Bushido Industries is best know for their fighter designs but in recent years they have began producing a number of larger vessels. The Raiden class light cruiser and Hekireki class destroyer were their first designs to be introduced but they decided that they would develop a light carrier class as well.

One of the main roles of their fleet is to protect their trade routes and merchant fleets. Recently, the company has been having a lot of trouble with raids against their merchant fleets. There is some speculation that this is supported by their competitors with Naruni Industries one of the chief potential sources of the raiders harassing Bushido Industries. The raiders operate a large number of Naruni craft but not exclusively.

Prior to beginning to build their own design, Bushido Industries only operated a small number of larger ships, mostly purchased from other manufacturers. Even so, Bushido Industries operated more ships than many military forces. Consortium military vessels are extremely expensive and Bushido Industries did not want to purchase older vessel designs.

The company decided against the New Coventry "Ark Royal" class light carriers as being too large for their needs. They wanted a smaller carrier design than the New Coventry light carrier. As a result, the company decided to develop their own carrier design. This became known as the "Hiryu" or "Flying Dragon" class. It shares many features with the Raiden class light cruiser.

Only a relative small number of these light carriers have been completed thus far by Bushido Industries with the majority being in service with the company's own forces. A few smaller navies have purchased these light carriers and a few mercenary companies have also put these ships in service. Due to much lower price than most new light carrier classes, these ships are likely to be extremely popular. The New Coventry "Ark Royal" costs over twice as much per ship as these ships do although the Bushido Industries carriers have less than half the fighter complement of the "Ark Royal."

Fighter compliment on the Hiryu class is forty-eight medium fighters or seventy-two light fighters. A mixture of light and medium fighters can also be carried. Three squadrons of light fighters can replace two squadrons of medium fighters. Most common mixed compliment is thirty-six light fighters and twenty-medium fighters. Bushido Industries has special deals for their fighters with the light carriers. As a result, most independent carriers operate Katana and Tanto fighters. Of course all Bushido Industries forces operate Bushido small craft. Some operate the Ninja-To stealth fighter exclusively. One weakness these carriers have over most larger light carriers is that the Hiryu has minimal maintenance facilities for fighters.

The Hiryu is only about one hundred and eighty medium in length and masses only about eighty thousand metric tons, compared to over four hundred thousand for the New Coventry light carrier. The Hiryu is military design unlike most escort carriers and is surprisingly tough for its mass although still fragile compared to most cruisers of a similar mass. The ship is protected by military shields similar to the Raiden class light cruiser.

As far as speed and acceleration, the Hiryu is quite fast although not quite as fast as the Raiden class light cruiser. Acceleration in normal space for the light carrier is still considered enough to keep it away from heavier armed warships. It does not carry much in the way of weaponry to deal with attacking ship. Top speed in faster than light travel is six light years per hour. Like most ships of this class, power is provided by an anti-matter power plant.

The biggest criticism of this class is the lack of weaponry. Originally the ship was designed with no long range missile batteries and depended on four medium range missile batteries. While the first ships were under construction, a single long range missile battery was added to the design. The long range missile battery has a limited payload, only one hundred and sixty missiles. The medium range batteries also have limited payload with one hundred and sixty missiles per battery for a total of six hundred and forty missiles. The ship also has twelve point defense mounts consisting of a variable focus particle beam and a GR-1000 rail gun.

Ship design uses modified starship speeds and weapon ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.

Model Type: BIR-05-C
Vehicle Type: Light Carrier
Crew: 298 (32 Officers, 266 enlisted)
Troops: 60 Marines (40 in medium or light power armor), 75 to 100 fighter pilots (depending on fighter compliment), and can carry up to 20 passengers in addition to standard military personnel.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:
Power Armors:

40

Light Power Armors (BI-PA-60B Kage Tengu)

Fighter Compliment:

