Orion "one stop" ship thread

[darkwing_duck1]

My older pages have apparently gone away, and someone asked for a thread where they could see it all, so here's my new thread, starting with some reposts.

"One of the primary shortcomings of the Wanderer-class blockade run...er free trader was it's limited cargo capacity, less in fact, than many other transport vessels of it's size class. While most of the time this wasn't a problem for the...independant merchentmen...who utilized such vessels, on occasion, a particularly valuable "salvage opportunity" had to be wholy or partially abandoned because there simply was not enough room to fit it in the ship's holds.

"Eventually, a shipbuilding consortium got the good idea to do something about the situation. Keeping all the 'selling points' of the Wanderer, they designed a new ship that incorporated additional cargo capacity, as well as a few systems improvements of their own. Most notably, they introduced the idea of extending the nacelle length by 50% over standard, allowing for the instalation of additional warp coils. By computer regulating the firing sequence for the coils in a staggered manner, it was possible to increase the effective cruise speed of the new ship by an entire warp factor for the same reliability and fuel consumption, as well as giving the ship a 'dash speed' of 2.5 warp factors higher.

"Thus was born the Marathon-class (official designation) High Value Cargo Transport, which quickly established itself as a boon to traders (and others) who specialized in moving high-priority and/or sensitive carges, and a headache for more legitimate merchant concerns, Starfleet Captains on 'pirate duty' and independant system goverments throughout Free Space."
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[darkwing_duck1]

Next ships:

the Orion Bulk Freighter, inspired by an unnamed FASA drawing in the "'Spacelanes' magazine"/Trader Captains and Merchant Princes' Players Book...

Orions never being ones to let a business opportunity slip by if they can help it, have their green fingers in more pies than one might think. An example of this is the Orion Fast Attack ship. Designed by one of Orion's leading ship construction firms for system defense and escort duty, the FAs have no cargo holds beyond consumables for the crew, and no luxuries.

The Orions sell their FAs to independant systems and coalitions outside the Federation Treaty Zone (the UFP taking a dim view on private military grade ships in general within it's sphere of influence and virtually anything Orion make in particular). Among the major purchasers of FAs have been the independant governments of the Triangle.

Any...rumors...floating about that the command prefix codes for OFAs sold to non Orions can be acquired by a certain amount of effort are of course scurrilous lies...

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Many (however grudgingly) allow that Orions have style, if nothing else. It probably comes from having an advanced culture thousands of years old. Whereas the Ferengi when attempting to impress often as not go for lots of flashy, gaudy, and overpriced "bling" to attempt to overwhelm a visitor with their personal worth, Orions cultivate a careful sense of elegance and taste into their decorating, whether it's the design of a building, or in this case a ship.

The Courtesan is one of the finest examples of a one-off Orion personal cruiser in Known Space. The property (and mobile base of operations) of Zelliara Keveshta, Courtesan allows her to oversee her vast interests personally and in great comfort. Constructed for her by the Velkanar Shipyards of Rigel V, the yacht utilizes the best of Orion technology in a unique design. (Indeed, as part of her contract with Velkanar, Zelliara holds the ONLY known copies of her construction schematics.)

Aft view of the Courtesan. Note the uniquely broad and oversize impulse engine vent configuration. Speculation abounds as to what advantages such a configuration might give the ship in terms of speed and maneuverability. By conventional standards, such a large impulse drive would be extremely fuel inefficient, but would allow for massive realspace accelleration.

Also note the two-deck tall space viewing dome just forward of the engines. The interior of the dome incorporates a transparisteel deck for literally dining and dancing among the stars. Armored blast shutters are said to be able to be closed over the dome in emergencies. Rumors abound that, despite appearances, the yacht is armed with at least one bank of Orion built disruptors, making the ship, like it's Orion mistress, both beautiful and dangerous...

 

[Kaiser]

Even though i've already seen these they still look great

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Next we have two examples of modular transports. The Engineering and Command sections separate from the long "spine" of the ship, allowing rapid changing of configurations as the situation warrants.

First, we have a deuterium tanker:

At the other end, we have a cruise liner:

 

[darkwing_duck1]

An example of a 22nd century Orion Marauder. Note the large forward weapons emplacement on the ventral bow, capable of punching through the defenses of even heavily armored Klingon transports. Like many Orion ship classes in it's day, the Marauders tended to operate in "packs" of at least 2 vessels...

 

[Kaiser]

Wow that Orion Murader Looks cool

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Just letting everyone know that I haven't forgotten this thread...just have to make sure all the pics are properly credited, etc before I upload them, and I only have so much time...updates coming soon.

 

[darkwing_duck1]

Been awhile, hasn't it?

First, a new ship:

"While various attempts had been made to use the Wanderer-class as a basis for new classes of Orion ships (such as the Marathon class), the Wanderer design itself saw virtually no updating. New units from the contstruction yards were largely the same as units produced a century ago.

"In 2264, it was suggested that an 'engineering up' review of the Wanderer specifications might yeild positive results, if only by the dint of being able to fully integrate a century's worth of advancements. The Zadinok family agreed to fund the development of a prototype, and work proceeded.

"By 2266, the prototype was ready to launch. Her shakedown cruise results made many a Zadinok engineer extremely happy.

The new ship could cruise at WF7 and hold WF8.5 for up to 6 hours. An experimental warp 'overdrive' system gave her a dash speed of WF9.15, but that speed could only be held for ~15 minutes before overheating the warp coils and forcing the ship to drop out of warp entirely.

"The prototypes weapons systems consisted of the latest generation Orion disruptors and torpedo launchers. A development in warhead technology allowed the standard explosive charge to be replaced with a single-use subspace pulse generator. On impact, the pulse would polarize the target's warp coils, preventing them from propagating a stable warp field. Any ship hit would be dumped back into normal space if at warp, or would find itself unable to go to warp if hit in normal space.

"It is rumored that this new class of Orion ship is cloak capable, but this has not been confirmed by any outside party.

"The Starfleet designation for this class is 'Vagabond', while the Klingons refer to it as the 'Jackal'."