Starship designs...

[taalismn]

PS/ASI/WZT- Zyganian-’Turgen’ Gunship/Ground Attack Corvette
(aka ‘Starburster’, ‘Plasma-Spyder’, ‘Burnstar’)
“One of the prettier-looking ships from the ASI-WZT stables, what with its sprawling pointy star-shape and with plasma jets sparkling from its points, it’s especially spectacular. Go into combat mode, and it’s the giant throwing star from hell, and you best get out well of its way if you don’t want to get seriously burned.”

“Watch your cryogen use with the plasma projectors when you’re in a heavy firefight; it’s easy to run the tanks dry and leave you with a lot more fighting to be done, damn little to fight with, and no convenient tender-tanker to top off your tanks in sight. If you can’t dip into a convenient nearby atmosphere to give you something to make more plasma remass with, you better scoot for cover.”

“The computer systems on the Turgen are fast enough that in the same dogfight moment they can switch between maneuvering and point defense with hardly a twitch. That can come in real handy, especially if you’ve been jumped by Zebuloids.”

“This thing is a monster. Just one of these ships took out an Ashlaran defense post that would have taken a squadron of Iregulas to reduce. ONE ship. Hang the cost, I want more of these ships.”

For most starfaring species/organizations, plasma weaponry, though having been around long enough to be considered one of the ‘basic’ energy weapon types, is not considered a premier ranged weapon for space combat. Though powerful, especially at short range, plasma projectors tend to peter out with distance. Given more readily available long-ranged weaponry technologies, especially lasers, most groups producing starship ordnance don’t pursue the development of long range plasma weaponry. Only a few groups, such as Naruni, the little-known Nigellian Confederation, the United Systems Alliance, the EShemarrians and the boogiemen Mechanoids have bothered researching and producing truly viable space combat plasma weaponry short of large nuke-pumped directional mines.
The recently-introduced Turgen’ Gunship displays some of the untapped potential of plasma systems.
The ‘Turgen’ started out as a collaboration between WZTechyards and the Zyganian Empire to produce a more advanced alternative to the Iregula Gunship, a mainstay ground attack/light strike craft of the Zyganian Army and Fleet. The program suffered delays, however, as political wrangling over funding saw development funds diverted to mass-producing the Iregula in anticipation of strong-arming the fence-sitter territories still paying weregild to the Golgans. With some of the executives in charge of the native shipyards suggesting that outside help was not needed to provide Zyganian strength for the foreseeable future, the Turgen program was backburnered in favor of other projects.
When the Golgan Reconquista unexpectedly struck back against the Zyganians, they took out the primary factories producing the Iregula, and flaring up hostilities along the border systems battle-loss-bit into the reserves of existing attack craft, leaving the Zyganian military scrambling to find replacements for the sorely-needed strikecraft. The Turgen program was revisited and given emergency funding to finish.
By now, however, the state of the art in the USA had advanced enough that some radical changes were proposed to the Turgen design. One of the changes to the formerly laser-armed gunship was a dual plasma propulsion-and-weaponry configuration. Despite the desperate need for new ships, the Zyganian military agreed to the changes, especially after seeing the tests of several prototypes mounting the new equipment.
Seen from above, the Turgen resembles a deformed five-pointed star, with a triangular prow, and four triangular wings. Each wing ends in a pivot-mounted plasma jet-turret with an extensive arc of fire once extended.
Though propelled mainly by contragravity, the Turgen also uses its plasma turrets as maneuvering jets. This gives the ship an astonishing degree of agility as it can accelerate/decelerate extremely quickly, dodge and roll like a much smaller aerospacecraft. While the plasma cannons require onboard remass tankage, the payback is faster control responses coupled with a powerful suite of weaponry. Switching between propulsion and weapon mode takes only split-seconds, another sign of the advanced state of the art of plasma technologies in the USA.
Backing the plasma cannons are medium range missile launchers or kinetic cannon, and an array of light lasers.
The Turgen is well-armored given its intended ground-attack role, with both composite physical armor and variable forceshielding. It carries comprehensive electronic warfare systems and countermeasure launchers.
Despite having an FTL drive, the Turgen is not recommended for long deployments/missions, as its interior accommodations are sparse. It has two three-tier bunks, a small food preparation alcove, and a relief station, but it is not adequately supplied for protracted endurance runs without outside support.

Though larger and more expensive than the Iregula it was meant to replace, the Turgen has many virtues that offset its larger price tag per unit. The Turgen is also longer-ranged(with its class-D FTL drive allowing it to operate independently of a carrier), has greater endurance, and brings greater direct firepower to the battlefield, important in any future counteroffensives into Golgan territory. Its performance in space also means it can serve a dual role in space combat formations. While not an ideal replacement for the smaller and less expensive attack craft, the Turgen promises to be an important part of the reforming ZISF’s strike wings.

Initially, the Turgen was meant to be exclusively license-produced for the Zyganian military, but with the war with the Golgans grinding away at their military finances, the Zyganians have agreed to let PS/ASI/WZT sell the ships to other interested parties(as long as they aren’t at cross-purposes to the Zyganians’ own interests). This has provided the Zyganians some much-needed fiscal reprieve in their war-fighting costs.
Currently WZT and ASI produce the Turgen, with the majority of completed ships going to the ZISF, while negotiations to build new assembly lines in Zyganian territory are completed. ASI/WZT, with Zyganian approval, have also sold some of the production to other anti-Golgan polities along the warfront, and to other USA allies.
So far, only a few Turgens have reached the Zyganian fronts, but combat reports have been very complimentary about the ships’ performance.
Outside the Zyganian warzone, only a few Turgens have thus far seen action, but evaluation of the design in USAJC service has been similar to the Zyganians’ experiences.

