Starseeker Personal Shuttle

Starseeker Personal Shuttle
Size (W×H×L)	43.5m×15m×66.5m
Cargo capacity	15 TC
Cargo bay extension	N/A
Maximum speed	0.31 LM
Manoeuvrability	Roll: 2.3 Pitch: 1.2
Energy banks	N/A
Energy recharge rate	Good (3.0)
Gun mounts	Fore
Missile slots	1
Shield boosters available	Yes
Military shields available	Yes
Hyperspace capable	Yes
OXP or standard	OXP
Available to player	Yes
Base price	155000 Cr

Overview

In the wake of the success of the Strelka, Exectuve's latest model, the P-3 StarSeeker, was developed specifically to tap into the growing private transport market. While passenger cabin conversion kits had long been available from most major shipyards, the level of comfort offered by such producs varied wildly and compatibility issues often arose when attemping to fit the cabins in non-standard spacecraft.

Using experience gained from work on the Gemini and the Trident, Executive SpaceWays sought to develop a small craft optimised for passenger transport, with all the necessary life support and intercom systems fitted as standard. Although more expensive than a typical transport, the StarSeeker comes with guaranteed engineering standards and is a popular choice for VIPs and small courier firms.

Vignette

There is more than just cargo travelling around the universe. Despite modern communication technology, it is sometimes still necessary for a person to be somewhere else. Who are the people that eschew the glory and the financial rewards in order to eke out a more humble living transporting people from one side of the chart to the other. Let's meet Gar Alacrity, a young owner/operator of a luxury passenger vessel.

Hi, my name's Gar, but you're probably more familiar with my Pappy, Finn. Finn Alacrity? Alacrity Passenger Transportation?

No?

Well, it doesn't really matter. You all own your own ships, so I don't suppose you'd have needed my Pappy's services. Well, Pappy has retired now, and handed the controls over to me. Now I'm the Commander of Alacrity I, the Executive's Choice for long-distance Luxury Passenger Transportation.

You have to admire my Pappy's optimism there don't you? When he bought the Alacrity he was thinking big. That's why he called her the Alacrity I, and not just Alacrity. He could see a bright future with a fleet of vessels, all ploughing the spacelanes full of passengers travelling in comfort and safety to their destinations. I know that was his dream, because he told us every day he was home, over and over again.

I don't mean to run Pappy down there. It was his dream, and every man needs a dream don't they? He never neglected the family though, not once. Even though he was away a lot we always knew he loved us. And now Pappy's dream is my dream I suppose.

Our family are from New London, on Beusrior, an icy world slap-bang in the middle of Spaceway L2. An ideal position on which to launch a passenger transportation business I hear you cry, and you'd be right. Pappy went to the Lave Academy, just like so many others. There was no Cobra Mk III waiting for him though, his grades just hadn't been good enough, so Pappy had to start out in business in a little ol' Cobby Mk I. He traded for a while, but having grown up on Beusrior he always had one eye on the passenger market, and so whilst many of his buddies from the Academy went looking for laser fire and adventure, Pappy saved up and fitted out his Cobby I with two passenger berths.

I must have been two, maybe three when Mammy took me up in a shuttle to the Main Station to see Pappy's ship. I remember the excitement in his eyes as he showed us where his customers would stay as he shuttled them around the Galaxy.

He worked hard, my Pappy. I remember seeing Mammy in floods of tears at some of the places he took people, and I now know how many risks he took to build his business. The Devil's Triangle, the Tortuga Expanse, nothing was too scary for my Pappy, and no-one can say he didn't earn what we have now.

Anyway, to cut a long story short Pappy eventually saved enough to expand. Being a man of big ideas he didn't try and size up, he went for a bit of class. Mammy had wanted him to get a Python or a Boa, some big beast and start shipping cargo. The money being earned by some New London spacefarers back then was ridiculous, but Pappy wouldn't budge. He was a passenger man at heart, and again we traveled up to the Main Station to see his pride and joy.

The Alacrity I, a StarSeeker Personal Shuttle, sat in beautiful white splendour in the docking bay. There were tears in Pappy's eyes as he caressed her hull, and tears in Mammy's too - probably of despair. He didn't let us down though, and the business went from strength to strength.

Don't get me wrong though, we weren't millionaires, but we had enough to send me to Lave Academy when I was old enough. There was no scholarship for me however, no Cobra III like some of my classmates. My family weren't combateers - we carried people. I did well in the Academy though, and I can't deny I didn't think about enlisting with the Navy, or becoming a Galcop, but there was no way I was going to let Pappy down.

So I got my wings, and came home. It was worth putting aside those youthful dreams for the look on Pappy's face as he handed me the access card, and transferred ownership of the Alacrity I over to me. It was time for him to take his wings off, he said, and spend a bit of time with Mammy.

