The Reprisal class is perhaps a unique and frightening development in the Trans-Galactic Empire's military.
The Berserker class Attack Ship, considered by some to be the equivalent of a wet navy torpedo boat and by others as a heavy fighters, has been the centerpiece of Kreeghor operations for a long, long time. However, it has a considerable vulnerability in that all versions of the Berserker class carry absolutely no power armors or fighters. This is partially mitigated by the fact that Berserkers often operate in relatively groups but does not completely alleviate the problem.
Likewise, the Trans-Galactic Empire has no design for a purpose-built carrier. Though the Doombringer can function as a carrier, it must also function as an assault ship and a battleship, and hence must be used sparingly, and like any ship combining three functions, is not very good at any one of them. Its sublight speed is also fairly slow which limits its tactical usefulness.
With the Eradicator class Battlecruisers, the Trans-Galactic Empire has a design that is the closest comparable vessel to the CCW's Protector class Battleships, and fills a gap that desperately needed to be filled.
However, one gap is still unfilled, that of a true Fleet Carrier. But the genesis for the Reprisal class, the solution to that gap, started even before the Eradicator was completed.
The planet Fuso, or "Land of Divine Mullberry Trees" was an ancient human planet who's roots were lost in history, and was captured by the Kreeghor during their "refined" era, of simply occupying such worlds and not exterminating the inhabitants outright. The culture was largely traditionally Japanese.
From this planet came a very odd person to rise into the ranks of T.G.E. military ship designers; A relatively young human female who's undeniable brilliance had drawn the interest of a senior officer in Kreeghor intelligence services. The intelligence services are not as caught up in race as the rest of the Kreeghor forces and can sometimes cut through problems which would otherwise be impossible. Often the intelligence services are as much a hindrance as a help.
Yuri Naguchi began work on a theoretical project for the Royal Kreeghor in intelligence at age eighteen; A stunning brilliant woman who had gone as far as she could in the Trans-Galactic Empire and gone through an education in the field of starship engineering. Her designs, however, had been unorthodox from the beginning, but had fascinated the Royal Kreeghor from the beginning.
In four years of extensive planning and working essentially on her own, funded first for the general interest then the growing fascination and respect of the Royal Kreeghor in question, she completed the design for a class of fleet carrier... Entirely on her own. Utilizing space-saving measures and a design which combined functionality with more traditional Kreeghor aesthetics, she completed the design for a fleet carrier which was vastly superior to the Packmaster in terms of fighters carried, though it had no ground-assault capabilities.
The design was then presented to the Director of Intelligence, by the Royal Kreeghor who was unusual enough to actually accredit the human with the design. The design was then sent to the Kreeghor Emperor as a new carrier class which Yuri being secretly but still accredited with the design. It is believed that many Kreeghor officers would create problems if they knew the design was created by a human so few were actually informed. Many of those that were informed were in immediate opposition to the design. In allowing Yuri to go about her work on the design, the Emperor reward the Royal Kreeghor in question greatly, and proceeded to give a award Yuri with land and a manor on her own home world. The name chosen for the first ship was the Bloody Reprisal.
The Bloody Reprisal class Fleet Carriers are unique vessels in that everything has been done to maximize fighter carrying space and the speed in which fighters and space-capable power armors can be "Turned over" or prepped for combat after coming in with minor damage and out of missiles and other weaponry, etc. The entire ship is designed as a relatively slow and massive but impressive carrying unit. Though relatively thin-skinned to allow the maximum number of fighters to be packed aboard, the design provides good protection for a carrier and the layout makes it highly survivable.
For offensive punch, the Reprisal class relies exclusively on it's fighters and space-capable power armors; There is no exception to this. The Reprisals are exclusively fleet carriers, and don't need the essentially superfluous long range weaponry. Heavy shielding equal to a Doombringer's is the primary defense. The reason for such heavy shielding is so that the ship can survive long range missile attacks without damage that could impair it's ability to rearm and re-launch fighters that have returned from sorties, along with being able to shrug off counter-attacks from fighters.
