Hey there! Fae back again with another Void Dreaming crosspost from before the Itch page went live!

Last time we took a look at the scourge of the space lanes in the form of star pirates and various other criminal enterprises. But now, having come fresh off that, it’s time to delve into one of my favourite parts of any sci-fi setting: the ships! Strap in, tune your inertial dampeners, power those maneuvering thusters, and take off to the stars in style! Or at least with sufficient delta-V!

How You Use It

Size is a deterministic factor in how the starships of the galaxy are organized. While role is key, a basic understanding of different starship analogs is a fine starting point for any discussion of the vessels of the galaxy. After all, there are dozens upon dozens of manufacturers in the Galactic Authority alone, and dozens more independent and Rashemai operators out there. How else should one narrow down the wide field of ship types out there?

Not all starships are crewed. Tiny dronecraft technically count as starships under Galactic Authority law, but these drones are often overlooked and largely ignored. The most regular type of dronecraft are repair drones, programmed to enact autonomous repair on the ships that operate them or ships being serviced by their masters. Combat drones are another matter, roughly the same size or slightly smaller than a starfighter and capable of maneuvering feats that even inertial dampers can’t compensate for. They’re also cheaper to operate and replace than starfighters, making Drone Control Vessels far preferred for many over independently operated starfighters.

Where those starfighter analog craft shine is specifically in those independent operators. Crewed by one to two pilots and gunners capable of analyzing a situation and adapting better than any drone control module, starfighter analogs occupy their own size category despite some overlap with small personal craft. All starfighters are smaller than even the smallest civilian shuttlecraft design, with a profile that often exemplifies their military application. Starfighter analogs, like most military vessels, are heavily restricted by the Galactic Authority. Unlike larger craft though, more starfighter analog ships fall through the cracks, and most pirate outfits tend to field large numbers of starfighter analogs. While Drone Control Vessels are often preferred over carriers due to the cheapness of drone usage, starfighters still see use in the galaxy by elite combat pilots.

Gunship analogs are a specific offshoot in the same size range, but are utilized once again for military applications. Crewed by one to eight individuals, gunship craft are larger and heavier starships than starfighter analogs, capable of dealing and taking far more damage due to their larger size. They’re also much more complex machines, which is what necessitates a larger crew complement to keep them operating at peak efficiency. This is not to say all gunship analogs require a crew, of course; bounty hunters across the galaxy tend to favor small-crew gunships for use in hunting down targets that have escaped the justice of the Galactic Authority. Most gunships lose maneuvering capability compared to smaller starfighters, but make up for it by being much sturdier.

LPCs, or light personal craft, are a civilian starship analog category that comprises most of the personally-operated craft in the galaxy. Crewed from anything from one to twenty depending on the starship, LPCs are more clearly defined by their role than their size (as will many analogs moving forward). LPCs can consist of anything from personal shuttlecraft to courier vessels to even smaller passenger shuttles, and many LPC analogs are found in professional and corporate fleets just as often as in personal use. Technically, the Void Dreamer is an LPC analog craft, but for reasons you may learn in the course of the story she very, very definitely doesn’t scan like one.

Corvette analogs are larger still. The largest subcapital class of combat ship, corvette analogs are high-speed interception craft designed specifically to break through combat lines and harass vessels in the rear for formations. They’re usually crewed by five to fifteen operators, though the lower end of crew counts are reserved for advanced models with considerably more automation. Smugglers are fond of them for that speed, as well as for having enough cargo space to allow them to transport sizable hauls of illicit goods from place to place. While usually only lightly armored, their speed and shields are often enough to see them through.

