Xintrin Free Trader

 

Originally designed as a light military transport for the Xintrin Merchant Guild, the Free Trader was refitted and sold to the human market as a high-end medium transport.

It has become a popular, yet pricey, model in the Free Colonies and the Protectorate, and is able to compete with many human-made transports.

One of the big selling points for the Free Trader is that it was once, in fact, a military vessel. Its predecessor model is still the standard Xintrin light frigate. When the Xintrin downgraded it, and stripped out enough weapons so that it met Protectorate and Free Colony weapons restrictions, they left a lot of the power infrastructure intact, making the Free Trader very friendly to upgrades. It also means that the ship has an abundance of power.

It is not the fastest ship in space; its ion pulse engine has a fast overall speed, but is slow to accelerate. However, the Xintrin-built FTL system gives the ship FTL speeds equally that of most military vessels of one light year per day. That’s twice the speed of most ships in the same class, and helps push the Free Trader’s price out of the range of most independent buyers.

For defensive weaponry, the ship comes with a pair of nose-mounted light lasers and a microwave cannon (a standard Xintrin weapon) on an automated turret. The microwave cannon does not do much damage, but it has good range and inhibits the functioning of electronics, making it a good anti-piracy weapon while staying within weapon restrictions. The Free Trader still has much of its original ablative armor plating, making it a tough nut to crack.

The ship has only basic sensors, a good-sized cargo hold, and decent room. Most, due to the cost and Merchant Guild discounts for bulk sales, have been purchased by corporations as small fleets, and then acquired by independent buyers who bought them used. Most corporations leave them “stock.” But most independent owners remove the more alien systems.

Many companies fill the bay with fuel and consumables, upgrade the sensors, and use it as a large scout vessel, due to its range capabilities.

The Xintrin have deemed the model, their first engineered specifically for an alien species, as a success, and have promised more ships for the medium transport market in the near future.

Model: XMG-99hv

Class: Medium Transport

Crew: Minimum crew of three (pilot, sensor operator, engineer). Typical crew of five to eight. Can transport a maximum of 14.

M.D.C. by Location

Electromagnetic arms (2) – 400 each

Light laser batter – 200

Microwave cannon – 225

Negative mass field projectors (2) – 500 each

Ion pulse engine – 800

*Cockpit – 300

**Main Body – 2,000

*Destroying the cockpit destroys most of the ship’s controls and likely kills a number of its crew. However, the cockpit is small and built flush with the main hull, and can only be hit by a forward shot to the cockpit viewport, which requires a called shot at -4.

**Depleting the Main Body M.D.C. will shut the vessel down, leaving it a drifting wreck in space with no power and no life support, and multiple hull breaches. There are two escape pods, one under each crew cabin. Reducing the M.D.C. to -500 will cause the vessel to explode, doing 1D4x100 M.D. to everything within a 300-foot radius.

Speed

Maximum Speed: .1 light speed (10% of the speed of light)

Maximum Acceleration/Deceleration: 4Gs per melee round

FTL Speed: One light year per day.

Top Atmospheric Speed: Mach 4 (can achieve escape velocity on a full engine burn, but with no maneuvering).

Statistical Data

Height: 32 feet

Length: 160 feet

Width: 90.5 feet

Mass: 600 tons (empty)

Cargo: 200 tons

Power Plant: Fusion reactor.

Range: 60 light years if no additional fuel or consumables are carried. Range could be increased to as much as five times that if cargo bay is used for extra fuel, air, food and water.

Market Cost: 4 million credits (very expensive when you consider that it’s essentially a “space cargo plane” that costs as much as a military fighter craft)

 

Weapon Systems

 

1. Light laser cannons: A pair of fixed forward light laser cannons are the ship’s primary armament. They are used primarily to drive hostiles from the ship’s path so that it can jump to FTL and escape. Many spacers illegally add a second power core, doubling their damage.

Primary Purpose: Defense

Mega-Damage: 3D4x10 M.D. for a dual shot. Only fires dual shots.

Effective Range: 5 miles in space, 2 miles in atmosphere

Rate of Fire: Four times per melee round.

Payload: Effectively unlimited.

 

2. Microwave Cannon: This is a Xintrin staple, it fires a concentrated beam of microwaves at the target, causing explosive evaporation as solid matter is transformed into plasma. It also causes surges and sluggishness in electrical equipment. Any vessel without hardened circuits is -10% to all ship control rolls (such as piloting and sensor rolls) for the next 1D4 minutes and is -2 to initiative, dodge, and dog fighting rolls.. The effects are not cumulative and there is no saving throw. The turret can rotate 360 degrees and has a 45 degree elevation. It is controlled from the cockpit.

Primary Purpose: Defense

Mega-Damage: 2D4x10 M.D.

Effective Range: 2 miles in space, 4,000 feet in atmosphere.

Rate of Fire: Two attacks per melee round.

Payload: Effectively unlimited.

 

3. Electromagnetic Arms: The two appendages on the forward hull are electromagnetic arms that allow the Free Trader to tow external cargo pods or other small vessels. They can be raised, lowered and rotated and can double the ship’s loading capacity.

 

Sensors: Standard ship sensors. Short-range sensors have a range of 200,000 miles. Long-range sensors have a range of 20 million miles.

 

Bonuses: +10% to all starship mechanics rolls involving upgrades.