WF-EP60 “Iktomi” Heavy Electronic Warfare Fighter (T.W./U.W.W.):

Modified WF-P60S Black Widow II Heavy Space Fighter

The Black Widow is the main heavy fighter operated by the United Worlds Warlock. It is a relatively powerful fighter although in conventional performance is considered less effective than the latest generation of heavy fighters produced by many of the other major powers. It also continues to be plagued by issues with its rifts jump drive.

Even so, a group of techno-wizard engineers decided that they would develop a modified version of the Black Widow for electronic warfare. Mystic electronic warfare actually has a number of advantages. Chief among these is that it cannot be homed in on directly because there is no real point of origin. A second advantage is that the field will even effect visual sensors.

The usual tactic of these mystical electronic warfare fighters is to operate them alongside standard Black Widow fighters with these fighters giving cover to the fighters which they are escorting. They might also be assigned to operate alongside destroyers or capital ships. The mystical jamming does also blind the sensors and communication of the missiles and craft within the field, including the jamming fighters itself, but missiles can try to achieve target lock once it leaves the jamming field. It does severely limit close range combat abilities of all craft involved however. Other craft which are operating with the electronic warfare fighter may operate on the edges of the field and drop into the fields when being engaged. Of course since no communication is possible, all of the tactics have to be planned out before hand.

The engineers chose the name “Iktomi” for the modified fighter based on ancient legends of a spider-trickster spirit. As with many legends, the actual origins of the legends are virtually lost in time. Legends tell that the spirit could change its shape. From some probably garbled stories, the spider was also thought to dress in red. To differentiate their fighter from the standard Black Widow fighter, these fighters have usually been painted red.

So far only a handful of Black Widow fighters have been converted to the new role. These mystical electronic warfare fighters are mostly operated by planetary defense forces within the United Worlds Warlock. A handful have been purchased by the United Worlds Warlock navy for evaluation purposes. These fighters have had a notable engagement with a Splugorth Worlds raiding force where the raiding forces were virtually destroyed. Even with the success of these fighters, high command has been dragging their heels with respect to purchasing more of these fighters. Some commanding officers have begun considering going around high command and getting a number of their Black Widow fighters converted on their own.

In most respects, this fighter has the features of the standard Black Widow. All three models of the Black Widow have been converted - ones with no faster than light drive, those with a conventional contra-grav faster than light drive, and those with a rifts jump drive. It mounts the same direct fire battery as the standard Black Widow as well. It also retains the light missile launchers of the standard fighter. Because these fighters are mostly operated by independent forces, most commonly they do not carry bottle demon missiles but instead use more conventional ordinance.

The most major change in the Iktomi is the removal of four out of eight of the missile hard points. In their place are permanently mounted two huge pods, one of each wing, where the mystic jamming field is created. The magic is based on the spell “Frequency Jamming.” Compared to the standard spell however, the area of effect is in all directions and has a much greater range. The pods have a special resonance with each other which vastly increases range. Destroying one greatly decreases range. The jamming field requires a huge amount of mystical energy to activate although has a duration of thirty minutes once activated. These pods do not effect the space combat performance appreciably but do reduce atmospheric performance.

It does retain four missile hard points with two each wing. As with the fuselage missile launchers, these fighters rarely carry bottle demon missiles but instead usually carry more conventional missiles. For engaging large vessels, capital missiles are usually carried, while anti-fighter missions usually will involve a load out of long range missiles. Some crews like to carry long range missiles though for engaging warships because one can quickly switch tasks and they are effective against both.

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

Model Type:	WF-EP60S-RD	Standard Model with Rifts Drive.
	WF-EP60S-LT	Stripped Model without Rifts Drive.
	WF-EP60S-CG	Modified Model mounting Contra-Grav FTL.

Vehicle Type: Strategic Heavy Fighter/Attack Craft.

