Thoth Industries “Crystal Shard” Light Cruiser (T.W.):

As with the Consortium of Civilized Worlds, the United Worlds warlock had multiple companies building starships. Another parallel is that only a minority of companies actually to the overall government’s military while most cater to independent system defense forces and mercenary companies.

While relatively new, the company known as “Thoth Industries” is an up and company which has been growing rapidly. It was founded by a techno-wizard by the name of Asyribis. There are rumors that she is actually the Demi-God offspring of the god Thoth himself.

The company appears to specialize in crystalline designs. They produce a line of “Crystal Shard” craft including fighters, corvettes, and even light cruisers. In addition, the company produces its own variation on the Mystic Power Armor. More recently, the company has begun assisting other companies with new weapon systems and other technical assistance.

It is believed that any design much larger than the light cruiser would simply be too expensive to produce. When compared to more conventional designs, the “Crystal Shard” designs already cost around double designs of similar classes usually run. Even so, a surprising number of customers are willing to pay the extra for the “Crystal Shard” designs.

The engineering behind many United Worlds Warlock designs is often criticized. Engineers examining their designs often consider them to be comparatively primitive. Of course, within the United Worlds Warlock itself, these critical opinions are often themselves criticized as being unfair with magic giving their designs advantages over the conventional designs they are usually compared to.

Still, the engineering behind the “Crystal Shard” is seen as an exception to much of the critical opinions of United Worlds Warlock designs generally. They are considered to be approximately the equal in terms of general engineering of Consortium designs. With the enchantments these vessels also have, they are in many ways considered the best of both worlds with the advantages of both sides. For their sizes, they are often described as the most effective designs in the Three Galaxies.

Currently, the company has been most involved in sales to independent planetary defense forces within the United Worlds Warlock and techno-wizard mercenary company. As the largest and most expensive vessel the company produces, the company has not sold as many cruisers as it has any of its smaller designs but still a number have been sold.

There have been several attempts to get the actual United Worlds Warlock fleet to be interested in the various “Crystal Shard” designs but with little luck. There has been no interest in the light cruiser or corvette designs with only a handful of fighters having been purchased. These seem to have only been for examination and evaluation purposes. With regard to speculation, some have speculated that the “Crystal Shard” designs might be considered simply too expensive while it has also been suggested that there is an institutional resistance to designs that are different than the majority operated by the fleet.

Unlike the corvettes, these light cruisers less often are involved in anti-piracy operations. Most pirate ships are small and comparatively lightly armed. Engaging one of these light cruisers would be considered a nightmare by most pirates. As such, the cruisers have not been involved in anything like the engagements which the corvettes been involved in.

All of the “Crystal Shard” designs, including the light cruiser design, have a similar appearance. They look something like crystalline manta-rays with its wings bent slightly forward and a shorter tail than is seen in a true manta-ray. The various “Crystal Shard” designs are all described as works of art and are considered incredible incredibly beautiful. The light cruiser is not exception to that and unlike many cruiser designs, the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser is well streamlined for both atmospheric and underwater performance.

With respect to size, the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser is smaller than either the Consortium Warshield or the Trans-Galactic Empire Smasher class cruisers. One class considered to be of a similar size to the “Crystal Shard” class light cruiser is the Bushido Industries Raiden class light cruiser. As a result, discussions of the Thoth Industries design often compare it to the Bushido Industries design.

As with Thoth Industries other designs, the light cruiser’s hull is constructed from enchanted crystalline material that are immune to all non magical energy weapons yet is incredibly strong, at least as strong as most modern composites and alloys. It is only slightly less well armored than the Bushido Industries Raiden class. Most speculation is that the hull of the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser, as with other designs, uses a variation on the enchantments used to construct Mystic Power Armor. In a similar manner to the Mystic Power Armor, the use of the spell “Armor of Ithan’ and large amount focused mystical energies can be used to heal damage to the starship.

While the hull of the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser is immune to non magical energy weapons, there are still quite a number of weapons which are effective against it. There are a number of heavy projectile weapons with a new generation which are under development. In addition there are various armor piercing missiles which are quite effective against the hull material. Of course magical energy weapons are also effective against the vessel. As such, one cannot count on the ship not taking considerable damage in combat.

