Arachnae class System Defense Boat Tender
| Arachnae class | |
|---|---|
| Type: VTF SDB Tender | |
| Size | 5,000 Tons |
| Hull Configuration | [[{{{hull}}}]] |
| Tech Level | TL–14 |
| Engineering | |
| Computer | |
| Jump | J-1 |
| Maneuver | 1 G |
| Armaments | |
| Hardpoints | 50 |
| Accommodations | |
| Staterooms | 0 |
| Personnel | |
| Crew | 81 |
| High/Mid Passengers | 0 |
| Payload | |
| Cargo | 302.1 Tons |
| Fuel tank | 0 Tons |
| Construction | |
| Origin | Third Imperium |
| Price | |
| Cost | MCr 1,267.13 Qty: MCr1,013.7 |
| Source | |
| Canon | Unpublished, fan design |
Arachnae class SDB Tender was designed on Inar (Deneb 1213) as a transport and resupply point for the Caryatid Class System Defense Boat (which was not designed on Inar, being somewhat older), the Arachnea can carry four of these 500-ton SDBs through a jump and have them ready for instant action when they arrive.
The Arachnea is a tail-sitter, with its decks perpendicular to the direction of thrust. The central hull is a tall cylinder sitting on a cubical drive compartment. Above the engines and attached to the main hull are four huge irregular cones pointed down, their bases perpendicular to thrust (like the decks). The cone arrangement is repeated just below the nose of the ship, but the cones point the other way, and are broken by smaller bullet shapes emerging from their sloped forward faces (the lifeboats), and (on two opposing cones) two 12-meter spheres (the fuel shuttles). The faces of the cones are just far enough apart to hold a Caryatid class SDB between them, and the face of the central cylinder is contoured to nest the SDBs close enough to allow an airlock match.
The Arachnea has a large cargo capacity, allowing it to totally resupply the SDBs it serves. Its quick deployment ability requires that it be unstreamlined, however. For its own activities, the fuel shuttles it carries are capable of refueling it often enough. The Arachnea is handicapped if required to jump very often, unless it uses carried SDBs as auxiliary fuel shuttles. The listed cost and weight does not include any of its carried craft.
- GypsyComet's Shipyard — Design by James Kundert