New Turrets on Palatine Cruisers Make Life Easier for Crews

THIS WEEK on Pew-Pew Weekly:

Is that comet flying through space giving you problems?  Is collision imminent?  Everyone knows that striking a piece of rock at relativistic speeds can give your spaceship crew the shakes (and don't get me started on those exploding consoles).  Well, worry no more.  Here is the solution to rowdy interstellar fragments and debris (and any foolhardy pirate looking to avoid having to face that boring legal system):  The PY-280-Z heavy cannon turret!

 

A spectacle of destructive potential!

With a full 180 degree rotation on the z-axis and 90 degree cannon rotation, this reciprocating octo-barrel laser cannon turret provides the ultimate answer to the question: Do laser cannons really work well against rocks in space...or anything else, for that matter?  At these levels of power, the answer is an unequivocal YES!

Warning: It is inadvisable to take selfies in front of these turrets

Capable of being loaded with several types of charges, these cannons can fire both ionized plasma and particle beams capable of delivering over 25 petajoules of destructive power per barrel.  That's right, that's 200 petajoules per turret, per shot! 

To give you an idea of how much that would be in pure awesome might: 200 petajoules equals the same amount of energy as 47,801 tons of TNT.  To give you humans a chance to understand, your laughable nuclear Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear bomb ever tested in your history, released 210 petajoules.  That's right, just one volley from one of these turrets releases the equivalent amount of energy from your largest nuclear bomb ever! HA! Take that, puny earthlings!

Do ya feel lucky, punk?

These new turrets will be installed on all ships in the Thrassi Navy large enough to support them.  Since that's only the Palatine and Aventine classes, those are the ships that will receive these beauties!

Here is a mock-up of a typical Palatine class cruiser with the turrets mounted.  Seriously, you don't want to mess with this ship.

It was as if millions of pirates suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced...

If there was ever a bad place to find yourself, this probably qualifies

Sal Marcus, the Scan Officer aboard the Adamant had this to say about the new turrets loaded onto his ship, "I'm just glad they're not pointed at me!"  That seems to be the general consensus of anyone who has to face these things.

I'm just glad they're not pointed at me! -- A very wise man

Here are the statistics for these lovely turrets for you tech-heads out there:

Kilim & Blastem PY-280-Z Heavy Laser Cannon Turret

• Type: Dual quad barrel reciprocating cannon turret

• Power Rating: 25 petajoules per barrel

• Rate of Fire: 10 shots per minute

• Deliverable Energy Rating: 2,000 petajoules per minute

Remember, if you're a space rock heading for an Aventine or Palatine class starship of the Thrassi Navy, it might behoove you to avoid it.  If you're a pirate, get your will in order!

The Redux Misanthropic Retreat

For another part of Plagarus, the interior of Lethgoshis' ship, the Misanthropic Retreat will need to be built.  So, I've decided to just build the entire interior set, which will likely be available online after I finish it.  The set will include the following rooms:

• Cockpit
• Captain's Cabin
• Engine Compartment
• Crew Common Area
• Crew Cabins
• Galley
• Cargo Bay

  
  

   

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

The habitable areas of the Misanthropic Retreat

The cargo bay.  The tube-like area to the left is where the lift to the second and third levels will eventually be located

I used a previous design motif to greatly speed up the process.  I'm assigning this particular style to an alien race in the universe I made.

Still a great deal of work to be done, obviously.  The majority of the scene in question will be located in the cargo bay.

Here is the fictional lore on the Misanthropic Retreat:

  XD-202a

THE XD-202A spaceship is a light-duty spaceship in operation in the Lathkos Sector since 1,962 M.E. A variant of the Cenathlori designed XF series space freighter, it is considerably lighter and more versatile. It is capable of almost any light-duty assignment required of it, and its modular design was considered revolutionary in its day.

It is deemed a commercial failure by most market experts.  Only 2,508 XD-202a spaceships were built, with the last one rolling off the assembly line on Canthlor in 1,979 M.E.  By the year 2,010 M.E., only about 500 remained in space.

A heavily modified XD-202a spaceship, landed on planet Plagarus

Characteristics 

The XD-202a spaceship was designed to be as versatile as possible, able to serve as a freighter, an asteroid miner, a gunboat, a bomber, or even a family yacht. It was built with the ability to attach different lower sections, which would connect to the ship directly behind the main cabin. These sections would be mission specific, and were originally designed to be as easy as possible to remove and replace.

Consumers who bought the ships, however, quickly discovered that these modules were anything but easy to remove and replace, often times requiring hours of painstaking effort to finally fit them together. Also, the ships became notorious for dropping these modules in mid-flight as the connecting supports which would tether the modules to the ship would, in cold temperatures, simply detach without warning.  At least 200 such documented incidents resulted in fatalities, with 42 of them resulting in the complete destruction of the victim's ship during the accident. 

As such, most XD-202a ships which are seen today have mission specific modules simply welded permanently to the ship, with the owners of the vessels abandoning the modular abilities of the ship altogether.

The Misanthropic Retreat, Lethgoshis' personal XD-202a. Note the missing loading struts and the addition of weapons, making it a gunship

The remaining XD-202a ships which still fly in space have almost all been bought up by hot-rod and space-racer enthusiasts due to the abnormally large engines for the relatively light ship, due to the ship's original intention of hauling additional weight of cargo containers under its main fuselage.

Misanthropic Retreat

Sometime after his leaving New Isus the second time on his way to search for Padoen Titus, Lethgoshis came into possession of the Misanthropic Retreat, an XD-202a whose container module had been removed permanently.  The ship had been fitted with small blast cannons, re-classifying it as a light gunship under Thrassi maritime law. Although offensive weaponry on private spaceships was outlawed in the Thrassi Republic in 1,992 M.E., Lethgoshis, who was still technically an Isus guardsman, had clearance to possess weapons on his ship.

The Retreat later served as Padoen Titus' and Lethgoshis' personal starship and home as they started up their business together, travelling long distances across the Lathkos Sector. 

Upon being asked by Padoen why he chose the Cenathlori designed XD-202a, Lethgoshis responded, "Because I can fit through the doors."

Dan