As a result, there was a perceived need for a force field in order to give the vessel additional protection. It has been suggested that Asyribis herself considered it absolutely essential. Even though early on, the “Invincible Armor” was the most likely option, the options of “Armor of Ithan” and a conventional variable force field were field tested as potential other options. While the “Invincible Armor” required more magical energy than the “Armor of Ithan” force field, it offered far better protection. The main issue with the conventional variable force field was that once it was depleted, it would take too long to regenerate in a combat situation.

While originally crude thrust based propulsion systems were mounted on most United Worlds Warlock, contra-grav propulsion systems have replaced them in most vessels. They are simply far more effective than virtually any other option. It was also inevitable that the light cruiser would mount a contra-grav system as well. The light cruiser was designed to have excellent acceleration, better than most cruisers or even destroyers. In fact, it has as good an acceleration as many corvette classes. Still both the “Crystal Shard” fighter and corvette do have better acceleration. While not quite as maneuverable as the corvette, the light cruiser is still surprisingly nimble.

Because the corvette already mounted a conventional contra-grav faster than light system, it was decided that the light cruiser would use the same even though there were a number of effective cruiser class propulsion systems. Top speed of the light cruiser, as with the corvette, is around six light years per hour. Tactically it is almost impossible to operate fleets with such fundamentally different faster than light propulsion systems effectively. Often ships may end up not striking their target at the same time and run the risk of get defeated in detail.

Unlike the corvette or fighter designs, it was decided that a fusion plant would not produce enough power for the light cruiser. As a result, it was decided to mount an anti-matter power plant. As with the fusion plants on the smaller designs, the anti-matter reactor and the fuel is located in a permanent dimensional pocket. Unlike smaller craft, the inside of the dimensional pocket can be accessed relatively easily for maintenance. Otherwise, it protects the ship from a collapse of the anti-matter containment and also gives the light cruiser virtually no neutrino signature. The ship has a number of fusion plants as backup also stored in permanent dimensional pockets. Unlike the anti-matter plant, these are not designed for easy maintenance but are designed for easy replacement of the entire unit.

The various weapon systems of the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser include both techno-wizard based and more conventional based designs. For its main anti-ship weaponry, the light cruiser mounts a pair of 20 cm lasers in what is effectively the nose of the vessel. Compared to the “Flame Cannons” on the Dwarven Iron Ship, these have around five times the range yet are usually as effective against most targets. As the secondary anti-ship weaponry, the light cruiser mounts four “Annihilate” cannon turrets. These fire bolts of the same energy which is created by the spell and inflict incredible damage for their size. In comparison to conventional weaponry, they have less range although not as bad in comparison to the “Flame Cannons” over their conventional equivalents. Due to excellent fire control systems, these are reasonably effective against small targets. For close in point defense, the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser mounts conventional weaponry exclusively. This includes four heavy point defense gravity rail guns and eight variable focus particle beams.

Unlike the “Crystal Shard” fighter and corvette designs, the main missile compliment could not be carried in bays. Too few missiles could actually be carried. Instead, conventional style launchers are mounted similar to what are carried on many Consortium warship designs. These include a single capital missile battery and a pair of long range missile batteries. In addition, four medium range missile batteries are carried to give additional stand off defense. Both capital and long range missile payload is limited compared to many larger Consortium designs but is still generally considered respectable. Anti-Matter warheads are almost never carried but instead powerful fusion warheads may be carried. Various magical warheads may also be carried.

Outside of United Worlds Warlock military service, “Bottle Demon” missiles are effectively unavailable. On occasion smaller ones may be found on the black market but not capital scale missiles. Most commanding officers of these light cruisers are just as glad not to carry them with how dangerous these missiles are.

Although limited in number, the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser does embark a small fighter compliment. The cruise is designed to be able to carry six “Crystal Shard” fighters although more fighters might be able to be embarked if smaller fighters, such as the Shadow Bolt, were embarked in their place. If the light cruiser and corvette are compared, the fighter bays on the cruiser are roughly where the main missile bays are on the corvette.

