Large Assault shuttles have many advantages. They usually much tougher, heavier armed, and can carry larger payloads than smaller shuttles. There are several disadvantages that make them not ideal in some situations. Smaller shuttles can be carried on smaller vessels and means that less of your assault forces are killed when a shuttle is destroyed. The Tri-Galactic Military Services operates larger shuttles but also realized that there were important benefits to operating small assault shuttles. Because of this, the engineers for the T.M.S. were given the job to develop a small assault shuttle. The design specified a shuttle that was approximately the same size as a Proctor class heavy fighter. The design also was found to be very useful for adaption for the Bengal class high speed assault transports which are converted from Scimitar class patrol ships. The Bengal transports would have been far too small to carry full sized shuttles.

The Rampage class Light Assault Shuttle is one of the best designs to come from the Tri-Galactic Military Services and is very capable. The Rampage class shuttle is designed to be Aerodynamic for better performance in an atmosphere than the Consortium standard assault shuttle and is far more maneuverable in both and atmosphere and space. The light assault shuttle was designed with swept wings similar to the famous F-14 Tomcat of late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Century. This allows for better subsonic performance in an atmosphere while retaining highspeed performance as well. Like most assault shuttles, the main power system is fusion. Some civilian sources list the C.A.F. and T.G.E. main assault shuttle designs as powered by an anti-matter reactor but this is in error. Assault Shuttles are often destroyed on planetary assaults and an anti-matter reactor exploding would devastate the surface of the planet. Most combat shuttles are also designed to be crash survivable and while hydrogen can be simply vented in an atmosphere, anti-matter cannot be. The Rampage class shuttle carries the relatively small fuel supply of only five years for its fusion reactors. The combat performance of the Rampage class assault shuttle is similar to the Proctor class heavy fighters and is much faster than the C.A.F. standard Assault Shuttle. The shuttle does not carry any form of faster than light propulsion and relies on other vessels to carry it.

The weapon systems on the Rampage class light assault shuttle are based mostly on point defense but are also designed for clearing a landing zone. In the nose of the shuttle are mounted twin heavy laser cannon which are controlled by the pilot. While this enables the shuttle pilot to dogfight, it is more often used to clear a hot landing zone. The shuttle is also armed with variable focus particle beam mounts on the top and bottom of the main hull. Each is manned by a gunner. The one weakness of the shuttle is the lack of any type of rail gun but may consider this role to be performed by the shuttles missile launchers. The shuttle carries missiles both for use against ground targets and other small craft. The shuttle has two mini-missile launchers near the front of the shuttle and has hard points for up to eight long range missiles or a variety of smaller ordnance. Missiles can be controlled by either the pilot and copilot. The ship's hull is armored to withstand incredible damage but is far more fragile than larger shuttles and heavy fighters. Unlike the Trans-Galactic Empire standard shuttle, the Rampage class assault shuttle has shields similar to most starfighters and the shields are about as powerful as those carried on the Proctor class heavy starfighter.

The Rampage has a large cargo bay for a shuttle of its size and can carry vehicles up to about 15.25 meters wide and 6.1 meters high and wide. Tanks and armored troop transports are among the most common cargo loads carried. In addition to the cargo in the cargo bay, 40 troops in body armor or 30 light or medium power armors can be carried. Instead of carrying a vehicle, the shuttle can carry 100 troops in body armor or 75 soldiers in light or medium power armors. The shuttle crew consists of five normally and consists of a pilot, copilot, communication/sensor operator, and two gunners. Unlike the Proctor, the shuttle does not have berthing areas for the crew to stay with the shuttle for long terms.

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

(Note: The power system is fusion not anti-matter because the author's opinion is that anti-matter is too dangerous to be used in vehicles that may be used in an atmosphere. If a starship powered by anti-matter was to detonate in an atmosphere it would cause huge planetary damage. At GM option, this can also be applied to all starfighters and shuttles or this shuttle can be changed to anti-matter.)

Model: TMS-LAS-04
Vehicle Type: Light Assault Shuttle
Crew: 5 (Pilot, Copilot, Communication/Sensor Operator, and two Gunners).