Type: PS/ASI/WZT/:ZAu(G)-14
Class: Gunship/Strikecraft
Crew: 10
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 3,000
Bridge 1,000
Dorsal Communications Array 400
Engines (2) 900 each
Nose Lasers 700
Fusion Guns(6) 360 each
MRM Launchers(4) 300 each
Variable Forcefields 1,000 each side, 6,000 total

Height: 45 ft
Width: 300 ft
Length: 320 ft
Weight: 1,250 tons
Cargo: 90 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 11
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 1.1% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour

Market Cost: 580 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Advanced Fire Control---Coordinating the various weapons, doubling as both offensive primary and point defense weaponry, requires a fire control system that gives the weapons an additional +2 to strike.

*Advanced Flight Control---Using the plasma turrets as maneuvering jets, coupled with using the fire control systems in conjunction with the FBW(Fly By Wire), the Turgen actually gets a +2 to Dodge and Roll, and a +10% to Piloting rolls when attempting extreme maneuvers/stunts.

*Sensor Jamming---An automated limited AI system that scans enemy weapons tracking radiations and counters with its own jamming, this system is meant to confuse homing missiles and targeting sensors; -15% to Read Sensory Instrument rolls and -2 to strike with command- and radar-guided ordnance. Enemy missiles are -6 to strike; ‘smart’ missiles are -4 to strike

Weapons Systems:
1) Fusion Guns(6)---Dual maneuvering engines/plasma projectors. Each of the four wings ends in a pivot-mount turret, and two more jets are mounted ventrally in turrets with 360-degree arcs of fire. The cannons use a variable magnetic ‘choke’ to narrow or expand the plasma jet and accelerate it for greater range.
The sheer damage and area of effect led Republik forces encountering the Turgen for the first time to assume it was using copies of their disruptors, until later sensor readings showed the weapons to be plasma-based.
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space.
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD per blast, plus variable/selectable area of effect up to 25- 100 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire: 4 shots per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited, especially in atmosphere(where it can draw on the ambient gas). In general the ship has enough tankage for 400 shots per cannon in deep space operations.
In event the tanks do run dry, the Turgen can dip into a planetary atmosphere, scoop up and compress it into fresh remass to generate plasma with. However, not all planetary atmospheres are suitable(hydrogen-heavy ones work best) and performance may vary.

-Enhanced Plasma Emission---Also known as ‘Hotshotting’, this enhances the damage potential of the plasma by feeding enriched deuterium gas into the plasma chamber. This causes the plasma to burn hotter, doing 1d4x100+100 MD per blast. The liquified deuterium is stored in pressurized cryogen tanks in the aft hull, that provide enough remass for 400 supercharged shots per cannon.

2) Medium Range Missile Launchers(4; 3x2, 4x2)---Mounted in the leading edge of the wings are banks of medium-range missile launchers, the rear set angled to fire below the forward set of wings.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Forward Battery) Volleys of 1-3
(Aft Battery) Volleys of 1-4
Payload: :(Forward Battery) 60 each launcher
(Aft Battery) 80 each launcher, 280 total.

In the alternative, the missile launchers can be replaced with long-range missile launchers or kinetic launcher cannon.
a) Long Range Missiles
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage: Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire:(Forward Battery) Volleys of 1-3
(Aft Battery) Volleys of 1-4
Payload: :(Forward Battery) 15 each launcher
(Aft Battery) 20 each launcher, 70 total.

b)Kinetic Kill Cannon
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere,1,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per 20 round burst , so all three cannon in a forward array would do 9d6x10 MD, while a rear battery does 1d6x120 MD. A full strafing volley from all four banks would do 4d6x100 MD.
Can also fire fragmentation rounds:(Frag) 1d6 x10 MD to a 25 ft area, +1d4x10 +20 ft per additional barrel firing fragmentation rounds
Rate of Fire: ECHH
Payload: 3,000 rds (150 bursts) per gun

3) Nose Lasers(3X1)----These are vestiges of the original design that had a all-laser energy armament. Three light lasers provide long range, if light damage, in the forward fire arc.
Range: (Palladium) 2 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 3D6x10 MD per single blast, 9D6x10 MD for all three cannon firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

4)Countermeasure Flare/Chaff Launchers(4)---Each pod carries three different kinds of decoys:
The first is simple sensor-reflective chaff and thermo-flares. These countermeasures are inexpensive and very effective against lower-end targeting systems and sensor equipment(such as that used by nations equivalent to the Coalition States on Rifts Earth), but are ineffectual against more advanced technology.
Range: Close Defense
Damage: None; similar to Triax-style chaff
01-50 Enemy Missile or volley detonates in chaff and threat is neutralized
51-75 Missile/Volley diverts and may pursue/lock on to other targets
76-00 No Effect! Missile(s) still on target!
Will also temporarily blind and impede flying monsters who fly into it.
In space, anything flying at high speed through the cloud will take 2d6 MD +1d6 MD per every 100 miles of speed over 670 MPH.
Reduce APMs/combat bonuses/ speed by half for 1d4 melees
Payload: 36

The second system releases a nanotech swarm of active jamming pods and decoys that are programmed to emulate a spacecraft’s sensor signature, or, at the very least, bury enemy tactical communications in ‘white noise’.
Effective Range: 25 mile jamming radius
Duration: 5 minutes per pod-spray
Effects: Jams radio signals(75% chance of jamming military band command-guidance ordnance), and 60% chance of deflecting ordinary missiles.
Payload: 9 swarm packs

The third system uses modified grav-pack drives and signal projectors to create a moving pattern of sensor signatures. The grav-pack mini-missile drives can go for 10 minutes before self-destructing, and can either be remotely directed or run a preset pattern.
Effective Speed: Mach 6
Duration: 10 minutes per pod
Effects: The decoys have a 70% chance of fooling enemy sensor operators and expert systems. They are are also +2 to enemy sensor-guided munitions to strike, increasing the chance that the missiles will elect to pursue the ‘louder’ sensor signature(the missile rolls to strike for both the original ship and each decoy deployed....highest to strike roll determines which target the missile(s) go after).
Payload: 6 decoys are carried, and can be deployed singly, or in ‘packs’ of 1-3.

