Erebus Assault Cruiser (Converted Everest class Gun Cruiser):

When comparing the Everest and the Kurganov class cruisers, the Everest class is more effective at ground support roles which its much heavier main beam array. The class was also built in much larger numbers compared to the Yamato class battleship. Large numbers of Human Alliance vessels have been sold to outside interests with the military upgrading their forces. A number of these have ended up in the hands of Mercenaries.

One of the vessels which ended up in the hands of a mercenary company was originally named the Erebus in Human Alliance Naval service and was named after a moon. The ship was worked fairly hard before being put in mothball fleet. Later it passed into the hands of a planetary defense force outside of Consortium service. There it was renamed the Paulo Mason, the name of a prominent and influential politician of the previous generation. Later, budget cutbacks prompted the planetary navy to retire the ship and was bought by a mercenary company for their own service.

The Mercenary company brought back the ship’s original name. While the ship had been a virtually steal, the planetary defense forces had not maintained the ship in very good shape and it took quite a bit to restore the ship.In places, the ship needed to be practically gutted. At the same time, the company decided to reconfigure the ship as an Assault Cruiser for supporting planetary assaults.

The hull needed to be reinforced in some areas due to strain damage. As well, the drive systems both needed to be heavily restored. The ship could make less than half of its normal acceleration and its faster than light speed was even worse. The ship actually had to be towed for part of the way to the yard where it was restored. There was even serious concerns of the anti-matter bottle which had to be restored. At the same time the power system was brought up to modern specifications. The shield generator had not worked in years and was beyond economical salvage. Instead, a new shield generator was installed. The generator used is the same as is mounted in the Warshield class cruiser and even though more powerful, it actually is smaller. The electronic suite was in as poor a shape as much of the rest of the ship. These too were replaced by comparable systems carried on a Warshield class cruiser.

Additional automation allowed a modest reduction of crew even with the addition of command and control for marines. The marine command and control facilities take up what was once the ship’s auxiliary bridge. The ship usually escorts a larger task force as the central command and control center for multiple vessels, many which might be converted cargo vessels with no command and control facilities for their troops so the Erebus has to perform that role.

In order to clear up enough space for the assault troops and improved command and control facilities, the heavy laser cannons were dismounted, the missile payload for the long range missile batteries were reduced by half, and the mini-missile reloads were dispensed with completely. The main particle beam battery was retained along with the point rail guns. The point defense laser batteries were replaced by variable focus particle beams which are considered by many to be much more effective against missile volleys. Much of the weapon systems did not work when the mercenary company first purchased the vessel and they had to be restored. Due to the Human Alliance replacing the weapon systems on many of their ships, repair components were comparatively common.

Even after being heavily refitted, the ship is still not the equivalent of even a light assault carrier as far as how many troops can be carried onboard. The ship can carry around eight hundred troops compared to around two thousand for a new built Dragonfly class light assault carrier. Half of the troops are outfitted with power armors. As well, only four shuttles are carried and they are the smaller Rampage class assault shuttles produced by the Tri-Galactic Military. A total of sixteen armored vehicles are usually carried, six “Kramer” hover tanks and ten "Lynx" class armored personnel carriers. Fighter compliment has been modified with a full squadron of light fighters, the Bobcat due to the fighter’s usefulness in atmospheric fighting, but only a half squadron of medium fighters. In this case Bushido Industry's Katana fighters.

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: CA-34 (Modified)
Vehicle Type: Converted Gun Cruiser
Crew: 262 (ship can be run by 75 crew) - 22 Officers and 240 Enlisted.
Troops: 800 Marines (Half In Power Armor), 32 Shuttle Pilots / Crew, and 24 Fighter Pilots / Crew.

