Tachyon class Light Trader

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Tachyon class Light Trader
Distant Fringe vessel.
Type: ML Merchant
Category	[[ACS]]
Size	100 Tons
Hull Configuration	Flattened Sphere Hull
Streamlining	Airframe Hull
Tech Level	TL–9
Engineering
Computer	Model/2
Jump	Jump-1
Maneuver	2 G
Armaments
Hardpoints	1
Offensive	Beam Lasers
Defensive	Sandcasters
Accommodations
Staterooms	2
Personnel
Crew	3
Officers	1
Enlisted	2
High/Mid Passengers	0
Payload
Cargo Hold	40 Tons
Fuel tank	12 Tons
Carried craft	x1 Air/Raft
Construction
Origin	Distant Fringe
End of Service	Current
Price
Cost	MCr38.488
Cost in Quantity	MCr30.791
Statistics
Quick Ship Profile	ML-AA21
Universal Ship Profile	ML–1612210–020000–20000-0
Images
Blueprint	No
Illustration	Yes
Source
Also see	Spaceplane
Canon	Unpublished, fan design
Designer	Ade Stewart
Design System	High Guard
Era	Milieu 1116
Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using High Guard Shipyard v1.13 written by Andrea Vallance.

The Tachyon class Light Trader is a mercantile starship.

• It is a civilian ship and a Merchant vessel.
• Please also see: Ships of the Distant Fringe

Description (Specifications)

It is a member of a generic class of civilian vessels; the Light Trader is a small commercial merchant ship designed to carry incidental cargo. It is typically encountered operating within clusters of stars within the Distant Fringe region. It is classified as a Merchant and is constructed as an X-Range design. Similar designs have been in use from the time the Distant Fringe was first settled.

• The vessel is a TL-9 design.

Image Repository

A Tachyon class Light Trader.

General Description

The Tachyon class is an airframe flattened sphere with a mean diameter of 21 meters and a mean height of 5.5 meters, with paired lateral drive housings slightly increasing the overall length. The slightly irregular shape of the hull increases the overall internal space, giving the ship a total enclosed volume of approximately 1,350 cubic meters. There are two decks. The machinery and fuel tanks are located aft and operations are run from a small engineering control room. The lower deck is given over to the cargo hold: an area of the hold is set aside as an Air/Raft hangar and is positioned below the accommodations section. The central section of the upper deck is given over to Staterooms and the turret mountings, while the bridge, computer and electronics are located forward.

A basic deck plan of the vessel indicating the general layout and positioning of major elements.

