Scorpius

Scorpius adds a heavily armoured (battleship?) private trading and transport vessel, protected by Vampire escorts

Which? Space Quick Reference Guide

"Scorpius"

Since they entered the interstellar scene w/ the first Vampire ship, Isis Interstellar have gone from strength to strength, becoming one of the most powerful and respected companies. Although their main focus remains on combat craft and Naval contracts, Isis Interstellar have occasionally branched out on sometimes high-risk projects, like the Nuit space station. The most recent expansion has involved the creation of Isis Customs, a division of the company that specifically caters to private clients, producing bespoke vessels. The first vessel produced was the Scorpius, and this vessel was used as a proving ground for the division.

Isis Interstellar was first approached about the project several years ago, by members of the Burchill family. The Burchills have a long history on the trading lanes, and longer history on their home planet. Their exact relationship w/ Isis Interstellar is not entirely clear, but it appears that Madame Sakkara and the Burchills have been allies for many centuries. The Scorpius was originally a sea vessel, and three such ships have been built to the same design, two having been destroyed in separate wars. Commander Paul Burchill wanted to continue the family history, and approached Isis Interstellar to produce a ship using the same plans. Seeing a potentially lucrative sub-division potential, Isis Interstellar undertook the project, determining that if the project was financially beneficial Isis Interstellar would take another step above its competitors.

Some delays were encountered due to urgent military contracts, but finally the 600m ship hit the space lanes, drawing much media attention, not least for its unusual look. Commander Burchill wanted to keep the ship's oars as part of the design, so rather than just making some cosmetic attachments, they were transformed into solar panels to provide extra energy in emergencies.

Griff Industries provided custom coachworking, resulting in a panelled wood effect for the hull. Rumour has it that the ramming spike on the bows is strong enough to run through a Coriolis station.

True to the original ships, the Scorpius is mainly a trading and transport vessel, combining vast cargo space and many cabins of varying degrees of luxury. Like her predecessors, the Scorpius is also a tough, dangerous battleship : heavily armoured, armed w/ three military grade lasers and a dozen missiles she is capable of carrying both cargo and passengers into the most Anarchic of systems. As if this wasn't enough, the Scorpius is also protected by her own escort : Isis Interstellar provided eight customised Vampires to protect the ship.

Scorpius was a huge success. Although the contract itself did not provide much of a profit, the ensuing media attention resulted in a flood of enquiries. Isis Customs tripled its staff base almost overnight and is fast becoming the biggest division of the company.

License

• Author: Killer Wolf
• License: "Killer Wolf Special" - see author's wiki page (from ReadMe: This OXP may be distributed freely, but must not be included in any version of the game being sold for money.)
• Minimum Oolite Version: v.1.79 to handle the oxz packaging
• Current OXZ Version: 1.2

Version History

• v1.0: 27-2-2011

Thanks as always to those who helped me on the boards and via PM, especially Commander McLane and Eric Walch.

Thanks as ever to Griff for his shaders.

• v1.2: 14-8-2011

name of hull model changed as per Eric's advice

• OXZ: 11-4-2022

minor typos corrected, oxz'ed and manifest.plist added

Download

• File:Oolite.oxp.KillerWolf.Scorpius.oxz

Links

• (RELEASE) ~ Scorpius (2011)
• Isis Interstellar
• Author: Killer Wolf