Mender-of-Herds class Hospital Ship
| Mender-of-Herds class Hospital Ship | |
|---|---|
| Type: NH Hospital Ship | |
| Category | ACS |
| Size | 500 Tons |
| Hull Configuration | Saucer Hull |
| Streamlining | Unstreamlined Hull |
| Tech Level | TL–14 |
| Engineering | |
| Computer | Model 5/bis |
| Jump | J-3 |
| Maneuver | 5 G |
| Fuel Treatment | None |
| Armaments | |
| Hardpoints | 5 |
| Accommodations | |
| Staterooms | |
| Personnel | |
| Crew | |
| High/Mid Passengers | |
| Payload | |
| Cargo | 18.5 Tons |
| Fuel tank | 137 Tons |
| Construction | |
| Construction Time | 12 Months |
| Origin | Two Thousand Worlds |
| Manufacturer | Lords of Thunder |
| Year Operational | 911 |
| Price | |
| Cost | MCr332.0375 |
| Maintenance cost | Cr27,670 |
| Statistics | |
| Quick Ship Profile | NH-ES53 |
| Universal Ship Profile | NH-E5835U-NR |
| Images | |
| Blueprint | Yes |
| Illustration | No |
| Source | |
| Also see | Hospital Ship |
| Canon | Unpublished, fan design |
| Designer | Adrian Tymes |
| Design System | Mongoose 2nd |
| Era | Collapse |
| Tending to herds that can not tend themselves. | |
The Mender-of-Herds class Hospital Ship is a civilian Hospital Ship.
Description
The Mender-of-Herds class Hospital Ship was originally conceived to bring advanced medical care to low-technology members of the Two Thousand Worlds. It performed its job well, soon spreading to Lords of Thunder territory. Although optimized for treating K'kree, it was capable of providing care for almost any race, in particular K'kree subjects.
As usual for small crewed K'kree ships, it employs several tricks to make it look like it is not a metal box that the passengers are trapped within. Almost the entire upper deck (save the cargo pit) is one open space, bounded by (from front to back along the sides) a picket fence, tall quick-fruiting wooden plants (the biospheres), shelving for an array of appliances (including latrine facilities), and finally another picket fence around the cargo pit. The picket fences are low enough to jump, but most passengers are informed shortly after boarding that one is not supposed to jump the fences - leaving out that the fences are just in front of the ship's inner hull, so if one did jump the fence one would run into a solid wall mid-jump. The inner hull on the upper deck is covered in holographic emitters, some projecting the illusion of infinite grasslands, some presenting an accurate view of the exterior (making the upper deck look like a floating island in space when the ship is moving through the void). These latter ones usually do not display jumpspace, instead inventing or simulating starfields while the ship is in jump; those that do display jumpspace tend to have crews that are all kin-to-the-sky, but also have higher odds of misjumping. Most of the upper deck's open space is grass (with soft ground underneath so one can sleep anywhere, self-cleaning so that any spills or accidents are quickly taken care of); maintaining this is one of the few tasks the robots leave primarily to the crew.
The lower deck is (outside of the fuel tanks) a warren of systems, a nightmare for most K'kree. As such, it is the exclusive domain of the ship's robot crew. The lone - and occasional - exception is the large forward airlock, where the ship's repair drones reside, and even then it is only used by K'kree to quickly pass through when necessary (such as when rescuing from a ship or station in space). The ship's workshops are set up exclusively for robot use: one is part of the repair drone airlock/hangar, while the other is attached to the cargo pit to service and assemble items (such as cybernetic implants, the parts for which are stored until the specific implant that will be needed is identified).
Joining the two decks, at the rear, is a "cargo pit": an open area fenced off from the upper deck (but accessible at three stations along the forward edge), with a crane that moves things between the pit itself, the rear workshop, the access stations, and (when the rear cargo door is open) the outside. In theory anyone could open an access station and walk through, but as with jumping the picket fence, those aboard are told not to do so.
