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This installment of Future Armada brings you a sampling of ships to fit a variety of situations. These three vessels cover a broad spectrum of styles, tech levels, challenge, and morality. So whatever your needs, you'll be able to find something in this trio.

First, we have Mercury - largest of the three at 155 feet. This is a Progress Level 8 prototype: a mix of human and Aleerin technology captained by self-styled hero known as "The Shepard". He and his beautiful sidekicks are out to do good and, more importantly, win fame for themselves and Project Quicksilver (which produced the craft). Equipped with an advanced cloaking screen, an inertial flux engine, ablative armored skin, and zero bore cannons, Mercury is light-years ahead of the usual ships you'll find cruising the space lanes.

Next up is Remora-18, a salvaged boarding craft that is being used by a sadistic gang of cyber-punks to hunt civilian craft deep in the void. This beast employs magnetic grapples to lock onto the hull of a ship and then engages its breaching bore to burn a hole through which the rampaging gang can board. The 100 foot long ship is PL 6 and ugly as sin but gets the job done. Like Mercury, it supports a crew of three and a like number of passengers. The hold also has plenty of room for a boarding party to gather.

Lastly, we present the Valkyrn interceptor. At 74 feet this PL 7 craft is one step beyond a heavy fighter and carries a crew of four in its cramped interior. Valkyrn Bravo-6 is stationed out of Port Bastion - tasked with patrolling the hinterlands of known space to watch for hostile incursions and provide a first line of defense if needed. It is also authorized to conduct police duties as required. The ship is fast, well-armed, and also streamlined for atmospheric flight. If your players are aiming to misbehave, a Valkyrn patrol could give them something to worry about.

That's Mercury on the cover. You can see renderings of Remora and the Valkyrn interceptor in the demo document (see link below).

The .zip file contains the following:

• Overview
  • Separate PDF files (at about 9 pages each) detailing the interior locations and crew of each ship.
  • Open Game License stats are provided for the vessels and all personnel.
• Map Book
  • Full-color 17 page PDF file containing complete interior maps for all three ships.
  • Includes overview and miniature-scale maps for tactical combat.
  • Broken into pages for easy printing.
• Printer friendly, grayscale version of the map book.
• Miniature-scale composite maps of each ship's interior.
  • A 16x31 inch, 150 dpi, color JPEG image of the Mercury prototype.
  • A 18x21 inch, 150 dpi, color JPEG image of the Remora boarding craft.
  • A 15x15 inch, 150 dpi, color JPEG image of the Valkyrn interceptor.
• "Bonus Art" directory with sixteen rendered images of these ships.

Sample documents and bonus art are available at ki-ryn.com.

Whether you need an ally, an adversary, or just some guys trying to do their job and keep the space lanes safe, this installment of Future Armada will add some color to the void. Or vent the crew and use the ships for your own nefarious purposes - the armada is at your disposal.