!!THIS ARTICLE IS PRE-CONVERSION AND CONTAINS HEAVY REFERENCING FROM ITS FORMER SETTING AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ROLEPLAY!!
XA-F/L5 - "Valdo Anamnesis" Personal Blockade Runner
Taking parts from a wide assortment of other vessels as modified from Miles Gunn, the Valdo Anamnesis is a high speed personal transport vessel disguised as a modified cargo-vessel, constructed in PE265, salvaging the petrified detranslated hull of the Anamnesis which traversed from Elsewhere (U1) to Herewhere(U2). Most noteworthy, it takes many parts from the the NR-1000 Series Light Freighter which had many similarities in shape.
The Valdo's ugly junker patchwork exterior belies its military grade performance and unusual engineering.
- ♫ Grandaddy - "Jed the Humanoid" (RIP Maras)
Introduction
Designed by Miles Gunn, The Amanesis Vardo is a one-off modification, comprised of several ships including the Rebuild Anamenesis Ki-F5 (a one-off modification of a Fuushigi No Umi class Escort) and the Gershinari Shipyards' Ge-F7 1B Jinsoku Cargo Runner.
While constantly tweaked and modified (not unlike a project car), it serves as the home of Miles Gunn and the people closest to him and is an expression of his will to survive and his defiance against a universe that says he should not exist.
About the XA-F/L5 - "Valdo Anamnesis" PBR
Disguised as a common unremarkable light high speed transport vessel, the Anamnesis Valdo is a high-technology multipurpose custom gunship specialized in the purpose of blockade running: To rush through established lines of defense and evade pursuit – to win through attrition and survive with stamina other ships can't match.
This is all for the purpose of protecting her fugitive crew whom in most jurisdictions are not only outlaws but have multiple bounties under their names, doggedly pursued by Yamatai and Yamatai military controlled interests now for nearly a full decade.
Building on the strengths of its predecessor (Anamnesis Rebuild), the Valdo is a nomad of common components modified and arranged in an uncommon fashion: Cheap to repair, easy to find parts for and redundant to excess, the Valdo excels in strafing runs, asymmetrical combat and speedy escapes from pursuits. Above all, she is designed to move directly under the noses of law enforcement and military groups: either by appearing unremarkable or by falsifying her appearance as another registered ship.
Designed by Miles Gunn with aid from Aiesu Kalopsia, the craft is built from the ruins of the Anmnesis Rebuild (wasting almost none of its remains) which are built into an enormously modified GE-L5 who bares only appearance to its origin.
More compact than the Rebuild Anmnesis, the Valdo if used properly is versatile with enough speed and staying power to keep its small crew safe from the clutches of the Yamatai Star Army.
Appearance
The losenge like shape of the Type 33 is now rounded into a disc shaped hull, turrets top and bottom. The rear hangers are situated forward, forming two long forward prongs and a second set into the back with the engines extruded rearward and the four top/bottom side engines situated over the unified cargo hull. An independent detatchable re-enforced cabin is located offside and the rounded hull is tucked into making room for escape-pods. The shield-generator, forward of the craft is doubled, with one top and bottom. A large cannon is located over the detachable cabin block.
The hull of the Valdo borrows sliced plating from the original Rebuild Anamnesis in a hodge-podge arrangement over much of the craft, layered to vastly thicken the hull with specialist components sitting in trenches and gaps inside the hull.
A set of canard-like winglets sit upon the prongs of the craft, serving as port and starboard shield generators and FTL maneuvering control systems.
Greenhouse style windows sit top and bottom of the center of the disc hull, serving as view-ports for manual turret control. Visibly, the hull borrows components from an assortment of different ships: Worn, tired and exhausted with a large emphasis on sturdiness and ease of modification and compatibility over aesthetic. An intentionally weathered hull makes the Anamnesis Valdo appear deceptively inoffensive and generic, therefor forgettable allowing the craft to move more freely through controlled territories.
History
Beginning life as the Rebuild Anamenesis (home to Miles and Sana), the vessel was crippled, its hull losing critical integrity: held together using defensive fields and picojelly. Though seemingly suicidal, the two saw two potential ways forward:
- Making a bee-line for Lorath space, with a high chance of being intercepted
- Making a run for UX-12, a Yamatai controlled military space.
Following Sana's bluff, the pursuing captain followed the false signal of FTL transit to Lor while Miles got the FTL drive and hard-light projectors working at the cost of life-support. Huddling in the darkness in vacuum suits and, exposed to the void Miles set about falsifying a passable registration; after the “Valdo”, a recently destroyed Ge-L5.
Limping through space, the two used gravitic smearing to conceal their vessel's identity under the guise of an engine malfunction and falsified documents: sneaking right under Yamatai's nose into a Ketsuri military controlled sector. For several hours, a fleet segment of 24 Urfu light cruisers meant that at all times, there was a chance that the falsified signals could fail and that the Rebuild's true identity could be revealed; forcing Sana and Miles to take shifts to keep the ship running as they conducted critical repairs – though they also served to protect the two from pursuing Mishhu forces.
Within a window of 72 hours and through the use of gravitational manipulation, hard-light plasma casting and molecular applicators, Miles cut and divided the rebuild; always keeping its reactor online at all times, slowly reconstructing the ship while it was still running – refitting the ship live; a feat even the most experienced of engineers couldn't hope to accomplish.
The result was the Valdo Anamenesis: taking namesake from the vessel they had pretended to be. The name Valdo comes from ancient trade for an extremely specific type of nomadic mobile home, belonging to an ancient ethnicity of dispersed travellers of a swarthy complexion. The utterly pragmatic ideals of these people, their ability to function anywhere and their capacity for independence from society and social structure was reflected in the Valdo Anamenesis' design; made to appear homely, patch-work and junk-like but underlying performance on par with hardware Miles was used to handling during his days in the Star Army of Yamatai.
The rebuild overshot, taking 100 hours but Miles had managed to wrap the craft in a false shrowded hull of junk parts and fake structures. The two sat tense in the cabin as the hardlight projection and gravitic smearing systems failed, overheating from over-use. They waited in silence, seeing whether or not the military fleet surrounding them would realize the ruse.
