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Description

“...gets much worse, I may be forced to mutiny.”

“Dunno Boss, not sure the captain can mutiny against herself.”

“Probably not, but keep this up and I’ll be willing to give it a white hot go.”

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While rarely found in the ranks of first rate navies, corvettes are considered the next step up from less capable gun and patrol boats. As such, while they tend to be substantially larger than those latter, they are generally only marginally better armed, the extra mass being taken up by additional crew facilities, bunkerage, supplies and often, though not always, warp drive equipment.

Orion Heavy Industries' Stingray Class is one such example of the breed, primarily marketed toward corporate forces, though its non-warp capable derivative does a reasonable side-trade to system militias, police and customs organisations. While more heavily armed than many of its contemporaries and reasonably quick, the Stingray lacks the magazine space, armour, systems redundancy and damage control abilities to either dish out, or withstand, the sort of sustained pounding a true warship is capable of delivering. The large amount of firepower it can bring to bear quickly is, however, more than enough to make the garden variety of pirate seriously reconsider his (or her) potential profit margins in the event of a fight, making it an excellent deterrent measure. Crew accommodations are also somewhat more spacious and comfortable than those of the Stingray’s naval cousins, making it popular amongst crews (notable exception being those ex-naval personnel lured into private industry by lifestyle and pay cheques, who tend to consider it something of a sledgehammer wrapped up in egg shells), while simplicity of design and low maintenance costs endear it to those holding the purse strings.

Here, two Stingrays belonging to Nova Space Fuel Gas pass one of the company’s sprawling refinery/administration/accommodation facilities, just the start of their long patrol. Facilities such as this anchor vast (often light years across) gas field operations, refining and processing material from collection platforms into condensate suitable for starship reactors, to be shipped across Earth’s empire and beyond. As such, many are cities in their own right, businesses springing up to service the field workers and their families, or those passing vessels which may choose to take on reactor mass directly from the source. More energy intensive manufacturing industries have also been known to attach themselves to the refinery installations, making those rambling structures a constantly evolving form.

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Yes, even in the future, site-coffee is still shocking.

Description

“...gets much worse, I may be forced to mutiny.”

“Dunno Boss, not sure the captain can mutiny against herself.”

“Probably not, but keep this up and I’ll be willing to give it a white hot go.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While rarely found in the ranks of first rate navies, corvettes are considered the next step up from less capable gun and patrol boats. As such, while they tend to be substantially larger than those latter, they are generally only marginally better armed, the extra mass being taken up by additional crew facilities, bunkerage, supplies and often, though not always, warp drive equipment.

Orion Heavy Industries' Stingray Class is one such example of the breed, primarily marketed toward corporate forces, though its non-warp capable derivative does a reasonable side-trade to system militias, police and customs organisations. While more heavily armed than many of its contemporaries and reasonably quick, the Stingray lacks the magazine space, armour, systems redundancy and damage control abilities to either dish out, or withstand, the sort of sustained pounding a true warship is capable of delivering. The large amount of firepower it can bring to bear quickly is, however, more than enough to make the garden variety of pirate seriously reconsider his (or her) potential profit margins in the event of a fight, making it an excellent deterrent measure. Crew accommodations are also somewhat more spacious and comfortable than those of the Stingray’s naval cousins, making it popular amongst crews (notable exception being those ex-naval personnel lured into private industry by lifestyle and pay cheques, who tend to consider it something of a sledgehammer wrapped up in egg shells), while simplicity of design and low maintenance costs endear it to those holding the purse strings.

Here, two Stingrays belonging to Nova Space Fuel Gas pass one of the company’s sprawling refinery/administration/accommodation facilities, just the start of their long patrol. Facilities such as this anchor vast (often light years across) gas field operations, refining and processing material from collection platforms into condensate suitable for starship reactors, to be shipped across Earth’s empire and beyond. As such, many are cities in their own right, businesses springing up to service the field workers and their families, or those passing vessels which may choose to take on reactor mass directly from the source. More energy intensive manufacturing industries have also been known to attach themselves to the refinery installations, making those rambling structures a constantly evolving form.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, even in the future, site-coffee is still shocking.