Omega Octant: Survey Ships
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Omega Octant: Survey Ships
With the Omega "campaign compatible" project underway, there are already a number of topics which serve as "waiting rooms" for concepts which apply to most, if not quite all, Omega empires.
One such topic broached over in the "campaign" thread is an important one: survey ships.
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At this time of typing, there are only a handful of survey hulls in print to date.
The Mæsrons have the Wallimi-hull survey cruiser, plus a heavy survey cruiser based on their "unified" heavy cruiser design.
The Souldra have the Poltergeist survey ship.
The Iridani can turn many of their Quest ships into de facto survey ships, with the right choice of mission modules!
The Federal Republic had no survey ships, but used the Orion-hull Raider Cruiser Throne of Ozymondas as a key source of outside intelligence.
The Ryn deployed a survey destroyer, in an ill-fated attempt to make the Great Crossing of the Nebular Wall surrounding their home worlds.
As with the Iridani use of modules, the Bolosco found the right combination of light and heavy tug pods to enable them to deploy a variety of survey units.
Beyond this, a large number of Omega empires have survey PFs in Module Omega #5.
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But this by no means is intended to be the final say on the matter.
No doubt many other empires - to include the Omega-Paravians, would make extensive use of such units in turn.
I'd even say that the "at-home" Zosman Collective, over in the Phi Sector, might do with survey modules also - even if the "on-map" Marauder cells might not find such an idea to be viable.
How these are done, of course, might vary from one empire to the next.
For example: notably, Vari ships typically have no labs, as they are uniquely able to use all of their control spaces as labs instead. So, would they bother installing labs on their own survey designs?
One thing I would not be in a hurry to see, however, would be the concept of survey ships being turned into Alpha-type light carriers. Although it's already noted that survey PFs are on hand to use from "casual" PF mech links.
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So, if you have any thoughts on Mæsron survey ships, please post about those over in the "campaign" thread.
However, for those Omega empires still in the "waiting room", please post any thoughts on their would-be survey ships here!
Thank you for reminding me of this thread... 
I posted (elsewhere) about what sort of survey ship the Branthodon might have. Short version, the description for the "Adult" Dragonship, sometimes referenced as their version of a Light Cruiser, in the rule book, they say, "Considering the size and power of this dragonship, its support requirements were surprisingly low..."
To me, it felt like that would be the perfect basis for a survey cruiser; something with surprisingly little need for support would likely be able to remain out for surveys for an extended period of time.
I also thought that, given that most survey vessels are less well armed than their pure combat base hull equivalents, the intrinsic firepower of the "Dragon" part of the ship might be enough to allow the exoskeleton to be devoted to being the "Survey" part of the ship.
To that end, I suggested removing almost all of the phasers and possibly even some of the armor to allow for increased LAB and SHUTTLE. The ship would likely also have Special Sensors and potentially a second Probe launcher added to it.
For the Branth, this ship could also have a potentially history altering mission; finding SOME sort of place for the Branth to build a new home; they were one of the people who, in the history of the Omega Sector, who were wiped out...
it would be quite reasonable for both of the "biological" Omega empires to field survey cruisers.
In the case of the Branthodons: given the "biological" constraints involved, I would not suggest adding any more "box space" to the exoskeleton portion of an Adult survey ship variant than is already present on the "line" Adult Dragonship.
Also, given that Dragonships can land on planets, I would not be in a hurry to add many more shuttles - even for a survey variant.
I would, however, suggest keeping four of the six particle phasers, and only swapping the FA PP-1s for special sensors.
Beyond this, I don't have any clearer thoughts on what other adjustments to make right now.
That said, if an exile Dragonship were seeking sanctuary at some point after the fall of Branth in Y189, it might be best to keep a low profile - well, as possible it is to do so when your "ship" is a cloned, lobotomized Space Dragon. In which case, the running of one's special sensors might prove to be counter-productive...
Thoughts on some Omega races...
Drex. The Drex exist to serve the needs (and pleasures) of the Drexari. While it's reasonable that they would be interested in matters within their territorial claims, how much interest would they have in deep, long-term surveys? Is it possible that some individual Drexari may have an interest in alien life? If so, THAT may justify them having a Survey Ship.
Would it be enough to justify a purpose built Survey Ship?
Ymatrians. Would they have ANY interest in surveys and scientific exploration? I think not.
