Bushido Industries Oha Maru Light Merchant Vessel:

As with most major ship building companies, Bushido Industries manufactures a number of merchant designs. Of course most of their own trade is carried in these hulls but they also can be found in a number of different hands scattered around the Three Galaxies. One item of interest is that one of the main reasons behind Bushido Industries developing their own warship designs was to protect their own far flung trade lines. In addition to cargo ships, Bushido Industries also produces passenger liners. Even so, Bushido is not as well known as some companies for producing merchant designs and are not operated in anything like the numbers compared to some other designs.

The Oha Maru class is the smallest of the Bushido Industries merchant ship designs. With the ability to carry about five thousand metric tons of cargo, it is of a similar size to many of the smaller merchant hulls plying their trade between systems. Some call ships of around this is "tramp freighter" and these ships often visit systems which large vessels do not. This is not to say that these ships do not also operate in systems which are more prosperous especially carrying around smaller and more specialized cargos. One advantage of the smaller merchant designs is that they are better able to land on a planet than larger ships. Usually these ships do not carry their cargo "containerized" unlike larger vessels. The only smaller ship commonly found in the space lanes are those usually considered "runners" are are usually extremely fast.

Bushido Industries merchant designs are considered relatively fast ships. Most merchant ships travel at three light years per hour or less. Some older vessels are limited to one and a half light years per hour although those are slowly disappearing. The various Bushido designs however are capable of three and a half light years per hour, equal to some older Human Alliance warships and actually faster than some even older warships. It can actually outrun an older Berserker class attack vessel. Even so, there are faster merchant ships, often called clippers due to their extremely fast speed.

These ships can be found unarmed in some cases although most are armed. Even though relatively fast, some pirates are faster. As well, pirates can sometimes ambush such merchant ships. Standard weaponry for such ships is a single medium range missile battery and four particle beam mounts. These particle beams are more bulky but are otherwise similar in design to the particle beams carried on many fighters produced by Bushido Industries including the Katana. There is a total of one hundred sixty medium range missiles usually carried for the missile battery. As with most merchant designs, it is protected by a non variable force field.

As with many designs, there is a military version of the vessel. These are operated in large number by Bushido Industries but are also available outside of their own fleet. Some are operated by military forces while others are operated by mercenary companies. Some are even operated by merchant lines when they are operating in hazardous areas of space. These ships add a second medium range missile battery. Some retain the particle beams of the more common design but others substitute a combined variable focus particle beam and heavy point defense gravity rail gun. Originally the combination mounts were not available but were made available in later versions. As with most military type designs, a more powerful variable force field is substituted for the standard force field. This force field is similar to the force field which is carried on many destroyer class. There do not have any additional armor compared to the standard design however. Military versions also carry slightly better sensors in most cases.

These ships are designed to be operated by fairly small crew, requiring crews of around twenty-four compared to around thirty for most ships of around the same size. Even so, they do have a reputation for requiring more careful maintenance than many merchant ships designs. Even so, most crews seem to like serving on these ships. As with most merchant designs, these ships rarely carry light tugs although there is space set aside to carry four.

This starship design uses modified starship speed and weapon range rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model Type: BIM-05-L
Vehicle Type: Light Freighter
Crew: 24 (4 Officers and 20 Ordinary Crew)

Vehicles:

Mini-Tugs (Provision for cargo transport, not always carried)

M.D.C. By Location:

Standard:

Military:

[1] Point Defense Particle Beam Mounts (4):	100 each	100 each
[1] Combined Rail Gun / Particle Beams (4):	None	400 each
[1] Medium Range Missile Batteries (1 or 2):	500 each	500 each
Outer Hull (40 x 40 ft/ 12.2 m x 12.2 Area):	100	100
Inner Hull (40 x 20 ft/ 12.2 m x 12.2 Area):	75	75
[2] Bridge:	1,200	1,200
[3] Main Engines (2):	1,800 each	1,800 each
[4] Main Body:	5,500	5,500
[5] Force Field:	1,200 (Regular)	1,000 a side (6,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] These weapon systems are optional for standard models of the vessel although most military vessels will be armed. Military vessels will be armed with either the particle beam mounts of the combination rail gun / particle beam mounts. As well, standard models will mount a single medium range missile battery while military vessels will usually mount a pair.
[2] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s hull. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[3] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[4] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the merchant 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] Standard ship shields are not variable and regenerate at the rate of 5% (60 M.D.C.) per melee round. Military versions carry variable shields (all could be combined in one shield) and shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,200 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 20 percent of the speed of light maximum due to civilian shields. Some have military class shields and can reach 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.8 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 500 mph (804.7 kph), can enter an atmosphere because flight system is using contra grav.
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 3.5 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about six months worth of supplies on board (Can be stretched to nine months in an emergency)

Statistical Data:
Length: 574.15 feet (175.0 meters)
Height: 80.38 feet (24.5 meters)
Width: 100.07 feet (30.5 meters)
Mass/ Weight: 11,023.1 tons (10,000 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 5,511.6 tons (5,000 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ship’s officers have more space for personal items.
Market Cost: 150 million credits (Military versions about 200 million and non armed version about 100 million)

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Four (4) Point Defense Mounts: Standard versions of the vessel mount four standard particle beam mounts. Some warships mount the same but some substitute combined mounts with a variable focus particle beam and a heavy GR-1000 Rail Gun. These second mounts are far more effective but are also more expensive. Turrets have 360 rotation and 120 degree arc of fire and can be controlled by gunners or be controlled from the bridge of the merchant ship.
1. Standard Particle Beam Mounts: Particle beam is similar to the particle beam mounted in many Bushido Industries fighters including the Katana although uses larger components due to being far less critical as far as volume and mass. The weapon system cannot be used while the ship is traveling at faster than light velocities.
  Maximum Effective Range: 4 miles (6.4 km) through atmosphere and 200 miles (321.8 km) in space.
  Mega-Damage: 2D6x10 per blast
  Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
  Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
2. Combination GR-1000 Rail Gun/Particle Beam Cannon Mounts: Mounted in turrets are one GR-1000 Rail Gun with a particle beam above the rail gun laser cannons. Both weapons can be fired together if the weapons are within range and both are controlled by the turret gunner.
  - GR-1000 Rail Gun (1 each mount): Very powerful rail gun mounted in turret. This is the same weapon system that is mounted in the nose of the Scorpion starfighter. Projectiles are fired from the gravity rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light. The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at faster than light velocities.
    Maximum Effective Range: GR-1000 Rail Guns: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.
    Mega Damage: GR-1000 Rail Guns: 40 round burst inflicts 4D6x10 M.D. (Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10)
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: 10,000 rounds (250 Bursts)
  - Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts (1 each mount): The particle beam is 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 (Gives +2 bonus vs fast moving targets such as missiles.) The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at FTL speeds.
    Maximum Effective Range: 300 miles (480 km) in space and 3 miles (4.8 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: Single Target: 4D6x10 per blast. 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 (Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10).
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
One (1) or Two (2) Medium Range Missile Batteries: Standard models mount one medium range missile battery while military versions mount two medium range missile batteries. Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and against incoming cruise missiles. Like other Phase world systems, weapon system range and speed has been greatly increased compared to Rifts Earth systems. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
Maximum Effective Range: Medium range missile have a range of 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space.
Mega-Damage: Varies with medium range missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), eight (8), or sixteen (16) missiles per battery.
Payload: 160 medium range missiles per battery.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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