There is some consideration being given to building a carrier design using the basic hull of the light cruiser. It has been described as a “Scout Carrier” and would involve stripping out the capital missile battery, the twin 20 cm laser cannons, and the “Annihilate”cannons. In their place, it is estimated that a compliment of three squadrons of “Crystal Shard” fighters could be embarked..

Even though the crew requirements are much greater than the “Crystal Shard” corvette, in fact one can crew a squadron of corvettes for a single light cruiser, crew requirements for the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser are smaller than most light cruisers. Able to be run by a crew of just over one hundred and twenty, the light cruiser has extensive automation. In order to further reduce crew requirements, the “Crystal Shard” light cruiser lacks a secondary bridge. As most warships, the cruiser is still cramped by ground or even space station standards. Still, crew quarters are comfortable and the ship is designed for the ability to deploy for long independent missions.

There is a small marine compliment standard with a total of up to thirty marines able to be accommodated on the light cruiser. These marines are often carried when the ship is on anti-piracy patrols. While not usually fitted with normal power armors, they are usually equipped with mystic power armors. To aid the marines, the light cruiser mounts techno-wizard teleport transporters.

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

Model Type:	TI CLC-06-A.
Vehicle Type:	Multi-Role Light Cruiser.
Crew:	126 (14 Officers, 112 enlisted).
Troops:	30 Marines (20 in mystic power armor), 8 fighter pilots, and can carry up to 6 passengers in addition to standard military personnel.

Vehicles:

Power Armors & Robots:

Mystic Power Armors (TI DS-MPA-2W Dawnstar common.)

Fighter Compliment:

TI CF-02-B “Crystal Shard” Fighters.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Nose 20 cm Main Laser Cannons (2, Front):	1,600 each.
	Turret Mounted “Annihilate”Cannons (4):	800 each.
	Variable Focus Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (8):	150 each.
	GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun Turrets (4):	400 each.
	Cruise Missile Batteries (1):	1,000 each.
	Long Range Missile Batteries (2):	600 each.
	Medium Range Missile Batteries (4):	500 each.
	Hangar Bays (2, underside of main body):	4,000 each.
	[1] Bridge:	6,000.
	[2] Main Engines (2):	7,500 each.
	[3] Main Body:	24,000.
	[4] Magical “Invincible Armor” Force Field:	15,000.

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 light cruiser’s 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] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.

[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the cruiser out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck. Note: The cruiser is impervious to all non magical energy weapons. Hull can also be completely regenerated with the spell “Armor of Ithan” and 15,000 P.P.E.

[4] This is not a variable force field, but a magical shield that must be completely depleted. Once the shield has been knocked down, it will cost 1,500 P.P.E. and require one minute (4 melee rounds) of spell casting to restore the force field. When knocked down, no additional damage beyond which destroyed the shield will be transferred to the light cruiser.

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Has a special sub-light engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. The cruiser can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1.0 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is Mach 4.5 (3,425.8 mph / 5,512.8 kph), can enter an atmosphere because flight system is by contra grav.

Surface Travel: Can float on the surface or can travel as a hydrofoil on the surface of the water with a top speed of 360 mph (580 kph / 313 knots).

Underwater: Has a maximum speed underwater of 51.8 mph (45 knots/ 83.4 kph).

Maximum Depth: 5 miles (8.05 km).

Stardrive: The light cruiser has a special Gravitronic Drive system which allows the vessel to reach a maximum of six light-years per hour.

Range: Life support will keep crew alive for up to ten years, as long as the P.P.E. generators are kept in working order.

Statistical Data:

Length: 397.6 feet (121.2 meters) including stinger tail.

Height: 142.4 feet (43.4 meters).

Width: 487.9 feet (148.7 meters).

Mass/Weight: 48,000 tons (43,500 metric tons).

Power System: Anti-Matter with a 40 year life span. Backed up with emergency fusion plants. Both anti-matter and fusion plants are stored in special dimensional pockets. The light cruiser also has a P.P.E. generator that produces 6,000 P.P.E. per hour / 25 P.P.E. per melee and can hold up to 20,000 P.P.E. in storage. This P.P.E. can be used to power the spells cast by the cruiser’s crew and enchantments on the vessel.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 500 tons (450 metric 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 taken up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.

