Kal
Whispers
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
MULEs are the unpraised workhorses of CISLO's logistics grid, their versatile frame able to perform a wide variety of utility functions as well as move the cargo hauled by larger freighters such as the HAUL-R to their final destination. They are well-regarded by number crunchers everywhere, less so by the blue-collar workers who spend hours, days, or even weeks at a time in their cramped cockpits and sorry excuse for personal quarters.
'Spending a two-week trip in a MULE' consistently ranks lower than 'being screamed at by customers all day' for employee satsifcation.
Due to their rugged yet defenceless frame and lack of creature comforts, they are far more likely to be fielded by large corporations like CISLO than your average independent captain - that said, they have found a niche cutting up derelicts for smaller scavenging operations.
A few poorly-funded freight captains start off with a secondhand MULE, all the while desperately hoping for a big payday.
- Intent: A cramped little workhorse of a utility skiff / freighter for the Open Market.
- Image Source: Space Truckin by Gavin Manners, Cargo Spaceship by Yegs Dems.
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: HAUL-R Bulk Freighter | X9 Bumblebee-series Engineering Droid
- Manufacturer: The Globex Corporation | CISLO
- Affiliation: The Globex Corporation | CISLO
- Market Status: Open-Market
- Model: MULE Utility Skiff / Freighter
- OR MULE Freighter Drone
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Hexalloy Hull
- Classification: Utility Craft / Light Freighter
- Length: 7 metres
- Extended significantly in its freighter configuration, see the art.
- Width: 6 metres
- Height: 6 metres
- Armament: None
- Defences: Average
- Squadron Count: High | 16
- Manoeuvrability Rating: High
- Speed Rating: High
- Hyperdrive: Class 6
- MULEs are outfitted with all the features and facilities one would expect from vessels of their size and purpose, among these:
- Stress Balls or Rubik's Cubes for Recreation
- Nutrimax Dispenser for Culinary Efficiency
- N2 Neural Interface; Inbuilt Compatability
- A Caf Holder with Inertial Compensation
- A standard manually-operated MULE is topped by a utilitarian cockpit with one or two seats and a storage cabinet behind it. A ladder leads to the lower deck, which holds a cramped refresher, a fold away bed/couch solution, a reactor access point, and a tiny airlock barely able to fit a pair of humans or a single crouching wookie. Utilitarian is the name of the game - crew eat reheated rations or more commonly Nutrimax.
- In some cases, the lower deck is removed in its entirety and the cabinet replaced with an airlock and (if the operator is lucky) a toilet. Such a vessel is depicted offloading a MULE Freighter Drone in the spoilered art; they are very much unsuitable for shifts with breaks.
- MULE Freighter Drones ditch crew and cabin alike in favour of engines, a hyperdrive, and an astromech that replaces the pilot, the mechanic, and even the navigational computer. They are slow, graceless, and incapable of operating in-atmosphere (at least with cargo attached) but by the Force are they cost-effective. For in-system transit and the very safest of hyperlanes, that is - they make easy prey for scum like pirates.
- The MULE is a rugged, utilitarian design suitable for a staggering variety of noncombat tasks. They can be fitted with large tractor beams to serve as tugboats, massive articulating arms to move cargo more manually, or even large fusion cutters to salvage derelicts. As a freighter, large extensions are added to the base frame from which containers are suspended. This is faster and cheaper than internal cargo holds, but less than ideal in a fight; fortunately, CISLO has gone to great lengths to reduce the risk of these vessels being preyed upon by pirates.
- Like their larger HAUL-R cousins, MULE freighters operating under CISLO have adopted an innovative new response to piracy - ransoms can be paid instead of attacking the ship: All the pirate has to do is 'demonstrably prove their ability to seize the ship'. Naturally, some will ignore this in favour of traditional piracy - all pirates receive bounties, but such 'savages' are disproportionally likely to be hunted down by a MAUL-R.
- Busy Bee: MULEs are fuel-efficient little workhorses. Depending on their configuration they can serve as tugboats, scavenger ships, repair or construction vessels, and even light freighters - the latter's slow and graceless but carries several times its mass in containers.
- Little Bee: MULEs are cramped, slow (in Hyperspace / when fully loaded) and more or less useless in a fight.
MULEs are the unpraised workhorses of CISLO's logistics grid, their versatile frame able to perform a wide variety of utility functions as well as move the cargo hauled by larger freighters such as the HAUL-R to their final destination. They are well-regarded by number crunchers everywhere, less so by the blue-collar workers who spend hours, days, or even weeks at a time in their cramped cockpits and sorry excuse for personal quarters.
'Spending a two-week trip in a MULE' consistently ranks lower than 'being screamed at by customers all day' for employee satsifcation.
Due to their rugged yet defenceless frame and lack of creature comforts, they are far more likely to be fielded by large corporations like CISLO than your average independent captain - that said, they have found a niche cutting up derelicts for smaller scavenging operations.
A few poorly-funded freight captains start off with a secondhand MULE, all the while desperately hoping for a big payday.
