Freelance Traveller

designed by Brandon Cope

In most systems, refueling at starports isn't a problem. However, in some cases the mainworld is a poor source of hydrogen and the starport's fuel depot must be filled via gas giant skimming. The two spacecraft below are designed for the support of such starports.

Neither ship is really suitable for campaign use by PCs, as the role of such ships is rather boring. However, either might be used in a one-shot, where a derelict ship is discovered in the upper reaches of a gas giant or crashed on one of it's moons (eg, Alien) or possibly the ship is boarded by pirates or smugglers whose ship is damaged.

400-ton IIken-class system refueler (TL10)

Often referred to as a mobile fuel tank, the IIkens are common in systems with Class I or II starports that must rely on gas giant skimming for providing starship fuel.

Since the IIken-class is basically just one large fuel tank without a jump drive, pirates are rarely interested in IIkens.

One unusual feature of the IIken-class is that the rear of the hull has the same shape and dimensions as the standard 400-ton system defense boat, which means that the standard 300-ton jump shuttle (p.GT:S83) can attach to it, for movement from one system to another.

One experimental version replaces the fuel tank with nine fuel skimmer modules (from modular cutters) in bays and a 26.5 dton internal tank. This version is more expensive, but is faster unloading fuel when there is no high port or the main world's atmosphere is too thick for the ship to land.

Crew: 8. Captain/Pilot, Navigator, Comm Officer, Sensor Officer, Engineer, Medic, 2 Gunners

Design: 400-ton USL hull, DR 200, 2 Turrets (3x250 MJ lasers each); Basic Bridge, Engineering, 54 Maneuver, 310 Fuel Tank, 2 Fuel Processor, Utility, 4 Staterooms, Vehicle Bay (10-dton launch), 1 Cargo.

Statistics: EMass 659.1 stons, LMass 1,011.1 stons, MCr 74.435, HP 37,500, Size Modifier + 9

Performance: Accel 2.14 Gs/3.28 Gs unloaded.

1000-ton Karise-class system refueler (TL10)

The Karise-class system refueler is, for the most part, simply a larger version of the IIken-class. Karises are used at larger starports (Class III and up).

Crew: 9. Captain/Pilot, Navigator, Comm Officer, Sensor Officer, 2 Engineers, Medic, 2 Gunners

Design: 1,000-ton USL hull, DR 200, 2 Turrets (3x250 MJ lasers each); Basic Bridge, Engineering, 115 Maneuver, 830 Fuel Tank, 5 Fuel Processor, 2 Utility, 5 Staterooms, 2 Vehicle Bay (10-dton launch), 1.5 Cargo.

Statistics: EMass 1,256.6 stons, LMass 2,168.1 stons, MCr 173.857, HP 67,500, Size Modifier + 10

Performance: Accel 2.12 Gs/3.66 Gs unloaded.