Though with half of its major systems non-operational, the Valdo Anmnesis limped out of UX-12 and was even given an escort by the very fleet segment Sana and Miles had been so terrified of as a send-off.
Design Characteristics
While not warship by any means, the role of the Valdo is simple; Its goal to be where it has to be, smash through international boarders (guarded or not), to evade law-enforcement, to never be recognized and to keep her family safe.
She packs a generically civilian looking hull but belies a nomad packed to the gills with a battery of sneaky tricks and equipment with performance above even the most advanced of civilian vessels.
Above all, she is a lightning courrier and a blockade runner all under the guise of a civilian transport frigate.
Effective armor thickness
The Valdo Anamnesis has an unusual hull design: Split down the middle, angled surfaces, a disc shaped middle, wide high powered engines and a main weapon and cabin offset to one side. The magic of the ship comes with applied effective armor thickness and angling techniques:
In practice during a blockade run, the entire hull can be placed between the cabin (possibly the hardest part of the entire vessel, sourced from a deep-diving gas-giant mining hull) for additional protection for maximum crew protection. Forward cargo-spaces serves to create a thick wall of forward armor, each packing an additional shield-generator: one for each prong and a third around the cabin section as well as two fitted around the rear engines and a heavy battery above and below.
Firepower
Though very expressly not a warship, the Valdo's firepower is designed to make it difficult to flank by armor, fighters and other speedy ships trying to get onto its weaker side: Top and bottom quad auto packet-cannon turrets with full traversal range and anti-gimbal lock design pack a powerful punch.
A large third turret fitted near the cabin provides major forward firepower and protective firepower for the cockpit itself, using a pair of belt-fed multi-barrel subspace accelerated railguns.
The unusual placement of the cabin is also intentional: the opposing side of the hull able to mount a very large specialist anti-starship weapon which is usually stored in compressed space and must be fitted prior to engagements on the offensive.
In addition to this, the Valdo features torpedo launcher and can launch up to three powered frames.
FTL Maneuverability
Unusually for a ship of its size, the Valdo Anamnesis can not only move in a straight line in FTL but also maneuver fully in any direction (with a limited turning circle, granted). This important feature can allow the Valdo Anamnesis to course-correct when an enemy in pursuit is unable to: with either their paths diverging or the enemy dropping out of FTL to course correct which gives the Valdo Anamnesis a greater lead.
This is all thanks to a very clever use of gravitic centrifuges (which explain the rounded hull shape) and the specially engineered slipstream subspace hull shape which reduces “friction” in subspace when maneuvering. This, combined with subspace canards for even greater maneuvering makes the Valdo a slippery foe to track at FTL.
Emergency measures
With survival a primary concern, the craft is designed with three full performance escape-pods, each with a full survival kit taken from the pilot attire for the Winter II. The craft also includes an emergency transponder and each escape pod includes a stasis system, whether or not they are ejected.
In the event escape-pods would not save the crew, the cabin itself can be detached as an escape-ship (being an entire ship of its own) and has the option of entering FTL, bringing the volucomp with it (and everything inside it with it). In this way, the vessel can self-destruct, fooling the enemy into thinking it was destroyed. If then a new projector can be connected using the access details of the old projector, the contents can be accessed (which may be important for trading or survival purposes).
As an utter final ditch, the whole ship can be detonated while disconnected to its volumetric compression which would survive intact – though whether or not anyone would know to re-open the compression, what its coordinates were or if the area is even safe to re-open the compression or not is another question entirely (which gets worse considering the compression has a limited amount of air, food, water and power available to its occupants).
General Performance Statistics
General
Class: Ki-F5/Ge-L5 Merger
Original Registration: YSS Black Sands – YF-95
Current Registration: CV Anamnesis refit
Type: Disguised Custom Blockade Runner & Long-Range Armed Transport
Designers: Miles Gunn, Sana Nakamura, Aiesu Kalopsia
Manufacturer: A stressed Nepleslian scientist, his stressed wife and an angry L'manel
Production: One (ongoing)
Fielded by: Unnamed Fugitive Group.
Crew and Accommodations
Crew: Two Operators, Room for Eight Passengers (can function unmanned)
Maximum crew: 30, would be severely cramped.
Dimensions
Length: 95.5 meters ( 111.5 feet)
Width: 45.45 meters ( 50 feet)
Height: 9.8 meters ( 17 feet)
Decks:
- 1 (4 meters each) main deck
- 2 subdecks (5 chambers each)
- 4 Compression-Decks
Propulsion and Range
The Anmnesis Valdo is a very nimble vessel.
- Atmospheric: Mach 5.5
- Continuum Distortion Drive: 19,723.5c
- enhanced_drive: 14,000c
- Continuum Distortion Wake Drive Hybrid: 22,525.5c
- Hyperspace Fold Drive: 447,066c (0.85 ly/m)
- Sub-light Engines: .375c with .75c Three Minute Boost.
- Range: Indefinite
- Lifespan: 100 Years or until the crew dies, whichever comes first.
- Refit Cycle: Whenever parts are available.
Damage Capacity
See damage_rating for an explanation of the damage system.
- Hull: 15 SP Starship
- Additional plating: 5SP Starship
- Shields: 15 (Threshold 5)
Inside the XA-F/L5
Valdo is built around a single main deck (known as the ground floor). About the middle of the ground-floor is a central zero-gravity ladder-shaft leading to the top and bottom turret stations, wrapped by a donut shaped hall.
The hall links what are called first and basement floors above the main deck in the saucer section in a radial arrangement: six up, six down. The main saucer plate of the vessel can be lifted when docked to access or replace these interiors in drydock, meaning these rooms can be used as future expansion slots for the vessel.
The rear section of the vessel includes a volumetric compression: A device about the size of a large shipping container connecting to a higher dimensional chamber with the interior floor-space of half a city block arranged vertically. While the chamber follows the container, it expresses no mass or stress against the hull of the vessel unless it is connected to normal-space allowing items to be exchanged between it and normal-space. The compression is actually a separate container and features its own specialty shock-absorbant landing gear and boarding ramp elevator for the exchange of cargo and equipment.
