Ship Name: Foundry Hephaestus, Auxillaries and Shuttles
Created by Nicholas Casler (Wiregeek, Kokuten)
Registry Number:HSF prefix indicates Hephaestus Space Fleet.
Shuttles: The HSF incorporates two 'fast shuttles', 'wavemodded conventional automobiles, with AI cores onboard. Both of these vehicles are capable of self drive and are fully autonomous.
Millie: HSF-006 'Millie' is an AI controlled 4-door sedan dispatch boat, with integrated airlock dividers, allowing any of the three compartments to remain pressurized while others are exposed to vaccum.
Chassis: Millie is based off of a 1983 Subaru GL wagon. She's not the best looking or fastest vehicle in space, but she's reliable, she can park on a dime and bring back change, and she's Here to Help.
AI Core: Millie was intended to be a greek goddess, but the AI core generated as a perky blonde secretary, professional and dedicated. Millie isn't a supergenius, but she's more than capable enough to motor her chassis around Fenspace's docks and yards without any trouble.
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .1c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor, transverse mounted.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* I'm a GIRL, that's why!: Millie's AI core is female, emphatically so. As of yet, this has posed no problems with romantic entanglements, but she tends to avoid having to dispose of vermin or lift truly heavy objects, this is what boys are for, after all.
* I may not be a supermodel, but...: Millie is aware that her chassis isn't the 'pinnacle of automotive engineering', but she still likes to look her best. Keeping her in good tires and keeping the paint clean and polished are a necessity. If the interior and exterior are not well-kept and maintained on a regular basis, Millie will lose efficiency and speed.
* Oh BOYS!: Millie is quite fond of the 'Boys', Hephaestus' small fleet of 'waved Suburbans, and they're quite fond of her. Fond enough that if she calls, the poor devil loading a ton or two of rich steel slag into the back of one of the Boys may find himself working alone, while a pseudo-intelligent Suburban careens across the system barking happily and heading for his girl.
* "Grunt!": Millie retains one of the quirks of her basic chassis, and can handle and haul several times her normal payload or rated capacity, but she _doesn't like it_. She also is top-speed limited, and depending on the amount of overload, her top speed can drop to as low as .05c
Faction: Hephaestian, Millie knows who her Boss is, and will not consider other offers of employment.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* Millie's AI Core is unique amongst Hephaestus' cadre of AI and pseudo-intelligent personell in that it was spawned from non-Wintel hardware, a mac Powerbook modified into her dash console and wired into the car system.
* Even though Millie is the chronologically and experientially older of the two, she thinks of and treats Vioarr as an older sister, and is fairly intimidated by her.
Tenders: The HSF is also home to a 'flock' of seven Chevy Suburbans, of varying years and personailities. 'Waved ECMs and auxillary processors ended up providing a 'big dumb dog' level of intelligence for these vessels, and they are used as the day-to-day 'work trucks' of Hephaestus' mining operations. When the two shuttles are spoken for or busy, a Hephaestian Suburban may be seen in public, usually with someone playing fetch in the parking lot while someone else accomplishes the errand in question.
Chassis: The Boys are based off of the Chevy Suburban utility vehicle chassis. They're big, they're not very subtle, but they can haul a whole LOT of stuff. The boys are all airlocked with standard Hephaestian Zipperlocks, and vary in color and body style cues.
AI Core: The boys were a 'punt' AI. After the 'Cat' experience, Hephaestus' crew decided that the somewhat self-motivated and somewhat-personality of the Cat could be improved upon 'just a little', to provide a very easy to use and efficient mining tender. So, the original Chevy ECM was handwaved, soaked overnight in a tub of pure strain with a copy of Disney's "Beethoven" movies. Similar treatment was given to a Sony in-dash media player, and the resultant items were installed in short order, into a 'waved Suburban. The result was seven "Big Doofy Dog" Suburbans, more than willing to get in harness and pull, but they'd like to talk to you about this tennis ball (radial tire, small lump of iron, Space Hamster) that they found...
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .08c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* GIRL!: The Boys are quite defensive of and fond of Hephaestus' two shuttles, and will obey/help them over the desires of human personnel.
* "Grunt!": The boys are capable of hauling pretty much anything that can be loaded into them or chained to them. Being a canine level intelligence, and well trained, they can also pull together in harness. Hephaestus has yet to find something too heavy to haul, heavier things just.. take a little longer to get going.
* Land Shark: Small fast-moving objects of appropriate size are considered 'play items' to the boys, and they may break orders and attempt to play with them. Unless you have VERY good body armor and inertial shielding, don't be a small moving object. The boys won't intentionally hurt someone, but 8000 pounds of Suburban is a whole LOT of love, and there are _seven_ of them.
Faction: Hephaestian, the Boys pick up on the 'smell' of the people and ships that live and work out of Hephaestus, and tend to not obey people who don't smell right.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* The Boys are individually named after the Seven Dwarves of Snow White fame. This was in an attempt to make them more 'mining oriented', and does not appear to have worked in the slightest.
* The Boys are not able to appear in public unescorted. They're just too damn dumb, and the amount of damage that can be caused by a Suburban who thinks your converted Winnebago looks 'cozy', or your flying VW looks like a chew toy, doesn't bear thinking of.
*The Boys spontaneously reinforced their hoods and assimilated part of the grills into them during their 'waving. They may not have that durable of a jaw, relatively speaking, but they have jaws, and they do use them. The installation of synthetic myomer actuators for the hoods is regretted, but it's a bit late, and the boys do love to play fetch...
Edit: corrected speed ratings, added quirks to V
Edit: corrected weight on The Boys to reflect real world.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
Created by Nicholas Casler (Wiregeek, Kokuten)
Registry Number:HSF prefix indicates Hephaestus Space Fleet.
