Docks and cargo siphons

During the final stages of building FRG Thor, one of the key things I found was that having ships drifing nearby Dry Station was awkward and somewhat cluttered.  Additionally it was both slow and inconvenient to do several astronaut trips between a newly returned vessel and the station's Factory, using my own personal data banks as a shuttle to carry digital mass signatures to my facility.

So I drafted plans to build a dock at Dry Station and fit it with a system that would automatically siphon digital signatures from a drop box next to the docked vessel, so that I wouldn't have to travel any distance and therefore save me a bunch of time.

Dry Station with her initial compliment of docking arms fitted.

The docking arms were a continuation of Dry Station's simple and inexpensive alloy mesh structure acting as a support for the mammoth cables required to transmit digital matter signals.  e=mc2, which meant that even small amounts of matter converted into monstrous amounts of energy.  All that energy required very heavy duty cabling to avoid being burnt out during transmission and storage.

At the end of each docking arm I've fitted a drop box connected to the central factory matter signature storage facility.

The docking arms were capped with a labelled drop box into which I could drop all matter signatures without having to travel the distance from the docked vessel to the factory myself.  From the drop box the signatures are siphoned down the heavy duty cabling to a central storage box, which in turn feeds all matter signatures into the sorting box.  The sorting box (which has until now been my overall drop-box) then distributes matter signatures into various sorted boxes to make finding and accessing them much easier.

Thor requires the biggest docking arm to date due to her size.

Different coloured cabling leads to different docking arms.

Red is SVG Speeder's docking arm cable.
Yellow is SVG Excavator's docking arm cable.
White is CRV Alannis's docking arm cable.
Orange is the recently added docking arm cable for FRG Thor.

Black cable is for a recently wired in scanner complex.

The central siphon box is connected directly to the power grid to cope with the humongous quantity of energy required.  Matter signatures can be drained from all siphon boxes simultaneously and then fed at a steady pace into the factory's sorting box.

The entire set up allows me to disembark a newly docked vessel, and drop all matter signatures into the siphon box immediately adjacent to the docked ship.  From there Dry Station will automatically draw it into the matter signature facility and sort it into it's necessary home.  Whenever a new matter signature is encounted that does not have a home yet, it remains idle in the sorting box, and this acts as a prompt for me to either re-configure an existing storage box to receive it, or create a new storage box for that catagory of matter signatures.

The entire set up makes life much easier for me, and ensures that the factory always has a precise location to draw any particular type of matter signature from.

The Library

As time went on I found that one thing tended to lead to another.

For example the build of FRG Thor required me to use particular types of components (for example shield capacitors), which in turn required particular types of materials (for example Rammet and Sertise capsules).

As I had since breaking free of the now obliterated Gundabadt, I had been purchasing materials and even components from the nearby Trading Guild station, however the station was having supply issues due to pirate blockades in a nearby system, and were unable to provide me any more than I had already purchased.

As a result, I was reaching a point where more and more items were now unable to be built or purchased, and the only way I would be able to build these items for any more vessels and expand my budding empire would be to mine and process the minerals myself.  Or destroy the blockade.  If the Trading Guild couldn't despatch the blockade, then clearly I would have no chance, so really, the only option was to find, mine, and process the necessary minerals myself, and use them to manufacture my own items.

But I was new to this, having been a process slave in Gundabadt I knew nothing about minerals, asteroids, what they looked like, where they could be found, et cetera.

I would need to begin exploring, sampling, and cataloging my discoveries.

I knew this would require a huge amount of processing power, and so the concept for a Library addition to my shipyard station was born.

Databases and servers whir and blink as they wait to absorb, catalog, and as required present compiled information about the discoveries I made.

Everything from asteroids found, mineral content, resources, capsules, refineries, technologies, building techniques, blueprints for ships, research, starbase and asteroid field locations, and a host of other information would be fed into these servers and processed by their AI into a range of useful information.

Connected to the main deck of my shipyard and the basic factory I had previously built, the library is almost as power-hungry as the entire shipyard and factory to date, warranting the addition of another 2 3x3x3 power generators.

