Difference between revisions of "Lun (Spacecraft)"

Revision as of 14:12, 9 January 2016

This page is about the spacecraft. For the AI, see Lun Alekseeva

Lun was intended to be the future. She was built by the Soviet Navy to be a high-speed guided missile cruiser, hunting American aircraft carrier groups with nuclear tipped missiles. Construction of s second Lun was begun - as a rescue craft. The Soviet Union collapsed before testing of the first could be completed, with the second remaining unfinished at the Alekseev factory in Nizhny Novgorod. An attempt was made to modernise and bring Lun back into service in 2012, but ended when funding was diverted to the GKK Severstal project. Lun was left sitting in dock, given only cursory maintenance for the next 12 years.

A few fans investigated purchasing her, with the Alekseev design bureau attempting to auction off both Lun hulls three times before someone finally purchased Lun itself in April 2024. ^[1]

Lun was purchased by Ford Sierra using the insurance payoff from the wrecked Dragon Wagon II.^[2]. The cruiser was re-engined in Kaspiysk over the course of about a week before being flown over Georgia and the Black Sea to a drydock in Greece, where it was vacuum-sealed before being lifted to orbit by a JMC heavy-lift team.

Lun was then waved in the traditional manner for spaceflight, making its first public appearance at the Fides 500 on May 29th.

On the surface, Lun was built to be the standard Fen Belter cruiser: comfortable for ten people for long journeys, a shipmind (Lun Alekseeva) with a decent onboard cargo capacity, a useful turn of speed and the ability to defend itself from opportunist raiders. Rumours soon began to circulate however that something more was going on, initially centering on the original Moskito missile armament being left intact, or modified towards some sort of strategic role. Lun's sensor and communication array were notably overpowered and unusually arranged. Two missiles were waved to make an attempt on the manned Limit Speed Record^[3] - each retained a guidance system onboard for unmanned test flights.

What Lun's actual purpose was, wasn't revealed until November 2024, five-weeks after thirty people decided to take a month-long post-racing season vacation on Arcadia. An anonymous leaker posted video footage and design documentation revealing that the cruiser had been built with an ulterior motive.

Lun was specifically built to mine the Arcadian Ocean floor for chunks of the crashed Iconian Gate, in violation of Arcadian Ecological Preservation zone imposed by the United Federation of Planets. The mission returned 8.5 tons of Gate Metal to Fenspace, where it promptly disappeared into a deep black organisation known as 'The Interesting Times Gang'. The ship earned itself a motion of censure from the Federation council for their trouble.

Since the revelation of her purpose and subsequent withdrawal of the original Port Phobos registration, Lun was reflagged to Crystal Hiroshima. It has occasionally been called upon to assist the main Sailor's Armed Militia fleet in search and rescue mission, or patrol duties, though isn't officially considered a reserve-line craft.^[4]

Operation CAMERON

Lun was internally rebuilt, with most of her keel spaces being modified to create a large cargo bay and airlocked moonpool. A small lab was added in the aft section of the hull, to give cover for the underwater operation as a little amateur scientific research. A high output sensor array gave advanced warning of any incoming Starfleet inspection teams, and allowed the ship to scan for Gate Metal from the ocean surface at high speed. Thirty crew were required to live in space originally fitted for 10, for up to a month.

Her engines allowed for multiple-days cruising at full speed, meters above the ocean surface, scanning for Gate Metal signatures.

Inside the cargo bay, a compact crane was fitted, intended to lift and lower the Azorian sled. The Azorian was intended to act as a hardware carrier supporting the mining operation.

The Azorian sled contained fittings for holding two RGM-83-M Marine Balls (The obvious nickname was quickly shot down), three hard diving suit docks, miniature transport sleds and various manipulator for both Balls. The Balls have been modified from models used by the Venus Terraforming Project for surface maintenance and cable inspection- their atmospheric thrusters replaced by underwater pumpjet engines. Power is supplied by onboard Tanalloy batteries giving an endurance of up to 1 week in an emergency.

Spare power cells are stored on Azorian. Each Ball is positively buoyant, weighed down by lead shot which is automatically released in the event of a power failure causing an uncontrolled ascent.

The diving suits themselves are further adaptations of VTP hardware, with fully sealed joints. Some adjustment to suit the wearer is required. Each suit is fitted with remote manipulator hands, with additional tools on Azorian itself. Small wildlife sample containers were also provided, to maintain the research facade. Each suit also came fitted with a portable gate metal scanner to pin down the location of each individual metal nodule. A pair of cameras on each suit and ball relayed video to a Top-Crew which provided assistance, oversight and navigation. These cameras also recorded some of the most interesting footage of the mission.^[5]

The team operating Azorian were referred to as the 'Bottom Crew', and were drawn from members of the Venus Terraforming Project. Incidentally, Azorian is named for the original Project Azorian - a CIA secret plan to recover a sunken Soviet Submarine from the Pacific Ocean, under the guise of an ocean mining expedition.

