The Crowntail

The Crowntail is a small, agile capital ship built to counter Wun’Tux raiding parties. It features a devastatingly effective weapons suite, with a spine-mounted plasma ‘revolver’ and fragmentation-cannons mounted on turrets twinned with a nimbleness to rival the ubiquitous Wun’Tux clanship. It was a collaborative work between the Fukuro Corporation and the V’kara people, neatly mixing the unique aspects of the two.

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The ship was, in fact, designed to counter Wun’Tux incursions by being quicker, smarter and deadlier. The majority of human warships are less specialised; the priority is for them to be able to face a variety of threats both human and alien. Fukuro, working alongside the rebellious aspects of the V people, acted against the grain.

Uptake has been small in basic numbers, but feedback and customer loyalty is high. There are reports of Crowntails working as both colony defenders and escort ships fighting off odds of even 3-to-1, with Wun’Tux Clanships choosing to disengage when the tide of battle was clearly not in their favour.

HL-8

The HL-8 is the Asian Coalition heavy lift shuttle of choice; it is capable of carrying a variety of cargo over long distances without the need for a mother ship. Indeed, the bulk of the ship is too big to land in all but the largest carriers and cargo haulers.

It is a ship built for hard work, with reinforced bulkheads and a solid substructure. This sturdy base means the ship’s military variant needed little added on in the way of armour. This variant (the ML-8) is the primary drop ship and staff shuttle for the Coalition Navy, Army and other military forces and capable of troop transport and dispersal, as well as command and control.

In the evacuation of the wildcat colony at Batneum VI, three ML-8s survived heavy Wun’Tux bombardment to rescue 120 civilians before the main settlement was overrun; the shredder cannons of the Wun’Tux Planewalkers were not able to inflict sufficient damage to the rugged ships before they could take off and save colonist lives which would’ve surely otherwise been lost.

TT-6

The Adversi-Tec TT-6 is a simple, reliable design most often seen deployed as a gas or liquid tanker; a small crew requirement and easy-to-use navigation and control system has made the design popular for people just getting started in trade and transport.



TT-6s are used by the IMG as well as small time operators to ferry resources from the resource-rich planets in the Border Worlds to the resource hungry Colonies and Core. As the ship is relatively small and low-key, independent traders often risk this without an armed escort with the hopes that they’ll escape notice of any raiders or pirates. The ship itself is unarmed and not suited to battle or skirmish.

 

S-7 Melody

The S-7, nicknamed ‘Melody’, is a quick scout and personal transport, sometimes used as a fightercraft. Built with human and Ephii designers, it integrates the individualism of the diminutive species and the more advanced technology of the humans.

The ship lacks a FTL drive as a stock model and is most suited to ship-to-ship or interplanetary travel. Modern colony missions often take a handful of S-7s to scout new systems, confirm preliminary probe data and – if necessary – defend the mission.

C-89 Cargo Lifter

The C-89 Feronia Industries Heavy Lift Shuttle is a workhorse of a ship, used extensively from Sol to the outer reaches of human space to move cargo from A to B. It is capable of carrying even hazardous cargo through heavy gravity environments and over long ranges.

It has room for upto 30 people in relative comfort or a respectable amount of crated cargo; loading occurs via the sliding doors on each side, though it is easily modified to feature a ‘belly’ hatch. The ship is designed for civilian use and so no weapons and limited shields are available as standard.

Several C-89 (M-Variant, set up with medical beds and triage facilities) were used as part of the UN relief force to colonies devastated by solar flares and other disasters in the late Third Age, giving the ship some unexpected PR.

Another popular variant, C-89C, is equipped with basic colonising and terraforming kit for finding new worlds to settle.

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The C89 Heavy Lift shuttle has seen a number of tweaks and aftermarket modifications; none more fundamental than the ‘Molotov’ version, popular with pirates, smugglers and other criminals. First and foremost, the ship’s systems are been stripped back to the bare minimum of complexity, leaving a spartan interior. Mounted on the ‘chin’ is a EMP projector, a wild and chaotic weapon outlawed in civilised systems. The ‘Molotov’ modification features a ‘juiced’ version capable of dangerous overload.