Auxiliary Craft: None

Options:
Being so new, the Turgen has little in the way of factory options, at last until more combat experience and evaluation reports come in. The most likely accessory systems will be upgrades to the avionics, EW suite, and sensors.
Some proposed upgrades address the fact that while the Turgen is larger than some corvettes, it is armed with starfighter-level weapons, despite it being large enough to attract the attention of starship weaponry. Another worry is the lack of back-up point defense. Those concerned about such matters have suggested fitting the Turgen with up to four ASI/WZT-standard PDS turrets as a second tier defense. Another move would be to replace the three-barrel light laser array in the nose with a single starship-grade medium laser, trading rate of fire for greater single-blast damage and range. Other possibilities have included swapping out the plasma projectors for lower-powered, but faster-firing, Plasma-Laser Cannon or longer-ranged Plasma Torpedo Launchers, sacrificing maneuverability for extra punch.

Variants:
* PS/ASI/WZT/:ZAu(G)-X13----Several preproduction models were completed to the original proposed laser-armed configuration. The ZAu(G)-X13 also sported a larger, more prominent dorsal sensor array. While the lasers offered longer range, faster rate of fire, and less dependence on expendable materials, the dual plasma cannon-thrusters were chosen instead.
The handful of ZAu(G)-X13s produced were divvied up between the USA and the ZISF, and have been put to use as shipyard security ships.
Changes/Modifications:
Speed:
(Sublight) Mach 9
(Kitsune Values: 50% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.9% of light speed per melee)
Weapons Systems:
1) Laser Cannon(6)
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD single blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

[taalismn]

‘Shingler’ Cargo Lighter
(Aka ‘Lift-Barge’)

“Bigger than a runabout, smaller and less robust than a tug. You -could- mistake it for a light freighter, but only if you were laser-blinded and sonic boom-deafened.”

“Don’t expect amenities on a Shingle; if you’re aloft in one for more than three days, you’re either desperately in need of a new ship or you utterly ####ed your navigation check and are heading into deep space.”

“’Common’, ‘basic’ and ‘unprepossessing’ doesn’t mean ‘immune to the sort of trouble that happens to better ships’. I’ve seen lift-barges used to ferry terrorists on orbital strikes and use their cargo-handling equipment to sling kinetic mines into the spacelanes. I’ve been -aboard- shinglers that have been commandeered by joyriders, high-jackers, refugees, and police. I’ve been an involuntary bystander passenger on a shingle-lifter used by bootleggers in a raid on a rival’s base camp. I’ve even survived a number of cargoes coming untied or becoming unstable in flight. It just seems that trouble LOVES lift-barges when all you want is a snooze-flight.”

This is about as basic a ship as one can get with advanced galactic technologies; it’s an oversized carrying crate with a contragravity engine slapped on and a cockpit mounted on top. There’s no attention paid to aerodynamics beyond plating the underside of the vehicle in heat-shedding materials. Emphasis is on lofting and landing cargoes as expediently as possible; little more, and few Shinglers rarely go farther than lunar orbit. Aside from basic anti-debris lasers, few Shinglers are armed.
As basic as it is, there are many places in the universe where the Shingler can’t operate because conditions prevent its CG-drive from working at peak efficiency or at all.
The example profiled here is a standard TS-ACL-14 model from Tremha Salcar(an ex-branch of a Golgan firm) that can be considered typical of the type. The TS-ACL-14 is a shallow square-framed box of a ship(that brings to mind the Haelra Troop Shuttle) with a large cargo loading hatch(that doubles as a ramp) in the front and lateral personnel airlocks. A cockpit cabin is mounted atop the main hull, and numerous small maneuvering thrusters are mounted all around the edges of the hull. The main cargo space has both floor-tracks and ceiling lift-tracks for quickly moving standardized cargo containers in and out. Multiple tie-downs, stretchable cargo nets and erectable braces can be used to secure the cargo to keep it in place during flight. An interesting feature for a lift barge and a hold-over from its Golgan origins, is the ability of the cockpit to eject in an emergency and act as a life pod for the crew.
The ship has only light protection and nothing in the way of forceshielding; these are available as options, but most operators forego the additional expense.
Navigation and sensor systems are just about minimal; the TS-ACL-14 is expected to operate in controlled aerospace with an stablished navigational beacon system. Traveling outside GPS/Solar PS bounds imposes a -5% to Piloting skill unless an appropriate Space Navigation skill is applied.

Type: TS-ACL-14
Class: Aerospace Cargo Lighter, Surface to Space
Crew: 2+1-5 passengers in cockpit
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,000
Main Cargo Hatch 400
Personnel Hatches(2) 200 each
Cockpit 500
Height: 35 ft
Width: 100 ft
Length: 180 ft
Weight: 1,000 tons
(if converted to carry passengers, can conceivably carry 200-400 on short trips)
Cargo: 200-500 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 4
(Kitsune Values: 5% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.4% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible; few bother installing an FTL drive on these ships
(Underwater) Not normally amphibious, but a few variants can land on and take off from water.
Market Cost: 7-9 million credits
Systems of Note:
Basic Shuttle Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. Note that this applies only to the underside and leading edges of the airframe.

*Bridge Lifeboat——In event of a catastrophic lift failure, the entire cockpit can eject to become a life pod.

