Demeter Empress

Demeter Empress
Vessel Profile
Type	DropShip
In service until	(see text)

The Demeter Express was a passenger starship of undisclosed type. Context strongly implies that it was a DropShip, and not a JumpShip (see Notes below).

History

According to a survivor's testimony taken by ComStar on 13 March 3020, the Demeter Express (or rather, the JumpShip that must have carried it) accidentally went off-course and arrived in the periphery somewhere in the vicinity of Butte Hold. Within five hours after arrival it came under attack from what was described as a huge JumpShip with a death's head emblem on its bow. Weapons fire from the pirates hulled the Demeter Express forward, disabling its forward laser battery, and the bridge was destroyed by missile fire. Shortly afterwards the ship was boarded by pirates and a bloodbath ensued when some passengers resisted with weapons found in a weapons locker. Four girls were taken as pleasure slaves onto the pirate ship, which would turn out to be Redjack Ryan's ship.

Notes

• No exact date is given for this incident, but it must obviously have occurred between Ryan's beginnings as a periphery pirate in 3018 and 3020 when the testimony was taken.
• The considerable damage inflicted upon the Demeter Express in the initial attack and then during the boarding action implies that the pirates had no intention of keeping the ship, suggesting it may have been left derelict or outright destroyed in this incident.
• Although the exact class of the Demeter Express is not mentioned, it's set up as a passenger vessel and the fact that no attempt was made to seize it intact strongly implies that it was a DropShip and not the JumpShip.

Bibliography

• The Periphery, 1st Edition