Arana

Age

7

Type

Frigate

Faction

Pirate

Owner

Edward O'Brien

Overview

The Arana was for all intents and purposes the Rec Runner flagship, at least for the New Athens fleet. It served the role of a battleship, even if it were a quarter the size of a real battleship. It was built hardier and heavier than the others. The big three often rode aboard, made deals, and flew into potentially enemy-territory.

If a deal went south, she had to sit in port and LAUGH at her enemy’s biggest guns.

It’s a ship of diplomacy above all else. Look powerful, project professionalism, and make everyone who saw it feel like they’d just seen the Enterprise’s small business cousin.

Typical Uses/Mission

The Arana’s primary mission is making deals and commanding the fleet. On a day to day basis this means maintaining contact with a dozen ships, tight beams with major trading partners, and coordinating the movement of a thousand person workforce.

For making deals, the Arana meets with other factions in the depths of space, flies to stations for important deals, and puts on a bold faced front for the Runners: “We’re equipped better than a mercenary team, we’re fast, and we got what you want. Take our deal and don’t cross us.”

Secondarily, the Arana can perform salvage operations, rescues, and tactical operations for the fleet. It’s a command ship. It’s rare to see it join in salvage work, but it makes for a good demonstration to prospective partners.

Features

Upgraded Amenities

There is an extra layer of polish on the Arana. Its systems are newer. Everything matches. The deck plates are all fit together tightly. It’s for appearances. Having another faction leader visit, they need to show how serious the Runners are. That means having at least one ship that is run like a military vessel: order and procedure.

Bot Systems

There is a central ship-board AI. It runs the medical suit, assists the crew & guests, tracks the fleet, and serves to fly the ship when a pilot isn’t on duty. The same system can operate and coordinate the fleet of defensive drones and run the weapons’ systems.

Cargo Bay

There is a small cargo bay, it’s enough to fully salvage 1-2 small ships. It won’t accomodate anything bigger than a corvette and even then it has to be broken down to plates and packed in tight, but they’ve done it.

Lattice Panel Armor

The Arana’s armor is its newest feature. It’s still officially unexplained. O’Brien obtained the latest armor from Sol. It uses a nano-lattice substance derived from Slinger research. It is said to be a structure so strong as to shrug off shots from a rail gun. That’s only anecdotal, but if it were true, it would make the Arana one of the toughest ships in the system.

Armament

Point Defense Cannons

A set of 7 PDCs stud the ship. This configuration provides 3 more PDCs than are necessary to protect a ship of this size. The added margin for error guarantees that no torpedo barrage can get through. In most engagements, the extra PDCs remain hidden until needed.

Drone Bay & Defenses

A squadron of 6 autonomous drones provides the Arana’s primary defense. Each one is about the size of a small racing ship. Their drives are oversized and the hull is minimal. In essence each is a series of weapons bolted to a drive. They carry a keel mounted rail gun, a light-weight PDC, and they have the option of an external missile rack.

Torpedoes

There are 2 torpedo launchers onboard. O’Brien has opted for heavier torpedoes than the standard frigate would carry. Where a ship of this size normally operates 4-6 torpedo launchers, O’brien built two big ones. Each torpedo carries what he called a Nova Bomb. It’s a custom-made fusion warhead, he says a hit from this would knock any battleship flat on its ass.

History

The Arana is O’brien’s project ship. He started with the guts of a half dozen corvettes being bolted together, taking the best of each. It was all salvage, ships brought in from every faction. The idea wasn’t to build the best warship, but to make something intimidating. he didn’t need to outmaneuver his enemies, he just had to build something that looked so scary, no one would ever dare attack it.

He picked the best features from dozens of ships and integrated each into his design. The best Armor from Earth. A home-made torpedo, mixed with his reputation for genius work. Racing ships turned into escorts, capable of holding a 50G burn that’d kill a human pilot. Extra PDCs just to make anyone think twice.

Despite all the features, it’s not the toughest ship in the system. It just has to look like it is. Will the Lattice Armor actually eat a rail gun shell? Who knows. Are the six drones more dangerous than torpedoes? Nobody wants to find out. What would O’Brien’s big torpedoes do? It’s a gamble and no one wants to call him on it.

As long as their enemies are afraid to attack, the ship serves its purpose.

Crew