To protect the delicate servers from random pirate fire, the Library has a much denser structure than the rest of the shipyard's facilities, and is wired directly into the power grid.

This Library Wing adds a further 10x5x10 structure to the basic factory and power/shield generator grid structure connected to the shipyard, and is helping to form a small station attachment to the entire structure.

With the docking arms (completed with ship maintenance systems and cargo siphons) added to the station some weeks ago, the entire shipyard complex is becoming much more like a small station now.

Dubbed "Dry Station", my shipyard was almost a small port nowadays.

Pirates seemed to give me wide berth these days, although occassionally a sniper or two would sit outside the range of my homing missile turrets and pepper Dry Station with long shots... but they did little more than give me a smirk if one managed to actually strike the base instead of sail by through empty space.

Excavator absorbs Gundabadt

SVG Excavator's maiden voyage was to undertake that which had created the need to upgrade SVG Speeder in the first place - salvaging the battered remains of Gundabadt Station.

I ensured she was well supplied, all systems were operational, and she was fully ready and able to fly. Once all checks came back green, it was time to ease out of dry dock, slowly starboard and upwards to clear SVG Speeder which remained stationary where she had been throughout the build process offering a small amount of turret protection to SVG Excavator while she was without armour and shielding during the initial stages of build.

Unlike CRV Alannis, SVG Excavator's engines did not penetrate the structure from bow-to-stern, but were instead stern-fitted shallow-mount uni-directional fusion outlets.

She was slightly larger than Alannis, but had less shields and thrust, in favour of her primary function - salvage cannons.

Once clear of the shipyard and Speeder, I set the navigation computer to the coordinates of the now derelict Gundabadt Station, and engaged her engines full throttle.

She was about as clunky as Speeder, due to her greatly increased mass, even with the Unidirectional Shallow-mount Fusion Outlet engines (which provided much greater thrust than Speeder's naked thruster module engines).

My rapid-mobility ship "Taxi" can be seen top right, used to quickly get between shipyard, trading guild station, factory, other ships, or even to retrieve pirate wrecks left drifting after coming into range of my automated defenses.

When I arrived at Gundabadt I tested out Excavator's salvage digitisation cannons and was very impressed to see the station melting away before my eyes at a far greater rate than was possible with Speeder.  The entire station was converted to digital mass signatures and stored in my personal storage bank in just under 6 minutes... over 30,000 scrap alloy and a further 30,000 scrap crystal circuits.  A large cinnibar asteroid in orbit around the station was added to my hold within another 2 minutes.

SVG Excavator performed admirably. I had not yet had a need to test her out under fire, however she performed her primary duty as a salvager with great efficiency.

Another successful build.  Soon I would take her out to the asteroid fields to retrieve some more materials, especially some of the rarer elements needed to construct some of the more higher end technologies like shield capacitors and rechargers.  I had depleted the local trading guild's supply of these items, and other ships would need me to construct my own which meant obtaining the required elements...

Gundabadt was gone.  Nothing remained but digital mass signatures of scrap in my hold and some drifting atmospheric molecules where it had once been in space.

This was my space now.

SVG Excavator

SVG Speeder was a good salvaging vessel.  She wore four of my automated homing missile turrets and could soak up a reasonable asteroid in a few minutes.  She had been created from my initial credits which I'd managed to obtain during my escape from Gundabadt Station, and had served me well in digitising asteroids for their mineral content.

However as my need to build bigger and greater vessels increased, so too did my need to digitise minerals (both from defeated pirate vessels, as well as asteroids and comets).

So it became time to replace Speeder with a much more powerful salvaging vessel.

I drafted plans to incorporate the shield technology I had developed for the corvette Alannis, as well as banks of well powered salvaging cannons that would make Speeder's own capacity seem small and insignificant.

I also wanted the new salvager to have much tougher armour as I intended to drop the weight of turrets in favour of shields and armour and simply sit under the umbrella of turret emplacements as I claimed asteroid fields for my own.

And so I began building my new salvager, the SVG Excavator.

SVG Speeder shown to the right of the main salvage cores of SVG Excavator for scale

SVG Excavator has 2614 salvage cannons, compared to SVG Speeder's 240 salvage cannons.  In addition she has 212,000 power storage, with 458,000 e/sec recharge.

