SF-69M Super Scorpion Class Light Fighter (C.A.F.):

The Scorpion is a well know light fighter in the Consortium armed forces and the light fighters maneuverability and acceleration in space is considered one of the best in the Three Galaxies. The fighter is a favorite among pilots although there have been many grumbles about the fact that the fighter does not have shields. The truth is that while many cavalier pilots of the Scorpion say “You have to hit ‘em to hurt ‘em”, any fighter can be hit and a shielded fighter would have a much better chance of survival.

In addition, several other organizations have developed light designs fighters which have around the same acceleration as the Scorpion yet have variable force fields protecting them. Some of these include the Bushido Industries “Tanto”, Naruni Industries “Kinjal”, New Coventry “Badger”, and the Wolven advanced model of the “Falx Supina.” Rumor is also that the Kreeghor ‘Sharktooth” approaches the Scorpion in acceleration as well.

The simple fact, no matter what some pilots try to argue, is that force fields vastly increases the survival of a fighter. A fighter similar cannot out accelerate a missile which is fired at it. The Scorpion must get into missile range with even a much slower fighter in order to engage it.

As these concerns weighed heavily on many senior fleet officers, the leadership of the Consortium Armed Forces began considering replacing the Scorpion in service. The Human Alliance leadership also was concerned with this even though the Vixen, which the Scorpion replaced, did not mount variable force fields either. Probably the threat of the Naruni light fighter, which anybody can buy, and the Kreeghor light fighter were of the most major concerns.

The concern with both was the hundreds of trillions of credits which replacing every single Scorpion in service would cost. It would also take over a decade potentially to replace all of the fighters. Various companies were approached with the idea to solicit bids. The Bushido Industries Tanto was strongly considered by the Consortium and the New Coventry Badger was being strongly considered by the Human Alliance.

In parallel with this however, the Consortium began looking at how they might upgrade the Scorpion. Various ideas were rejected. There simply was no volume to mount a shield generator. A team lead by Captain Harriet McKenna in research and development thought they had a solution however. Her team took a standard Scorpion, cut the engine from the main fuselage and insert a one meter section. This gave the additional volume required for the shield generator. The initial prototype was actually built within two and a half months.

Another change is that the version is designed to mount two missile hard points with there no longer being separate interceptor and bomber variants. As well, in additional to anti-capital ship missiles, long range and medium range missiles can be mounted. In addition, under the “wings” of the light fighter are mounted four secondary hard points. Each one is able to carry medium range or short range missiles. A number of standard Scorpions had already been modified in this manner and it is commonly called “Fleet Upgrade.” These upgrades have long been popular with the Consortium, Human Alliance, and various other independent parties. This gives the upgraded fighter the ability to engage other fighters at far longer ranges than the standard Scorpion.

The additional mass of the “plug” has no measurable effect on the acceleration of the upgraded fighter. Still, the fighter is not as well designed for atmospheric operations as many of the competing light fighter designs. Even so, the standard and upgraded Scorpions have around an eighty percent system and part compatibility, vastly reducing the logistics that replacing the Scorpion would have created.

With the success of the upgrade, Harriet McKenna was promoted to minor admiral with many members of her team also getting promotions and commendations. It was decided that the upgraded fighter would be called the “Super Scorpion.” The upgrade can be done to already in service Scorpions and the plan is to try to get all Consortium Scorpions upgraded within the next five years. Originally some fleet officers wanted all fighters to be upgraded within two years but that was simply not considered practical. Much of the work can be done within the fleet although new orders of the Scorpion have been changed to the upgraded design. The military brass pushed a number of strings in order to avoid a new costly development program.

While the Human Alliance was not directly involved in the upgrade of the Scorpion, the leadership also looked at it with great interest. While there is an outside chance that the Human Alliance might in the end decide to adopt the New Coventry Badger, it is looking far more likely that their military will also adopt the Super Scorpion and handful have already been modified.

There are several smaller navies, both Independent Defense Forces within Consortium space and several space navies outside of Consortium space looking towards potential upgrading of their Scorpion light fighters as well. Likely several mercenary companies will also be looking towards upgrading their fighters in this manner as well. The general concept is not all that hard to copy so even if the Consortium does not offer the upgrade, it is likely an extremely similar upgrade will be available.

Other than being around one meter longer with an added section between the main fuselage and the main engines, the Super Scorpion looks virtually identical to a standard Scorpion. Sitting side by side, this is fairly obvious while in space it is harder to note. Of course the energy output of the shields will be readily apparent if detected. The fighter was built around its GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun, the largest rail gun carried on a light fighter. The mini-missile box launchers, acting as almost “wings” are also retained. On careful examination, one will also note that the main missile hard points are also modified as well as having smaller hard points on the underside of wings / mini-missile launchers.

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

(Note: The power system is fusion not anti-matter because the author’s opinion is that anti-matter is to 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 or this fighter can be changed to anti-matter.)

Model Type: SF-69M.

Class: Combination Light Interceptor / Fighter-Bomber.

