problems.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 6:47 pm

As is often the case, based on something Kitsune did. I'm going over the older ones and revising the PD MDC values as well.

Consortium Armed Forces 'Archer’ Battlecruiser
”The Archer is an addition to a pre-existing fleet doctrine, not something to build it around. It distinctly lacks endurance to get into a prolonged slugging match with peer opponents, but it can bully lesser Heavy Cruisers at will. Realistically, it also lacks the legs to conduct patrols, with maintenance problems cropping up sooner than other ships for a variety of factors, and it also doesn’t have the longer range sensors that are standard on the Champion and Paladin. This makes it a dedicated offensive vessel, which isn’t something the CAF has a lot of experience with to be honest. Any realistic fleet comp I’ve seen has them having at least one ordinance ship attached to them, along with a full up-engined Dauntless group for defensive escorts.”

A very recent addition to the CAF line up, the Archer class Battlecruiser is still in testing, but promises to be a useful addition to the fleet. While called by many to be ‘half of a Protector’, the Archer fills a distinctly different niche. A dedicated missile boat, it makes full use of the advanced warheads and penetration aids available to the CCW, which promise to reap a fierce toll on the TGE’s flotillas of smaller ships. For all of its firepower however, it’s lack of secondary weapons makes it quite vulnerable to truly massive numbers of light attackers, and it lacks the parasites to see off massed ASFs. Thus, CAF doctrine mandates that it always have an extensive escort flotilla.

Spoiler:

Consortium Armed Forces 'Aegis’ Battlecruiser
”The Aegis is basically a ‘plus one’ to any Carrier or Battleship Group, and the cost is perfectly reasonable for what you get. The new EWAR game means that you need a lot of missiles to counter incoming volleys, so the Aegis provides like none other. The reduced system load and higher amount of free internal space make it more comfortable to operate long term as well, so it's not going to be floating at a depot until it gets called up either. Naturally, its effectiveness is tied to its ammo endurance, but it should be able to outlast the opening missile and ASF exchanges that it shines in. And situations where it needs more ammo in are times when you really should have brought a far larger fleet.”

The immediate follow up to the Archer, the Aegis is meant as a fleet defense vessel. Replacing the larger weapons with smaller ones, it has an impressive secondary battery and an astonishing number of LRMs available for anti-missile and ASF duties. Its other high end features have also been downgraded, greatly reducing the cost and tying it to the ships that it is supposed to be escorting. This has also substantially reduced its mass, and as the sub-light engines have not been changed this makes it faster on the tactical field. The CAF intends to attach at least one to all of its major capital ship groups, meaning that the Aegis will become the most common multi-megaton warship in Consortium service.

Spoiler:

Omegasgundam · Unread post by **Omegasgundam** » Wed Dec 30, 2020 1:28 am

Consortium Armed Forces 'Emancipation Block II’ Dreadnought
”So what does the great white whale get for 20 megatons of more mass? A hell of a lot of guns and armor. The parasite compliment has been cut in half, so it ‘only’ has 5 full Wings and ‘a’ Battalion, but everything directly combat related has gone up. Hull is almost half again as durable, shields are stronger and regenerate faster, the ‘secondaries’ gained more barrels, launcher count has increased, and a full 20 PD turrets have been added. Body count has also dropped tremendously, so its way less of a manpower sink. And to top it off, it's faster in both sub-light and FTL. Not bad for a 25 billion credit boost to the price tag.”

The last warship addition to the CAF’s post-Minion War reconstruction program, the semi-experimental Emancipations received an extensive reconstruction. Gaining a fifth again the mass, the only things that can be considered original are the spaceframe and the Balanced Hammond Drive, which has been refined to grant higher speeds. Now a focused direct combatant, the Block II design looks to go head to head against the TGE’s own Doombringer Mk IIs, and promises to maintain a healthy degree of superiority. Boasting more protection and far greater firepower, the new Emancipation can likely take on a Doombringer and its escorts single handedly. Nothing short of the Imperial Kreegor herself can truly challenge her, and CAF High Command is contemplating taking the strategic offensive rather than letting the Emperor decide when it is time to strike. While unlikely in the extreme barring a truly perfect storm of factors, the subject even crossing their minds is a sign of the truly different times.