Market Cost: 6.5 billion credits. Cost does not include embarked craft / power armors.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Two (2) 20 cm Heavy Laser Cannons: Cannons are located on the front of the starship and are used as anti-capital ship weapons and can take out frigates in one shot and can do large amounts of damage to bases or larger starships. The laser cannons can be combined together or each one used separately. They cannot be used faster than the speed of light. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for large starship weaponry. The barrels can be fired forward and can be rotated 30 degrees horizontally or vertically. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 100,000 miles (161,000 km) in space and 100 miles (161 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 M.D.C. each and can be combined for a total of 2D4x1000.

Rate of Fire: Maximum of two (2) times per melee per cannon.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) “Annihilate” Cannons: Mounted in turrets on the light cruiser, these cannons are extremely powerful and act as the secondary guns of the light cruiser. The cannon fires a black sphere which is magically contained anti-matter. They inflict incredible damage to the target although range is limited compared to heavy lasers. Weapons system, when used hit fighters and small targets, has half the normal penalties to hit due to sophisticated fire control. The barrels can be fired either forward or behind and can be rotated 60 degrees horizontally or vertically. 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 10 miles (16 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.

Rate of Fire: four (4) times per melee per cannon.

Payload: Needs 300 P.P.E. per day to function.
Four (4) GR-1000 Heavy Point Defense Rail Guns: Gravity rail guns are in turrets that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. The GR-1000 Rail Guns both are more powerful and have more range than the conventional rail guns and are the same rail guns which is carried in the C.A.F. Scorpion Starfighter. Considered extremely effective even compared to other gravity rail guns. Even so, the mounts are not really for use against capital ships but can devastate a fighter quickly. They are also extremely effective against targets which are imperious to energy. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail gun at a significant fraction of the speed of light. When used in an atmosphere, projectile velocities are slower to prevent them from burning up but still are at hypersonic speeds. The gravity rail guns uses a 30 mm projectile. 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 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 4D6x10 M.D.C. for a 40 round burst.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: 10,000 Rounds (250 bursts) each cannon.
Eight (8) Variable Focus Particle Beam 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). The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

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 Battery: Missiles have a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship) in space. Whether missiles can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launching starship, and missiles. When drive goes dead, missiles will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct or receives a destruct code, but have very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missiles, when unpowered, are at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but almost always smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. These are modern Consortium missile batteries similar to those carried on a number of warships.

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 inflicts 5D6x100 M.D.C. each and Fusion multi-warheads inflict 3D6x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire cruise missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) cruise missiles per battery, per melee round, for a maximum of 32 cruise missiles per melee. Batteries are reloaded on the same melee and can be fired again on the next.

Payload: 32 total. Ship has 8 reload of missiles (256 cruise missiles reloads total).
Two (2) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship) in space. Whether missiles can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missiles. 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 target does not move and missiles, when unpowered, are at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are almost always 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), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) long range missiles per battery, per melee attack.

Payload: 512 total, 256 long range missiles per battery.
Four (4) Medium Range Missile Batteries: Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and missiles (both cruise and long range missiles.) Missiles have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 6% of light per turn in space. Weapon system can be used on multiple targets simultaneously.

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 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), eight (8), or sixteen (16) medium range missiles per battery.

Payload: 256 per battery for a total of 1,024 medium range missiles.
Techno-Wizard Modifications: The “Crystal Shard” Light Cruiser has the following Techno-Wizard modifications built into the vessel. These require P.P.E. or I.S.P. from the captain, crew, or mystic energy generator.

Special Features:

Invisibility-Superior (10th Level)

80 P.P.E. or 160 I.S.P.

Shadow Meld (10th Level)

40 P.P.E. or 80 I.S.P.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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Special Features:	Invisibility-Superior (10th Level)	80 P.P.E. or 160 I.S.P.
	Shadow Meld (10th Level)	40 P.P.E. or 80 I.S.P.