Q-Ship (Consortium Design / Destroyer Size Class):

Q-Ships are a relatively simple design and are easy to built. They are Merchant ship designs converted to warships while still appearing to be merchant ships. There are many different versions of Q-Ships, some are just regular merchant ships with just a few added weapon systems while others are virtually completely rebuild or are new construction. They come in various different sizes with some being the size of Corvettes while others being as large as heavy cruisers. Various governments use the ships for various missions including anti-piracy, privateer, and special secret missions. Some Independent defense forces use these ships for anti-piracy patrols with these ships hiding within a convoy. They might also be used to make the initial attack with warships behind them by the more belligerent powers such as the Trans-Galactic Empire.

It is suspected by some within the Consortium that these type of ships and others which are similar are sold to independent parties by the Trans-Galactic Empire and other less savory governments and companies. Independent parties often means pirates, of course. In most cases, the suspected sources of these ships deny that they provide the ships but it can be seen by the construction techniques who constructed the vessels. Still, some of the ships which find their way into pirates hands are from more respected governments which were disposed of and then sold on the black market. As well, pirates will sometimes refit a vessel on their own using an abandoned asteroid yard or other out of the way location.

The class listed here assuming a ship which is around the size of a large destroyer and is slightly larger than a Scimitar class patrol vessel. The class is considered to be around the same size as a typical merchant ship and is sometimes called a "Tramp Freighter." The hardware carried on the vessel in mostly of Consortium design although similar vessels are built using Kreeghor hardware. This design is assumed to either be a fully reconstructed vessel or one which has been built from the keel out as a new vessel. Those which are built from the keel out normally have additional internal armor and compartmentalization. Due to this, the new construction ships are tougher and are able to withstand additional damage. All vessels have the bridge armored to withstand additional damage from hits on the bridge. These ships have a good chance of winning against the slightly smaller Scimitar class patrol vessel and might even be able to defeat an escort cruiser in the right situation. Against such ships as a larger cruiser such as a Warshield class cruiser, these ships have very little hope of victory in a one-on-one battle.

Most ships traveling through the Three Galaxies have at least some light weaponry and the vessel carries the standard weaponry of a merchant ship so that it does not appear unusual. This includes on most vessels, four light laser batteries and four medium range missile batteries although the missile batteries have been modified with greater payload and rate of fire. The true firepower of the ship is in concealed weapon systems which take up most of the cargo space in the vessel. The concealed weapons on some designs are hidden under plates which can be jettisoned while other designs use powered hatches which open to fire weaponry. What some captains will do is to allow an enemy ship to get close and then suddenly fire all weapons while the other ship still thinks that they are a standard merchant vessel. The concealed weaponry includes both powerful energy weapon mounts and missile systems. For missiles, the ships carry a heavy cruise missile battery. Although payload is limited, the weapon system has the ability to fire incredible volleys of missiles for a ship its size while payload holds out. The ship also has triple mounts in the front of the ship which are concealed when not being fired. Six variable focus particle beams are also concealed on the ship along the sides. These concealed mounts are used for point defense against missiles and as close in defense against fighters and power armors.

While weapons are the most important upgrades to the vessel design, many other modifications are made to the design. The standard merchant shields are replaced by full variable shields like those carried on warships and the design carries military radiation and particle shields. The sensors of the ship are upgraded to military quality and generally about equal to most sensors carried on destroyer class vessels. To hide all of the internal systems and special equipment, the ship is protected from internal scans by a stealth system that gives false readings like those reading you would get from a normal merchantman. The propulsion system are standard for a merchant ship because the engine would be expensive to replace and the ship is a bit on the slow side compared to many destroy classes.

