ANDROMEDAN SYSTEMS:
POWER ABSORPTION PANELS:
The Andromedan Invasion vessels appear to defy conventional starship construction philosophy by eschewing shielding technology and using what appears to be an advanced form of energized hull plating. But upon further observation, initial reports have proven incorrect as to the nature of the technology. Further observation indicates that the ships use some form of power absorption and distribution technology far in advance of any of the Alpha Quadrant powers have or can readily match. The technology has been noted as being capable of absorbing directed energy fire from most of the Alpha Quadrant powers, as well as absorbing raw kinetic impacts from debris and asteroids, converting it to power that can be utilized by the vessel and rerouting large amounts of power to ships systems within femto-seconds. As to how it does this is open to debate, as no pieces of Andromedan ship’s technology has ever been captured intact in sufficient condition to allow analysis.
Game Mechanics: Functionally speaking, the purchasing, installation, and space costs of Andromedan defensive systems will go off of Table 1.19 on page 22 of Starships or Table 9.13 Deflector Shield Costs on page 143 of the Narrators Guide. However there are special rules which should be taken into consideration given the alien nature of the systems in question
The Power Absorption Panels (afterward PAP) have two modes: The default state will be “Powersave” mode, where the panels will function mechanically as regular shield systems, with a foot note that the panels appear to also function as a form of navigation deflector as well. The ship also is treated as having a Monotanium Hull, due to the PAP’s absorption of all ambient energy falling upon the ship. Please note: due to the nature of the panels, attempting to transport personnel over to a so equipped vessel is ill-advised.
The secondary and far more dangerous state “Active” occurs after the Kelvan vessel has made a Power Transfer maneuver from reserves to bring them into full combat mode. At this point, femto-second power transfer conduits between the PAP’s and a distributed network of high capacitance batteries in the vessel to store the collected energy. Mechanically speaking, any salvo that is equal or less than the ships Threshold will be absorbed by the panels and stored within the capacitors for usage by the ship.
Capacitance Systems storage for the vessel are equal to Ships Size x 10 in ‘points’. Secondary Capacitance modules on vessels can be purchased for 10 x Ships Size and need to be stored in the main hanger bay. Andromedan capacitors are exceptionally bulky and are normally designed into the ships frame, thus this is not a normal configuration for an Andromedan vessel.
If the Ship’s Capacitor-PAP system is in danger of overloading (read: getting full of power), The Andromedan ship can elect to dump energy out from the panels into open space. This serves to bleed power from the over-taxed panels, and adds a +5 difficulty to target the vessel due to the amount of hard radiation being dumped into the void. The downside is that the ship cannot absorb any energy during the dumping process and needs a turn to re-adjust. Treat any incoming salvo as a normal combat hit and resolve normally.
If the ship reaches overload point and the capacitors detonate, treat as a ship having initated self destruct, but add the total capacitance storage of the vessel x2 to the total damage given. Large Andromedan vessels tend to go up like a small nova when overloaded…
Notably, the PAP seems to have a problem with Klingon derived disruptor systems (treat Threshold as half vs Klingon disruptors).
SPACEFOLD SYSTEM: To make matters worse, The Andromedan have perfected a form of in-system Warpspace fold where in the ship in question can fold itself (or other ships) at will over a distance of several AU’s if necessary or as little as a few kilometers. The tactical applications of this ability should not be underestimated by any means.
Mechanics: This secondary drive system requires Three Power from the ships capacitors to function or two turns of power transfer from the warp drive to gain sufficent charges to work. While navigation for Andromedan vessels remains relatively normal when using the fold system (treat a Space Fold as a maneuver of going to warp), using it on an enemy vessel is a more dicey maneuver and is generally used to break up ship formations. As to where the ship ends up in system is left to the GM’s imagination. Space issues, I’m still up in the air about, as large vessels tend to have several of these devices aboard for satellite ship retrieval.
Comments are welcom as usual
A brave little theory, and actually quite coherent for a system of five or seven dimensions -- if only we lived in one.
Academician Prokhor Zakharov, "Now We Are Alone"
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*whistles*
Glad to help out!