Weapons Systems: None typically. Sometimes fitted with 2-3 point defense turrets if traveling in dangerous environments or carrying security-sensitive cargoes.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
There are hundreds of similar designs, but no exceptional variants, as the point is to produce as simple a transport vehicle as possible.Many are used as satellite-tenders or orbital tankers for resupplying spacecraft and space stations. A few colonies and outback worlds have tried turning examples into crude gunships and armed transports for purposes of moving militia forces quickly around planets in response to emergencies, but these tend to be last resorts.
A few of the cheaper models are battery-powered(with a flight endurance rarely exceeding 168 hours), using fuel cells , rechargeable solar batteries, or laser/microwave-beamed power to energize their contragravity coils.

[SolCannibal]

Variants:
There are hundreds of similar designs, but no exceptional variants, as the point is to produce as simple a transport vehicle as possible.Many are used as satellite-tenders or orbital tankers for resupplying spacecraft and space stations. A few colonies and outback worlds have tried turning examples into crude gunships and armed transports for purposes of moving militia forces quickly around planets in response to emergencies, but these tend to be last resorts.
A few of the cheaper models are battery-powered(with a flight endurance rarely exceeding 168 hours), using fuel cells , rechargeable solar batteries, or laser/microwave-beamed power to energize their contragravity coils.

That little stratagem can become considerable less desperate and more vicious if, instead of troops a militia - enterprising terrorist cell - sends in a few cartfulls of slave-borgs, combat drones, robot mines or other "boxes full of boxes full of harm & kill" setup for something of a matryoshka of doom, so to speak.

[taalismn]

Indeed. The gang wars on some worlds have gotten quite intense with the organized crime groups using civilian ships that the local authorities don't pay much attention to....and loading them with cargoes of force multiplier drones, hazardous chemicals, explosives, or just plain lots of kinetic momentum....and dropping them on rivals.

[taalismn]

Tmelain Republic ‘Tersos’---Heavy Cruiser
(aka ‘Hulken’)
“Big, bulky, and terrifying; the Tersos arguably did much more by their sheer looming presence than by their actual firepower. Frankly, though, a smaller Stonewall, at a quarter of the mass, could outgun them.
In combat against the TransGalactic Empire, the best that can be said of the Tersoses was that they soaked up a lot of shots that otherwise might have been used on fleeing refugee ships. The Empire may have thought they were facing battleships, and focused on them instead. The Tme crews still died, but they died with valor.”

“For many intents and purposes, the Tersos was the proof-of-concept for the later Cachelots and the Demas battleships, the ships that added teeth to the Republic-in0Exile and the United Systems Alliance that hosted them.”

The TRN ‘Tersos’ was an early Tmelain Republic heavy cruiser design that served with some distinction during the heyday of the TRepublic. More importantly, however, the Tersos program pioneered construction techniques that proved economically scalable for the construction of larger vessels, which ultimately led to the small Tmelain Republic being able to construct the massive Cachalot Landing Ship and Demas Battleship.
The Tersos has the large ovoid main hull that would be a distinction of the Cachalot and Demas, with plenty of interior room for both the large interstellar drive systems and crew accommodations of the time. A large small craft bay held enough room for a complement of shuttles able to deploy the ships’ large marine contingents to deal with trouble off-ship. The ships also featured a large and prominent forward sensor array that was cutting edge for its time and allowed the cruisers to quickly and accurately monitor large areas or surrounding space.
Main armament consisted of a spinal laser cannon, backed by multiple missile launchers and a laser point defense system. Armor was heavy for the time(but mediocre by modern standards), reinforced by a light defensive shield.
The main problems with the Tersoses were their antiquated technology and massive size; compared to contemporary Human Alliance vessels, the giant Tme cruisers were wallowing lightly-armed balloons. That extra mass and volume would serve the transport conversions well, but in a warship it proved a liability.
The Tersos served the Republic well during its early expansionist days, and the vessels proved stalwart enough to drive off the few opponents the Republic faced at the time, mainly pirates and mercenary groups. Most of the time, however, the ships worked to transport small garrison companies to the Republic’s new territorial outposts, with most combat duty actions being conducted by the TRN’s destroyer-class vessels, Experience with the Tersos, however, encouraged the Tme Navy to approve development of the larger Cachalots.
By the time the TR came in contact with the TransGalactic Empire, most of the TRNavy’s fleet of Tersoses had been converted into heavy transports and the remaining heavy cruisers were considered long in the tooth. When the TGE’s intentions towards the Tme became clear, the Republic began hurriedly converting what ships they could back into warships, but realized they were running out of time wasting effort on what at best would be stopgaps. Instead, the greater number of recalled Tersoses were readied for the exodus program, carrying as much of the population and industrial infrastructure hopefully beyond the TGE’s reach and establish a new Republic-in-Exile.
Those remaining Tersos warships faced the advancing Smashers of the TGE and sold their lives dearly, but could do little to prevent the annexation of Tme space.
The USA/TRE still retains a few active Tersos-class transports, but most were cannibalized for parts in building new orbital infrastructure around Lakye and other TRE worlds. A few sorry examples still putter about other exile Tme worlds and emclaves, as well as a few work as trampers in TGE space.
The TRE currently does not produce new Tersoses, either as warships or transports, instead focusing on USA designs, though it’s rumored that the engineering schools at Lakye and Paktra, as well as other USA worlds, regularly hold design exercises updating older designs, including the Tersis, and keeping the results on file, so it is possible that an improved ‘Hulken’ might yet emerge.

