Amarantha

Customized Rawg-Freysbar Medium Cargo Barge

Designation: Workbeast MCB Model 2

Manufacturer: Rawg-Freysbar Stellar Design Bureau, Traandheim

Length: 145 meters

Minimum Crew: 3

Optimal Crew: 6 - Pilot, 2 Technicians, 3 Cargo Handlers

Supplies: 4 months standard

Transit Drive: Class 2, 3 parsecs

Recharge Time: 15 hours

Realspace Drive: 4 Trondor C32 Fusion Pushers, 2 Kejserligmarine Grade-F Variable-Thrust Pods

Acceleration Curve: Below Average

Maneuverability: Above Average

Hull Strength: Good

Dispersion Shields: 3 deployable segments, medium-strength

Armament: 1 dual plaster turret

Equipment: 2 magnetic cranes, 3 heavy cargo exoframes, 1 skiff-tug

The Rawg-Freysbar Medium Cargo Barge is a workhorse industrial vessel built and used primarily in Jutland space. Like many ships of its size, it is designed to take advantage of a larger ship's transit envelope though it is capable of its own transits. The MCB was originally intended as a long haul cargo ship, operating away from established transit lanes where container ships and piggyback runs would be less available, but heavy competition from the Rosano Outlander series lead to the redesignation of the MCB after the Model 2.

This particular MCB only superficially resembles its compatriots, having been rebuilt from a wreck recently. Its maneuvering drives, sensors, control systems, and most of its hull plating have been replaced with warship-grade material salvaged from an Elsberg destroyer. The extra mass has degraded the ship's acceleration curve, but the powerful variable-thrust pods give it a much nicer turn ratio. For ease of loading, the ventral cargo ramp has been supplemented with a pair of dorsal cargo doors stretching almost the entire length of the bay; among other uses this allows entire light vessels to be brought inside. The central control computer is also military salvage, and while its anti-intrusion measures seem to have been disabled, there may yet be undiscovered quirks and leftover software within its storage.

The crew areas of the ship are rebuilt as well, but not lavishly. Until finances allow improvement, the eight cabins on the upper deck contain barracks-grade furniture and only basic amenities. The galley and common areas on the lower deck are similarly spartan, with plenty of room but little to put in it. Another four cabins could be partitioned off without much difficulty.

A number of subsidiary vehicles are docked in a small secondary bay between the cargo hold and the crew section, deploying through a dorsal hatch. Three of them are exoframes, heavy-duty load lifters that attach onto the outside of a humanoid vacsuit and provide low-level propulsion. There are two magnetic cranes, self-contained vehicles that use magnetic repulsor/tractors to maneuver themselves around and set themselves on any metallic surface (like a ship) and maneuver pieces of scrap too big for just an exoframe. The last subsidiary vehicle is a single skiff-tug, a platform with thrusters and tow cables, for hauling scrap from junk fields to the ship. It is not enclosed, and can carry six vacsuited people or three exoframes.

Author: Ron Stratton