Merchant Surveillance Ship

==Overview==
A creation of 2ndAcr, the Merchant-Class Surveillance Ship is a WarShip design produced in the Fate Can Be Cruel/Hegemony AU's Star League. The ship is a extremely modification of the original Merchant JumpShip.
Intended to blend into JumpShip merchant traffic with opponents unaware of it's true nature and observe unnoticed. This Merchant variant if resembles the original ship, DropShip collar capacity, and so forth, but fitted out with latest Star League technologies to spy of potential problem while pretending to be civilian JumpShip. 
 
The ship was built in 2780 near the end of the Star League Civil War. The ship continued to be used after the secret migration of the people of the Terran Hegemony to remote location in the Deep Periphery where extension of the Hegemony was established. 
==Armament and Equipment==
The ship unlike other civilian JumpShips, has it's own interplanetary engines, usually not used while blending into mercantile traffic, however allows the ship move into position when to survey regions far from a system jump points. 
However, when press the ship can move at impressive speed of 8 for it's maximum flank, giving run for any pursuer's money.
While the regular Merchant JumpShip is unarmed, this is not the case for this spy vessel. While not intended for direct combat, it has been armed with large compliment of laser based weaponry to allow it to defend itself and fend off small craft that may seek it. 
Each of the Merchant's firing arcs has trio of 6 Extended Range and Pulse Large lasers, Small Pulse Lasers. ER Lasers handling long range intruders attempting attack, while the Large and small pulse lasers add their firepower when they're too close. The Small Pulse Lasers also server in the Point Defense role as well.
Rearward houses the ship only capital grade weapons. This comes in the form of four Class 55 Naval Lasers mounted in its Capital Laser Bay in the aft firing arch complimented with regular trio of six Lasers found in other firing arcs.
The Merchant's hull has been fitted with by 72 tons of ferro-aluminum armor. With 20% more armor on it's nose, and front side arcs, while 10% percent less armor protection to cover the rest of ship's hull with a even proportion of armor.
For it's intended specialized mission, the ship has been fitted with;
*1 Mobile Hyperpulse Generators (Mobile HPG)
*1 Satellite Imager [Infrared Imager]
*1 Satellite Imager [High-Resolution (Hi-Res) Imager]
*1 Satellite Imager [Look-Down Radar]
*1 Naval Comm-Scanner Suite (Large)
 
==Cargo==
* Bay 1 - Small Craft (4) - 2 Doors
* Bay 2 - Fighter (6) - 2 Doors
* Bay 3 - Cargo (5735.5 tons) - 2 Doors
==Notes==
*The Merchant Surveillance Ship was originally posted on the official BattleTech Forums as part of the Fate Can Be Cruel - Part I fan story series. It continued to be used in second part of the book series, Fate Can Be Cruel - Book Two.
*Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-F-F
==Bibliography==
*Bg.BattleTech Forums - AeroSpace/Fan Designs and Rules - Fate Can Be Cruel - Part I
*Fate Can Be Cruel - Book One
==References==
Category:Works by 2ndAcr
Category:Small WarShips
Category:Hegemony AU