coliver988
SOC-14 1K
I think this deserves its own thread so as to not interfere with the traffic control thread. Stuck it in this forum as, well, it is the Scouts we're talking about.
Several things came up I think that warrant discussion:
For me, I see the tenders pretty far outside the 100D limit. The issue as pointed out is fuel: refueling those J4 ships and keeping the tender fueled is not really ideal as is. I'd also posit the Scout fuel tender that just moves fuel from its source to the tender. Another boring Scout job - fuel tender pilot. I stick the tenders far outside the 100D limit because the XBoats, lacking M drives, could be a potential shipping hazard if inside "shipping lanes". Though this does bring up an interesting point: can you exit jump at a specific point in space that does not have a gravity well? (sorry, that would be another thread!). As mentioned in the original thread, I'd have them orbit a gas giant if there was one, or a big rock in a belt if that system does not have a gas giant, and failing both, just a few hundred diameters out from the main port.
As for flexibility, knowing that they want to move as fast as possible for this version of the poni express, I do see a spare XBoat waiting at t-17 hours far enough away from the tender to be able to jump once the incoming boat appears and the data has been transmitted. If the boat is carrying physical mail, that would have to be transferred as well, possibly adding some time. I think also that there would be a small fleet of tenders at the nodes that carry a lot of traffic, and in fact would not be surprised to have a much larger station instead of a tender as that would not require jump drives and only station keeping engines.
As for protection, certainly a MTU thing I think. The Imperial Navy would come down like a hammer should something happen, but, supposing that somehow the data being carried was worth enough for the risk? And again. depending on your universe, could a corsair or some large enough ship be hanging out near by (just pilot casually) and grab the entire boat? T5 has large enough gravity wells can affect the jump: so stick a big enough ship along the line for the incoming XBoat and you could have it come out of jump an AU or more away from where it was supposed to come out (which is not a thing in MTU as that sort of thing to me disrupts things a lot more than you would think). But possibly a node near the border may have Navy or other resources for protection for as we all know, knowledge is power. And those boats are transporting a lot of knowledge.
(and hey, my 1st post on the new boards. Hopefully the correct forum, if not, please move to where it should be - thanks!)
Several things came up I think that warrant discussion:
- Where do the tenders stay?
- How much flexibility / extra XBoats are ready to handle slack
- Do they need protection or not?
For me, I see the tenders pretty far outside the 100D limit. The issue as pointed out is fuel: refueling those J4 ships and keeping the tender fueled is not really ideal as is. I'd also posit the Scout fuel tender that just moves fuel from its source to the tender. Another boring Scout job - fuel tender pilot. I stick the tenders far outside the 100D limit because the XBoats, lacking M drives, could be a potential shipping hazard if inside "shipping lanes". Though this does bring up an interesting point: can you exit jump at a specific point in space that does not have a gravity well? (sorry, that would be another thread!). As mentioned in the original thread, I'd have them orbit a gas giant if there was one, or a big rock in a belt if that system does not have a gas giant, and failing both, just a few hundred diameters out from the main port.
As for flexibility, knowing that they want to move as fast as possible for this version of the poni express, I do see a spare XBoat waiting at t-17 hours far enough away from the tender to be able to jump once the incoming boat appears and the data has been transmitted. If the boat is carrying physical mail, that would have to be transferred as well, possibly adding some time. I think also that there would be a small fleet of tenders at the nodes that carry a lot of traffic, and in fact would not be surprised to have a much larger station instead of a tender as that would not require jump drives and only station keeping engines.
As for protection, certainly a MTU thing I think. The Imperial Navy would come down like a hammer should something happen, but, supposing that somehow the data being carried was worth enough for the risk? And again. depending on your universe, could a corsair or some large enough ship be hanging out near by (just pilot casually) and grab the entire boat? T5 has large enough gravity wells can affect the jump: so stick a big enough ship along the line for the incoming XBoat and you could have it come out of jump an AU or more away from where it was supposed to come out (which is not a thing in MTU as that sort of thing to me disrupts things a lot more than you would think). But possibly a node near the border may have Navy or other resources for protection for as we all know, knowledge is power. And those boats are transporting a lot of knowledge.
(and hey, my 1st post on the new boards. Hopefully the correct forum, if not, please move to where it should be - thanks!)