Two smaller permanent volumetric compression are also located in the prongs for cargo.
The flooring of the main deck and most chambers is modular, featuring grill panels which can be quickly removed to reach systems beneath. Often, tools and parts are magnetized or taped to the undersides of these panels which will be used frequently with the systems beneath to remove the time spent looking for them – often with engraved labels or diagrams indicating what lies beneath and common failsafe checklists and flow-charts for common problems – allowing anyone with even basic engineering knowledge to repair the vessel even when Miles isn't present by following simple instructions.
These floor-plates are also designed so if the vessel's gravity up-vector changes, crew can hook into, clutch or wire belt into the grill panels and then use them as ladders, preventing a potentially fatal flaw.
Strategic Design
Note how in almost any situation, there are at least two ways in and out of almost any chamber on the vessel. This feature makes boarding operations and fire-fights against the Valdo's crew particularly difficult, giving the home-crew the home advantage through better spacial awareness, deck-layout and topography of the vessel's interior.
Such fights can become unwinnable given that almost all doors on the vessel pack independent backup computers and double as blast-doors for atmospheric sealing and radiation protection: Potentially stopping a boarding operation can be as simple as disengaging life-support for a chamber and venting its contents into space.
Main Deck ('ground floor')
Central Access Torus
Serving as the heart of the ship and a critical structural component, the vessel's design features a zero gravity ladder tube (known as 'central'), linking the two turret stations which in turn serve as secondary access junctions for decks 0 and 2 ('basement' and 'first floor' respectively).
Wrapped about this is a torus shaped corridor, used to route power throughout the vessel - doubling as an airlock and load baring structure (known as the donut)
Both of these spaces contain large leather-like pillowy surfaces built into the walls which absorb shocks if the vessel is struck, doubling as a safety system for crew if they are thrown into the walls by sudden motions of the ship. The pillow structures are actually hollow yarvex foam and can be unzipped and opened, filled with MREs, common survival equipment and other soft objects and common tools ideal in a crisis.
Sub-Decks
Located above and below the primary decks, sub-decks are pre-fabricated rooms following an old Lorath cargo storage standard, involving curved containers - six in total locking into a ring which would be stacked. In this sense, there are two stacks: One above the main deck and one beneath, both accessible either via the main pass (central vertical corridor) or via ladder or access panel.
Notably, each room has a separate atmosphere in case of emergency. If multiple rooms are opened to one another while locked, they can act as a single larger chamber.
The Valdo has six top and six bottom, making twelve chambers total, with the forward facing chambers managing the IRI-hardlight projection system and other options.
These chambers are designed to be swapped in dry-dock, affording the Valdo a large variety of possible missions and modularity given the rooms can easily be converted from the old containers.
It should be noted that the front (room 1) is connected to the component trench directly. Moving clockwise from the dorsal of the vessel, rooms 3 and 4 are linked to the maintenance corridors which run in a V-shape through the saucer section while chambers 2 and 5 have specialist access doors to the port and starboard escape pods.
First Floor
Room 1F: Primary crew quarters
Crew quarters (Miles & Sana): A ‘Captains Quarters’ compartment, which has been remodeled using a prefabricated kit.
Room 2F: Pleasure room
Gutted and rebuilt from the favorable entrails of three different civilian pleasure cruisers during the run of the original Rebuild Anamnesis, Room 2F is a combination of Yamataian style bathing room, communal shower, hot-tub, and sauna. It should be noted room 2 doubles as a tanning room, given that the ceiling (protected behind airtight transparent titanium carbide) contains a solid-state array of UV lamps which can be dialled up or down in tone or shade.
As something of an additional guilty pleasure, the tiles within the room are acoustically designed, able to create most sounds both in and out of the water and are based on a simple picojelly technology that can change their color and whatever image they display. The same acoustic property is also used to clean the tiles, but can also be used to issue a very rudimentary massage to anyone in direct connection using ultra low frequencies.
2F is probably the most expensive non-critical room on the vessel, also adding a huge amount of weight to the ship. Sana and Miles rationalize the chamber, insisting that since they don't serve on the Anamnesis but in-fact live on it, that they should not be without creature comforts. Miles adds additionally, that in an emergency or when anticipating drought, the entire chamber can double as a giant secondary water storage tank.
For obvious very reasons, Room-2F features only one entrance to increase its interior capacity with an airlock of sorts which serves to dry whoever passes through it and use weightlessness and a vacuum system to remove any excess water from whoever might be inside.
Room 3F
Connected to rear boom.
Room 4F
Connected to rear boom.
Room 5F
Personal storage
Basement
Room 1B: Galley
Connected to 2B, 1B serves as a larger “main” galley, containing cupboards and refrigerators on almost all surfaces, a work-top including an induction heating stove with clasp-locks for zero-G pans, the aforementioned Zero-G pans (which include valves and piping equipment to pass on liquids and solids), a blender, microwave, refrigerator, induction oven, sonic dishwasher, meal trays (designed to electrostatics “stick” runny fluids) and a small collection of wines.
Almost all of this starship grade equipment is sourced on a regular basis for spare parts for other parts of the ship with going for a space-walk along the hull in a vac-suit to recover said component for a specific meal or recipe being surprisingly routine – playing hot-potato with components.
Room 2B: Guest quarters
Guest quarters: This chamber contains four stacked capsule hotel like beds (each with a lock and key), complete with shutter curtains. Each contains a basic data-line, lights, an electrically heated memory foam mattress, bedding and a small number of cupboards. A stack of vertical lockers are located against the stacked capsule beds and a small refrigerator.
The ceiling features a cheap civilian grade holographic projection system.
A panel on the wall features emergency vacuum sealing oxygen helmets, a fire-bottle and two emergency key-switches: a red one to force-seal/lock the door from the inside and a second to flood atmosphere into space, followed by a bump toggle-switch to re-oxygenate the cabin. It should be noted that the forcible decompression and re-compression is lethal to anyone not wearing a vacuum seal helmet.