Type: TR-CGM03 ‘Tersos’
Class: Heavy Cruiser
Crew: 330 + 100 aerospace complement and 500 troops/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 50,000
Bridge 10,000
Forward Sensor Array 9,000
Spinal Laser Mount(1) 10,000
Heavy Missile Bays(4) 500 each
Secondary Missile Bays(4) 250 each
Heavy Rail Guns(4) 700 each
Point Defense Laser Turrets(8 ) 200 each
Point Defense Rail Guns(6) 200 each
Engines 20,000
Hangar Bay 6,000
Variable Force Field 4,000 per side( 24,000 total)

Height: 700 ft.
Width: 950 ft.
Length: 1,000 ft.
Weight: 5.4 million tons
Cargo: 600,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 40 year life.
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 7
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.7% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 3 light years per hour
Market Cost: 25 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:
*Long Range Sensors-----Advanced for their time and techbase; effective radar range of 7 million miles, gravity sensors out 18 million miles, and FTL detection out to 8 light years.

Weapons Systems:
1)Spinal Laser Mount(1)---The main weapon of the Tersos was this large axial laser cannon. These mighty weapons earned the Tersos he nickname of ‘Hulken’, or ‘Big Bite’ in the Tme language. The relative success of the spinal mount would lead to the decision to copy and scale up the idea in the Cachelot’s main weapons bay.
Range: 30 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 30 miles in atmosphere, 30,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x1,000 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2) Heavy (Long Range) Missile Bays(4) ---The backup to the spinal mount in the antispacecraft role was barrage-fire from these four heavy missile launchers. The downside was, that without secondary energy weapon batteries, if the main spinal mount was offline, once the heavy cruiser ran out of missiles, the cruiser had little to continue the fight with.
Range:Varies by missile type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by missile type
Rate of Fire: From 1-12 missiles can be fired in one volley
Payload: 180 LRMs each bay, more can be reloaded from cargo stores

3) Heavy Rail Guns(4)---These were meant to provide a backup to the main guns and missile launchers; while hardhitting against lighter targets, however, they were elss effective against capital units.
Range: 4 miles in atmosphere, 8 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 8 miles in atmosphere, 8,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 400 bursts per cannon, additional ammunition can be reloaded from cargo stores

4)Secondary (Short Range) Missile Bays(4) ----’Spam’-volley launchers for anti-missile/fighter defense.
Range:Varies by Missile Type(speed and range x4 in space)
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 500 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-30
Payload: 300 SRMs per launcher

5) Point Defense Laser Turrets(8 )
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

6) Point Defense Rail Guns(6)---Rapid fire kinetic energy point defense cannons for anti-missile/fighter defense
Range: 8,000 ft in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x10 MD per 40 rd burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH(4-6)
Payload: 800 bursts per cannon

Auxiliary Craft:
12 heavy shuttles

Variants:
*TR-CGM03D2---Late era warship refit. Little was done to update the armaments of most of the refits, as production of more modern equipment was reserved for newer designs. However, a half-dozen(as well as a dozen damaged/drive-cannibalized examples converted to non-FTL monitors) were fitted, effectively last-minute, with an extra semi-external particle beam weapon pod replacing the shuttle bay, in the belief that extra firepower was more important than small craft capacity. These up-gunned cruisers were deployed in defence of the TR capitol world, near their shipyard. All are believed to have been lost in the final fighting, but rumors persist that one of the ships FTL-jumped out at the last moment, but hasn’t been heard from since.
Particle Beam Cannon
MDC: 2,000
Range: 20 miles in atmosphere, 80 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 20 miles in atmosphere, 20,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d4x1,000 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

*TR-CGCV03---Late era carrier conversion. When it became apparent that part of the TGE’s fleet strategy was to overwhelm opponents with smaller Berserker-style missile corvettes and aerospace fighters, the TRN, which had neglected starfighter development, hurriedly outfitted what hulls it could to carry what fighters they had and armed shuttle-gunships to provde coverage for other fleet units. In place of the main laser cannon, a second hangar bay would be added, and the troop barracks gutted to make way for extra hangar space. Thus reconfigured, the TR-CGCV could carry 16 shuttles/gunships and 30 fighters. An additional 10 PDS turrets were also added.
Only a few of these conversions were completed before the TGE invasion and most were lost in combat, their scant numbers unable to prove the concept. Several maanged to flee to link up with Tme refugee groups or were captured by pirates.

*TR-CH03---Transport conversion of the Tersos. These ships lack the main laser cannon, missile bays, and half the PDS turrets, but keep the heavy rail guns. Configured to carry cargo it can move 2.4 million tons of goods and equipment. During the Exodus, most of these ships would be outfitted to carry refugees.

[Shorty Lickens]

‘Shingler’ Cargo Lighter
(Aka ‘Lift-Barge’)

“Bigger than a runabout, smaller and less robust than a tug. You -could- mistake it for a light freighter, but only if you were laser-blinded and sonic boom-deafened.”

“Don’t expect amenities on a Shingle; if you’re aloft in one for more than three days, you’re either desperately in need of a new ship or you utterly ####ed your navigation check and are heading into deep space.”

“’Common’, ‘basic’ and ‘unprepossessing’ doesn’t mean ‘immune to the sort of trouble that happens to better ships’. I’ve seen lift-barges used to ferry terrorists on orbital strikes and use their cargo-handling equipment to sling kinetic mines into the spacelanes. I’ve been -aboard- shinglers that have been commandeered by joyriders, high-jackers, refugees, and police. I’ve been an involuntary bystander passenger on a shingle-lifter used by bootleggers in a raid on a rival’s base camp. I’ve even survived a number of cargoes coming untied or becoming unstable in flight. It just seems that trouble LOVES lift-barges when all you want is a snooze-flight.”

