Pallas

Pallas
Size (metres, W×H×L)	61.54x16.822x61.739
Cargo capacity	5 t
Cargo bay extension	5 t
Maximum speed	655
Manoeuvrability	Pitch: 1.8 Roll: 1.8
Energy banks	2
Energy recharge rate	2.5
Gun mounts	4
Missile slots	1
Shield boosters available	Yes
Military shields available	Yes
Hyperspace capable	Yes
OXP or standard	OXP.
Available to player	Yes
Base price	815000 Cr

Story

The new chairman is on record as saying:
"We don't make 'em cheep & we don't make 'em safe, but by God they go with a bang!"

- Early one mid-morning -
Q."I have it!!! Damn, that was good benulobiweed."
Q."Paper... Pencil... Oh bugger it, where's the phone?"
.
A."What's the problem boss? Early for you isn't it?"
Q."I've had a revelation!! - An epiphany!! A, a, a... realy good idea..?"
Q."There's a word. Greek chap I think, been wanting to say it since I woke up."
A."Umm, Eureka?"
Q."No, Idon't think that was his name..."
A."No I mean... Why are you calling me?"
Q."I had a dream about fast ships! Tell me, whats the fastest ship in the galaxy?"
A."Well strictly speaking all hyperspace-capable ships have the same maximum velocity."
Q."Ok, ok, in normal space."
A."Who knows: Here, The Empire, and as for the Thargoids..."
Q."No, here! Are you pulling my leg?
A."Me? Never."
Q."So?"
A.-Sigh-
A."I give up what are you talking about? The shop's a bit busy at the moment."
Q."What would happen if you routed a ship's hyperdrive through the normal-space engines?"
A."A bloody big explosion I suspect"
A."Boss I've got a lot of wor..."
Q."Of cause you would!"
A."So why..?
Q."And if you used the shields to aid hull-integrity?"
A."Well, you..."
Q."Yes! No more problems with relativistic mass increase as you approach a significant fraction of 'C'."
A."You found new ways of ingesting benulobiwe..? Wait a miniute... You mean..?"
Q."No more ships coming to bits under their own mass."
A."Why combine the hyperdrive with the engines?"
Q."More power! The ship will still get pretty heavy and the nav-computer will need all the extra thrust it can get."
A."Ok - It won't work you know..."
Q."Why not?"
A."Because even running the shields and engines together will only delay mass increase a you approach light-speed."
Q."Who cares about light-speed in normal space? That's what witchspace is for."
A."So why bother?"
Q."Becaue at the moment we share the title of fastest ship..."
A."Ok, I see that - we make the fastest ship. What do you want?"
Q."I'm the ideas man, you're the engineer, get on with it!"
A."Ah..."
Q."I'll post you some rough scamatics."
A."Schematics? We have computers now you know."
Q."Yeh, but I had trouble finding something to scribble on."
A."What are you sending?"
Q."Bed-sheets."
A."Bed-sheets?"
Q."Um, and part of my bedroom wall..."
A."Okydoky boss. Whatever you say."
Q."Don't humor me. Just get on with it."

- Back to the Board Room -
A."What the bloody hell did you think you were doing issuing that stupid press release?!?"
Q."???"
A."Maybe no one would have noticed the Swift's dodgy handling. Now everybody will want to know whats up!"
Q. mumble-mumble "all publicity is good publicity." mumble-mumble
A."-And when did we sprout a 'Public Relations Dept'?"
Q.mumble-mumble "seemed like a good idea at the time." mumble-mumble
.
.
Q."I want a saucer!"
A."Just because you call yourself 'Chief Exec & President' doesn't mean you can't drink tea out of a mug like the rest of us..."
Q."No, no - a flying saucer."
A."Do you realy think that kind of stupid statment will change the subject?"
.
A."You're not joking are you?"
Q."It's the logical direction to take the combined shield/rocket/witch-drive configuration pioneered by the Swift."
A."I realy can't get used to your making sense - please stop."
Q."It should also cure the stability problems..."
A."Please stop!"
Q."Besides a flying saucer would be realy cool!"
A."Ah - more like it. Ok."

Lo - The Pallas was born...

Read more about Benulobiweed_Inc....

Overview

Although a suprisingly sound concept, the design has proven to have some teething problems. It's not quite a quick as hoped. Energy requirements are very high and with the prototype being small the size of power plant is limited. There is very little energy reserve as so much is given over to the flight systems. The hull is prone to catastrophic failure if shields are down as both the drive system and lightweight construction are dependant on their integrity. The small hull results in a low capacity for armament. The practicable maximum is one forward laser and one missile/Q-bomb. Cargo is only 5 tonnes.

Originally designed as a two man ship but the chairman of Benulobiweed.inc is on record as saying:
"What the bloody hell is the point in making a ship with no cargo space? Rip out the back seats!"

Features

• NPC and Player version
• HUD

Download

Benulobiweed Inc. presents:
The Pallas (258KB) 2007-02-03. This OXP contains also a UV-Map and .3ds files.

A overhauled (and stripped down) version: pallas2.0.1.zip (217.3 KB) 2010-12-02. v1.74.2 required.