Dok’Mas “Mothership”
The Arkhon Mothership is, quite simply, the most feared
vessel in the Empire’s arsenal, and perhaps the most feared ship in the entire
quadrant. Oh, the Starfarer, Novaslayer and Vorhasi ships are probably more
powerful. But they don’t make a habit of arriving in your star system with
massive fleets and pulverizing your civilization into radioactive ash. The Motherships
have kind of garnered that reputation over the centuries.
In a classic example of “if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix
it” the Dok’Mas has been in service with the Arkhon for a staggering 800 years.
In all that time, there is no record of one ever being destroyed in
ship-to-ship combat. Before the first Terran-Arkhon War, there was no record of
one ever being destroyed at all, but the Protectorate was able to bring the
first war to a close by destroying a Mothership and the Volo Anchorage while
the ship was in dock.
The Dok’Mas fills multiple roles. It is a command ship,
battleship, and carrier. It houses nearly 200 fighters, a squadron of scout
ships, and can deliver a regiment of ground troops. They are also, generally,
the home base and political center of a particular Great Family. There are less
than two dozen of these massive ships, and they are heavily politicized
vessels, with virtually all crewmembers being of the same family clan. They
also have the firepower of a small fleet, and never travel alone.
A standard escort for a Mothership is four Huntsman attack
frigates. A full triangle (12) of Clawfish II will also be on patrol at all
times, divided into groups of four. However, an attack fleet with a Mothership
at its head is massive; meant to smash entire civilizations. It generally
consists of the Mothership’s squadron and four Imperial Task Forces.
Three Motherships and their accompanying attack fleets have
been assigned the “glory” of destroying the Protectorate. The Protectorate
command calculates that destroying just one of them in battle will stall the
Arkhon offensive and shatter the morale of the Great Families, quenching their
thirst for war. However, the Great Families fear this and have held the ships
back unless they know they have an overwhelming advantage. This has worked
somewhat in the Protectorate’s favor, taking these mighty pieces off the board
for major engagements…for the time being.
However, the Arkhon have recently unveiled a new command strike
cruiser design that seems to indicate that they’ll be pulling the Motherships even further back for this conflict,
potentially while fielding something just as nasty, but more expendable.
Model:
Dok’Mas
Class:
Command Battlecarrier
Crew:
6,200 crew and pilots, and can carry a phalanx of ground troops (2,000 to 5,000
soldiers).
Combat craft: 168 Clawfish II fighters
24 Spikefish fighters
6 Vinn’Dok “Stalker” Scout ships
M.D.C. by Location
Tri-beam omegacannons (2) – 25,000 each
Heavy AMM launchers (4) – 4,000 each
Light tri-beam blasters (30) – 150 each
Wingshield missile launchers (4) – 6,000 each
Wingshields (2) – 60,000 each
Wings (2) – 25,000 each
Engineering section and main thruster – 80,000
*
**Main Body – 250,000
*Destroying the
**Depleting the Main Body renders the ship a useless
floating wreck, only able to deploy fighters and launch missiles. Reducing it
to -20,000 M.D.C. causes the vessel to explode in a titanic blast that does
2D6x10,000 M.D. to a one-mile radius. This has only happened once in history,
at the Volo Anchorage. The damage was enough to send the massive space station
crashing down to the planet, causing a “nuclear winter” that affects the
once-lush world to this day.
Speed
Maximum
Speed: .25 C (25% of the speed of light)
Maximum
Acceleration/Deceleration Rate: 4Gs per
melee round
Top
Atmospheric Maneuvering Speed: Mach 6, and
can achieve escape velocity on a 50% burn.
Statistical Data
Height: 355 ft
Length: 1130 ft
Width: 1035 ft
Cargo: One million tons
Power
Plant: Micro-Singularity
Range: 10 years of supplies and consumables
FTL: Arkhon Spacefold Generator
Cost: Not for sale.
Weapon Systems
1. Tri-beam
Omegacannons (2): These are the largest tri-beam
weapons ever created. Very few ships in existence can stand up to more than a
few shots from these weapons. Most are destroyed in a single blast.
Fortunately, the Mothership lacks the maneuverability of other Arkhon ships, so
most Protectorate ships know to stay out of the direct line of fire.
Primary
Purpose: Assault
Mega-Damage: 4D6x1,000 each. A dual blast does 8D6x1,000, but dual
blasts can only be fired at truly massive objects, like space stations or plantery targets such as cities. These do double damage to
most solid matter.
Rate
of fire: Once per melee round
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
2. Heavy AMM
Launchers (4): These launchers on the
upper hull fire large Antiproton Magnetic Missiles identical to those mounted
on the Arkhon Battlewagons. At short range (under 10 miles) the missiles are
almost impossible to avoid or destroy. But beyond that range, the magnetic
field can be disrupted by kinetic attacks. If enough damage is done to the
field, the missile will explode. The magnetic field has 500 M.D.C. and the
missile travels at a speed of about 400,000 m.p.h.
Primary Purpose: Anti-ship
Mega-Damage: 2D4x1,000 M.D. per missile when used for direct damage.
Dispersion setting does 4D4x100 M.D. to a 500-foot radius.
Rate of fire: Once per melee round.
Bonuses: +3 to strike.
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
3. Wingshield Missile Launchers (4): These are standard long-range missile launchers. Often
used for planetary bombardment
Primary
Purpose: Assault
Mega-Damage:
Varies with missile type.
Rate of
Fire: individually, or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, 16, 20 or 40 (the latter three
require all missile launchers firing in tandem)
Payload:
Each launcher has a magazine of 400 missiles, for a total of 1,600, and a
reload for each in storage.
4. Light tri-beam blasters (30): These anti-starfighter turrets are scattered around the
hull and operated from a central gunnery center deep within the ship.
Primary
Purpose: Defense
Mega-Damage:
2D4x10 M.D.
Rate of
fire: four times per melee round
Payload:
Effectively unlimited.
5. Short-range missile
launcher system: The floors and ceilings of the launch ring that houses the
ship’s fighters are lined with short-range missiles tied into one launch
system. These are fired in massive, random, spreads at incoming enemy fighters
and missiles. They are fired blind; their guidance system causing them to lock
onto the nearest enemy vessel once launched (see missile rules for space combat
in the Rifts Phaseworld Sourcebook).
Primary Purpose: Defense
Mega-Damage: 2D6x10 M.D. for armor piercing missiles, the standard
missile for this system.
Rate of fire: generally fired in spreads of 40 or 80 missiles at a time.
Payload: The ring contains 30,000 missiles, which are shielded from outside
attack. It is unknown as to whether this ring has any safeguards versus being
rigged to blow.
6. Sensors: The Motherships have a massive sensor suite that can
provide basic scanning information for everything within a one light-year
diameter. Short-range, more detailed, scans can detect specific information
about two million miles away, giving it excellent early warning capabilities.
