In the days of sailing ships, pirates were a huge fear. During the days of steam, pirates disappeared from the world for the most part. When interstellar space travel become a reality, the pirate reappeared. Although privateers might be a different reality, pirates were drawn from the dregs of society. Some are be failed naval crew members, some are spacers than want quicker profits, some may be simply street scum, but wherever they are from they are the scourge of the space lanes. Pirates will rarely attack military ships or well defended merchant ships because the loss for how much profit is gained is not worth it. They must perceive that they can beat the other ship with very low loss. Although pirates may fight desperately if cornered, they will often surrender if given the choice trusting to the mercy of the courts, who often have let them go in the past, then to trust in the mercy of a starship captains laser cannons. Because profit motivates them and not a cause, they will also almost never self destruct.
While some pirates use military ships that they have either captured or ones they have purchased with their ill gotten gains, many rely on converted merchant ships. The was a converted merchant ship and is fairly typical of Pirate Cruisers. Unlike military Q-Ships, weapon systems are not concealed and it is clear that this weapon is armed. While this one is typical, there are a great variety of different designs. The ships weapon systems come from a variety of different sources, some civilian, some Kreeghor, and some from old human alliance. While fire control systems have been upgraded, these new weapon systems make the fire control systems a nightmare. The Bloody Fist has two cruise missile launchers stripped from an old Kreeghor Berserker class light attack ship. For defense, the ship has four medium range missile launchers and four mini-missile launchers. The main firepower of the ship is not in missiles but energy weapons though. For heavy anti-ship weaponry, the ship is armed with four 18 cm particle and four 12 cm laser cannons. These weapons are from scrapped HAFN ships. The ship is also armed with eight laser batteries for additional missile defenses. While the ships carries fairly decent shields, the hull is weak for its size. Unlike warships of its size, the ship does not have an auxiliary bridge and requires a larger crew than most military ships due to system problems although are often operated by skeleton crews. Betraying its merchant origins, the ship is slow when compared to most cruisers for both FTL Travel and sublight acceleration. The ship has provisions for a good number of troops for boarding purposes, some with power armors, and has twelve starfighters. As might be expected, the ship has a large cargo hold to carry booty in. The ship has some space to carry prisoners because slaves can be sold for good profits.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: CA-EZ-435 Cruiser (Refitted)
Vehicle Type: Space, Pirate Cruiser (Converted Heavy Cargo Ship)
Crew: 355 (ship can be run by 110 crew)
Troops: 400 Assault Troops, 18 fighter pilots, and carry up
to 100 passengers/prisoners
Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors: This is the listing for the
Bloody Fist, other pirate cruisers can have completely different fighter
or power armor compliments.
Power Armors:
| 20 | Naruni PA E-1000 Enforcers | |
| 15 | Knock Off Silver Hawk Power Armors | |
| 15 | Kreegor Warlord Mark 2 Combat Suits |
| 6 | Naruni NE-SF20 Kinjal Light Starfighters | |
| 3 | Naruni NE-SF10 Broadsword Fighters | |
| 3 | Naruni FB-49 Fire Eater Fighters |
M.D.C. By Location:
| 18 cm Particle Beam Cannons (4): | 1,100 each | |
| 12 cm Heavy Laser Cannons (4): | 700 each | |
| Triple Barrel Defense Laser Turrets (8): | 150 each | |
| Cruise Missile Batteries (2): | 700 each | |
| Medium Range Missile Launchers (4): | 400 each | |
| Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 125 | |
| Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 75 | |
| [1] Bridge: | 8,000 | |
| Hanger Bay: | 5,000 | |
| [2] Main Engines (2): | 6,000 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 25,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 3,000 a side (18,000 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 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% (900 MDC) per melee
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 0.7 percent of light per melee. Ship has had the merchant
radiation and particle shields replaced with military shields.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 300 mph (483 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 3 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
Carries about one year worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 735 feet (224 meters)
Height: 205 feet (62.5 meters)
Width: 225 feet (68.6 meter)
Weight: 210,000 Tons (190,500 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 25 year life span. Under
normal conditions, the ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling
and refitting although maintenance is not generally regular with pirates.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 40,000 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 ammo, armor, troops,
and weapons
Market Cost: Including both the original cost of the cargo ship
and modifications, the ship costs about 1.6 billion credits.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
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By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).
Copyright © 1999, Kitsune. All rights reserved.