John Locke
V U L K A N
- Intent: To submit a mobile embassy for Ambassadors and Diplomats of the CIS.
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- Canon Link: N/a
- Permissions: [x]
- Primary Source:
- Manufacturer: Locke and Key Mechanics
- Affiliation: CIS
- Model: Merciful-class Diplomatic Yacht
- Production: Minor (Large groups of characters).
- Material: Turadium | Laroon Wood | Leather | Gold | Ceraglass Windows | Farium Hull
- Classification: Personal Transport | Envoy
- Length: 100m
- Width: 30m
- Height: 30m
- Armament: Low
- Defenses: Average
- Hangar Space: 100m: Average: 0
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: 0 squadrons
- Support Craft: 0 squadrons
- Manoeuvrability Rating: High
- Speed Rating: High
- Hyperdrive Class: Average: 1
- Living Areas
- Crew
- Mess Hall
- Crew Quarters
- Recreational Areas
- Gym/Training Room
- Communal Social Area
- Infirmary
- Passenger
- Dining Room
- Lounge
- Meeting Room
- Offices
- Gym
- Conference Room
- Secure Communication Room
- Meditation Chamber
- Library/Archive - Specializing in Culture, Flora and Fauna and Social and Diplomatic History.
- Crew
- Droid Area
- Repair Bay/Workshop
- Droid Storage/Charging Bays
- Engineering Droids stored in Engineering
- LK EX-1000 Droids stored in Passenger areas
- Internal Defences
- Sensors
- Retractable Blaster Turrets covering sensitive areas of the ship (Bridge, Engineering, Armouries, CIC, hangars)
- Turdaium Blast Doors
- Cap Drains
- Engineering
- Hyperdrive
- Heat Sinks
- Ion Drive
- Power Generation and Management Systems
- Magnetic Solar Sail
- AI server farm located in a room just off Engineering
- Command and Control
- Bridge: The bridge is located in the centre of the ship, well protected from enemy attacks.
- Sensors
- Command and Control
- Defences
- Movement
- Communications
- Computing
- Sails ahoy: Unlike the majority of ships in the galaxy the Merciful-class Diplomatic Yachts eschew the use normal ion engines in the favour of a solar sail, using solar winds and magnetic fields that exist within a solar system. The very unique form of propulsion allows the ships to move at high speed and maintain a high level of manoeuvrability within a solar system.
- Built to Impress: Everything about the Merciful-class Diplomatic Yachts speaks of power, wealth and prestige. From the Farium hull and Electrum highlights to the Laroon wood and high-quality leather of the interiors the ships were designed to impress. The smooth curves and unorthodox design and the solar sails played into this. When a Merciful entered your system and landed on your planet you'd know about it, a symbol of the power of the nation or individual who sent it.
- I see: Large windows in the passenger areas make you feel that the stars are at your fingertips. The view, much like everything else speaks of opulence and prestige.
- Secure Communications: The Freyja Communications System allows the Merciful-class ships to maintain secure communications, no matter if you're broadcasting diplomatic missives or sensitive company information. Even on board the ship, the communications room provides a secure sound and bug proof room to speak in if required.
- Heavily Automated: Due to the small size of the crew the Merciful-class yachts are heavily automated, using technology like the Skynet Holocontrol System to allow a few crew members to fill the roles of many.
- Weak Teeth: The Merciful-class yachts are not meant as warships, and while they do carry weapons, these are primarily meant to hold off pirates and smaller fighters. They lack the missiles and heavy weapons that can be found on ships choosing to tangle with capital or heavily armed ships, instead of relying on its speed and manoeuvrability to outdistance any attackers that might jump them.
- Small crew: The Helios is meant as a luxury yacht, designed for the comfort of its passengers above anything else, to this end much of the space that would be taken over by crew space has been used for the owner’s facilities. The Helios relies heavily on automation, allowing it to run with a smaller crew, but meaning if there is an emergency they have less crew to respond to it.
- Limited cargo space: The Merciful-class are not cargo haulers, and while they do have a limited cargo hold it isn’t designed to carry vast amounts of goods. Instead, it’s mostly able to carry enough goods to sate the VIPs, supplies for their trip, and items they need to show at a presentation or as gifts.
- Vulnerable sail: The ships primary means of propulsion are the magnetic sails generated to drag the ship forward. These sails, however, are very vulnerable to weapons fire, and any energy or metallic attack that passes through them would destabilise the sails, forcing the system to be reset causing the ship to stop accelerating until it is.
There is that moment when a ship jumps into a system, where the details resolve on your system and you just know who has arrived, who is visiting your system. In the past, the sight of an Imperial Star Destroyer jumping into a system was the sign of power, an unimaginable force bearing down on your planet. But that wasn't necessarily the way you had to go. As part of his work for the Confederacy, John realised he could go in another direction, creating a ship that was so unique that no-one would fail to recognise them for what they were, envoys of a galactic power. The ships themselves didn't need to be a powerhouse in its own right if everyone knew what it represented. Who would risk attacking a craft that was known to represent a nation that would blot you out in an instant? To that end, he set about designing a ship that would be a travelling embassy, a ship that anyone anywhere into galaxy would recognise and know what it meant.
