Bombshell Genius
A comet passing by a Madeen-class bulk freighter near Bimmisaari
Image Source: Failheap Challenge
Affiliation: Open market
Manufacturer: Ringovinda StarYards
Model: Madeen-class bulk freighter
Modularity: Yes: can modify the layout of the internal space for passengers vs. cargo
Production: Minor
Material: Alusteel hull
Classification: Bulk freighter
Length: 2500m
Height: 650m
Width: 970m
Armament:
Rating 4 (300 turbolaser equivalents)
12 Nekogal heavy turbolasers (in six double turrets; 144 standard turbolaser equivalents)
1 Summer heavy mass driver (90 standard turbolaser equivalents)
2 tractor beams, equivalent to one turbolaser each
16 Gatling rapid-fire turbolasers (in eight double turrets; equivalent to 64 standard turbolasers)
65 Quad lasers
Defenses: 13
Hangar: 3 Squadrons
Special Features:
- Tensor field generator
- Castameer tactical display
- Inertial compensator
- Ship-wide neural net
- CHX 5.0 acoustic theater
- 2 Zak ion drives
- 6 auxiliary sublight engines
- 12 Sabrina waste heat recovery devices
Speed Rating: 18
Hyperdrive Class: 2
Strengths:
- Strong hull
- High cargo capacity
- Cannot land on planets
- Lightly armed
- Concentrated firepower in a small number of hardpoints
- High maintenance requirements
- Slow in realspace
Consumables: 3 months (normal passenger operation) - 3 years (pure cargo operation)
Cargo capacity: 75 million tons
Passenger capacity: 0 (pure cargo operation) - 250,000 (normal passenger operation) - 600,000 (evacuation mode)
Crew: 6,500
The design work on the Madeen-class bulk freighter began five years before the first flight of the resulting ship was flown. When it became apparent that ships larger than 2000m couldn't land on planets, it was decided that the extra space thus saved would be dedicated to more cargo as well as crew quarters. In its cavernous holds, the Madeen can carry 1.5 million standard "45-feet" high-cube containers, or alternatively 600,000 passengers for planetary evacuations; in the latter case, the consumables last only one week. The ship has three reactors for increased reliability, so that, should one of the reactors fail, the ship can still operate when the other two are operational. Also, in addition to the two Zak ion drives, which provide additional speed in a pinch, at the cost of decreased maneuverability, are six directional thrusters used for giving the ship additional off-axis maneuverability. However, as expected of a ship that big, the maneuverability is not very good.
Such a large ship must be armed to minimize its reliance on escorts in the roughest regions of the galaxy and, as such, also comprises 3 squadrons of starfighters in its ventral hangar, stored in ceiling racks. Due to its ability to carry starfighters, it also features a tactical display enabling it to track the fighters' movements. It also features turrets laid out in such a fashion that all arcs are covered by some sort of weaponry, especially the 380mm heavy long-range mass driver (mistakenly called a hypervelocity cannon by some) which is ventral-mounted and can fire on a 360-degree arc. It also features increased point-defense compared to the Ultima-class. Thanks to its modularity, a variety of non-combat uses can be made of the ship: cargo, hospital, passenger liner, with the waste heat recovery devices being used to power the non-combat systems.
Development Threads:
- Funding renewal (20 posts; the funding of the Madeen project is approved)
- Fitting out (21 posts; the Madeen maiden flight is flown)
Intent: To provide a bulk freighter capable of moving the massive loads required to sustain a galactic economy
Who Can Use This: Anyone
Primary Source: N/A
