Kittani Dimensional Assault Cruiser
One thing many people forget is that the kittani have been a space-faring race for thousands upon thousands of years. Before the TGE, CCW, or UWW races had even mastered powered flight, the kittani were hopping star systems. Before the fall of Atlantis on earth and well before the Kreeghor broke free of splugorth control, the Kittani had an empire spanning hundreds of star systems. It was thousands of years ago when the splugorth saved the kittani from the nigh-unstoppable mechanoids, and even then the kittani battled with such ferocity that they held off longer than most races ever could, destroying several of the mechanoids solar system sized motherships in the process.
What this means is that to the kittani, spacing is not just something you do, it is a proud tradition stretching back beyond their own recorded history. There is no record of the kittani not ever having FTL. Their most ancient texts were done as holo-vid recordings. Even their mythological heroes were starship or power armor pilots. It is in their blood. And it makes them very, very dangerous in space.
Many see kittani vessels and wonder why such an old race would use such light armaments and short-ranged weaponry, focusing on agility instead of armor. It’s not due to a lack of technology or splugorth restrictions. It is due to the fact that the kittani have been power armor pilots and starship crews for so long that it is not just about being a pilot or captain, it is more like a religion or knighthood.
Death is nothing. It happens to us all. The kittani have seen even gods die. But to mark the very cosmos with your skill, that is true immortality. Therefore the kittani actually choose to use weaker weapons, fight at shorter ranges, and wear less armor as they become more experienced combatants.
New recruits and young, inexperienced pilots are assigned to mammoth armored vessels and gun-heavy assault ships. Many of the kittani robot pilots beholden to space faring splugorth collectives start out as crewmembers of a dragon dreadnaught and then work their way up through the ranks by taking lighter and lighter vessels into battle. A lieutenant may start out a dreadnaught pilot and by the time he is the equivalent of a major he may be leading units into battle in a serpent power armor or kittani robot fighter or even Flying Fox. It’s the kittani pilot’s skill that should carry him through, not his equipment.
This is sometimes at odds with the splugorth control of the kittani. They want them to use that devastating, millennia-old knowledge of space combat in the most effective manner possible. To that ends, the Kittani Dimensional Assault Cruiser was designed with cutting edge kittani capabilities. Even then some of the kittani engineers bluffed and fudged their designs so that the ship came in under armored (the goal was to make a match for a battleship or dreadnaught, instead they got a large cruiser) in order to retain some semblance of honor for the crews.
The Kittani dimensional assault cruiser is a newer class of vessel used by several different splugorth as a “ship-of-the-line.” It takes typical kittani high quality engineering and adds an element of magic, making for a potent vessel.
Most noteworthy, perhaps, is the ships use of Rift projector cannons and a Rift jump drive, technology pilfered from the UWW. The projector cannons are typical of those used by the UWW, except that the assault cruiser uses two, one fore and one aft. The kittani have fallen in love with this weapon because they don’t know how it will affect the enemy vessel. Some Highlords have severely disciplined kittani crewmembers for literally cheering when the rift cannon energized a losing enemy vessel’s weapons, making it more dangerous.
The splugorth have also made some modifications to the Rift Jump Drive, allowing it to generate a field to bring other craft along for the ride.
Before the invention of the drive, a Highlord or splugorth had to open a Rift to allow ships to transfer across dimensions, which presented numerous problems and inconveniences. With the invention of the drive, these vessels can jump not only across great distances, but also from dimension to dimension in a matter of minutes, bringing a host of smaller vessels with them. This allows whole fleets to strike with near impunity at targets from another dimension, “skip” past defensive lines, and never leave a trail that can be followed back to their masters.
Besides the projector cannons, the vessel relies on a heavy plasma energy torpedo as a less random means of attack. The plasma energy torpedo cannon generates a large mass of plasma and then wraps it in a temporary magnetic field. The field disperses when it hits an enemy target, unleashing its energy at the point of impact. It is a jarring weapon that, fortunately, takes a tremendous amount of power to fire and is used primarily against enemy cruisers and space stations.
Besides a plethora of smaller weaponry ranging from frigate-sized to point defense, the warship also has a compliment of kittani robot fighters packed like sardines in its docking bays, carrying 60 of them on quick deployment racks built into the ship. It also carries four dragon dreadnaughts, each with a ten-man platoon of kittani in serpent power armor or flying fox armor for ground assault, however those platoons can also be replaced with a trio of robot fighters.