Vehicles:
Power Armors & Robots:

	40	“Knock Off” Silver Hawk Power Armors
	120	Consortium CAF-PA-10 “Ground Pounder” Power Armors
	240	Human Alliance HAFA-PA-06 “Steel Grunt” Power Armors

Fighter Compliment:

	6	Bushido Industries BIF-67 Katana Medium Starfighter
	12	Consortium SF-128 Bobcat Light Starfighter

Assault Shuttles:

TMS-LAS-04 Rampage class Light Assault Shuttles

Tanks & Other Vehicles:

	10	Human Alliance HAFA-APC113 "Lynx" Armored Personnel Carrier
	6	Human Alliance HAFA-MBT-12 “Kramer” Main Battle Tanks (Grav)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Main Particle Beam Batteries (2):	1,500 each
	Secondary Particle Beam Batteries (4):	1,200 each
	Point Defense Electromagnetic Rail Gun Turrets (6):	150 each
	Variable Focus Particle Beam Cannon Turrets (8):	150 each
	Long Range Missile Batteries (4):	500 each
	Mini-Missile Launchers (6):	100 each
	Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	150
	Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	100
	[1] Bridge:	10,000
	[1] Command / Control Facility:	10,000
	Hanger Bay:	12,000
	[2] Main Engines (2):	15,000 each
	[3] Main Body:	40,000
	[4] Variable Force Field:	5,000 a side (30,000 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. Unlike the standard Everest class Gun Cruiser, the auxiliary bridge has been stripped out and replaced by a command and control facility. 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 cruiser 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% (1,500 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 0.8 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 400 mph (644 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 3.5 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about four years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 720 feet (219.5 meters)
Height: 280 feet (85.3 meters)
Width: 450 feet (137.2 meters)
Weight/Mass: 185,000 Tons (168,000 tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 25 year life span. The ship normally only goes 7 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 800 tons (725.7 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition (Most space has been set aside for marine support). 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 extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: A Everest class gun cruiser would cost about 2.1 billion credits to manufacture in present time in the Three Galaxies. When available, these ships sell for 4.3 to 6.4 billion credits. The refit of vessel cost around 800 million credits. Cost does not include embarked craft.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Two (2) 28 cm Main Particle Beam Batteries: In the front of the ship are two 28 cm particle beam cannons. These can be fired forward and can be angled up to 120 degrees aft (can only fire one cannon at a target at that angle but can spin to be able to bring both batteries to bear) and can fire at a 30 degree angle up or down. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 70,000 miles (112,650 km)in space and 70 miles (112.7 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 M.D.C. each (Both can be linked for 2D4x1000 M.D.C. for both)
Rate of Fire: Maximum of three (3) times per melee per particle beam.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) 18 cm Secondary Particle Beam Batteries: These 18 cm particle beams are mounted in the sides of the ship. Batteries can be fired up to 180 degrees toward the rear on either side (can only fire two cannons at a target at that angle but can spin to be able to bring both batteries to bear) and can fire at a 45 degree angle up or down. Only two cannons can be fired as one volley. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 70,000 miles (112,650 km)in space and 70 miles (112.7 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 3D6x100 M.D.C. each (Two can be linked for 6D6x100 M.D.C. for both)
Rate of Fire: Maximum of three (3) times per melee per particle beam.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Six (6) Point Defense 15 mm Electromagnetic Rail Guns: Unlike most of the rail guns used on Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. They are used as an anti-starfighter and missile weapon and against targets that are impervious to energy. Each rail gun is in a turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Projectiles are fired from weapons at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Rail guns use 15 mm depleted uranium projectiles. 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 800 miles (1,290 km) in space.
Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 3D6x10 M.D.C. for an 80 round burst.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: 16,000 Rounds (200 Bursts) each cannon.
Eight (8) 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.
Four (4) 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. Batteries have a lower number of actual launchers than the modern CAF long range missile batteries and each individual launcher is slightly larger in size.
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 missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or twenty-four (24) missiles per launcher, per melee attack.
Payload: 480 total, 120 long range missiles per launcher.
Six (6) Mini-Missile Launchers: These are missile turrets used for point defense against enemy fighters and missiles. 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.) Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
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 four (4) or eight (8) missiles.
Payload: 128 per launcher for a total of 768 mini-missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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