(Items - Rad) Vehicle Market

```
**Galactic Market**

```

**Gear Market**, **Companion Market**, **Cargo Market**, ****Vehicle Market****

Much of the trade at the very center of modern life and commerce is in the broad field of vehicles, parts, and services. Everything in size from the smallest hoverboards to massive carriers prepared to drop a hundred starfighters into battle at the far reaches of the cosmos. There are seven classes technically available for purchase; Class 4 motherships are the realm of only the most powerful groups. The variety is truly endless if you search into the deepest recesses of the net. Old models, popular but not manufactured in over a century. Antimatter-burning prototype jump ships, one-of-a-kind blueprints that just happened to mysteriously disappear from a lab and can now be found on the market. Likewise, the sea of parts for repair, transport lines for fuel, thousands of shops and repair centers, and more, all to facilitate getting from one place to another in any manner you like.

* Class 0
* Class 1 - Civilian
* Class 1 - Martial
* Class 2 - Civilian
* Class 2 - Industrial
* Class 2 - Martial
* Class 3

# Class 0

The smallest class of vehicle; the vast majority of these are available to any citizen with the money, and no special training, although a few places do still enforce a license system for Class 0 and don't simply rely on vehicle autopilots. The most significant difference, as even Class 0 can get quite large in size, is that Class 1+ are all specifically spacefaring vessels; Class 0 are not capable of spaceflight under any means.

## *AFV's*

Definition: Non-spacefaring vehicles with damage potential over \_ and \_ under \_.

Description: On particularly large space stations, moon colonies, massive cities, and deserted worlds of dust and gases, there is often just as much fighting on the ground as in the skies above. These vehicles, while some roll, walk, and drive, others fly, glide, and sail, but the common trait is that as Class 0, they are not capable of interplanetary travel, locked purely to one world unless they are transported. There are plenty of times where such a vehicle may prove useful that a ship cannot go, where armour and firepower are prime on the list. AFV's, short for Armoured Fighting Vehicle, are vehicles with a focus on combat, rather than speed or cargo. That isn't to say they might not sometimes have those other traits, but when you're on the front lines of a massive planetside battle, exploring dangerous alien worlds, or guarding the transport of valuable goods, an AFV can take you where you need to be.

## *Planetside Transports*

While most of the face of trade in the galaxy is in massive cargo frigates and freighters, there is plenty of cargo moved around the surfaces of worlds, and along the streets of cities, as well. Usually slow, and not often equipped with much in the way of weapons or shields, if any, these vehicles are cheap and simple to operate, so long as you don't expect any... Company. While in some cases it remains faster to use a shuttle or lander to fly cargo around, sometimes that's not an option. Being Class 0, these vehicles are not capable of leaving an atmosphere, and while ground-based transports are common on colony worlds, it's common to see the rise of and eventual complete switch to flying transports as the technological level and population of a settlement grows larger and larger.

## *Speeders*

Speeders stand alone as the transport of choice of most every person in the galaxy. Taking a truly massive array of shapes, first and foremost these vehicles are designed to move a small number of people and small amount of cargo from one place to another, within the same atmosphere, with relatively high speed. Compared to spacefairing vehicles this is often still quite slow, but speeders often have an agility that a true starship does not, as well as being vastly cheaper, simpler, and allowed in most any location. Rarely armed with more than the most basic defense systems and rarely capable of producing enough power to support a shield array, everything from hoverboards, to fusion-powered motorbikes, to private jets await you.

# Class 1 - Civilian

The vast majority of civilized locations in the galaxy require a basic license for registering and piloting a Class 1 vehicle of any kind, even those designed for non-combat. Usually weapons require their own license, so for marketing those subclasses that do not typically, although this is not a guarantee, come armed, are marked as 'Civilian' vessels. These includes the many diverse kinds of cargo haulers, basic transports, shuttles, and micro-homesteaders.

## *Heavy Transports*

There have always been those who wish to strike at unsuspecting shipping lanes and steal what they can, and thus there have always been calls for transports that can take more and more of a beating to match. Utilizing advanced shield technology and a sturdy hull, more than armour, these ships are designed to be able to call for help and then safely weather incoming attacks while travelling at sublight speed to the nearest safe point, as typically their mass is too great for even efficient hyperdrive use to take them far. Often not equipped with weapons of their own, either, heavy transports tend to be cheap, but not even the best model can protect itself forever, and it's very common to see a starfighter or other high agility combat ship paired with a heavy transport, to cover all bases.

## *Landers*

With couriers, landers are the newest subclass to be officially recognized by most of the major factions, coming about largely post-Collapse. Shuttles in nearly every way, but lacking a hyperdrive, and all that extra space and mass put towards speed and cargo space. Used to transport data and cargo between planets and stations within the same system, or through stargates, they have began to serve as the backbone in many high-density post-Collapse shipping lanes, in massive mining operations, and in stellar-scale construction. They are cheap, simple to fly, and serve as great potential for cargo mods to create a massive variety of useful ships.

