The FarStar: History and Status

[the_darkstryder]

The FarStar is the Corellian Corvette assigned to Captain Ciro to track down Moff Sarne. The heavily-modified ship includes a large interior flight deck for for fighters and transport ships. A large crew requirement means a crowded ship where tensions run high and emotions are volatile. The FarStar is cramped, poorly lit, jury-rigged and facing a hostile force in an unexplored environment – all in all, it’s a perfect place for adventure.

HISTORY

The crew of the FarStar know only that the ship is an older Corvette that Moff Sarne was having refitted for a combination military/exploration mission into the wilderness of the Kathol sector, known locally as the "Kathol Outback".

The interior flight deck was being readied for TIE Interceptor racks, while the interior of the ship was being stocked with supplied and equipped with advanced computer and sensor systems. It is obvious that Sarne had big plans for this ship. The vessel was named the Renegade before the New Republic christened it the FarStar.

After gaining control of the Renegade, New Republic commando Keleman Ciro had 28 hours to assemble a crew and finish the refitting effort. Renaming the ship the FarStar, many of the interior rooms were converted to storage bays. Crew members were stations two to a bunk while supplies were stockpiled and potential crewers were recruited from the civilian population of Kal'Shebbol.

RECENT MODIFICATIONS

The FarStar has had many modifications over its decades of service. The most recent refitting, under the direction of Moff Sarne, has resulted in significant changes to the ship.

Sensors

The FarStar is now equipped with advanced sensor and tracking hardware that nearly doubles the original range of the sensor system. The sensor systems are more sensitive than those found aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer.

This retrofitting gives the FarStar an important advantage: it can often detect and learn about a ship before the opposing vessel has detected the Corvette. Unfortunately, the new system takes up more room than the original sensor system and also draws significantly more power, in part accounting for the power conservation policies aboard the ship.

Weapons

The FarStar's turbolasers have new "predict and pinpoint" targeting routines, but the gunners, who are used to standard targeting systems, are having trouble adjusting to the new system.

The technicians insist that the targeting subroutines can only help their gunnery and if the operates give the system a chance to "settle in," their hit-to-miss ratio will improve drastically. The gunners simply want the Corvette's standard targeting programs reinstalled.
When all is said and don, the programming and the egos of the weapons teams effectively cancel each other out, making for a fairly typical combination of gunner and machine.

The targeting system provides some assistance for standard "point and shoot" volleys, but if the targeting computers can track a target for a full ten seconds, the tracking system's computer assistance gives the gunners a decided advantage against standard targeting systems. The trick is to keep your target in your sights for the full ten seconds.

Armor

A major change is the upgrading of the FarStar's hull and armor plating. The FarStar is now significantly tougher than a standard Corellian Corvette. This added armor plating has increased the thickness of the hull (nearly a full two meters is allocated for hull plating, maintenance crawlways, power conduits, and reinforced bulkheads), but this armor plating also means the FarStar has a significantly higher chance of surviving an attack.

Landing Bay/Docking Tubes

Moff Sarne decided to add a large landing bay and three docking tubes to accommodate shuttles and TIE Interceptors. Sarne, apparently believing the ship would be entering a hostile sector of space, felt additional support craft would be necessary for the ship to survive its mission.

When the New Republic captured the ship, the landing bay was not quite finished. While the flight deck, the main airlock, and the magnetic field generators had been installed (making the landing bay operational), the Imperial engineers had not yet had the chance to install the TIE fighter racks.

The New Republic found it could fit four X-wings internally -- five if an X-Wing was placed on the lift that goes down to the maintenance level. Up to four New Republic Defender fighters can be crammed in-between the X-wings, but virtually no room is left for maneuvers and a rapid launch of fighter support is impossible.

The main airlock is large enough to dock most capital ships or to accommodate a light freighter -- the FarStar's crew uses the airlock to load ground vehicles and large cargoes onto the Aegis combat shuttle.

The three docking tubes, which connect at the maintenance level (one level below the main flight deck), can dock three ships each. Normally X-wing or Defender fighters are docked on the side airlocks while freighters and shuttles are docked on the ends of the docking tubes. The end airlocks can also be used for a ship-to-ship docking link.

Normally, the basic hull structure of the Corellian Corvette does not support a docking bay configuration, but by adjusting the hyperspace signature of the engines, the engineers were able to accommodate the bay and docking tubes.