	72	BIF-75 Tanto class Light Starfighter (or other light starfighter).
	or
	48	BIF-67 Katana fighter ship (or other medium starfighter including Ninja-To)
	or
	36	BIF-75 Tanto class Light Starfighter (or other light starfighter).
	24	BIF-67 Katana fighter ship (or other medium starfighter including Ninja-To)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Combined GR-1000 Rail Gun / Particle Beam Cannon Turret(12):	400 each
	Long Range Missile Batteries (1):	600
	Medium Range Missile Batteries (4):	500 each
	Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	150
	Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	100
	[1] Bridge:	5,000
	Hanger Bays (4):	5,000 each
	[2] Main Engines (2):	8,000 each
	[3] Main Body:	30,000
	[4] Variable Force Field:	4,000 a side (24,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ships armor. This ship does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] Destroying the main engines means that ship F.T.L. propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the cruiser out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.
[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (1,200 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.85 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 400 mph (644 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric operations.
Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 6 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system. Carries about a year and a half worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 590 feet (179.83 meters)
Height: 90 feet (27.43 meters)
Width: 150 feet (45.72 meters)
Weight/Mass: 88,000 tons (79,800 metric tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 30 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 6,000 tons (5443.1 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ships officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ships spaces are taken up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: 3.0 billion to construct. These ships are sold on the open market and are rare and Bushido Industries sells them with a 75% markup (5.25 billion credits.) This is far cheaper than most new light carrier classes.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

1. One (1) Long Range Missile Battery: Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship). Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, battery, and missile. When drive goes dead, the missile will still cruise unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because the target does not move and missile when dead at -25% to detect.) Long range missiles do not have minuses to hit small targets unlike cruise missiles and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
   Maximum Effective Range: Missile range is 3400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.
   Mega-Damage & Properties: See Phase World Missiles for details (Fusion inflicts 2D4x100 MDC).
   Rate of Fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2, 8, 16, or 32 per battery, per melee attack.
   Payload: 160 long range missiles total
2. Four (4) Medium Range Missile Batteries: Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and against incoming cruise missiles. Like other Phase world systems, weapon system range and speed has been greatly increased compared to Rifts Earth systems. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
   Maximum Effective Range: 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space
   Mega-Damage: varies with medium range missile type (See Phase World Missiles.)
   Rate of Fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, or 16 missiles per battery.
   Payload: 160 per battery for a total of 640 medium range missiles.
3. Combination GR-1000 Rail Gun/Particle Beam Cannons Ball Turret (12): Mounted in turrets are one GR-1000 Rail Gun with a particle beam above the rail gun laser cannons. Turret are main defensive weapon of starfighter and they inflict a huge amount of damage. Both weapons can be fired together if the weapons are within range and both are controlled by the turret gunner. The turrets may be put under the bridges control. Turrets have 360 rotation and 120 degree arc of.
   1. GR-1000 Rail Gun (1 each mount): Very powerful rail gun mounted in turret. This is the same weapon system that is mounted in the nose of the Scorpion starfighter. Projectiles come out of the gravity rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light. The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at FTL speeds.
      Maximum Effective Range: GR-1000 Rail Guns: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space
      Mega Damage: GR-1000 Rail Guns: 40 round burst does 4D6x10 M.D. (Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10)
      Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
      Payload: 10,000 rounds (250 Bursts)
   2. Variable Focus Particle Beam Mounts (1 each mount): The particle beam is copied from those carried on the CAF Assault Shuttle and will fire a very powerful narrow beam and can fire a scatter effect that is less powerful but is capable of striking multiple targets. The weapon system is quite useful against missiles although the cone is not as wide as Tachyon cannon sprays are (Gives +2 bonus vs fast moving targets such as missiles.) The weapon cannot be used while the ship is traveling at FTL speeds.
      Maximum Effective Range: 300 miles (480 km) in space and 3 miles (4.8 km) in an atmosphere.
      Mega Damage: Single Target: 4D6x10 Wide Beam: 5D6 to all targets within a 5,000 foot (1,524 meter) diameter area. When fired as a wide beam, the cannon cannot be used on targets closer than 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) away (Combined particle beam [on heavy setting] and rail gun inflicts 8D6x10).
      Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
      Payload: Effectively Unlimited.

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By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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