New Avalon Starship Sales Office

Buying a starship, even a used one, is not like buy a used car from Crazy Achmed’s.  Even for an inexpensive, obsolete ship, millions of credits are going to change hands.  Every deal is special.   Customers will generally take their time, study the offerings and how they fit into their plans, review, review again, and negotiate.  People who show up breathing heavily, saying “I need a starship now, what have you got I can fly away with?” are usually in deep trouble and credit won’t be extended.

In general, buying a *new* ship right from a shipyard is not something people do when it’s their first ship and they are out on the frontier.  New ships are expensive.  New ships are for established companies competing in the busiest, wealthiest markets:  ships staying the Sol and New Centre regions tend to be newer.  If your passenger ship does 5.3 Light Years a day and your competitor is flying ships that do 5.6, it is a problem there.  Out on the frontier, in the less crowded markets where passengers are often lucky to find a ship at all, it is different.

So they take an initial look at what is available.  The sellers can provide more information on ships that provoke more interest.  They are presented from the most expensive to the least.

Staterooms are quarters, they can be used for passengers or crew.  Single occupancy is good, double occupancy is more common, and quadruple occupancy staterooms are crowded bunk rooms only used for budget travelers. On the other side, Two or more staterooms can combined into luxury suites for upper class travelers (and very fortunate crew).
Cargo capability is expressed in terms of 60m3 Shipping Containers.  Each of these is about the size of a large truck or typical train car.  Most cargo is carried in shipping containers, it’s the easiest way to describe things.

Speed is in Light Years per day.

Asking price is in Millions of Credits.  One point of Equity is good for 1 million credits, 1 “Ship share” is good for 2 million.  You will need a bank loan, or a few more players!.

The ships…

1)  Frontier Trader.  A retired military vessel converted to civilian use, with 25 staterooms and 19 containers of cargo.  Not designed to land, this ship includes one lander that can be converted between passenger or cargo use.  (2 containers, or 40 passengers, or 1 container and 20 passengers).  Generally, the ship will be loaded and unloaded in space using locally based shuttlecraft.  Speed is 5, a holdover from its military days.  Asking price is 65.6 Million.

2) Small Liner.  Typically serves low population frontier worlds, or connects minor settlements to larger populations. 40 staterooms and 10 containers of cargo.   A ship like this cannot compete with the larger liners between major planets. Not designed to land, this ship includes one lander that can be converted between passenger or cargo use.  (2 containers, or 40 passengers, or 1 container and 20 passengers).  Generally, the ship will be loaded and unloaded in space using locally based shuttlecraft.  Speed is 5.1, good but will never keep up with the hot new ships serving the central planets.  Asking price is 56 Million.

3)  The VIP transport.   Another veteran of government service, this ship was used to move high ranking officers and officials when other transportation was not available.  16 staterooms and 2 containers of cargo.   This is a ship that can easily be adapted as a charter ship for very wealthy clients, although for attracting and then keeping those customers, a good steward is suggested.  It is streamlined and can land on planet surfaces.  Speed is 5.5.  Asking price is 40.8 Million.

4)  The Ro-Ro Ferry.   “Roll on, Roll off” ships are designed to move vehicles especially, although they can certainly take on standard cargo.  It is streamlined and can land on planet surfaces, but needs an exceptionally large and well prepared landing area.  8 staterooms and 32 containers of cargo.   The cargo is in one very large bay with ramps on both ends of the ship.  Foldout metal grid floors can be set at different heights to allow vehicles of various sizes to be stacked efficiently.  Speed is 4  Asking price is 43.2 Million.

5)  The Amphibian.   Another ex-military ship.  Cheaper and more versatile than the Ro-Ro, as all it needs to set down is a stretch of water.  It is streamlined and can land on planet surfaces, but can only land in water- fortunately, most settled worlds have some.    12 staterooms and 12 containers of cargo.  The cargo is one large bay with rear doors, the ship is often backed up to a dock and functions as a Ro-Ro.  Or, the cargo bay can be flooded to allow specialized cargoes to be floated off- this is one of the rare ships that can move boats directly to a planet surface.  Because these starships need hulls that are strong enough to survive water landings and takeoffs, the "Belly Floppers" have a reputation as tough ships.    Speed is 5.   Asking price is 38.4 Million.