Propulsion
Rather than rely upon standard ion-engines like most craft out there, John decided to resurrect the old system of using solar sails to provide the ships with their driving force. While equipped with an emergency engine this was slow, only meant to help align and move to a correct location before the ship could jump into hyperspace. Rather than use a standard solar sail, a thin sheet of material that could be extended when needed, John instead decided to use ornate looking emitters that were capable a magnetic sail. The emitters created a large magnetic field that would appear to have a golden hue whilst deployed and interacting with solar winds and magnetic fields to drive the ship.
The ship also came equipped with a smaller ion drive for travel in those places where solar radiation and magnetic fields were weak, allowing the ship to manoeuvre and align itself before jumping to lightspeed.
Facilities
The facilities on-board the Merciful-class ships tell a tale of two cities, the ambassadorial area, where the ambassador, his staff and guests stay and the crew quarters.
Ambassadorial Areas
The Ambassadorial floor is fitted out to the height of luxury. Large windows run around the floor, allowing amazing views of space, or the surrounding scenery. These windows are electro-reactive, allowing them to turn either transparent, translucent or mirror-like opaque at the touch of a button.
The floor itself is arrayed with the suites and recreational areas at one end, and the offices at the other. All the rooms are arranged around a large open space that acts as a corridor. Normally set with sofas and other seats it can act as a waiting room and a communal area, but can easily be adjusted into a large dining or socializing area as is needed.
Dining Room
The diplomat and his staff need a place to eat, sharing a meal while the work and relax, or to host the parties and meals which are expected of them. The meals in the dining room are prepared by an Epicurean 9000 Culinary Preparation Unit.
Suites
Set at one end of the passenger area, the Merciful-class contains 5 self-contained suites for the ambassador and his passengers. Each suite contains a double bed, ensuite and a small personal lounge as well as a dining area and a kitchenette. While communal areas did exist on the ship the Merciful was often deployed for an extended period of time, be it a week, or months at a time. During a deployment, everyone would need a personal space to retreat into, to stop them from getting into one another's hair. To that end, the luxurious suites were created to allow the ambassador and his staff their room to retreat into.
Infirmary
While a diplomatic mission is supposed to be safe, diplomats are mean to be preserved from harm even in the middle of a warzone. Sadly, this isn't always the case, ambassadors are often caught up in the games of statecraft, and while being targetted for physical harm is rare, drugging and poisoning isn't an unheard-of occurrence. To offset that the Merciful-class comes equipped with a top-of-the-line medical infirmary, the crowning glory of which is a Hippocrates MB-427A Medical Unit. If it can't save your life, the infirmary is equipped with the tools needed to preserve your life until you can get to more advanced medical facilities.
Library
Not a library in the traditional sense, the Merciful-class comes with a repository of information on a variety of subjects from culture to diplomatic and business procedures. Thanks to the vast storage capacity of the Vrota Crystal Memory System the yachts can be loaded with any information a diplomat would ever need, and thanks to the easy access granted by the Skynet Holo Control System, it's never more than a hand gesture away.
Meditation Room
Given the heavy preponderance of force-users within the CIS, it is inevitable that most diplomatic missions would contain at least a few force users if the ambassador themselves wasn't one. To aid them the Merciful-class yachts come equipped with a meditation room for the force user, or anyone, to clear their mind. The room was well soundproofed, allowing it to be isolated from the outside, while various crystals were set out to provide resonance through the force helping with meditation and clearing your head. These include Dantarii, Focus, and Kaiburr crystals. The focal point of the room though was a Kasha crystal.
Ambassador's Office
At the far end of the floor from the suites is the ambassador's office, a large space where he can work or meet with his staff or other diplomat and ministers. As with all rooms on the ship, the office is actively swept for bugs and other espionage gear. The layout of the room can be adjusted as per the specific wants and needs of the Ambassador or Diplomat.
Staff Offices
No-one can, or should, be expected to run a diplomatic mission alone. There are too many small parts, too many details for most people to keep in their heads. To this end, a series of offices precede the main office for members of staff to use as needed. While these are smaller than the main office, they are large enough to easily accommodate 4 people for smaller meetings.
Conference Room
A large conference room for those meetings that need the setting, set with comfortable leather seats and all the communications equipment needed for the meeting the conference room is built to handle any negotiation or meeting required.
Lounge
An official lounge for the slightly less-formal meetings or small gatherings the Loung is set across from the conference room
Communal Lounge
A more informal setting for the diplomat and their staff to relax in, comfort is the most important factor taken into account here...and a really big holoscreen and sound system.
Recreational Facilities
A small gym and pool are included in the ship, along with walls that can either look out onto the outside, or be made opaque and to have any image requested played on them. You could work out or go for a swim while looking at views from any planet in the galaxy.
Crew Area
While not as luxurious as the Ambassadorial Areas the crew area on the Merciful-class is still one of the most luxurious and well-appointed berths a spacer could hope to find.
Bunks
Although the ship is largely automated there is need for an organic crew, to manage the systems that run the ship and direct them as well as providing a personal level of service to the diplomat, their staff and guests. In a galaxy where droids are commonplace, an organic server is the height of luxury and a show of wealth. However, for those diplomats or missions where organics aren't preferred, much of the service roles can be replaced by droids.
Communal Area
The crew had their own recreational area where they can relax away from the sight of any passengers they might be transporting. Often, a diplomat will allow the crew access to the upper deck during downtimes, and when the ship is empty they have the run of the ship.
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