THREE STAR-CLASS
MOBILE MANUFACTURING PLATFORM

(Version 0.8 - Last modified: Friday, 18-Jan-08 02:59:01 PST)

RPG Stats by DANIEL HENWOOD (dhenwood@hotmail.com)
Background text by DAVE DEITRICH (deitrich@mcs.net)
Background info provided by the MACROSS ONLINE COMPENDIUM

BACKGROUND

As the name implies the Three Star facilities are floating factories in space. The lower levels of the ship contain a complete refinery that can extract all necessary metals and raw materials from space debris such as asteroits and comets. These materials are then raised to the core of the starship, which contains a complete manufacturing facility based on technology recovered from the Protoculture factory satellite captured by the UN Spacy in October 2011. The automated factory can manufacture almost any component, from miniaturized microchips to complete mecha. The factory can even manufacture from scratch capital starships such as a New Macross battle carrier. However this process can take months depending on the complexity of the starship (a New Macross battle carrier will take almost a year to build from scratch while utilizing the complete resources of the platform during that time). The Three Star facility is of course capable of conducting routine repair and maintenance on starships as well to prolong their active lifespan. A large beam is mounted from the rear of the ship which serves as a drydock for starship repair, refit, and construction.

The Three Star facilities are also capable of developing new products and weapons. The crew complement of the ship includes a trained engineering staff of over 1,000 along with the most advanced CADAM (computer-aided design and manufacturing) systems available to the UN Spacy. In addition Three Stars maintain constant contact with other colony missions as well as UN Spacy headquarters via the Galaxy Network communications net, allowing new designs to be quickly disseminated across the UN Spacy fleet as they are developed. This permits even the most distant colony missions to keep their equipment and mecha up to date with the latest technology available.

The largest drawback to the Three Star platforms is their lack of defensive systems. Unlike other UN Spacy colony ships they can only mate with a single Northampton-class stealth frigate for protection. For this reason Three Stars are always escorted by a small fleet of Northamptons to protect them against attack. Three Stars have become a critical part of the UN Spacy colonization strategy, and every colony mission for the past 25 years has included 1 to 4 manufacturing platforms as part of their fleet.

RPG STATS

Crew (not including Stealth Frigate): 233,000 total

Military Crew: 5,000

Civilian Crew: 50,000

Police/Civil Defense: 3,000

Permanent Civilian Populace: 175,000

MDC BY LOCATION:

(1) Main Body                                       100,000
    Rear Boom/Drydock Section                        60,000
(2) Command Tower/Communications Center (middle)      5,000
    Connection Joint/Engineering Section              4,000
    Forward Refining Scoops (2)                       6,000 each

(3) Main Engines/Power Plant (2)                     30,000 each
(3) Auxiliary Engines (4)                             7,500 each

    Small Airlocks/Access Hatches (150)                 250 each
    Main Airlocks (4)                                   800
    Outer Hull (per 40ft area)                          120
    Interior walls (per 20ft)                            20

(4) Pin Point Barriers (4)                            5,000 each

NOTES:

1. Depleting the MDC of the main body will essentially destroy the facility. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The factory ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck, and any surviving colonists must be rescued quickly or will die from asphyxiation as the remaining atmosphere drains into space. In addition, there is a 60% chance that the entire Three Star will explode due to the volatile chemicals and materials within, doing 1D6x1000 MD to everything in a 3 mile (4.8 km) radius from the ship.
2. Depleting the MDC of the command tower will kill the bridge crew of the vessel and deprive it of long range/hyperspace communications, radar and subspace sensors. The vessel can be commanded either from an auxiliary bridge near the center of the ship or from the Northampton stealth frigate attached to the platform.
3. Depleting the MDC of the main engines will force the ship to rely on its auxiliary engines. Depleting the MDC of the main engines AND auxiliary engines will leave the factory ship adrift in space. If in an atmosphere, the colony will crash (destruction of the main engines will render the antigravity system useless due to loss of power).
4. The Pinpoint Barriers regenerate at a rate of 1,250 MD per second (2,500 MD per melee round). If destroyed, a barrier will completely regenerate within four seconds (2 melee rounds). See the Pinpoint Barrier System entry for details.

