Alliance Space Vehicles - The Raptor-Pattern Strike Fighter

ST/HP: 140

Hand/SR: +2/4

HT: 11

Move: 5/375 (+13)*

LWt.: 24.5

Load: 5.5

SM: +6

Occ.: 1SV+1rx

DR: 100/50*

Range: 21,000, 2 jumps (Rating 1)

Cost: $20M

Loc.: g2Wi3rR

Stall: 20

Total Chase Roll: +15 (+16 with afterburner)

*The Raptor is equipped with an Afterburner which improves the Move to 7/450 (+13) and gains +1 handling and consumes four times as much fuel (reducing range to 5000 miles, if used continuously).

†The Raptor has 100 carbide composite DR on the front and 50 on the rest; double DR vs shaped charges or plasma attacks. It also has a force screen with 300 ablative, hardened DR.

Notes

Alliance Strike-Fighter Electronics:

• Medium Tactical Ultra-Scanner: 30-mile scan, 3-mile imaging/bioscan; 360°;
  
  
• Targeting Computer: +5 to hit target with a scan-lock.
  
  
• Night Vision Sensors: +9 nightvision, ×8 magnification (up to +3 to aimed attacks, if the vehicle aims for three turns).
  
  
• Distortion Jammer: -4 ECM penalty for missiles; +2 to jam missiles.
  
  
• Tactical ESM: +1 to dodge missiles.
  
  
• Medium Holographic Radio: 1,000 mile range (orbital); “palm sized” holographic console.
  
  
• Security and Safety: Simple Locks; Ejection Seat.
  
  
• Life-Support: 5 days
  
  
• Hyperdrive: Rating 1, with sufficient fuel for 2 jumps.
  
  
• Hyperium Reactor: 24 hours endurance at full speed (6 hours with afterburners).
  
  

The Raptor has room for a single pilot and an exposed slot for a robot assistant. The Raptor uses computerized controls, allowing either to take full control of the fighter. The robot has access to the hyperium reactor, hyperdrive and traditionally handles hyperspatial navigation and on-the-fly repairs.

Heavily armed, the Raptor has a single, forward mounted gatling cannon in its nose, 1 body mounted torpedo hardpoint as well as two wing-mounted torpedo hardpoints, and two missile-mounted hardpoints on the wings each with three missiles.

Weapon	Dmg	Acc	Range	Ewt	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl
Gatling Blaster	6dx5(5) burn	9	9mi/27mi	1600	3	200/F	M	-10	2
160 mm Plasma Burst Missile	6dx15 burn ex	4	1000/30mi	200	1	6	M	-15	1
160 mm Plasma Lance Missile	6dx30 (10) burn ex	4	1000/30mi	200	1	6	M	-15	1
Isomeric Torpedo	6d×500 cr ex	3	300/ 10 mi	2500	1	3	150M	-15	1

Look and Feel

The Raptor-Pattern Strike-Craft matches its namesake. Engines dominate its thick, sleek body, and the cockpit sits at its middle, with the robot slot just behind it. Before the cockpit, the nose extends like a curving “beak” with the gatling blaster located just behind and beneath the tip of the point. Its impressively large wings, bristling with armaments, sweep forward like a bird in flight. In some ways, the Raptor resembles imperial craft, with their large, forward swept wings, but the Raptor is a far larger craft.

Compared to other fighters, the Raptor accelerates sluggishly, with about the acceleration of a motorcycle or a quick car. Its afterburners kick the acceleration up to a more noticeable push against the seat, but still less than 1 G. Fighter pilots comment on its slow acceleration, but enjoy the responsive handling afforded by the extensive and complex hyperdynamic wings, and the durability that the armor affords them, as well as the ability to launch torpedo after torpedo at a dreadnought.

The Raptor, like the Valiant, has the ability to make hyperspace jumps on its own, and has enough fuel to make a “hit and run” jump. The hyperdrive is slower than the Valiant’s, though, so it escorting ships often need to slow their hyperdrives to compensate. The Empire fears the Raptor: its armor brushes off most flak fire, and its speed makes it competitive with other fighters, and a wing has enough firepower to drop more than ten torpedoes on a capital ship, eliminating most dreadnoughts from the battlefield. The Raptor can’t outmaneuver imperial fighters, but a single light fighter struggles with a Raptor’s armor and force screens, though several Javelins or a single Tempest in the hands of a skilled pilot can seriously damage a Raptor.

The Alliance uses Raptors primarily to defeat enemy capital ships, as that’s their core design purpose. They tend to use Valiants as escort, as a Valiant in “agile” configuration is about as fast as a Raptor, and far more adept at defeating enemy fighters. Valiants can also join an attack wing of Raptors to defeat capital ships, but have a harder time contending with the flak. Similarly, Raptors have sufficient agility and speed to fight heavier fighters, and can double as orbital supremacy fighters when strictly necessary. Their heavy armor makes them formidable opponents to defeat and their missile complement makes them quite dangerous to even well-armored fighters, but they can’t keep up with the lightest fighters.