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	The Tachyon class is constructed using a 100 Ton hull built in a fattened sphere configuration. The hull is an airframe shape, giving good atmospheric performance that is further enhanced by airfoil surfaces and the vessels onboard gravitic systems. Individual sections of the ship are divided by bulkhead walls. The craft has an airlock located forward, adjacent to the bridge. The cargo hold is accessed by large lateral hatches and a bow door and ramp. The vessel has a sturdy retractable wheeled undercarriage, allowing surface landings.
2.	Crew	Total Crew Complement: 3 x1 Command, x1 Engineering, x1 Gunnery. Accommodations There are x4 Staterooms. x2 Staterooms are given over to crew quarters. All crew accommodations are double occupancy. x2 Staterooms are available to passengers. No steward service is available. Accessible areas of the hull are fitted with grav plates and inertial compensators and have full life support and environmental systems. There are internal monitoring and security systems throughout the vessel. Sections of the ship can be isolated in the event of an emergency. There are three Emergency Lockers.
3.	Performance / Engineering	The vessel mounts a DeVoss-type Jump-1 drive, a Maneuver-1 drive and a Power Plant-1, giving performance of Jump-1 and 1-G acceleration and producing 1 Energy Point. The ship has an agility rating of 1. The dedicated internal fuel tankage is sufficient for one jump-1 and gives the power plant 4 weeks duration. The engineering section has a control room. The jump drive utilizes a hull grid. The jump drive is fitted with a jump governor.
4.	Main Section / Electronics	Adjacent to the bridge is a Model/1 Computer: the ship does not have a backup computer. There are multiple workstations and control points throughout the vessel. The vessel is fitted with communications equipment, a basic sensor array, and has an avionics suite. It is fitted with backup commo and sensor systems. It has a transponder unit that can be deactivated on command.
5.	Hardpoints	x1 hardpoint. The battery arrangement is considered standard for the class. Alternative weaponry may be designated for specific routes.
6.	Armament / Weaponry	The normal fit-out for a Tachyon class is a single mixed triple turret. Typically this mounts: x2 triple Missile Racks. Each missile rack mounts x3 standard Anti-Shipping Missiles.
7.	Defenses	The hull is unarmored. x1 Sandcaster rack, mounted as part of the mixed turret weapons array. The vessel is not fitted with screens or other passive defensive systems.
8.	Craft / Subcraft	Vehicles x1 4-dTon Air/Raft. The hangar is a dedicated vehicle garage and forms part of the cargo hold, though it is divided off by partition walls and also serves as a machine shop. The hanger has a total volume of 54 cubic meters.
9.	Fuel Treatment	The vessel has internal fuel tankage of 11 dTons. The hull is fitted with fuel scoops. The vessel is not equipped with fuel purification equipment. The ship carries a collapsible fuel tank with a capacity of 20 dTons: while stowed it uses 1 dTon of cargo space.
10.	Cost	The basic cost of the vessel, complete with its Air/Raft, is MCr35.478. If multiple examples of the design are ordered all of the ships in the production run qualify for a 20% discount, which reduces the price per unit to MCr28.383. The vessel and its Air/Raft are standard designs. Detailed architectural plans are widely available and no design fee is chargeable.
11.	Construction Time	40 weeks (10 months) as standard. Build times can be reduced by mass production and the efficiencies such processes generate, by increased financing, and by allotting additional yard resources and facilities to the construction contract.
12.	Remarks	Standard cargo capacity amounts to 40 dTons. Sections of the hold may be isolated if desired and can be provided with specialized environmental conditions, typically refrigeration.

History & Background (Dossier)

It is a small merchant trader designed to carry incidental consignments of cargo. The design is representative and a large number of variants exist, particularly with regard to the allotted weapons systems, onboard electronics, and the fit out of internal spaces. The interior of the vessel is particularly cramped and the vessels are noted for the substandard quality of their life support and environmental systems. The vehicle hangar is inaccessible without exiting the vessel.

Tachyon class Traders are sometimes referred to as "puffers", a reference to small coastal watercraft serving isolated communities on pre-spaceflight Terra. The name has romantic connotations, implying personal freedom and a simpler way of life, but also reflects the cramped and claustrophobic conditions aboard those ancient trading vessels.

Distant Fringe Vessels

The Distant Fringe is said to be a far spinward-rimward area inhabited by colonists and refugees originating on Terra. The region is extremely isolated, separated from the rest of Charted Space by vast, almost uncrossable rifts that were once broached by a system of calibration Points and the use of tankers. Those few academics within Charted Space who have found references to the Distant Fringe regard it as little more than a tall tale. Likewise, many of the inhabitants of the Distant Fringe believe the existence of Charted Space to be mythical.

Vessels originating within the Distant Fringe are very rarely encountered outside of the region. However, misjumps do occur and anomalies with bizarre spacetime and Jumpspace effects exist: as such, craft of this type are not entirely unknown within Charted Space.

Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities

A number of companies manufacture ships equivalent to the Tachyon class. They vary in hull shape and internal layout but all share the same basic design and all have very similar capabilities and performance characteristics.

• Each variant class is named by the company that produces it: these organizations generally draw on traditional naming protocols. It is not uncommon for a historical class name to be reused.
• Individual vessels within a class are issued specific serial numbers and transponder codes but traditionally are named by their first crew. This is considered a serious affair and a ship with a frivolous name is considered "unlucky".

Selected Variant Types & Classes

Civilian Ship - Light Trader:

• Type ML class Light Trader
  • Tachyon class Light Trader
  • Wulf class Free Trader

References & Contributors (Sources)

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This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

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, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman. High Guard (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 20-37. (Design Sequence Used)
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science