Ships

Federation Interceptor

## Ship behaviors

Interceptor
When Raider ships appear, the 7 Federation Interceptors make their way to them and fight. They linger at the site of the last battle if there are no Raiders on the map.
Cargoliner
Cargoliners follow an invisible object called convoy 1 or convoy 2 that travels between a planet and a jump point or between two planets, not including Ceyjavik. The Fed telecom (F) reports its progress. When the convoy reaches the destination, the cargoliners vanish and a 25cr reward is given for each that did so, including disabled ones stranded *en route*.
Trans Raider
Packs of Raiders warp in directly south of the convoy object. This occurence is spaced semi-randomly every 1000 or so coordinate points the convoy travels. Their mission is obviously to disable and then destroy Cargoliners. Raiders exchange fire with Interceptors but prioritize Cargoliners when those are in range. If there are Raiders and Cargoliners left on the map after another thousand clicks, the existing Raiders warp out and a new group appears shortly.
Mega Raider
After the Ceyjavik mission, 2 Mega Raiders will be in every Raider group. Their computer levels are well above the Trans Raider. They are nevertheless unlikely to be a match against the Pilot's rank-adjusted accuracy at this stage.
Merchants & Yachts
The teal-colored ships are mutually-neutral with Raiders until a certain point in the story. They migrate between planets and the sites where ships have been blown up. Unlike other ships, they can be hailed, and at least three of them are sociable. Disabling or destroying the Safari Ship breaks the plot.

## Programs

Move
Determines the number of frames between inputting a thrust or turn and the ship executing it; i.e., the maneuverability of the ship.
Target
Determines the number of frames between targetting a vessel and being able to fire at it.
Evade
Reduces the hit rate of incoming fire.
Laser
The level of laser determines the probability of hitting the ship component (hull, engine, cpu, laser) you've designated for the laser. This program does not affect the odds of hitting a ship in the first place. The hit chance is determined by the Pilot's rank plus gunnery versus the enemy's evade level.

## Repairs

Every game frame, there is a constant probability of a ship's engineer pinging a repair. The constant does not change, but the magnitude on the Interceptor in particular is adjusted by the engineer's rank. Engineers prioritize hull to 50, than engine to 50, then computer, then lasers, though it is somewhat random throughout.

At 10 integrity or below, or 0 on other ships, a ship component other than shields is irreparable. The crew will need to visit Caldorre's dry dock or, in the case of a dead engine, call a tug (H). Shields "recharge" slowly rather than receive attention from an engineer, and are always operational, at least until the hull explodes.

 Laser | 10cr

## Remarks

* It's unclear what factor all the other ships are using to determine their guns' hit rate.

* Consider visiting Caldorre between raider waves to recharge the sluggish shields.

* The level of the target program is unimportant, just as long as it's there. At 0, the program will freeze the lasers indefinitely while a ship is targetted. The lasers can still fire normally without a target. Fighting without a target is the easiest, fastest method anyway if you just want to blow up ship hulls.

* Raiders almost immediately attack convoys departing Norjaenn, making that area a predictable place and time. The other departure points are not quite as regular.

* If you need to call a tug and do not have 2000cr, it will trigger disciplinary action. You could instead go AFK for a while and let convoys fill your treasury. It's unexpectedly profitable. This is due to two eventualities:

1. Stranded Cargoliners may attract raiders into long migrations uproute, and they get mobbed by the Interceptor fleet, allowing Cargoliners to complete the run and crediting the player 25 for each that did so.
2. If the Raiders wipe out a convoy, the player is awarded 25cr for each Raider vessel that survived and warped out. This is clearly a bug, but not a worrisome one ordinarily since the rewards are so much higher for just killing the raiders.

* One of the Interceptors is christened the "Alliance," for some reason. All other ships are named "Orion." The names cannot be viewed— it's just part of the programming structure to allow the player's own Interceptor to be named.