Star Clusters

Star clusters may be found in sectors where Stellar Cartography is active.

Star Clusters are huge collections of densely packed stars which can not be navigated by ships, and are surrounded by radiation haloes deadly to crews. Star Clusters have the following effects:

• Ships that fly into or through a Star Cluster core are destroyed.
• Ships can not hyperjump through a Star Cluster core. Ships which attempt to hyperjump through a Star Cluster core will be destroyed.
• Star Clusters emit significantly more radiation than individual stars. This higher level of radiation is enough to kill crew and colonists in starships with normal shielding. Starships which start in or pass through a Radiation Halo (even through hyperspace) will lose crew and colonists clans equal to the maximum radiation the starship passes through.
• A starship which runs out of crew due to radiation will become a "Ghost Ship" and will always be captured by any starship which tows it. The warp speed of a "Ghost Ship" will be set to 0 and it will be unable to fight or function.
• When capturing a "Ghost Ship" 10 crew members will be sent to it to capture the starship and function as a minimum crew, after the "Ghost Ship" has been towed at least 1 light-year. If the starship is still inside the radiation halo those crew members may be killed the next turn.
• Because of their glory devices most Fury starship designs are equipped with radiation shielding. With radiation shielding a ship will not lose crew or colonists when inside a Radiation Halo. The following ship hulls have radiation shielding:
  • D7a Painmaker Class Cruiser
  • Little Pest Class Escort
  • D7 Coldpain Class Cruiser
  • Ill Wind Class Battlecruiser
  • D3 Thorn Class Destroyer
  • Deth Specula Class Frigate
  • D19b Nefarious Class Destroyer
  • Saber Class Frigate
  • Victorious Class Battleship
• In addition, the following non-Fury starships have radiation shielding:
  • Banshee Class Destroyer (Federation)
  • Moscow Class Star Escort (Evil Empire)
  • Armored Transport (Rebels)
• The Robots are not affected by star cluster radiation.
• Colonists and natives on planets inside a Radiation Halo are protected by the planet's atmosphere.
• Special starbases must be built inside a Radiation Halo. These starbases have radiation shielding and more docking space. While these starbases cost slightly more minerals and MegaCredits to build, the heavy shielding automatically increases the starbase combat mass by 200 KT and the extra space allows up to 250 defense posts and 80 fighters. If a friendly starbase exists on a planet (yours or an ally) then starships at that planet are protected from the radiation while at the planet (they are docked at the station). Since the Robots are immune, they only build normal bases.
• While in a Radiation Halo, cloaked starships will only lose half the normal crew and colonists while cloaked advanced cloaking starships will only lose a third.
• Normal minefield hits and glory device hits to starships which occur inside a Radiation Halo will kill crew equal to the radiation level at the point of impact due to the hull breach.
• It is not possible to lay mines over a star cluster core or within 10 light-years of it. A minefield which is laid over this exclusion area will be automatically reduced in size so that it does not come within 10 light-years of the Star Cluster core. Any additional mines will be lost, sucked in by the gravity well of the Star Cluster. It is, however, possible to lay mines within the Radiation Halo.
• Ion Storms which enter a Radiation Halo gain strength. Ion storms that touch a Star Cluster core are immediately destroyed.
• Starships can not be towed into a Star Cluster core. The tow lock is lost as the towing ship enters the Star Cluster core, stopping both starships.
• Starships using a warp well to arrive at a planet inside a Radiation Halo take crew and colonist losses equal to the radiation level at the warp well (or the highest point along their journey) not the radiation level of the planet itself.
• Starships that are towed to a planet inside a Radiation Halo take crew and colonist losses equal to the radiation level at the planet (or the highest point along their journey) not the level at the warp well that their tower might have used.
• Starships can safely chunnel through a Star Cluster core, or a Radiation Halo, without taking any damage to the ship, crew or colonists on board.

Back