The equipment was tested before use, a planned shallow-water test on the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was aborted due to prevailing weather conditions. A deep-water test on the RMS Titanic returned some small artifacts including crockery and rusticle samples. Both wrecks were chosen as they were extensively scientifically documented and could be used to calibrate sensors while giving credence to the mission's 'amateur science' cover.

The Bottom Crew managed to mine 8.5 tons of Gate Metal, which was hidden in 4 Moskitos and went unnoticed by a pair of Federation inspection teams. They made it home to Fenspace without their true purpose being revealed. 5 weeks after their return, details of the mission found their way to Wikileaks, whereupon hell broke loose politically. Debates about who knew what, how much the Federation knew, how hard the inspection teams actually looked ^[6]and just what Interesting Times is still set groups on fire. Even the majority of those on board had no idea what was being dug up, such was the information compartmentalisation around the mission. Those who do know, refuse to discuss.

After the mission's revelation, the Azorian hardware was donated to the Artemis Foundation for use as a dedicated submarine research platform.

Lun remained on Frigga. Starfleet would likely refuse its participation in any followup research mission.

Attributes

It costs ten thousand dollars to run these engines for twelve seconds: Eight main engines needed to take-off. Capable of a frightening turn of speed under emergency conditions. Normally cruises at a much lower speed.

Pale-skinned Paciderm: Lun was built and optimised for its intended mission first, and the people using it third. It makes her 'difficult' to live with. Crew accomodation is tight. Comm's and sensors are overpowered, with the sensors arranged inefficiently for spaceflight. The cargo bay is inaccessible when landed, with a small capacitym and both wings get in the way of proper docking at airlocks meaning Lun has to use self-contained inflatable extensions. And that's just the beginning. ^[7]

Banned from Arcadia: Marked by an official motion of censure from the Federation Council.^[8]

Glomarous: Has built up an impressive amounts of conspiracy theories for such a 'new' ship. ^[9].

Crew Quirks

One weekend a month: Occasionally manned by a crew of SAM reservists, and remains on standby for rescue and patrol duties as needed. Training and fleet duties are attended as required.

But do they wear a Tel'nik?: Militia crew duty and dress uniforms are visually derived from the Soviet Navy - including a navy-blue striped Telnyashka undershirt.^[10].

All animals are equal....: Lun is available for anyone living on Frigga who needs the use of a heavy cruiser, for whatever lawful purpose, provided the need is genuine. Naturally, it's a good idea to book in advance as there can be a waiting list. And repairs/replacement do have to be covered by the person doing the damage. ^[11]

Some animals are more equal than others. Ford tends to take precedence - as the official papers-holding owner - since Bounty Hunting can require a 'flexible' schedule. Official business for Survival Shot, Asagiri, Ford's Heavyarms or Frigga itself comes first.

Known Vehicle Quirks

Water-born. Needs to be sprayed with salt-water monthly to inhibit corrosion. Has basic beaching landing gear - so can ground slowly in a hanger or up a slipway. Cannot land or takeoff on a runway at speed.

Dashcam Special: A single video camera is mounted on the instrument panel, looking out over the nose. It must be operational for the engines to start. It has a habit of being pointed at exactly the right place at exactly the right moment to capture someone's spectacular screw up.

Ground Gripper: Based on a Ground-Effect vehicle. Needs high engine thrust over the wings to exceed 10 Metres in altitude. Incapable of level cruise above 6000 metres using engine-augmented lift. Decent to a cruising altitude after re-entry is especially difficult.

Notes

The ship's registered motto is in Russian: Звезды призывают, or "The Stars Call".

1. ↑ Most people had enough sense to realise that getting it out of Kaspiysk would be far more trouble than it was worth, or that it was only really useful for very limited rolls.
2. ↑ Destroyed a month previously in a collision with an unidentified flying object on re-entry over North America
3. ↑ Falling short at .2227C
4. ↑ Already having earned itself the darkly humourous nicknames Zippo or Sammy Cooker because of the amount of kerosene and peroxide it carries to fuel the Moskito, and a well publicised onboard fire in Venus' atmosphere.
5. ↑ The Sparks, especially.
6. ↑ Mindful that Starfleet Admirals do have a reputation to uphold.
7. ↑ There's a good reason no fen grabbed this unicorn.
8. ↑ Framed and mounted with pride of place in the galley
9. ↑ The fact that one of them was found to be true only fuels the fires
10. ↑ Part of a deliberate plan to foster crew unity in training and a level of 'elite' pride by requiring trainees to at least receive a distinction in all of their courses to earn the right to wear the full telnyashka uniform. Other ship's crews just can't take the heat
11. ↑ And they have to demonstrate exactly why they need a heavy 8-engined cruiser to do the job.

Stories

The Lun appears in the following stories:

• Azorian