Spoiler:

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:25 pm

(TW sensors and expanded range stats courtesy of Kitsune, FRAM concept courtesy of Omgasgundam)

PSS/ASI-CGG-08M-class ‘Makrigga’ Medium Cruiser
(aka ‘finback’, ‘sharky’, ‘Kasera’)
“No way we’re going to punch through the shields on that canker with our peashooters! Fitzroy squadron, drop back and engage with missiles! The point defense on that thing will take out most of them, but it will keep’em busy! We hold out until the -Mohican- gets here with her BIG guns!”

“The United Systems Alliance GNE component seems to have a hoarder mentality with regards to its warships; even with better and more modern ground-up designs available, they don’t get rid of their older vessels at a rate other polities would. Instead they keep refitting them, and in some cases keep them in new production with the modifications streamlined in. Part of this is the WZT’s fault, in instilling a tendency to keep old designs moving along, but the biggest justification is the need to protect their many dispersed members and territories; the USA needs as many hulls as it can keep in action. So the USA’s building up substantial reserves of second- and third-tier warships guarding their turf. While this can cause problems with overall standardized logistics, on the other hand, they occasionally do manage to upgrade an oldie design into something impressive.”

“The addition of extra crew may seem to be a step backwards, but really it means less workload over all. It means the ability to extend patrols, and allows opportunity and space for training up new spacer crews. Given that many of these ships can be expected to be based in systems where the locals have little opportunity or means otherwise to support a military space program of their own, having the space aboard ship to accommodate cadets and first tour spacers is an important distinction from the older cramped Assegies. You had to hit the deckplates running when you got assigned to one of those cruisers.”

Though most PS/ASI post-Minion War military construction focused on refining designs such as the LaFayette, Pillara, and Aurora, many older, but still serviceable, designs also saw attention. The Assegai-class CGG; for example, was considered by analysts in the CCW and other larger polities as a plain-vanilla design of little potential beyond simply being where other warships weren’t available. However, wrongly or rightly, PS/ASI felt that there was still life in the design, and decided to act on a number of criticisms of it. Pleased with the work done on the Larna-Pe-class destroyers, PS/ASI chose to have several refits done at their newly acquired Thelheim shipyards.
The Assegai-class got a makeover in the form of an additional built-up dorsal hull expansion that extended the habitat section, allowing for an additional shift of crew to be added, and more comfortable quarters installed. The most distinct external addition was a raised ‘fin’ holding a second heavy energy weapons turret, effectively doubling the Assegai’s beam-throw, and a modular bay that could mount missile launchers, extra kinetics, or more specialized weapons modules such as ship multiplexors. The mix of laser and rail gun PDS systems has been reduced in turret numbers and replaced with modular systems, though PDS still remains potent in covering all arcs. To power the extra systems, a third power generator was added, its excess output also going to the modified engine impellors, helping offset the reduction in speed imposed by the extra mass. Improvements in fabrication and construction methodology meant that the refits didn’t break budgets.
Though still considered to be a variant on the Assegai, the new CGG-08M has earned the reporting name ‘Makrigga’. Among the QuimBek members of the USA, it is known as the ‘Kasera’, because its distinctive finlike weapons turrets reminded them of a shark-like predator native to their homeworld. Though not considered as versatile as the modular LaFayettes and Pillaras, the remodeled Makriggas provide much-desired extra firepower to Alliance system defense forces and patrol units.