6)  The Split Ship.   A low cost ship built with no artificial gravity- it uses a “Spin Habitat” that is left in orbit with the main powerplant and FTL drive, while the streamlined lander/bridge portion of the ship detaches and lands.  This avoids a lot of cost, though many spacers do not like leaving their “home” and their FTL drive in orbit without them. The lander has a very small "surface quarters" section that provides cramped crew support when the lander is down and the ship's staterooms are in orbit.  16 staterooms and 4 containers of cargo.  The cargo remains in the lander section, although it can be offloaded in space.   Speed is 4.6.  Some call it a "Shuttle Plus" configuration.   Asking price is 25.6 Million.

Einar Karvonen did not look like the sort of customer that would be in the market for a starship. He looked like he belonged on one, maybe an old one, but he did not fit the classic profile of an owner operator.

He had been amiable to a concerted effort, and felt that he had been lucky in his choice of business partners. They were all mature, and for the most part they seemed like level headed businessmen.

They had made the initial circuit of the vessels within their price point, and were past the "getting to know you phase" with the dealer. Einar's background was in Salvage, and he had previously worked with his close family crewing vessels of that persuasion. He had done some ship breaking in station but had never seemed to stay in one place for long. A nomad of sorts, weathered and dirty.

There were things to commend each ship, and of course things that he seemed to take issue with. He personally had gravitated towards both the "Ro Ro" and the "Amphibian", his Salvagers eye appreciating the large single bays and overall versatility.

But it soon became apparent that of those available, he preferred the Amphibian. He seemed to feel that its size and speed made it "handy" and versatile for a wide variety of tasks, and of course the large bay meant that potential salvage could be scooped up and dismantled en route to other locations.

The fact that it was a "bombproof" ship as he called it, sturdy and tough, was another factor in its favor. He was used to ships lasting for generations, and starting with one that had a good chance of standing the test of time was a plus in his book.

The water landing aspect was not ideal, he granted, but he argued that nothing was. Deep water ports generally made good trade hubs planetside anyway.

He had about 10 million credits to contribute towards the down, nearly all claims that he had on other vessels that had been auctioned off over the years. While he seemed cash poor, he had a surprising amount of equity for a man with yellowed teeth and scarred knuckles.

"What are the records like on the Amphibian?" he asked the dealer with his beefy arms crossed across his chest. He was curious in particular about how old she was, and what role she had served in the military.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:07, Thu 14 Nov 2019.

"It looks like a good choice Einar." Horace said to his friend. "Twelve containers at 5 Light Years, so it's quick too. Yes, let's see the records on her including any maintenance records she has."

Horace has 8MCr to add to the pot.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Thu 14 Nov 2019.

Alwin Brandle nodded in agreement with Einar's and Horace's preference for the Amphibian.  It wasn't a perfect choice, but then, nothing really would be.  With only about 3 MCr worth of equity that he could cash in for this endeavor, he knew that he would be effectively a minority shareholder in the ship, should they be able to acquire one.  But that was okay.  He had succeeded in the past with less, and he had little doubt that his range of skills and experiences could help to contribute to making this venture a success.

Talking among themselves, Horace says "We have around 20MCr between us to spend, we have to keep a few million for other things too, Pay for half and finance half?" he finishes.

"About 19MCr total. You expect Noah and the new guy soon? We'll have to discuss fitting her out when we're all here."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:29, Fri 15 Nov 2019.

Noah Brooks strode into the sales offices like a man on a mission.  "Sorry I'm late, I had to convince my old unit's Admin Office to release my share of a captured pirate vessel.  We eventually reached consensus," Brooks said, with a sly grin.  With that, he produced a data chip that verified that the bearded belter had 1 MCr available for their new endeavor.

"Yes, the amphibian is intriguing,", he said after being brought up to speed by the others.  He too wondered what the backstory of the ship might be.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:26, Mon 18 Nov 2019.