## *Shuttles*

The backbone of modern civilization for hundreds and hundreds of years, shuttles are relatively small interstellar vehicles designed to primarily carry cargo and long-term passengers, and they usually have at best moderate armour, shields, weapons, and speed. Far weaker in combat than fighters, to the point of being nearly defenseless in a one-on-one situation. Standing the test of time as the cheapest way to buy an FTL-ready vehicle, most people who get any kind of ship in their life will get a simple shuttle, and they can be found everywhere, in all makes and models.

# Class 1 - Martial

Made up of martial vessels and those designed for combative roles, a significant number of the ships in the galaxy come with weapons, since the galaxy is a dangerous place, but their use is regulated and monitored to try to reduce criminal activity. It's very easy to come into possession of a ship with weapons and not the license to use them, which is why most also come with inspection-friendly lockouts. The latest generation of tiny, sublight-only fighters, to old, hulking standbys from the last war, to exotic hypercannon-bearing gunboats designed for hunting giants, Class 1 has it all.

## *Fighters*

The classic ship of the lone adventurer, fighters are still intended to be livable, with tight but available space for the pilot to spend their downtime while in hyperspace jumps, store their belongings, and the like. That's not to say the focus of fighters isn't typically still combat; fitting usually a few small turrets and a shield array, but with weaker hull and armour, fighters can often be destroyed in a single hit by much larger weapons, but their speed makes them very difficult to hit. In days gone past, they served as the main combat force of any fleet, but over time specialization and the rise of strikeships has changed the focus and primary use of fighters. Still offering very little room for cargo or passengers, fighters remain one of the most common subclasses of ship in existence, used by those who can't afford to wait for help when things turn south.

## *Gunboats*

It was always common to see fighters with ever greater payloads of damage potential at their side, but over time it became more and more of a focus; small, slower ships packing weaponry usually reserved for taking down much bigger vehicles, gunboats are the logical extreme of cutting defense, utility, and mobility, and putting all that extra power and mass into weapons. Some gunboats are used to loosen rock for mining frigates to scoop up, packing very short-range weapons, while others sit quietly in the back of a dense gas cloud hiding away from sensors, looking to strike quickly and decisively when a target appears. Gunboats are often very expensive, and rarely fight without a support hangar nearby; they often struggle against ships of their own class and can in extremes be taken down by a single more agile fighter.

## *Scoutcraft*

Scoutcraft only truly became practical with the invention of the antimatter engines that just barely preceded the Collapse. Extremely efficient, now a small, light, very fast ship could be created, with little in the way of cargo space, combat potential, or armour, relying almost totally on modern shield generators and extremely combat agility. Defined by a crew size of one, cargo space of one half cargo ton or less, and with speed at or above 13 RSU. They often come equipped with light weapons intended more for defense against security systems, aliens, and ground-based attacks, rather than other Class 1+ vehicles. They are understandably cheap, but due to the cost of antimatter engines, not as cheap as many would like.

## *Strikeships*

Initially just a market variety term for fighters designed specifically for hangar bays, these vehicles are designed for combat, but exchange FTL capabilities for increased available power for weapons and speed. Equipped with the lowest average cargo space and long-term passenger potential of any Class 1+ vehicle subclass, they are never expected to be occupied for more than a few hours at a time, and rarely contain any facilities for long-term habitation. This does have the upside of making them very cheap, which is a shift resulting from the changed economic market of the late stages of the Great War.

# Class 2 - Civilian

## *Courier Frigates*

A very recently recognized subclass, these ships only came about post-Collapse, when the need for absolutely the fastest cargo-transfer rates became extremely important. Usually nearly to completely unarmed and with cutting-edge dual cycle shield generators, on top of massive Class 2 antimatter engines, these ships are designed to carry around ten tons of cargo, at the absolute fastest speeds that they can. Courier pilots are prized for their ability to chart courses with massive jumps that save time and maximize efficiency, and Couriers are very in demand. Almost always fit with data storage banks, they ferry zetabytes of data around the galaxy, keeping markets running, the news flowing, and life continuing in this new age, at least for those not fortunate enough to have unobstructed relay access.

# Class 2 - Industrial

The industrial frigates that make up the backbone of modern commerce are, for most, the limit of what money will get them as far as access to Class 2. Despite their non-combative designs, pilots will be required to not only get a license showing ability and a clean record, but must also renew their license far more often. Governments keep a tight lock on the numbers of large ships in flight, and want to make sure that they have justification to be very strict with those who fail to comply. To further complicate things, at Class 2 and up, individual subclasses tend to have their own licenses, although often having one expediates getting another.

## *Cargo Frigates*

Highest cargo space of all class 2 ships, but also the least useful in general, lacking the power, speed, or combat potential to make them effective on their own. Frequently only sporting small-size fittings, sometimes they are even used exclusively within the safety of a single system.

