Bounty-Class Star Galleon

The Star Galleons loosely referred to as the Bounty Class are a truly ancient design even among a sea of venerable ones, as its hull harkens back to the Golden Age of Technology itself. Though they have been extensively modified over the Millennia, the Bounties are an enduring class of heavily armed large freighters that were once widely built in and around the Corusco Cluster. They have been used for military and civilian endeavors and have been a prized possession of many a Rogue Trader dynasties.

## History

The Bounties were designed during a time of plenty and opulence and their design reflects this. They could transport large amounts of cargo quickly and efficiently, or passengers in luxurious conditions, and with the inherent defenses to swat away any would be pirates. In other hands, they were used by chartist captains to explore the stars long before the days of Rogue Traders.

It was only during the Cybernetic Revolt and the subsequent Age of Strife that Bounties became increasingly pressed into military service. They suffered greatly against the Men of Iron as they had become a prime choice as a well-armed and armored troop transport especially for elite troops, and they were often targeted in priority by the rebellious machines. They had been built in such numbers however that the Class endured through the conflict. With the Age of Strife came a sudden screeching halt to interstellar trade, and thus the need for a void freighters. Those many worlds who still had Star Galleons in orbit when the Warp Storms broke generally used them as system defense monitors against raiders - often quite effectively - and as sublight freighters between planets of a same solar system.

It was with the invention of the Tsiolkovsky Warp Drive by the shipwrights of Novae IV that Bounties were made to once again set forth, braving the raging storm to re-explore the navigational charts and warp lanes that had fallen into millennia of disuse. They ventured into the storm quite literally in the closing centuries of the Age of Strife to re-establish communication and trade with the nearby worlds of the Corusco Cluster. In such an age where pirates and Xenos raiders were everywhere, only a Star Galleon could have hoped to have any chance of successfully accomplishing such a mission, and so they did, with the Bounty-class being instrumental in bringing civilization to the Cluster once again.

With the subjugation of the Cluster by the Imperium of Man, the Imperials saw great value in the design, and everyone wanted some. The Imperial Navy and commercial cartels wanted a freighter that didn't even need an escort from pirates. The Legiones Astarte wanted a troop transport that could survive and dish back under fire for their legions, and the Rogue Traders' case needed not be stated again. For these later ones however, the Tsiolkovsky Warp drive was swapped out for a Miloslav, as the former is only capable of navigating already charted warp lanes and is not actually capable of venturing out into the Great Unknown as it lacks a navigator.

These elegant and versatile Star Galleons would continue to see use up to the 41st millennium, albeit in reduced numbers outside of the Cluster where they once made up the golden standard of transportation.

## Specifications

* **Hull** - Approximately 5 kilometres long, 0.8 kilometres abeam at fins.
* **Mass** - Approximately 29 megatonnes.
* **Crew** - Approximately 27,000 crew.
* **Acceleration** - 2.6 gravities maximum sustainable acceleration.

## Design

The Bounty is built around a powerful Class-C 'Starbazer' plasma drive that provides it power, speed and maneuverability equivalent to a military cruiser rather than a mere transport. Within the Corusco Cluster, a Class-P 'Tsiolkovsky' Warp drive is dominant, but this is rare outside of the Cluster as the Navigator Houses of the Navis Nobilitae aggressively petition against its use - it requires no Navigator after all - and often threaten to impose sanctions against shipping cartels who use the warp drive. Therefore, the Miloslav is far more common elsewhere in the Imperium. As with all Novaean ships, its Gellar Fields are fitted with automatic activation protocols in case of emergencies.

For matters of protection, the Bounty is modestly armored, less than even an average light cruiser, but far more than an average transport. It is its Class-C 'Tempest' Void shield, a Cruiser-grade military design, that provides the lion's share of protection. The Bounty is fitted with large 'Rapier' missile broadsides on each sides, and smaller batteries on dorsal turrets, which allow it to easily crush any piratical raider with massed missile fire. Finally, two Novaean-pattern Landing bays are also present, which feature fighters for self-defense but also large quantities of landers which allow it to very rapidly unload bulk cargo or troops planetside en masse.

Its bridge and R-50 Multi-band Auspex are both optimized towards exploration and navigation, with advanced cogitator banks from analysing charts and mapping - and avoiding - celestial phenomenon of all kinds. Life aboard a Bounty is fairly good, as it is fitted with an ancient pattern of life sustainer famous for the excellent quality of the air and water which seems sweet and pure. Crew quarters are adequate, but VIP guests and passengers are afforded truly luxurious, hotel-like quarters on the upper deck. Many civilian captains will re-arrange their components - sometimes cutting down on weapons slightly - in order to find more space, with which they will often fit a variety of further luxurious enhancements such as an Arboretum, a Melodium or an Observation Dome.