Room 3B
Connected to rear boom & engines.
Contains additional lockers for crew equipment and personal effects as well as storage crates for other personal items. Free access to guests to use rear top-right boom as viewing window at almost all times. Also contains combination washer/dryer for clothes and armaments locker (under lock and key of Sana & Miles)
Room 4B
Connected to rear boom & engines.
Room 5B: Refrigerated storage
Connected to the other side of 1B at the far end of 2B on the front section of the basement floors, 5B is loaded with kitchen, food and component supplies. It is in fact a large Lazarus stasis module and refrigerator and requires an access key to enter.
Turret station/gunnery control junction
Doubling as a vertical observation window, the turret station or gunnery control serves as an access junction top and bottom to the sub-chambers on the basement and first floors of the vessel (decks 0 and 2).
Its primary function however is manual override of the vessel's two quad turrets. Each contains an unfolding gunnery chair with a five point harness and controls to drive the turret as well as targetting feedback sensors. The dorsal plate of the gunnery control station is designed as such that the turret can move cleanly on all three axis, with the external mount of the turret even able to rotate entirely to prevent gimble-lock and to ease orientation during combat.
The window of the station is a mono-pane concave plate, taken from the transparent titanium carbide allotrope windows of a high pressure gas-giant mining vessel. They have ben fitted with yarvex filled frames for additional shock absorption and micro-copper pathways to serve as a protective farraday cage and radiation filtering surface: While expensive, this makes the window no less vulnerable than the rest of the ship.
If pierced, a shutter-like lens mechanism can close, sealing the window.
Main Deck
Built around the central corridor, the main deck fills most of the ship and contains the main “chamber” of the vessel. With grate flooring and connectivity to most of the ship's important systems, this space is where many of the larger living spaces are, such as the kitchen, pantry, hygiene and toilet facilities.
Lounge
The lounge is located at the edge of (x) side of the ship. It is noteworthy for the large couch, refurbished from the damaged Rebuild Anmnesis which has been reworked into a studded leather rounded crescent around the edge of the wall.
A rounded kitchen table is able to slide down out of the ceiling on an arm to one side as to not block the volumetric projection on the far side of the room and is able to tilt on that arm similar to the swing arm component of some decks.
A second “table” is also in the ceiling and able to slide down, containing an assortment of fruits and plants growing in a solid picojelly soil replacement (so if the hull is struck, soil doesn't go everywhere making a mess) meaning certain fruits, herbs and spices are always available during mealtimes in fresh form.
Galley
Directly connected to the lounge is a galley. It contains a full induction heating hob-set, a working oven, self-cleaning blender, grill, hot and cold running water with connective hose endings, microwave and hydrator as well as a sonic dishwasher which doubles as storage for all pots and pans. It also includes a repurposed Lazarus stasis unit, used as a refridgerator and can be used to cook fresh goods and prepare rations.
Operational Cabin
Located off to one side the cabin is sourced from a high pressure diving probe used for gas-giant mining. The cabin hull packs some of the sturdiest armor on the entire vessel, including stock shock-trapping plates which prevent large objects from hitting its view-panes and interior armor able to slide and rotate from beneath the cabin walls to seal the port-holes up top during combat.
It should be noted that the operational cabin is essentially an independent vessel; modified to structurally dock with the Valdo and its interior layout modified for use as such: packing supplies, a highly abridged set of crew-quarters built into the flooring, independent atmospheric systems, an independent power-plant, its own backup computer system and its own escape-pod.
The cabin fits stations for a crew of four and fast access to pilot control systems, navigation, weapons management and communications (though the vessel can run on a crew of zero).
It should be noted that the Valdo contains no “dedicated bridge” and can theoretically be commanded by computer from any chamber provided the user has adequate permissions using OPSCURUS based security systems: Namely those of Sana and Miles Gunn themselves which require that neither of the two be either intoxicated or under duress against their wishes to use the vessel (something which OPSCURUS is particularly sensitive to).
If the cabin is destroyed, the Valdo can still continue operation.
Engine Access
Not really a dedicated engineering as such, the ship has access to the engines from the interior beneath the floor and walls of the rear section by removing grate panels. It contains the ships fold engines, main engines, wormhole drive (taken from the remains of the maras) and the core powerplant which rise up out of the floor for access.
Though scratched, dirty, burnt and damaged, the wormhole drive component bares the commemorative plaque Rebeka originally commissioned for the Maras after taming it after her first meeting at Sana Nakamura's request.
Forward Hull
Closed off via blast-doors, forward hull cargo-spaces offer conventional storage for equipment and cargo without the use of a volumetric compression.
Rear boom
Located top and bottom, rear-booms are extruded corridors running through the rear of the vessel in a V-shape from the center of the disc section. Connected to chambers 3 and 4 of the sub-decks, rear-booms offer maintenance connection path-ways to the main engines and are redundant shock absorbing structures for the vessel.
They terminate at four armored observation windows, constructed from the same hardy material as the gas-diver many of the components of the vessel are sourced from, ironically making them tougher than a lot of the vessel's hull.
Diving Bells
The booms themselves fit modified tethered compression diving bells (which are typically used to scout for rare materials inside stellar phenomena such as ultra dense nebulae, small stars and gas-giants) with pressure and radiation tested hulls and independent airlocks.
Each bell has been supplemented with four Yggdrasillian grappling arms gutted from eight battered Yggdrasill Packrats.
The manipulating tools have been integrated into each have been supplemented with molecular applicators and plasma torches, making them ideal for conducting quick repairs on the Valdo itself or for any number of unscrupilous reasons one would need to cut into or attach to the hull of another ship. They can be wire launched with thrusters and reeled in if required and can be operated manually or automatically.
The Valdo has four diving bells, total.
Side Booms: Mounting locks
Located before and aft the boarding ramps in the connected to the saucer-section, side-booms contain clamps locks and interfaces for specialist equipment. The right side-boom locks the cabin module, while the left side can dock a main weapon on the left side of the vessel.
The interior of the port and starboard booms themselves are conventional crew-spaces.