SVG Excavator's specifications:
Mass: 820.3 tons
Length: 42m
Height: 16m
Width: 27m
Thrust: 237.9 (-98)
Shields: 28000 (+319/sec)

CRV Alannis and SVG Speeder shown next to shipyard and SVG Excavator for scale.

SVG Excavator is much tougher than SVG Speeder

She has navigation lights for port, starboard, deck and dorsal.

She boasts 1x port, 1x starboard, 2x bow, and 1x stern observation lenses.

She has an armoured open core entrance, and an aligned docking camera.

Her engines are not as powerful as CRV Alannis, but more powerful than SVG Speeder.

SVG Excavator is a big step up from SVG Speeder, and will greatly speed up my mining and salvaging operations.

It was time to take her out for her maiden voyage.

Basic Factory

With the eradication of the Gundabadt Station and my former enslavers, I discovered that it was not financially worthwhile repairing and restoring the station... and neither was I inclined to do so.  I didn't want to live in a constant reminder of my past.  I would make my own ships and structures.

So I began salvaging the station with Speeder and carting the materials back to my shipyard.  Due to the condition of the station the only materials the salvager could digitize was scrap alloy mesh and scrap crystal circuits, but that was okay.  My factories would be able to re-assemble them into whatever I wanted later anyway.

The factory I'd had previously was sorely lacking... it was time to upgrade.

I created a new small purpose-built two-deck basic structure in the middle of the exterior of the shipyard, and within it I built a small factory setup fueled by two small power generators and protected the entire shipyard with two small shield modules learned from the Alannis build.

Two 3x3x3 power generators set up for maximum possible power output drive the new factory.

Storage Banks are labeled with displays for easy access.

The Storage Banks automatically sort and transfer between each other and the factories on the floor above.

Micro Assemblers create Alloy Mesh and Crystal Circuits quickly, and the materials are then put into the appropriate Storage Banks to be accessed later.

Factories and Capsule Refineries on the top deck are used to produce necessary items for future builds.

The factory set up is much smaller than it will be in the future, however it is plenty big enough for the amount of materials I currently need for my next ship build (seen under construction in the shipyard behind the factories in the last picture)...

The Battle of Gundabadt Station

Finally the corvette's armour was completed.  A thick top plate, and two side/dorsal plates protecting her engines and vital systems.

This armour is designed to serve as a backstop for when the shields fail under heavy fire.

After fitting the Alannis out with the homing missile turret design that I had built for my turret emplacements around the shipyard and factory, she was ready to take out.

I went looking for a fight.

Where better than to announce to Gundabadt that my space was not only defended but that it represented a threat if attacked.  I turned my navigation computer to the Gundabadt Station, drifted out of dock, and then engaged full throttle for my target waypoint.

Testing my shields, escape pod (I had Taxi docked for now), engines, radar jamming, and all other systems on the Alannis while en route.  Everything performed marvelously, and I was ready to hunt some pirate fighters and maybe even put a dent in the station itself.

Some distance away the station began to become visible, I engaged the AI controlling my turrets, and they automatically fired a full volley from every turret at the station.  No going back now...

As my missiles closed in on the station it sent out an emergency call for any nearby friendly to assist, and before long I found myself in the middle of a fire fight.

The skirmish lasted for nearly 15 minutes and I quickly discovered that Alannis's shields were sorely lacking but that her armour offered her great protection from the beam weapons used by the pirate fighters. Their shots would destroy most armour cells they hit, but because of the movement of all the vessels in the battle it was very rare for their beams to hit the same area. So the armour as a whole soaked up a tremendous amount of fire, supported by the shields regenerating from time to time.

My homing missiles on the other hand took down target after target, usually only 1 or 2 missiles fired at a target was enough to pop it.

Before long I was swimming in overheating cores and drifting wrecks, and the station was completely disarmed and peppered with craters from my weaponry.

I explored the vacuum-ridden station in Taxi, plenty strong enough to withstand any small-arms fire that might have come from any suited survivors... as it turned out there were none.  The place was vacant.  I had completely squashed the station and inhabitants of a clan of pirates that had held me and my family prisoner for so many years.

