Predator class Destroyer & Light Combat Vessel (Wolfen):

The Hunter is considered one of the finest destroyer ever constructed and they are the foundation of the Wolfen fleets. The battle records record the enormous glories of this class. The problem is that the design is simply getting old and the Wolfen have been considering a replacement for over a decade. In recent years, this has become a greater concern with ships such as the Reaper class Corvette and the Kreeghor X-Ray laser mounting berserker class vessel. This situation called for the mounting of extremely heavy main weaponry along with better cruise missile launching ability than the Hunter. Several designs have been set forward but none have shown all the qualities that were desired. The was until the Predator design was completed. The ship was extremely simple in some respects and extremely radical in others. The key to the whole design might be summed up in saying that most of the unnecessary equipment has been stripped or reduced. The only major problem The design was also for two different designs. One is a full range destroyer and the other is a stripped and smaller design that is meant for system defense. The ship design has just passed the classes trials and a medium sized order of these vessels has been placed. It is planned for about one quarter of the Hunters in the Wolfen fleets to initially be replaced by these vessels within about fifteen years. The Hunters that will be removed from service will likely be the most decrepit and sold or scrapped instead of being put in reserve fleets. Due to the older Hunter class being able to carry fighters, the remaining Hunters will be kept in service. The planned operation of the Predator are in packs and are to be operated like large fighters. The present plan is also to have a Stalker class escort carrier operate for every six of them to give the fighters support that they themselves lack.

Like most warships, the Predator is built around its weaponry. The ships are basically a simple stubby cigar with 4 larger bubbles on the corners of the ship near the bow of the vessel. These are were the missiles are fired from revolver style missile launchers. Each revolver only carries six missiles which limits the ships firepower to twenty four cruise missiles. While this is only half of what the Hunter can carry, the ship can fire all of its cruise missiles within just a few seconds. A pack of Predator class destroyers could easily overwhelm the defenses of a much large vessel and in the same manner as the Ferret and Cheetah Corvettes and the T.G.E. Berserker. Normally, at least one missile in each revolver is a decoy or jamming missile. Where the ship is really outstanding is in the ships beam weaponry. The ships only carry a single capital ship sized laser. The opening is in the bow of the vessel and the weapon stretches for most of the length of the vessel. While the range has been cut compared to those carried on most cruisers, the damage the weapon can inflict is incredible. The other problem is that the weapon eats enormous amounts of power and has a limited number of shots before recharging. The Wolfen would like to get the design for Grasers and mount them in replacement of the heavy laser. The ship has outstanding point defense. It carries four medium range missile launchers to intercept missiles and fighters at range. The original plan was to only carry two but was modified during construction. The ship also has 4 GR-1000 rail guns and four variable focus particle beams. The ships of the vessel are about the same power level as those carried on the Hunter and the Predator carries heavier armor even though it is only slightly larger. Both versions of the vessels are very fast at sublight speeds and are as fast as many starfighters. The system defense version does not carry any FTL drives but the destroyer carries them. The FTL pods are four large bubble near the rear of the destroyer version. The ship is not designed for large scale repairs but is constructed in a modular design which allows for the quick replacement of parts in proper facilities.

The ship has a smaller crew than a Hunter due to the addition of far more automation and the vessel has a crew of only eighteen for the destroyer model and only sixteen in the system defense vessel. Chances are that large numbers of these vessels will be lost in most engagements so the reduction in crew makes good sense. The vessels carry no fighters and no marines as well.

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:	PD-226-A	Destroyer Version
	PD-226-B	System Defense Version

Vehicle Type: Destroyer / System Defense Vessel.

Crew:	PD-226-A	18 (1 Officers, 17 Enlisted)
	PD-226-B	16 (1 Officers, 15 Enlisted)

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors: None

M.D.C. By Location:

	20 cm Capital Laser Cannons (1, Front):	1000
	GR-1000 Point Defense Rail Gun Turrets (4):	400 each
	Variable Focus Particle Beam Turrets (4):	100 each
	Rotary Cruise Missile Launchers (4)	800 each
	Medium Range Missile Batteries (4):	450 each
	FTL Drive Nodes (4):	800 each
	[1] Bridge:	1,500
	[2] Main Body:	5,000
	[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 of the ship 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] 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.

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 1.2 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is Mach 5 (3,350 mph / 5,400 kph), can enter an atmosphere because flight system is using contra grav.
Stardrive: Destroyer Version: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 4.5 light years per hour. System Defense Version: None
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about two month worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 350 feet (106.6 meters)
Height: Destroyer Version: 105 feet (32.0 meters) System Defense Version: 80 feet (24.4 meters)
Width: Destroyer Version: 105 feet (32.0 meters) System Defense Version: 80 feet (24.4 meters)
Weight / Mass: Destroyer Version: 8,267.3 tons (7,500 metric tons) System Defense Version: 4960.4 tons (4,500 metric tons)
Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 10 year life space. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Small cargo hold that can carry up to 250 ton of cargo not including standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Hold is 20 x 20 x 20 feet in dimensions (6.1 x 6.1 x 6.1 meter). 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: Not for sale but may be sold in the future. If sold, would probably sell for around 350 millions for the System Defense Version and 420 million for the Destroyer Version

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

20 cm Heavy Laser Cannon: Basically a capital ship mount. Cannon is located in the bow 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. It cannot be used faster than the speed of light. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for large starship weaponry. The barrel is mounted forward can be fired but can be angled up to 10 degrees off of the centerline of the vessel using powerful gravity lenses. The weapon uses a huge amount of power and is limited to 16 shots before needing to recharge its capacitor banks. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.
Maximum Effective Range: 25,000 miles (40,200 km) in space and 25 miles (40.2 km) in an atmosphere.
Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 M.D.C. each shot
Rate of Fire: Maximum of two (2) times per melee per cannon.
Payload: Has a capacitor with 16 shots. Capacitor recharges at the rate of 1 per 2 melees (30 seconds)
Four (4) GR-1000 Large Point Defense Rail Guns: 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. Cannon uses a 30 mm projectile. 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: 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.
Four (4) 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.) One mount is on the top of the ship and the other is on the bottom and 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 cannot be used while the ship is 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.
Four (4) Revolver style Cruise Missile Launchers: Missile are held in revolvers that each carry six cruise missiles. 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 star ships (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. While missile are only launched at the rate of one at a time per launcher, the ships computer has special software that allows all the missile 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 missile and by setting some for delayed activation and target must be a least 30 seconds away. Missile are then considered to only have an acceleration of 5% of light for the first turn. These launchers can also be combined with pepper box launchers.
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:One per melee attack per launcher (special software allows all 6 missile per launcher to be launched as one volley and can be combined with other launchers).
Payload: 6 cruise missiles per launcher for 24 cruise missiles total.
Four (4) 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. Missile has 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.
Mega-Damage: Varies with medium range missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)
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.
Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), or eight (8) missiles per launcher (up to 32 with all launchers).
Payload: 120 per launcher for a total of 480 medium range missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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