Front Booms: Broken medium positron cannon
Gutted from the front hull of a Ge-L3-1A “Vampire”, the front booms are long forward extrusions along the forward section of the Valdo Anamnesis.
A huge influence on the design of the Valdo, the front booms were originally chosen for the Medium Positron Cannon located inside them: a fearsome weapon with immense firepower relative to its size. Unfortunately the choice was made somewhat prematurely with too much enthusiasm for reasons of vanity and ego; the damaged cannon could not be repaired into a reliable functioning state and the parts needed to do so were greatly coveted by PMCs, military groups and pirates meaning replacement parts would have to be improvised.
As a direct result, the front booms were re-purposed into storage areas with only the critical components of the positron cannon left either dismantled or along the hull.
While the weapon can be repaired into a functioning state, there are problems (including but not limited to);
- Requiring disposable improvised components, made of expensive parts
- Extensive maintenance and cleaning taking three to four days
- Seven hours of charging, minumum
- No guarantee that the weapon will even fire
- That if it does, not only will it destroy the improvised expensive parts…
- …starting fires inside the ship…
- …but that it may also damage other unrelated systems
A single shot would return the weapon to step 1, requiring all the work, money and time all over again.
While normally unrecognizable by sensors, the weapon can be charged even in its broken state to convincingly resemble the medium positron cannon. Even if it can't fire, the cannon is worth its weight in gold when bluffing – though actually using the weapon in actual combat is only really practical in a true last ditch life or death scenario.
While keeping the weapon isn't sensible, Sana particularly insists that while they can't find the parts now, if they did in future, Miles “would be beating himself up with regret for the rest of his life”
Engineering
The Issoku has a compact engineering section, it is a cramped space and not intended for personnel to stay in for any period of time. It houses the generators, life support, and fold systems.
Airlock
The escape-pods of the Valdo Anamnesis double as airlocks, complete with standardized clamp-locks. They are able to fully pressurize and depressurize with a two door system and contain a number of different types of space-suit. The topside of the vessel via one of the sub-decks features a two-stage airlock with elevator, opening up onto the topside of the hull, allowing crew to gain access to and walk upon the hull – important for maintenance.
Amenities
Located next to the loading ramp is the Issoku's amenities. This contains two showers, toilets and sinks. There is also a pair of washer/drier units for cleaning clothes.
Volumetric Compression
A massive 8 ton volumetric compression rift generator sits beneath the floor of the rear hull, along with a volumetric compression anchor located in the cabin section of the hull. They both serve to create a large 19 x 13 x 18 meter (4446 cubic meter) chamber in a higher dimension than the rest of the vessel, invisible to its hull. It has an interior volume and configuration resembling a small office-block, with four decks.
This chamber while normally locked (and using zero power) can be opened either through a boarding hatch in the rear hull on the left side or via a combination of boarding ramp and elevator (which can either lower to be walked up on as a slope or set itself down fully to lift heavy or large objects into itself) on the underside of the rear of the Valdo Anamnesis's hull.
While in use it places great stress on the hull of the vessel disallowing specialty combat maneuvering, the compression can be put into stasis using a Lazarus stasis unit. In doing so, its expression of inertia relative to the ship's own hull drops massively putting little to zero mechanical stress on the hull while greatly improving the maneuverability of the Valdo Anamnesis. This has the added benefit of rendering the contents of the volumetric compression close to undetectable (as it is exists within a closed system with a quantum probability of zero) but has the downside of consuming large amounts of energy.
Optionally, the compression can be left behind at a location by decoupling it from the anchor and then connecting at a later date either using another anchor with the proper configuration or by connecting to a different compression, provided the proper data and configuration are available.
Systems
Armored Hull
The Vardo is based on a Ge-L5-H3300 Spacecraft (DO) Hull Construction which has been rearranged with four cargo-blocks (two front, two back), a relocated engine space further back to improve interior volume and interior hull shock-absorbers to prevent stress from forming micro-fractures when struck and to protect components. The armor itself is also fitted with rebar and has clamps to mount sandwiched armor ontop.
- Armor plating stripped, cut into shape and treated from a Ki-F5
- Damage rating: 12SP
Sandwiched Armor
A second armored hull is attached ontop of the first almost totally covering it. This second hull is in the form of composite tiles created from armor cut from a Ki-F5 and an assortment of other vessels, encased within a metallic matrix scalar/EM pulse grounding rebar for use against thermal and plasma weapons and bonded to a thermally protective backing plate with picojelly ceramic elastic layers providing kinetic shock-absorbsion. When damaged, the tiles can be replaced and depending on the given sortie, the composition of the tiles can be changed.
The thickness, composition, protection, cost, appearance and even origin of the sandwich armor differs massively throughout the ship. The quality of the armor generally corresponds to the importance of the components beneath. It also serves to make scanning the ship's hull and determining what is beneath grueling work for computers relying on techniques such as spectral analysis and gravitational behavior while appearing to be a consequence of lazy ship maintenance rather than clever planning.
- Damage rating: 8SP
External Routing Table
Looking more like hodgepodge repair, external routing is located over the armor (often drilling into it or glued in place). A Miles Gunn original, ERT consists of cables, pipes, transformers, pumps and other equipment. External routing allows more power to be shunted to components when re-routing resources, specialist tuning options ordinarily not available and allow alternative resource exchange paths should the internal resource exchange paths fail.
They can also be cannibalized to repair critical components inside or to improvise a solution to a problem. These devices have either been wrapped in or painted in protective resin doped with picojelly.
External effect equipment
Another Miles Gunn original: Looking like lazy fixes or after-market tacked on gear, external effect equipment is mounted either over the sandwiched armor or in strategically placed trenches in the armor. Deceptive in nature, its function is to offer better performance to equipment that normally sits beneath layers of armor, supplementing the core systems of the craft for better performance without making the ship bigger.
This includes for example, better performance ranges for field generators, better resolution to sensors, more nuanced sensitivity to communications gear and superior cooling to radiators and other gear – all while without exposing the primary systems located inside the hull itself.