Though utterly lacking in terms of planetary invasion ability, and likewise in any forms of Anti-Starship energy weaponry except a bare necessity, supported by point-defense anti-fighter guns, the combination of heavy shielding and an awesome fighter capacity allows the Bloody Reprisal class to become a serious threat. Basic tactics would include a single one of the vessels fighting at standoff range by sending a continuous stream of bombers and fighters at the enemy vessels.
Standard tactics would involve massive strikes by the fighters and Berserkers in the fleet formed around a Reprisal followed by the four cruisers that would normally be in such a formation closing to "mop up" the cripples of the enemy fleet that are unable to flee.
One special note about the Bloody Reprisal class is the relatively high speed of such a huge capital ship, both at FTL and Sublight velocities; Matching a Defiler-II in acceleration at sublight velocities and speed at FTL velocities. This allows the Reprisal to escape, if necessary, at the same speeds as it's escorts can maintain and be highly flexible both in arriving in a system and in operations within that system; It also closely mirrors the designs of most fleet carriers of water-borne navies which had cruiser speeds. One problem is the fact that while the Defiler II cruisers can keep up with the Carrier, Smasher class light cruisers and Berserker class attack ships cannot keep up with the Bloody Reprisal at faster than light speeds.
The Bloody Reprisal class is definitely NOT designed to be used alone; The ships are far to expensive and valuable for that, and instead are designed to operate with hunter-killer groups of Berserker class Attack Ships. The primary battle-plans for using the Bloody Reprisal class is to have two Defiler-II class Heavy Cruisers providing close support for the Carrier, while a battle-group of 36 standard Berserker Light Attack Ships, led by two Smasher class Light Cruisers, engages the enemy, being covered by the hundreds of fighters and power armors that a Bloody Reprisal class Fleet Carrier can launch and being supported by the long-range Heavy Missiles of the Defiler-II escorts.
This is the standard situation for sending a Bloody Reprisal up against a major CCW fleet, and allows for the Reprisal to escape cover by it's two cruisers if things go wrong. However, in a standard extended fleet engagement, the ship would remain in position, covered by the two Heavy Cruisers, constantly landing and re-arming fighters for immediate launch back into combat until the action was finished.
The Kreeghor Emperor especially liked the design because it provided exceptional capabilities while at the same time lacking in offensive firepower of it's own or in any serious ground-attack capabilities, making it virtually impossible for the commander of one of the Bloody Reprisal class Carriers to seriously attempt to seize the throne from him; Standard doctrine would be have one commander have direct command over the Reprisal and the two escorting heavy cruisers, while another commander has the two light cruisers and the thirty six light attack ships, to prevent one commander from having to much firepower under his command.
The Emperor hence commissioned two ships of the design to be built and completed, and they both were. The Bloody Reprisal is already in service, and her first sister ship is completed and undergoing a shakedown cruise before joining her. Already, the Reprisal, working with two Defiler-IIs, two Smashers, and thirty six Berserkers, as specified, annihilated a Free Worlds Council fleet in exact operational strategy with how the class was designed; This pleased the Emperor enough to consider the ordering of another fourteen Bloody Reprisal class Fleet Carriers. Combined with the Berserker class Attack Ship, they considerably improve the fleet combat capability of the Trans-Galactic Empire's Star Navy, if another fourteen are begun, that buildup in fighter capability and support for the Berserkers in the Trans-Galactic Empire's fleet should be of considerable concern for the CCW and other groups threatened by the TGE, indeed.
The total number of Reprisal class fleet carriers planned in Sixteen; However, it is unlikely that this number will be completed for quite some time; additional Eradicators and Defiler Mk IIs, along with Death Traps, are under construction, not to mention replacement Doombringers, a design which is still being built (Largely because there are no other good planetary assault ships available, with the Reprisals and Eradicators devoted purely to fleet operations). However, the Reprisal class Fleet Carrier is likely to become more common than the two currently in existence.