"Glad you made it old man, every million counts." Horace said with a smile on his lips and a chuckle in his belly.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

One credit check later, the sellers are convinced that these potential buyers are legitimate, and you are now “Mr. Karvonen” and “Mr. Wymp” etc, as you are taken out to inspect the Montauk.  it is sitting at a drydock, under a protective cover.   A very large protective cover, looking like a giant white tent, as the ship is near the size of a 747.

The hull is a streamlined wedge shape, with the main section being three decks high.  The cargo bay is two decks high, and runs through the center of the ship, opening in large doors in the center in the back.  The top deck has all the staterooms, the bridge, the fantail galley/dining area/lounge, and other areas the ship is normally operated from.  It's the only part of the ship with artificial gravity- it is still a new technology and very expensive, so it tends to be used only where needed.

The Montauk is equipped with two airlocks, one to the top hatch, and one to the side hatch.  The cargo bay can be depressurized for use as a very, very large airlock.  The side hatch and top hatches have extendable stairways.  The rear cargo doors have an extendable ramp- when delivering cargo to shore, the ship is typically backed against a dock and the ramp lowered.

They go inside through the side hatch, which has an extendable stairway.

The side hatch is the ship's main airlock.  The top hatch is a secondary airlock, it has no adjacent storage for tools, equipment and spacesuits.  The ship comes with its standard tool kit, but spacesuits are not included.  Professional space crew get very personal about their space suits.

In the bulbous nose area forward of the cargo bay is all of the ship's main engineering equipment, except for the maneuver engines which are on either side of the cargo area, embedded in the wings.  Life support, sensors, fusion power plant, computer, all here.  It's all controlled from the bridge above.

The ship has four "equipment bays" built into the hull.  Often, they are customized by the owners.  The Navy pulled the equipment from them, so they are empty.  Most of it, at least.
  One has the ship's Decoy and Countermeasures Launcher, which would ordinarily contain twenty four devices that are ejected, usually in groups, to confuse sensors.  Naturally the countermeasures themselves are gone.  The launcher is here.

Your guides point out equipment and features, like the Auxilliary Surface Power unit, which propels the ship when it is on water, and the batteries, so some power can be maintained if the fusion power plant is off line.  And, of course, something recently installed:

"Chair lift, also can be used as a light elevator, because the ship was being prepped for civilian use, and without it you don't meet general accessibility standards for people unable to climb stairs".    A recent addition- the Montauk never needed it in military service.

The tour rises up through the two levels of engineering.  On the second floor, there is a little open space, with a large window overlooking the cargo bay.  There are two "cold berths", hibernation capsules directly under the ship's medical station.  "Cold Sleep" is generally not used on a ship of this type.  The only passengers who ever use it are people making long, long runs on a budget, and not concerned with the "recovery time".  Colonists, for example.  But the capsules are present on many ships as a way of keeping people alive who need urgent medical attention not available on the ship.

On the main deck, the stairs lead to a hallway, bridge one way, quarters the other, escape pods to either side.  There is a picture of the old crew still up on the wall- apparently  the decommissioning team did not feel up to removing it.  They are posing with some kind of small robotic submersible and wearing diving equipment.  Oddly, the faces are all blurry in the picture.

"We'll have to find some surplus Counter-Measures too. Arm her for defense as well. We'll wait on the new 'crew' to show up before we figure everything out."

OOC - Where are we starting Bossman?

Noah walked with the others as the tour of the ship started.  He was quite interested in the mechanicals and structure of the ship, so he paid extra attention to those as opportunities presented themselves.  And Noah was adapt at making sure opportunities presented themselves.

The tour inside concludes on the top deck.  There is the bridge, which has six work stations even though the ship can be easily operated with three, and the “gunnery bay” -the small compartment right behind the bridge where the ships weapons, if they were installed, would be operated from.  The compartment can be closed off or opened to the bridge.  In a battle it would be closed, to isolate the gunners from things that might distract them.  Nobody wants distracted gunners.   Also adjacent to the bridge, opposite the empty gunnery bay, is the ship’s small office and conference room.  This is for the business and administrative work of the ship.