This is about as basic a ship as one can get with advanced galactic technologies; it’s an oversized carrying crate with a contragravity engine slapped on and a cockpit mounted on top. There’s no attention paid to aerodynamics beyond plating the underside of the vehicle in heat-shedding materials. Emphasis is on lofting and landing cargoes as expediently as possible; little more, and few Shinglers rarely go farther than lunar orbit. Aside from basic anti-debris lasers, few Shinglers are armed.
As basic as it is, there are many places in the universe where the Shingler can’t operate because conditions prevent its CG-drive from working at peak efficiency or at all.
The example profiled here is a standard TS-ACL-14 model from Tremha Salcar(an ex-branch of a Golgan firm) that can be considered typical of the type. The TS-ACL-14 is a shallow square-framed box of a ship(that brings to mind the Haelra Troop Shuttle) with a large cargo loading hatch(that doubles as a ramp) in the front and lateral personnel airlocks. A cockpit cabin is mounted atop the main hull, and numerous small maneuvering thrusters are mounted all around the edges of the hull. The main cargo space has both floor-tracks and ceiling lift-tracks for quickly moving standardized cargo containers in and out. Multiple tie-downs, stretchable cargo nets and erectable braces can be used to secure the cargo to keep it in place during flight. An interesting feature for a lift barge and a hold-over from its Golgan origins, is the ability of the cockpit to eject in an emergency and act as a life pod for the crew.
The ship has only light protection and nothing in the way of forceshielding; these are available as options, but most operators forego the additional expense.
Navigation and sensor systems are just about minimal; the TS-ACL-14 is expected to operate in controlled aerospace with an stablished navigational beacon system. Traveling outside GPS/Solar PS bounds imposes a -5% to Piloting skill unless an appropriate Space Navigation skill is applied.

Type: TS-ACL-14
Class: Aerospace Cargo Lighter, Surface to Space
Crew: 2+1-5 passengers in cockpit
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 1,000
Main Cargo Hatch 400
Personnel Hatches(2) 200 each
Cockpit 500
Height: 35 ft
Width: 100 ft
Length: 180 ft
Weight: 1,000 tons
(if converted to carry passengers, can conceivably carry 200-400 on short trips)
Cargo: 200-500 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear w/ 20 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 4
(Kitsune Values: 5% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.4% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not possible; few bother installing an FTL drive on these ships
(Underwater) Not normally amphibious, but a few variants can land on and take off from water.
Market Cost: 7-9 million credits
Systems of Note:
Basic Shuttle Systems, plus:
*Thermal Resistant Heat-Refractory Tile Armor---Special heat-resistant materials designed for reentry vehicle shielding. Heat and plasma-based attacks do 1/4 damage. Note that this applies only to the underside and leading edges of the airframe.

*Bridge Lifeboat——In event of a catastrophic lift failure, the entire cockpit can eject to become a life pod.

Weapons Systems: None typically. Sometimes fitted with 2-3 point defense turrets if traveling in dangerous environments or carrying security-sensitive cargoes.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
There are hundreds of similar designs, but no exceptional variants, as the point is to produce as simple a transport vehicle as possible.Many are used as satellite-tenders or orbital tankers for resupplying spacecraft and space stations. A few colonies and outback worlds have tried turning examples into crude gunships and armed transports for purposes of moving militia forces quickly around planets in response to emergencies, but these tend to be last resorts.
A few of the cheaper models are battery-powered(with a flight endurance rarely exceeding 168 hours), using fuel cells , rechargeable solar batteries, or laser/microwave-beamed power to energize their contragravity coils.

https://www.craiyon.com/image/Ug0qXGGBTja2nn-weByQJA

https://www.bing.com/images/create/smal ... ORM=GENCRE

[taalismn]

Paladin Steel/Aegis Stellar Industries ‘Hobo’-class Industrial Carrier
(aka ‘Workship’, ‘Tinker-Tramps’, ‘Makeitnaries’)
“The job on Estensis doesn’t require a full asteroid factory-cruiser, even if the Tenal would let us park something that big over them. They need electrical harnesses and wiring for their whole colony, not ten other production lines they don’t need. And frankly we can’t have ten production lines idle that could be used elsewhere. The -Collinsville- will be enough to fill the Tenal contract quite ably. If they want more than that later, they can negotiate another supply contract with us.”

“One of the big strengths of the Hobes is that their production equipment is flexible enough to tweak our standardized template designs to customer order, or to take advantage of local materials. So if the locals wanting our Kasey laser rifles happen to have a supply of colal crystals they want integrated into their new guns, we can do that. And if the four-armed natives of Bruscho IV want comfortable-fit Guardsman armor, we can whip up appropriate gear for them. And if our standard water filtration systems turn out to be unable to efficiently sift the sludge they call water on Prohasis? We can modify them to screen out the prechlorates and the eheavy metals without needing to wait for somebody back on the home factory worlds to come up with a solution and ship it out to us. We can modify, prototype, test, and refine on-site at a savings of time and money to both us and the client.”

"These vessels give the United Systems Alliance a substantially dispersed and mobile industrial infrastructure and tech-base that would make neutralizing their production capabilities a very difficult proposition. I have no doubt that we haven't seen ALL their factory ships, which raises the possibility that they have a good amount of capacity held in reserve against any such attempts to damage them."