Alannis had taken a beating during the battle, so we limped home for some much needed repairs.  She had fought well and proven to be far more effective than Gustav and SVG Speeder combined.  Alannis was not capable of salvaging any of the wrecks she peppered the battle field with, and her shields were woefully inadequate, but for my first corvette she had done well.  And nothing could distract me from the elation I felt at having destroyed my former prison station.

For the first time in my life I felt truly and completely free.

Dry's First Shipyard

Inspired by the size and power of the NSS Versator, it was not long before I decided that my little armoured battle-scout Gustav and even the missile-turreted salvager SVG Speeder were laughably feeble in the grand scheme of things... I would need something much more powerful if I was going to be able to defend my patch of space and avoid being killed or taken back into servitude.

Ultimately I would want a huge well-defended station and also a carrier or dreadnaught to flagship my fleet, however for now I needed to become familiar with process of building (and flying) larger vessels.

I would need a shipyard to both protect as well as provide an anchor-point for my new vessels.

I began immediately by producing a metal mesh structure large enough to hold a frigate-sized vessel.

The shipyard includes a few decks and carefully spaced framework that will allow accurate measurements for all dimensions of the upcoming ships.

The decks will be used to contain tools and materials used in the build, as well as production modules to compliment the basic factory units located in the small production facility I have had for some time now.

Derelict NSS Versator

While mining in a sector not far from my small poorly defended home base, Speeder's sensors picked up the signature of another vessel... My heart lept as I saw the size and power of it and its proximity, before I realized that it was just a derelict.  Good thing too, it was monstrous!

I decided to investigate, and approached the vessel.  It had some power still, but was mostly a decayed husk of a vessel, destroyed by years of exposure and neglect.

On approaching it, the size of the craft became ever more apparent.  It dwarfed the SVG Speeder, which I had previously considered a reasonably large vessel.  I halted Speeder and disembarked to investigate the derelict closer, and perhaps see if I could find a way into the ship.

The ship was riddled with blast damage, and I found one of these holes in the hull led into a small breached crew quarters, giving me access to one of the ship's internal passageways.

Labels inside the vessel identified it as the NSS Versator. The engine still thrummed somewhere off in the distance, but the derelict was clearly in a bad way.  Lights were spotty, tubes were smashed, debris scattered in every corner, most monitors dead, and an eery lack of activity made the entire place feel menacing.

I reactivated systems as I found them and was able, and moved about exploring the insides of the vessel.  It wasn't long before I discovered the bridge, a vast control room filled with three levels of banks of control consoles, a large open bay window, and a holographic representation of the entire NSS Versator.

Large open rooms of unknown purpose...

A grand mess hall with a majestic all round open view of space. Creepy and vast when I first discovered it, but with the mostly functioning lighting re-activated the grandeur of the NSS Versator began to become apparent to me...

From the deck docking bay, my view back along the derelict to the parked SVG Speeder gave me a real sense of size.  Speeder hovered above a part of the derelict about three quarters back from the bow towards the stern.

A Humble Beginning

My name is Dry Broez.

I am a freeman miner from Upsuli system, having recently bought my freedom for my descendants by honor-killing my former master and enslaver Haft Nexshrakt of the clan of Gundabadt.

Now my destiny is my own, and with it I have discovered the thrill and also the fear of unprotected freedom.

For now I tip-toe through space, and have set up a small processing plant within the protection and convenience of a Trading Guild shop that I discovered during my escape from Gundabadt station.

I mine nearby asteroids mostly consisting of Cinnibar, Lukrah, Sand, and some Fertikeen. This has earned me enough to build a small processing plant, a small mining craft fondly called "Speeder", a rapid-transit speeder craft called "Taxi", and a small radar-deceiving, lightly armoured battle-scout called "Gustav".  The processing plant has been fitted with a small basic armoured turret to bolster my defenses, but my proximity to the Trading Guild station as well as my secretive mining approach seems to have kept my operation safe from assault so far.

But I'm not content to be a mere miner hiding in the shadows.

I have dreams... ambitions.