The Kreeghor have long found the CAF`s Silverhawk powered armor a thorn in their side. With its ability to penetrate the heaviest shields as if they are not there, and its heavy weaponry, it poses a serious threat to ships and bases. There is nothing to ruin your day like a Silverhawk coming through your shields and shooting up various of your gun turrets, or worse, like breaking open your ships hull and coming inside to do more damage. Various attempts to design shields that were impervious to the Silverhawks shield disruptor all ended in failure, and the crew of at least one Berserker with a new shield system had to initiate a self-destruct, after being boarded by Silverhawks......

One Kreeghor Warlord had a different idea: If the TGE ships could not keep the Silverhawks out, then at least the TGE should be able to heap a similar load of nastiness onto its enemies! Having learned from the mistake of the Warlord who designed the Eradicator Battlecruiser, he first asked permission from the Emperor himself before beginning research into a new weapon. After some deliberation the Emperor agreed. The idea of Kreeghor warriors taking the fight, gloriously and singlehandedly, to enemy ships appealed to him.

The power armor that ultimately emerged from the Warlords workshops was designed as much for effectiveness as it was for its psychological effect: Heavily armed, very fast, and terrifying to look at. All of this, in combination with the forcefield disruptor have made it a favorite among Kreeghor troops, despite the fact that Kreeghor usually do not like flight-capable powered armors very much.

The Ripping Claw was meant to fly to starships under a fighter escort, and to enter starships and bases to fight inside of them. Because of this it was decided to fit the armor with mostly short ranged weapons, exchanging range for firepower. In each fore arm there is a powerful tri-barreled plasma cannon, capable of firing either single bolts or bursts. Special software allows the firing of the two weapons as one attack at the same target. Backing this up are two chest mounted multi-barreled lasers. These fire sprays of laser pulses, having little range, but good power, and a increased chance to hit, which is very useful for shooting down incoming missiles.

Backing this up are two mini-missile launchers on the sides of the backpack. Each of these holds twelve mini-missiles, and they protrude over each shoulder. What appear to be wings are actually very large vibro blades mounted on the back of the armor. These can be used for slashing and fly-by attacks. The armor can also engage in direct hand-to-hand combat.

lastly, the Ripping claw can use any kind of portable weapons that are available, such as the Gravity Autocannon from the Warlord MKII powered armor.

The Ripping Claw has so far only been deployed in small numbers, and for the time being it is limited to elite all-Kreeghor units. There are currently no plans to produce the armor in a version suitable for other species.

This power armor design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.

Model Type: IPA-RC-I
Class: Heavy Power Armor / Light Mecha
Crew: One

M.D.C. by location:

	Vulcan Laser Cannons (chest) (2)	120 each
	Forearm tribarreled Plasma Cannons (2):	150 each
	Backpack Mini Missile Launcher (2):	100 each
	Shoulder Plates (2):	200 each
	Wing Vibro Blades (2):	75 each
	Arms (2):	150 each
	[1]Forearm Shields (2):	300 each
	Hands (2):	60 each
	Legs & Feet (2):	200 each
	[2]Head:	120
	[3] Main Body:	500
	[4] Engine Backpack:	300

Notes:
[1] Take half damage from lasers.
[2] Destroying the head of the power armor will eliminate all forms of optical enhancements and sensory systems. The pilot is forced to rely on his own human vision and senses. Furthermore, all power armor Combat bonuses to strike, parry, and dodge are lost! Note: The head is a small and difficult target to hit, it can only be hit when a character makes a called shot and even then the attacker is - 3 to strike.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will shut the mecha down completely, rendering it useless.
[4] Destroying the backpack will eliminate the armors ability to fly, and all special bonuses given below are lost. Also, the Force Field Disruptor will no longer function.

Speed:
Running: 100 mph (160 km) maximum. Unlike smaller power armors, running does no tire out the operator.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the power armor to travel up to 20 percent of the speed of light. Armor can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1.2 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum cruise speed is Mach 4 (2965.8 mph / 4773 kph), can enter and leave an atmosphere because flight system is by contra grav.
Underwater: It can walk along the bottom of the sea floor at 25% of maximum speed. The Ripping Claw can also use its thrusters to travel up to a maximum speed of 100 mph (160 km)
Maximum Ocean Depth: 2 mile (3.2 km)
Range: Limited only by the pilot's endurance. Emergency food and air supply will keep the pilot alive for a week. Because the power armors are anti-gravity in nature, they do not use reaction mass and can be sustained indefinitely in space as well.