Crew: Six (Pilot, Co-Pilot, Electronic Warfare Operator, Weapon Operator/Navigator, and two turret gunners). The fighter has six coffin style sleeping arrangements similar to those on the CAF Proctor class heavy fighter.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons (4, above cockpit):	100 each.
	Telekinetic Machine Gun Turrets (2, front and rear of cockpit section):	140 each.
	Missile Hard Points (4 racks, 2 each wing):	20 each.
	Bottled Demon Missile / Mini-Missile Launchers (4, 2 each boom):	100 each.
	[1] Magical “Frequency Jamming” Electronic Warfare Pods (2, wings):	200 each.
	Reinforced Pilots Cockpit:	220.
	[2] Wings (2):	400 each.
	[3] Cockpit Section (main body):	500.
	[4] Twin Booms (2, main body):	700 each.
	[5] Magical “Armor of Ithan” Force Field (3 times per day):	600.

Notes:

[1] The destruction of an electronic warfare pod reduces ranges by half.

[2] Destroying a wing will cause the craft to crash if it is flying within an atmosphere. Destruction of a wing has no effect in space.

[3] All three sections are considered part of the Main Body. Depleting the M.D.C. of either of the boom sections or the cockpit section 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. Note: The fighter is impervious to all non magical energy weapons.

[4] As per the spell “Armor of Ithan” - Magic, fire, lightning, and cold all inflict one-half damage. Each activation lasts for 30 minutes (120 melee rounds.)

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 50 percent of the speed of light. Fighter can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.95 percent of light per melee.

Stardrive:

WF-EP60S-RD: Has a Rift Jump Drive; maximum safe jump of ten light years every four hours (Costs 800 P.P.E. to activate), system has a 10% chance of failure. If the drive fails, roll on table below.

WF-EP60S-LT: None.

WF-EP60S-CG: Has a Gravity Faster Than Light Drive system which allows the ship to reach a maximum of two (2) light-years per hour.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is Mach 4.6 (3,502.0 mph /5,635.4 kph) due to the extra drag of the jamming pods, can enter and leave an atmosphere because flight system is is using contra grav.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system but only has supplies for fighter’s crew for forty five days.

Statistical Data:

Length: 62.1 feet (18.9 meters).

Height: 18.4 feet (5.6 meters).

Width: 82.5 feet (25.1 meters).

Mass/Weight: 203.9 tons (185 metric tons) empty and 220.5 tons (200 metric tons) fully loaded

Power System: Combination Fusion & Techno-wizardry with 10 year life span. The fighter also has a P.P.E. generator that produces 200 P.P.E. per hour. (Activating the Rifts Jump Drive costs 800 P.P.E.) and can hold up to 1,600 P.P.E. in storage. This P.P.E. can be used to power the Rifts Jump Drive, activate the jamming field, or can be used to power spells cast by the fighter’s crew.

Cargo: Small Storage Space 4 x 4 x 6 feet (1.5 x 1.5 x 2 meters). In addition, each crew member has a very small locker for personal items and uniforms.

Market Cost:

WF-P60S-RD: 380 million credits.

WF-P60S-LT: 300 million credits.

WF-P60S-CG: 330 million credits.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Four (4) Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons: Mounted on top of the pilot section of the star fighter and behind the main cockpit. Cannons can fire at up to a 30 degree angle up or down or side to side. The gun is controlled by the fighters pilot or co-pilot and does not have penalties to strike small targets. Uses the spell of the same name from page 143 of Federation of Magic. The spells must be renewed every two months (costs 400 P.P.E. and 20,000 credits per cannon) but during that period the weapon can fire unlimited blasts.

Maximum Effective Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space. 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 1D6x10+10 per cannon (4D6+40 for all four cannons)

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

Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
Two (2) Forward and Rear Twin Telekinetic Machine Gun Mounts: these cannons are identical to those mounted in the Shadow Bolt Starfighter but are in twin mounts. The fighter has one turret in the nose of the Star fighters cockpit section and one in the rear of the cockpit section. Because the cannons do damage by impact, they do full damage to targets that are using the spell impervious to energy. The spells must be renewed every two months (costs 400 P.P.E. and 20,000 credits per cannon) but during the period the weapon can fire unlimited blasts. Each turret can rotate up to 120 degrees side to side or up and down.