Users of this ship have a simple approach; sneak up on prey (usually merchant convoys, high value transport vessels) and attack. The EMP disables most ship systems within close range, including the Molotov’s. The stripped back and rudimentary flight and control systems mean the Molotov’s crew can get the ship working again within half an hour. This is a routine the pirates drill for many hours, like a raircing crew changing tyres. Once back operational, they able to choose a stricken target ship to board. Unless the ship has a marine contingent on board, it is usually easily pickings for the pirates who can steal the cargo, but not the ship itself which remains disabled.

The ship is seldom seen in civilised space; it is both illegal as well as vulnerable to any form of police or military response, featuring no armament beyond the one-shot EMP and little ability to evade attack. Merchants and traders speak about them like the boogeyman and superstitious ship captains never travel the colonial trade routes without an escort, just in case Molotovs are lurking around.

The VTOL, vector-thrust engines are the other vastly different aspect to the ship compared to the stock model; they were added for sake of simplicity as well as to aid in landing and take off in hangars and planetside. They give the ship respectable thrust but a lower top speed than the stock model.

Cinnabar Executive Shuttle

Adventure in luxury; Fly Cinnabar

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The Cinnabar is more than just a spaceship; it is the only vessel to combine luxury and safety into one perfect package. From your automated factories around Jupiter or your vacation complex on the lush Gnobo homeworld, the Cinnabar takes you there in the fashion you’re accustomed to. The vessel features top-of-the-range safety features, an on-board AI for threat assessment and the fastest recorded sublight speed of any civilian shuttle craft, allowing you to be as confident in travel as you are in business.

The Cinnabar Executive Shuttle is the vessel of choice of sports stars, musicians, presidents and business magnates around the Solar System and beyond. You and up to twelve guests can join you touring the furthest reaches of known space in opulence and safety.

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_Three Cinnabar vessels have been reported as missing in the last year whilst on extended tours in the Galactic East. A further two sent out SOS messages after a complete engine failure; in both cases the crew had allowed passengers to take control. Full investigations have found fault in the engines being ran at full throttle for over five minutes, a fact not published by the manufacturer.

Velvetbelly Tech Corvette

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The Velvetbelly-class is an advanced support ship marketed as a ‘Tech Corvette’. A high price tag purchases a ship full of bells and whistles, from electronic countermeasures (ECM) to smart minelaying technology and advanced remote hacking tools. The Velvetbelly is not a suitable vessel for just any crew; it demands a well trained crew of 14 or so individuals able to operate a capital ship as well as the advanced sub systems.

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The corvette lacks any out-and-out offensive capability but serves as a suitable support vessel for all manner of operations; civilian, military and outlaw like. The high tech sensor suite means it can act as a remote survey craft or, if a group’s intent is more mercenary, a ‘loot sniffer’ searching for valuable cargoes from afar. In combat the ship can dazzle and baffle foes targeting and tactical systems, restrict movement with mine laying and aid allies in targeting.

Partizan

The Partizan hovertank is a popular skirmisher and patrol unit in human armies and militias. It features lightweight armour capable of shrugging off small arms fire but which struggles against heavier weapons. The tank’s main defence against more burly opponents is agility and guile, aided by four belly-mounted repulsor engines.

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The turreted pulse cannon boasts a high rate of fire but low damage and penetration compared to larger calibre weapons. Any combat against more armoured opponents is risky and best avoided. If such battle is sought, a wily Partizan commander will attempt to limit the engagement to an environment advantageous to her; urban landscapes with lots of cover or swamp-like land limiting the movement of heavier foes but not Partizans. They are not suited to all environs, however; the dust and sediment of arid worlds can play havoc with the repulsors.