These ships are crewed by mostly kittani, but also have small compliments of kydians and possibly other minions as officers and crew and are always commanded by a Highlord who doesn’t share the kittani desire for an honorable fight. Fortunately for the splugorth, military discipline is held in high regard among the kittani as well as their courage and honor.
The assault cruiser is usually deployed with three Mantis Cruisers as escort vessels.
Type: Kittani Assault Cruiser
Crew: 650 and 15 officers. Also generally carries about 100 troops made up of various splugorth minion races. Kydian Overlords and powerlords, conservators and kittani are the most common, with slavers and metzla being the most rare.
Fighters: 60 Kittani Robot Fighters and four dragon dreadnaughts.
M.D.C. by Location
Rift Projector Cannons (2) – 4,000 each.
Plasma Torpedo Launcher – 3,500
Long-Range Missile batteries (6) – 500 each.
Heavy Plasma Cannons (4) -- 1,000 each.
Light Laser Turrets (12) – 250 each
Short-range missile launchers (6) 250 each
*Primary Sensor Cluster – 2,500
**Main Engines (rear one-third of the vessel: 2) – 25,000 each
Robot Fighter Launch Racks (4) – 4,000 each
Main Docking Bay Shield Door – 10,000
***Bridge – 12,000
****Main Body – 55,000
Variable Force fields (6) – 5,000 per side for a total of 30,000
*Destroying the primary sensor cluster will destroy long-range communications, primary sensors and firing control. Communications will be limited to .5 astronomical units, and the ship will rely entirely on gravity sensors with a 5,000-mile range (in space, that's effectively blind). Plasma cannons and long-range missile launchers are –6 to strike.
**Destroying an engine
will reduce the ship’s speed by half. Destroying all three will immobilize the
vessel.
***If the bridge is destroyed the ship can still be piloted from engineering but is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will depend on individual gunnery stations (no bonuses to strike except for self-guided missiles). Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crewmembers on or near the bridge.
****Depleting the main body will leave the ship adrift and in tatters, with multiple hull breaches, failed life support and secondary explosions that will likely kill or space 90% of the crew. However the fighters can still launch and the short-range missile launchers can function. Reducing the vessel to below –5,000 M.D.C. will result in a 2D4x1000 MD explosion to a 1,200-foot radius.
Speed:
Sublight: The Assault Cruiser has a speed of Mach 10 in space (note that speeds in Phaseworld do not represent true groundspeed, but are relative to one another and more representative of comparable rates of acceleration. In truth the Assault Cruiser can reach up to .60 the speed of light with constant acceleration).
Atmospheric
Propulsion: The Assault Cruiser can operate in a limited fashion in
atmosphere, with a top speed of Mach 2. They never truly land, but instead
hover over landing fields and lowers crewmembers on antigravity platforms or
small flying skiffs reminiscent of a high-tech, magically powered longboat. All
splugorth space vessels are generally built for orbital insertion, no matter
how big they are. No one is sure whether this is a holdover from some ancient
Kittani philosophy or a requirement of their splugorth masters.
Stardrive: Assault Cruisers use an interdimensional rift jump drive capable of 20-light year jumps every four hours, or of taking the ship into a different dimension once every four hours. The Assault Cruiser jump drive is unique because it can emit a field up to one mile in diameter and take smaller vessels with it. Such a jump, however, doubles the engine recharge time. To solve this issue, assault cruisers in splugorth fleets will take turns rifting the fleet (or portions of the fleet in the case of large fleets) from place to place, so that there is always a cruiser capable of jumping out in an emergency to either escape, outflank the enemy, or get reinforcements.
Statistical Data
Height: 400 feet (122 m)
Width: 500 feet (152 m)
Length: 1,400 feet (427 m)
Weight: 5.5 million tons, plus up to 50,000 tons of additional cargo.
Cargo: 50,000 tons of additional material.
Power System: Fusion power plant with a 10-year lifespan.
Range: Unlimited, with consumables and life support capable of sustaining the crew for up to 2 years.
Market Cost: It costs the splugorth 4 billion credits per vessel to manufacture. Never sold to non-splugorth.
Weapon Systems
1. Rift Projection Cannon (2): The cannon creates a huge rift in front of the cannon that has a variable effect. One is placed to the fore and the other to the aft of the vessel. For more information on the Rifts Projector Cannon, see page 155 of the Phase World Dimension Book. It should be noted that Rift Projectors are particularly devastating against space stations, as the space station could be moved out of its orbital position, a disastrous occurrence if not rectified quickly (which is hard to do in the middle of a battle).