Still, the design faces considerable opposition, as many Kreeghor commanders promote a modified version of the Doombringer as a preferable warship, not only because of it's heavy Anti-Ship weaponry, but the fact that the Doombringer is a purely Kreeghor design, while the Reprisals have more "human" influences.
As the Kreeghor Emperor contemplates battling the CCW once again, the possibility of speeding up the construction of the rest of the ships of this class, or laying down further Eradicators and Doombringers, is seriously being considered.
Despite suffering numerous setbacks in recent years, the Trans-Galactic Empire still has the industrial capabilities to begin a major fleet expansion to recover losses and once again present a major threat to the CCW, despite the fleets of the member governments of the CCW, which, combined with the CAF, has always presented serious problems. The Reprisal class, and their ability to conduct massive deep-space "Carrier Battles" against even groups of Packmasters, will become a very important part of the reformed, new fleet of the TGE.
There is a large concern for the Human Alliance's light Dragonfly carriers, which operating in groups of five to eight actually carry about the same number of fighters, could be used effectively against these carriers. Eventually 80 of these Human Alliance light carriers are planned and many Star Nations such as New Coventry build similar vessels.
A brief description:
The Reprisal class has a main section which consists of a blunt-ended arrowhead as the forward part of the main hull, followed by a slightly thinner central section, rectangular, which expands outward again, flaring out to accommodate the engines around a central aft hangar bay.
Directly below the main body on a very short, but thick pylon is the first of the "Fighter Pods", roughly cigar-shaped pods with two hangar bays each.
On graceful, forward and downward-swooping "wing" style pylons to each side of the ship, which are highly curved and streamlined in fashion, though the forward-swoop adds an air of menace, the other two "Fighter Pods" are mounted, one on the end of each such wing-pylon.
Altogether, the ships are not only deadly in their appropriate role, but stunningly beautiful, combing perhaps the best aspects of human and Kreeghor design thought while at the same time maintaining a vessel that is incredibly deadly as long as it is utilized in the fashion intended...
Though the Bloody Reprisal class Fleet Carriers can be incredibly destructive, they simply aren't designed to engage capital ships, cruisers or larger, period, and doing so can be positively lethal for them; Even with two Defiler-IIs for escorts, a Protector, if the Bloody Reprisal's fighters were drawn off long enough and the missile batteries of her escorts exhausted, could take them out and wear down the shields, then quickly annihilate the Carrier, long before the weak anti-ship weapons of the carrier could be effective, assuming the Protector even got close enough for them to be used. There is also serious concern that the Free Worlds Council, through the use of their Intrepid class fleet carriers and Stalker class fast escort carriers could mousetrap.
It is because of this that the commanders of the two Reprisal class Fleet Carriers currently in service have been strictly instructed to avoid direct engagements with heavy capital warships or even cruisers at all costs, and instead stand-off and rely on their fighters and bombers to destroy the enemy.
The Reprisals, however, may simply not be cost-effective, in the long run. They only cost 10 billion fewer credits than Doombringers, which have vastly superior Anti-Ship capabilities than the Reprisal class. There is serious consideration to constructing a smaller carrier class
Still, when the fighters of the ship are used properly, the Reprisal class may even be superior to the Doombringers in terms of combat capability, though that is uncertain.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: Bloody Reprisal class
Vehicle Type: Fleet Carrier.
Crew: 3,500
Troops: 1,000 Marines and 4,000 fighter pilots.
Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:
Power Armors:
| 828 | Warlord Mark II Power Armors | |
| 828 | IPA-RC-I Ripping Claw Power Armors |
| 828 | FF-100 Standard Flying Fang Starfighters | |
| 396 | FFB-120 Flying Fang Bombers (Carries 4 Cruise missiles) | |
| 396 | TGE-ST-110 Sharktooth Starfighters | |
| 48 | SW-1 Star Ghost Fighters | |
| 60 | TGE-BL-145 Bloodletter Heavy Fighter /Gunboats (Planned) |
Note: The Bloodletter Heavy Fighter /Gunboats can be replaced by 36 Rain of Death class Troop Transports for special operations, or as emergency combat vehicles when Bloodletters, which are still relatively rare in the TGE, are not available. Normally, however, no Rain of Death class Troop Transports would be carried, as they are unnecessary for the missions a Bloody Reprisal class Fleet Carrier are expected to carry out.
