Ova Ziss
President of United Trade Authority
Universal Mining Barge V7
An 80-Meter heavy mining spacecraft designed for maximum ore logistics and processing operations.
- Intent: To create a general-purpose mining barge that could be used by any person or faction.
- Image Source: That is a Star Wars Empire at War mod texture by @kubli on Moddb.com of the Trilon Barque, which is the inspo.
- Canon Link:
Mining Barque (Mining Barge) | Trilon Inc (Canon) - Permissions: Canon
- Primary Source: Mining Barque (Mining Barge)
- Manufacturer: United Industrial (United Trade Authority)
- Affiliation: Any
- Market Status: Open-Market
- Model: Seven
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Built using a mass produced durasteel and doonium alloy - so that it can be re-manufactured many, many, many, many times.
- Classification: Merchant Cruiser
- Length: 80 meters
- Width: 100 Meters
- Height: 90 Meters
- Armament: Very Low. Mining laser and tractor beam, and that's it.
- Defenses: Very High. Reinforced durasteel overlapped with obsidian bracing, doonium, and heavy plasteel.
- Hangar Space: Very Low: 3
- Hangar Allocations:
- Starfighters: x 1
- Support Craft: x 2
- Maneuverability Rating: Very Low. This is a slow craft intended for mining and heavy defensive operations.
- Speed Rating: Low - Maximum Acceleration: 1200 G | Maximum Speed in atmosphere: 200 MPH
- Hyperdrive: Class 1.0 - Can be upgraded, but at an exceptional cost.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- No special features. This is a typical mining barge for universal production, distribution, and use by any company or person.
- Incredibly Hardy: This mining barge is meant to withstand asteroids, energy conditions, and weather conditions.
- Highly Resistant to Energy: Even lightsabers will have difficulty breaking the hull of these ships.
- Highly Resistant to All Weather and Environmental Damage (Fire, Freezing, Etc.): The Barge withstands various harsh conditions for much longer than other ships. The Barge will continue to move until it is completely damaged and the main systems lose power.
- Highly Resistant to EMP and Electricity: The ship can withstand significant EMP and electricity pulses before faltering.
- Slow-Moving: It's a Barge, not a speeder. It turns slowly. It moves slowly. And once it gets moving, it doesn't stop on a dime.
- Ill Equipped for Combat Situations: The ship is only equipped with an asteroid penetration laser.
- Minimal Crew per Ship: The ship is built to carry ore, and so the entire ship only seats a total of 9.
- Abysmal Hyperdrive Capabilities: The hyperdrive is built for durability and not speed, so it takes ages to spin up.
- Ionic Weapon Disruptions: Ion storms will cause the weapons systems and primary shields to be disrupted, including the mining laser. There will be a long downtime as the shield / weapons / hyperdrive reset and come back online, which could cost the craft precious escape time.
- Main Power Outages: If the ship withstands too much damage, it will power off, leaving the pilot in a precarious position.
The Mining Barque, or Mining Barge, has been manufactured by Trilon Corporation and several other corporations on an independent basis for generations. At 80 metres long, it is only slightly larger than a small spaceship. The design has since been copied, remade, and over-litigated so many times that eventually, an informal corporate dictat was silently issued saying that the mining barge design cannot ever be copyrighted at all. The "Mining Barge" means only that the ship meets the general technical specifications required to work in an industrial capacity. Multiple companies offer up their own variations of a "mining barge". The logo differs, but the design is the same, and it came from Trilon.
These small and versatile ships are built for flexibility, utility, and low fuel use. Its strange shape is designed to absorb asteroid strikes as it traverses precariously into asteroid belts to extracts precious ores. Each ship can carry 3,000 metric tons of product. This is enough to fill three Olympic-sized swimming pools full to the brim with ore.
The Mining Barge has a large dome-like structure attached to a small, cigar shaped cockpit. The Barge can fit three Droid-sized crew members in the cockpit and the central dome can fit up to six Droid-sized miners.
The Barges have tractor beams and processing facilities. The crew will, "set one" (put an asteroid in the processing chamber), and then "knock it down" (shatter the asteroid into its composite ore with a laser mesh screen). The crew then sorts the rock into ore, potential ore, and sheet rock. There are several hundred holding chambers present, and an ore processing module is able to organize the ore based on weight and dimensions. They can also crush the rock into gravel and this helps to provide coals for the ship's antiquated human heating system and eco-propulsion technology. Larger asteroids need to be broken into many smaller "set ones".
Much of the time, these Barges are entirely autonomous. A fleet commander, usually in a large merchant-class ship such as a Kathhound Cruiser, would supervise the barge fleet as it autonomously mines asteroids in a "strip" of the asteroid belt. The commander would have a central command station that would show the status of each ship and the ores that they are extracting. If human beings are on-board the Barges, their life support systems are visible to every ship in the fleet. Once a strip of the belt had been "hollowed" (extracted of all useable resources), the Barge moves on to a new strip.
These barges can remain in an asteroid belt for up to four months before requiring a re-supply and a re-charging.
Sometimes, Mining Barges are used as prison ships. Each barque could contain up to 6 prisoners and three guards. When they are used as prison ships, the mines are autonomous and unpiloted. The Prison Warden controls the progress of each barge.
Out Of Character Info
Intent:
To create a general-purpose mining barge that could be used by any person or faction.
Technical Information
Affiliation:
Any
Starship Class:
Corvette (50-200m)
Starship Role:
Freighter
Modular:
Yes
Material:
Reinforced Durasteel and Doonium
Armaments:
Mining lasers; tractor beam
Defense Rating:
Very High
Speed Rating:
Very Low
Maneuverability Rating::
Very Low
Energy Resist:
High
Kinetic Resist:
Very High
Radiation Resist:
High
Other Resistance(s):
Very resistant to electricity; Fire; Freezing; Asteroid Collisions, but the barge will eventually break apart with continuous damage.
Minimum Crew:
3
Optimal Crew:
9
Passenger Capacity:
4
Cargo Capacity:
Large
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