Ruardiss Nyada “Theron” class Destroyer (Modified Hunter Class):

Located outside the fringes of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds, Ruardiss Nyada was originally settled by Wolfen. Less explored than most, the area of space is considered relatively hostile with numerous threats having been faced since the system was settled. Even so, the citizens of the system preferred to be independent of the Consortium and decided that they would settle outside of space controlled by them. While the initial settlers were Wolfen, a large number of other sentient beings have settled as well.

Even from the beginning, there were concerns about potential threats. As a result, a large military force was part of the original settlement effort. The core of this military were Wolfen fleet officers and personnel who had been demobilized when the Consortium of Civilized Worlds was formed. As time has gone on, the military has opened up to other sentient beings as well although the majority of personnel are still Wolfen.

While the system defense forces have been successful in defending the system, there are still threats from unexplored space and there is still a strong lawless threat. Recently, the Caramelles Kingdom has been growing and in cosmological terms is relatively close. Both government and military leaders are concerned with this growing belligerent power.

The core of the original military fleet were warships which were declared surplus when the Consortium was formed and the Wolfen fleets were reduced. Most of these ships were of the smaller classes. For logistical reasons, it was decided to mostly maintain fleets of these warships with an effort made to acquire more of most classes. While there has been quite a bit of controversy around it, early on it was decided not to invest in major shipyards for shipbuilding.

Instead, their warships have been generally been purchased from retired Wolfen stocks although a few have been acquired over the years from independent defense forces and a few have even been captured from pirates. The system leadership has worked hard to maintain a “favored” status with the Wolfen leadership within the Consortium, enabling them to purchase warships for prices which would not otherwise be possible outside of Consortium space. The only limitation has been than generally the most advanced technology is not available.

The Wolfen Hunter class destroyer is one of the most common warships within the Three Galaxies. As a result, it has been the easiest to acquire in numbers. Four Hunters of the current fleet have been captured from pirates. Currently the system defense force operates thirty-two of these destroyers with plans to acquire more. In most ways, these destroyers can be considered the core of the military forces of the Ruardiss Nyada system. The system defense forces only operate a handful of large ships, preferring smaller ships which require much smaller crews.

While system defense forces do not have the facilities for the construction of new warships, they do have extensive facilities for the refitting. In some cases, these warships have been in rough shape when they were acquired, especially those which cam from self defense forces or captured from pirates. Still, the Hunter class destroyers operated by the Ruardiss Nyada system are not upgraded to the extent of some of the other classes with the main weaponry retained.

In some cases, one of the particle beams was badly damaged and was replaced by a particle beam from a Stalker class carrier which had its particle beams replaced by a long range missile battery. Even though the new particle beams developed by the New Coventry military are considered nice, the replacement of the particle beams has been rejected due to costs.

With the introduction of new fire control software, the capital missile battery is considered far more effectively than it was originally with the ability to fire volleys of capital missiles. Since the introduction of the software, these destroyers enter far more often into long range missile combat. The system does have anti-matter warheads although warships generally carries fusion warheads. Recently, there has been an effort to acquire plans for X-Ray laser warheads. Cargo space has been cut to increase magazine size. For defense against missiles, the destroyer retains the twin medium range missile batteries.

As far as secondary weaponry, the original electromagnetic rail guns are retained. Some naval leaders wanted to replace them with GR-1000 gravity rail guns but it was decided that it would needlessly complicate logistics for little gain. The original lasers however are replaced by variable focus particle beams. Considered extremely effective against missiles, they were originally carried on the Consortium Assault Shuttle.

Other than various sensor upgrades, these destroyers retain the standard systems of a Hunter class destroyer. Even though an older design, these destroyers still have better faster than light drives than the Trans-Galactic Empire Berserker and have marginally greater acceleration as well. These ships are however quite cramped and if anything are slightly worse than the original Hunter.