Type: PSS/ASI-CGG-08M
Class: Medium Cruiser
Crew: 120+ 40 man Stelmarine security contingent
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 69,000
Bridge 11,000
Main Engine 4,000
Heavy Energy Weapon Turrets(2) 900 each
Kinetic Kill Rail Cannons(3x5) 500 each
Medium Laser Cannon Turrets(2x8) 500 each
Point Defense Turrets(18) 100 each
LR Missile Launchers (2) 550 each
Hangar Bay 3,000
Variable Forcefield 6,000 per side, 36,000 total
Height: 140 ft
Width: 220 ft
Length: 550 ft
Weight: 135,000 tons
Cargo: 7,500 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion, w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
Market Cost: 1.8 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*EW Jamming Systems--- The Assegai-M retains the EW systems of its line. In combat, the Assegai will attempt to use its electronic warfare suite to confuse enemy sensors as to the ship’s exact position and activity. Communications Jamming has a 10,000 mile range, is 90% effective against civilian systems, and is 65% effective against more sophisticated channel-jumping military communications suites. Missiles and sensor-guided weapons are -4 to strike.

*Passive Stealth Systems----The Assegai-M uses passive stealth systems to reduce its sensor signature by as much as 40%, but in order to achieve this, the ship cannot be under acceleration, and its engines must be running ‘cold’.

*ORACLE Mk V---Omni-diRectional Aura Classification and Locator Electronics--- TW sensory systems are becoming almost standard on all new construction and upgrade-refit of USAJC’s warships:

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

Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Energy Weapon Mounts(2)--The Assegai’s heavy energy beam-throw has been doubled with the addition of a second turret in a dorsal position. While the heavy laser is favored for its range, other types can be fitted.
Range: 30 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 100 miles in atmosphere, 100,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x1,000 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Once per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2)Twin-Barrel Medium Laser Cannons(8x2)---For a secondary armament, the cruiser mounts eight twin-barrel laser cannons.
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per cannon, 2d4x100 MD per dual blast from both cannon in a turret simultaneously(one attack)
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

3) Long Range Missile Launchers(2)---These are not as large as those on the Javelin, with half the magazine capacity, but they still pack a punch.
Range: Varies by missile type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by missile type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 per launcher
Payload: 80 LRMs per launcher-pod, 160 total

Alternately, the launchers can be modified to fire the following:
a)Heavy Nuclear Missile Launcher--These weapons were developed from early efforts to create an Alliance equivalent of the Galactic-level Cruise Missiles. The effort wasn’t entirely successful; the weapons have the range and warhead yield, but lack the advanced targeting and AI systemry of their galactic counterparts. They are also very large weapons, roughly the size of small SLBMs, making them fairly easy targets for Three Galaxies-standard point defense systems. To compensate for their lack of accuracy, PS mounted the heaviest nuclear warheads they could come up with in the Long Lance II missiles, counting on pure brute city-buster force to carry the day when more precise targeted strikes cannot. Paladin Steel has retained these weapons for special attack purposes, such as orbital platform strikes and attacks on massed enemy formations. These weapons are designed strictly for deep space use, and are NOT for use on surface targets; such use is BANNED by PS/VFS/GNE policy.
Range: 1,000 miles(4,000 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4 x 1,000 MD to a 2.6 mile destruction radius in space
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1,2,3,4, or 6
Payload: 6 missiles per launcher

(Option) PS Long Lance IV---The Long Lance IV is the next generation heavy anti-spacecraft missile from PS, and was developed after the abysmal failure of most of the launched Long Lance IIs to reach the target during the Dreadnought Crisis . This SLBM-sized weapon is smarter, heavier, and carries its own ECM and countermeasures decoy launchers to give it a better chance of penetrating a target’s defenses. The Long Lance IV is available to both the Falx and the Javelin-class cruisers.
Range: 1500 miles(6,000 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4 x 1,000 MD to a 2.6 mile destruction radius in space
Bonuses/Special:
*ECM----The missile has its own expert system and EW transmitters for jamming enemy radar, as well as evading their sensors. The missile is -6 for guided weapons to strike. 60% chance of evading radar detection to begin with.
*Flare/Chaff Launchers(1, 6 bundles)
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

