In the past, both the Bushido Confederation and Bushido Industries counted on larger ships that they purchased for both patrols and escorting convoys. The government and company only kept a relatively small number of ships and most of what they had were small Corvette type ships. Recently, a large number of convoys have been attacked and destroyed and it is suspected by many that Naruni Industries is behind the raids. In addition, rumors have reached the leaders of both the company and the government that the ships were sometimes being sabotaged by other competitors.
As a result, it was decided by both organizations that they would greatly increase the size of their forces and they would start acquiring larger vessels such as cruisers. They did not want older ships, the Consortium Military wants three times their construction cost for Warshield class cruisers, and they did not want to spend the next few years negotiating with other powers and companies. As a result, the best option seemed to be to construct their own and it would have the added advantage to keep their ship numbers independent of other government's decision. Instead of going with a larger ship class like New Coventry, they went with a smaller ship class cutting back on items that were seen as unneeded when comparing to the Warshield Cruiser and producing a true light cruiser. The ship both considerably less to construct and are much less expensive to operate.
Several ships entered into service and some mercenary companies and planetary governments watched the performance of the ships to with an eye to determine if they should consider purchasing the ships themselves. As a result, when two Raiden class light class light cruisers stopped a major pirate force, it became quickly know that these ships were quite capable. Orders for the Raiden light cruisers started coming in and while most of the ships are purchased by the Bushido Confederation or are kept by the company, a trickle of the ships is being sold to outside interests. It is planned by Bushido Industries that they will expand production over the next few years.
In the weapon system the Raiden carries, some people have considered it as a stripped down Warshield class Cruiser but that is a poor description. The Raiden is semi modular and can be constructed with three different possible configurations for the ships missile battery. The ship can be constructed with two cruise missile batteries, four long range missile batteries, or one cruise missile battery and two long range missile batteries. About half of the ships purchased by the Bushido Confederation are of the first configuration with the other two each being about a quarter of their purchases. To back up the main battery, the Raiden carries four medium range missile batteries. They are used primarily as defensive weapons and make good protection against other ships cruise missile volleys. The main energy weapons of the ship is four 20 cm heavy laser cannons but the supporting rail guns and smaller heavy lasers were not retained. This allows the ship to have about half of the Warshield's firepower in direct fire confrontation. For lighter direct fire weapons, the Raiden carries a total of sixteen mounts with a combination rail gun and variable focus particle beams in the same mount. The system is identical to the weapon system that is carried in the Bisento class heavy fighter.
The hull of the Raiden is well constructed but the ship cannot withstand as much punishment as the larger Warshield. To partially compensate for this, the Raiden has shields that can withstand as much damage as those on the Warshield. The light cruiser carries huge engines which makes it quite a bit faster than the Consortium's main cruiser in both normal space and faster than light travel.
Unlike most larger cruisers, the light cruiser only has one bridge and does not have proper facilities for a flag officer and staff. Surprisingly, the ship is only slightly more cramped than most other cruiser classes and is quite capable of operation for large periods of time. The ship has a drastically reduced marine compliment and can carry either one full squadron of light fighters or with medium sized fighters, a light squadron of eight fighters.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: BIC-04-M
Vehicle Type: Light Cruiser
Crew: 152 (18 Officers, 134 enlisted)
Troops: 20 Marines (10 in medium or light power armor), 16 to
24 fighter pilots, and can carry up to 10 passengers in addition to standard
military personnel
Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:
Power Armors:
| 10 | Light Power Armors (BI-PA-60B Kage Tengu) |
| 12 | BIF-75 Tanto class Light Starfighter (or other light starfighter). | |
| or | ||
| 8 | BIF-67 Katana fighter ship (or other medium starfighter) |
M.D.C. By Location:
| 20 cm Main Laser Cannons (2, Front): | 1,200 each | |
| Combined GR-1000 Rail Gun / Particle Beam Cannon Turret (16): | 400 each | |
| Cruise Missile Batteries (Varies): | 1,000 each | |
| Long Range Missile Batteries (Varies): | 600 each | |
| Medium Range Missile Batteries (4): | 500 each | |
| Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 150 | |
| Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 100 | |
| [1] Bridge: | 6,000 | |
| Hanger Bay: | 5,000 | |
| [2] Main Engines (2): | 8,000 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 25,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 4,000 a side (24,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon
to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary
bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be
at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the
ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the main engines means that ship FTL propulsion systems
are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the cruiser out of
commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1200 MDC) per melee rounds
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship
to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.95 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 650 mph (1046.1 kph),
can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric
flight
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship
to reach a maximum of 7 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
Carries about a year and a half worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 565 feet (172.2 meters)
Height: 85 feet (25.9 meters)
Width: 120 feet (36.6 meters)
Weight/Mass: 55,000 tons (49,900 metric tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 30 year life span. The ship
normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 2,000 tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker
for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal
items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor,
troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: 1.6 billion to construct. These ships are sold
on the open market and are rare and Bushido Industries sells them with
a 75% markup (2.8 billion credits) but are still far cheaper that a new
Warshield class cruiser costs to purchase.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
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By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).
Copyright © 2000, Kitsune. All rights reserved.