Communications

The FarStar has a high-power subspace transceiver courtesy of Moff Sarne's refitting operation. While the Moff couldn't spare a hyperradio transceiver (these communications systems are extremely expensive and not in common usage except for Imperial and New Republic military command vessels), the subspace transceiver is boosted for a broadcast range of nearly 100 light years, or roughly four time the distance of many subspace transceivers.

This unit can broadcast signals to any transceiver within range, although most transceivers are limited to a standard broadcast range of 25 light years, so not too many units will be able to broadcast response messages and have them reach the FarStar.

Moff Sarne apparently intended the Renegade to use this unit to provide regular updates regarding its exploration mission without uplinking into civilian or military subspace communications nets; this would guarantee a secured communication link. Of course, Sarne had a similarly-powerful transceiver on Kal'Shebbol, although it was destroyed in the New Republic's assault.

The FarStar's communications crew is trying to reconfigure the subspace transceiver. It is a virtual certainty that Sarne's forces are monitoring the pre-programmed subspace channels. The crews are attempting to jury-rig a link on a (hopefully) unmonitored channel so that broadcasts may be sent to the New Republic provisional government on Kal'Shebbol. The communications crew is also working on developing new encryption techniques to foil the Empire's techs.

Finally, the FarStar's communication teams intend to use the subspace transceiver to tap into Moff Sarne's network. Though most of Sarne's original codes have been changed and upgraded, there might be a few which will allow the FarStar to eavesdrop.

CURRENT OPERATING CONDITIONS

Overall, the tension level aboard the FarStar is quite high. The ship is overcrowded, with minimal comfort and almost no privacy for its crew members. The equipment is jury-rigged and prone to breakdown. Endless storage bins and supply crates clog every corner and corridor, giving the impression of a disorderly ship.

As the FarStar ventures further into the unknown, the stresses of deep space travel and combat will become more prevalent -- arguments and fights among crew members will increase, and the sick bay personnel may end up attending to bloody noses as often as legitimate injuries. Different cliques will develop among the crew, and tempers will often be simmering just below the boiling point.

It can be said that the crew of the FarStar may not like each other very much, but they're going to have to learn how to trust each other. In time, the crew will have to learn to pull together for their own survival... or everyone may pay the ultimate price.

Makeshift Engineering

Much of the FarStar's circuitry is jury-rigged and most of the newer hardware has undergone drastic custom modification to fit properly. Conventional engineering philosophy dictates that components that don't fit or were not designed to operate under makeshift conditions should simply be replaced with more practical designs. Unfortunately, with limited time and spare parts in short supply, the FarStar's technicians have made do. The FarStar had to be fully operational within 28 hours... and while it was, the results weren't pretty.

As troopers and gunners run up and down the corridors, they must avoid cables, pipes, and circuits crisscrossing the floor and jutting out of the ceiling. Steal shoots out of wall panels, lubricant drips onto the floor of the mess hall, and water pools under floor gratings.

The FarStar's engineers continue to be unrelentingly pragmatic: aesthetics are of no concern when they hinder the ship's operation. Lofryyhn and his techs string wires across hallways, place pipes along the walls, and leave power couplings, jumpers, cables, and interfaces in full view where they are easy to access. The ship is unsightly, but the techs can get to critical components in a hurry, which is probably more important when an Imperial cruiser is bearing down on the FarStar.

Power Conservation

The very nature of the FarStar's miission calls for conserving power. The storage bays and other non-vital areas are sealed off to conserve life support. The cabins and crew quarter rooms are permanently at half the standard lighting level, while the corridors utilize only every other lighting panel, casting crossed shadows across the walls and lending an eerie mood to the larger rooms. Some of the cross-corridor junctions use green floor-lighting or blue soft-light to conserve power.

Some parts of the ship have had the heating ducts closed off to preserve what little heat there is. In particular, the droid repair and service bays are frosty enough to see one's own breath, and the food storage bins actually generate a layer of frost across the surface of the containers. The warmest part of the ship is the engineering section, which often gets so hot that the crew works in a constant sweat.

An Oversize Crew

The FarStar needs a large crew. With the uncertain duration of the tour of duty and the lack of repair facilities, the ship has many extra engineers and technicians. The FarStar also has a large number of scientists, computer specialists, pilots, and ground troops; the ship must be prepared for any eventuality.