Frigate analogs are the smallest category of capital-class starship analog. Operating as command ships for smaller forces and often with a crew of over twenty, frigates pack higher-power weaponry than corvettes, as well as more powerful defensive options. This comes at the cost of speed and maneuverability, and small battlegroups usually deploy only a couple of frigates alongside larger numbers of corvettes. Larger battlegroups might use frigates as flanking support craft for larger, heavier craft like cruiser analogs. In this role, their heavier firepower is often traded out for smaller emplacements designed to effectively combat more nimble threats to their cruiser compatriots. Most Drone Control Vessels qualify as frigate analog craft, making them smaller than their carrier competitors; these starships also often have reduced crew requirements due to their specialized function, and are seldom paired with corvettes.

HPCs, or Heavy Personal Craft, are often slightly larger than frigate analogs but are designed for civilian use. Smaller transport craft for light cargo hauling falls into this category, as do larger passenger shuttles. Restrictions on what the Galactic Authority allows in the way of weapons systems are relaxed for craft of this size, owing more often than not to their need to be able to defend themselves from raiders and pirates. The further one travels from the core, the more likely they would be to find HPCs that are armed to the teeth, and for good reason. Their crew counts vary; some HPCs can be operated by as little as a single pilot, though most prefer a crew compliment similar to that of a frigate.

Destroyer analogs are the next size increment for military interceptor craft. More well armed than a corvette (though often just as heavily armed as a frigate) and far more durable, these nimble combat craft are designed less to speed past an enemy line and more to cut their own path through. Destroyer analog craft are usually fitted with powerful thrust arrays and forward-facing weapons emplacements, leaving them vulnerable to flanking. However, the sheer firepower they can bring to bear leaves them able to devastate the flanks of enemy forces, slicing through weak formations and causing devastating damage to ships further back. Destroyers are crewed from as few as thirty, but often as many as eighty operators. More than a few of those are soldiers, as some destroyers are designed with boarding in mind. When operated alone, destroyers are often accompanied by corvettes whose maneuvering capability helps to mitigate the destroyer’s weaknesses. Destroyer analog ships are also where carriers can start to be found, capable of deploying smaller craft like starfighters and gunships to support their forces. Rashemai battlegroups favor large volumes of destroyer analog craft, allowing them to enact devastatingly effective hit and run attacks.

As a quick note, the destroyer analog is also home to a completely unique class of starship in the form of the warpsnare. Sized like a destroyer, these specialty ships read at a distance like cruisers and bear a titanic warp signature due to their design. Their warp core is built not just to open a warpspace envelope to facilitate travel, but to generate a tachyon dispersal field that agitates the fabric between realspace and warpspace just enough to overwhelm passing ships in warpspace; it can turn up local warp distortion to as high as point seven five, orders of magnitude beyond what most warp cores are rated for. The technology however is extremely finicky and limited in range to no more than a couple of lights’ volume, but when the ASF knows exactly where its target is coming from and going to, a well-placed warpsnare at the heart of a battlegroup can rip a traveling ship - or many - out of warpspace by completely destabilizing their warp envelope. The sudden shutdown of a warp core can cripple most unprepared ships outright, and at the very least can render a target ship’s shields inoperable. Still, as a specialty ship, warpsnares aren’t deployed with every ASF fleet; they only go where they might be needed.

Cruiser analogs replace frigates as fleet cornerstones, and are among the most powerful warships in the galaxy. Crewed by over a hundred people at the least, they are often the largest military vessel that most people will ever see. Heavily armed and well protected with powerful shields and thick armor plating, cruisers are the backbone of every large-scale fleet in the Galactic Authority’s arsenal. Supported often by destroyers and corvettes, cruiser analogs are able to deliver devastating firepower wherever it is required and stand up to much of the same in turn. Much like frigates their maneuvering capability isn’t particular great, however their vast size and overlapping fields of weapons fire mean that there are few, if any, safe avenues of attack against a cruiser. The largest carrier starships are cruiser analog craft, as are most command and control warships.