Length: 8m
Crew: 2 (One driver, one gunner)
Role: Patrol, skirmishing
Weaponry: 1 x Pulse Cannon Turret (top mount)
Shields/Armour: Light/Light
Special Features: Low drag, high agility.

New Bambara

The Far Planets Revolution was put down with brutal efficiency; any rebellious workers left alive were forced to finish their assigned construction projects and then were moved on. A large amount of these workers were from a slew of African countries – they had only pursued jobs at the edge of the Sol System to escape the crumbling infrastructure of their birth countries on Earth. By the end of the developments on the moons of Juipter and Saturn, the Second Age of humanity was in full swing and the Veritas leak had occured. A group of two hundred odd African hydroponics workers stole an old transport scow due to be scrapped and set course for the Pyramide System; it’s fourth planet in particular.

The group picked Pyramide IV due to its climate; humid and wet. They were desperate to live free somewhere, out from under the yoke of corporations or government. Although not the most comfortable climate, they knew they could use their hydroponic engineering knowledge in order to grow a significant range of food to support themselves.

The Earth-based seeds the colonists brought along struggled to grow in the alien soil; the group turned to native vegetables instead. Although there were a small, sad number of allergic reactions to the indigenous ‘raow’ tubers, they proved edible, nourishing and favourable to hydroponic farming. Thanks to the growth of raow – amongst other – plants, the settlers were able to sustain themselves by the end of the Second Age. The colony was established enough to give itself a name; New Bambara.

Once self-sustaining, the two hundred colonists brought families along and the population blossomed to a thousand or so. Independent merchants were quick to seize upon the new opportunities provided by the world – they arrived to sell basic building materials and prefabricated buildings for the new arrivals in exchange for the exotic foodstuffs from their hydroponic farms. These farms form the core of New Bambara; jungle has been cleared to accommodate both the farms and population housing but the continent is still heavily rain-forested and often victim to extreme monsoon seasons.

New Bambara eschewed hiring mercenaries for protection; many of its founding members had been abused and ill-treated by corporate armies during the Far Planet Revolution. Instead they formed their own militia to dissuade pirates and raiders. They are fortunately far enough away from Wun’Tux space to become a viable target – especially since the creation of EWO Outposts -though traders heading to and from New Bambara have suffered the occasional Hirudin Blackfin attack.

Jaipur

Jaipur was the name of a ‘residential’ UCW within the Jai Beta star system. Detailed scans of Jai Beta were part of the first wave of information leaked by Veritas. This information was seized upon and quickly claimed by a convoy of people from Earth’s India who set off in spite of a UN ban on such colonies.

Jai Beta III is a heavily wooded planet with a significant sized habitable zone. The climate within this zone is similar to Southern Europe and well suited to growing crops. Around ten thousand colonists (led by wealthy industrial farmers escaping the Asian Coalition) settled on the world near the start of the Second Age. They were far enough away from the Core to avoid unwanted attention and interference.

Early colony life was difficult; learning to farm an alien landscape had a steep learning curve. But the settlement steadily grew and developed; the ten thousand colonists eager to grasp the opportunity to live away their previously crowded existences needed a lot of food and had the incentive to grow it.
Jaipur grew in both population and stature throughout the Second Age. It became the terminus in a black market trade route – freighters would bring luxury and consumer goods to Jaipur in exchanged for food and crops which could then be sold on to more industrial colonies. The ruling council hired a small mercenary troop to protect the world for opportunistic raiders and pirates and all seemed well.

This charmed existence didn’t last, however. A Wun’Tux scouting party found the colony at the dawn of the Third Age. Although chased off by the local mercenary guard, the BroodClan soon returned in force. Jaipur’s protectors were quickly routed and the colony was laid bare for the slavers to pick clean. The Wun’Tux had no use for the planet itself – they abducted the majority of the population to make into slaves and left the old and weak to die. They burned crops and destroyed buildings. The destruction and chaos was discovered by a regular trader, the ISS Kiwako, and reported to the UN. There was little sympathy within the Core worlds, however. Instead there was a general feeling of ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’.