Originally four Gladius medium fighters were embarked aboard each destroyer but the fighter lacked a shield generator. Unfortunately, the advanced model of the Wolfen fighter was not available. The Bushido Industries Katana was a favored design but their cost was considered prohibitive, costing over twice as much as the fighter which they would replace. Instead, it was decided that the Bobcat would be operated from the destroyers even though the new fighters were lighter armored. These fighters were already being operated from off the system’s scout carriers. Eventually these fighters will likely be replaced by the Bearcat fighter. The hanger was modified to enable the embarking of six light fighters in the place of the four original medium fighters.

In addition to the fighters, the ship embarks eight space power armors. It was decided to adopt the “Stormcrow,” a knock off design of the Consortium Silverhawk design. While not quite the equal of the Consortium design, the Stormcrow is still extremely effective.

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: HF-75 (Upgraded).

Vehicle Type: Frigate Combat Ship.

Crew: 24 (2 Officers and 22 Enlisted.)

Troops: 8 Power Armor Troops and up to 12 fighter pilots.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors:

SC-MM-1000 Stormcrow Space Combat Exoskeletons.

Fighter Compliment:

Consortium SF-128 Bobcat Light Starfighter.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Heavy Particle Beam Cannon (Front, built into hull):	800.
	Heavy Particle Beam Cannons (2, built into sides):	650 each.
	Electromagnetic Point Defense Rail Gun Turrets (4):	400 each.
	Variable Focus Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (4):	300 each.
	Cruise Missile Launcher (1, underside):	1,000.
	Medium Range Missile Batteries (2, Top and Underside):	450 each.
	[1] Bridge:	1,200.
	[2] Main Body:	4,500.
	[3] Variable Force Field:	1,000 a side (6,000 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. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but the ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapons hit near the bridge that does 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 destroyer 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% (300 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 0.95 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum cruise speed is Mach 1.0 (761.2 mph / 1225.1 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 4.5 light-years per hour.

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

Statistical Data:

Length: 300 feet (91.4 meters).

Height: 70 feet (21.3 meters).

Width: 80 feet (24.4 meters).

Weight / Mass: 6,200 tons (5,624.5 metric tons).

Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting. Backed up with emergency fusion plants.

Cargo: Small cargo hold that can carry up to 200 tons (181.4 metric tons) of cargo not including a standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Hold is 20 x 20 x 40 feet in dimensions (6.1 x 6.1 x 12.2 meters). 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 “standard” Hunter class Destroyer costs approximately 320 million credits. Upgrades cost approximately 40 million credits for a total cost of approximately 360 million. These ships are generally not for sale however one might expect them to cost up to 600 to 800 million credits under some circumstances. In all cases, cost does not include embarked craft.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Three (3) 10 cm Heavy Particle Beam Cannons: The mounts are identical to those carried in a standard Hunter class destroyer and are extremely effective. They can often devastate another destroyer in just a few shots and usually all three are concentrated on a single target. The weapons have good range although not useful against fighters and has standard penalties to hit small targets. One cannon is in the nose and the other two are on the sides mostly in the hull and are extremely well protected. 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: Each one can be fired up to one time in a melee.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) 14.5 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. 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. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light. Rail gun uses 14.5 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 guns inflict 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.

3 Four (4) Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts: Replace the point defense lasers and have greater range and inflict more damage be shot. 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.
One (1) Cruise Missile Launchers: Missiles have 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, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missiles 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 the 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. While missiles are only launched at the rate of one at a time, the ship’s computer has special software that allows all the missiles to hit a target at the same time for the purpose to make point defense of a target more easily overwhelmed. This is done by slowing down the acceleration of missiles and by setting some for delayed activation and target must be at least 30 seconds away. Missiles are then considered to only have an acceleration of 5% of light for the first turn.

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 and Fusion multi-warheads inflict 3D6x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: One cruise missile per melee attack (special software allows 4 to 8 cruise missiles to be launched as one volley depending on gunners hand to hand attacks.)

Payload: 60 cruise missiles total (Usually 10 decoys and 50 anti-ship warheads - either anti-matter or heavy fusion.)
Two (2) 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. Missiles have 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 (Multi-warhead heavy warheads inflict 5D6x10 M.D.C. each - See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire medium range missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), or eight (8) medium range missiles per battery.

Payload: 160 per launcher for a total of 320 medium range missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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