Cambrian System Vespa class Scout Carrier:

The system Cambrian was one of several system where the Chevalier class escort cruiser and the Wasp class scout carrier were built. Unfortunately after production of the two warships ended, the yards received no additional contracts and eventually the shipyards were mothballed. Because the shipyards were military property, they were left intact although there had been a number of issues where the yards were looted. Otherwise, the yards were mostly forgotten.

They might have remained forgotten except a group of companies approached the system government with a plan to reactivate the yards and begin building warships once more. At the time, the system was in an economic depression and the leadership jumped on the idea. The system defense forces also supported the idea because they might be able to rebuild the system’s forces which had also gone into serious decline.

The Consortium military, when they allow them to be sold, charges a premium for their larger warships. The Warshield class cruiser is generally considered prohibitive. As a result, there is a market for warships which system defense forces can actually afford. In some cases this is served by older warships but many military forces prefer to operate newer warship classes.

Because the basic design of the Chevalier and Wasp class were available, it was decided that they would be the basis for the new warship classes. The new scout carrier class became known as the Vespa class and the new escort cruiser became the Tristan class. Even though the new classes are based on the old Human Alliance designs, they are both heavily modified to the point where the designs look far different.

The Vespa class is slightly larger than the Wasp which she is based on. As a result of this, the fighter compliment is also slightly increased. Can embark a full squadron of medium fighters and two full squadrons of light fighters. If carrying only light fighters, can carry up to forty-two fighters. Another option is that the scout carrier can carry up to twenty-eight medium fighters. Facilities to repair and refit fighters is extremely limited compared to even light fleet carriers.

The fighters are of course the main strike weaponry of the scout carrier. Still, the small carrier is well armed for self defense. Compared to the Wasp class with a single battery, the Vespa has a pair of long range missile batteries. Magazines however are limited with only around five hundred long range missiles total. This is back up with two medium range missile batteries replacing the four mini-missile batteries on the Wasp class. The medium range missile batteries are modified civilian models and have far better range than the mini-missile batteries. For close range defense, the ship has six GR-1000 rail gun mounts and six variable focus particle beams. The variable focus particle beams are extremely effective against missile strikes.

The variable shields of the scout carrier are of course far tougher and are able to withstand over twice as much damage before being penetrated. Of course alloys and composites have come a long way since the Wasp class was design. As a result, the Vespa class is also have tougher than the old scout carrier. It si not really armored in the same fashion which a heavy cruiser or battleship might however.

It was decided to replace the original fusion plant with a far more powerful anti-matter plant. The anti-matter reactor is far smaller than the original power plant as well. There was some discussion of mounting an advanced fusion plant but in order to produce the power required, it would have needed to be far larger than the anti-matter plant.

Part of the reason for the additional power is for the vastly improved propulsion system. It was decided that the ship needed to have at least the acceleration of a Trans-Galactic Empire Berserker class attack vessel, a likely opponent. Of course one issue that been than a number of escorts, including the Scimitar, cannot keep up with the carrier. Faster than light speed is five light years per hour, twice as fast as the original Wasp class scout carrier.

One advantage of the upgrades is that the vessel has been able to reduce crew by around one third compared to the Wasp class. Even though the escort carrier has a much smaller crew, it is still relatively cramped. In common with the Wasp class, the Vespa class lacks a secondary bridge and has only rudimentary ability to act as a flagship. In addition, the Vespa class lacks any embarked troops.

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: CVS-112.

Vehicle Type: Scout Carrier.

Crew: 208 (16 Officers, 192 enlisted).

Troops: Maximum of 60 fighter pilots.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Configuration One:

Light Starfighters (Various).

Configuration Two:

Medium Starfighters (Various).

Configuration Three:

	24	Light Starfighters (Various).
	12	Medium Starfighters (Various).

M.D.C. By Location:

	GR-1000 Point Defense Rail Gun Turrets (6):	250 each
	Variable Focus Particle Beam Cannon Turrets (6):	150 each
	Long Range Missile Batteries (2):	600 each.
	Medium Range Missile Launchers (2):	500 each.
	Outer Hull Section (40 ft/12.2 m area):	150.
	Inner Hull Section (40 ft/12.2 m area):	100.
	[1] Bridge:	6,000.
	Hanger Bays (2):	4,500 each.
	[2] Main Engines (2):	8,000 each.
	[3] Main Body:	24,000.
	[4] Variable Force Field:	3,000 a side (18,000 total).

Notes:

[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. 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.

[2] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.

[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the scout carrier out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (900 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 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.90 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 500 mph (804.6 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric flight.

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 5.0 light years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about two and a half years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:

Length: 565.94 feet (172.5 meters).

Height: 112.20 feet (34.2 meters).

Width: 211.29 feet (64.4 meters).

Weight/Mass: 60,627.1 tons (55,000 metric tons).

Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting. Backed up with emergency fusion plants.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 881.8 tons (800 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. Most of the ship’s spaces are taken up by fighters, extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.

Market Cost: 750 million credits to construct and sells for around 1 to 1.5 billion credits normally (Does not include standard fighter compliment.)

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Six (6) GR-1000 Heavy Point Defense Rail Guns: Gravity rail guns are in a turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. The GR-1000 Rail Guns both are more powerful and have more range than the conventional rail guns and is the same rail gun which is carried in the C.A.F. Scorpion Starfighter. Considered extremely effective even compared to other gravity rail guns. Even so, the mounts are not really for use against capital ships but can devastate a fighter quickly. They are also extremely effective against targets which are imperious to energy. Rail gun rounds are fired out of rail gun at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Gravity rail gun fires a 30 mm projectile. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

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

Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 4D6x10 M.D.C. for a 40 round burst.

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

Payload: 10,000 Rounds (250 bursts) each cannon.
Six (6) Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts: 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 (Gives +2 bonus vs fast moving targets such as missiles.) 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 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.

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

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missile 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.) 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 star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.

Maximum Effective Range: 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.

Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire long range missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) long range missiles per launcher, per melee attack.

Payload: 512 total, 256 long range missiles per battery.
Two (2) 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 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: Varies with medium range missile type (Multi-warhead heavy warheads inflict 5D6x10 M.D.C. each - 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 launcher.

Payload: 640 total, 320 medium range missiles per launcher.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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