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Icaria Hermione class Battlecruiser:

The Icaria system is one of the wealthiest independent star systems. Never much interested in expansion, the system is at the juncture of several important trade routes. Several times there have been votes of referendums to join the Human Alliance and later the Consortium of Civilized Worlds but such referendums are always defeated. The population considers themselves fiercely independent.

While independent, the system has strong ties to the Human Alliance including defense treaties where the Human Alliance will intervene if threatened. Even so, over the centuries, there have been numerous threats including the Trans-Galactic Empire, the Spluggorth, and others. With the Kreeghor, nobody knows what would happen with a full fledged invasion. Assuming that the Human Alliance becomes involved, would that draw the Consortium in as well.

One can never fully trust one’s allies to intervene when the time comes. With previous encounters, the Icaria government has had this lesson demonstrated to them over and over again. Their treaty with the Human Alliance has never been tested but some of their closer neighbors have not been available when called to. As a result, the system has one of the largest independent fleets in the Three Galaxies. Some systems might prefer primarily system defense forces but Icaria has always preferred a more mobile force which could respond to problems outside of their system. There has been several cases where they have responded to enemy forces gathering for an attack.

With four active fleets, the Icaria operates five battlecruisers in addition to carriers and numerous cruisers and destroyers. It is assumes that one battlecruiser will be in a maintenance stand down status. These five battlecruisers are named Hermione, Nisus, Euryalus, Arethusa, and Penelope. Few single star systems have the ability to built large capital ships such as battleships and battlecruisers. Even Icaria lacks the ability to build warships larger than a battlecruiser. The Hermione class battlecruiser is the newest class of battlecruisers developed by the system, replacing the previous Triton class of battlecruisers. Slightly smaller, the previous Triton class had served admirably over their long lives.

Previous to the Hermione class, the technology of the Icaria largely followed Human Alliance developments. While still based heavily on Human Alliance technology, the Hermione class shows quite a bit of innovation as well. While ultimately it was decided to upgrade the Yamato class, early on the Human Alliance strongly considered adopting a modified version of the previous Triton class battlecruiser. The idea is not quite dead with a number of Human Alliance fleet officers continuing to advocate the battlecruiser design although based on the Hermione design instead.

Probably where one notices this most significantly departure in design is in the energy weapon battery. The Human Alliance is largely replacing their particle beam batteries with laser weaponry. The engineers in Icaria instead decided to develop a new generation of far more powerful particle beams. While essentially the same size, only massing a little more than standard particle beam mounts, these particle beams have about twenty-five percent greater output. There is speculation that the company plans to offer the particle beams as upgrades to older ships but presently only ships of the Icaria navy are equipped with these advanced particle beams. As well, energy requirements of the new particle beams is much greater which would requiring extensive upgrading of older ships’s power grids.

Following a similar layout to previous Icaria battlecruisers, the Hermione class battlecruiser is fitted with four forty-two centimeter particle beams with six twenty centimeter particle beams as secondary weaponry. No lighter weaponry than the twenty centimeter particle beams are mounted as part of the main battery. Still, the ships main battery gives the battlecruiser the firepower of some older battleships while still a much smaller vessel. At around six million metric tons, the Hermione masses a little less than half of a Yamato class battleship.

For missile weaponry, these battlecruisers mount four capital missile batteries, four long range missile batteries, and six medium range missile batteries. The long range and capital missiles are the more modern launchers used on such ships as the Warshield class cruiser. The Hermione has massive magazines with over twelve hundred capital missiles, almost two thousand long range missiles, and a similar number of medium range missiles.

As with the New Coventry Navy, Icaria was able to develop their own X-Ray laser warheads. In Icaria’s case, it is believed that they got the designs from the Human Alliance through quiet espionage. Previous Icaria battlecruisers mounted mini-missile batteries in place of the medium range missile batteries. While current Icaria vessels do not mount pepper box launchers, the idea is being advanced in naval circles.

Close range point defense weaponry also follows a different development path than Human Alliance current developments. Present mix on Human Alliance ships are heavy point defense gravity rail guns, particle beams, and Tachyon Scatter Beams. Instead, the Hermione mounts twelve variable focus particle beams and twelve heavy electromagnetic point defense rail guns.

Much more effective against missiles than conventional particle beams, the variable focus particle beams are direct copies of those mounted on the Consortium Assault Shuttle. A number of other military forces and mercenary companies have adopted this extremely effective weapon. One of the most prominent user of these weapons is the Tri-Galactic Military Service.

While Icaria does not lack technology to build gravity rail guns, electromagnetic magnetic rail guns are far easier to maintain than gravity rail guns. Firing forty millimeter high density projectiles, the design is suspiciously similar to the design used by the Caramelles Kingdom although Icaria having acquired the design for the Kingdom. Caramelles Kingdom is not real popular in Human Alliance and Consortium government circle so even if there is a connection, it is wise to keep quiet.

While not as well armored as the Yamato and Protector class battleships, the ship carries armor almost the equal of the old Agamemnon class battleship. As a result, the battlecruiser is able to withstand considerable damage. The variable shield are the equal in output of the shields carried on the Yamato class battleship. Of course, the generators are far smaller than those mounted on the old Human Alliance battleship.

Even though well armored and shielded, the Hermione class battlecruiser is quite fast with a maximum acceleration of more than thirty percent greater than a Yamato class battleship. While not by as large a margin, the battlecruiser has greater acceleration than a Consortium Protector class battleship. In faster than light space, the Hermione can reach upwards of six and a half light years per hour, virtually twice that of a Yamato class battleship. Power is provided by an advanced anti-matter plant with multiple fusion systems for backup.