Shuttles: The HSF incorporates two 'fast shuttles', 'wavemodded conventional automobiles, with AI cores onboard. Both of these vehicles are capable of self drive and are fully autonomous.
Millie: HSF-006 'Millie' is an AI controlled 4-door sedan dispatch boat, with integrated airlock dividers, allowing any of the three compartments to remain pressurized while others are exposed to vaccum.
Chassis: Millie is based off of a 1983 Subaru GL wagon. She's not the best looking or fastest vehicle in space, but she's reliable, she can park on a dime and bring back change, and she's Here to Help.
AI Core: Millie was intended to be a greek goddess, but the AI core generated as a perky blonde secretary, professional and dedicated. Millie isn't a supergenius, but she's more than capable enough to motor her chassis around Fenspace's docks and yards without any trouble.
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .1c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor, transverse mounted.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* I'm a GIRL, that's why!: Millie's AI core is female, emphatically so. As of yet, this has posed no problems with romantic entanglements, but she tends to avoid having to dispose of vermin or lift truly heavy objects, this is what boys are for, after all.
* I may not be a supermodel, but...: Millie is aware that her chassis isn't the 'pinnacle of automotive engineering', but she still likes to look her best. Keeping her in good tires and keeping the paint clean and polished are a necessity. If the interior and exterior are not well-kept and maintained on a regular basis, Millie will lose efficiency and speed.
* Oh BOYS!: Millie is quite fond of the 'Boys', Hephaestus' small fleet of 'waved Suburbans, and they're quite fond of her. Fond enough that if she calls, the poor devil loading a ton or two of rich steel slag into the back of one of the Boys may find himself working alone, while a pseudo-intelligent Suburban careens across the system barking happily and heading for his girl.
* "Grunt!": Millie retains one of the quirks of her basic chassis, and can handle and haul several times her normal payload or rated capacity, but she _doesn't like it_. She also is top-speed limited, and depending on the amount of overload, her top speed can drop to as low as .05c
Faction: Hephaestian, Millie knows who her Boss is, and will not consider other offers of employment.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* Millie's AI Core is unique amongst Hephaestus' cadre of AI and pseudo-intelligent personell in that it was spawned from non-Wintel hardware, a mac Powerbook modified into her dash console and wired into the car system.
* Even though Millie is the chronologically and experientially older of the two, she thinks of and treats Vioarr as an older sister, and is fairly intimidated by her.
Tenders: The HSF is also home to a 'flock' of seven Chevy Suburbans, of varying years and personailities. 'Waved ECMs and auxillary processors ended up providing a 'big dumb dog' level of intelligence for these vessels, and they are used as the day-to-day 'work trucks' of Hephaestus' mining operations. When the two shuttles are spoken for or busy, a Hephaestian Suburban may be seen in public, usually with someone playing fetch in the parking lot while someone else accomplishes the errand in question.
Chassis: The Boys are based off of the Chevy Suburban utility vehicle chassis. They're big, they're not very subtle, but they can haul a whole LOT of stuff. The boys are all airlocked with standard Hephaestian Zipperlocks, and vary in color and body style cues.
AI Core: The boys were a 'punt' AI. After the 'Cat' experience, Hephaestus' crew decided that the somewhat self-motivated and somewhat-personality of the Cat could be improved upon 'just a little', to provide a very easy to use and efficient mining tender. So, the original Chevy ECM was handwaved, soaked overnight in a tub of pure strain with a copy of Disney's "Beethoven" movies. Similar treatment was given to a Sony in-dash media player, and the resultant items were installed in short order, into a 'waved Suburban. The result was seven "Big Doofy Dog" Suburbans, more than willing to get in harness and pull, but they'd like to talk to you about this tennis ball (radial tire, small lump of iron, Space Hamster) that they found...
Drive: Speed, Max velocity .08c, Adjusted Mass reactionless rotor.
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* GIRL!: The Boys are quite defensive of and fond of Hephaestus' two shuttles, and will obey/help them over the desires of human personnel.
* "Grunt!": The boys are capable of hauling pretty much anything that can be loaded into them or chained to them. Being a canine level intelligence, and well trained, they can also pull together in harness. Hephaestus has yet to find something too heavy to haul, heavier things just.. take a little longer to get going.
* Land Shark: Small fast-moving objects of appropriate size are considered 'play items' to the boys, and they may break orders and attempt to play with them. Unless you have VERY good body armor and inertial shielding, don't be a small moving object. The boys won't intentionally hurt someone, but 8000 pounds of Suburban is a whole LOT of love, and there are _seven_ of them.
Faction: Hephaestian, the Boys pick up on the 'smell' of the people and ships that live and work out of Hephaestus, and tend to not obey people who don't smell right.
Home Port: HSF-000 Hephaestus.
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* The Boys are individually named after the Seven Dwarves of Snow White fame. This was in an attempt to make them more 'mining oriented', and does not appear to have worked in the slightest.
* The Boys are not able to appear in public unescorted. They're just too damn dumb, and the amount of damage that can be caused by a Suburban who thinks your converted Winnebago looks 'cozy', or your flying VW looks like a chew toy, doesn't bear thinking of.
*The Boys spontaneously reinforced their hoods and assimilated part of the grills into them during their 'waving. They may not have that durable of a jaw, relatively speaking, but they have jaws, and they do use them. The installation of synthetic myomer actuators for the hoods is regretted, but it's a bit late, and the boys do love to play fetch...
Edit: corrected speed ratings, added quirks to V
Edit: corrected weight on The Boys to reflect real world.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979