FCT - Free Cal-Tex

Following the end of the Second Solar War in 2157, California and Texas declared their independence from the NAC (in 2158). The NAC protested strongly, but eventually accepted the declaration, and the FCT was formed.

Austin class Destroyer

FT-1405

Mass 30

NPV 95.5 / CPV 74.5

Average Hull 9 (2/2/2/2/1)

Thrust 6

FTL

1 Fire Control

2 PDS

2 Class-1 Beam Batteries

2 Class-2 Beam Batteries (2xFP/F/FS)

The Ravagers - Rim Pirates

Savage bands of marauding outcasts operating from barely-habitable planets outside even far-flung limited settlements of the Outrim Worlds. Run by a confusing and ever-fighting selection of feudal warlords, they exhibit no kind of government structure beyond who has the biggest gun at the time. With barely-spaceworthy ships cobbled together from old hulls refitted with scavenged weapons and drives, the Ravagers are the scourge of small outrim settlements and unescorted merchant shipping...

Rim Pirate forces don't plan on taking on naval units except small convoy escort craft if they can help it, so they generally don't have particularly heavy armament suites, but they do carry specialized weaponry designed to incapacitate ships and/or their crews without actually destroying them. Needle Beams (to pick off individual systems on a target ship) and EMP weapons (to cause system failures without damaging the hull or cargo) are both common on Pirate vessels, along with a selection of more conventional beam and missile weapons for when a stand-up fight is inevitable.

It is not known for certain where the Rim Pirate Warlords acquire their ships from, but the fact that many of the ships encountered bear strong resemblance to each other (albeit with many minor differences in fitting-out and details) tends to suggest that there is at least one shipyard facility still operating somewhere on the Rim which is producing basic hulls to simple, outdated designs and selling them to the warlords, who then fit them out with whatever they have available in the way of scavenged and captured weapons, drives and systems. Many of these systems, especially drives and power cores, often appear to be dangerously unstable - but as drive room crews are mostly slaves and press-ganged captives, this seems of little concern to the Warlords - and there is always another ship and crew to replace those that blow up!

Some Ravagers ships use EMP Batteries.  Rules for this new weapon can be found on the Out-Rim Coalition (ORC) page.  Rules for ships having more than 4 rows of hull can be found on the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) page.

Ravager (Rim Pirate) Attackers

FT-X01 

Replace the EMP battery with 2 Submunition Packs (F)

Pirate Attacker: a small, fast attack ship the size of a military strikeboat, normally used to "swarm" a target and disable it, or to take on escorting ships. Attackers almost always work in conjunction with Raiders and Cruisers, as the tiny Attacker boats don't have much spare space for hauling away their ill-gotten gains.

Ravager (Rim Pirate) Raiders

FT-X02 

1 SMR (FP/F/FS)

Pirate Raider: typically the size of a small Destroyer, the Raider class of Pirate ship is most frequently used on solo missions to pick off isolated civilian shipping or attack small planetary settlements, but is also encountered in groups (often accompanied by a Cruiser or two) for dealing with larger and better-defended targets.

Ravager (Rim Pirate) Raider Type II

FT-X04

1 Needle Beam (F)

Ravager (Rim Pirate) Cruiser

FT-X03  

6 Mass Cargo Space

Pirate Cruiser: the size of a typical naval Heavy Cruiser, the Pirate Cruiser is usually the command ship of a raiding force. The Cruiser class generally has a moderate armament suite, plus considerable spare cargo space for loot and captives, and is equipped with powerful (if not terribly reliable) drives in order to catch targets and evade defenders.

Ravager (Rim Pirate) Carrier

FT-X05

2 Fighter Bays