Orniraptor MK IV
The Orniraptor is an old, reliable Mogg'Theran-built light transport popular in the Empire of Many Suns. They are known to be durable workhorses that are well-armed and capable of long-ranges.
They are also surprisingly compact, at only 118 feet in length. Most lack speed and personal amenities, but make up for it in their ability to take a pounding and their ability to be modified. They are popular among scouts, prospectors, and bounty hunters. There are also quite a few working planetary defense duty as patrol ships and in a few cases they've been modified to function as bombers.
Pirates and smugglers tend to avoid them due to their lack of speed and creature comforts. But some are couriers have modified them for speed at the cost of cargo space.
With easily updated avionics and readily modifiable architecture, some Orniraptors have been passed down through Mogg’Theran families for four generations. In fact, about 25% of MK IVs are actually updated MK Is that have just been refitted to keep them modern.
Model: Orniraptor MK IV
Class: Light Transport
Crew: One to six, sleeper tubes for eight.
M.D.C. by Location
Dual plasma ejectors (2) – 60 each
Light particle beam cannons (2) – 40 each
Forward maneuvering vanes/mag grapples (2) – 350 each
Pulsed plasma tail gun – 150
*Outrigger engine pods (2) – 500 each
Atmospheric Stabilizers (4) – 50 each
*Thruster nozzles (4) – 180 each
Armored forward hatch – 200
Multi-spectrum spots (2) – 15 each
**Main body – 1400
Reinforced cabin – 400
* Destroying an engine pod or thruster nozzle will deplete the vessel’s top speed by 25%. Destroying all four nozzles will virtually immobilize the vessel, leaving it only gravitic maneuvering with a top acceleration of 0.5Gs.
** Depleting the M.D.C. of the main
body will disable the vessel, leaving it a floating wreck. The sleeper
compartment, just aft of the crew area, can be ejected and serve as a lifeboat.
Eight beings in the sleeper tubes can survive in stasis for 1D4 years. Without
use of the stasis tubes, the lifeboat has support for 
about
6 days.
Speed
Maximum Sublight Speed: 0.1 C (10% of the speed of light, takes two days of constant acceleration to attain)
Maximum Acceleration/Deceleration: 5Gs per melee round.
FTL Speed: 365C
Top Atmospheric Speed: Mach 6, can attain escape
velocity with minimal maneuvering (-20% to piloting rolls)
Statistical Data
Height: 27 feet
Length: 118 feet
Width: 82 feet
Mass: 95 tons
Cargo: 40 tons
Power Plant: 8-ounce Element 115 Anti-Matter Radial Drive
Range: Approximately 60 light years.
Cost: 3.4 million credits new, 2 million credits used. A Class 2 weapons permit is required to legally operate one in the Free Colonies and Terran Protectorate space.
Weapon Systems
1. Dual Plasma Ejectors (2): The primary weapons of the Orniraptor, combined with its thick armor, are what make it rate as a paramilitary ship in human space, even though its role is usually as a non-combatant. These weapons, mounted in the forward booms, heat packets of hydrogen to a plasma state and fire them through rings of magnetic fields lining the barrels. They are powerful, but the range is fairly short.
Primary Purpose: Anti-starship
Mega-Damage: 2D4x10 M.D. each, for a total of 4D4x10 M.D. when both ejectors are fired. Usually fired in pairs, which counts as only one attack.
Rate of Fire: Four shots per melee round.
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
2. Light Particle Beam Cannons (2): These smaller weapons are long-range standoff guns which can be used against smaller opponents, are excellent for missile defense, and have a much higher rate of fire than the main guns.
Primary Purpose: Defense.
Mega-Damage: 1D6x10+10 M.D. when fired together (almost always) 6D6 M.D. when fired individually.
Rate of Fire: Equal to hand-to-hand attacks of the pilot.
Bonus: +2 to strike in addition to all standard bonuses
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
3. Pulsed Plasma Tail Gun: This weapon turret is mounted in the stern of the ship and defends it against rear attacks. It can fire in a 60 degree cone to the rear of the vessel and can be controlled from a station behind the pilot.
Primary Purpose: Defense.
Mega-Damage: 2D4x10 M.D. for each dual pulse.
Rate of Fire: Equal to hand-to-hand attacks of the gunner.
Payload: Effectively unlimited.
Sensors: The Orniraptor has an avionics sensor package with mass detectors and electromagnetic field detectors with a range of 1 A.U. (about 96 million miles), and short-range sensors with a range of about 150,000 miles, including radar, LADAR, and thermal detectors.
Bonuses: +5% to all modification rolls, +1 to dodge. Other Amenities include a crew cabin for four, a small captain’s quarters (10x5x8 feet), galley, 8 sleeper tubes, and magnetic grapples on the insides of the forward booms, capable of hauling external containers carrying another 40 tons, but at the cost of 50% of the ship’s acceleration if both internal and external cargo space is used.