4) Kinetic Kill Rail Cannons(3x5)---Mounted in main hull turrets positioned two ventral and one dorsal each side of the hull, and one on the fantail, these weapons can pivot for maximum arc of fire.
Range: 10 miles(40 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 40 miles in atmosphere/ 40,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per 80 rd burst, 2d4x100 MD double cannon burst, 3d4x100 MD per triple cannon burst
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 32,000 rds(400 bursts) per cannon before needing reloading from stores(takes about 30 minutes)

5) Point Defense Turrets (18)----The original 20-odd fixed-type PDS turrets have been reduced in number and replaced with modular socket-mounts, allowing for ‘mix and match’ refits.
a) Pulse Lasers(LC-3x) ---These are rather more powerful than the standard PDS options, but fit the same sockets, and with the increased power output of the CGG-08M’s reactors, were fit aboard the refits done at Thelheim using imported units. Not all refit yards, however, have access to the older LC-3x models to replace destroyed turrets, hence the listing of the standardized and more readily available PDS laser cannons below.
Range: 1 mile in atmosphere(4 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

b) Slayer -D Quad- Laser Cannon(PS-RFL-40D)---A slightly more powerful quad-laser system with a higher rate of fire. Another fitting that could be socketed into the standard PDS mount, but which isn’t always available to all shipyards doing Assegai-M workups.
Range: 6,000 ft in atmosphere(4 miles in space)
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Mega-Damage: 2d10 MD single shot, 2d4x10 MD short burst (four shots, one from each barrel), or 4d4x10 MD medium burst (eight shots, two from each barrel in sequence).
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively unlimited

c) Laser/Mini-Missile PDS----These are standard CCW-pattern dual laser/mini-missile launchers that have been installed for close-in defense.
Range: (Lasers) 4,000 ft in atmosphere/2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere /200 miles in space)
(Mini-Missiles) 1 mile in atmosphere/2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere/ 100 miles in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 1d6x10 MD per blast
(Mini-Missiles) Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Lasers) EGCHH, or auto-fire; 6 attacks per melee
(Mini-Missiles) Volleys of 1-8
Payload: (Rail Gun) Effectively Unlimited
(Mini-Missiles) 32 mini-missiles per turret; additional mini-missiles can be carried as cargo(typically takes 2d6 minutes to reload from the holds).
(Option)---The Mini-Missile launcher component of these turrets can be modified to fire the “S-Sting” ‘Smart Mini-Missile -----The S-Sting(for ‘Space Stinger’) is an attempt to adapt the guidance systems and accuracy of the ‘Black Talon’ L-SAM to a space-based missile. The missile resembles a rather stubby cylinder with a blunt-nosed optical cluster and protruding verniers(extend after launching), owing to the fact that the vacuum of space negates the need for streamlining the weapon.
Note that the ‘S-Sting’ has only limited effectiveness in an atmosphere....HALF bonuses in a thin atmosphere and weak gravity well like Mars’, and NO bonuses, and HALF range in a thick atmosphere and standard gravity like Earth’s.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 32 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x10 MD to a 15 ft blast radius
Bonuses: +7 to strike
Cost: 10,000 credits per missile

d) 30mm Anti-Aircraft Flak Cannon---- Heavier automatic cannon with a slower rate of fire, but a heavier shell, modified for space, and mounted in a dual-mount.
Range: 10,000 ft in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere/ 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6 MD single rd, 1d6x10 MD two rd burst, 3d6x10 MD six-round burst. DOUBLE for both cannon firing simultaneously.
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 1600 rds, 800 rds per cannon
Radar Targeting Bonus: +2 to strike

e) Rail Gun PDS--As per the FRAM upgrades

f) Particle Beam PDS--As per the FRAM upgrades

g) Ion Cannon PDS--As per the FRAM upgrades

h) Pulse Laser PDS--As per the FRAM upgrades

6) Weapons Module---Mounted ahead of the new dorsal heavy weapons turret is a slot for an additional modular weapons mount, typically a missile launcher or KEW turret.
a) Medium Range Missiles----180 MRMs, volleys of 1-10.

b) Long Range Missiles---Identical to 3) above.

