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To the right is a picture of a fairly typical warehouse ship. Warehouse Ships are little more than powered containers, therein holding several hundred containers. Many aren't even THAT advanced, and the container ships have to be unloaded, the cargos restraped. Most warehouse
Any given Three Star-Class factory ship has at minimum 10 of these vsls nearby, holding all kinds of materials; Container ships approach them at all times, and with some over-loaded warehouse ships may even have a dozen or so containers either awaiting off-load or actually being used for extended holding, though typically these are non-priority loads; For example, gold is fairly useless in any great quantity, but is critical in certain components of manufacturing- For example, connections in circuitry boards, roller bearings on Mecha actuators, etc. Battle Fleets also pack these vsls around, though NEVER unmanned, holding every conceivable mat'eri'el, foods, Spare Mecha, parts, artillery, you name it. Of special interest is the tertiary powerplants; Power cables from other vsls (usually the factory ship) are sometimes strung between a controlling vsl and used to supply power and control between the two vsls. In fact, it is not unknown for a warehouse ship to be outfitted with reactors used as the power generation facilities for the controlling vsls and/or outfitted with the control facilities (ie the "bridge" of the factory); This allows the factory to free up space for other things (typically more factory equipment). The cables, however, are quite expensive; As much as 20 millioncredits per every 100', and therefore can not be risked casually. With this in mind, the warehouse ships using these cables are usually kept snugged up right next to the factory as much as possible. Although warehouse ships can be (and occasionally are) purpose built, they are more often retired vsls of other types; Of the two examples presented here is one of each, both hailing from the Kobolose Confederation. The first is a Gemini-Class Warehouse Ship. They were developed from a militry vsl thought to have been ordinance ships from the First War (predating even the colonization of the Kobolese worlds). The second is a more common configurations, a pair of retired vsls, in this case BERZERK-Class Gunships (heavy frigates) converted to warehouse duties. The more common practice is to convert a vsl no longer fit for cargo duties, or minimally so, to "floating warehouses" to relieve planetary warehouses of this strain and to free space on other stations (as discussed previously) until such time as they can be scrapped out. Type: Warehouse Ships Class: Industrial Crew: As little as none; Maximum is rarely more than 10. MDC By Location: | |||||||
| Main Hull | Generally around 1,000 | Bridge | Generally around 100 | ||||
Speed and Statistical Data: | |||||||
| Space Fold: Not usually Equipped. FTL: Factor 5 Cruising Speed: Mach 5 max; May run at stall (dead stop). Clearance: Around 200'. Beam: Around 20,000'. Length: Varies greatly; As long as 100 times the beam. Weight: Generally around 100 tons per 100 feet plus 100 tons for support equipment. Cargo: Generally 10 tons per 100 tons of vsl. Power Plant: Primary: Nuclear power plants. Secondary: Solar Panel Arrays. Tertiary: Umbilical Cables; See Discussion. | Propulsion: Primary: Tractioning drives. Secondary: Hyrocell rockets. Flight System: Not Applicable; Not planet-fall capable. Cost and Availability: 200 million credits; Takes about 2 months to build. Black Market Cost and Availability: Around 10 million credits; Only ships stolen from somewhere else would be available on the black market, and since these are pretty big ships, it's hard to off-load one. However, malconts often swap them between each other for various purposes. | ||||||
| Weapons Systems: Because these ARE civilian vsls, they are rarely armed with anything but the most basic self-defense mechanisms. Additionally, these vsls are rarely left to their own devices, and usually kept close to larger facilities to take advantage of their defenses- Usually these vsls are in fact usually kept within the shields of the larger ship. | |||||||
| 1. Full-Force Barrier Field: This type of vsl generally has a full-force barrier field, but only a fairly light and rudimentary one. MDC: Generally not more than about 150 to 500 Range: Self + about 10 feet. Payload: Technically unlimited; However, the barrier field prevents ANY approach to the vsl, and therefore must be lowered to allow cargo shuttles, in. Attacks Per Melee: Technically unlimited; Requires one melee action to raise, if the operator happens to be standing right there when the attack begins. Sadly, all too often they are not. | 2. Point Defense Lasers: These automated laser batteries kick in whenever the Collision alarm alerts. Rarely are there more than four, though. MD: 1D4 times 10 per blast. Range: 100 feet. Payload: Unlimited. Attacks Per Melee: Twice per melee. | ||||||
| Features: Though these ships have all the usual features, they are rarely used, except for radios and 1 MC's (for manned vsls). | |||||||
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