## *Mining Frigates*

Second highest cargo space, on average, of all class 2 ships. Typically either has a large number of small turret hardpoints or a few medium turrets, almost always designed for wide-area, close-range strikes against large targets like asteroids of the surface of a planet, and rarely much in terms of shields, as it would be nearly impossible to focus shield power against every single rouge chunk of rock that bounces off the hull. New mining frigates are often equipped with mining lasers and tractor beams, as well as fairly durable hulls to reduce the danger of large accidental collisions; these ships tend to be cheap and capable of quickly paying for themselves.

# Class 2 - Martial

Due to the sheer destructive and dangerous potential of militarized Class 2 ships, they all require actual full-length training courses to be licensed to fly. Fortunately, there are government-verified ways to do so on one's own time with access to the Echonet, so this isn't a massive ask. These ships are easily a threat to all major concentrations of life, being capable of threatening both planetside and space-borne targets. Some specialize in utilizing groups of smaller ships, providing support and point-defense, while others use mixes of speed and firepower to strike at helpless targets.

## *MCC Frigates*

Often similar in construction to cargo frigates, Martial Carry and Command frigates often have little in the way of combat potential of their own, but have their cargo bay re-fitted to maximize fighter bay potential and launch speed. Newer 'hybrid' models with destroyers have resulted in MCC friagtes with slightly less hangar space, as the rise of smaller strikeships would also benefit, and greater firepower of their own, intended for focused use against small targets so that the fighter craft in the hangar bay can focus on slower targets. Typically fitting only a few small turrets and maybe a medium shield, their combat power is very high only with the right Class 1 ships docked, and are vital to the success of any large-scale combat engagement.

## *Corvettes*

The smallest of all class 2 ships, corvettes are the most common privately owned class 2 ships. Frequently re-fitted for speed, luxury, and class, corvettes also serve as research vessels, exploration ships, and carrier combat support do to their still-respectable potential for combat fittings. Typically matching destroyers for cargo capacity, they tend to have higher long-term passenger space, and some of the highest-powered and most efficient hyperdrives on the market, allowing them to streak across the galaxy at speeds most people will never know. Typically offering very low hull strength, and little armour, they rely on being too big for singular fighters and too fast for destroyers to counter.

## *Destroyers*

Destroyers fit lots of guns and shields, but tend to have little in the way of cargo space of any kind; even then that space is often for troops, ammunition, or bombs. Designed for combat with class 2 and up primarily, although almost always equipped with small, faster turrets for combat against Class 1- vehicles, they have the greatest firepower for their size of all ships. Even despite impressive firepower and defense, however, if caught without class 1 support these ships can often be taken down by a small group of fighters, simply because of their slow speed.

# Class 3:

The very largest ships all but a lucky few will ever see are the Class 3 giants. Pushing the limits of current engineering, these ships have space enough to be flying small towns, supporting hundreds of long-term passengers, and equally as many tonnes of cargo. These are the types that most will fly; a difficult process to become licensed for, requiring years of experience in Class 2 to even start applying for. The lucky few given the honor to be at the helm of these ships wields tremendous power; is the potential of this size is turned towards wars, what devastating tools they become.

## *Carriers*

Often similar in construction to freighters, these ships are specially designed to fit as many Class 1, and sometimes even Class 2, ships as possible, with modern atmospheric containment fields or old-fashioned rows of solid airlocked doors to allow for extremely fast deployment. Frequently sporting almost no hull-mounted weapons of their own, these ships are, nonetheless, a terror to any enemy fleet, due to the combat power contained within. Civilian carriers are sometimes used by mining corps, universities, and as mobile bases for deep-space research teams, and yet other carriers become mobile bases for trade, serving as space stations to those passing through.

## *Dreadnaughts*

Armed with more guns that their enemies would ever have time to count, some firing with enough power to glass the surface of a planet, scouring it clean in a few minutes; these ships are built to destroy anything and everything that stand in their way. While fighters sometimes struggle to pierce the thick armour of larger ships, dreadnoughts have no trouble at all, often sporting main cannons built for countering large, slow targets, with rows and rows of smaller guns for everything else that comes at them. Entire separate isolated shield grids allow these ships to always have reliable coverage against attacks, and at times, it becomes easier to hack major systems than get through the ship from the outside, which is still to say very difficult.

## *Freighters*

Designed to stay away from combat whenever possible, these ships are designed to easily store huge amounts of cargo, or that space is refitted for the comfort of passengers when these ships are used as transports. From deploying entire platoons of troops into a planet-side battle, to hauling rare ore across the galaxy, these ships aren't built for combat, but in terms of capacity, they cannot be beat. Often they are refitted entirely as space stations, becoming unrecognizable after a few years of modifications, but thousands others continue silently trekking across the galaxy, forming the sometimes-unnoticed backbone of the entirety of modern life.