SPEEDS:

Speed(sublight): 0.16 speed of light (25,600 miles per second)
Speed(Auxiliary Drives): Mach 3
Space Fold: Range Unlimited (1 light year every 6 minutes)
Planet bound:

Designed to land in a planetary ocean when necessary but not designed to maneuver in an atmosphere. Three Star vessels are NOT designed to land on the ground. If they do so the landing will inflict 3D6x1000 MD damage to the main body of the spacecraft (the Northampton docked to the ship will also suffer 3D6x1000 MD damage unless it detatches prior to landing).

Maximum Range: Unlimited (estimated 30 year life span)

STATISTICAL DATA:

Power System:

ORTEC/General Galaxy Main Reactor

Fold System:

ORTEC/Shinnakasu/General Galaxy Advanced Fold System Cluster

Sublight Drive:

ORTEC/Centinel Impulse Drive Cluster

Gravity Control System: Internal
Auxiliary Engines:

Shinnakasu/Shinsei Industries/Agar Nuclear Pulse Rocket Motor Clusters

Sensors: Standard plus Subspace Mass Detector

DEFENSE SYSTEMS:

1. PINPOINT BARRIER DEFENSE SYSTEM: Originally developed by researchers onboard the SDF-01 Macross during Space War One, the Pinpoint Barrier System is a standard defense system on board all UN Spacy starships and colony vessels, including the Three Star ships. The system generates four small disc-shaped force fields that can be positioned anywhere along the ship to deflect missiles, energy beams or projectiles. Each pinpoint barrier is about 200 ft (61 m) in length and can absorb up to 5,000 MD in damage, which then regenerates within four seconds (2 melee rounds). The barriers can also be layered on top of each other to generate a field which provides 20,000 MDC and can even deflect heavy particle beams (usually).

   The four barriers are controlled by operators in the command tower of the carrier. These operators are instructed to defend (1) any breaks or weaknesses in the main hull, (2) the main and auxiliary engines, (3) the engineering section/stealth frigate docking section and (4) any starships under construction, in that order. The operators primarily concentrate on defending the ship against larger spacecraft and leave defense against attacking mecha to the VF pilots from the stealth frigate.

   • PRIMARY PURPOSE: Defense (the pinpoint barrier system cannot be used as a weapon)
   • RANGE: Up to 300 feet (91.5 m) from the surface of the vessel.
   • DAMAGE CAPACITY: Can sustain up to 5,000 MD per round. Regenerates at a rate of 2,500 MD per melee round.
   • RADIUS: 200 ft (61 m)
   • DEFENSIVE MOVEMENT: Can move from one end of the vessel to the other in less than a single round. Trained operators can attempt to block attacks up to 8 times per melee (counts as a parry) and are at +7 to block. Untrained characters can parry up to their number of hand-to-hand attacks with their normal parry bonuses only.
   • PAYLOAD: Nearly inexhaustible. Will work as long as system is functional (see below) and engines are intact. If main engines are destroyed, the barrier will loose power and not function.
   • NOTE: If all four barriers are grouped in a single spot they can deflect a heavy particle beam attack, such as the one generated by the Macross Cannon, Zentraedi/Varuta command warships, and some Protodeviln. However, the beam will completely destroy all four barriers and put incredible strain on the pinpoint barrier system, to the point where it may short out. After deflecting an energy beam, roll percentile dice on the table below to determine additional effects/damage.
     • 01-15: Lucked out, system will be operational in 1D6 hours.
     • 16-30: Minor damage, system will require 4D6 hours to repair.
     • 31-45: Major damage, system will require 2D6x10 hours to repair (yes, DAYS of work).
     • 46-60: Completely destroyed! System can be rebuilt, but will require new parts and 2D6 DAYS of work to replace.
     • 61-75: Major damage, system will require 2D6x10 hours to repair.
     • 76-90: Minor damage, system will require 4D6 hours to repair.
     • 91-95: Lucked out, system will be operational in 1D6 hours.
     • 96-00: It's a miracle! Trivial damage only, system will be operational again in only 4D6 melee rounds!