These massive vessels are giant space-going industrial complexes used by PS/ASI to provide on-site processing of harvested materials, and to provide on-site manufacturing for clients. ‘Hobos’ are considered to be the mobile industrial asset of choice when a larger Asteroid Cruiser is neither available nor appropriate.
An extreme derivation of the Goethals-class deep space freighter and using the same powerful Brunel/Goethals powerplant and propulsion stage, the Hobos have a large cylindrical frame configuration, with several separate centrifugal sections for specific manufacturing process needs, as well as gravity-insulated sections for zero-gravity manufacturing. Three hangar bays provide for enough small craft capability to shuttle personnel, mine local space, and transport finished goods to delivery sites. An outer shell provides extra protection from space elements, and gives the hip the appearance of a large industrial storage drum.
Attachment points along the hull allow for the carriage of up to six asteroid mining rigs for supplying the ships onsite with harvested materials. Compact refinery and molecular re-sequencing systems process the raw materials, though large or specialized orders/needs may require freighter supply support to the Hoboes.
Hobo-ships can accommodate up to three separate production/processing lines, or up to four if the products are closely related, such as laser weapons, e-clps, and MDC casings. A typical laser rifle assembly line can produce up to 500 weapons in a 24 hour period, and thousands of compatible e-clips. Larger equipment, such as vehicles and industrial powerplants, will take longer per unit, but PS/ASI has still managed to establish more efficient and faster industrial processes. Thus the ships are often deployed to fulfill arms orders, supply agricultural and industrial gear for bootstrapping colonization efforts, and supplementing emergency relief supplies in protracted crisis response situations.
Because factory-ships(and their skilled complements of engineers and technicians) are a desirable target of tech-pirates, Hoboes are well-armed with point defense systems. Shield strength has been upped from that of the civilian-duty Goethals. If traveling/working in a region considered dangerous, the Hoboes will be escorted by Merchant Defense Force warships.
Hoboes are an increasingly common sight with PS/ASI Contract Engineering units and colonial support fleets. While many stick with the same product assembly lines they first shipped out with, others regularly change their factory modules assignment to assignment. Many will also see modification in the course of their operational life spans with such additions as variable shielding and heavier self-defense weaponry.

Type: PS/ASI-LHAOE-11 ‘Hobo’
Class: Mobile Deep Space Industrial Carrier
Crew: 120+ , with provision for 1-600 additional crew/passengers/technicians
Typically carries a complement of 50-400 work drones of varying spec.
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 30,000
Bridge/Administration Bloc 3,000
Reinforced Life System Section 5,000
Factory/Refinery Modules (1-5) 5,000 each
Hangar Bays(3) 2,000 each
Point Defense Turrets(36) 100 each
Propulsion Block 8,000
Forcefield 10,000

Height: 800 ft
Width: 800 ft
Length: 2,200 ft
Weight: 2 million tons
Cargo: 10,000 tons internally, plus possible External Cargo Racks: 12 Primary Racks typically carry a single 180-ft diameter spherical pod, but can be outfitted to carry regular cylindrical or ‘boxcar’ cargo modules---up to 1,800 tons worth each
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life; can be supplemented on a worksite with solar power.
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; rarely enters an atmosphere or gravity well of more than .5 gee.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 6 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not possible
Market Cost: 2.1 billion credits
Systems of Note:
*Full Sensor Suite---Specialized sensor pallets include radiation detectors and counters, spectrographic analysis devices, gravitic sensors, electromagnetic activity readers, and optics packages.
*Long Range Radar---Phased Array Search and Early Warning Radars---Maximum Resolution Range of 300,000 miles. Navigational array has a range of 1 million miles.
*Laser Targeting-------100,000 miles
*Communications Suite:---Long Range Radio and Video
*Laser Communications ---Tactical (i.e. ship-to fighter/shuttle)Range: 50,000 miles
*Optical Tracking Clusters----These are transparent blisters fitted with gimbal-mounted high-resolution visible-light/IR/UV optical telescopes that continually scan the arc of sky before them. Linked to the navigational arrays and other tracking sensors, and to a series of highly-sophisticated near-AI search and discrimination software systems, these sensors attempt to detect objects that have low radar returns/sensor signatures, such as stealthed vehicles, iceballs, or asteroids. The high-tech equivalent of the man in the crow’s nest with a pair of binoculars.

*Onboard Autofacs---The Hobos have a a full complement of automated assemblers, heavy machine tools, and fabrication lines, similar to those of the Goethals, but set up for much larger and faster output. They also have several small capacity smelters/furnaces for producing small amounts of metal, glass, and ceramic components from scratch(Larger industrial quantities would require actually assembling a deep space smelter or refinery). The ships also sport powerful diagnostic sensor tools and testing systems, including several different isolated computer systems for testing suspect electronics for virus compromise. Combined with extensive engineering data banks and AutoCAD/CAT systems, engineers can study, diagnose, design, test in simulation, and assemble just about anything given enough time...

*EM Tractor Beams(21)-------3 long range heavy duty emitters with a range of 80 miles, and able to handle up to 1,000 tons each, and four smaller light duty projectors, each with a range of 5 miles, and maximum handling capacity of 100 tons.

Weapons Systems:
1) Point Defense Turrets(36)---These are the standard PS/ASI/WZT modular PDS mounts

Some Hoboes have bene modified(typically by Goethals fleet tenders) with additional weapons, typically 1-6 medium missile launchers/cannon mounts, and/or 1-4 externally-docked weapons pods similar to those available to the Brunel and Goethals.

Auxiliary Craft:
1-10 Shuttlecraft, 24 workpods
Provision for 1-6 mining ships/tugs or transport barges
Typically has a fleet of 50-500 robot drones

[taalismn]

https://www.craiyon.com/image/Ug0qXGGBTja2nn-weByQJA

https://www.bing.com/images/create/smal ... ORM=GENCRE

Thanks for the links there.

Oddly enough, I have not engaged an AI in a prompt session, though I have perused a number of AI sites and used them for inspirations(so, in fact, an AI has been prompting ME). I see a generic picture and I start spinning a mini-story/history around it.

Which makes me a little upset because I used to be a prodigious doodler and prided myself on doing my own illustrations. Then Photobucket began screwing with me and I was less inclined to post stuff there, and I haven't updated my Deviantart page in a long time because I like to think that's for better quality stuff, which I just have not been doing of late.

Could be progress, could be age.

[taalismn]

Consolidated Galaxy Drives ‘Gatter’ Medium Interstellar Cargo Transport
(aka “Astro-crates’)
“I wouldn’t be surprised if this thing had a design lineage daring back to the Human Alliance’s Automaton Wars. It just strikes me as the sort of ‘cheap and fast-build’ crate the HA was building to keep up with wartime attrition.”