The ship's main feature is a set of 15 medical bays optimized for K'kree. Each bay, when not in operation, looks like a series of 10 marker posts connected by lines in the floor, marking off the space. Although it is usually accessed by a patient walking in, the bay is large enough for up to 3 K'kree, such as when a mother brings a child in for treatment, or when two K'kree carry in a fellow with one or more broken legs. In theory a medical bay with 3 K'kree inside could treat all 3 at once; in practice, this is only done in an emergency. Upon activation, supports and instruments rise from the floor, rarely obstructing the patient's view of the outside (so the patient does not feel confined), and perform whatever medical procedure is needed. Localized reduced gravity can help suspend patients if necessary. The upper deck's grass gives way to stone (actually a nanotech-enhanced surface) between the medical bays, to help isolate and clean up medical spills (specifically including blood) that may be unsettling to the passengers.
A merchant-caste K'kree family is kept on board primarily to help with psychological needs of the patients, though they are allowed to help the robot crew, with the capability of entirely taking over if necessary. The bridge has a series of stations that adult K'kree walk into, each station adjusting itself to the size and height of its user, along with a central holotank. There is also a library with similar stations, though smaller and meant for the children (or any non-K'kree passengers) to access (specifically including being locked out of ship operation functions). Most such families include at least one who helps with the astrogation; while viewed as an unimportant enough task that even females are allowed to perform it, it is notable that sophont assistance measurably decreases the rate of misjumps. The ship is rated to support up to 24 sophonts; when the onboard family nears this size, there is increased pressure on the unmarried adults to leave (usually: females by being married off, males by joining a fighting band).
General Description & Deck Plans
- Deck Plans for this vessel.
Basic Ship Characteristics
Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. [1]
| Basic Ship Characteristics [2] | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Category | Remarks |
| 1. | Tonnage / Hull | Tonnage: 500 tons (standard). 7,000 cubic meters. Unstreamlined Saucer Hull.
|
| 2. | Crew | Crew: None (technically). Pilot, Astrogator, Sensor Operator, 2 Engineers, and 15 Medics provided by software. A K'kree family is kept aboard to assist but the ship can operate without it. |
| 3. | Performance | Acceleration: 5-G maneuver drive installed.
|
| 4. | Electronics | Model/5/bis. |
| 5. | Hardpoints | 5 hardpoints, unused. |
| 6. | Armament | None. |
| 7. | Defenses | None. |
| 8. | Craft | Uncrewed repair drones. Vacc suits required for EVA (extra-vehicle activity), though this is rarely done by K'kree. Rescue Balls for crew escape normally carried, equipped with sedatives since K'kree so confined may have psychotic breaks and try to escape. |
| 9. | Fuel Treatment | It is not equipped with a fuel purification plant or fuel scoops. |
| 10. | Cost | MCr332.0375 (no architect's fees, those having been paid by the Two Thousand Worlds). MCr298.83375 in quantity. |
| 11. | Construction Time | 12 months standard, 9 in quantity. |
| 12. | Remarks | A K'kree hospital ship, which rose to infamy after Virus took over the Lords of Thunder for implanting sophonts with Virus-infected cybernetics. |
History & Background (Dossier)
This ship class had a higher technology level than most contemporary K'kree ships, and thus was rare for its first couple centuries of existence.
When the Lords of Thunder accepted Virus leadership, manufacture of this class was encouraged, as it proved ideal for installing cybernetics on entire worlds' populations, each ship hosting a single powerful Virus instance and each cybernetic providing the sophont a "companion" always in their thoughts, guiding them toward loyalty and devotion to their masters as well as providing the benefits of implanted radio communication with their peers (for instance, giving fighting bands the equivalent of always-on telepathy with each other). Such usage made this one of the most frequently hunted and attacked medical ship classes in recorded history.
Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities
Ships manufactured before Virus tend to have whimsical (by K'kree standards) names related to large scale or practical medicine, such as "Curer-of-Clans" or "Welder-of-Bone". Ones manufactured afterward start off with just registration numbers, though after several months of operation, the onboard Virus instance often selects a similarly whimsical name.
Selected Variant Types & Classes
Medical Vessel - Hospital Ship:
References
| This article has metadata. |
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This ship was designed using Mongoose 2nd ship design rules.
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- ↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.
- ↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.