Icaria Kerauno (Lightning Bolt) Fast Courier / Yacht:

One of the wealthiest star systems in the Three Galaxies, the Icaria system happens to be located on the juncture of multiple important trade routes crisscrossing the Three Galaxies. Massive amounts of trade pass through the independent star system.

Even so, the system is well known for its shipbuilding industries and it is a significant aspect of the system’s economy. Not counting the system’s military shipyards, the system builds various civilian vessels from the smallest shuttles to the largest bulk cargo vessels. This includes a number of advanced fast courier designs.

The military is well known for building some of the best corvette designs in the Three Galaxies. This same technology has found its way into the development of fast courier designs. Fast couriers sometimes get a bad reputation as runners but they have many legitimate uses as well. Certain cargos are extremely time sensitive and these smaller vessels are also extremely useful as scouts as well.

Named for a lighting bolt, the Kerauno class fast courier is one of the newest civilian designs built by the system’s massive shipyard industry. It is more of the most advanced civilian vessel designs within the Three Galaxies and is fast, well armed for its size, and has available to it some of the best sensors mounted on a civilian designs. For a courier design, it is a bit on the large side although still far smaller than most merchant classes.

Cargo space is considered excellent with a maximum cargo load of two hundred metric tons of cargo. Even though a relatively expensive design, this makes the ship quite economical. These vessels are designed around a crew of six although can easily be run by a crew of two for long periods of time. The courier has four cabins standard and can, even without major refit, fit sixteen comfortably. In addition, these ships have a full galley and general purpose common room.

In common with many fast courier designs, a number of wealthy individuals have purchased these vessels in order to convert them into yachts. In such cases, these ships have the cargo spaces converted to luxury suites. In such version, the vessel can easily embark forty-eight passengers and crew.

There are a few civilian faster designs in the Three Galaxies but the Kerauno is still extremely fast with a top speed of five and a half light years per hour. It also has an acceleration in normal space which is comparable to a Osprey class fighter. Even in an atmosphere, the courier has been compared to a fighter or corvette design. As with virtually all civilian designs, power is provided by a an extremely advanced fusion reactor.

As the Three Galaxies can be a dangerous place and even speed is not always a protection against being attacked, these ships are well armed although not considered to be armed to the same level as most warships. Most important are that these couriers are armed with a pair of long range missile batteries. Thirty-two missiles are provided in the missile magazines for each battery with more able to be carried the cargo bays. Backing these up are four variable focus particle beams. Some owners of these vessels have added additional weapon systems with forward firing rail guns being popular.

The engineers who developed the courier also designed an extremely powerful shield generator for its mass. Some in the Consortium are concerned because it is a more powerful than the generators mounted on the Proctor class heavy fighter. It is also surprisingly well armored for a civilian design although not quite at the level of a corvette. Between the powerful force field and the ship’s armor, it is quite well protected.

To facilitate the ship being able to be operated by a small crew, it features advanced automation. This includes fire control systems which enable the weapon system to be able to be operated on computer control. The ship also is fitted with two automated repair drones which are able to perform both minor and major repairs on the vessel when required. Still, many crews considered a human touch better both with the weapon systems and general operations.

Various upgrades are available as far as sensors and stealth systems. The sensor systems can be upgraded to near corvette level although some systems do remain at civilian level. The reason why military level stealth systems are available is that these ships may be used to carry sensitive cargos or may be operated as scout ships. Of course runners may take advantage of this as well.

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: INF-FC-24.

Vehicle Type: Fast Courier / Scout / Yacht.

Crew: Six (Can be run by two).

Passengers: Twelve (12) as a Courier / Scout. Forty-Two (42) as a Yacht.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Variable Focus Particle Beam Cannon Turrets (4):	150 each.
	Long Range Missile Batteries:	300 each.
	[1] Cockpit / Bridge:	500.
	[2] Main Body:	2,400.
	[3] Variable Force Field:	500 per side (3,000 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 hull. 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] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the courier out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (150 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 50 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1.2 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is Mach 4.5 (3,425.5 mph / 5,512.8 kph), can enter an atmosphere because flight system is using contra grav.

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 5.5 light years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about six months years worth of supplies on board although can be stretched to twelve in an emergency.

Statistical Data:

Length: 159.1 feet (48.5 meters).

Height: 41.99 feet (12.8 meters).

Width: 53.15 feet (16.2 meters).

Weight/Mass: 551.2 Tons (500 metric tons).

Power System: Nuclear with a average life span of 25 years. The ship normally only goes 7 years between refueling and refitting.

Cargo: Can carry up to 220.5 tons (200 metric tons) in addition to crew’s supplies. Each crew member has a reasonable amount of space for personal gear.

Market Cost: 65 million without military sensors or stealth systems. Each system (sensors or stealth) costs 20 million extra each. Luxury quarters cost an additional 10 million.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Four (4) Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts: Mounted on the top, bottom, and sides of the courier. 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 gunnery 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), four (4), or eight (8) long range missiles per melee attack.

Payload: Sixty-four (64) total, thirty-two (32) long range missiles per battery. Extra long range missiles can be carried in the ship’s cargo hold.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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