Dartrok Destroyer:

“I tell you, the crews of those destroyers are crazy. We fired a huge volley of missiles at the Dartrok forces and one of those destroyers pulled into position to act as a target for the incoming missiles. The missiles turned the destroyer into space dust but the rest of the ships kept after us. If it was not for the crews of the non Dartrok ships breaking, we could have lost all of our forces and the system.”

Targ Mang, CSP Navy after engagement at system D-102044 with Dartrok

Little is actually known about the Dartroks. What is known is that the Dartroks are a race of very powerful beings that have only recently appeared in the Three Galaxies. No examination of historic sources indicates them having ever been in the Three Galaxies before and even the Prometheans appear to have no useful information on them either.

When they have actually been seen, Dartrok appear to only be slightly larger than human stock although more massive. Almost coal black, their appearance has been described as being like a man-o-war jellyfish with a huge number of prehensile tentacles. A closer look at their appearance makes them more like cephalopods. As far as locomotion, the creatures appear to be able to hover. Most exobiologists think this is a psychic ability which the Dartrok possess

Their ships, including destroyers, are based on a pseudo organic material and are incredibly powerful, heavily armored, and quite capable of taking on most ships of the races of the Three Galaxies. Since the motivations of the Dartroks are completely unknown these ships cause a lot of nervousness among most races when they appear in their system.

In the initial conquest by the Dartrok, only the huge dreadnoughts and their fighters were used. The fighters seem to be seen as disposables and the Dreadnoughts seem to be used because they were considered virtually invulnerable. There was however an engagement where an enemy was able to exploit a weakness in the gravity wake field and take out a number of dreadnoughts using missiles.

Right after this, the destroyers began appearing as escorts for the dreadnoughts. Not much later, these destroyers began escorting cruisers as well. Normally, eight Dartrok Destroyers accompany each Dreadnought and four accompany each cruiser. There are two schools of thought on their existence. One is that the destroyers existed long before they were identified but were used for internal operations. The second is that they were developed almost instantly in response to losses.

When used in combat as escorts, these destroyers appear to be considered almost disposable in a similar manner to their fighters. The destroyers have been used to decoy large volleys of missiles from the dreadnoughts. They have also been used as scouts to trip traps so that a dreadnought is not caught. These destroyers seem willing to engage in impossible odds if required.

This does not mean that these ships are used indiscriminately. If it looks like point defense can stop incoming missiles, these ships are often positioned behind the larger ships they are escorting so the larger ships can use their gravity wake to destroy incoming missiles. Like most of their creations, the Dartrok seem to have absolute control over these ships. The destroyers are fairly small as destroyers go and might be considered to be corvettes by most other races. In spite of this, these destroyers are quite dangerous and should be dealt with extreme caution.

Like the other Dartrok craft, these vessels are not constructed in any traditional way and the equivalent of each of the ship’s systems are biologic in design and are most likely grown. These include computers, engines, weapons, and even the ship’s hull. These ships have a partial manta-ray appearance but are very streamlined and have a bit of a pike look to them as well. The ship’s hull has the ability to repair damage and to adapt to attacks directed at it given enough time although they seem unable to adapt to magical attacks. The ship’s computer is a powerful neural intelligence and capable of operating independently and override any crew members other than Dartrok when the crew wished to commit actions the Dartroks desires. The ship’s systems are all based on electric and gravitic manipulation although none of the ship’s weapon systems are based on gravity. The ship propulsion is based on gravitic systems and the ship’s shields are based on gravitics. The faster than light propulsion system are very similar to those operated on most ships in the Three Galaxies but as stated previously is biological in design.

The ship’s acceleration is that of many of the fastest starfighters within the Three Galaxies. Military analysts were amazed when watching these ships accelerate as far as a Black Eagle starfighter even though something like a thousand times more massive. Almost no enemy ships can stay at missile range to engage the destroyer. As far as faster than light, these destroyers are just as fast as the dreadnoughts and cruisers and are faster than most ships within the Three Galaxies.

While this ship does not carry the gravity wake generator of the larger vessels, these ships are fast enough to often engage another destroyer before enough missiles are fired to cripple the Dartrok destroyer. These ships have had a number of encounters with old Trans-Galactic Empire Berserkers however where the ex-Kreeghor ships were able to simply overwhelm the destroyers point defenses with sheer number of capital missiles. Most engineers who have studied these ships believe that the gravity wake generator is simply too large to mount in the destroyer.

As with all other Dartrok vessels, the destroyer does not mount any missile launchers. The vessel is however armed with two heavy electrical discharge cannons and eight point defense electrical discharge cannons. The main weaponry is capable of destroying other destroyers in just a few shots and doing heavy damage to cruisers. Rate of fire which has been seen from these weapons does appear to be lighter than on larger ships however with speculation being that the power system is not capable of the heavier sustained fire. Unlike the point defense electrical cannon on larger ships, the point defense weaponry on the destroyer can be fired in a wide beam for use against missiles. Each point defense weapon is slightly less powerful than those mounted on cruisers and dreadnoughts.

Because of the willingness to risk these vessels, it is thought that these ships do not carry any actual Dartrok onboard and are instead crewed by a variety of minion races. These ships appear to be too small to carry any fighters and also seem to carry no troops for ground assault. These ships do not carry any shuttle and must either land or rely on the shuttles of larger craft.