For fighter support, the ship has a small concealed hanger to carry six small fighters. The space is where the ship would normal have the main cargo hatch. Common fighters carried include the Scorpion light starfighter, Tanto light starfighter, Bobcat light starfighter, or even the Kitten trainer configured to a light starfighter configuration. In some cases, Kittani Robot Fighters or Avenger Power Armors are carried in the place of the light starfighters. In addition to carrying the fighters, the ship can also carry up to forty small to medium power armors. The most common power armor design is the silverhawk power armor or its knock offs. Other common power armors include the K-Universal Power Armor and the New Coventry Combat Environment Power Armors. Large Power armors such as the Avenger, Glitter boy, or Kittani Robot Fighters cannot be carried in place of the light or medium power armors.

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: CML-1200Q
Vehicle Type: Q-Ship (Built on a Merchantman type hull)
Crew: 65 (5 Officers and 60 enlisted)
Troops: 80 Marines, 12 fighter pilots

Vehicles:

	6	Small Starfighters (Common fighters include Scorpion, Tanto, Bobcat, and Kitten fighters)
	40	Light or Medium Power Armors (Commonly Silver Hawk Power armors).

M.D.C. By Location:

Rebuilt Vessel:

New Construction:

Concealed Heavy Particle Beam (3):	650 each	800 each
Laser Batteries (4):	500 each	500 each
Concealed Variable Focus Particle Beam (6):	200 each	300 each
Concealed Cruise Missile Batteries (2):	800 each	1,000 each
Medium Range Missile Batteries (4):	300 each	450 each
Concealed Fighter Hanger Doors (2):	500 each	600 each
[1] Contra-Grav Engines (2):	2,000 each	2,500 each
[2] Bridge:	1,500	2,000
[3] Main Body:	5,000	6,000
[4] Variable Force Field:	1,000 side (6,000 total)	1,000 side (6,000 total)

Notes:
[1] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[2] 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 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.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the Q-Ship 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% (300 M.D.C.) per melee

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 0.7 percent of light per melee. Ship has had the merchant radiation and particle shields replaced with military ones.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 300 mph ( 482 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 3 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about three years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 600 feet (182.9 meters)
Height: 70 feet (21.3 meters)
Width: 90 feet (27.4 meters)
Mass/ Weight: 13,000 tons (11,800 metric tons)
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 2,000 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 take up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: 340 million credits for a rebuilt ship and 420 million credits for a new built vessel. Most builders will only sell starship to allied governments (To keep out of the hands of Pirates) although many still find their way into other's hands.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Three (3) Concealed Heavy Particle Beam Cannons: Q-Ships primary energy weapon system. Mounted in the nose of the star ship in concealed mounts. Each particle beam can be fired individually or simultaneously. Weapon is similar to those carried on the Hunter class frigate although they have a higher rate of fire. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 10,000 miles (16,000 km) in space and 20 miles (32 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega-Damage: 2D4x100 M.D. each (6D4x100 Maximum for all three)
Rate of Fire: Maximum of two (2) times per melee per cannon.
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) Laser Batteries: Weapon system is part of the original design and are used as an anti-missile, anti-power armor, and anti-star fighter. Weapons system has no penalties to hit fighters and small targets and can be operated by a gunner or a gunner program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee). The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 200 miles (322 km) in space and 4 miles (6.4 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 3D6x10 M.D.C. each.
Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Six (6) Concealed Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts: Mounted in concealed 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.
Two (2) Concealed Cruise Missile Batteries: Uses engines to conceal the anti-matter or fusions warheads and all batteries fire forward. 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, battery, 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 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 penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. This battery is copy of the CAF batteries. 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. each.)
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) missiles per battery, per melee round, for a maximum of 64 missiles per melee. Batteries are reloaded on the same melee and can be fired again on the next.
Payload: 64 total, 32 cruise missiles per battery. Ship has 1 reload of missiles (64 missiles total)
Four (4) Medium Range Missile Batteries: A slightly modified version of the medium range missile batteries carried on a normal Merchantman. They can fire larger volleys and have a much larger payload than the launchers originally carried. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Normally used for anti-fighter and point defense. 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 battery.
Payload: 160 per battery for a total of 640 medium range missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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