M.D.C. By Location:
| Long Range Missile Batteries (6): | 600 each | |
| Twin Heavy Laser Turrets (16): | 1,200 each | |
| Point Defense Laser/Missile Batteries (24): | 350 each | |
| GR Cannons/Missile Batteries (24): | 400 each | |
| [1] Bridge: | 20,000 | |
| [1] Auxiliary Bridge: | 20,000 | |
| Hanger Bays (8): | 35,000 each | |
| [2] Fighter Pods (3): | 50,000 each | |
| [2] Pylons (3): | 50,000 each | |
| [3] Main Engines: | 80,000 | |
| [4] Main Body: | 150,000 | |
| [5] Variable Force Field: | 15,000 a side (90,000 Total) |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done to get a weapon
through the armor on a called shot to hit the bridge. This ship also has
an auxiliary bridge. The ship can still be piloted from engineering even
if both bridges are destroyed but ship is -3 to dodge. All weapon systems
will be at locally control at the weapon mounts. Weapon hits near the bridge
can injure crew members near the bridge.
[2] The so-called "Fighter Pods" are the three secondary hulls of the
ship which each have two hangar bays on them, with passageways large enough
for fighters connecting those hangar bays, and even ones traveling through
the connecting pylons to connect each fighter pod to the other, along with
the two hangar bays centered in the main hull. There are massive blast-doors
which can be slammed shut across these transport ways, but the advantage
they have is that, even with seven out of eight bays disabled, the Carrier
can continue to recover and launch fighters from the disabled bays. However,
it is ideal to have at least two bays in operation. When all are operational,
it is standard procedure to have fighters and power armors land in the
after bay, and actually be re-armed and repaired as they traveling along
the passages to a forward bay for launching; The equipment for that kind
of "Hot" re-arming is in place. It allows an incredible turnover in the
rate of prepping fighters and power armours for battle after they return
from sorties, even during combat. Since the pylons are built of super-dense
materials and rather thick, it takes about is much damage to destroy one
and hence sever the fighter pod it connects to the main hull as it does
it actually physically destroy the pod.
[3] Destroying the main engines means that ship FTL systems are destroyed
and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[4] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Command Ship out
of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support
and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating
wreck.
[5] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one
shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (4,500 MDC)
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has sublight engines that allow the ship to travel
up to 60 percent of the speed of light. The Fleet Carrier can accelerate/decelerate
at the rate of 0.85 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 100 mph (161 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 5.5 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
Carries about two years worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 6,397.6 feet (1,950 meters)
Height: 2,624.7 feet (800 meters)
Width: 4,921.3 feet (1,500 meters)
Weight / Mass: 66.1 million tons (60 million metric tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows
for carrying up to 8 million tons of Cargo in addition to standard compliment
of supplies and ammunition.
Market Cost: No ships of this design have ever been put on sale
on the market (or probably ever will be). The cost to build one of these
ships is 40 billion credits. If one were to be captured/stolen and then
sold on the open market, it could easily fetch 240 billion credits if fully
intact.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Notes: Like many vessels of the Three Galaxies, The sensors on this vessel are buried inside the main hull and cannot be knocked out unless the main hull is depleted, at which time they are considered destroyed. This is one measure to increase combat effectiveness without further increasing the armor of the ship; Sensor operation is unimpaired. More powerful sensors were simply used.
[ Phase World TM, Naruni TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned
by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
Initial Writeup by Marina O'Leary (LusankyaN@aol.com ).
Reformatting and revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).
Copyright © 2000, Kitsune & Marina O'Leary. All rights reserved.