Maximum Effective Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 12D6 per burst for both cannons in a turret.

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

Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
Four (4) Missile Pylons: On the wings of the fighter are four missile racks (two each wing) that allows the fighter to carry one cruise missile, two long range missiles, or four medium range missiles each. Four of the hard points were replaced by the mystic jamming pods. Individual pylons must carry all the same type ordnance but each pylon may carry different types of ordnance. Cruise missiles are normally carried when on an anti-capital ship role and long and medium range missiles when fighting other starfighters. Cruise 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. Long Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and and have an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship) in space. Medium Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 6% of light per turn 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 with virtually all missiles carried being smart missiles. Missiles can be launched on multiple targets simultaneously.

The fighter can also fire a special larger version of the bottle demon missiles although for safety purposes, only a few would likely be carried. It has been said by many people that an escaped demon is worse than a matter/anti-matter explosion. They can be launched at the same rate as conventional cruise missiles, can use the same programming, and, although slightly smaller than a standard cruise missile, they are fitted into a collar that allows them to be used in the standard launchers. The missiles accelerate at the same rate as conventional cruise missiles. Missiles are considered super smart and have +4 to strike and +5 to dodge. Unlike normal missiles, the bottled demon missile does not explode and keeps striking at its target over and over. If the target is destroyed or vanishes, the missile disappears. The missiles are literally powerful demons summoned and bottled into a missile and are an aggressive and intelligent guidance system. The evil demons will continue to chase its target until destroyed (120 M.D.C. to the missile. “Capital Scale” Bottled Demon missiles are not available outside the United World Warlock Navy. Optional: Because the super bottle demon missiles use a more powerful demon and the missiles are still experimental, there is a 5% chance that the missile will turn on the craft launching it.

Maximum Effective Range:

Conventional Missiles: 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, 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, and 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.

Bottled Demon Missiles: Effectively Unlimited! Once fired, the demon controlled and powered missile will fly and pursue the designated target until its target or the missile is destroyed (or the target vanished from sight, jumps away, or gets away by another means.)

Mega-Damage & Properties: Conventional Missiles: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Cruise Anti-Matter multi-warheads inflict 5D6x100 M.D.C. each and Long Range Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.) Bottled Demon Cruise Missiles: 6D6x100 of magical energy every time the missile strikes (3% chance of releasing the demon every time it hits.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), three (3), or four (4) missiles.

Payload: One (1) cruise missile (or bottle demon cruise missile), two (2) long range missiles, or four (4) medium range missiles per pylon.
Four (4) Bottled Demon Missile Launchers: On each main boom, the fighter mounts a pair of bottle demon missile launchers. The missiles are literally demons summoned and bottled into a missile and are an aggressive and intelligent guidance system. The evil demons will continue to chase its target until destroyed (50 M.D.C. to the missile.) Bottled demons are slightly larger than mini-missiles and require special launchers. Missiles have a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere have an acceleration of 2% of light per turn in space. This is slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration. Missiles are considered super smart and have +4 to strike and +5 to dodge. Unlike normal missiles, the bottled demon missile does not explode and keeps striking at its target over and over. If the target is destroyed or vanishes, the missile disappears.

The launchers have been modified so they can also fire standard mini-missiles even though the missiles are slightly smaller. This is done mainly by fitting the mini-missiles with a special sleeve that allows them to be fired from the launcher. This allows the launchers to be used for point defense and targets not worth a bottled demon. Mini-Missiles in the Phase World / Three Galaxies setting are normally smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. Many fighters do not carry bottle demon missiles and simply replace them with conventional mini-missiles. In those cases, increase conventional missile payload. Launchers can launch on multiple targets each.