c) Cruise Missiles---- 70 CMs, volleys of 1-10.

d) Kinetic Kill Rail Cannons(3x1)---Identical to 4) above.

e) Heavy Tachyon ScatterGun---Heavier version of the PDS system.
Range: 5 miles (2,500 m) in atmosphere, 10 miles (10,000 m) in space w/ 6 mile wide arc*
(Kitsune Values: 5 miles in atmosphere, 5,000 miles in space)
*Width are reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

f) Forcefield Generator Booster---Adds even more power to the shields; 7,000 per side, 42,000 total

g) Multiplexor---The versatility of starship-scale multiplexors was proven on the Auroras, and it was felt to be a good idea to try them out on other ships as well.
The current model of Starship Multiplexor can carry up to six separate spells, typically of high-level space spells(See Rifts: Fleets of the Three Galaxies). Still, however, this weapons system gives PS/ASI ships a SERIOUS magical bite lacking even in many UWW warships.
-Space Dust(150 PPE per activation, duration of 10 hours per activation, 500 mile range---500,000 mile Kitsune range, and 100 mile radius)
-Solar Flare(250 PPE per activation, duration of 1d6 hours +5 hours per activation, 1,200 mile range---120,000 mile Kitsune range )
-Summon Meteor Shower(150 PPE per activation, duration of 10 minutes per activation, 3 mile range---300 mile Kitsune range)
-Summon Ion Storm--Can generate up to a Level/Magnitude 5 ion storm (150-250 PPE per activation, duration of 1d6x10 minutes per activation, 10 mile range---1,000 mile Kitsune range)
-Gravity Well(550 per activation, duration of 50 minutes per activation, 400 mile range---40,000 mile Kitsune range, 100 mile radius )
-Create Nebula(500 per activation, duration of 10 hours per activation, 20 mile range---2,000 mile Kitsune range, 5 mile diameter)

h) Ion Cannon--(ionization rules courtesy of Henning Rogge)
Range: (Palladium) 4 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values) 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast,
In addition to physical damage, the cannon does EM damage. Percentage of EM damage is determined in relation to target’s main body((damage/main body)x100=percentage). For every 10% of damage from main body in ion damage, target will be -1 to strike, parry. and dodge. In space target acceleration will be reduced by 15%, in atmosphere top speed will be reduced by 15%. Roll once on critical hit charts in Phazeworld or Conversion book as appropriate.
If target takes 60% of main body in ion damage, ship or vehicle will be disabled completely. All weapon, navigation, and other systems will shut down and need to be repaired/replaced to work again/reboot.
Does NO damage against non-mechanical/electronic targets.
The ion cannon is equally effective against bionics
Rate of Fire: Five times per melee
Payload: Effectively unlimited

Auxiliary Craft:
12 Aerospace Fighters
4 Shuttles

taalismn · Unread post by **taalismn** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 8:30 pm

S-14 Banaka Light FTL Courier/Personal Transport

“The Banaka’s one of those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ designs you see all over the spaceports doing the odd work of transport. Not big enough to awe you, not fast enough to grab your attention, but serviceable enough to get you places, and filling a performance hole that would be very obvious if there wasn’t just enough ship to fill it.”

“If you’re tempted to turn off the contragrav and try flying on pure aerodynamics. in-atmo, be aware that that big rear engine mass unbalances the center of the gravity. The Banaka has a tendency to try to pitch up over on its back if you’re not attentive on the stick. The problem can be corrected with the addition of canards and some tail control, surfaces, but most people buy the Banaka for its space performance, not its atmospheric handling, so they don’t bother.”

“Looks like somebody’s pre-spaceflight attempt to produce an atmo ramjet fighter, but that big engine housing holds an interstellar drive. Pretty good one, for its time, but the ship was sitting on the knife edge of too heavy and too small. Still, Suraflite was founded by ex-military engineers, and overall performance was and still is better than the majority of civilian stuff. Problem is, there’s an increasing amount of ex-military and paramilitary gear on the market, and those with the cash are springing for the better tech, not civie-rating, even if it is high civie-rate.”

