Alrighty, this is something I've had in my head for the past few weeks - even set up an excel Spreadsheet with formulas to work it all out easily. Now I do some soft breaks and some hard breaks from the rules, but in my opinion they are for the most part minor and shouldn't be a problem. Specifically, I went over the listed tonnage maximums for some types of ships (a 120,000 ton Deployer and four 30,000 ton Battleships), and often combined weapon systems of the same type artistically into a single system (All costs, damages, ranges, etc, are as if they were separate systems that were fire-linked). There is also a System on one that is an interdiction-type device as mentioned in Fleets of the 3 Galaxies (a needed piece of technology not available in the given source material, but fits thematically, I believe.)
Concept: this is an invasion/raiding fleet. It's purpose is to extort vast sums of money from planets and space stations through the threat of force. In that regard, much of the design and purpose is to present a highly mobile and formidable challenge to standard combat fleets, so that the inhabitants of a given planet would much rather pay up than risk destruction. The fleet could also be a rather massive mercenary force, capable of waging entire wars for someone willing to pay the price. The first race to create and use such a fleet were the Toogarth: one of these vessels is used as an Imperial Throne ship for the Queen of the Toogarth Empire.
The fleet is made up of 5 custom ship designs, along with other, standard fare
1 Apocalypse-Pattern Mega-Deployer - a 120,000 ton leviathan and centerpiece to the fleet
1 Eradicator-Pattern Space Station - A 10,000 ton War-Station that hosts an Interdiction Field Generator to prevent enemy forces from running away or arriving dangerously close to the fleet
4 Hellgate-Pattern Dreadnoughts - 30,000 Battleships, used as force projection and as the main defense for the Mega-Deployer
100 Holocaust-Pattern Heavy Destroyers - 800 tons of firepower designed to rain death and destruction upon cities from point-blank range. They Will often carry a detachable 100-ton cargo bay with which they can host either invading troops, a small fighter escort, or to use as a collection plate for tribute/protection money and goods
Talon/Trident-Pattern Light Fighters - Agile and grossly over-powered (and under-protected) for their size, these fighter rely and superior range and manueverability to keep up against heavier fighters while their small size allows more to be carried
Other, heavier fighters and shuttles are also used to give a proper variety in deployment.
In total, that is 250,000 ship-tons of hardware, or about 25-50 Capitol Ships (Leviathans, Eviscerators, and Hordes-pattern Deployers): Most planetary systems will not have that kind of protection on hand, and thus the very idea of trying to fight it out is often not feasible: Pay up or face annihilation. The speed of the Main Vessel (Factor 300) ensures that any help that might come will likely arrive to late: the fleet will have moved on by then, onto their next target.
First, the Apocalypse:
Description: A long central core with a hex-shaped cross section, 24,000 feet in length and 1,000 feet in height and width, ends in a set of four wings, each protruding another 1,000 feet from the hull near the aft of the vessel. These wings are the docking points for the Hellgate Dreadnoughts, and each has a beam 1,000 feet long for the attachment, A outcropping rises from the top of the craft, about a third of the way from the back, where the Eradicator War-Station docks, just in front of the Magnetic Towing Array. At the bow of the vessel is a single opening, the terminus of the Doomsday-Class Railgun that runs nearly the entire length of the ship.
Class: Deployer (oversized)
Crew: 6,000 - Automated systems account for the remained of would have been a standard amount of a crew so large
Tonnage: 120,000 Ship-Tonnes (1,200,000 tons of mass)
Internal Bays: 28 bays for a total of 91,600 tons - 25 of 3,600 tons each (90,000 tons total), 1 of 1,000 tons, 2 of 300 tons each (600 tons total)
Armor: Main: Light (AR 12, 1,200,000 SDC), Bay Armor: Light (AR 12, 100 SDC) for all 28 bays, Turret Armor: Light (Ar 12, 100 SDC) for the equivalent of 2,440 turrets
Drive: Antimatter Fusion (Factor 300)
SDC: 1,200,000 Armor, 16,000,000 fore the main body, 8,000,000 for the Engines. 12,000,000 SDC Full-body Force Field
Weapons:1 Doomsday-class Mass Driver (equivalent to 200 Battleship-class Heavy Mass Drivers). Damage is 2D4x100,000 SDC Combat Range is a mere 85 miles, but can be used at greater ranges on stationary or know-trajectory targets, such planetary targets. Rate of fire is standard which allows for a withering barrage against opposing battleships and stations, but the whole ship must move to aim at a new target, as there was no way to place this weapon in a turret - the accelerator takes up nearly the entire length of the ship.
40 Battleship-Class Lasers, distributed around the hull for defense against larger vessels. They are housed in retractable, rotating turrets for the best possible protection and coverage
100 Long-Range Missile Batteries in retractable housings, each armed with 100 (10 packs of 10) Heavy Nuclear Missiles. Automated Reloading
100 Anti-ship Laser Batteries, housed in retractable rotating turrets, used primary for anti-fighter and anti-missile defense
2,000 Medium Ion Cannons, housed in retractable, rotating turrets, used for anti-fighter and anti-missile defense
Defensive Systems:1,000 Pinpoint Shields, Electronic Countermeasures, Magnetic Shielding
Sensors:Advanced Sensor Package, Geological Sensor Array, Military Sensor Array, Scientific Senor Array
Auto-Pilot Computer (90%), Super Navigation Computer (98% Sub/98% FTL)
Motion Sensor & Perimeter Warning System
Satellite Uplink Computer
Targeting Radar & Combat Computer
Crew Facilities:Standard Crew Quarters (24,000 - 6,000 for the crew, 8,000 for flight crews of destroyers, 10,000 for embarked invasion force)
Luxury Crew Quarters (600 - Used for Commanding Officers)
Recreational Facilities - enough for a dozen different types of entertainment for up to 60,000 people each
Royal Halls are also in place that can host thousands of guests for ceremonial events and meeting of dignitaries
500 lifeboats with micro-fusion engines (sufficient for 60,000 people)
Travel Systems:Hypergravitonics, Trans Light Travel, Gateway Activation Equipment, FTL Accelerators
Environmental Systems:Atmospheric Recycling system (2,190,000 person-days of breathable atmosphere), Artificial Gravity, Automatic Hull Breach Sealing System
Other Systems:Magnetic Towing Device (rated for 300,000 tons - used to draw in the Eradicator-patterns Space Station, but can also be used offensively to hold targets in place for the Main Gun
Self-Destruct System
Long Range Gravity Communications
Ship Compliment: 100 Holocaust-pattern Destroyers held in the main internal bays, 6 Flitter-pattern shuttles in two secondary internal bays, and either 3 Atlantis-pattern Shuttles or two shuttles and 40 Trident-pattern fighters in a Tertiary internal bay
Cargo: 13,843 Modules (slightly less than a Samson Heavy Cargo Transport) and 1,000 External Cargo Docks
Cost: $33,395,640,000, not counting the compliment of ships held in it's internal bays
"Rifts Earth is alot more scary when you realize that its effectively people with the education level of retarded children running around with military grade ordinance." - Taylor White
Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.
H. L. Mencken
US editor (1880 - 1956)
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