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UESC Orca Class | Military Transport

Summary

The Orca was originally designed for the UESC Blackforce, but upon further analysis it was determined that it would also serve well as a transport vessel for both the civilian and regular military sectors. Therefore, it was kept lightly armed, and heavily armored such that it could be sold to the civilian market.

In the UESC Blackforce this ship serves as a mobile staging point for long range missions. The ship itself is not intended to enter combat, but instead to a small squad of three fighters over long distances for deployment into areas that would normally be outside of their operational range. It's smaller profile makes it more difficult to detect, and thereby it does not require the escort that a fleet or escort carrier would require. To better fulfill this role the Orca was equipped with an exceptional bridge, and an attached engineering compartment.

As a civilian transport vessel the Orca is chiefly designed for the movement of fighter craft from factories to bases and carriers across the cosmos. When not making use of the connectors closer to 6 ships can be carried on the Orca at a time, allowing an Orca pilot to resupply an entire squadron with fighters in one run.

In the transition from the Orca being a military ship, to a ship available to the civilian sector as well a number of features were added such that it can act as an exploration or colony ship. The Orca is now equipped with two refineries, assemblers, and oxygen generators such that it is able to be fully self sufficient on long voyages. Combined with it's ability to transport smaller ships for the purposes of mining, building, and shuttling individuals that the Orca becomes a very well rounded exploratory vessel.

As the Orca was opened to the civilian market it was also noted that it had the potential for use as a VIP transport. Therefore, the ship was outfitted with a ship's galley, restrooms, and crew quarters with room for eight. This is in addition to rooms left over from the ship's military construction that include a functional ready-room just inside the airlock, and a fully equipped medical room with cryotubes for cryopreservation in the case of serious injury.

Finally two features unique to this ship were introduced to further improve it's marking stance. Every room in the Orca is equipped with a light switch that turns the lights in that particular room on and off. Also, the Orca is the only large ship currently equipped to land on a landing pad without causing thruster damage to the pad. This is due to the Orca's unique multi-piston stabilized landing gear. The gear are extended by four pistons (front two gear) or two pistons (rear gear) to ensure stabilization, at which point the pilot locks the gear to the pad and uses them to safely pull the ship down to the pad. The reverse process is used to safely launch the ship. Locks are included for when the gear are raised to ensure no movement occurs in flight.

As a final note the ship is fully O2 compatible. The only issue is with some of the walls in the bridge and engineering compartment which currently block oxygen when standing too close to them. As nothing of importance is along these walls though it isn't a large concern.