Known to Imperials as the Great Rift Prowler, and to
Aslan in their native
Trokh as the Hkiealryue, this class of starship is a relatively recent development offered by only a scant few shipyards in the
Riftspan Reaches sector in the last century, with limited volume production continuing up through the present year of 1105 on the Imperial calendar. The capabilities of these starships are simply too well suited to the extreme challenges of astrogation and endurance needed in the
Great Rift although at a higher level of required technological sophistication than previous generations of the starship lineage. The TL=14 construction of this starship class, however, places significant constraints on the number of type A and B starports can provide spare parts, annual maintenance and repairs, making operational logistics support a very real sustainment consideration for Pursers. The constrained manufacturing support and supply base needed by these starships creates conditions under which only a few wealthy
Aslan clans (
huiha) and
corporations (all run by females), including the Khu Su'ikh of course, being the supermajority of owners and operators for this class of starship. Most prides (
ahriy) and families (
ekho) are simply unable to afford the expenses tend to generate, let alone secure the supply lines they need to be tethered to in order to remain operational over the long haul.
Still built in the tradition of previous generations, where being a proverbial "go everywhere, do everything" starship capable of taking on almost any civilian task role from belter to envoy courier to scientific research duties in addition to light paramilitary support, supply and surveying roles, the one thing the ship class is built for from the landing claws on up has not changed significantly and that is still the imperative for the interstellar range and reach needed to transit across the vast distances between stars in the
Great Rift. With the use of L-Hyd drop tanks available at most type A and B starports, even transits of up to 6-10 parsecs one way (in two consecutive jumps) with a modest cargo load are possible without needing to refuel en route, making some of the remotest Aslan dominated systems in the
Great Rift at least modestly accessible (if not always affordable or economically profitable to visit).
An Aslan design built using a 500 ton (in
Trokh base-8) or 320 ton (in Imperial base-10 standard) hull size, everything about these ships is intended to be multipurpose and fulfill multiple possible roles and missions over their useful operational life, with the potential to refurbish and reconfigure capabilities based on need and purpose. The ship class features Jump-5, Maneuver-2 and Power Plant-5 drives, capable of delivering a constant 2G Agility (sufficient for VTOL on even
big worlds with higher than standard gravity) while also fully powering weapons and the ship's onboard model/5 computer with a significant surplus of reserve power to spare. The bridge contains work stations for all 5 crew so as to accommodate all crew aboard in the event of an abandon ship situation. The
bridge is detachable and can be used as a crew lifeboat in an emergency.
Fuel scoops are integrated into the flattened cone shaping of the ship's hull, along with a fuel purification plant which is an absolute necessity in the
Great Rift where misjumps due to use of unrefined fuel are more likely to cause starships to go missing (permanently) with no hope for survival. Consequently, use of unrefined fuel to jump with is a more serious hazard to both ship and crew than might be considered acceptable in other regions of Charted Space. Internal fuel tankage is 176.5 tons, sufficient for 5 parsecs of jump range, with a collapsible fuel tank of 24 tons capacity fitted for use in the 24 tons (Imperial base-10) / 30 tons (
Trokh base-8) internal cargo hold as a jump range extender, even though this collapsible fuel tank is rarely used in practice except on extremely long endurance patrols. L-Hyd drop tank fittings are also included as standard, although a wide variety of drop tank sizes (from 32-288 tons) are needed depending on where (and how) the captain intends to reach the ship's destination (and with what external cargo loaded). The modestly sized 24 ton internal cargo bay is only a single deck into which 3
standard 8 ton cargo containers can be loaded in a port/starboard roll-on/roll-off fashion through ventral cargo bay doors that open on both sides for ramp access in a gravity well. Cargo is loaded at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the starship into the 9m long by 12m wide by 3m high main bay, with one single deck slot 3m long by 12m wide and 3m high space at one end of the main bay often desginated and used as a reconfigurable space for a
mail vault (very common) and/or other consumable supplies needed on particularly long endurance missions.
In a clean configuration, with no external loading, a transit along the entire
J-5 Trans-Rift Hierate Route can be made in as few as 10 jumps (62.5 to 73 days Imperial / 41.7 to 48.7
eakhau (Aslan days) spent in
jumpspace, not including normal space operations), a noticeable improvement over the previous generation starship class (previously a 14 jump minimum when limited to Jump-4). Owing to the time and distances involved, such transits along the entirety of the
J-5 Trans-Rift Hierate Route coreward/rimward are eminently practical using an Jump-5 capable starship, albeit not necessarily economical. Additionally, the J-6 transit to Trailing through the
Verge Connector into Imperial space can also be accomplished with these starships. There is however sufficient cargo capacity to house 6 staterooms for a male Noble Envoy plus entourage and attending female Steward(s) from the envoy's own family. pride or clan when an 128 ton L-Hyd drop tank is retained (limiting the starship to Jump-3, Maneuver-1 performance) during the journey from spinward
Aslan Hierate controlled space to and/or from
Imperial controlled space in the trailing
Verge sector across
Great Rift.
Cargo can also be mounted externally, allowing the starship to act as either a maneuver tug within a star system or as a jump tug for hauling cargo across interstellar distances. Use of this external loading option does reduce drive performance and efficiency, however, but can be invaluable for the transport of significant mass quantities of goods over interplanetary and interstellar distances in support of military, paramilitary and commercial needs as they arise. Use of these ships in the interstellar bulk cargo tug role helps to defray their operating costs.
Standard armament still remains a pair of mixed dual turrets on two hardpoints (a third hardpoint could have been added but was omitted in the original design) located on the longtitudinal axis along the ship's dorsal ridge. This arrangement allows both turrets to be boresighted dead ahead forward if necessary along the ship's centerline.
The aft dorsal dual turret holds a missile/sandcaster combination which is usually remotely controlled by the the captain/pilot from his workstation on the bridge. These two weapons are more of a "fire and forget" type which have a reduced workload that allows the captain/pilot to focus more on evasion and defense in ship-to-ship combat situations. The missile launcher can be loaded with a variety of probes (in addition to the standard HE warhead combat loads) which can be useful in anything from exploration scouting to scientific surveys to prospecting roles. Clan Space Forces can, and have at times been known to, optionally arm these ships with nuclear warhead missiles in the event of declared clan wars and/or open hostilities with non-Aslan powers, although this is rarely done outside of declared wars. At TL=13, advancements in automation and fire control increased the accuracy, precision and effectiveness of the missile launcher over earlier technological standards, all of which carry forward into the current generation of the class.
