Slayne "Smiter" Fighter:

Starfighter combat is mostly alien to the Slayne. One thing that fighter pilots need is a sense of independence and have an originality in their tactics. This is something which the Slayne appear to mostly lack. The fighters are manned by the "Engineer" subspecies. They perform most of the technical aspects which the Slayne require from ship engineering to medical fields. Flying fighters is another technical area to them and that cuts their effectiveness. As well, their reaction speed simply is not that of a fighter pilot. The "Officer" class might be better as fighter pilots but they just are not common enough and the "Soldier" class lack the free will to be useful at all as fighter pilots.

There is a rumor which found its way to some intelligence officers that the Slayne are breeding a new subspecies for the fighter. Nobody really knows where the rumor came from and there is no confirmation although the concept is intriguing. It has been suggested that there is an attempt to combine the some of the independence of an "Officer" class, some of the technical abilities of the "Engineer" while making the new subspecies fairly rapidly breeding. If they succeed in breeding this "Pilot" subspecies, it is suggested that the Slayne might consider operating carriers.

As a result of the Slayne's general lack of fighter skills, the Slayne presently operate a tiny number of fighters and instead mostly rely on larger ships. The fighters they do operate are also behind the performance curve of the fighters operated by the major powers and even most older fighters have a higher general performance curve. As a result, these fighters are usually operated in support in support of larger ships and are not used in independent roles. Scouting roles for cruisers is usually performed by destroyers.

The one thing the fighter is that it is extremely tough. The fighter is about as tough as the Consortium Black Eagle fighter. This is due to the incredible bio-armor materials which the Slayne use. The gives the fighter an unusual appearance with the appearance of spikes and thorns growing from the fighter. The fighter is a basic delta wing configuration and they grow in such a manner not to horribly impact the fighter’s atmospheric performance. The dull black hull also has the ability to regenerate damage and adapt to attacks again it. Unfortunately, even though the fighter is extremely tough, it lacks a protective force field.

Like most fighter classes operated within the Three Galaxies, power is provided by a small fusion reactor. This reactor is quite massive for the reactor carried in a fighter and has a fairly limited duration. The reactor also has a relatively limited output. The drive system is the most powerful drive system the Slayne produce for its mass although still behind the performance curve. The only fighter with a similar which has a similar performance curve is the Naruni Broadsword fighter.

Weapon systems are much closer to those of most Three Galaxy fighter classes generally especially with missiles. The fighter carries a total of eight medium range missiles in two wing mounted bays. These give the fighter the ability to intercept attacks at a reasonably long range. Outside of each is a mini-missile launcher with six in each launcher for a total of twelve mini-missiles. The fighter is designed to be able to carry a pair of capital scale missiles externally. With the fighter most often operating in an interceptor role, the capital scale missiles are rarely carried. The fighter mounts a single electromagnetic rail gun under the fuselage. The Slayne have not managed to copy a gravity rail design.

In addition to the rumor of a new "Pilot" subspecies, there is also the rumor of an improved version of the fighter. Several improvements are suggested including the addition of light shields, a more powerful fusion reactor, and a more powerful drive system. One idea is to mount a thruster similar (although likely less powerful than) than a Consortium Scorpion light fighter. There is also the suggestion that they may be trying to get a more modern fighter and simply copy it. There is the rumor of an Osprey class fighter fitted by Slayne Bio-Armor with a vastly greater ability to withstand damage. As well, the Slayne fighter could be adapted to other races although the life support would likely be inadequate for most races.

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

Model Type: Slayne "Smiter" Fighter
Vehicle Type: Medium Fighter
Crew: Two ("Engineer" Types - Could be adapted to other races)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Medium Range Missile Launchers (2 - Sides):	120 each
	Mini-Missile Launchers (2 - Sides):	80 each
	Cruise Missile Hard Points (2, Underside):	8 each
	20 mm Electromagnetic Rail Gun (Fuselage)	160
	[1] Main Body:	840
	Cockpit:	150

Notes:
[1] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the fighter out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. Both the hull and the ship’s systems have the ability to repair themselves. These repairs are affected at the rate of 1D6x10 M.D.C. per minute. The ship can only repair up to half the M.D.C. of the main body without needing additional resources.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 40 percent of the speed of light. Fighter can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.9 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum normal speed is Mach Two (1,482.9 mph /2,386.5 kph), can enter and leave atmosphere because flight system is by contra grav.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by drive system but only has supplies for pilots for two weeks. Life support will not support a human and most other sentient beings.

Statistical Data:
Length: 45.28 feet (13.8 meters) for hull. Spikes / thorns add an additional 3.2 feet (0.98 meters)
Height: 14.44 feet (4.4 meters) for hull. Spikes / thorns add an additional 3.2 feet (0.98 meters)
Width: 43.96 feet (13.4 meters) for hull. Spikes / thorns add an additional 3.2 feet (0.98 meters)
Weight: 15.98 Tons (14.5 metric tons) Empty and 17.31 tons (15.7 metric tons) fully loaded.
Power System: Fusion Reactor; Average energy life is 5 years.
Cargo: It is assumed that there is a small (3 x 3 x 3 ft / 1 x 1 x 1 m ) compartment located behind the crew compartment / cockpit.
Market Cost: As far as known, the Slayne has not sold any of these fighters. Still, it is likely that they would trade the fighter for advanced technology. Most governments would offer several hundred million for one of these fighters to study it.

Weapons Systems:

One (1) 20 mm Electromagnetic Rail Gun: The fighter mounts a single rail gun under the fuselage of the fighter. Unlike most of the rail guns used on most Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. 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.
Maximum Effective Range: Rail guns have a range of 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.
Mega Damage: Rail Cannon inflicts 2D6x10 M.D. for a 30 round burst.
Rate of Fire: Equal to number of combined hand to hand attacks of pilot (usually 4-6)
Payload: Rail Cannon has 6,000 rounds/ 200 Bursts.
Two (2) Medium Range Missile Launchers: On each side of the of the fighter inside of the mini-missile launchers are medium range missile launchers. Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and missiles. Weapon system is also used for anti-cruise missile. 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. Weapon system can be used on multiple targets.
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), or eight (8) missiles.
Payload: Eight (8) medium range missiles.
Two (2) Mini-Missile Launchers: On each side of the fighter outside of the medium range missile launchers are six mini-missile launchers with a total of twelve mini-missiles. The launchers have the ability to fire up to six mini-missiles as a single volley. A shield comes down to protect the launchers when not being fired. 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). Three Galaxy Mini-Missiles are normally guided with most common warheads being armor piercing types.
Maximum Effective Range: Mini-Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.
Mega Damage: As per Mini-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), three (3), four (4), or six (6) missiles.
Payload: Six (6) in each launcher for twelve (12) total.
Two (2) Cruise Missiles (Optional): Optionally, the fighter can carry a pair of cruise missiles under the fuselage on either side of the rail gun. 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, 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 starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile when dead is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart 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 (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).
Payload: Two (2) Cruise Missiles.

Special Equipment:

Adaptive Hull: The fighter has the ability to adapt to any non magical attacks on it. Once a specific attack has been used against the ship, it will adapt to that attack and any attack of that type that is encountered afterwards will only be at half effect in the next engagement. Magical attacks will continue to inflict full damage. Variable frequency weapons such as variable frequency lasers can be reset to do full damage once this is discovered. The adaption takes about five days to be completed.

Combat Penalties:

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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