These components are not critical, offering bonus performance to existing parts beneath and inside the hull. They are vulnerable to area of effect attacks such as explosives and the areas around the trenches themselves are often scorched. The components are not always repaired to full effect due the inconvenient expenses of maintaining extra components that are vulnerable. They can also be cannibalized to repair critical components inside or to improvise a solution to a problem.
These devices have either been wrapped in or painted in protective resin doped with picojelly.
Picojelly diagnostic paint
Located over specific areas and plugging into the external routing, picojelly diagnostic paint (resembling parts taken from other hulls of a different color) serves to inform the main computer if any changes or unusual energy readings pass through the external effect equipment and routing table since conventional self-diagnostic equipment is usually not available. Yet again another unique design by Miles Gunn.
Volumetric Compression
Two compressions. One for military equipment, the other for rooms?
Torpedo bay
Magazine room
Designed for the prevention of accidental damage to the ship, as well as to conserve space aboard the already packed vessel, the artificial magazine compartment is a reproduction of the large multi-purpose magazine room found on Lorath ships. Anchor points to this compartment are located adjacent to the Anamnesis’ torpedo tubes, and through these anchor points a conveyor system has been implemented which transfers ordinance out from the magazine room, to be distributed via automated loading machinery to their various destination armaments.
Belt Feed
Located beneath the floor, the belt-feed is a sealed set of rectangular tubes which run through the deck, delivering both torpedos and ammunition to the ship's weapons, stored inside the volumetric compression.
Storage
Component Bay
With access located in the cargo hold, the ‘Component Bay’ is the organized ‘sibling’ to the artificial storage compartment. Within a volumetric compression space, a storage compartment has been constructed where sensitive parts and components for the Anamnesis, small craft, and even cybernetic and biological medical components are stored. This component bay is curated by another SILVER type android, which serves to retrieve requested assets from the component bay compartment.
Fabrication bay
With access built into an unused storage compartment of the main deck, the fabrication bay artificial compartment is a volumetric compression space which has had a Lazarus AL100 Universal Constructor/Machine shop constructed within it, fed instructions via quantum modem. Access to the artificial compartment has been designed to use a mechanical arm system to move materials into and out of the fabrication bay compartment.
Safe Room
Designed for the purpose of providing emergency shelter or to smuggle a person, the ‘Safe Room’ has been designed within a volumetric compression space. Within the space provided, a living space has been assembled from a prefabricated set of structural supplies. Within the safe room, sufficient supplies are stored to provide sustenance to three occupants for ninety Lor-days. Incorporated into the computer hardware present in the prefabricated living space a quantum modem has been installed, which is designed to interface with the external volucomp system, allowing a signal for activation from inside of the volumetric compression space. Access to this room is located in the ventilation system connected to the Avatar Room.
Hanger Extension
Built into the launch bay addition to the Anamnesis, the hangar extension is a volumetric compression ‘parking space’ with sufficient capacity for six powered frames or twelve powered armor. A mechanical arm is used to retrieve vehicles from the hangar extension to the launch bay.
Hazard Lab
With access placed within the lab section of the ship, the ‘Hazard Laboratory’ is a volumetric compression space which has had a prefabricated science-lab built within it. This lab has been designed to be used for the purpose of conducting experiments which would best be isolated from the rest of the Anamnesis, and normal space for that matter. Ideally, the Hazard Laboratory is maintained by a construct-type artificial being, however, can also be staffed by quantum-modem controlled androids given remote commands on how to proceed with any experiments.
Stasis driver
Computer Network
The hull of the ship features a ge-y2-e3300 acting in concert with picojelly self-knitting cables, acting as the central nervous-system of the vessel. It connects a wide assortment of other smaller computers which speak to one another in a decentralized wired network rather than one large computer acting as a single avenue for failure.
Maesus neural cluster
The former brain of a Daiclonius Amelliaus and mind of the Maras, the neural cluster is a combination of aligned crystal structures storing memory that doubles as a quantum computer.
A shadow of its former self, the neural cluser was so badly damaged when the Maras was crashed into an uncharted desert world by Helen Klein that it exists in a state which could be described as lobotomized or comatose were it human. Exerting no will or commands of its own, it is still able to act as a flight recorder and still acts in the best interests of both Miles and Sana whom it remembers.
Though sentient, it is not self-aware. Miles reasons connecting it to the ship (in a tank of water picojelly solution using neural fibres), it may either overcome its disability by creating new pathways or heal in some way though this is a shot in the dark at best. Instead the unspoken sentiment is that Rebeka and Maras herself would have “wanted it this way”; to not be left behind and to continue travelling with those she cared about even if she was no longer aware of herself or the journey.
Communications
The Issoku is equipped with a ge-y1-e3103 for internal communications, and a ge_y2_e3302 for external communications.
Emergency Systems
The Valdo Anamnesis includes the emergency systems taken from the craft it is based on and also a number of specialist safety precautions lifted from other vessels selected by Miles based on his experiences and preferences.
Blast Shutters
The Issoku is equipped with standard_shutters to prevent explosive decompression. They are located at the cargo doors, the engineering space.
Fire Suppression
The Issoku is equipped with the ge-y1-e3104 for controlling fires on board.
Hull sealant
Dotted through the ship are large dinner-plate sized strips of picojelly and stonethread. In the event of hull breech, they can be torn while soft, struck hard against the hull to activate then put over the affected area as a band-aid to gum the hole shut and prevent atmospheric venting. They can also be used to seal pipes and other systems to prevent fire or leakage.
Locking Grate
The floor of the main deck (being so long and unobstructed) is designed so if gravitational constants change and the length of the deck becomes depth, gaps are present for locking hands into for the purpose of climbing or preventing falling into other parts of the ship.
The locking-grate also doubles as magnetic decking and can support most common climbing hooks.
Locking hook
Along most walls are guard-rails. While large enough hands, they are designed for a locking hook (a sort of catch-hook on a short wire) to be fitted – as so if the atmosphere of the ship is vented into space, the crew hooked in place are not blown out of the ship.