This writeup of the Dartrok Destroyer uses modified Phase World starship rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model: Dartrok Destroyer.

Class: Destroyer / Corvette.

Crew: Unknown, but does not appear to carry any Dartrok on board. Actual crew size unknown (For game terms assume that the ship has a crew of around 40 and all are of various slave races.)

Troops: None.

Vehicle Compliment: None.

M.D.C. by Location:

	Heavy Electrical Discharge Cannons (2):	1,000 each.
	Point Defense Electrical Discharge Cannons (8):	400 each.
	[1] Bridge:	2,000.
	[2] Main Body:	3,400.
	[3] Variable Force Field:	1,200 a side (7,200 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 to have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the ship’s bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but the 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] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will destroy the destroyer, putting it out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. Both the hull and the ship’s systems have the ability to repair themselves. The ship’s hull and ship’s systems regenerate damage at the rate of 3D6x10 M.D.C. per minute. The ship can only repair up to half the total M.D.C. of a system or the main body.

[3] Shield positions are variable and can be combined into one shield. The shields regenerate at a rate of 5% (360 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Gravity drive allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. The ship can accelerate/ decelerate at an incredible rate of 1.6 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is mach 12 (9,134.6 mph / 14,700.7 kph). Can enter atmosphere and leave the atmosphere of a planet easily.

Star Drive: Gravitonic drive; maximum speed: 8.0 light years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about one year worth of supplies on board and power system gives power for 20 years before the ship needs refueling.

Statistical Data:

Height: 39.4 feet (12 meters).

Length: 206.7 feet (63 meters).

Width: 50.9 feet (15.5 meters).

Weight / Mass: 2,150 tons (1,950 metric tons).

Power System: Unknown.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 300 tons (272 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition.

Cost: Unknown, any culture in the Three Galaxies would pay hundreds of billions of credits for an undamaged working model of this ship.

Weapon Systems:

Two (2) Heavy Electrical Discharge Cannons: These weapon systems are in many ways similar to Phase World ion cannons but are very powerful. This weapon is the same as mounted in larger Dartrok vessels but has a lower rate of fire. This seems to be due to the limitations of the vessels power supply. The weapons have standard penalties to hit fighters and other small targets. Each electrical beam cannon fires individually and have a 180 degree arc of fire. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (25.8 km) through atmosphere and 16,000 miles (25,800 km) in space.

Mega Damage: 4D6x100 per blast.

Rate of Fire: Three (3) times per melee round per cannon (two per cannon under computer command.)

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Eight (8) Point Defense Electrical Discharge Cannons: These weapons system are in many ways similar to Phase World ion cannons. They are very effective against fighters but are not as effective against larger ships. The weapon has the ability to fire in a straight beam or in a wide cone that can be very effective against volleys of missiles. Any missiles within the cone will be destroyed if the missiles M.D.C. is exceeded. Each mount has a 360 degree rotation and 180 degree arc of fire. Weapon has a bonus of +4 to strike. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (25.8 km) through atmosphere and 16,000 miles (25,800 km) in space.

Mega Damage: Single Target: 3D6x10 per cannon. Wide Beam: 6D6 to all targets within a 60 mile (96.6 km) diameter area (in an atmosphere 6 miles / 9.6 km).

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5). On computer control, has three attacks per melee round.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.

Special Equipment:

Adaptive Hull: The destroyer has the ability to adapt to any non magical attacks on it. Once a specific attack has been used against the ship, it will adapt to that attack and any attack of that type that is encountered afterwards will only be at half effect in the next engagement. Magical attacks will continue to inflict full damage. Variable frequency weapons such as variable frequency lasers can be reset to do full damage once this is discovered. The adaption takes about five days to be completed.
Sentient Ship: The destroyer is alive, and is quite aware of what it is and what its doing. The computer is also telepathic and can communicate with Dartroks and other ships using this method. It will not take orders from a non Dartroks unless one was assigned as a pilot / crew and will not attack a Dartrok or Dartrok ship under a non Dartroks orders.

The ship should be considered to be a powerful neural intelligence in terms of Rifts. This computer can pilot the ship at 98%, can fire weapons with half normal attacks for most weaponry, and has +8 to strike, +4 to dodge, and +4 to initiative (these include all bonuses). If a full crew is onboard it will be able to fire all weapons at will and will have +10 to strike, +6 to dodge and +7 to initiative.

[ Altara TM, Brodkil TM, Bushido Industries TM, CAF TM, Catyr TM, CCW TM, Consortium of Civilized Worlds TM, Coyles TM, Free Worlds Council TM, Gene Splicers TM, K-Hex TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kreeghor TM, Kydian TM, Machine People TM, M.D.C. TM, Mega-Damage TM, Metzla TM, M’Kri Hardware TM, Monro TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Noro TM, Paradise Federation TM, Phase World TM, Psylite TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Seljuks TM, Splugorth TM, Sunaj TM, Trans-Galactic Empire TM, Tri-Galactic Military Service TM, United Worlds Warlock TM, U.W.W. TM, Wolfen TM, and Zembahk TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

Image drawn and copyrighted by Talis D. Merrill (taalismn@pop.tiac.net).

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Return