Ship: Ugznaezdouzgzu
Class: Ugznaezdouzgzu
Type: Corsair/Light Frigate
Architect: Father Fletch
Tech Level: 13
USP CF-92344E2-250000-44004-0 MCr 718.618 900 Tons
Bat Bear 1/1/1/1 Crew: 27
Bat 1/1/1/1 TL: 13
Cargo: 109.400 Frozen Watch Fuel: 306 EP: 82.500 Agility: 2 Marines: 12 Pulse Lasers
Craft: 1 x 30T Ships Boat, 1 x 10T G-Carrier, 1 x 5T Air-Raft
Fuel Treatment: Fuel Scoops and On Board Fuel Purification
Architects Fee: MCr 6.926 Cost in Quantity: MCr 550.121
Detailed Description (T20 Design)
HULL
900.000 tons standard, 12,600.000 cubic meters, Cone Configuration, 100.000 Structure Points
CREW
Pilot, Navigator, 7 Engineers, Medic, 4 Gunners, 1 Flight Crew, 12 Marines
ENGINEERING
Jump-3, 4G Manuever, 82.500 Ton Power Plant, 82.500 EP, Agility 2/Emergency Agility 3
AVIONICS
Bridge, Model/5fib Computer, Model/2 Flight Avionics, Model/5 Sensors, Model/5 Communications
HARDPOINTS
9 Hardpoints
ARMAMENT
2 Triple Missile Turrets organised into 1 Battery (Factor-4), 2 Triple Pulse Laser Turrets organised into 1 Battery (Factor-4), 3 Dual Plasma Gun Turrets organised into 1 Battery (Factor-4)
DEFENCES
2 Triple Sandcaster Turrets organised into 1 Battery (Factor-5), Armoured Hull (Factor-2)
CRAFT
1 30.000 ton Ships Boat (Crew of 1, Cost of MCr 25.000), 1 10.000 ton G-Carrier (Crew of 0, Cost of MCr 0.750), 1 5.000 ton Air-Raft (Crew of 0, Cost of MCr 0.254)
FUEL
306 Tons Fuel (3 parsecs jump and 28 days endurance)
On Board Fuel Scoops, On Board Fuel Purification Plant
MISCELLANEOUS
13.5 Staterooms, 14 Low Berths, 1 Autodoc, 2 Additional Airlocks, 4 Tons of Missile Magazines (holding 80 missiles), 109.400 Tons Cargo
USER DEFINED COMPONENTS
None
COST
MCr 699.540 Singly (incl. Architects fees of MCr 6.926), MCr 554.091 in Quantity, plus MCr 26.004 of Carried Craft (Hardpoints and Turrets charged)
CONSTRUCTION TIME
118 Weeks Singly, 94 Weeks in Quantity
COMMENTS
Ugznaezdouzgzu-Translated, as "Stinging Nettle" is an appropriate name for this deadly corsair, known throughout the Gelath sector as a ship to avoid. Named after a Vokskhon native plant that produces beautiful but painful spike covered flowers, it is also a play on words. Since the main prey of this ship is K'kree merchants and those who trade with them, the Vargr designers wanted to name a ship after a plant the K'Kree couldn't eat, at least not without a great deal of discomfort.
In appearance it also looks much like the nettle it is named after. With ornate cooling fins, weapon blisters, sensor and communications antennae and other typical Vargr garishness this ship bristles with points. And it does sting!
The sensors are very long ranged, more than twice what the typical merchant mounts and similar to what anti-piracy forces carry. This gives the Ugznaezdouzgzu a chance to both find prey and avoid becoming prey.
The weapons suite is oriented more to close range combat; especially since the Ugznaezdouzgzu is not meant to duke it out with military ships. Her combination of long range hitting missiles, with magazines, mean that she is a threat coming and going. Her pulse lasers are optimized for anti-missile defense, as are her sandcasters. The armored hull allows her to take a few hits and keep fighting, or running!
The coup-de-gras weapon is the three-double plasma turrets, meant to peel open a merchantman with ease. Short ranged they may be, but deadly, and they also help keep anti-piracy fighters at a distance.
With over 100 tons of cargo space the Ugznaezdouzgzu can take on large amounts of prize cargo, without having to go back to rear areas often. Her missile magazines, fuel scoops and processors, and the extra capacity in her cargo bay for ships stores allow her to remain on station for a long time. This allows her to pick a system clean before anti-piracy forces can respond. One of the greatest dangers to a corsair is the initial system entry and egress. During these times she cannot hide in the signature of a planet or asteroid belt, but has to be somewhere close to the 100 diameter limit.
One tactic that the Ugznaezdouzgzu uses is to deploy the 30-ton ships boat as a lure. Dangling the boat just at the edge of sensor range, it will broadcast a distress signal to a merchant in the area, but only with enough signal strength for that merchant to hear. The Ugznaezdouzgzu having previously detected the merchant with her long-range sensors, the corsairs know how close the nearest help really is!
As the merchant approaches to provide aid, and hopefully comes alongside the ships boat, the Ugznaezdouzgzu powers up and threatens the merchant to "accept death or surrender and save your worthless bean eating hides!" Meanwhile the ships boat, in apparent 'dead-mans-tumble' suddenly powers up as well, pinning the merchant between two armed ships! The boat discharges the 12 troops, who quickly board, search and strip the merchant of all her useful goods.
If the merchant ship is intact, a portion of the frozen watch will be revived, and sent across as a prize crew. This is the main purpose of the frozen watch. One factor that helps keep corsair crews loyal is the Autodoc, often the best Imperial model on the market. This lets boarding parties and the crew as a whole knows that if they get into a bad scrape, they will be taken care of. The G-Carrier and Air-Raft are carried to allow interface activities, since the frozen watch and extra cargo capacity can quickly be converted allowing the Ugznaezdouzgzu to act as a mercenary cruiser whenever the piracy business gets too hot!
