| Technology and Vehicle Design - June's Guide to Combat Vessels, 4830VD (sampler) |
Back to 'Photon weaponry'
June's Guide to Combat Vessels, 4830VD (sampler) (30/07/99 )
Classification system for ship size and hyperspace routes:
A – Pods, probes.
B – Most fighters; small civilian shuttles.
C – Heavy bombers and strikeships; large shuttles.
D – Full-scale personnel carriers.
E – Full-scale Mek and/or skimmer transports.
F – Warships.
G – Dreadnoughts.
Armor and weapon ratings are given relative to most ships of that class. A “Medium”-armored D-class carrier will be more difficult to damage than a “Medium”-armored B-class fighter, and a “medium-grade HE missile” fired from a Mek is probably not quite up to scale with a “medium-grade HE missile” carried in a G-class Dreadnought’s cruise missile bay.
Due to the nature of hyperspace travel, Star Destroyer-size ships are next to worthless—unless, of course, you want to show off your shipbuilding capability with a behemoth confined to a defensive role in your home system. Thus there is no official class beyond G.
Gladiator T-12 Tactical Fighter (a.k.a. “teardrop” skimmer)
Class: B
Armament:
2 light variable-mode photon cannons
1 medium-grade HE missile launcher, with four reloads
1 medium laser turret
Speed: Fast
Armor: Light / Medium
Crew: 2 (pilot and turret gunner)
Description: The stock fighter of Gladiator, this skimmer has a tapered, oblong design that when viewed from above has the shape of a drop of water. The cockpit is in the center, with the photon cannons on the sides and the laser turret mounted atop the nose. The missile launcher is on the underside of the craft, allowing it to be adapted for atmospheric bombing runs when needed.
While lacking hyperdrive, this skimmer mounts an experimental “cyberdrive” that drops the ship completely into hyperspace sans bubble—but the craft is immobile, blind, and deaf, as well as invisible, while there. It is most used for emergency evasion, too power-consuming for repeated tactical use. Commanders have attempted to use this piece of technology as a sort of cloaking device to set ambushes, but this only works when the precise time an enemy force will arrive is known. A further disadvantage is the fact that bubbleless hyper causes “hyperkill dizziness” to almost every pilot who experiences it, making this equipment’s offensive potential quite limited.
Galaxy Corps M-9 Multipurpose Fighter (a.k.a. “hover” skimmer)
Class: B
Armament:
4 light variable-mode photon cannons (one mounted in rear turret)
1 medium-grade HE missile launcher, with three reloads
Speed: Moderate / Fast
Armor: Medium
Crew: 2 (pilot and tail gunner)
Description: An attempt by GC engineers to even out some of the problems with the Gladiator skimmer, the “hover” design looks much like a traditional Earth jet fighter. While the “teardrop” was a true skimmer, atmosphere-capable, pilots complained about the poor handling of its limited lift surfaces. The GC model was therefore equipped with true wings. Armor coverage was improved at a slight cost in speed, and the cyberdrive was swapped out in favor of additional contragrav units, which when applied in atmosphere can cushion high-G maneuvers and allow the zero thrust, floating stop that gives the skimmer its nickname.
Kalai Strikeship
Class: C
Armament:
4 medium variable-mode photon cannons
1 heavy missile / torpedo / bomb tube, with a payload of two heavy warheads
2 light autocannon turrets
Speed: Moderate
Armor: Medium
Crew: 5
Description: One of the most feared ships involved in the Third War of Dawn, these well-equipped craft left scathing wounds in the Human system of Valhalla. The ship has a large three-pronged configuration, with paired photon cannons in the outer arms and the cockpit on the central pylon. The three parts connect at the rear, in front of the engine’s triple thrust ports. The heavy bomb launcher is beneath the cockpit, and anti-fighter autocannon on top and bottom of the central section provide almost a full sphere of defensive coverage.
The ship’s greatest disadvantage is its lack of hyperdrive, requiring the striker to dock with a mothership before making long-distance trips.
Larger (usually D class) Kalai craft following a similar design but with upgraded weaponry and hyperdrive are the “Houseships,” whose crew include Kalai from only a certain family. These vessels are used almost without exception as command vehicles in House battles.
Gyran Invasion Skimmer
Class: B
Armament:
2 light variable-mode photon cannons
or:
1 medium-grade HE missile launcher, with two reloads
1 medium laser cannon
Speed: Fast
Armor: Light
Crew: 0
Description: A “truly curious” design, as one Alliance analyst put it, Gyran’s main-line skimmers have a shape even simpler than that of a Calthean “needleship:” they are long, narrow, pyramidal contraptions with no outside features save an engine port, some maneuvering jets, and a couple of weapons. Despite their apparent lack of aerodynamics, they perform quite well in atmosphere, leading some frustrated commanders to speculate that Gyran has secretly developed energy-efficient contragrav units that burn to worthless ash whenever captured. Like most Gyran units, these skimmers are lightly armed, die easily, and attack in incredible numbers.
Gyran Light Troop Carrier (a.k.a. “Robot Bus” or “Beehive”)
Class: C (B with rear detached)
Armament:
2 light autocannon
Speed: Slow; Fast when unloaded
Armor: Light
Crew: 0
Troops: 100+
Description: The Gyran troop carrier is a rectangular ship, with a control-center bulb at the front, and a thick collar between the two sections that extends beyond the edges of the ship on every side. The rear portion houses a veritable sardine can of robots, and when the carrier reaches its destination, the entire rear portion detaches and unfolds outward, releasing its cargo. The collar behind the control module is the engine apparatus, which actually pulls most of the ship’s loaded mass rather than pushing it. As a result of this difficult arrangement, these ships are very slow when full, and are used mainly for short-range missions and combat drops.
Some heavier transport designs (like the ones used in the Accipteron battle) have twin engines, which parallel the body of the ship. These carriers do not detach their payloads, but instead release them from an upper hatch. The design described above, however, is the most common variant.
| June's Guide to Combat Vessels, 4830VD (sampler) (SabreCat) - 30/07/99 |
|
|