A Junker's Travels

[Thexare]

Hoo, man, been a hell of a week.


Firefly-class Transport Collimare drifting through a cloud.

The Stellar Wind was a great ship, but she just wasn't bringing in enough cash. Not much room for modification either. So, I bought this one, the Collimare. A Firefly-class, whoever designed it must've been a Junker. That big cargo bay in the middle is great for modding - I've got a set of manipulator arms in there now that can be deployed when I've got something to salvage, and they double as cranes to move boxes into and out of the hold.

A nice, modular bridge, too. I completely replaced the glass with somethin' like a one-way mirror. That's for style more than anything, really; doesn't do much to thwart most scanners.

Now, the assorted other upgrades...

First off, there's this pirate, Milton Radley. He's one of the Buccaneers, I don't normally like dealin' with them, but this one's smarter than most. He went through all of my basic computer systems - targeting computers, scanners, standard navigation - and upgraded them with code stolen from Ageira's newest systems. My turrets track better, my scans are faster, and my autonav system handles jump holes without any turbulence at all.

Then there's the cargo bay. Like I said earlier, it's got a module system in place. Here's what it can use so far:

• Various manipulator arms. Four external that can rotate back into the ship, and another two internal for moving things in the hold.
  
• Jammer suite. Bulky as hell, illegal if it's detected... but it jams almost any scanner. Problem is, there's no way it's getting past any docking inspection. Not very useful, I usually leave it at home.
  
• Battery packs and backup fuel tanks. Useful for long trips, but I make pretty frequent stops at Freeports and Junker depots, so it doesn't come up much. Great when it does, though.
  
• Small fighter bay. With a little work, I should be able to modify the cargo bay to support larger fighters, but for now it can just handle a Bulldog, Gitano, or Patriot. I can't use it with the manipulator arms, though, and it takes a while to switch the two mods. On top of that, it takes up almost the entirety of the cargo hold, and there's no way it can handle anything bigger than a fighter. Still, great way to get my old Gitano from place to place.
  

I wonder if I can make the wings of a Guardian fold up. Anyway, the engines were also re-wired for better performance, along with thrust vectoring for quicker turning. Not much, though, the engine configuration just doesn't work well with that, but every little bit helps. On top of that, I managed to convince the Brets to install the thruster from a retired gunship onto the Collimare. After all, they had newer thrusters, and I'd brought them so many supplies for building more, what's one old thruster really?

The weapon system is a pretty basic setup, she's got a pair of forward-firing Pulse cannons and another pair of Charons to deal with larger targets, and an array of four Dulzian turrets covering the rear. Nothing fancy, but it works.

My sister Lydia has been helping me out lately, too. She's not particularly strong or good with a blaster, but she's pretty good with the scanners and can treat most injuries... and she's good for keeping me out of trouble, heh. Sara Elridge, a friend's sister, helps provide the muscle, or at least the stolen military assault rifle and portable rocket launcher, and Hilda Mohr handles whatever odd jobs may be needed.

Pretty good crew overall. Good-looking, too.