Extensive automation allows this ship to be operated by a crew of under eight hundred, less than half the crew for a Yamato class battleship. Compared to the Yamato and Protector class battleships, the Hermione is not designed for troop assaults and carries only a minimal troop compliment. Only around two hundred are embarked. These ships are fitted with extensive command and control facilities to act as flagships.

The last ship of the class, Penelope, is fitted with an experimental battle link system. Under testing, there have been problems where it has failed to work properly and has had a couple of catastrophic failures in testing. The engineers working on the new system are confident that all of the problems will be worked out soon. Due to the redesign, it is unlikely the other three ships can be fitted even when fully operational. Slave systems should be easier to fit to other ships however and plans are to refit the other battlecruisers as well as cruisers with slave systems during refits.

For embarked craft, the Hermione embarks three squadrons of fighters. One squadron is of medium fighters with the other two squadrons being of light fighter designs. While Icaria has their own fighter manufacturing capacity, a large percentage of their fighters are older Human Alliance models including the Vixen light and Osprey medium fighters. While they have been heavily upgradedover the years, the Icaria military is looking to retire them. Presently, the system is in negotiations to purchase a number of Bearcat light fighters to replace the Vixen in service.

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

Model: INF-BC-20.

Class: Battlecruiser.

Crew: 780 (60 Officers, 720 enlisted).

Troops: 160 marines (80 typically stay on board for ship defense), 48 fighter pilots, and 40 power armor pilots.

Can carry up to 200 passengers in addition to troops and crew (generally flag personnel).

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors:

Fighter Compliment:

M.D.C. By Location:

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 also has an auxiliary and flag bridge. Even if all three bridges are taken out, 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 battlecruiser 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% (3,600 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 1 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 6.5 light-years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about one years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:

Length:                2,755.9 feet (840 meters).

Height:                433.1 feet (132 meters).

Width:                 748.0 feet (228 meters).

Mass/Weight:      6.39 million tons (5.8 million metric tons)

Power System: Anti-Matter with a 40 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 33,070 tons (30,000 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. Most of the ship’s spaces are taken up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.

Market Cost: Costs approximately 20 billion each to construct not including fighter compliment and missiles. At present Icaria system does not sell these ships. Older battlecruiser classes may be available although are extremely rare.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

1. Four (4) 42 cm “High Output” Particle Beam Mounts (2 Batteries): Mounted along the sides of the hull are two mounts with two 42 cm high output particle beams on each mount. While these weapons are not quite as powerful as the 40 inch laser batteries on the Protector class Battleship, they are quite powerful and capable of taking out huge targets. Each battery can fire at up to two different targets or can be combined on one target. These cannons are capable of firing forward to aft and anywhere along the side of the ship. The cannons are also capable of 45 degrees up or down. When these weapons are massed, they are capable of taking out cruisers in two blasts. 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: 1D6x1000+1000 M.D.C. each Particle Beam. Both weapons in a battery can be combined to do 2D6x1000+2000 M.D.C.

   Rate of Fire: Maximum of three (3) times per melee per particle beam. (Battlecruiser has 4 cannons so ship can fire a total of 12 single shots from the main battery per melee round.)

   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.

2. Six (6) 20 cm “High Output” Particle Beam Mounts: These 20 cm particle beams are mounted in the top and bottom of the ship. Batteries can be fired up to 120 degrees toward the rear on either side (can only fire one cannon at a target at that angle but can spin to be able to bring various batteries to bear) and can fire at a 60 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: 3D6x100+300 M.D.C. each.

   Rate of Fire: Maximum of three (3) times per melee per particle beam.

   Payload: Effectively Unlimited.

3. Twelve (12) 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. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities. Each mount can be operated by a gunner or a gunner program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee round.)

   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.

4. Twelve (12) 40 mm Electromagnetic Point Defense Rail Guns: Unlike most of the rail guns used on Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. Comparatively heavy weapons, the rail guns fire a heavy 40 mm high density projectile and have excellent range. Each turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Weapons are mounted around the ship for point defense. The rail gun still fires projectiles at incredible velocities compared to rail guns on Rifts Earth and projectiles are fired from rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

   Maximum Effective Range: Rail guns have a range of 12 miles (19.3 km) through atmosphere and 1,200 miles (1,930 km) in space.

   Mega-Damage: Rail Cannon inflicts 3D6x10+30 M.D.C. for a 10 round burst.

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

   Payload: Rail Cannon has 2,000 Rounds (200 Bursts) each cannon.

5. Four (4) Cruise Missile Batteries: Missile has 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.) Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launching starship, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless preset to self destruct or receives a destruct code 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.) See Modified starship rules for more details - Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. These are modern Consortium missile batteries similar to those carried on a number of warships. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.

   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.

   Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Anti-Matter multi-warheads inflict 5D6x100 M.D.C.)

   Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) per launcher, per melee round, for a maximum of 128 missiles per melee round. Launchers are reloaded on the same melee round and can be fired again on the next.

   Payload: 128 total, 32 cruise missiles per launcher. Ship has 10 reload of missiles (1,280 cruise missile reloads total).

6. 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.

   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.)

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

   Payload: 1,920 total, 480 long range missiles per launcher.

7. Six (6) 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 (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: 1,920 total, 320 medium range missiles per launcher.

Other Systems:

• Battlelink Main Control System: Only mounted on the battlecruiser Penelope. The Main Battlelink computer provides the Archer with the ability to share targeting data with other capital ships in the area, which provides all ships participating in the link with improved targeting solutions and hit chances, both for their point defense, as well as their capital weapon systems.For more information regarding the Battlelink, go to Phase World Battle Link. Note: There is a 20% chance the system will not be operational at any given time. If it fails, there is a 10% of catastrophic failure. In such a case, the main fire control systems are knocked offline and the ship will be at -5 with all weapon systems.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Copyright © 2014, Kitsune. All rights reserved.

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