Crew: One.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Nose GR-1000 Gravity Rail Cannon:	50
	Wings / Mini-Missile Launchers (2):	150 each
	Main Missile Pylons (2, under fuselage):	10 each
	Secondary Missile Pylons (4, under wing):	5 each
	[1] Auxiliary Engine:	150
	[2] Main Body:	550
	Reinforced Pilot’s Compartment/Escape Pod:	110
	[3] Variable Force Field:	200 per side (1,200 total)

Notes:

[1] If the auxiliary engine is destroyed, the ship’s acceleration is reduced to 0.8 percent of light per turn.

[2] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the fighter out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. The pilot’s only hope is to eject (the reinforced , pilot’s compartment becomes an escape pod with 48 hours worth of oxygen).

[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (60 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 40 percent of the speed of light. Fighter can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.8 percent of light per melee and with using the Auxiliary Engine, the fighter can reach up to 1.8 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum normal speed is Mach 1.5 (1,141.8 mph / 1,837.6 kph) without using the auxiliary engine. If the fighter is fully loaded, reduce speed to Mach 1.0 (761.21 mph/1,225.1 kph) without using the auxiliary engine.

When the fighter uses the auxiliary engine, maximum normal speed is Mach 3.0 (2,283.6 mph / 3,675.2 kph) and if the fighter is carrying external ordnance reduce top atmospheric speed to Mach 2.0 (1,522.4 mph/ 2,450.1 kph). In all situations the fighter can enter and leave the atmosphere because flight system is contra grav.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by drive system but only has supplies for pilot for twelve days.

Statistical Data:

Height: 10 feet (3.05 meters).

Width: 31 feet (9.45 meters).

Length: 37.1 feet (11.31 meters).

Mass/Weight: 7.1 tons ( 6.44 metric tons) empty and and 8.8 tons (7.98 metric tons) fully loaded with cruise and medium range missiles.

Power System: Advanced Fusion with 25 year life span.

Cargo: Minimal Storage Space, tiny storage area with room for a small sidearm, dry rations for 12 days, and a water dispenser.

Market Cost: 34 million credits for a new built fighter (Rebuilding a standard Scorpion starfighter to the “Super” configuration costs around 6 million credits).

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

One (1) GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun: The Rail gun is mounted in the nose of the starfighter and is the fighters primary weapon system. This weapon system has also be adopted for the main point defense weapon on several capital ships, used on the modified Proctor, and the New Coventry Badger light starfighter. Weapon is mainly used as an anti-starfighter and strafing weapon. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light and when used in an atmosphere are fired at slow but still at hypersonic speeds. Gravity rail gun fires a 30 mm projectile.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: 40 round burst inflicts 4D6x10 M.D.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Pilot (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: 10,000 Rounds (250 Bursts).
Two (2) Mini-Missile Launchers: These are two packs of mini missiles mounted in the “wings” of the starfighter that can be used against ground targets, infantry, and against starships. 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). Mini-Missiles in the Phase World setting are normally guided.

Maximum Effective Range: Mini-Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with mini-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 twelve (12).

Payload: Sixteen (16) each launcher for a total of thirty-two (32) mini-missiles.
Two (2) Heavy Missile Pylons: On the underbelly of the fighter’s fuselage are two missile racks that allows the fighter to carry one cruise missile, two long range missiles, or four medium range missiles. Individual pylons must carry all the same type ordnance but each pylon may carry different types of ordnance. Cruise missile are normally carried when on an anti-capital ship role and long and medium range missiles when fighting other starfighters. Cruise Missiles have a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship.) Long Range Missiles have 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 have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line 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 unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. Missiles can be launched on multiple targets simultaneously.

Maximum Effective Range: Cruise Missile range is 8,000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space, Long Range Missile range is 3,400 miles (5,470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space, and Medium Range Missiles range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space.

Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Cruise Anti-Matter multi-warheads inflict 4D6x100 M.D.C. each and Long Range Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), three (3), or four (4) missiles (any type).

Payload: One (1) Cruise Missile, two (2) Long Range Missiles, or four (4) Medium Range Missiles per pylon.
Four (4) Secondary Missile Pylons: In addition to the two heavy missile hard points under the fuselage, the light fighter mounts a pair of lighter hard points under each wing / mini-missile launcher. Each hard point can carry a single medium range missile or a pair of short range missiles although medium range missiles are usually carried. Each hard point must carry all the same type ordnance. Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and long range and cruise missiles. Medium Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Short Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 4% of light per turn. Weapon system can be used on multiple targets. Normally used for anti-fighter and point defense.

Maximum Effective Range: Medium Range Missile range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space and Short Range Missiles range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere and 500 miles (804.7 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with medium or short 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) or four (4) missiles.

Payload: One (1) medium range missile or two (2) short range missiles per hard point (Maximum of four medium range or eight short range missiles.)
Special Bonuses: The fighter is very maneuverable; add +2 to dodge. The fighter also have a very advanced terrain following system. All bonuses are in addition to pilots bonuses (Hand to hand and Starfighter Pilot: Basic or Elite).

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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