Source Starship Operations Manual pg. 107
Huge cruiser
Speed 8; Maneuverability average (turn 2); Drift 1
AC 26; TL 26
HP 255; DT 5; CT 51
Shields heavy 240 (forward 90, port 50, starboard 50, aft 50)
Attack (Forward) super-blade hull (3d8×10; 1 hex)
Attack (Port) light aeon torpedo launcher (3d6; 20 hexes)
Attack (Starboard) light aeon torpedo launcher (3d6; 20 hexes)
Attack (Aft) warp puck bank (special)
Attack (Turret) fractal nav-scram projector (special), light ship tether* (2d6; 1 hex)
Power Core Nova Ultra (300 PCU); Drift Engine Signal Basic; Systems autodestruct system, budget long-range sensors, crew quarters (common), mk 6 armor, mk 7 defenses, mk 2 tetranode computer, powersap; Expansion Bays cargo holds (3), general science lab, life boats, medical bay; Modifiers +2 to any 4 checks per round; Complement 56 (minimum 20, maximum 100)CrewCaptain Bluff +22 (12 ranks), Diplomacy +22 (12 ranks), gunnery +17 (12th level), Intimidate +22 (12 ranks), Piloting +22 (12 ranks)
Engineers (2 officers, 8 crew each) Engineering +22 (12 ranks)
Gunners (3 officers, 5 crew each) gunnery +17 (12th level)
Pilot (1 officer, 4 crew) Piloting +27 (12 ranks)
Science Officers (2 officers, 6 crew each) Computers +22 (12 ranks)DescriptionAlthough best known for its luxurious transports, Vanguard Craftworks periodically turns its research and development teams to building new military technology for the Azlanti Star Empire. Among the company’s most infamous designs is the Exsanguinator, a massive cruiser with a sharp and predatory silhouette. Incorporating experimental powersap technology, Exsanguinators excel at pulling alongside enemies and stealing their energy, simultaneously disabling the target’s systems and supercharging the cruiser’s combat capabilities. As a result, the ship has been nicknamed “Zura,” a homage to the demon lord of blood and vampires so fearfully immortalized in the Azlanti faith.
Exsanguinators operate with brutal elegance. Despite their bulk, they turn swiftly and move even faster, and their warp puck banks enable them to teleport across a battlefield without warning to take quarries by surprise (see Transposition on page 17). Rather than destroy enemy starships, Exsanguinator crews typically disable their foes’ defenses and leave the vessels intact. Horror stories abound of crews being held hostage as bargaining chips aboard a dying starship in a display of “Azlanti diplomacy.” Worse still are the unknown (and ill-imagined) fates of the crews of defeated starships dragged by Exsanguinators back to the Azlanti Star Empire for study and salvage. These return trips are often quite slow, however, hypothetically enabling a target’s allies to launch a rescue before the ship can enter Azlanti space. Still, few mercenaries are willing to pursue such a dangerous foe.
Unlike most Azlanti starships, Exsanguinators regularly receive exterior detailing and customization guided by their captains’ tastes and accomplishments. As a result, at least 30 unique Exsanguinators are documented in Pact Worlds and Veskarium databases, each with a colorful history of raids and war crimes. Among the most infamous and prolific is the Green Eurus, blamed for at least 14 strikes, dozens of destroyed starships, and more than a thousand crew and passengers enslaved or slain. The Green Eurus’s preference for targeting Opulos starships has incensed that manufacturer, prompting it to post numerous bounties for the Azlanti ship’s demise.
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