Escape Pod
Custom modified and particularly comprehensive, the cylindrical escape-pods of the Valdo Anamnesis each contain a vacuum suit, an airlock, bacterial gel-packs, maneuvering thrusters, a single use FTL drive, a communications transponder, oxygen recycling systems, solar-panels, radiation shielding and a Lazarus stasis unit.
The Valdo Anamnesis has three: One either side of its main hull and one on the rear of its cabin hull.
Sensors
The Valdo Anamnesis includes three clusters of main sensors:
The first are a pair of bulges in the topside of the hull, doubling as communications equipment – able to pick up a wide variety of engine and FTL emissions. The second, a large spherical bulge in the hull is a high powered scientific sensor usually mounted on much larger ships, intended to have a far wider range than most military systems and a full 360 coverage.
The third is the original ge-y2-e3301 which has been repurposed as a pursuit sensor in order to detect when the craft is followed but also allowing the vessel to engage ships chasing behind it accurately at long-range by re-orienting its weapons – a functionality not normally available for ships designed to face only enemies infront of them.
Stealth
Mass Mesher Device
Salvaged and reworked from a NAM-S1-01a Hray Class Stealth Gunship, the mash-mesher “fudges” gravimetric signiatures upon a larger mass, making the ship appear to be an extension of any object larger than itself at mid to long-range examination. It is useful for hiding and ambushing and allows the Valdo Anamnesis to loiter in an area (such as a an asteroid belt, ice-ring, junk-yard or wreckage) long enough to recover or conduct repairs. More importantly, if false hull parts are wrapped over the hull, the Valdo Anamnesis can convincingly fake its presence as that vessel gravitationally. It is altered specifically to work in conjunction with gravitational smearing.
The device is one of the components visible inside the device trench at the front of the hull, both top and bottom.
IRI-Hardlight projector
An extremely simplified and rugged version of the Lazarus IRI hardlight projector, the specialized projectors of the Valdo are used to produce a thin shell of hard-light false-matter around the hull of the craft which moves with it. This shell can be used to fake simple things like registry information or make massive visual changes, acting as a sort of costume of another ship that the Valdo can hide inside, pretending to be another registered ship entirely.
Located in the device trench top and bottom at the front of the hull, the IRI hardlight projectors are hardened against electromagnetic interference but the projections themselves can be destroyed in a few shots from another starship or sustained fire from a power-armor or frame. The projector itself is disguised as a conventional shield generator. There are four total.
- Projection damage rating: SDR1, SP2
Gravitational Smearing
A function of the gravitational centrifuges within the hull, smearing allows the light reflected back by the ship to dispersed to levels almost indistinguishable from background light over a massive area: essentially the same as blurring an object in a scene so much it not only becomes clear but it also becomes difficult to even see in the scene at all let alone identify or recognize.
Tactical tools
Located within the specialist component trench, tactical tools offer a multitude of special functionalities for evading or manipulating outside forces such as pursuers and law-enforcement.
Silver tongue
Salvaged from a pirate vessel, the IFF-Multitool can be used to jam and falsify identification and registry information. It can convincingly fake that a ship's IFF is malfunctioning, replicate the IFF of an existing ship (provided its IFF data has either been recorded or prepared) or jam the IFF information of all ships in the area.
Unless programmed appropriately, the multitool cannot answer a challenge/response authentication for encryption or one time pad, making it a poor choice for the falsification of military signalling unless a convincing illusion can be created as to why the challenge could not be met.
Crybaby
Another pirate vessel device, a crybaby is a device for purposefully creating a decoy SOS signal, usually for nefarious purposes. It is composed of a dedicated SOS array, able to broadcast convincing signals with proper IFF and timestamp across a multitude of international and corporate standards.
Able to be broadcast from the Valdo or launched away as a buoy to be remotely activated, the crybaby can fake the SOS information of a wide assortment of different vessels and nations. It is ideal for luring or moving attention, or to appear crippled to prevent a direct attack (useful against pirates who can then be brought into range safely, and then ambushed).
Howdy-Doody
Another pirate device, a howdy-doody is a communications transmitter also containing a low performance quantum modem and onboard storage. It works following a simple principle: The quantum connection cannot be pinpointed or traced, but the radio transmission can. In this way, it acts as a sort of ventrilloquist's dummy allowing the Valdo to issue what seems to be a very legitimate communication from a location far away from itself.
The name of the device comes from an ancient trade television show aimed at children featuring a ventrilloquist and a dummy. After disabling a vessel and during the boarding process, pirates themselves are particularly fond of flooding all comms-channels (including personal devices, telephones, ship intercomms and so forth) with the opening theme on repeat: largely as an insult to the captain but mainly to unsettle the crew. It is also used when escaping law-enforcement to add insult to injury.
Surrender monkey
Another pirate tool, the surrender-monkey tricks the enemy into thinking the ship in question is badly damaged. It does this by using a combination of software reconfiguration to vent excess heat from systems and a projectile which when fired, launches a magnetic gellatine composite of slow acting fire-steel (to create high voltage sparks on the hull of the vessel) and a compressed thermal ink which gives the false impression of the hull being scorched while chemically burning, heating itself to temperatures giving convincing effect.
Fakeout
A hardware trick of the fold-drive, a fakeout device tricks the enemy into thinking that the Valdo is charging her fold engines and is about to make a jump. The Valdo does in fact enter fold but the device is intentionally overheated. The resulting fold plasma is vented through the front of the hull (still moving at fold for quite a while under its own power) while the Valdo after a very very short hop (less than ten meters) returns to normal-space. The enemy usually ends up following the plasma before it dissipates within 20 to 30 seconds or so, giving the Valdo time to turn around and make an escape.
Life Support
The Issoku is equipped with a ge-y1-v3100 capable of providing life support for 18 persons. The atmospheric systems, air and temperature systems are beneath the floor of the main hall. Located about in the center of the hall. Located closer to the generator is the water system. The gravity system is distributed about the ship in the floor and the outer walls.
Power
The Issoku is fitted with a ge_g3300 that supplies all its power requirements.
Power Systems
Aetheric "brain gear" core
Something of a unique assembly, the battery of frame-grade auras in the original Anamnesis have been reconfigured and arranged into a low energy loss high reliability interlocking arrangement known affectionately as the “brain gear” due to its similarities to a Nepleslian toy of the same name.
