On Sat, 14 Jul 2012, Onno Meyer wrote:
Hello everybody,
I'm thinking about archetypes and memes for a series of "Fast
Courier" starships. What does "Fast Courier" mean?
* Speed over payload.
* Not a scout. She carries people or cargo from planet A to
planet B, she doesn't map the destination world first.
* Not a warship. If she is armed, that is for self-defense,
since she might carry valuable cargo.
So what does that leave as concepts?
* The Serenity and the Millenium Falcon were freighters were
flexibility and speed counted for more than big cargo bays,
but I've covered those memes with the TL10 and TL11 Light
Transports.
* Corporate Courier. Accountants will watch the bottom line,
but if it makes sense to spend some real money, this ship
does it. Possibly VIP quarters for a CEO or Executive VP.
* Parcel Service. One of thousands of similar ships, with
high speed and cargo rather than passengers. Still, few
amenities and large engines.
* Secure Armored Transport. Speed is important, but so is
security.
* Diplomatic Courier. Not a warship, but the crew might be
seconded from the military. Good defenses, but no offense
and no stealth -- "here I am, I'm legit".
* Criminal Courier ska smuggler. Might be disguised as a
Parcel Service ship. Memes include the blockade runner,
which tries to break through with high speed, and the
real smuggler, which tries to pass an inspection. Partly
covered by my TL11 Light Transport and an earlier TL11
ship.
* Spy Ship. Either a "normal" Parcel Service ship with a
few hidden sensors and commo systems (think black van)
or a shiny VIP Courier with pop-up weapons (think Bond).
* Bounty Hunter. No proper badge, so the ship isn't armed,
but there are detention facilities inside.
* Corporate Troubleshooter. Base 08/15 doesn't answer, and
the bosses don't want to call the Marines. Again a ship
which expects trouble, but isn't legally supposed to be
armed. Maybe this is better handled as a Scout or Salvage
Tug variant.
* Medevac Ship. Not search and rescue, but rather the kind
of ship which takes injured people from a frontier world
clinic to a proper core world clinic, if they can afford
it.
* In many settings, civilian starships routinely go armed.
In that case, replace "unarmed" with "light, legal guns".
Any thoughts? There are more than enough concepts to cover
seven TLs from 10 to 16, if all work out.
If you have no FTL communicators, you can have Xboat equivalents.
What you have likely already thought about, but not mentioned explicitly,
is for corporate couriers, to transport highly valuable personell or
equipment, to planets, for short missions there.
Personell or equipment , where a colony or base can't afford to keep one
of it's own, and that is required only for infrequent short missions.
The wages for a specialist in transport, or the cost of having to
train/build more, because some are locked in transport, might exeed the
extra cost for a faster ship. Especially if you would need more ships as
well.
Will work best if you have many small colonies and outposts.
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