CONSTRUCTION CAPABILITIES:

The numbers below are intended to give the GM a rough estimate of how fast construction takes place aboard the Three Star. For each entry two values are listed. The first is the amount of time it takes the automated factories aboard the vessel to produce the item from scratch, and the second lists how many can be produced in a given period of time. The factory aboard the Three Star operates in an assembly line fashion so that multiple items can be constructed at the same time. This data assumes that the Three Star has an ample supply of asteroids and space debris available to it for raw materials. These figures should be used for approximation only; GMs, feel free to change these values as you see fit.

SYSTEMS OF NOTE:

• ANTIGRAVITY PROPULSION SYSTEM: The Three Star vessels are equipped with an anti-gravity propulsion system used for planetary landings and liftoffs. The system is good for vertical ascent/descent only and can lift the ship at speeds of up to 1,320 feet (400 m) per minute. The system will function so long as the main engines can supply energy to it.
• HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION SYSTEM: The civilian habitat levels within the construction platform are equipped with a sophisticated holographic projection system which is used to generate images of terran skies. These images help to calm colonists and make them feel like they are living in a city on Earth and not on a ship voyaging through space. The holographic system is often used to divide time on the vessel into day and night segments. Note that the hull of the Three Star vessels is NOT transparent, so during night periods the holographic system projects a fake starry sky rather than a real view of the passing galaxy.
• HYPERSPACE COMMUNICATIONS: Based on the same technology as the space fold system, the hyperspace communications relay allows faster-than-light communication between the Riviera ships and other vessels or planetary bases. Hyperspace communications are still not instantaneous, however. Audio/video communication travels through hyperspace at a rate of about 5 seconds per light year, so messages communicated over vast distances can still take days, weeks, or months to arrive.
• LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS: The Three Star vessel has sufficient life support to provide breathable air and comfortable temperatures for 250,000 people for up to 30 years. In an emergency the life support system can support up to 350,000 people for a short time.
• LONG-RANGE LASER/SATELLITE RELAY COMMUNICATIONS: The Three Star has modest communications facilities that can communicate with up to 250 craft simultaneously at ranges of up to 900 miles (1,440 km). This range can be boosted indefinitely by using satellites or other spacecraft as to relay communications.
• LONG-RANGE RADAR: The radar array of the Three Star is also modest compared to that of the most military vessels. The system can track and identify up to 500 craft simultaneously and has a 200 mile/320 km range.
• SPACE FOLD SYSTEM: For FTL propulsion, the vessel is equipped with an ORTEC/Shinnakasu/General Galaxy Advanced Fold System Cluster, capable of propelling the carrier through hyperspace at speeds up to 3.28x10^10 mps (5.25x10^10 kmps), or 1 light year per 6 minutes. The range of the fold drive is theoretically unlimited except by the life expectancy of the spacecraft. The fold drive is powerful enough to propel both the stealth frigate and manufacturing platform through hyperspace when they are connected.
• SUBLIGHT ENGINES: As a backup to the Fold System, the vessel is equipped with ORTEC/Centinel Impulse Drive Cluster engines that can propel the craft at speeds up to 0.16 speed of light (25,600 miles per second) in space. Note that these engines are mainly intended for rapid movement inside a planetary system and are not suited for long voyages between star systems. In a planetary atmosphere the carrier is limited to speeds of Mach 1 maximum due to hull stress. As with the fold drives, the engines are powerful enough to propel the craft when the stealth frigate is attached.
• SUBSPACE MASS SENSORS: Like the most colony vessels, Three Star ships are equipped with subspace sensors for early warning of approaching objects and navigation at sublight speeds. These sensors can almost instantly detect mass readings and movement of objects up to 1 AU (93 million miles) distant from the carrier which are above 60,000 kg in mass (which means that the sensors usually cannot detect objects as small as variable fighters). Readings taken with the subspace sensors are not very detailed (-25% penalty when trying to identify a detected object) and are usually used for tracking purposes only.

MECHA COMPLEMENT (STANDARD):

NONE! However, the landing bays in Three Star vessels have enough room and resources to adequately support up to 4 squadrons (48 fighters) of VFs if necessary.

REFERENCES USED IN THIS DESIGN

• "Doe's All The Worlds' Starship Guide: Three Star Mobile Manufacturing Platform Entry"
• "Doe's All The Worlds' Starship Guide: Stargazer Stealth Frigate Entry"
• Macross 7 TV episodes

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