Xavier class Express Boat

Xavier class Express Boat
The nose and cockpit of a prototypical Express Boat.
Type: SC Courier
Category	ACS
Size	100 Tons
Hull Configuration	Cone Hull
Streamlining	Streamlined Hull
Tech Level	TL–13
Engineering
Computer	Model/4
Jump	J-4
Maneuver	0 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	1
Accommodations
Staterooms	2
Personnel
Crew	1
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo	1 Tons
Fuel tank	40 Tons
Construction
Origin	Third Imperium
Price
Cost	MCr78.5
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	SC-AS04
Universal Ship Profile	SC-1540041-000000-00000-0
Images
Blueprint	Yes
Illustration	Yes
Source
Canon	Published, canon design
Designer	Timothy B. Brown
Design System	High Guard
Era	1105
Reference	Starships and Spacecraft TBD.

The Xavier class Express Boat is a TL–13 fast courier. It is often simply called an Express Boat.

Basic Ship Synopsis

The express boat (xboat) is the key to the Imperial communication network. The Scout Service maintains an extensive array of designated routes and supporting tenders to allow access to nearly every important system in the empire; the 100-ton xboat is the fast courier that carries data and messages between those points.

Description (Specifications)

Constructed using the type 100 hull, the express boat is fitted with drives producing Jump-4, and nothing else. There is no power plant or maneuver drive installation. Fuel tankage is forty tons, enough for one jump. The standard bridge is complemented by a Model/4 ship computer, massive communicators, and message data banks. The ship has two staterooms; one is necessary for the single crew member, while the other can carry a passenger. More often, the pilot uses the second room for additional living space. There is a one ton cargo bay which is occasionally used to carry vital cargo such as vaccines or sophisticated repair parts.

The Express Boat is a small, fast ship filled with a pilot compartment, message data banks, and jump drives. The fit is so tight that there is no room even for maneuver drives. Each is capable of Jump-4 (…four parsecs per week); it jumps, relays its messages to the station on arrival, and then waits to be picked up by a tender, to be refueled and sent on its way with a new load of messages. The local station, meanwhile, accepts messages, encodes them, and transmits them to a tender at the edges of the stellar system. Messages brought by the arriving xboat and intended for further down the line are consolidated with the new data and all are sent on to another xboat already fueled and standing ready to leave. The entire network operates like the pony express — messages are always moving at top speed. Transfer time for messages from one xboat to another can be as short as ten minutes, and is rarely more than an hour.

The express boat is also capable of only limited endurance. While it can sustain its crew of one and a passenger for the week it spends in jump space, its power, atmosphere, and food reserves are good for only about three days after break-out.

The express boat costs MCr70.65 to construct, assuming no architect's fees (…the designs are standard and long since amortized) and a 10% discount for production in volume.

Image Repository

1. An Express Boat cruising through jump space.
   
2. An image of a Xavier class Express Boat.
   

Basic Ship Characteristics

Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. The small craft factor indicates the number of squadrons (...of ten subcraft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (...thousands of tons) where necessary.

Basic Ship Characteristics
No.	Category	Remarks
1.	Tonnage / Hull	100 tons (standard). 1,400 cubic meters. Tonnage: 100 tons (standard). 1,400 cubic meters. Dimensions: 12 meter sphere with 10 meter cone rear tail. Overall length equals 22 meters.
2.	Crew	1 scout. Crew: One. Pilot/engineer performs all required operations. Ship can function automatically without any crew.
3.	Performance	Jump-4. 0-G (no maneuver). No power plant (…and consequently no energy points and no agility). Acceleration: None. No maneuver drives installed. Jump: 4. Capable of one Jump-4. four Jump-1, or any combination totalling four parsecs. Power Plant: None. Jump drives carry power plant capacities and functions. Engineering: IISS custom installations. Gravities: Standard 1G floor field. Range: One Jump-4. Three days.
4.	Electronics	Model/4 computer. Extensive message transmission equipment and storage data banks. Electronics: ISMM Model/1bis. Extensive data banks and communicators for data transmission. Entertainment consoles and educational programs for scout pilot diversion.
5.	Hardpoints	x1 hardpoint.
6.	Armament	No weaponry installed. Armament: Unarmed. Scout pilot is provided with small arms in the ship's locker to resist boardings.
7.	Defenses	No defenses of any type typically installed.
8.	Craft	None. Pilot's vacc suit allows extra-vehicle activity. Rescue ball for pilot escape usually carried. Ship's Boats: Rescue ball is available for emergency reentry by scout pilot where necessary. In ordinary circumstances, the express boat is retrieved and refuelled by an xboat tender.
9.	Fuel Treatment	None. The express boat is dependent on local facilities for refueling and maintenance.
10.	Cost	MCr78.5 standard (no architect's fees on this standard design). MCr70.65 in quantity.
11.	Construction Time	9 months.
12.	Comments	It is simple, spartan ship of few creature comforts or extravagances. It has one mission of relaying messages and is entirely focused on the performance of that simple mission. Cargo: One ton. One passenger possible.