SHPCs are Superheavy Personal Craft, and this is the domain of large scale cargo haulers, deep-space mining vessels, massive colony ships, entertainment transports like cruise liners, and the like.  Expensive to purchase and expensive to operate, it’s only because of the efficiency with which they perform their various tasks that their operators are able to turn a profit. Private owners of SHPC analogs are exceedingly rare, though several members of the Ruling Council of the Galactic Authority can count within their purview at least one SHPC pleasure ship. Crew complement is dependent on the role of the vessel in question; a heavy freighter might only require a crew of ten, while the personal starfarer of the GA Speaker might retain as many crew and staff as an ASF cruiser.

Battlecruiser analogs are the largest class of starship in the galaxy. Exclusively reserved for military vessels of exceptionally oppressive firepower, these rare ships are the flagships of Galactic Authority fleet groups. At the time of Void Dreaming, eight battlecruiser-class starships are operational within the Authority Star Fleet. Two of them are older Exigent-class battlecruisers, from the first line of ships of this scale. Five are the more modern Hemian-class, and the last is the first and so far only product of the Magnificence-class. Despite the evolution of the class of ships, it’s worth mentioning that no ASF-crewed battlecruiser analog vessel has ever been lost in combat, and no engagement that has seen a battlecruiser join the theater has resulted in an ASF loss. Older battlecruisers require crews of over five hundred operators, but the newest Magnificence-class battlecruisers only require two hundred. All of them, however, are loaded with legions of soldiers capable of deployment where ground assault is required, including the legendary ASF dropper soldiers.

What A Piece Of Junk

As mentioned way, way further above, starships are most commonly defined by their role and by who precisely has need of them. In the time of Void Dreaming, privately-owned starships are old news. This isn’t to say that everyone has their own rockhopper, of course; star travel on your own cred isn’t exactly cheap. The cost of the ship, its maintenance, registration with the Authority Star Charter… it’s enough to drain one’s accounts in frighteningly quick fashion.

Personal starships then tend to often be boltjobs; rickety craft thrown together with what resources the owner has available to them. They’re not unsafe, of course… not usually, anyway. These personal craft are often used for intrasystem or nearby interstellar jaunts, for those times when you just can’t do what you need to do from where you are. Of course, most people just charter seats on a passenger shuttle rather than operate their own ship, but we’ll get to them.

Rarely, personal craft might be completely stock vessels, or upgraded with premium hardware. Only the wealthy or those who use their ships for work tend to invest so heavily in their craft, given that the more expensive the ship, the more likely they’ll be to attract the wrong attention. Closer to the fringe, this can mean pirates. Further coreward however, something far more dangerous lurks: bureaucrats. Armed with readers, charter laws and a stern expression, those able to afford nice ships often find themselves accosted by all manner of extra tolls, and lane use or docking fees. After all, the government knows they can afford it.

The titular Void Dreamer, it should be noted, definitely falls under the second category here.

Some - most often pirates or other desperate souls - will take mismatched parts and craft completely unique (and often barely functional) starships out of them. Designated slapscrap by the ASF, most fringe-dwellers refer to them simply, and aptly, as uglies. Because their parts are mismatched, the capabilities of such craft is often hard to determine. Thankfully, uglies are prone to spontaneous catastrophic failure as a result of their chop-job construction. Those that tend to not simply blow up when they power their weapons are something that any fringe-traversing captain needs to be wary of, however; anyone flying an ugly is either insane or gifted, and neither is a safe prospect to engage.

Corporate vessels are far more common than personal vessels, of course. Fielding different ships for different interests across the galaxy, these ships are often function at the expense of form, unless those interests are sufficiently lofty. Diplomatic ships, Trade Coalition envoy craft, and courier craft carrying highly sensitive material can avoid the spartan appearance and go for something more befitting their status and role.

Military vessels, by contrast, are always built to clear specifications as defined by their role in combat. There are no artistic flourishes to be found there, no; milspec vessels are designed to do their job with maximum efficiency, and they do nothing that would compromise this. While the standard of living aboard these military ships has steadily increased over the years, their profiles are designed specifically to maximize their ability to do their job. Nothing else matters.

