FREIGHTER OPERATIONS

             The movement of material and people is the ultimate purpose for the existence of most empires. It is these movements which create wealth, and with wealth the avarice of strangers to possess it. Protecting the safe movement of goods, and their markets, is the job of the Starfleet (as is interfering in the enemy's own movements). While much has been written about the warships which glide effortlessly across the star-fields on their endless rounds of strike and reprisal (as well as exploration and rescue), little has been revealed of the true workhorse of Empire: the lowly freighter. Most freighters are little more than container movers (free traders being one of the notable exceptions). In many cases a given freighter will mate to a given pod and, for the rest of its operational life, never carry another. The typical container is usually a cargo pod of one type or another (bulk, break bulk, fluid, etc.) and are generally shown as simply "cargo" on SSDs. There are of course various other sorts of pods, some specialized and some with mixed capabilities, such as the tramp steamer pod which gives up some cargo volume for passenger space.

            Other pods are the repair pod, the survey/exploration pod, the mine-laying pod, and the troop pod. Virtually any freighter can be equipped with these pods and perform the intended role. 

            The troop pod is something of a misnomer. In civilian use it is known as the "cruise-liner pod". The major difference being that in troop mode there are fewer amenities (usually stripped out before the troops board) and more individuals per stateroom. In cruise mode a given stateroom might have only one occupant, but in troop mode the average stateroom will have four (and sometimes more). Another difference is that while the shuttles on the pod in troop transport mode might be GAS, GBS, or HAS types, in cruise liner mode they will generally be only Admin or HTS types.

            One rarely seen pod is the hospital/medical pod. This pod is used by all races. While such pods would clearly be helpful in combating plagues or natural disasters, very few exist outside of fleet usage. There simply is no profit (in a corporate sense) in having a ready deployable hospital pod, and medical research can be more easily conducted in medical facilities on advanced planets or isolated habitats on otherwise uninhabitable bodies.

 FREIGHTERS IN BALLAST

            Freighters are also able to transport small ground bases, Mobile Logistic Base pods, small bases (SAMS or ComPlat), monitor modules, and fleet pods. The systems on these "cargoes" must be shut down and the resulting dead-weight would all be damaged on "cargo" damage points, although the owner would be free to choose which box on any given pod was damaged by each given "cargo" damage point. 

            Freighters which deliver such cargoes generally adopt a configuration known as "in ballast" after the delivery. In this configuration the forward, or "command", section is mated directly to the aft, or "drive", section. This maneuver (docking the command section to the engine section with no intervening pod), while standard and part of the design features of freighters, is time consuming and not done "under fire". Freighters delivering ground bases generally drop their cargoes, adopt the ballast configuration, then apply a tractor to lower the base to the planet's surface. Optionally, a freighter delivering a SAMS or ComPlat will drop the small base, then after joining its halves move the base into proper orbit, after which the base will lock its positional stabilizers. Freighters delivering modules to bases (or monitors), or a pod or module to a Mobile Logistics Base, will simply drop the module (or pod) near the base (or monitor). The base (or monitor) then uses its own tractors to bring them in for docking while the freighter assumes ballast mode (or in the case of a monitor and sometimes a base, picks up the module being replaced).

            Freight lines (and individual captains) seek to avoid entering the ballast configuration because the ship is still generating expenditures, i.e., the crew must be paid and energy is being expended, but is not producing profits. Freighters in the ballast configuration are almost never (the operable word being almost) attacked by pirates as there is little of immediate profit to be stolen. Sometimes, however, the object is to steal the freighter itself. The Orions do operate some freighters as "legitimate" operations so that they can take delivery of things they must acquire through purchase, plus occasional extra profit through insurance scams. Another reason to operate "honest" freighters is to gain access to convoy routes and schedules (although this is mostly done by subverting minor officials and surreptitiously tapping computer banks). In time of war, commerce raiders will attack any freighter, including those traveling in ballast. While a laden freighter would obviously be a better target, the elimination of any freighter will impact the enemy race's economy. Traveling in ballast does confer some advantages. Freighters in this configuration are faster. (Small freighters in ballast have a move cost of 1/4. Large freighters in ballast have a move cost of 1/3.)

            Some freighters are permanent modifications and cannot adopt the ballast configuration by any means. These include Q-ships, naval auxiliaries (AxCVs, AxPFTs, AxSCSs), and of course the WYN auxiliaries (AxC, AxMS, AxCC, AxBC, AxDN, and AxBCS). The permanent joining of the sections of these ships does grant them greater structural strength over their progenitors (represented by their improved breakdown ratings). This increase in structural strength is not as pronounced for Q-ships due to the need to maintain the illusion of being "only a freighter".

            One exception that falls somewhat in between is the Ore Processing freighter. These large freighters are able to drop either of their cargo pods, but the ore processing sections are permanently affixed to the command module. If the ship needs to redeployed to a new rich field in a hurry, it can mount its drive module to the rear of its ore processing sections.

NEW TYPES OF FREIGHTER UNITS

            In this issue of Star Fleet Times, we will preview a selection of improved freighter designs which are tentatively scheduled for Module R8. These include:

           FREIGHTER SKIDS: These are relatively small disk-shaped structures, the diameter of a standard cargo pod but only about 3m "thick". Financially successful freighter captains would acquire these elements and carry them between their pods and command modules, providing the crew with additional space, power, amenities, and defenses. Two types of skids were known to be used, one being the "standard" skid with a little of everything a freighter crew would need, and the other being a "Lighter Aboard Ship" or LASH skid which carries an HTS shuttle and three cargo transporters to facilitate rapid unloading. Using a skid does not increase the movement or life support cost, but each skid increases the freighter's BPV by six points. Large freighters could operate with no skids, or two skids, they could not operate with only one skid, or with more than two.

           DUCKTAILS: These improved "rear ends" for small freighters added a tractor beam and an HTS shuttle, which some felt had been sorely lacking in the original design. For large freighters the ducktail adds two HTS shuttles and no tractor. These do not increase movement or life support costs. The small freighter pays 3 points for its ducktail; the large freighter pays two points.

            NEW POD: The hospital pod is a new unit being introduced to the game here for the first time. It could be carried by a tug or as part of a freighter. For a disaster relief mission, a large freighter might be fitted with one cargo pod (relief supplies) and one medical pod (to treat the wounded).

            OVERLOADED FREIGHTERS: For short trips inside a star system only and not including any "armed" pods, freighters could be temporarily rigged to carry more than the usual number of pods (although this increases the movement cost). A few examples are given. Freighters have even been known to (with quite a bit of preparation) lock their command and engine modules around a relatively small asteroid and move it from one orbit to another.