Maximum Effective Range: Bottled Demon Missiles: Effectively Unlimited! Once fired, the demon controlled and powered missile will fly and pursue the designated target until its target or the missile is destroyed (or the target vanished from sight, jumps away, or gets away by another means.) Conventional Mini-Missiles: Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Bottled Demon Missiles: 3D4x10 M.D. of magical energy every time the missile strikes (3% chance of releasing the demon every time it hits.) Conventional Mini-Missiles: Varies with 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), or four (4) missiles.

Payload: Bottled Demon Missiles: Four (4) per launcher for a total of eight (8) bottled demon missiles. Conventional Mini-Missiles: six (6) per launcher for a total of twelve (12) mini-missiles. If Bottle Demon missiles are not carried, increase mini-missiles to twelve (12) per launcher and to a total of twenty-four (24) mini-missiles.
Magical “Screamer” Jamming Sphere: Mounted on either side of the fight on the wings is a powerful mystic jammer mounted in a pod. The system is designed to greatly boost the normal area of effect of the spell. Uses the spell of “Jamming Sphere,” a more powerful version of the spell “Frequency Jamming” with the spell creating a sphere of jamming instead of jamming a single target, effecting all communication and sensor systems within the sphere. The enchantment effects all radio communication, radar systems, sonar systems, motion detectors, heat sensors, laser communication, laser targeting, optical cameras, and other similar systems (including gravity based systems). It effects the systems of the Jackal when using the enchantment as well as enemies and allies. It does not effect flight systems or control systems but only allows for visual piloting. Such system as gyro-compasses will continue working but magnetic compasses will be jammed. Missile systems can generally only be dead fired at targets within the jamming sphere due to no missile guidance systems working within the jamming field and guided missiles will automatically lose lock, almost always missing their target. Missile launched will be able to use their own sensor system, if any, after they clear the jamming field. Since the jamming is not localized and magical in nature, the jamming itself cannot be targeted.

In addition to disabling all sensor and communication systems, the jamming field creates a screeching or screaming sound. This causes all which hear the sound to have to save against magic or have -3 to initiative and -1 to strike, parry, and dodge. This effects anyone who listens to the jamming on communication systems or through sonar (or similar system) as well as those without hearing protection within the radius of the enchantment.

Maximum Effective Range: In an atmosphere, 9.5 miles (15.3 km) globe around the heavy fighter. In space, 9,500 miles (15,300 km) globe around the heavy fighter.

Duration: 30 minutes per activation.

Payload: One, requires 400 P.P.E. to be activated again.

Rifts Drive Failure Table:

System has a 10% chance of failure and giving an unexpected result. In most cases, the system will simply burn more magical energy than required or simply not work although more detrimental effects are possible.

01 to 20%	Double Cost: Creates rift but draws double P.P.E. - The Rifts Jump Drive works but creating the rift costs 1600 P.P.E. instead of the usual 800 P.P.E. If there is not enough P.P.E. activate the drive, it will simply fail with all energy depleted.
21 to 75%	Failure: Rifts Drive Simply Fails - No rifts is created although still uses 800 P.P.E. and cannot be activated for four hours.
76 to 88%	Random Rift: Ship rifts anywhere within a 10 light year radius. Costs 800 P.P.E. and the drive cannot be activated for four hours. Luckily, the vessel cannot rift into a planet or other celestial body.
89 to 93%	Rifts Drive Disappears: Drive Jump Rifts goes on its own without the starship: Still uses 800 P.P.E., the Rifts Jump Drive could have ended up at the destination or elsewhere.
94 to 98%	Disappears in Transit: While the fighter is going through rift, the Rifts Jump Drive disappears and leaves the ship stranded at its destination: 800 P.P.E. is expended and the vessel is stranded once it goes through.
99 to 00%	Double Failure: Vessel rifts anywhere within a 10 light year radius. As well, the Rifts Jump Drive disappears and leaves the vessel stranded at an unknown location: 800 P.P.E. is expended and the vessel is stranded once it goes through.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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