The S-14 Banaka is a older small craft design for a light, fast, intersystem courier. It was introduced a few years after the end of the Automaton Wars by the Suraflite Corporation, a startup firm started by engineers and aerospace technicians demobbed after the Automaton Wars. Using an ex-military refit yard as their initial base of operations, Suraflite focused on producing small transports from unused wartime plans, and had several exceptional designs over its three centuries of operation. The Banaka was developed from design proposals for a light aerospace fighter that was never realized as such, as the times and operational needs changed.
The Banaka wins no medals for looks; it appears as a mishmash of components; a bulbous cockpit canopy on the end of a narrow fuselage, flaring out into a broad delta wing, the centrebody angling up to a slit cooling intake fronting the massive engine pod taking up more than half the mass of the hull, and ending in an oversized venturi. Crew space is little better than a large groundcar’s, though the accommodations do allow for a small relief station in the back of the cabin and enough room to stretch out in and nap. The Banaka’s structure is fairly straightforward and durable, and the ship is fairly easy to maintain.
As an interstellar FTL courier, the Banaka was a flop, lacking the mass and the engine chops for the long runs. Shield strength is nearly bare minimum, and its ability to mount weaponry limited by both the external stress on the structure and by the available power that could be freed up from the energy-hungry main propulsion. However, the S-14 was fairly successful in the shorter, more frequent, core-system hopping of runs of 5-30 light years. Its size limits endurance and seating capacity for all but quick trips(though this is relative; again, FTL civilizations like the CCW consider 40-60 light years ‘close’). The Banaka became one of Suraflite’s better sellers, with over 150,000 examples sold during the company’s run.
In more recent years, the Banaka has been downgraded to a stellacommutta-class transport, though many argue that the S-14 was already among the first vessels of this type, being small and easy enough for private concerns to own and operate for short runs.
Still, the Banaka has proven quite popular, and the ships are common, if oft-overlooked, sight at many spaceports, carrying mail and fares around solar systems and on short hops between adjacent systems . A few law enforcement groups still operate the S-14 as a local space patrol ship, inspection ship and personal transport. The Banaka is also still common as a small shuttle/skiff aboard merchant ships.
Suraflite went out of the spaceframe business roughly a half-century ago and was absorbed as an engine division of Supralumatronics, but its new host firm still manufactures spare parts for existing machines. Supralumatronics didn’t purchase Suraflite’s design rights to many of its spacecraft, so four firms currently produce knockoffs of the Banaka. The Golgan firm Pulwar Aerospaki, Flan’Loure Productions, Nosan Corps, and WZTechyards(USA) all manufacture their own takes on the Banaka.

Type: S-14-034 Banaka
Class: Small Courier/Personal Transport/Stellacommutta
Crew: 1+1-4 passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,000
Cockpit 500
Wings(2) 300 each
Forcefield 700
Height: 15 ft
Width: 35 ft wingspan
Length: 45 ft
Weight: 38 tons
Cargo: Small cargo space under the floor of the main cabin can hold 1,000 lbs of luggage and personal gear. If not carrying passengers or extended-duration accommodations for the pilot, the cabin can hold an additional ton of cargo.
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 5; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 30% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3.4 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible(see Variants)
Market Cost: 9 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Shuttlecraft Systems, plus:
*Astro-Navigation Database--- The FTL drive requires a more sophisticated database than orbital mechanics, so the Banaka carries a proper starship navigation database and the ability to pick up on standard Galactic navigation beacons/markers. In general, though, he database only holds coordinates for 7 interstellar locations. New ones must be manually loaded; blind navigation efforts in unknown space are -15% to skill rolls, because the Banaka lacks the long range sensors to properly determine position beyond the galactic navigation networks.

Weapons Systems:
None standard, but can be fitted with two light weapons along the leading edges of the wing roots, and a third facing to the rear under the main engine venturi.