Sigvirons. Sigs have a cruiser with special sensors. While not a true "Survey Cruiser" per se, it does seem to fit the bill. Somewhat...
Chlorophon. Same as Sigs; a cruiser with (tons of) special sensors. It may also fill the "Survey Ship" role adequately.
Bear in mind that, even in the Alpha Octant, some empires - "lost" or otherwise - are liable to use their SRs more aggressively than others.
For example: the R-section data for the Paravian survey cruiser in Module C6 notes that they were (or would have been) often used on "Mapsheet P" to search for new routes into Gorn and ISC space, for other Paravian raiding forces to make use of.
I could well imagine the Paravians of Omega being similarly aggressive, in terms of how they would deploy some of the survey hulls available to them.
On a broader note, I could well see a number of other Omega empires following a similarly aggressive dynamic for their SRs, also.
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The Drex have every reason to deploy survey ships - just as they historically built survey PFs, as per Module Omega #5.
Within Drex space proper, there is the need to evaluate candidate planets for future Drexari colonies; to keep watch over pre-warp species within their territory, to see whether or not any of them might pose a threat to the Drexari at some point in time; to look for sources of key materials (such as dilithium, or indeed the "new" minerals required once first-generation X-technology is on the table), around which to further expand the Drex logistical network; as well as to survey the new"buffer zone" territories claimed during each wave of expansion.
Beyond this, there was the need to track the Ymatrian invasion route across the Wasteland back to the invaders' core worlds; to scour the Wasteland for any Ymatrian holdouts; to investigate the Worb Technocracy during First Contact, so as to evaluate what (if any) degree of threat this newly-encountered empire posed; and to go on routine patrols over to former Ymatrian space in order to make sure no trouble was brewing.
All of this, and more, would justify the Drex designing and fielding dedicated survey ships in significant numbers.
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Speaking of the Ymatrians:
Despite how trigger-happy most of their starship crews and fighter pilots tend to be, there needed to have been someone reining this tendency in long enough for them to both draw up and implement broader operational and strategic goals: whether this be their initial strike against their former Kyrihn benefactors, or the long-range invasion of Drex space itself.
Further, there must have been some means by which they were able to gather actionable intelligence on the Drex without being detected; to investigate locations in the depths of the Wasteland for their supply points; and to guide the invasion fleet to its intended destination.
All of which speaks heavily to the need for a series of dedicated survey ships - perhaps with more "disciplined", or at least more "patient", crews than those aboard "line" Ymatrian ships - in order for at least some of the necessary preparations for the invasion to be made.
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As for the Worb:
I could imagine their First Contact with the Drex, and the subsequent "investigation" of the Technocracy by the Drex task forces involved, to have been quite a sobering historical moment.
Indeed, I could well see the Drex sending a reconnaissance force all the way to the Worb home world, where they would make detailed scans of the surface and of its surrounding installations - with the Worb themselves in no real position to forcibly oppose them.
Fortunately for the Worb, the Drex decided to leave them in peace, though not without a stern warning against future aggression. But, as we know, the Worb learnd the opposite lesson: only by seizing samples of Ymatrian engine and weapon technology would they stand a chance, in the event the Drex changed their robotic minds about this...
As for who would operate Worb survey ships: that would be the Low Worb, the same sub-caste which fields the current Worb scout ship. In fact, the Low Worb do indeed use their SCs for scientific research duties when not in combat, though one could easily see them designing and fielding more dedicated hulls for the survey mission.
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The Infestation Cruiser was indeed intended as a long-range survey hull by the "old" Sigvirion empire, as it sought out new would-be host species to infect.
In principle, one could offer a "New Infestation Cruiser", for use by the Sigs operating out of the Nucian Cluster during the Second Great War. In practice, it might find more use as a heavy scout than as a survey ship, at least between Y181 (when the Nucian-Sigs started operating "in the open") and Y186 (when their primary base of operations in the Cluster was destroyed).
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The Phons have the Redwood heavy scout, which is not intended to operate as a lone survey ship; rather, it is intended to support large fleets, or groups of explorer ships (not least during their wide-ranging investigations of the Andromedans).
Still, at some point they too would likely benefit from one or more dedicated "lone survey" hulls - not least once they learn the importance of destroying Andro RTN nodes, or Souldra dark matter caches, within Association-held territory.
Good reasoning.