Jorus Merrill
is mek bote
Image Source: Maquis Ju'day-class raider, Star Trek: Voyager.
Affiliation: Personal. (The Underground, Levantine Frontier Corps.)
Manufacturer: Silk, modified by the Underground.
Model: Patrol variant Alndys-class Patrol/Exploration Craft (heavily modified).
Modularity: Already heavily modified.
Production: Unique.
Material: Durasteel hull, transparisteel viewports.
Classification: Personal Transport, Scout.
Length: 68.6m
Width: 64.4m
Height: 18.6m
Armament:
- 2x heavy Conqueror ion cannon (capital scale, wingtip mounts)
- 2x Retribution plasma cannon (capital scale, bow, ventral)
- 4x Retribution plasma cannon turret (sub-capital scale, 2 dorsal, 2 ventral)
- 2x antimissile octets (1 dorsal, 1 ventral)
- 1x Conner net launcher (8 nets, aft)
Hangar:
- 2x KKT-74 repair pod
- 4x Silk-6 swoop bike
- 2x Silk-9 cargo speeder
- 1x small starfighter
Special Features:
- Standard Silk Holdings smuggling countermeasures package (cap drains, chaff/flare, crybaby, shroud)
- Solid fuel/ration converter for extended emergency operation
- False telesponder (IDs include Nutcracker, Druckenwell's Folly, Blue Ice and First Knowledge)
- Silkworm Hypertransit Package (includes class 0.5 hyperdrive, class 12 backup, proprietary nav data, elite navicomputer, non-eavesdropping hyperwave signal interceptor, hyperspace matrix S-thread hypercomm/hyperradio, hyperspace compass, emergency dit-dah hyperspace transponder)
- Excellent mapping sensors
- Advanced shield generators
- Deployable hyperspace beacons, hyperwave transceivers, stasis probes, S-thread boosters (very limited numbers, variable by mission profile)
- Gemcutter
- Anti-ion emission tracer
- Ion-scrambler
- Tractor/pressor beam
- Hypercapable escape pods
Maneuverability Rating: 4
Speed Rating: 4
Hyperdrive Class: 0.5, 12 backup
Strengths:
- Absolutely superb at everything to do with hyperspace exploration, apart from brute-force things like creating or overcoming interdiction
- Primary weapons ignore shielding
- Fast
- Thin hull cross-section means vital components are relatively close to the surface
- No warhead launchers
- Few defensive emplacements
- No viable hangar capacity
- Plasma cannons have a very short range
- Primary weapons are semi-fixed, causing obvious issues for attack vectors and tracking speed contests
Description: The D'Lessio is a heavily modified version of a light patrol variant to the Alndys-class. At just under half the size, it is lighter, faster, and requires far less crew. It is the personal starship of Captain Jorus Merrill, a leader of the Underground, a member of the Levantine Frontier Corps, and an instructor at the Levantine Astronautical Academy. His ramshackle, overgunned YV-929 Gypsymoth being too distinctive for covert operations, he selected a ship that is mass-produced and available on the open market. After repeated close calls and overhauls, too, the Gypsymoth was nearing a point where Jorus wanted to be able to save it for his daughter Mara. He retired the old ship -- though he, Mara and Alna tinker with it and keep it in good shape -- and took the D'Lessio as his primary vessel. Encrypted hypercomms allow him to participate in the leadership of the Underground (and coordinate the mapping activities of Baobab Astrography) even while running cadet cruises for the Levantine Frontier Corps.
The resulting ship is far less combat-focused than Jorus' past vessels. Though capable of hit-and-run operations, it is primarily an exploration craft. Its focus lies almost solely on analyzing astronomical objects, space and hyperspace. It is a high-survivability teaching vessel for the Levantine Astronautical Academy and, to some extent, for the Jedi Academy network, though it contains no practice rooms, holocron vaults, etc.
The D'Lessio's comprehensive automation and scaled-down construction allow it to get by with an optimal crew of twenty-three and a minimum crew, in extremis, of one. Its crew is generally made up of hardbitten and close-mouthed Underground sympathizers from the Levantine Frontier Corps, some of whom are Epicanthix exiles. Its chief engineer is often the Kushiban [member="Miktik"], and its first officer is the old Wookiee known as Beyyr, both of whom have served with Jorus for years. The D'Lessio can fit up to five passengers; it has few comforts or amenities. Its medical suite is compact but advanced, geared to make sure that first contact situations don't give everyone a lethal cold.
At one point, Jorus attempted to outfit the D'Lessio with a hibridium cloak and periscope, but the modification wound up proving too costly for power and processing limits, so the system was removed. The vessel's shakedown cruise, an instinctive astrogation training mission for Underground pilots, was a thorough tour of the Murgo Choke and the Utegetu Nebula, culminating in a confrontation with the Viis.
Development Thread: Shakedown cruise and tinkering (32 posts)
Intent: A replacement for the venerable and overgunned Gypsymoth, which is being retired for now. A setting for future Deep Black Sea expeditions.
Who Can Use This: Jorus Merrill, Alna Merrill.
Primary Source: None.