There are the two forward escape pods, and there are two more on the back end of the ship.  Each has seating for eight.  There is more escape pod capacity than would likely be used, and this is intentional.  Even with each stateroom occupied by two people, the ship can be safely evacuated with one pod unavailable.

There is the gallery with the old picture and some empty display cases, the small medical bay, storage lockers of various types, (additional supplies can be kept in storage area below, near the front side hatch) the medical bay, and next to it, the small but well equipped rec room.  The Navy left not only the equipment in the medical center, but exercise gear in the rec room.  These are linked.  Ship crews often spend a lot of time aboard, and of the duties of a ship’s doctor is to monitor crew health, partly by seeing that they get enough exercise.

Going  aft, they see the twelve staterooms, six on each side of the corridor, half in front of the “service bay” and half behind.  Each stateroom is about the size of a small cabin on an ocean liner.  The service bay has the ship’s laundry and janitorial facilities, life support systems, and access to the top hatch.  The service bay has chargers for robots.  Many ships carry robots, but they are not included.

The corridor passes the two aft escape pods and ends at the aft end of the ship- the fantail area, which is part galley, part storage, part dining and lounge area with windows facing the rear and sides of the ship.

When the tour concluded in the dining/lounge area Einar looked pensive. Although they were all new to each other, it was obvious the man was amidst some kind of internal struggle.

His arms were still crossed, and he occasionally stroked his beard as he was deep in thought. He had questions, the dealer had answers, and with every one Einar looked a little more anxious.

It was the look of a man who was seriously considering sinking the entirety of his life savings into the vessel beneath his feet. Over twenty years of long shifts, blood, sweat and toil. There had been danger, real danger, and he had risked his neck on some of the runs that had earned him those claims. All of that, had brought him to New Avalon and into the company of those around him.

Oh, he suspected that the others were feeling something similar. They were all about his age or older, and had serious capital to put at risk. But the time had come to put up, or shut up, and he was not about to waste their time, or the dealerships.



"Sounds like that's one vote from Wymp" Einar smirked. It looked like Horace and himself would be the primary investors in this endeavor. Still, a million credits was a million credits.

"What's your take Brooks?" he asked the older man as he paced a little on the deck of the lounge and glanced out the rear window. He looked the Brandle as well, but he seemed to want to hear from everybody individually.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:44, Wed 20 Nov 2019.

Noah joined or perhaps rejoined at the back of the group as they entered the fantail.

"She's got character.  There's a lot we can do with her.  I didn't see any red flags and I'm sure others have better technical skills than I," Brooks said, ending on a bit of humility.  His cursory inspections hadn't revealed any deficiencies that couldn't be corrected, however, Noah would prefer to spend a few days going over the ship with a fine-tooth comb.

"I think it's as good a choice as any," Alwin says, "and probably the best option for what we can reasonably hope to acquire."

"High speed and cargo capacity are what I like. Well rounded."

I suggest we form a corporation and divide it up by shares. Everyone gets an equal vote, but not an equal payout. Everyone gets a salary and profits should be disbursed by shares. Everyone is able to buy more shares if they wish later on."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:13, Wed 20 Nov 2019.

Einar looked to each and turn, then nodded. One step closer then it seemed.

He listened to Horace as he laid out his proposal and seemed to consider it for a moment before he replied. "Ship can't run on a vote, not in my experience. It's a noble idea an'all, but I don't think it's practical."

"I think it's smart though, setting salary and putting a certain amount towards the principal. That way no one persons comin' out too far ahead. Like you said, as shareholders we can always buy out anybody looking to move on, or, maybe cash them out if we have the means" he nodded in agreement.

"I'm thinkin Captain" he pressed a thumb into his chest, then pointed at Horace. "XO, then we set fair pay for crew, plus a share percentage. May not be a straight vote" he shrugged "But a crews always got a voice. Not like it's the Navy or anything." They were the primary shareholders after all, with the lions share of the down between them.

Horace nodded agreement "maybe we can all get rich, or at least richer."

Alwin nodded on assent with Einar's proposal.

"I'm good with that," Noah said as the group discussed ship operations and chain of command.  He would be quite content to have a good paycheck and a percentage of profits, even if that percentage was small.