Troops / Vehicles:
Vehicle & Troops:

	1	Tanks or APCs (up to 50 ft long)
	40	Troops in Body Armor (30 if in Power Armor)

Troops Only:

100

Troops in Body Armor (75 if in Power Armor)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Laser Cannons (2, nose):	300 each
	Variable Focus Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (2):	150 each
	Mini-Missile Launchers (2, front sides):	100 each
	Missile Pylons (8, on the Underside):	10 each
	Reinforced Pilot's Compartment:	250
	Rear Door Ramp:	300
	Landing Gear (3):	100 each
	[1] Main Body:	1,250
	[2] Variable Force Field:	400 per side (2,400 total)

Notes:
[1] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the shuttle out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck if in space and will crash to the planet if within the atmosphere.
[2] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (120 MDC) per melee

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 40 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 cruise speed is Mach 3 (2,224.4 mph / 3,579.8 kph), can enter and leave an atmosphere because flight system is by contra grav.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by Drive system but only has supplies for crew members and troops for about two months (Emergency rations).

Statistical Data:
Length: 92 feet (28 meters).
Height: 28 feet (8.5 meters).
Width: 145 feet (44.2 meters) with wings unswept and 82 feet (25 meters) with wings swept back.
Weight: 820 tons (743.9 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with 5 year life span.
Cargo: Small cargo hold that can carry up to 100 ton of cargo in place of troops or vehicles but not including standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. The cargo hold is 20 x 20 x 50 feet in dimensions (6.1 x 6.1 x 15.2 meters).
Market Cost: 80 million for a Rampage Assault Shuttle with new weapon systems.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

1. Laser Cannons (2): These laser cannons are similar in power level to those carried on the Black Eagle Starfighter and can be used simultaneously or can be fired individually. The guns are mounted in the nose of the starfighter and can be fired by either the pilot and copilot.
   Maximum Effective Range: 5 miles (8 km) through atmosphere and 500 miles (800 km) in space.
   Mega-Damage: 2D4x10 per single blast or 4D4x10 per double blast
   Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the pilot or copilot (usually 4 or 5).
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited
2. Two (2) Particle Beam Mounts: One mount is on the top of the body of the shuttle and the other mount is on the bottom of the shuttle. These particle beams are copied from those carried on the CAF Assault Shuttle and will fire a very powerful narrow beam and can fire a scatter effect that is less powerful but is capable of striking multiple targets. The weapon system is quite useful against missiles although the cone is not as wide as Tachyon cannon sprays are. Weapons are mounted in turrets that can rotate 360 and have a 180 arc of fire. Each mount can be operated by a gunner or a gunner program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee).
   Maximum Effective Range: 300 miles (480 km) in space and 3 miles (4.8 km) in an atmosphere.
   Mega Damage: Single Target: 4D6x10 Wide Beam: 5D6 to all targets within a 5,000 foot (1,524 meter) diameter area. When fired as a wide beam, the cannon cannot be used on targets closer than 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) away.
   Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
3. Mini-Missile Launchers (2): These launchers are mounted on sides of shuttle and the Rampage class shuttle has two launchers with six tubes each for a total of twelve missile tubes that fire forward of the shuttle. The mini-missile launchers are controlled by the pilot or copilot. The mini-missiles are used for offensive and defensive purposes. 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 exceeding it maximum safe acceleration).
   Mega-Damage: varies with mini-missile type (See Phase World Missiles)
   Range: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space
   Rate of fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, or 12.
   Payload: 36 per launcher for a total of 72 mini-missiles.
4. Missile Pylons (8): On the underbelly of the shuttle are eight missile racks that allows the fighter to carry one long range missiles, two medium range missiles, or four short range missiles each. Individual pylons must carry all the same type ordnance but each pylon may carry different types of ordnance. Long Range Missiles has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Medium Range Missiles has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Short Range Missiles: The missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 4% of light per turn (faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration). Since starships will no longer engage at rock throwing distances, whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will still cruise unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile when dead at -25% to detect.) Missile can be launched on multiple targets simultaneously.
   Range: Long Range Missiles range is 3,400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space, Medium Range Missiles range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds), and Short Range Missile range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere and 500 miles (804.7 km) in space.
   Mega-Damage & Properties: See Phase World Missiles (Long Range Fusion does 2D4x100 MDC).
   Rate of fire: One at a time or in volleys of two, three, four, or eight missiles.
   Payload: 1 Long Range Missile, 2 Medium Range Missiles, or 4 Short Range Missiles per Pylon.

COMBAT BONUSES:
The Rampage class light assault shuttle is very maneuverable and very accurate for a shuttle. Use the Phase World Starfighter combat (Elite or Basic) skill with no additional vehicle bonuses (Pilots skills and statistics still add to bonuses)

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By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).

Copyright © 2001, Kitsune. All rights reserved.