A Little Roleplay

Roles, then, comprise the final point where determining the nature of a starship. While starships fit into many different analogs and are fielded by various interests, the role of a given model of ship is more often than not what determines how someone reacts to its presence. After all, coming across a light freighter isn’t going to cause you too much consternation. A flight of interceptor craft converging on your location is quite something else.

Trade craft comprise the majority of civilian space travel, and these run the full gamut from LPCs right up to SHPCs. Courier ships, as previously mentioned, are smaller craft designed to convey delicate cargo. Either items too fragile to be entrusted to traditional haulers or information too sensitive to entrust to even an encrypted GalNet transmission or warpspace databurst might see a courier ship enlisted. Passenger shuttles also fall under this category (though personal shuttlecraft are really considered to be their own, separate category). Freighters of various sizes also count, whether they’re hauling raw materials, trade goods and equipment, or even live cargo.

Industrial craft are not nearly as common, and generally only operate as HPC and SHPC analog vessels. These are your mining ships and repaircraft, but it’s also home to a unique variety of vessel in the form of warpfolders.

Warpfolders - or just folders - are little more than powerful reactors and some life support strapped to an oversized warp core and transwarp harmonic field generator, designed not just to open a warpspace envelope around itself, but to extend that envelope around other nearby vessels as well. This enables a single warpfolder to convey several much larger craft through warpspace, sparing those craft from the sustained high reactor output during transit required by warpspace traversal. These ships are utilized extensively by military forces to ensure that they arrive at their destination with full power, ready to engage their target at maximum capacity. More mundanely, they are also used to warptow stranded civilian craft. It’s important to note that warpfolders are not the only ships able to do this, but they are the only ones able to do this at scale; opening a warp envelope around another ship requires the towing vessel to be in extremely close proximity, risking mid-warp collision or envelope instability. Experienced warpfolder pilots are some of the best in the galaxy, and more than a few retired skipracers find steady work as warpfolder pilots.

Survey vessels are among the rarest ships in the galaxy, owing to the niche use case for them. Designed for civilian operation and often at the behest of the Astrogation Guild as we’ve covered before, survey vessels prize powerful scanner and sensor suites above all else. The exclusive subset of this category that the Void Dreamer falls into is that of the deep-space survey vessel, again as noted in the Astrogation Guild entry. These ships maintain the need for powerful scanners and sensors, but also necessitate long-term viability and self-sustainability, as well as warpspace speed and stability over long jumps. This means that deep space survey vessels are the ideal ship not only for those going past the fringe to catalogue new worlds, but also for those people who decide to go completely off GA sensors and live in the black.

Finally, and perhaps most notably, military craft round out the roles of different starships. Second only to trade craft by number, it is the robust and sizable military of the Galactic Authority that has allowed it to remain an unchallenged power in the galaxy. Military ships cover every single analog of craft, but they’re also easier to detect on long-range sensors as a result of that. Due to their higher mass, higher power output, significant warpsig and unique tachyonic dispersion patterns, military vessels are often easily discernible even at significant distance. The specific distance varies by ship, of course, but it’s not uncommon for a traveler to be aware of an ASF battlegroup half a kilolight away because of the sheer volume of cruisers in a relatively small area.

This one really got away from me, but that’s just because I fucking love starships. I love the idea of them, the potential of them, and the prospect of setting them up in a vibrant universe like the one I (hope I have) created. Promise I’ll try not to go as hard on this again before release! Can’t promise I’ll succeed, though, especially given how close we’re getting to said release…

Next week though, we’re diving into a whole different pair of advanced technologies! Developing in leaps and bounds over the last couple of decades in the galaxy and with a long history is augmentation, in the form of cyberware and biomodding. So get ready to jack your neural, pop some stims and sit back; we’re gonna spin some gray with this one!

Until then, stars guide you.

 - Faora