Variants:
Over the century of so Suraflite was in business, they experimented with variations on the S-14. Most of these experiments never saw finalization as production models. Efforts to fit a more powerful Courier Drive into the S-14 frame and push it up to Mach 11, and ideally beyond, resulted in the even more grotesquely mis-proportioned VHVDS-14X which almost killed its test pilots before the effort was scrubbed(though it’s rumored that at least one of the prototypes ended up in the hands of a wealthy collector). Likewise, efforts to mount more powerful weaponry were unsuccessful, and Suraflite eventually stuck to producing the basic reliable model.

At least four firms currently manufacture variants:

*Flan’Loure Productions FLPs-14 ---With its own attempts at breaking into the aerospace fighter market being less than spectacular, FLP decided to try reproducing an old adapted fighter-courier design instead. It’s rumored that Flan’Loure is using the Banaka as practice in manufacturing high performance small aerospacecraft before making another run at the fighter market. FLPs-14s have slightly redesigned lines, often inspired by the company’s previous work in luxury grav-cars, and the engine housings show redesign to accommodate a selection of upgraded powerplants , but these generally show only small improvements in speed(Mach 9.3 in space). One of the better-looking Banaka knockoffs, but no better than the original standard model, with an extra 5-10% increase in price for the Flan’Loure embellishments.

*Pulwar Aerospaki PA/G-14---This Golgan firm was knocking off the Banaka even before Suraflite ceased to exist as a separate company, but neither Suraflite nor Supralumatronics took legal action, so PAerospaki kept on doing it to earn a little extra coin selling to the commercial market. The PA/G-14 uses Golgan drive components and is one of the better-quality and more widely distributed knockoffs of the S-14, having 1,200 MDC main body M-factor and being able to edge up to 36% of light speed. It also has the distinction of being amphibious(able to land and take off from water), which has led to confusion with an amphibious variant produced by WZTechyards.
Pulwar originally sold their PA/G-14 to anybody with the money, but since the Kultural Revolution, Pulwar, eager to prove their loyalty and cash in on the Argosy military buildup, subsequently sells only to Golgan concerns. However, this has left already-sold tens of thousands of PA/G-14s on the other side of the border.

*Nosan Corps nS-14 ---(In)famous for their heavily-automated ‘idiot-proof’ interstellar yachts blamed for an influx of ill-prepared space tourists, Nosan Corps decided to pick up the Banaka design and apply their automation to the nS-14. Their edition of the Banaka is cheaply glitzed up as a ‘scout/adventure ship for the masses’, but inarguably very easy to use, even for novice space pilots(+5% to Pilot Starship rolls, as long as it’s within normal operating parameters). The nS-14 has the capacity for 12 locations in its navigation database, but is -1 to dodge due to its resistance to flying off ‘safe’ parameters, and trying to manually punch in new coordinates is at -20%. However, the nS-14 also sells for about 8 million credits.
Now, in addition to rescuing tourists from planetary surfaces, many space patrols complain about ‘murphy-teasing idiot wannabe space-jockies clogging the spacelanes’. As Nosan is suspected of being a front for organized crime, it’s n small surprise in the law enforcement community that many nS-14s have been captured in small-end smuggling operations.

*WZTechyards WZTs-14---Well-known for rehabilitating older designs, WZT picked up an option to produce the S-14, giving the work to its smaller and newer members, but lending material and sales support. Their WZTs-14s show a wider range of options, especially in powerplants(Including TW), with high-end re-engined models actually reaching the 40% of light speed of military fighters, and FTL speeds of up to 5 ly/hour. The weapons hardpoints are compatible with the ASI/WZT Light Weapons Hardpoint modules, and a second set of overwing hardpoints allows for mounting extra weapons/avionics, including supplemental forcefield generation pods. An amphibious/fully submersible model has sold well to their Saphian allies, but has caused some confusion with a Golgan knockoff.
Almost all the WZTs-14s produced have been sold on the Rim where they are mainly used as in-system jump-shuttles and customs runabouts, or are carried by merchant captains as gigs.