"Wulfgar" Pirate Frigate (Converted Old Style Berserker):

Pirates tend to find whatever ships they can to use as pirate ships. Converted merchant hulls are the most common but pirates have their fair share of purpose built military vessels, mostly older vessels but not exclusively. There are some Consortium, Human Alliance, and Wolfen hulls in the hands of pirates. There is even a small number of United World Warlock ships in the hands of pirates.

As well, there are quite a number of Trans-Galactic Empire vessels which have wound up in the hands of pirates. There are some thoughts that they are the most plentiful purpose built military vessels in the hands of pirates. Corruption seems to be a fact of life within the Empire and a number of hulls may have transferred hands in this manner. In other cases, these ships were sold or traded to allies and then changed hands again. A third situation seems to be that former Imperial Commanders found themselves with death sentences and decided that they had to make a run for it. Often the Empire is unhealthy for its own officers.

Still what is most of concern is the idea that the Empire actually allows these ships to pass into the hands of pirates so that they might create confusion. There have been a number of attacks against Consortium ships which were blamed on pirates by the Empire and many are concerned that they were ships in Imperial service and blaming pirates is just a convenient cover. Some attacks are off profile for pirates which makes them quite suspicious. Most pirates will not attack true warships even if they may be heavier armed.

The Wulfgar started its life as a Kreeghor Berserker class frigate, an older hull type with short range plasma weaponry instead of lasers and lower capacity capital missile launchers. When never vessels entered service, most of these older ships were put in mothballs and most likely the Wulfgar was as well. Recent investigation of the orbital anchorages shows large numbers of these ships missing. It is believed that a corrupt administrator sold off large numbers of these vessels, mostly to the Free Worlds Council but to others as well.

A Berserker is in some ways not as well suited to piracy as others vessels. The ship’s weaponry is designed for destroying enemy ships instead of capturing. The ships have no fighters and no troops embarked. Because of this, the Wolfgar had to be extensively modified.

The Wulfgar is a sight to behold. It shows signs of having been through quite a number of scrapes with scorches in many places and even more patches in a variety of colors. Still, the ship is basically sound. On either side of the hull hangs a light shuttle. Not true military designs, these shuttles are converted civilian shuttles with light weaponry fitted. Most of them are similar in basic design to the Dawkins class shuttle. These shuttles are used for boarding while the Wulfgar stands off. About two dozen troops in power armor can be carried in each one.

The interior is not any better than the exterior with the crew having been extremely slovenly and the inside of the ship being extremely filthy. Often the ship will operate with a reduced crew compared to a standard military compliment. The crew has been as low as sixty in some cases. A mixture of many different races, in many cases the crew is ill trained as well. Some are military and mercenaries who though that a pirate's life would be easier. About sixty troops can be carried onboard with most being in a motley assortment of power armors. Like the crew, these troops are not generally up to military standards and using the term "marines" is a misnomer. Some are ex military and are disciplined but most are nothing of the sort. Still, likely armed or unarmed merchant crews are completely at their mercy.

Weaponry is basically standard for an older type Berserker class frigate with the exception that payload is reduced in order to free up additional space for troops and cargo space. The Wulfgar loses half of its capital missile magazines. The launchers are modified so that they can fire one missile at a time instead of firing a full volley each time they fire. Often gravity warhead missiles are fired to pull merchant ships out of faster than light space. Anit-Matter, X-Ray Laser, decoys, and other special warheads are not carried. Usually, most of the missiles carried are laser initiated fusion warheads. The short range plasma weaponry and combination rail gun and mini missile launchers are unmodified. Sensors are also not up to modern standards although generally more effective than civilian designs.

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: Modified TIV-AL
Vehicle Type: Pirate Frigate (Modified Light Attack vessel/Missile ship)
Crew: 112 Standard (Often manned by 60 to 100 crew)
Troops: 60

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:
Power Armors:

Light / Medium Power Armors (Commonly Steel Grunt, Ground Pounders, and K-Universal)

Assault Shuttles:

Light Assault Shuttles (Modified Civilian Shuttles)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Horn Plasma Cannons (4, underside):	350 each
	Cruise Missile Batteries (2, front):	800 each
	Electromagnetic Rail Cannons/Missile Batteries (6):	250 each
	External Shuttle Racks (2, sides)	50 each
	[1] Bridge:	1,200
	[2] Main Body:	2,550
	[3] Variable Force Field:	800 a side (4,800 Total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. The ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge. All weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge can injure crew members near the bridge.
[2] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the Frigate 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% (240 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. The ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.75 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 500 mph (804.7 km), 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 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Usually carries about six months year worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 300 feet (91.5 meters)
Height: 98 feet (29.9 meters) from the horn cannons to the top of the ship or 80 feet (24.4 m) main body only.
Width: 89 feet (27.1 meters) with shuttles carried
Weight/Mass: 7,500 tons (6,803.88 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 30 year life span. Ship is designed to operate for about seven years between refueling although most pirates stretch this to the limit.
Cargo: Three cargo holds, each about 20 x 20 x 20 feet (6.1 x 6.1 x 6.1 meters) Each cargo hold can carry about 200 tons (181.4 metric tons) of cargo. Cargo can be carried in the shuttles as well (approximately 20 tons each) 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 take up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: Old Berserker class attack vessels generally run around 200 to 400 million credits when available on the black market. Cost for modifications and shuttles is around 80 million credits.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Four (4) Heavy Plasma Cannons: The ship has four plasma cannons. They are powerful but are very short ranged, most useful in close in strafing runs against much larger ships and stations. Weapon system can engage up to four different targets or can be combined to strike one target. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for large starship weaponry. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities. The plasma quickly breaks down when the weapon is used in an atmosphere
Maximum Effective Range 1,250 miles (2,012 km) in space and 12,000 feet (3,660 meters) in an atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: 1D4x100 M.D. each (all four may be combined for 4D4x100)
Rate of Fire: Two per cannon per melee.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited
Two (2) Cruise Missile Batteries: The older Kreeghor launchers could launch as large a volley as the newer launchers but were larger which reduced payload. These are further reduced to increase space. The ship carries batteries with ten cruise missile launchers each to launch cruise missile. 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) in space. 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 other starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have minuses to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. Each battery can be used to launch against multiple targets but is rarely used that way. Launchers are modified so a single missile can be fired and whatever remains in the launcher can be flushed in a single firing. Most advanced warhead types are not available and pirates generally do not carry decoy missiles.
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 (Fusion warheads inflict 2D6x100 M.D.C. each.)
Rate of Fire: Volleys of one or ten per launcher, per melee round, for a maximum of 20 missiles per melee (whatever the remained in the launcher can be fired as a single volley as well) Launchers are reloaded on the same melee and can be fired again on the next.
Payload: 40 total, 20 cruise missiles per launcher (Standard Loadout is 36 Fusion Warheads and 4 Gravity Warheads)
Six (6) 20 mm Electromagnetic Rail Gun/Mini Missile Batteries: Unlike most of the rail guns used on Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. These mounts are larger than the gravity rail guns mounts carried on the modern berserkers and less rail guns can be carried. 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. 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). Missile launchers can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
Maximum Effective Range Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space. Gravity Rail guns have a range of 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 (161 km) in space.
Mega-Damage: Rail Cannon inflicts 2D6x10 M.D. for a 30 round burst. Missiles vary by missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5). Missiles are fired one at a time or in volleys of two or four missiles
Payload: Rail Cannon has 6000 rounds/ 200 Bursts each, has 24 missiles at each launcher (192 total, can carry potentially several times more in storage holds.)

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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