Dragon spaceship

overview

The DS is home to Booth Draven and his crew of runaways, and has been under Booth's mostly careful ownership for the last four years. Ownership being loosely defined as, possessing and keeping a thing. The ship hasn't always belonged to Booth, and it's previous owners may not have been exactly complicit in his assuming ownership of said ship. However, over the years, Booth and his disparate but highly skilled crew have made it their own.

history

It is unknown precisely who built the DS. The Gb coorporation found it floating in space, powerless and completely devoid of crew. A quick examination revealed some surprising secrets, the ship was docked at one of their research facilities and earmarked for further study.

Booth had had no intention of stealing the ship when he infiltrated the facility, in fact he had been unaware that the ship even existed, just as he had been unaware of Echo's existence until that day. However, once making Echo's aquaintence, and realising that leaving her to her fate was unaccaptable to him, he needed an alternate means of escape from the facility. Stumbling across the DS during what was now a frantic and much more deadly rescue mission, rather than a slip in and out unnoticed recon mission, Booth immediately seized it as his way off the facility.

Recent developments

The latest escapade of the DS crew has seen some astonishing changes in the ship, changes that are sure to have long lasting repercussions throughout the galaxy if discovered.

After relieving a rather notorious pirate of her precious cargo, the crew discovered an unusual crystal amongst the takings. Echo immediately begged Capatain Booth for permission to discover what it was, and Booth agreed as long as she was careful. A series of events later, during which Echo is adamant she was careful, and Captain Booth found himself with a whole host of new problems on his hands.

"This is what I am now." The deep rumble in her head was touched with sorrow and resignation. "There is no going back from a rebirth, but why does my own body fight me? Why do I feel trapped? This is not how it is supposed to be."

— excerpt from Pirate Space Dragons by laurabones

The long and short of it is that the crystal turned out to be the "soul" of an entity, that the crew refer to as a "Space Dragon", and had merged with the ship's advanced computer systems. Through the intervention of a woman named Noami, who had taken over the body of their recently dead crewmate, Tokah (Look, I said a lot had gone on ok, just go with it) a deal was struck with the Dragon.

The ship has now effectively become the Dragon's body, and the Dragon has become the ship's AI, for want of better terms. Booth has allowed the Dragon control over most of the ship's functions and the Dragon has agreed to accept Booth's Captaincy and become as one of the crew. Booth now has a dangerously unique ship, and yet another set of problems on his hands. This new hybrid of ship and sentient being is the first of it's kind, and considering both of them had been stolen, it is only a matter of time before someone, or someones, come looking to get their property back.

combined systems

Sensors

While the ship has advanced short and long range sensors, the Dragon's deep space senses are far superior, It is able to pick up energy signatures, fluctuations and anomalies far sooner, and with more accuracy. However, as with any sentient being, it is capabale of becoming distracted so the ship sensors act as a backup.

Internal Sensors and Communications

After some training, and prodding, from Echo and Scax'uk the Dragon has become able to use the ships internal monitors and sensors to aid communication with the crew. It is capable of listening in on the internal comms system and using the ships "internal eyes", as the Dragon calls them. This allows the crew to communicate with the Dragon, though the Dragon is still only capable of replying through Noami.

Navigation

Again, while no expense was spared on the computer used for navigation, the Dragon's abilities far outstrip those of the ship. It is capable of pinpointing planets that are galaxies away with astonishing precision. As such the navigation systems have become almost obsolete, the crew only using them to show the dragon specific areas of space they wish to travel to.

Propulsion and Movement

The Dragon has complete control over the flight controls and navigation of the ship, this was a non negotiable part of the deal. The enitities known as Space Dragons have an inherent compulsion to fly or soar, it is an undeniable part of their existence. The Dragon is a far superior pilot as It can react at the speed of thought and has a natural instinct for flight as well as a deep understanding of the "Laws of Space". However the dragon is also limited by the physicality of the ship. While it can enhance propulsion and speed, if the engines were to be disabled the Dragon could not make the ship fly by conventional means.

Crew

• Booth Draven
• Dhidai Suten-Rekh-Aka
• Echo
• Meado Isataari
• Noami
• Scax'uk

Crew Roles

Booth Draven - Captain

A human male in his late 30's. Always chasing the next big job, a brilliant strategist, if a little reckless. Would die for any member of his crew.

Scax'uk -Engineer

An adrogynous alien, at 60 they are still young for their species. Small, slender and flexible, with prehensile tails and long slender six fingered hands and feet. Excitable and a bit of a prankster.

Dhidai Suten-rekh-ata - Weapons Specialist

A female human in her mid 30's. Always itching for a fight, but is the crew's moral support. Booth's second in command and the first member of his crew.

Meado Isataari - Medic

Male alien in his late forties. Aloof and insular, like many of his species, he nevertheless ensures the crew are well looked after, whether they want it or not. Ships cook.

Echo -Tech Specialist

Part female human, part machine. An accident left her severely disabled, and she is mostly wired in to her wheelchair, which she has heavily modified, with the help of Scax'uk.

Layout

The ship has 3 decks in its main body and a single level cockpit in its head section. Top deck consists of crew quarters and an observation lounge. Main deck houses armoury, med bay, comms room, engineering, airlock, Captain's quarters, AI room. Lower deck is taken up mostly by the cargo bay, with a workshop and extra storage off to the rear.

Design

The ship hull has been said to resemble a bird of prey, with large swept back wings and a narrow curved head. Built to travel within a planets atmosphere as easily as in space, it is has superioir manouvrability and handling. Whilst it resembles a heavily modified Swallow Class scoutship, the materials and components used in its construction are far superior to those of other ships of it's class.

Jump Capabilities

The dragon is not only capable of navigating with pinpoint precision, it can also jump between points in space, covering vast distances in a matter of seconds. This makes the Dragon ship the most valuable ship in known space, the ability to jump between galaxies is not something that has been achieved by the inhabitants of this section of space yet. Travel to the nearest galaxy would take many many years, an undertaking which is still in the planning stages by a joint venture between Humans, Ecai, Qhigu and Lyt'Chwaer. The implications of this ability are quite staggering, a fact that Booth and his crew are deeply aware of.