The Valdo features two, one located in each engine nacelle. Typically only one is operational at a time outside of combat conditions. A fusion core is slaved to each which are used to drive the engines of the Valdo Anamnesis.
Backup power systems
The ship's padded areas make extensive use of both bacterial gel packs and gellatine picojelly hyper-capacitors which supplement the ships power during combat operation or provide an emergency backup should primary power fail.
Propulsion
The Valdo is equipped with the following propulsion systems:
Lightspeed Maneuvering Assistance
Unique to the Valdo, Light-speed Maneuvering Assistance or LMA are field-controllers extended away from the body which allow the craft greater maneuverability through the manipulation of subspace pressure differentials: similar to how air works over a wing-surface. The technology itself is based on a study of the Maras' and its own maneuvering systems.
Importantly, even prior to entering FTL, the Valdo is still using subspace to assist its sublight mobility (moving at fractions of the speed of light as so many craft do): In this way, the LMA also assists high speed sublight maneuvering. This allows the craft to orient itself in directions differing to its vector of travel or conduct extremely tight turns and maneuvers important in evasion; maneuvering more like a super-heavy dedicated fighter than a small gunship at the cost of power consumption.
The panels themselves are quite fragile and as such can be folded into the hull when not in use for their own protection or to aid in withstanding an incoming shot.
The LMA is located as large bracket-wings which extend from the front section of the hull as well as permanently fixed canards along the front of the hull.
Repurposed, the same system can use electrostatic fields to create a false aerodynamic “shell” over the hull of the craft, allowing it to maneuver in an atmosphere with very little drag at high speeds – all provided of course that the system is working and sufficiently powered.
Gravitic centrifuge
The hull of the Valdo has been modified to fit the two largest high-powered gravitational centrifuges possible: A large set around the wider diameter and then a controller set around the turret controls which allow for more subtle fine-tuning of maneuver, signal control and other special effects.
- See Gravitic Centrifuge
Turbo Plasma Drives
The Valdo is equipped with a cluster of these drives referred to as Ge-L5-P3300 Turbo Plasma Drives.
These engines have been supplemented with raised armor to reduce their exposure: consequently making them more difficult to hit and the craft itself more difficult to disable. In addition, large armored flaps are able to close down to seal the engines from weapons-fire or to protect them against harsh environments, with the output of the panels acting as a sort of variable exhaust nozzle. This nozzle cannot only be vectored by using electrostatic induction but also reversed by sealing the panel and then lifting flaps on the opposing side, allowing for use as breaking thrust.
CDD
The Issoku is equipped with a Ge-L5-P3301 Continuum Distortion Drive
Fold
The Issoku is capable of hyperspace_travel by means of its Ge-L5-P3302 Hyperspace Drive
Thrusters
The Issoku performs attitude control, and station keeping by using 16 Ge-L5-P3303 Maneuvering Thrusters.
Landing Gear
The landing-gear of the Valdo Anamnesis has been ruggedized to compensate for the increased weight of the hull with the operation of the volumetric compression system. It also includes wire-anchors and docking-clamps in the landing-gear, allowing the craft to lock against the hull of a larger craft, as well as an extra pair of landing struts (making eight total). When not used they retract into the lower hull space.
Shields
The Issoku is equipped with a ge_ps33 for defense. They are housed in the section of the ship in the front to the starboard of the bridge.
Weaponry
The Issoku comes equipped with only two plasma cannons. But it has four weapon hard points that the owner can install weapons into. This gives the owner the flexibility to choose what weapons they desire.
- Twin fore-mounted plasma cannons, 2 SDR
- Empty hard point
- Empty hard point
- Empty hard point
- Empty hard point
Available Weapons
- ge-y1-w3100 SDR 2
- ge-y2-w3300 SDR 1/ADR 5
- ge_c1_w3302 ADR 4
- ge-y2-w3301 2 missile 1 ADR, 4 missile 2 ADR
Twin Cannon Turret
Located next to the cabin…
Dorsal/Ventral quad-guns
Designed to offer total situational coverage, the Valdo packs two custom built turrets. Each houses a quad-barrel auto-cannon, sourced from frames-grade packet-rifle technology used by the Lorath: Able not only to deliver a very high rate of fire (ideal for the creation of fire solutions) but variable levels of punishment.
The turret itself is housed over a turret position for manual operation which is able to traverse with the gun on the vertical axis while the gun's mount also offers two-axis aiming, ensuring the gun never enters gimball lock when tracking opponents.
A solenoid is fitted to the end of each turret, cable to vector a shot up to 20 degrees off axis from the barrel, with each barrel able to fire independently: Ideal for creating shotgun blasts, striking multiple opponents close together or for extra accuracy against fast foe.
the mono-pane window is taken from the transparent titanium carbide allotrope windows of a gas-miner and have been fitted with yarvex filled frames for additional shock absorption and thermal deflection. While expensive, this makes the window no less vulnerable than the rest of the ship.
The system can either track designated targets from the cabin for strafing runs, be used manually in override (useful against opponents who rely extensively on electronic warfare or hacking techniques) or used in dumb-fire forwards with only the solenoid providing automatic shot correction.
For protection, most of the packet-rifle is housed inside the turret, with only the exit barrel as part of the gun itself.
Torpedo launcher
Located in the front prongs beneath concealed hatches… Reloads from volumetric compression bay…
Minigun/high speed kinetic gun
Located beneath armored hatches behind the canards…
Main Mount
Located on the leftside main boom opposite the cabin is a concealed rotary clamp and power assembly designed for use with decisive-strike starship to starship weapon. Hidden in this way, the system is designed as such that the weapon can be withdrawn and attached to the hull in space or hidden away inside a volumetric compression, allowing the Valdo Anamnesis to mascurade convincingly as a civilian weapon.
Alternatively, the weapon can be charged, detatched and then remotely fired as a tactical tool from a different location in order to draw attention and weapons-fire or break a blockade allowing the Valdo Anamnesis to pass through.