“ ‘Space-going panel truck’ may not sound impressive, but if DeMalecos of Dalgon doesn’t get its shipments of shimmer-skyn in time for the post-FashionFesta market rush, sales projections will not be met, local economies will dip, and heads will roll. Likewise, the machinery and organization that keeps store shelves restocked will falter and revenue not generated. The lifeblood of the CCW flows in the form of nondescript ships with none of the glamour of a runner-craft or cargo-cruiser, but all the required scheduling of a practiced military campaign.”

“Okay, looks like somebody didn’t properly screen that shipment of vocados before loading and we have a hatching of terromites currently infesting the forward cargo bay. We’ve got the holds and utility trunks sealed off, but this ship ain’t exactly a hazmat carrier or warship with hardened blast doors or damage containment, and we’re several hours away from the nearest settled system we can drop into and scream for assistance, which might then still be a few hours away even if they have anybody who can help us. So I’m asking for volunteers to watch the accessways through the forward bulkhead for anything chewing its way into the life section. Engineer’s working on overriding the air-evac safeties so we can try dumping the forward section’s air to vac while we’re still in FTL overspace, but if that don’t work we may have to drop out into normal space early, take to the lifeboats, and take our chances in free space. Not like I’m particularly attached t o this old tub, and my sailing master’s license is, I figure, pretty much scuppered anyway. ”

The ‘Gatter’ is Consolidated Galaxy Drives answer to the Golgan G-1 transport series that was flooding the galactic transport markets, only instead of a cylinder, CGD chose a box configuration. Gatters are slab-sided rectangular transport craft with clean lines, but little else to suggest even a hint of consideration for aesthetics. These simple lines belie a certain rude economy of technology and material, low cost, and basic-ness.
However, Gatters are inexpensive to acquire and operate, and there’s few things that can go wrong with them within their admittedly narrow performance profiles. Gatters are designed to move cargo between two points and hardly anything else. This makes them unattractive to adventurer types, but for shippers between established worlds and systems with well-marked(and patrolled) spacelanes, the Gatter is very much what they want.
The Gatter had the advantage of a large forward cargo bay that was easy to access and quickly load/unload, while a large rear engineering space allowed for the fitting of less compact and less expensive engines and any attendant fuel/remass tankage. The middle section holds the crew quarters, bridge, lifeboats, and communications/sensor arrays. The Gatters have some extra space for carrying passengers, but quarters accommodations are hardly luxurious and extra passengers will have to share dining space with the crew.
What the Gatter isn’t is fast or particularly durable. Among those used to more sophisticated vessels, Gatters are known as ‘cardboard cruisers’ for their scant hull protection and equally thin internal compartmentalization. Those Gatters that have been sold and operated in the Rim have acquired a reputation as ‘birthday presents’ or ‘gift boxes’ among pirates, who have found the ships easy to overtake, capture, and loot. Thus the ships rarely operate outside metroworld regions without escort.
Regardless of their shortcomings, the Gatters are a common, and often overlooked, sight on the spacelanes, especially in the heavily-trafficked lanes between metroworlds. As hoped, Gatter sales have nearly equaled those of the Golgan G-1s that CGD set out to counter in the markets. Consolidated Galaxy Drives sells a lot of them and besides CGD, several other companies produce licensed versions or knockoffs, all sharing the same general performance.

Type: CGH-MC14 ‘Gatter’
Class: Medium Interstellar Cargo Transport
Crew: 18+ 1-30 additional crew/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 7,000
Bridge 2,000
Sensor/Communications Tower 700
Engines 4,000
Forcefield 2,000
Height: 90 ft
Width: 100 ft
Length: 800 ft
Weight: 30,000 tons
Cargo: 80,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 25 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 6
(Kitsune Values: 20% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.6% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 4 light years per hour

Market Cost: 300 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems.
Weapons Systems: None standard, but has provision for four point defense system turrets. Some variants mount up to ten PDS turrets, but few people regard arming the Gatter to such an extent to be an economical measure and prefer to hire/enlist armed escorts instead.
Auxiliary Craft: None
Variants:
Quite a few variants of the Gatter exist, most swapping out the rear engineering section for alternate powerplant/propulsion systems(some even using the large engineering space to fit in old scavenged bulky warship engines and their fuel tanks for extra speed), and the forward cargo section for various specialized cargo accommodations, such as liquid tankage. There is even a variant that arguably qualifies as a tug, as the forward cargo section consists of a detachable barge. A few operators maintain ‘circuits’ of these ships, swapping cargo modules with the next ship in the chain and returning to their scheduled circuits of contracted systems and spacelanes.
A common variant is the ‘garage ship’ with the forward hold given over to a hangar and workspace for recovering, repairing, and refueling satellites and small craft. This modification adds several grappling arms and a light tractor beam for maneuvering a snagged vehicle or satellite into the forward bay for salvage/refit. The passenger cabins are given over to living quarters for the crew of technicians and mechanics these ships carry.
In an attempt to remedy durability problems and drum up sales in the Mid- ad Outer-Rim, CGD issued a ‘hardened’ version of the Gatter with 30% more armor protection on all major locations., for a 25% hike in the base cost. This saw some increased sales to outlier shipping concerns and Belters, but the ‘Hard-Gat’ has recently seen a slump in sales as the Rim nations’ spacecraft industries have begun ramping up production of their own designs better suited to conditions in the wilder regions of space.
The only militarized variant of the Gatter has been a light carrier conversion with the forward cargo bay holding up to eight starfighters, military communications and sensors, eight point defense turrets, and variable forceshielding. These vessels are typically deployed by their operators as mercantile convoy escorts.

Besides Consolidated Galaxy Drives, Gatter-pattern vessels are also produced by TARCO, Toyetz Grama and a half-dozen smaller yards.