Starships (Lore)

## Starships Basic

Starships are industrial, civil, and military use interplanetary transport suitable for traveling between Solar-Systems via hyperdrive or Sublight realspace.

### Reactors & Hyperdrives

Oftentimes powered by a sub-fusion or Ion reactor, Starships are designed to travel between systems within hours, achieving speeds higher than light, yet slow enough to retain shape. Hyperdrives are outfitted on larger, and bulkier vessels, whereas smaller, personal or civilian ships are outfitted with Skipdrives. Older, and some military dogfighting ships lack either a hyperdrive or Skipdrives, relying on larger carrier ships and cruisers to transport them between systems.

### Availability & Affordability

First introduced during the 2010’s on Blyth, Starships and Starcruisers were a hit among the colonies, giving them the ability to trade over longer distances and ditch their outdated colony ships. In the last 140 years, dozens of shipbuilding companies have opened on Blyth, creating countless shipyards that cover the planets entire surface. Built in mass, bulk, and belt-production, Starships are beginning to populate the entire galaxy, with many spacers able to buy them affordably or take out a loan to do so.

The typical new Starship costs around 160,000 Credits, whereas pre-owned or stripped models cost around 70-80,000 Credits. The price is high, although receiving a job on a ship pays well, and oftentimes it’d only take a few years to save up on the average spacers salary.

Illegally owning a ship is a offense which’s punishment varies on System and Faction, however, unless a ship is registered properly by ‘ISSA’ , violators may face fines. Impoundment, or in some cases, imprisonment for theft or fraud. The Federation is famous for humiliating spacers who steal ships, burning criminal charges into their wrist directly. This will almost always give away a former, or current ship-thief.

### Ship Classifications (Personal)

* Starfighter — A small one- or two-man vessel typically used for dogfights or escorts.
* Scout Ship — Small, fast ships usually militarily employed.
* Transport — Cargo or personal carrier. Usually equip with a Skipdrive.
* Shuttle — A small craft used to transport personnel, usually at least partially though space.
* Gunship — Used for atmospheric or space combat. Usually equip with Skipdrives, however, in some cases lacking.
* Patrol Ship — Usally ships lacking Skipdrives, used for in-system operations and policing.
* Freighter — Cargo or freight carrier. Sometimes equip with Hyperdrives.

### Ship Classifications (Military)

* Gunship — Used for atmospheric or space combat. Usually equip with Skipdrives, however, in some cases lacking.
* Bomber — Heavier, slower ships commonly used strategically to assist with either area destruction, or anti-capital ship uses.
* Interceptor — Class of Starfighter, specifically manufactured to intercept and engage in dogfighting.
* Carrier — Used for carrying smaller, oftentimes Skipdrive lacking Starfighters or Gunships. Additionally, larger Carriers may carry Invasionary or military forces.
* Cruiser (Military) — Employed for military operations, Cruisers are used in a variety of roles, usually along the lines of carrier & battleship support.

## Starship History

Originally designed with cryogenic stasis, the earliest models of Starships were outfitted with AI to guide them to their destination whereas the passengers would be patently frozen for some time. This, of course, was terribly inefficient, as not only was cryogenics terribly expensive, but outfitting AI’s had problems with the earlier models. Prime example would be Jackal Al’ of the URA “Outrider”. The first colony ship to leave Earth, the AI was stuck in testing phase and constantly needed to be updated. Such, after 154 years of updates, Jackal was able to resume his job. Another reason for being inefficient, would be the amount of time it’d take to travel. Many passengers would be cryogenically frozen for 3-6 years before reaching their destination. This, of course, prompted the shipbuilders at Blyth Industries to produce the Hyperdrive.

Originally very bulky and only outfitted to heavy freighters and colony ships, Hyperdrives evolved over time and became more refined over the years. The Skipdrive is considered a miniature Hyperdrive, rather then a brother component. The difference between the two is certainly weight and power capacity. The sheer mass of heavy freighters would require more power to travel further, such one would use a hyperdrive. Now, using a hyperdrive on smaller ships may work, however it would prove to be overkill. Additionally, the ships AI may work double to calculate the correct route, taking twice the time to actually launch.