Primary Purpose: Anti-Starship/Anti-Space Station
Mega-Damage: Roll on Chart in Phase World Dimension Book, page 156.
Range: The Highlords and biowizards have extended the range to 100 miles.
Rate of Fire: Once per minute (4 melees).
Payload: Unlimited.
2. Heavy Plasma Torpedo Launcher: This fearsome weapon appears as a recessed gaping hole below the forward bow (sometimes painted as a demonic mouth) and fires a massive packet of plasma energy inside a fragile magnetic field. The field disperses on impact, releasing the destructive energy held within. This weapon has two modes: standard and enveloping. The enveloping mode causes the plasma to wrap entirely around a target upon impact and is used to degrade enemy shields or cripple enemy ships. Even when victorious, enemy ships most likely will require extensive repairs after combating this vessel, which is one of the primary reasons the larger empires don’t just wipe the splugorth holdings out in the Three Galaxies; it would be just too costly for too little return (especially if they just dimensionally teleport away).
Primary Purpose: Anti-Starship
Secondary Purpose: Anti-city.
Mega-Damage: 3D6x1,000 M.D. on impact for standard mode. In enveloping mode the weapon does 1D4x1,000 M.D. to every shield facing in the case of variable shields (same as standard damage for non-variable force fields) or does 3D6x100 M.D. to every location on the vessel. This can often strip a vessel of numerous armaments, sensors and other vital systems in one attack! However the enveloping attack is not as effective against ships larger than a cruiser (the Protector, Packmaster, Nexus and Doombringer would all take half damage from the enveloping attack, as well as Dominator vessels and star hives).
Range: 500 miles, but ships beyond 150 miles are +3 to dodge. Theoretically, this weapon would have a range much, much farther, but generally, unless sensors are totally out, enemy vessels will have too much time to maneuver out of the way, plus there is a chance of space debris, small meteors or other objects setting the blast off prematurely.
Rate of Fire: Once per melee.
Payload: Unlimited.
3. Long-Range Missile Launchers (6): Once an enemy ship’s shields are down and its point defense weapons charbroiled, the assault cruiser tends to finish enemies off with a storm of long-range heavy smart missiles. There are three launchers on the leading edge of each engine, and they are specially engineered to blow their ammunition stores forward and out away from the engines (the kittani have been a space-faring race far too long to ignore such a potentially damaging flaw) in case they are ignited by enemy fire. Also excellent for attacking from extreme long-range, fleets of assault cruisers will sometimes launch a full volley of missiles from maximum range and then Rift to the other side of an enemy fleet to attack…. assuming the kittani on board don’t convince their commander to rift the fleet into the MIDDLE of the enemy formations. Sucks, eh?
Primary Purpose: Assault
Damage: Typically 4D6x10 MD for heavy plasma missiles, but varies with missile type.
Range: Varies with missile type, but generally 3,600 miles, 1,200 miles in atmosphere.
Rate of fire: Each launcher can fire missiles individually or in volleys of 2,4,6,8, 10 or 20.
Payload: Each launcher has 600 long-range missiles, which are fed from the individual cartridges.
4. Heavy Plasma Cannons (4): These secondary weapons are often the main guns on frigates and in fact are identical in function to those on the Mantis escort cruisers. Two are set to either side of the bow and two are set amidships, allowing the vessel to bring two cannons to bear on any target in any direction.
Primary Purpose: Anti-spaceship/anti-space station
Damage: Each cannon does 2D6x100 M.D. Both firing at the same target do 4D6x100 M.D.
Range: 6 miles, 2 miles in atmosphere.
Rate of fire: Each cannon can fire four times per melee.
Payload: Unlimited.
5. Short-range missile launchers (6): Located on the dorsal and ventral hulls (top and bottom), these launchers are used primarily as an anti-missile defense grid, but also work as back up anti-star fighter or anti-ship weapons as well.
Primary Purpose: Defense
Damage: Varies with missile type.
Range: varies with missile type, usually about 15 miles in space or 5 miles in atmosphere.
Rate of fire: Each launcher can fire missiles individually or in volleys of 2, 4, or 8.
Payload: Each launcher has 80 short-range missiles.
6. Light laser turrets (12): These turrets are the vessels main anti-star fighter defense and are scattered about the hull, giving the ship complete coverage.
Primary Purpose: anti-star fighter.
Mega-Damage: 3D6x10 M.D. per turret.
Range: 3 miles in space, one mile in atmosphere.
Rate of fire: Equal to hand-to-hand attacks of the gunner, usually 4-6.
Payload: Unlimited.
Image © Newton Ewell