There are only 30 standard crew rooms, each with 2 bunks. Since the ship requires a crew of about 120, many crew members have t actually share their bunk with another person: one person sleeps in the bunk while the other is on duty. There are quarters where people have simply elected to sleep on mats on the floor: it is uncomfortable and cold, sometimes even wet, but it is preferable to some crew members.

Duty Shifts

Despite the large crew complement, there are barely enough hands to go around on the FarStar. The FarStar operates in two shifts of 12 hours each. Each crew member has a full-time post during their "on" shift, while theoretically having 12 hours off-duty for sleep, recreation, and personal time.

Most on-duty shifts are full-time positions at a single post; the majority of these posts can be found in the engineering and bridge sections. There are also "part-time" posts, where a crew member splits his or her time between two or more posts. Often a part-time post consists mostly of performing maintenance or periodically checking the performance levels of various systems or components aboard the FarStar.

There are several "alert" posts which are manned only when a ship-wide alert is signalled. The captain goes to alert status only when combat appears imminent, when the ship is ready to revert from hyperspace to realspace, or when the FarStar first enters orbit around a world and the ship is vulnerable to a sneak attack.

However, there are still many other duties aboard the FarStar which cannot be handled by droids or during regular duty shifts. Captain Ciro has gotten around this limitation by assigning "off-duty" posts. These posts tend towards menial duty tasks that don't necessarily require peak performance or attentiveness.

Off-duty posts are manned in four hour shifts and are rotated equally among all crew members. Crew members constantly face 16-hour days, or an off-duty shift with four hours for sleep, a mid-shift off-duty post and then another four hour sleep period.

While there is no doubt that the regiment of 12 hours on duty every day and extra off-duty assignments will wear on the crew, there is no other way to get everything done aboard the ship.

Droid Complement

The FarStar requires a droid complement of over 100 units. Many droids, such as R2 and R3 astromech units, are necessary for very specialized tasks, such as astrogation assistance and external repair duty while the ship is at sublight. Droids also tend to use fewer resources than organic beings, so there are a number of simple servant droids for menial tasks.

While the droids are essential to the FarStar's operations, they also choke the corridors as they slowly trundle from place to place. They are seen by some as a nuisance, and more than one has reported for maintenance with a boot-print in its side.

Storage Bins and Supplies

The FarStar's cargo holds are filled with replacement parts, high-tech components, food, and other provisions. Many sections of the ship have been converted from living or duty stations to storage. Any open area is used for stacking crates that can be filled with power packs, spare energy converters, and flash-sealed food packets.

The FarStar's top storage priority is making room for technical items, such as droid and computer components, spare parts for the fighters and shuttles, and replacement parts for the FarStar's engines and weapons. This is because the FarStar can reasonably expect to come across planets with food and water, but it is going to places where high technology will be virtually impossible to find.

Equipment aboard the FarStar is at a premium. A quartermaster droid has been assigned the task of requisitioning and assigning equipment and insuring its prompt return at mission's end. Those who are wasteful will be reminded frequently to use the equipment intelligently.

Standard equipment is available with little or no resistance: clothing, bedding, glowrods, comlinks, breath masks, and other common items. The quartermaster droid will allocate this equipment with a personal request and appropriate bargaining, and will not expect to see it back any time soon.

Other equipment is in short supply and will be doled out only with good reason, such as a direct order from a superior officer or if a crew member has been placed in charge of requesting equipment for a specific mission. This type of equipment includes blasters, macrobinoculars, cold weather clothing and gear, gloves, scanners, climbing gear, and other useful items.

Lastly, there are the rare, valuable, or hard to replace items that can only be lent out under direct order from the captain. These types of items include thermal detonators, infrared goggles, electronic lock picks, and items so unusual that there may only be a couple aboard the FarStar.

For food, the FarStar has been fitted with several cold storage bays to allow the long-term preservation of meats and liquids prone to spoilage. More often than not, the cooks make do with standard military rations, which include vitamin and mineral supplements, processed and preserved meats, dehydrated fruits and canned juices. For ease of storage, ration packs have been placed in bulk containers, thus avoiding extraneous packaging that often accompanies such consumables.

The FarStar can expect to go three months before essential supplies begin to run low. Of course, there's always the risk of food poisoning, contamination (from parasites, radiation, or other hazards), or sabotage of the food storage containers. Security and servant droids regularly patrol the food storage areas to guarantee their safety.