Statistical Data:
Height: 15 feet (5 meters).
Width: 9 feet (3 meters).
Length: 6 feet (1.8 meters).
Weight: 16 tons (14.5 metric tons)
Physical Strength: Equal to a P.S. 55
Power System: Advanced Fusion (25 Years).
Cargo: None.
Market Cost: Manufactured for 7 million credits, but not sold by the TGE. So far, none of these suits have made it onto the Black Market. The Black Market and CAF intel would pay large amounts of money for a fully functional Ripping Claw Armor (50 million credits or more)

WEAPONS SYSTEMS & EQUIPMENT:

1. Forearm Tri-barreled Plasma Cannons (2): Tri-Barreled plasma weapons mounted on each forearm, these weapons pack a tremendous punch, but are rather short ranged. can fire both pulses or bursts. The power armor has a special targeting that allows both arm mounts to be fired as one attack.
   Mega-Damage: One arm: single pulse: 5D4 / Burst: 2D6x10 Both arms: 1D4x10 for a dual bolt / 4D6x10 for dual burst.
   Rare of Fire: Equal to the combined number of hand to hand attacks of the pilot
   Maximum Effective Range: 2000 feet (610 m) in an atmosphere and 37.9 miles (61 km) in space.
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited
2. Chest Mounted Vulcan Laser Cannon (2): Multi-barreled lasers mounted on both sides of the chest. These mounts are used as anti-missile defense and for backup for the forearm weapons. These weapons fire a wide spray of laser pulses that does not do much damage and is very short ranged, but has a good chance to hit. These weapons are very useful for use in the narrow corridors of a starship. Weapons have a limited firing arc of 60 degrees in front of the armor, but are +3 to hit.
   Mega-Damage: A burst does 1D4x10 M.D. Can only fire bursts.
   Rare of Fire: Equal to the combined number of hand to hand attacks of the pilot.
   Maximum Effective Range: 1000 feet (305 m) in an atmosphere and 18.9 miles (30.1 km) in space
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
3. Backpack Mini Missile Launcher(2): These launchers protrude over each shoulder, from besides the backpack. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is acceding it maximum safe acceleration)
   Range: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.
   Mega Damage: As per Missile Type (See Phase World Missiles).
   Rate Of Fire: One at a time or volleys of 2, 4, or 6 per launcher.
   Payload: Carries 12 in each launcher for a total of 24 missiles.
4. Wing Vibro Blades : Two very large wing-like Vibro Blades emerge from the back of the armor. With a single swipe from these blades the pilot can do large amounts of damage to almost any target. A favorite is to perform a Fly-By attack, in which the pilot passes by a target at high speed, only hitting the target with the blades.
   Range: Each blade is 10 feet (3 Meters) long.
   Payload: Unlimited.
   Mega Damage: 7D6 in normal Hand to Hand combat, Fly-By attack does 2D4x10+5 when performed at more than 200 mph.
5. Force Field Disruptor: Special equipment built into armor to penetrate force fields primarily used on starships. It is similar to that of the Silverhawk power armor. The Power armor pulses energy in wavelengths that cancel out the forcefield in an area allowing the power armor to walk through the force field. The power armor must fly very close to the ship to do this (Force fields are usually 10 to 20 feet [3 to 6 meters] from the hull)
   Range: The disrupter field has a range of 20 feet (6.1 m)
   Mega Damage: None. Creates a momentary hole that armor can step through. Has no effect on solid objects or on living beings.
   Rate of fire: One pulse per melee round, on a roll of 15 + creates effect/Hole which lasts 3 seconds
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
6. Optional Handheld Weapons: The armor can use optional handheld weapons, like the Gravity Autocannon from the Warlord MKII powered armor. If used, the weapons take their energy from the armor, and any ammo drums can be hung underneath the backpack. Attacks are as standard for such a weapon.
7. Optional Hand to Hand: Restrained Punch: 2D6 M.D.
   Full Strength Punch: 4D6 M.D
   Power Punch: 1D6x10+10 M.D.(counts as two attacks)
   Kick: 5D6 M.D.
   Stomp: 2D4 M.D.
   Body flip: 4D4 M.D.

Hand to Hand Bonuses from Ripping Claw Training

• Two Hand to Hand attacks per melee (plus those of the pilot).
• +3 to Roll with punch, fall, or impact (explosion), reducing damage by half.
• +3 to Strike
• +4 to Dodge
• +5 to Parry
• +2 to initiative
• One addition Hand to Hand attack at level six and level Twelve

• Gravity Wave Sensor: Similar to sensor system in PA E-1000 Enforcer. System uses gravity waves like a form of radar. Range is 1000 ft (305 m) in an atmosphere and has 1000 times that range when operated in space. The system can electronically map the insides of structures. Combined with thermographics, will also detect invisible targets and find people inside building or ships, and even detect traps and hidden rooms. The sensor system cannot penetrate force fields or phase fields, however.

[ 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.]
[ Robotech® is a registered trademark owned and licensed by Harmony Gold USA, Inc. ]

Image drawn and copyrighted by Timothy Leard (rurounichimoshi@hotmail.com) .
More Timothy Leard artwork at Elfwood (go to Zone 47 gallery 22, or Lothlorien gallery 115)

By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa ).
Minor revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).

Copyright © 1999, Mischa. All rights reserved.