Redjack Raider-Class Light Assault Carrier

ST/HP: 800

Hand/SR: +0/5

HT: 14

Move: 12/125 (+10)

LWt.: 4500

Load: 600

SM: +9

Occ.: 100ASV

DR: 1000/400*

Range: 7 jumps (Rating 2)

Cost: $700M

Loc.: g6t4rL

Stall: 0

Total Chase Roll: +10

*Nanocomposite Polymer; double DR vs plasma attacks. Higher DR protects against attacks from the front. Additionally, it has a Force Screen that provides 750 ablative, hardened DR.

Notes

Redjack Corvette Electronics:

• Ultrascanner Open Mount: 150-mile search range, 15-mile scan range; low probability intercept (detectable at 225 miles); 360° rotation.
  
  
• Night Vision Sensors: +9 nightvision, ×8 magnification (up to +3 to aimed attacks, if the vehicle aims for three turns).
  
  
• Targeting Computers: +5 to Gunnery projects provided a sensor lock is gained.
  
  
• ECM: -4 ECM rating, 20-mile radius; scramble comms up to 20 miles;
  
  
• Large FTL Communication Array: 30-parsec range.
  
  
• Large Holographic Radio: 10,000 mile range (orbital); “palm sized” holographic console.
  
  
• Security and Safety: Simple Locks;
  
  
• Accommodations: 5 cabins; 70 bunks. Two workshops, 1 gym and a sickbay large enough for 10.
  
  
• Hangar Space: The Raider can carry up to 70 tons of vehicles (generally space for 6 SM+3 ground craft, or a single SM +4 craft)
  
  
• Hardpoints: 6 hardpoint/clamps rated for 20 tons each (typically mounted with Wildcats)
  
  
• Hyperdrive: Rating 2, with sufficient fuel for 7 jumps.
  
  
• Ruggedized Hyperium Reactor: 30 days endurance.
  
  

The Raider has a bridge with three compurized control stations, one controlled by the Commander, and two by pilots. The engineering section has two additional control rooms.

The Raider has one full-rotation “corvette scale” blaster turret with two cannons (total RoF of 2), four modular “fighter” turrets that can mount all standard Redjack 2-ton cannons, and a single, rear-facing turret with an ST 160 tractor beam.

Weapon	Dmg	Acc	Range	Ewt	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl	Notes
Corvette-scale cannon	6d×30(5) burn	9	10mi/30mi	25t	1	NA	M	-10	2
NOV-4 Heavy Plasma Cannon Module	6dx30(2) burn ex	6	4 mi/12 mi	4000	1/3	15/2F	M	-10	3
MIN-3R Mining Laser Module	5d×15(10) cut inc	12	500/3 mi	4000	1	25/5E	M	-10	1
SP74-TR Heavy Plasma Gatling	6dx15(2) burn ex	6	3mi/ 8mi	4000	8	88/ 3F	M	-10	3
Isomeric Torpedo Bay	6d×500 cr ex	3	300/ 10 mi	2500	1	3	150M	-15	1

Look and Feel

The Raider is central to Redjack military doctrine and often represents the vehicle that makes the most complete use of Redjack materiel. It’s also one of the most distinct and worrisome sights for a remote colony outpost. For its role, though, it’s a remarkably small craft, a little larger than an ARC lancer, and barely small enough to be considered a frigate (some people call it a “Heavy Frigate”), but that makes it the only carrier smaller than a destroyer!

The Raider has a long, “beak” nose perched on the front, a boxy, squat midsection and then powerful, flaring set of engines in the rear. Up to 6 fighters can latch onto clamps located on its underside, perched between the curve of the “beak” and the flare of the impulse drives. A single tractor-beam turret sit between all the clamps on the underside, to assist with the clamping process. Atop the body are four, fighter-scale turrets with signature, two-ton Redjack cannons. In the front, the corvette-scale blaster hides behind the “beak” of the nose. When the vehicle has landed, it extends four legs to rest on, and long hangar bay doors unfurl to allow its onboard vehicles and soldiers to dismount. It cannot land while fighters are clamped on (at least, not if it doesn’t want to damage the fighters).

Raiders have the signature, Redjack interior: spartan with simple, prefab furnishings in matte browns and greys. Most people enter via the hangar bay doors, though various other hatchways can be found on the ship. Inside, they find a rather roomy hangar, typically cluttered with vehicles and soldiers. At six points in the floor, hatches lead to the fighters below, and one to the the tractor beam, while a set of catwalks above the hangar floor lead to ladders which lead to the “fighter” turrets above the Raider. The rear of the hangar bay has a workshop which overlooks the whole of the bay, and houses the technicians that work on the housed craft; it also opens to the engine room in the back. The engine room has a small “bridge” of control stations, and then a maze of infrastructure and workspaces that’s five times the size of the hangar bay, leading to the oversized impulse drives, which dominate the engine section. Ahead of the hangar bay, one reaches the habitation section, which consists mostly of bunks and a few galleys, bathrooms, a sickbay, an armory and a single gym. The foremost part of the habitation section has three full cabins, for the command crew. Beyond this one reaches the “nose” of the craft. This houses a small “bridge” with three control sections, one for the Raider’s commander, and two for its pilot and copilot, the electronics for communications and sensors, its main computer, and an access shaft to the large, spacious corvette turret below.

The Raider typically carries up to 6 fighters, usually Wildcats, or 6 Grapplers, of some mixture of the two (three of each is not uncommon). The body itself houses up to 6 redjack ground vehicles on the scale of Wolfhounds of Roughnecks. It also has space for a full platoon of soldiers. It represents the minimum possible interstellar “carrier,” acting as both fighter-carrier, and troop transport.

A Raider typically shunts in orbit of a target world, and flies at its top speed of ~250 miles per hour. This will bring it to its destination in 16 hours, but it usually scrambles and launches its fighters from its clamps: the parasitical fighters can use the Raider’s high speed to assist with their launch, though it’s still tricky to those not familiar with launching from a Raider (treat as a familiarity penalty). The fighters will race ahead of the Raider, attacking any anti-air defenses and softening up targets. If the Raider has grapplers, these will land as well, generally raiding specific sites to disarm defenses or seize vital targets. If these tactics score the victory the Raider seeks, they’ll return to their carrier and leave. Otherwise, the Raider lands; if the defenses of the target site have been sufficiently softened, it will land directly on the site. Otherwise, it lands some distance away and relies on the speed of its internal Wolfhounds and Switchbacks to make up for the distance, while its soldiers come in on foot.

A Raider is, true to its name, good for a raid. It can have a small outpost completely locked down within a day, but it cannot hope to hold a planet or to defeat a fortress. In space war, in addition to their raiding role, they often act as spoilers against small flees: they can make quick hit-and-run attacks at extremely remote targets, and then pick up its fighters and race away again. They can’t launch more than a few wings, but Raiders cost millions, rather than billions, of credits, putting them within the reach of relatively small organizations that favor hit-and-run tactics. They’re especially popular with pirates and slave raiders, who usually convert 15 of the bunks into prison cells.