Ship Interior Details

Interior Details: The deck plan shows most of the important interior details of the express boat. Dual air locks are mounted side by side on the hull. The hatches are intended as safety back-ups to the powered iris valves. Adjacent to the air locks is the ship's locker, containing vacc suit, survival equipment, an inflatable rescue ball, and the ship's only armament, usually a shotgun or submachinegun.

Staterooms are positioned at locations 4 and 5, while an open living area is located at 3. The drive room is accessed through a long tube which passes through the fuel tankage. Note the maintenance hatches which provide direct access to the drives from outside and incidentally serve as emergency exits.

History & Background (Dossier)

THE EXPRESS BOAT: The express boat is almost useless for any purpose other than that for which it was originally designed — carrying messages from one location to another at the fastest possible speed. Its cramped hull doesn't even have room for maneuver drives; the ship is helpless until picked up by a tender.

Starships can generally expect to encounter express boats in the Imperium's major star systems, specifically those which have scout service communications stations and which are situated on major jump routes. When express boats are encountered off the main routes, the event would be a strong indication of some special Imperial activity or of a mishap with the xboat itself. High population and high technology star systems can be expected to have up to twelve xboats present at one time, probably distributed evenly between arriving and departing ships.

Lower population systems will have fewer xboats. The presence of a scout base will increase the probability of xboats being present. Imperial Way Stations, maintained by the scouts to service and overhaul all scout vessels, will have many xboats present, although most will be in some state of disrepair.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

Peculiarities: Express boats are not named, at least not officially. Each carries an identifying number. Since pilots are rotated between ships frequently, there is little chance to build any lasting ties to the xboats. However, on the fringes of the Imperium, express service is understandably slower, and some branches of the network tend to keep pilots and xboats together. Names for such boats have been seen in service, and tend to be types of flowers.

Well-Known X-boat Variants

Variants: No known variants of the xboat are actually in regular service. Two variant models have been built for experimental purposes. One model incorporated maneuver drives sufficient to produce 1-G; the loss of jump potential (…reduced to Jump-3) was deemed unacceptable, however, and it was not produced. The second variant included a four-ton light sail (…replacing the second stateroom). This model was intended to provide emergency acceleration away from a star in the event of breakout at too close a distance. The apparent benefits from this modification were also deemed too small for mass production. However, there are reports that some examples were produced and may be in service in the Spinward Marches.

1. Type XM class Interplanetary Express Boat (Jump-3)

Selected Variant Types & Classes

38 Representative Courier (SC) Classes

§ == ( Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information: ) == §

Civilian Ship - Science Ship - Courier - Type SC Courier

A

• Afterthought class Scout

C

• Chatl class Leader Scout

G

• Gepard class Express Courier
• Giciifichu class Dispatcher

H

• Henrick Krueden class Scout/Courier

I

• Inchworm class Scout/Courier
• Iyeliy class Messenger

J

• Jump-Boat
• Jumpmax class Courier

K

• Khadumir class Fast Courier
• Ktiyhui class Courier

L

• Lance Marcus class Scout

M

• Magash class Heavy Scout

• Mercury class Long Range Fleet Courier
• Messenger class Commercial Courier
• Midlothian A5 class Dispatch

P

• Pathway class Scout

R

• Ranger class Courier
• Rapid class Fleet Courier
• Royal class Dispatch Vessel

S

• Scybria class Scout
• Sering class Scout
• Serpent class Scout/Courier
• Sulieman class Scout/Courier
• Swift Missive class Courier

T

• Tathoe class Scout/Courier

• Type VX class Courier
• Type X class Express Boat
• Type ZC class Courier

U

• Unity class Scout

V

• Valtos Niagra class Scout/Courier
• Vega class Scout

W

• Wanderer class Scout/Courier
• Wind class Scout/Courier

X

• Xavier class Express Boat

Y

• Yetsabl class Courier
• Yetsabl class Courier

Z

• Zofagic class Utility Vessel

References

This article has metadata.

This ship was originally designed using one of the Classic Traveller ship design rules: Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 12-23. Marc Miller, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20-36.

This ship was originally designed using GURPS Traveller ship design rules. Loren Wiseman. GURPS Traveller Core Rules (Steve Jackson Games, 1998), 149-162. Thomas L. Bont, Robert Prior, Christopher Thrash. Starships (Steve Jackson Games, 2003), 16-73.

The ship, vehicle, equipment, or other technology in this article wasn't given a specific, distinctive name upon first publication. FFE has given the wiki permission to name this generic setting detail in order to better catalogue it. Names are chosen by a wiki administrator based on personal preferences. You can help the Traveller RPG Wiki by letting the wiki administrators know if the item has a name that wasn't published, was omitted accidentally from publication, that you are familiar with, or might have been popularly known within the greater Traveller community.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. Traders and Gunboats (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 8-10.
• Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 12.
• Jon F. Zeigler. First In (Steve Jackson Games, 1999), 36. DECK PLANS: (Pgs. 37)
• Martin Dougherty. Scout Ships (Avenger Enterprises, 2007), TBD.
• Author & Contributor: FarScout275