So that's how I ended up here, in a small suite of rooms I've rented for myself on the Main Station at Teraed, right up on Spaceway L3. Out of the viewing port I can see the blue-green planet turn beneath me, and in my hand I hold a glass of well-deserved Lethal Brandy. My first contract in the passenger carrying business is complete, and Alacrity Personal Transport is two thousand credits richer.

It wasn't completely plain sailing however. I'd picked up the passenger back home at the Main Station. A chap called It Tharling wanted passage to Teread. He was a normal looking man, of normal height wearing normal clothes, and it was a normal job. Straight up Spaceway L2, get onto Spaceway L3 at Zadies and the money's in the bank, thank you very much.

Well, everything got off to a wonderful start. The ship flew like a dream, and there were no problems at all mechanically. If there's one thing you can say about my Pappy, it's that he never scrimped on maintenance, a lesson I intend to heed. Sticking to the Spaceways as I was, there was almost no need to travel in-system to the Main Station - by each Witchpoint beacon there was either a fuel station or a fuel satellite, and where these facilities weren't available I just made for the nearest Constore. That's the benefit of travelling in civilised systems, it minimises risk. Most of the trip was spent in Witchspace, and that means plenty of sleep.

So if there was anything to complain about as we entered the Arexe system, it certainly wasn't tiredness. Now Arexe isn't an uncivilised place, of course there isn't the stability you get visiting a Corporate-run system, but let's be honest here, we aren't exactly talking about a pirate hot-spot. It was without a care in the world that I adjusted my Advanced Navigational Compass to lead me to the Constore.

Pappy told me that a lack of concentration kills, but I have to be honest - after nine days of almost permanent Witchspace I wasn't being the most careful of pilots. The first I knew of danger was the sound of laser fire hitting the shields. At first I didn't know what was happening, as I'd never been shot at before. A glance at the scanner showed me the terrifying truth. We were under attack.

Now it says a lot about my Pappy's influence on me that the first thing I considered was passenger comfort. Should I make an announcement? A fresh blast of laser fire soon knocked those thoughts out of my mind, and I eased the Alacrity I around to get the measure of my foe. I could feel my stomach churn as the scanner came back with our attacker's details - Chimera Gunship named The Light of Virtue. Status - Fugitive.

When it was all over I thought about the name of the pirate's vessel. Was the rotter trying to be ironic, or was he a good man gone bad? I still don't know. At the time though that was the last thing on my mind. I'd never seen a Chimera before, but even at a range of 10,000 metres I could see the boxy, ugly, menacing profile. It looked like what it was - a killing machine.

That's where the fight or flight instinct took over, and being a youngster I opened up on the Chimera with the Alacrity's Beam Laser. Lack of experience in combat and a large dose of nerves made my hand shake, and easily half the energy was expended into dead space. My burst was enough to cause the Chimera to pull up, and as my laser overheated I turned and ran for the Constore.

The Chimera wasn't beaten however. Switching my screens to the rear view, I watched as that ugly craft came into position behind me. With bile rising in my throat and close to panic I flicked over to the front view. The Constore couldn't have been more than ten clicks ahead, but the Chimera was punishing me, with the aft shields almost depleted. My mind was a blur, I had serious doubts about my ability to dock under such sustained attack, and such thoughts were rendered irrelevant when the Chimera struck yet again, wiping out my aft shields and letting the tongue of his laser play over my beautiful ships unprotected hull.

I had no choice, I was going to die, and so was poor Mr Thurling. My Pappy had spent years carrying passengers around the Galaxy, and I'd only spent little more than a week doing the same before reaching what I thought was my doom. These thoughts of my Pappy filled me with resolve. There was no way I was going to let him down, so I swung my craft around and faced my foe.

With suddenly steady hands I caressed the controls, ignoring the laser denuding my forward shields as I lined up on the Chimera. The reticule went red, and I depressed the trigger. My sensors gave of the satisfying screeching sound as my weapon struck home, and the Chimera rolled away, streaming plasma from her damaged hull. I was now calm, the prey had become the predator, and with no small amount of satisfaction I fired the shots which destroyed the Chimera.

I saw an escape capsule I'm sure, but the pirate must have ejected too late as it seemed to get caught up in the bright white glow of destruction, and explode itself. I don't know how I feel. Perhaps I have no killer instinct, but I wanted to cry. I held my emotions in check, and brought the ship in to the Constore safely.

Mr Thurling, as it turns out, was completely oblivious to the combat. He'd slept right through it all. Being the professional that I am, I wasted no time in refuelling and continuing on my route. That's what being in the passenger business is all about, getting your guest to his destination with speed, safety and comfort. As he disembarked the Alacrity I at the Teread Main Station Mr Thurling thanked me for the peaceful journey. That made me happier than surviving my first combat.

Pappy would be proud. Benguela's vignette (2012)

Download

The Starseeker Personal Shuttle is found in the Executive SpaceWays OXP.